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Washington Times, by Joseph Curl Posted By: Photoonist- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:27:40 GMT When it comes to the unemployment rate, it’s nice to be president. Sure, it wasn’t so nice for President Obama in October 2009, when the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics declared the rate was 10 percent. But exactly a year from Election Day 2012, the rate began a precipitous plunge (Snip) See, the BLS boys, no doubt at the president’s direction, are busy rewriting the rules, and they’re in uncharted, and unchecked, territory. The federal government Friday declared that the U.S. had created — not “saved,” mind you, “created” — 243,000 jobs. Amazing, right? But wait, what’s that little asterisk

Washington Times, by Rowan Scarborough Posted By: Photoonist- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:24:49 GMT America’s aging tactical Air Force ' the jets that protect ground troops and strike hard'to'reach targets ' is shrinking just as the Pentagon is cutting even more planes to achieve nearly a half'trillion dollars in spending cuts. The trend has set off alarms among retired fighter pilots, some of whom wrote to Congress last month warning that U.S. “TacAir” is in trouble. They fear the political pressure to drive down the deficit will mean there will never be enough money to replace 1970s jets with advanced aircraft to operate against rising militaries such as China‘s, which last year unveiled its

Haaretz [Israel], by Amos Harel Posted By: Photoonist- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:21:45 GMT Hamas has been making concerted efforts in recent months to renew its activities in the West Bank, Israeli security officials note. According to the officials, over the past few weeks, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security service have intercepted relatively large amounts of funds that Hamas activists abroad have tried to smuggle into the West Bank as part of these efforts. Since Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, and its expulsion of the Fatah leadership there, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank has come down hard on Hamas activists in the area. Hundreds of

Los Angeles Times, by Charlotte Allen Posted By: Photoonist- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:16:48 GMT Ever since the closing of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, conservative and liberal Roman Catholics have been deeply divided over church teachings, many of them concerning marriage and sexual matters. Those who are more conservative would like to see the teachings remain in place, while liberals would like to see drastic changes. Now, suddenly, after decades of internecine bickering, liberals and conservatives among Catholics have joined forces on an issue.(Snip) Specifically, a wide cross'section of liberal and conservative Catholics have united in opposition to a Jan. 20 rule issued by the federal Department of Health and Human Services as

USA Today, by Gregg Zoroya Posted By: Photoonist- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:12:32 GMT With U.S. forces still fighting in Afghanistan, the Obama administration has chosen to mark the end of the Iraq War with something more modest than a ticker'tape parade — a state'dinner'like event at the White House later this month feting a select group of combat veterans and their spouses or guests. The core theme is the common fighting man or woman, said Douglas Wilson, Pentagon public affairs chief. The intent is for those invited — with guests, numbering more than 200 — to represent the 1.5 million who fought in a nine'year'war that left nearly 4,500 dead and 32,000 wounded,

USA Today, by Jackie Kucinich Posted By: Photoonist- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:10:45 GMT Greeley, Colo. ' It may be a four'man race in Colorado, but one candidate clearly has had a head start. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won the state's Republican caucuses with 60% of the vote in 2008, while his nearest competitor, Sen. John McCain, received 18%. Romney supporters here say the organization that led to that big win four years ago has never gone away. (Snip) Romney's campaign is well organized and will have enough speakers to represent him at various precincts during caucuses Tuesday, said state Treasurer Walker Stapleton, Romney's honorary Colorado campaign chairman.

Los Angeles Times, by Rong'Gong Lin II Posted By: Photoonist- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:08:03 GMT Another American flag was burned at an Occupy Oakland rally late Saturday, capping off a smaller, more peaceful march compared to last weekend’s burst of violence. Local news media reported that there were only dozens of protesters who marched Saturday night, and there were no reports of violent clashes with police. Saturday’s Occupy march, however, was the second to feature a burning U.S. flag in a week. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Zachary Running Wolf, 48, a veteran demonstrator in Oakland and Berkeley, ignited the flag and dropped it on Broadway.

CBS News, by Staff Posted By: Photoonist- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:04:35 GMT New York ' The pressure was on. The tension was thick. And then, there were yawns in between. The Super Bowl may have been a nail biter, but the ads were a snooze. Actor Clint Eastwood waxed about Detroit and Chrysler. An M&M stripped "naked" at a party. And stars from the 90s were everywhere, as were dogs and babies, of course. Companies paid an average of $3.5 million for a 30'second spot for the right to duke it out Sunday in front of the expected 111 million'plus fans. But there were fewer surprises.

Forbes, by Nathan Lewis Posted By: oldoperator- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:57:47 GMT In 1949, Japan was a wreck. Four years had passed since the end of World War II, but the economy was still moribund. The major cities, flattened and burned during the war, remained mostly unreconstructed. Only two trains a day ran on the most important rail line, between Tokyo and Osaka. Hyperinflation made normal commerce impossible. What industrial assets remained after the war, such as electricity generation plants and factories, were being stripped by the occupying army as “reparations,” and shipped overseas.

Daily Mail (UK), by Ted Thornhill Posted By: JoniTx- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:44:05 GMT Inseparable Lionel and Ellen Buxton are still as happy as the day they met ' almost 82 years ago. The loved'up pair are one of the country's oldest married couples having tied the knot in 1936, and 75 years later are still going strong. They have clocked up almost 200 years between them, 162 of which have been spent in marital bliss. Ellen, 100, said: ‘We have never been apart really and have never wanted anyone else.‘We have been married happily because we have been good friends as well as husband and wife.

Reuters, by Mica Rosenberg Posted By: Not your typical New Yorker- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:37:39 GMT Voters from Mexico's ruling conservative party selected their first woman presidential candidate on Sunday, choosing a former education minister to battle the opposition's nominee, who has a big lead in the polls. National Action Party (PAN) voters threw their support behind party congressional leader Josefina Vazquez Mota, pushing aside Ernesto Cordero, a close ally of President Felipe Calderon. Jose Espina, who organized the vote, announced Vazquez Mota was ahead with 55 percent support with around 87 percent of the votes counted, more than enough to secure the party nomination. Cordero came in second with 38 percent.

Associated Press, by Cassandra Vinograd Posted By: Dreadnought- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:32:14 GMT LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II marked her Diamond Jubilee on Monday with a message thanking all those who had supported her over her 60'year reign and reaffirming her dedication to serving the British people. The 85'year'old monarch ascended the throne when her father, George VI, died on Feb. 6, 1952. She is the longest'serving monarch after Queen Victoria, who reigned for more than 63 years. Before a year's worth of festivities to celebrate her milestone, the queen said she and her husband have been "deeply moved" to receive so many kind messages about her Diamond Jubilee.

CBS News, by Dan Farber Posted By: Bubbasuncle- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:31:45 GMT One of the biggest surprises of the Super Bowl was Clint Eastwood surfacing at halftime in an ad for Chrysler, although he never had to utter the car maker's name. It was the Clint Eastwood of his movie "Gran Torino," in which he played a Motor City retired Ford factory worker, not the Clint from "Every Which Way but Loose," in which he played a truck driver with a pet orangutan named Clyde. In the Chrysler ad, Eastwood offers a message in his "Dirty Harry," "Unforgiven," "Gran Torino," "Million Dollar Baby" gruff voice about the gritty, tough America,

Miami Herald, by Erika Bolstad Posted By: Dreadnought- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:29:34 GMT WASHINGTON '' Sitting in his pew at St. Louis Catholic Church in Miami one recent Sunday, Sen. Marco Rubio heard the same homily as other parishioners who were urged by church leaders nationwide to contact Congress about the use of contraceptives. Uniquely positioned to act, the Republican senator last week filed legislation that would repeal part of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law requiring some religious institutions to offer their employees contraceptives and family planning services as part of their health insurance coverage.

Houston Chronicle, by Andy Warren Posted By: Dreadnought- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:26:03 GMT Hurricane season is officially over, but the National Hurricane Center in Miami issued an advisory Sunday night indicating a possible encore. The statement notes the potential for a system over Cuba to form into a “subtropical cyclone” within 48 hours as it slowly moves north'northeast toward south Florida. The low'pressure system is mixing with an upper'level trough and producing widespread clouds and storms over much of Cuba, the Florida Keys and the northwestern Caribbean, Hurricane Center officials said in the advisory. Then, this somewhat ominous line: “A surface circulation center is gradually becoming better defined.”

Washington Post, by Gordon England Posted By: Dreadnought- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:22:06 GMT Here’s something for critics of the country’s defense budget to ponder: After I was confirmed as secretary of the Navy in May 2001, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asked me and the other service secretaries to work with Congress to gain approval for a pending supplemental appropriation to the defense budget. This was not a war supplemental; it was still four months before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Pentagon was simply running out of money. The Navy did not have enough funding to steam ships or to fly airplanes for the rest of the fiscal year. Submarines

Washington Post, by Karen DeYoung Posted By: Dreadnought- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:19:59 GMT With war fatigue growing and an election looming, the Obama administration has bumpily embarked on its endgame in Afghanistan. In recent weeks, closed'door strategizing over Taliban peace talks, the pace of NATO’s combat handover and withdrawal, and the future of U.S. relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan have suddenly become part of the public and political debate. But revelations about plans already in motion have emerged sooner than the administration has been prepared to explain them, complicating efforts to turn them into a coherent whole and build support.

Washington Post, by Robert J. Samuelson Posted By: Dreadnought- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:18:12 GMT “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” — L.P. Hartley, English novelist It must now be obvious that, economically speaking, we’re in another country. Things we once took for granted no longer apply; things we never imagined occur all the time. We’ve entered a zone of ignorance where familiar experience and ideas count for less. “Thirty years ago, if you’d said that the United States and Europe were going to be the centers of financial crises, people would have thought you were crazy,” says economist Fred Bergsten. The unforeseen is now routine.

Washington Times, by Michael Gunn Posted By: Dreadnought- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:14:11 GMT CAIRO — Egyptians are becoming incensed by rising lawlessness and falling security ' evidenced by last week’s deadly post'soccer match melee ' as protests mount against the military council that has ruled the country since the ouster of longtime President Hosni Mubarak last February. Meanwhile, tensions between Cairo and Washington heightened Sunday, when Egyptian investigative judges referred 19 Americans and 24 other workers for nonprofit groups that promote democracy to stand trial on charges of using foreign funds to incite unrest. Among the Americans sent to trial is Sam LaHood

Washington Times, by Dave Boyer Posted By: Dreadnought- Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:12:33 GMT President Obama said Sunday he is determined to work with Israel in “lock step” to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and tried to allay concerns that Israel is preparing to carry out a unilateral military strike. “I don’t think that Israel has made a decision on what they need to do,” Mr. Obama said during an interview at the White House during NBC’s Super Bowl pre'game show. “We are going to make sure that we work in lock step, as we proceed to try to solve this — hopefully, diplomatically.”