After an RT article caused, as Netflix calls it, “a bit of a firestorm,” the streaming video service requested a clarification from our side. We are happy to offer it and explain exactly why we still have a lot of unanswered questions.

Following RT’s write-up this week on FLIXPAC, a political action committee just launched by California-based Netflix, the company has asked us to clarify that by no means do they intend to use their new DC ties to lobby for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA).

“PACs are commonplace for companies that lead a big, growing market and Netflix is no exception,”the company’s director of corporate communications, Joris Evers, tells RT in an email. “Our PAC is a way for our employees to support candidates that understand our business and technology.It was not set up for the purpose of supporting SOPA or PIPA.Instead, Netflix has engaged on other issues including network neutrality, bandwidth caps, usage based billing and reforming the Video Privacy Protection Act.”

We appreciate Netflix’s reaction and think that this statement makes a lot of sense, actually — we even believe that every word they wrote to us is true, particularly since both SOPA and PIPA have been killed by Congress and have essentially no chance of being reintroduced in their previous forms. What raises concern on our part, however, is that FLIXPAC has been created alongside an array of proposed congressional bills that, while differing in name, emulate many of SOPA and PIPA’s negative provisions. Will Netflix and FLIXPAC support those bills?

Read the whole article…

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Members of FEMEN, who are famous for staging controversial naked protests, switched from political issues and slashing domestic violence to defending Ukrainian women’s right to abortion. They chose the country’s main Christian cathedral as a venue.

Five FEMEN activists climbed to the Cathedral of St. Sophia in the center of Kiev to protest a proposed legislation that would ban abortions in Ukraine.

The girls got naked, rolled down banner “STOP” from the balcony of the cathedral and began ringing church bells to attract the attention of those passing by. They also shouted a slogan which can be translated as “our children – our choice.”

The Cathedral of St. Sophia is one of the main sightseeing attractions in Kiev, so security and police were not long in coming.

Read the whole article and more photos…

Russian scientists want to send two lunar rovers and several landing stations after 2020 as part of the country’s return to the moon. The planned study of polar regions is aimed at eventually creating a permanent manned base there.

The attention was drawn to moon’s poles by the discovery of ice there, reports RIA Novosti, citing a draft space research roadmap prepared by the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The first stage of the new lunar program will begin in 2015, with the launch of Luna-Resurs and Luna-Glob probes. Both are similar in design and will study south and north poles of the moon respectively.

The missions include landing a station with a small lunar rover equipped for taking soil samples from the depth of up to two meters. The samples will be examined on site.

After 2020 a new stage is scheduled with two bigger rovers planned for delivery. Their missions may last as long as five years, with rovers scouting the area as far as 30 km far from their landing spots.

Read the whole article and photos…

Democratic pollster Doug Schoen tells Newsmax that former Sen. Rick Santorum suspended his campaign today because he would have lost all “political credibility” for a 2016 run at the Republican presidential nomination had he tasted defeat next week in his home state of Pennsylvania.

“He dropped out because if he loses Pennsylvania, he loses whatever political credibility he has,” declared Schoen in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, as Santorum confirmed that he was suspending his campaign in an afternoon address from Gettysburg.

Schoen called the turn of events a “huge victory” for Mitt Romney; the former Massachusetts governor has had difficulty winning support among the more conservative GOP voters, who have helped Santorum to 11 primary and caucus victories.

“It takes the final roadblock away from his winning the nomination, with Newt Gingrich effectively having suspended his campaign” and Ron Paul not really a factor in the battle, said Schoen, author of the new book “Hopelessly Divided: The New Crisis in American Politics and What It Means for 2012 and Beyond.”

By suspending his campaign, Santorum also preserves the possibility of repositioning himself with Romney and the GOP establishment.

“While two weeks ago he said that Gov. Romney would have been the worst Republican in America to run, that worst Republican in America is going to be the nominee,” Schoen explained. “And he’s looking to curry a little favor and hopefully be in a position to run in 2016. If he lost Pennsylvania on April 24, he would have had no goodwill, and he would be a political nonentity.”

But Schoen said that Romney’s work is just beginning, as confirmed in a new Washington Post/ABC News poll released today, which shows him trailing President Barack Obama by a wide margin. “His negative rating exceeds his positive rating,” said Schoen, adding that it’s unclear whether Romney can overtake Obama even with Santorum out of the race.

“He’s proven he can get nominated. He’s not proven he can get elected, and the polls show he’s in a huge hole,” said Schoen.

“This is the beginning of the general election campaign, but make no mistake, Gov. Romney’s proven he’s nominatable. He’s yet to prove he’s electable and for Rick Santorum it was bowing to reality.”

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