Hasta La Gadget!

WASHINGTON — Hawkish Senate Democrats are backing off an aggressive push for Iran sanctions legislation, saying they’ll give President Barack Obama breathing room to let international talks play out over Iran’s nuclear program.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said Tuesday that he and nine other Democrats told Obama they will pull their support for a sanctions bill until at least after March 24, when international negotiators aim to reach a deal with Iran to curb its ability to develop a nuclear weapon. Menendez and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) are coauthors of the legislation, which would impose new sanctions on Iran if international talks, which have been underway for 18 months, fall apart.

“This morning, many of my Democratic colleagues and I have sent a letter to the president telling him that we will not support passage of the Kirk-Menendez bill on the Senate floor until after March 24 and only if there is no political framework agreement,” Menendez said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

“We remain hopeful that diplomacy will succeed in reversing Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon capability,” he said. But, Menendez added, “We remain deeply skeptical that Iran is committed to making the concessions required to demonstrate to the world that this nuclear program is exclusively peaceful by March 24.”

In addition to Menendez, who is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the letter was signed by Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Bob Casey (Pa.), Ben Cardin (Md.), Chris Coons (Del.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.) and Debbie Stabenow (Mich.). Many of the signatories are past cosponsors of Menendez’s sanctions bill.

The Democrats’ about-face is a victory for Obama, who has clashed with Republicans and some in his party — including Menendez himself — over the need to let the delicate Iran talks proceed without threats of punishment. Obama has warned Congress that any action on sanctions legislation could hurt negotiations and says he will veto any bills of this nature. Last week, he reminded lawmakers that if international talks fail, the likelihood of a military confrontation “is heightened, and Congress will have to own that as well.”

A White House spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

“Senator Menendez and the rest of the Democratic warmonger caucus just blinked,” said Zack Malitz, campaign manager at CREDO, an online progressive group that has made blocking sanctions a top priority. “Their decision to delay a vote on new, diplomacy-killing sanctions shows that pressure from progressive activists and the White House is having an effect.”

Despite Democrats backing off, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that Republicans are still moving forward on the sanctions bill.

“We’re hoping to get a bill out of the Banking Committee,” McConnell told reporters. “My understanding is, Chairman [Richard] Shelby hopes to move that measure out of the committee very soon.”

Even if Republicans were to pass sanctions legislation, it’s not clear they would have the votes to override a veto. A quick review of past critics of the Kirk-Menendez bill shows at least 28 senators publicly opposed to it, which means only six more would be needed to sustain a veto — a threshold at least one Democratic leader believes they can hit.

In the House, meanwhile, a Democratic leadership aide was certain they have the 145 votes necessary to uphold a veto. There are 188 House Democrats in total.

“The vast majority of House Democrats are in support of the President’s position,” said the aide.

The Kirk-Menendez bill isn’t the only sanctions bill in play. Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has proposed another bill that would require congressional approval before the White House can sign a deal with Iran. Republicans say such a vote is necessary, if only to give lawmakers a role in shaping any Iran agreement that is reached.

“I think it’s imperative that we send a signal, at a bare minimum, that any deal that’s negotiated, if there is one, comes to Congress,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “At the end of the day, if you don’t want to do sanctions, we at least need to do that.”

Ali Watkins contributed reporting.

Smoking is not an admirable habit. While it has acquired a status of being “cool” by the mere fact that it is inaccessible to those beneath a certain age, it ends up being an unwanted authority over your life after prolonged use. It is now seen as far more socially acceptable to smoke pipes or cigars on special occasions. If however, this vice is more part of your everyday and you have no intention of stopping any time soon, then you are likely somewhat regularly in need of a lighter.

If you’d rather use something with a little more panache than a gas station lighter or Zippo, then this Novelty Butane Cigarette Lighter Watch might be of interest to you. It is exactly what it says, functioning both as a timepiece to wear on your wrist, and a butane watch that can light up your smoke. The strap is made of rubber, which is likely to offset the heat transfer. While this aspect may not look very appealing in contrast to the metal and quartz face, it is surely better than giving yourself a serious burn.

The strap is adjustable to fit a variety of wrists and there are no alternative sizes. This will only cost you around $9, so you can imagine how the quality would stack up against something like a Tokyoflash watch. While this will certainly get some comments, make sure you’re overly conscious of long sleeves lest you find yourself in a toasty accident.

Available for purchase on Amazon

 
[ Watch and Butane Lighter Combination – What could go wrong? copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Despite the 80s hard rock soundtrack—or maybe because of it—SpaceX’s new 3D animation showing their future Falcon Heavy in action, complete with the landing of three of its stages back on Earth, is freaking cool. I can’t wait for Elon Musk’s bandits to solve all problems and see this happening in real time.

Read more…

You know those unpatched Mac security exploits that Google revealed a few days ago? You probably won’t have to worry about them any more. Apple has released OS X Yosemite 10.10.2, a hefty update that fixes those vulnerabilities, which let an intruder…

Android fans around the world are anxiously to see what some of the favorite manufacturers are going to announce at the Mobile World Congress 2015. Both HTC and Samsung are expected to unveil their new flagships in the first week of March. HTC has already teased its March 1st event where the HTC One M9 will likely be announced. Some purported design details of this smartphone have surfaced online today.

An unnamed tipster tells HTCSource that the HTC One M9 isn’t going to have the black bar that housed the HTC logo on One M8 and One M7. The plastic speaker panels that were used to hide the BoomSound speaker chamber and amp along the tap and bottom are said to be slightly taller than that on the HTC One M8.

These speaker panels will take up space that was previously used by the black bar and the HTC logo will apparently move to the bottom speaker panel. The edge-to-edge glass panel believed to cover the HTC One M9 is said to enclose the speaker panels within itself.

Only cutouts in this glass panel will be for speaker grills that cover 50 percent of the phone’s bottom and top edges with a 45 degree cut, a design element we have previously seen on the Nexus 9, which is a HTC-manufactured tablet.

This tipster says that these changes contribute to make the HTC One M9’s design “slicker” and “more refined” than the HTC One M8.

HTC One M9 Design Details Surface , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.