Buzz Blog

Public opinion has shifted dramatically against the use of drones in the war on terror in the month after Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, led a 13-hour filibuster against the practice.---

Top of the Alty World “A 50-Point Swing Against Targeted Drone Killings of U.S. Citizens.”—Slate

Meanwhile an indictment made public against a suspected terrorist could shed light on the Bush administration’s secretive use of “black-site” prisons around the world.—ProPublica

Palestinians felt snubbed by President Barack Obama in a recent Middle East visit and doubt his resolve for a two-state solution.—The Economist

Buzzfeed provides a primer for what to expect this week as the United States Supreme Court considers two pivotal cases surrounding same-sex marriage.—Buzzfeed

Top of Alty Utah

Governor Herbert vetoes controversial “Constitutional carry” firearms bill.—Utah Political Capitol

A clean-energy advocate recaps the 2013 Legislature.—KCPW

The Ogden OUTReach Center may be small but it has a huge impact on LGBT citizens in northern Utah.—Q Salt Lake

A Salt Lake City Walmart is targeted by national animal-rights activists for buying pork from suppliers who confine pigs in narrow, constricting cages.—Salt Lake City Weekly

The U.S. Secretary of the Interior has announced a plan for developing oil shale and tar sands in the Mountain West region, including in Utah.—KUER

Rantosphere

Black news and culture site The Root challenges that Tea-Partier Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, is taking a stronger stance than President Obama against the war on drugs that disproportionately affects black youth.

"After the Trayvon Martin tragedy, President Obama famously remarked that if he had a son, "he'd look like Trayvon." Yet, there are millions of young men of color, who could also be his son, who are having their lives ruined daily for behavior no different from the president's own. “The question now becomes whether or not President Obama has the courage to become a voice for those young men in his second term, or if he is going to continue to allow a Tea Partier who questions the Civil Rights Act to become a more credible voice for young men of color than the first black president.”—The Root

 The Long View

Salt Lake City Weekly recaps the highs and lows of the 2013 Legislature, such as the choice moment when Rep. Jake Anderegg, R-Lehi, pitched a bill to reject Medicaid expansion.

“Originally, [Anderegg] proposed a chest-thumping message bill calling for the nullification of Obamacare, then at the last minute switched out all the language to make it a bill rejecting Medicaid expansion and removing the governor from the decision. Then, he rushed the bill out of committee. He later got the House to pass it with a pitch that had all the elements of an awkward sacrament-meeting talk: generous scripture references, a perfunctory John F. Kennedy quote, crying and an attempt at calling on the brethren with a vague “vision” of rallying voluntary charity care that would provide the same health care to 130,000 uninsured Utahns that Medicaid expansion would. The bill passed in the House but was amended in the Senate so that the state’s decision on whether to expand Medicaid would wait until a pair of cost-benefit studies are completed. If the governor approves, the bill would come back to the Legislature for funding.”—Salt Lake City Weekly