The countries at the Durban climate conference made an agreement to make an agreement. I am skeptical they will make an agreement in 2015, which would not take effect until 2020. For the time being, the world will still operate under the auspices of the Kyoto protocol, which only covered industrialized nations, and to which the United States, one of the world’s biggest emitters, is not a signatory.

Newt passed on signing a morals pledge earlier in the race; now he’s on board with marital fidelity — and support of a Federal Marriage Amendment, because it’s a litmus test for Iowa fundie group The FAMiLY LEADER.

In a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, President Obama calmly explained that his Administration asked Iran nicely for their drone back. “We’ve asked for it back. We’ll see how the Iranians respond,” Obama said. He added that the matter was classified, but the acknowledgement that someone wrote a note to the Iranian Lost & Found seeking one RQ-170 Sentinel stealth plane basically confirms the capture of the drone.

The public’s ranking of the honesty and ethics of members of Congress is at the lowest level it has ever been according to Gallup’s polling. While Congress has never been looked on too kindly, the level of distrust the American people now feel towards members of Congress is unprecedented.

After a weekend of strategizing, organizers working against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) plan a mass campaign of action to stop advancement of the bill, which will get a markup in the House Judiciary Committee this Thursday. They got support today from Laurence Tribe, who says the bill creates an unconstitutional prior restraint on internet speech.

Another in our series of local occupation reports, this one from the FDL liaison for Salt Lake City. The post reports on the delivery of the first shipment of warm weather clothing to Occupy SLC. Photos show occupiers and lots of appreciation for the quality and thoughtfulness of the supplies.

Newt Gingrich currently holds double digit leads in the two early Southern primary states, Florida and South Carolina. The most recent Marist/NBC poll shows Gingrich in a dominant position over second place Mitt Romney.

Describing the blockade of Richard Cordray to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a form of nullification sounds accurate to me. Cordray is almost an afterthought, as Republicans disagree with the concept of a federal agency that looks out for consumers. So they plan to stop confirmation of any director, which in this case holds off consumer protection regulation of non-bank financial institutions, unless it is gutted.

Republicans have insisted that Congress will eventually come to an agreement on the pressing year-end issues, namely the payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance, a “doc fix” to avoid a Medicare reimbursement cuts, and possibly some expiring tax breaks. But their version of “agreement” is predicated on the idea that the House will pass a bill with several objectionable features and everyone else will accept it. They essentially want to call the bluff of both Senate Democrats and the White House.

A solid majority — 58 percent– of Massachusetts voters support marijuana legalization according to the first professional poll sponsored by MassCann/NORML. The poll also demonstrates the importance of framing. If legal marijuana is going to be taxed and regulated in a manner similar to alcohol, people become more supportive of the idea.