2011 was a very — watch out, here it comes — out-of-this-world year for UFOs. Every month of the year gave us UFO stories to digest, wonder about, or laugh at — depending on your point of view or belief about UFOs.

Ancient UFOs; scores of videos and photographs; military and government officials offering credible testimony; thousands of pages of previously classified documents; disk and dorito-shaped craft; an official state highway marker erected to commemorate the most widely publicized UFO abduction story in history; petitions sent to the White House asking the Obama administration to release all UFO information; an alleged alien spaceship hiding near the planet Mercury; an ET reportedly photographed standing in a Brazilian rainforest; and a theologian who says religious believers are ready to share a pew with aliens.

These and much more were all there for the taking. With the proliferation of so many video cameras and phone cams, it’s not surprising that, according to the Mutual UFO Network — the largest privately funded UFO research organization in the world — there were 67 percent more reports of unidentified flying objects in 2011, compared to 2008.

Full Story Here: 2011′s Top UFO Sightings And Paranormal News (VIDEO).

Terri Weissinger was floored at the $60 baggage fee

A California woman hoping to start a new life in Idaho was marooned for eight days in the airport for eight days after she said she didn’t have enough money for a surprise baggage fee.

Teri Weissinger told KGO-TV that she only had $30 in her pocket after she purchased a ticket Orbitz.com – not enough for the $60 surcharge to get on the U.S. Airways flight to the Gem Stateto start a new life in Idaho. With just $30 in her pocket, she was unable to pay the $60 baggage fee U.S. Airways said she owed.

She offered to leave a bag behind, but couldn’t because of security regulations and also said she could pay when she arrived at her destination – which the airline declined to allow.

So instead of a new life, she ended up stranded.

The information was not made public and its disclosure in an interview with Mrs Murdoch in Vogue will prove highly embarrassing for Mr Blair.

His close ties to the Murdochs could explain his reluctance to condemn the News International phone hacking scandal.

In July, it was reported that he asked Gordon Brown to put pressure on Tom Watson, the Labour MP who helped expose the scandal, to drop his investigation.

Mr Blair’s spokesman categorically denied the allegation.

Full Story Here: Tony Blair is godfather to Rupert Murdoch’s daughter – Telegraph.

Total mail volume for the quarter that ended June 30 fell to 39.8 billion pieces, a 2.6 percent drop from the same period a year earlier, as consumers turn to email and pay bills online.

The mail carrier, which does not get taxpayer funds, has struggled to overhaul its business as mail volumes fall. It has said personnel costs weigh heavily and is facing a massive retiree health benefit prepayment next month.

Full Story Here: USPS posts $3.1 billion loss in Q3, warns of default – Yahoo! News.

In her new book “Area 51,” journalist Anne Jacobson speaks to numerous individuals who used to work at the secret military installation and concludes that the site was largely used for weapons research and espionage, and not to house little green men.

This video is from CBS News, broadcast Monday, June 13, 2011.

Full Story Here: Closely held ‘Area 51′ secrets revealed in new book | Raw Replay.

Several dealerships, including at least one in California, have marked up new Volts more than $20,000. Others are selling the cars as used, claiming a $7,500 tax credit for themselves.

Car sales may be in a slump, but the hybrid-electric Chevrolet Volts are hot, and that’s leading to shortages — and in some cases extreme dealer markups.

Several dealerships, including at least one in California, have priced new Volts more than $20,000 above General Motors Co.‘s suggested $41,000 retail tag. Others are selling the vehicles as used, claiming a $7,500 tax credit for themselves and leaving the eventual buyers ineligible.

Full Story Here: Volt: Chevy Volt dealers hoist prices, take tax credits – latimes.com.

They’re investigating namely because former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney were included on the list.

They placed fourth and fifth, respectively, right after Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, terrorist figurehead Osama bin Laden and Charles Manson.

Officials called the addition to the yearbook an “oversight.”

This video was broadcast by Fox News on Thursday, June 2, 2011.

Full Story Here: School yearbook lists Bush, Cheney among the worst people ever | Raw Replay.

Bigfoot VIDEO:

A Spokane, Washington woman claims to have accidentally caught bigfoot on camera while hiking in the woods.

You can see the alleged bigfoot video for yourself, below. As always, the shot is a bit grainy. The footage was captured on an iPhone at Downriver Park along the Spokane river, according to KXLY.com.

But is it real?

Full Story Here: Bigfoot VIDEO: Legendary Creature On Camera In Spokane, Washington? (POLL).

OPS: We will always post a good Bigfoot Story – LOL

Marie Williams and Mark Morgan, a deaf couple, rescued Alice, an abandoned 8-week-old deaf black and white springer spaniel from an animal rescue center in Ireland.

The couple has already taught Alice to sit down, sit up, come and roll over.

Full Story Here: Abandoned deaf puppy learns sign language from deaf couple | Raw Replay.

Smelling marijuana in Willie’s trailer, cops conducted a search, found the stash, and took the “Red Headed Stranger” to jail.

Released hours later on a $2,500 bond, things weren’t looking good for Nelson. He was facing up to a year in jail, over what police claimed was roughly six and a half ounces of weed.

Full Story Here: Willie Nelson to dodge jail over pot bust — in exchange for playing a song | The Raw Story.

Federal safety officials are investigating a report that two planes landed at Reagan National Airport without control tower clearance because the air traffic controller was asleep.

An aviation official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the incident, said the single controller – a supervisor – was scheduled for duty in the tower at that time but had fallen asleep.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson said the incident occurred Tuesday night.

Full Story Here: NTSB Investigating Sleeping Air Traffic Controller At Reagan National.

Hey everyone, it’s March Madness time! You know what that means, right? First of all, it’s the time of year where you loathe yourself for picking Duke, Ohio State, Notre Dame and BYU for your Final Four pool. Because, what? That’s crazy. Happily, it’s also a time where you can work out all of your frustrations with corporate America, as the good people at The Consumerist have once again rolled out their perennial March feature, the Worst Company In America brackets, now in its sixth year.

Consumerist reports that this year was the best year ever for user submissions — thousands of companies were nominated, but only 32 were selected. Six slots were taken by banks, including bailout babies Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Chase. Reigning champion Comcast is also back in the mix, and your health care industry is well represented by United Health Group and Wellpoint. (One preexisting condition is that they will face one another in the first round.)

Consumerist highlights some newcomers, including one very obvious one:

Full Story Here: The Consumerist Returns For Another Year Of ‘The Worst Company In America’ Contest.

Reflects Core Tea Party Values, Says Minn. Lawmaker

In her official Tea Party response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) offered a bold new policy initiative she called “Don’t Add, Don’t Spell.”

Rep. Bachmann called the proposal “a reflection of core Tea Party values” and said it would  “deliver the American people from the tyranny of arithmetic, spelling, and punctuation.”

In addition to “Don’t Add, Don’t Spell,” Rep. Bachmann suggested slashing the Federal budget by eliminating nine of the first ten Amendments to the Constitution.

“I think you know which one I’d keep,” she chuckled, miming a Western gunslinger with her index fingers.

Full Story Here: Borowitz Report.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) procures and stores pre-packaged commercial meals to support readiness capability for immediate distribution to disaster survivors routinely. The purpose of this Request for Information is to identify sources of supply for meals in support of disaster relief efforts based on a catastrophic disaster event within the New Madrid Fault System for a survivor population of 7M to be utilized for the sustainment of life during a 10-day period of operations. FEMA is considering the following specifications (14M meals per day):

- Serving Size – 12 ounce (entree not to exceed 480 calorie count);
- Maximum calories – 1200 and/or 1165 per meal;
- Protein parameters – 29g-37g kit;
- Trans Fat – 0;
- Saturated Fat – 13 grams (9 calories per gram);
- Total Fat – 47 grams (less than 10% calories);
- Maximum sodium – 800-930 mg;

Full Story Here: cryptogon.com » Is It Strange That FEMA Wants to Buy 140 Million Packaged Meals with a Shelf Life Only 36 Months for a Specific Disaster Scenario?.

That’s right, a woman in New Zealand suffered a small stroke that partially paralyzed her after receiving a hickey — or as the Kiwis call it, a “love bite” — from her eager bedfellow, reported New Zealand Medical Journal.

At first, doctors struggled to find the cause of the stroke, until they discovered a small “bruise” on the woman’s neck — located very close to a major artery.

Full Story Here: Hickey Paralyzes Woman.

A mysterious shiny object floating high over Manhattan’s West Side set off a flurry of reports and wild speculation Wednesday that a UFO was flying over the city.

Police and the FAA said they began getting flooded with calls starting at 1:30 p.m. from people reporting a silvery object hovering high over Chelsea.

Law enforcement sources said they believed the object was likely some sort of balloon, but as of late Wednesday they had not confirmed exactly what it is.

Full Story: Mystery shiny objects floating over Manhattan spark UFO frenzy.

Six courageous U.S. Air Force officers and one passionate researcher assembled at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington, DC on Sept. 27th to give their intriguing testimony of personal involvement in a major UFO cover-up. For an excellent 18-minute video summary of this landmark event on the MSNBC website, click here.

Below are key excerpts of numerous fascinating articles in the mainstream media which covered this historic event. Each excerpt is taken verbatim from the major media website listed at the link provided. The most important sentences are highlighted for those with limited time.

The exciting news is that several of these Air Force officers related events in which nuclear missiles were deactivated in their silos as a result of UFO interference. The message from these incidents seems to be that humanity should stop playing with nuclear bombs. Could it be that those responsible for these UFOs don’t want us to destroy ourselves and are discreetly sending messages to those who manage these lethal weapons? Other Air Force officers have given similar testimony, which you can read here.

Full Story: UFOs: US Air Force Officers Testify on UFO Sightings at National Press Club – National US Intelligence | Examiner.com.

Though the effort to lift the reserve of champagne had just ended, researchers uncovered a small collection of bottled beer on Wednesday from the same shipwreck south of the autonomous Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea.

“At the moment, we believe that these are by far the world’s oldest bottles of beer,” Rainer Juslin, permanent secretary of the island’s ministry of education, science and culture, told CNN on Friday via telephone from Mariehamn, the capital of the Aland Islands.

Full Story: World’s ‘oldest beer’ found in shipwreck – CNN.com.

No reason for the sale was mentioned in the report to the SEC.

In another blow to Israeli shares, the Harvard Management Company notified the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday that it had sold all its holdings in Israeli companies during the second quarter of 2010. No reason for the sale was mentioned. The Harvard Management Company manages Harvard University’s endowment.

Harvard Management Company stated in its 13-F Form that it sold 483,590 shares in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) for $30.5 million; 52,360 shares in NICE Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE: NICE) for $1.67 million; 102,940 shares in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP) for $3.6 million; 32,400 shares in Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) for $1.1 million, and 80,000 Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) shares for $1.8 million.

Full Story: Harvard University fund sells all Israel holdings – Globes.

In 1790, President George Washington wrote a letter to the Jewish community of Newport, Rhode Island, affirming the values of tolerance and religious freedom that he saw as the bedrock of the country that he had had helped found, and done so much to secure. “The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for giving to Mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy,” Washington wrote, “a policy worthy of imitation.” He continued:

All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection, should demean themselves as good citizens. [...]

May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.

Full Story: Think Progress » Flashback: George Washington in 1790 — The U.S. government ‘gives to bigotry no sanction.’.

In a love triangle that took a terrifying turn, a 45-year-old woman and her lover locked her 80-year-old husband in a laundry room for over a year, Agence France-Presse reports.

He was freed after one of the woman’s children reported to the police that “there was an old man at home who was dirty, who stole food and who was abused because in particular he could make (the child’s) mother angry.”

The elderly man is in stable condition but as of yet has declined to see anyone or speak about the ordeal. Police confirm that he was abused and only “ate twice a day, mostly pastries that were past their sell-by date.”

Full Story: Husband Locked In Laundry Room For A Year By Wife Half His Age And Her Lover.

We know that animals can be extremely intuitive creatures. Whether you think that snakes can sense impending natural disasters, or that a cat predicted 50 deaths at a single nursing home or that a chicken typed out winning lottery numbers on a calculator, humans invest a lot of trust in animals and increasingly acknowledge bizarre animal behavior as forecasts of the future.

Check out our slideshow of seven impressive animals that may have predicted the future. Don’t forget to vote on your favorite and, as always, tell us about your favorite animals that make predictions in the comments.

Full Story: Psychic Animals (PHOTOS).

BrewDog, the self-described maverick brewery, presented the beer — which contains a record 55 percent alcohol — inside the bodies of dead squirrels and stoats.

Animal rights activists rushed to condemn the stunt.

Full Story: Strongest ever beer served up in dead squirrels | Raw Story.

The latest curio in the ongoing exhibition of BP obfuscation comes via John Aravosis at AmericaBlog, who examined an image from BP’s website and determined it to be a fake. The image depicts BP’s “Command Center” in Houston, where ever-vigilant BP employees sit in a dark room, monitoring screens. BP’s website has been running a photo in which three men appear to be watching a ten-screen display of oil-spill footage. Here’s the thing: it’s a Photoshop job. And not just a poor one — a seemingly unnecessary one.

Here’s the one BP was running:

Full Story: BP’s Photoshopped Command Center Just The Latest In A Pattern Of Deception.

The ghostly vessel emerged from the mud earlier this week, its hull and deck virtually complete and still equipped with an anchor. But with sudden exposure to air wreaking havoc on the wood, archaeologists are hurrying to examine their find.

“Once water logged, it preserves well, but once exposed to the air, as it dries out, it starts to disintegrate. It loses its structure,” New York State parks department archaeologist Doug Mackey told AFP.

Full Story: New York races to uncover Ground Zero ‘mystery ship’ | Raw Story.

Vice President Joe Biden had to convince a skeptical Jay Leno on Friday that the United States didn’t get a raw deal from Russia in the biggest spy swap since the Cold War.

Leno asked Biden during a taping of “The Tonight Show” why the U.S. was sending 10 accused spies back to Russia while getting only four in return.

“That doesn’t seem fair,” Leno said.

“We got back four really good ones,” Biden reassured Leno. “And the 10, they’ve been here a long time, but they hadn’t done much.”

Leno then showed a sultry photo of alleged Russian agent Anna Chapman and asked: “Are our spies this hot?”

Full Story: Biden on spy swap: ‘I thought they’d take Rush Limbaugh’ | Raw Story.

Osadchy is ready to pay a small fortune to freeze his brain until future technology allows him to continue his life — after being transplanted into a new body and resuscitated.

“Why do I have to die in a couple decades? I don’t see any logic in this,” Osadchy told AFP. “It won’t be another life, it’ll be the continuation of my life.

“I don’t ever want to die ever. Not in a year, not in a million years.”

Full Story: AFP: Brain freezer in Russia claims secret of eternal life.

On Sunday, the Salem witches will give it a shot.

The Temple of Nine Wells, a local Wiccan and pagan group, will conduct an “ocean blessing and healing” ceremony at 11:30 a.m. at Waikiki Beach on Winter Island. Many of the city’s Wiccan high priests and high priestesses are hoping to raise local awareness about the present state of the oceans and send out “magickal healing energy.”

“As we are all now aware, the world’s oceans are presently in great peril,” Marc Delaney, public relations director for the Temple of Nine Wells, said in a statement. “Drilling rig accidents and tanker disasters dump vast quantities of toxic crude oil into the sea, jeopardizing fish, birds, marine mammals and polluting shorelines …”

Full Story: Witches turn their attention to BP oil spill » Local News » SalemNews.com, Salem, MA.

A RAW STORY investigation has revealed that a report released by the Pentagon last April on the progress of the Afghanistan “surge” included only a single passing reference to a survey that is now being touted as having discovered mineral resources in that nation potentially worth $1 trillion.

The lack of any mention of dramatic new discoveries is likely to reinforce suspicions that there is something bogus about the claim in last Sunday’s New York Times that “the United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself.”

Full Story: Pentagon report in April never mentioned $1 trillion in Afghan wealth | Raw Story.

Interestingly, the pledge was written by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist Socialist minister. He wrote the original Pledge in August 1892 as a tribute to the 400th anniversary of Columbus' “discovery” of the continent and for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. It was meant to bring a sense of national solidarity to schoolchildren and citizens. His original pledge also included the word equality alongside liberty and justice. It was not included in the official pledge. It should be noted the official pledge was adopted prior to both Civil and Woman's Rights in America.

If we are truly a inclusive country, with liberty, justice and equality for all, the pledge should revert to it's original form.

Kennedy spent 47 years as one of the liberal champions of the U.S. Senate, focusing on health care and civil rights, carrying on the political legacy of his slain brothers.

While some of the threats against him appeared to be nonpolitical, they also originated from members of radical groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, “Minutemen” organizations and the National Socialist White People’s Party.

The senator wrote in his memoir about his fears of being killed in the wake of the assassinations of his brothers President John F. Kennedy Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy Jr. in 1963 and 1968 respectively.

Full Story: FBI files reveal Ted Kennedy death threats, plots | Reuters.

This weekend, the National League’s Chicago Cubs are facing off against their crosstown American League rivals, the Chicago White Sox. The interleague showdown is being sponsored by BP. The British company signed a three-year deal with the teams on April 26, just days after the oil disaster in the Gulf occurred.

BP’s sponsorship of the games features broad dissemination of their company logo and includes the presentation of an official trophy — the “BP Crosstown Cup” — to the victor:

Full Story: Think Progress » Chicago Fans Boo Presentation Of ‘BP Crosstown Cup’ At Cubs/White Sox Baseball Game.

Full Story: After keeping us waiting for a century, Mark Twain will finally reveal all – News, Books – The Independent.

Media outlets across the Northwest United States began reporting on April 24 that a strange, previously unknown strain of virulent airborne fungi that has already killed at least six people in Oregon, Washington and Idaho is spreading throughout the region. The fungus, according to expert microbiologists, who have expressed alarm about the emergence of the strain, is a new genotype of Cryptococcus gatti fungi. Cryptococcus gatti is normally found in tropical and subtropical locations in India, South America, Africa and Australia. Microbiologists in the United States are reporting that the strain found here, for reasons not yet fully understood, is far deadlier than any found overseas.

Physicians in the Pacific Northwest are reporting that an undetermined number of people in the region are ill from the effects of the strange strain. Physicians also say that the virulent strain can infect domestic animals as well as humans, and symptoms do not appear until anywhere from two to four months after exposure. Symptoms in humans include a lingering cough, sharp chest pains, fever, night-sweats, weight-loss, headaches and shortness of breath. The strain can be treated successfully, if detected early enough, with oral doses of antifungal medication, but it cannot be prevented, and there is no preventative vaccine. Undiagnosed, the fungus works its way into the spinal fluid and central nervous system and causes fatal meningitis.

The estimated mortality rate is about 25 percent of 21 cases analyzed. Several newspapers and media outlets in the US and overseas quote a researcher at Duke University's Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Edmond Byrnes, as stating: “This novel fungus is worrisome because it appears to be a threat to otherwise healthy people. Typically, we see this fungal disease associated with transplant recipients and HIV-infected patients, but that is not what we are seeing.”

Full Story: t r u t h o u t | Mystery Disease Linked to Missing Israeli Scientist.

The chief suspect in the case of the failed Times Square car bombing is Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad, who has confessed to the plot. Much of the media has latched onto Shahzad’s Muslim faith and his Pakistani identity, making inflammatory remarks and suggestions about Muslims and Pakistanis:

– CNN contributor and Redstate.com blogger Erick Erickson complained that the words “muslim” and “Islam” are “not mentioned” enough in stories about Shahzad. He wrote, “It really is pathetic that you’re more likely to see the words “racist” and “Republican” together in the newspaper these days than “terrorism” and “Islam.” [5/4/2010]

– Hate radio host Neal Boortz tweeted, “OMG! The Times Square Bomber is a Muslim! Shocker! Who would have believed it?” [5/4/2010]

Full Story: Think Progress » Media Ignore The Fact That Man Who Alerted Police To Failed Times Square Bombing Is A Muslim Immigrant.

Mike rants furiously about the disappearance of the republicans and teabaggers, now that financial reform blocking, a racist bill in Arizona and oil spills are on the table for them to shout against. Yeah, right…

Speaking on a Seattle radio show on Friday, cartoonist Molly Norris said she announced her idea as a way of countering the fear exhibited by Comedy Central in censoring episode 201 of South Park.

At the South Park Studios website, a message was posted that notes, “After we delivered the show, and prior to broadcast, Comedy Central placed numerous additional audio bleeps throughout the episode. We do not have network approval to stream our original version of the show.”

Full Story: Seattle cartoonist: May 20 is ‘Everybody Draw Mohammed Day’ | Raw Story.

To quote “The Theme From Mr. Ed”: “A horse is a horse, of course, of course.”

But that blanket statement is simply not fair to a 17-year-old thoroughbred gelding in Chino Hills, Calif., who is being touted as the smartest horse in the world for the many amazing feats he’s been able to master: 35 in all.

His name is Lukas and, although he doesn’t talk like Mr. Ed or Francis the Talking Mule, his owner and trainer, Karen Murdock, believes he should be given full credit for his high equine IQ.

Full Story: World’s Smartest Horse Lukas Is No Smart-Ass – AOL News.

Full Story: Divya Gugnani: Restaurant Secrets: 5 Things Your Server Won’t Tell You.

Jean-Louis Etienne traveled 3,130 kilometeres (1,945 miles) in his special balloon, sailing over the Arctic Circle.

The 63-year-old radioed his team after landing Saturday, expressing relief “because there were difficult moments and I was starting to lose sleep.” The landing had been set for Alaska, but Etienne had to change course after a snowstorm Wednesday near the North Pole hindered the recharging of batteries via solar panels.

Full Story: Jean-Louis Etienne: Explorer Completes First Arctic Balloon Crossing.

The poll questioned 23,000 adults in 22 countries and found that more than 40 per cent of people from India and China believe that alien life exists with a human facade on this planet.

European respondents in the survey were more sceptical with only eight per cent of people from Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands convinced that life from outer space exists on earth.

Men were more likely to believe in extra-terrestrial life than women with 22 per cent convinced compared to 17 per cent of women.

Full Story: One in five adults believe aliens are on earth, disguised as humans – Telegraph.

* No warfare between Israel and Iran, at least not until November.

* Six very large earthquakes are yet to come during the rest of 2010.

* A major tipping point will occur between November 8th – 11th, 2010, followed by a 2-3 month release period. This tipping point appears to be US-centric, and could be a dramatic world-changing event like 9-11 that will have rippling after-effects. The collapse of the dollar might occur in November.

* From July 8th, 2010 onward, civil unrest will take place, possibly driven by food prices skyrocketing, and the devaluation of the dollar.

* A second depression, triggered by mass layoffs, bankruptcies, and the popping of the “derivatives bubble,” will see people moving out of cities.

* After March 2011, the revolution wave will settle down into a period of reformation.

* A “data gap” has been found between early 2012 running through May 2013. One explanation is that “our civilization gets knocked back to a pre-electronic state,” such as brought about by devastating solar activity.

* A new benign form of capitalism will emerge during 2017-2020.

Full Story: Web Bot Predictions

Hagel is a distinguished professor at Georgetown University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha and is Chairman of the Atlantic Council. He is Co-Chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and a member of the Secretary of Defense’s Policy Board and the Secretary of Energy’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future.

Hagel served two terms in the United States Senate (1997-2009) representing the state of Nebraska. Hagel was a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and the Intelligence Committee. Prior to his election, Hagel was president of McCarthy & Company, an investment banking firm in Omaha, Nebraska.

Full Story: Senator Chuck Hagel and John G. Stumpf Nominated to Chevron Board of Directors – MarketWatch.

A Colorado woman who won $42.9 million off a penny slot machine saw her jackpot disappear when the casino said the payout message was an error.

Now Colorado gaming authorities are trying to find out what caused the phony fortune.

The false jackpot message went to Louise Chavez Friday while she was playing penny slots in the Fortune Valley Casino in Central City. The machine announced she’d won $42.9 million – a far richer sum than the posted top prize of $251,000.

Fortune Valley doesn’t dispute that the machine told Chavez she’d won millions. But the casino says workers immediately told the gambler the message was an error and reported the mistake to the Colorado Division of Gaming, which regulates casinos.

Full Story: Fortune Valley Casino Says $43 Million Slot Machine Payout Was A Mistake, Refuses To Pay.

In some cases in California as much as 40% of the listed weight of seafood was from an ice glaze used to preserve the product, the National Conference on Weights and Measures finds.

Some California consumers may have been paying for a whole lot of ice, instead of seafood, according to an investigation that included inspections in 17 states.

In some cases, a coating of ice glaze applied to frozen seafood to preserve quality during storage and distribution has been included as part of the labeled weight of seafood, according to the National Conference on Weights and Measures. The multi-agency investigation found ice in some cases accounted for up to 40% of the product’s weight.

The investigation was prompted by the National Fisheries Institute, a seafood industry group, over concerns of unfair competition by companies using the illegal labeling method.

Full Story: Ice included in seafood price – latimes.com.

The movie was a sci-fi bomb based on a novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and starred John Travolta.

Shapiro came about the project in 1994 by reading that the Scientology Center was a “great place to meet women.” He found it wasn’t, but he ended up meeting Karen Hollander, president of the center, who was a fan of the Shapiro-penned “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” She suggested a movie based on a book by Hubbard.

He agreed, dined with John Travolta, wrote and sold a script to studios that he was proud of, and then had that script radically altered.

But first he tried Scientology:

Full Story: ‘Battlefield Earth’ Screenwriter Writes Hilarious Open Apology.

Black America and “progressives” lurched into self-imposed irrelevancy at precisely the time that finance capital was swallowing the American state whole. Barack Obama is the Great Facilitator of Wall Street’s desperate effort to loot itself out of oblivion. Disaster is certain if we remain without a movement that confronts both the banksters and Obama.

Glen Ford delivered the following remarks to a panel discussion of the Left Forum, at Pace University, New York City, on March 20. The discussion was titled, “Race and Recession: Will a Rising Tide Lift All Boats?

“What we have witnessed since the Fall of 2008, is the swallowing whole of the American state, by finance capital.”

The old, rich man’s slogan, “A rising tide lifts all boats” – that Obama now claims as his own – has been discredited from any number of angles. I’d like to add another layer of contempt.

The phrase takes for granted, as a truism, that you can count on the economic tides rolling in, and then rolling out again, like the ocean. The phrase takes for granted that this system, with its ups and downs, is as permanent as the tides. The implication is that we are simply in a deep downturn in the economy – a cyclical situation – that will inevitably, at some point, lead to an upturn, like the tide coming back in. So, when one says that “A rising tide lifts all boats,” in addition to promising the poor that something better will be coming to them with the next upturn in the cycle, you are also expressing confidence that this capitalist system is eternal – as permanent as the push and pull of the tides.

Full Story: Obama: Inside Man for the Greatest Heist in History | Black Agenda Report.

A chauffeur initially was at the wheel, but Sawant said he had taken over driving before the fire broke out. Tata has offered Sawant a replacement Nano or a refund.

“My wife now doesn’t want to buy any car,” Sawant said by phone from his home in northern Mumbai on Thursday. “She doesn’t even want to go for a Mercedes.”

Full Story: Tata Nano EXPLODES In Mumbai, Automaker Confronts Safety Concerns Over $2,500 Car.

* Satire *

“The good Lord has smiled on us,” said Carlton Bolton, the president and CEO of Hallelujah Press, a subsidiary of Halliburton, which received an exclusive no-bid contract to manufacture the new Bibles.

Fresh from their recent success in passing laws to rewrite school history textbooks to drop discussions of FDR and unions in favor of what they called conservative intellectuals such as George W. Bush, Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber, the Texas Legislature passed a law that all Bibles in the state must be updated.

“The Bible was obviously written by Jewish liberals from New York,” said Candace Sue Burnham (R-Plano). “So it’s time we Christians take our Bible back to stress true family values such as hating gays, illegal Mexicans, Muslims and especially hating illegal gay Mexican Muslims.”

“The current version of the Bible is riddled with communist propaganda about Jesus helping the poor,” said Wayne Plugg (R-San Angelo).”That’s obviously hogwash because if Jesus loved those poor people so much, he would have made them rich.”

Full Story: Citizens For Legitimate Government.

Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan said Friday the ministry’s recent investigation into a 1969 bilateral accord confirmed that the financial settlement Japan made with the U.S. to end its occupation of Okinawa was larger and more complex than previously acknowledged and included a secret non-interest deposit the government and the Bank of Japan kept at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The deposit totaled $103 million during much of its life before the two nations agreed to lower it to an unsubstantial sum of $3 million in 1999. The deposit was counted as part of Japan’s official foreign reserves and consisted of dollars the Japanese government received from the Okinawans in exchange for yen in 1972 when the U.S. ended its post-war occupation of the southern Japanese island. The non-interest deposit amounted to a de-facto financial payment, as the U.S. was free to manage the money to generate returns. U.S. embassy press officers couldn’t be reached for comment

Full Story: Japan Acknowledges Kept Secret Deposit With The Fed.

OK, lets get started by defining socialism: socialism is, by definition, something you don’t want. Its that simple and all you really need to remember but, of course, there is a complex academic explanation which goes like this: Americans don’t want socialism because the government does it.

Now that you understand socialism, its really very easy to understand capitalism. The definition of capitalism is something that you do want. Again its that simple, Occam’s Razor! Again, this being an academic sort of paper, I should add that capitalism is something that you want because the government doesn’t do it. It’s so simple isn’t it?

Here’s a trick for remembering the difference between socialism and capitalism: S is for Socialism and Satan and C is for Capitalism and Christ; Satan was a socialist and Christ was a capitalist or would have been if he wasn’t under the thumb of that heathen Roman empire run by oligarchs.

Now, with such powerful definitions you may be asking: what else do I need to know? However, it is incumbent on me, this being a scientific paper and all, to provide some background data and some examples of what I’m saying.

Full Story: Understanding Capitalism versus Socialism | The Agonist.

… sarcasm, or reductio ad absurdum to be precise. The argument draws the opposing viewpoint to its valid, if extreme, conclusion in order to point out the logical flaws

You know what we need to juice up the performance of our weak economy? Viagra.

Yes, America needs a new Viagra, specifically targeted to stiffen backbones — in particular, the limp backbones of Barack Obama’s team, as well as the flaccid spines of Democratic congressional leaders. Where’s the drug industry when we really need it?

The Obama-ites seem incapable of firm stands. They excite us by boldly addressing our economic woes, then they seduce us by proposing stout actions. But when it comes time to follow through — it’s droopsville.

Full Story: Stiffening the Backbones of Democrats by Jim Hightower on Creators.com – A Syndicate Of Talent.

Klee Brasserie chef Daniel Angerer has started using his wife’s breast milk to create “Mommy Milk Cheese” and is making it available to any willing patrons.

Angerer has posted a recipe for the daring dairy product on his blog so any new parents can make their own.

Full Story: Breast Milk Cheese Offered By Chef Daniel Angerer (VIDEO).

Instead of tearing down our country, we ought to be building it up.

We should rebuild our manufacturing base, based on clean energy, high-speed trains, bio-medical research, and other 21st century endeavors. We should promote research and development. We should promote small business and American innovation.

We must rebuild our infrastructure – not just our roads and bridges, but our schools and homes which need to become energy-efficient. We should end our addiction to oil and gas as soon as we can, with clean solar and wind energy.

Full Story: A government that does not promote a strong, just and fair economy for the American people is not doing its job | BuzzFlash.org.

Come April, Minnesotans will be watching the Twins in the sunlight, in a beautiful little bandbox of a new ballpark

We have a good guy in the White House, a smart man of judicious temperament and profound ideals, a man with a sweet private life, a man of dignity and good humor, whose enemies, waving their hairy arms and legs, woofing, yelling absurdities, only make him look taller. Washington, being a company town, feasts on gossip, but I think the Democratic Party, skittish as it is, full of happy blather, somehow has brought forth a champion. This should please anyone who loves this country, and as for the others, let them chew on carpets and get what nourishment they can. End of sermonette.

The beauty part of my week (not that you asked) was a visit to the warehouse district north of downtown Minneapolis where, in my boyhood, I used to ride my bike past printing plants and barrelworks, small factories, a slaughterhouse, lumberyards, auto salvage yards, fascinated by the sight of men at work, and where, now, a new ballpark has arisen where, on April 12, though we are still knee-deep in snow, the Minnesota Twins will open the 2010 campaign, against the mighty Red Sox and their nation.

Full Story: Play ball! – Baseball – Salon.com.

Despite no reported accidents or injuries, here's everything you need to know about the big Nissan recall announced today.

540,000 cars have been recalled by Nissan Motor over faulty brake pedal issues that may also affect the fuel gauge.

As the AFP reports this morning, the recall covers “the Titan, Armada and Infiniti QX56 built from 2005 to 2008, and the Frontier, Pathfinder and Xterra produced between January and March 2006 and between October 2007 and January 2008.” The brake pedals could have faulty components that can cause the pedals to wobble, AFP reported.

Full Story: Nissan Recall 2010: 540K Vehicles Recalled Over Brake Pedal Problems.

OPS: Could all of this Recalling be due to lack of oversight? Deregulation? Conservative Ideology?

Officials at the Federal Aviation Administration and a union representing air traffic controllers at John F. Kennedy International Airport may have mouthed the legendary words of Ted Striker.

Surely you can’t be serious.

Both released statements to My Fox Boston condemning the behavior and indicating that the employees involved are no longer controlling air traffic pending the outcome of an investigation. FAA officials have confirmed the authenticity of the audio to the station. The child apparently made five transmissions.

Full Story: Child Directs Airplane Traffic At JFK, FAA Investigates (AUDIO).

The mantra du jour is that Obama hasn’t undone ‘Bush’. Ergo, Obama is just as evil as is Bush, or Bush Sr, or Ronald Reagan. Not so and not possible! It’s a false analogy that misses the point; it is strategy designed to deflect attention from the endemic corruption of the right wing party –the GOP; It is a false analogy that might have been tested in a focus group on K-Street. It has certainly caught on as do many another ‘successful’ mantra, slogan, or buzzword. And just as worthless!

One of my recent critics had clearly caught the ‘but Obama is just as bad as Bush’ virus and posted the following comment:

I used to really enjoy your blog when W was in the White house – most of your commentary was spot on (except for the part about Bush being an idiot – I don’t give damn who his father is, the USAF does NOT let morons fly jet fighter planes)

Flying an airplane is not evidence of political genius. I have known lots of pilots and would not trust one of them to run the nation, supervise a federal budget or negotiate a peace with a nuclear power.

Full Story: The Existentialist Cowboy: Shoveling Shit in Lousiana?.

A classified review of the United States Secret Service‘s computer technology found that the agency’s computers were fully operational only 60 percent of the time because of outdated systems and a reliance on a computer mainframe that dates to the 1980s, according to Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

“We have here a premiere law enforcement organization in our country which is responsible for the security of the president and the vice president and other officials of our government, and they have to have better IT than they have,” said Lieberman, who is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

Sources tell ABC News that the Secret Service was so plagued by computer problems that the agency invited the National Security Agency to formally review its information technology systems. The Secret Service’s databases are outdated and users are at times unable to conduct searches from one system to another.

Full Story: U.S. Secret Service Using Outdated Computer Mainframe System from the 1980s – ABC News.

Her works treated as gospel by right-wing powerhouses like Alan Greenspan and Clarence Thomas, Ayn Rand found early inspiration 1920s murderer William Hickman.

There’s something deeply unsettling about living in a country where millions of people froth at the mouth at the idea of giving health care to the tens of millions of Americans who don’t have it, or who take pleasure at the thought of privatizing and slashing bedrock social programs like Social Security or Medicare. It might not be as hard to stomach if other Western countries also had a large, vocal chunk of the population who thought like this, but the US is seemingly the only place where right-wing elites can openly share their distaste for the working poor. Where do they find their philosophical justification for this kind of attitude?

It turns out, you can trace much of this thinking back to Ayn Rand, a popular cult-philosopher who exerts a huge influence over much of the right-wing and libertarian crowd, but whose influence is only starting to spread out of the US.

One reason why most countries don’t find the time to embrace her thinking is that Ayn Rand is a textbook sociopath. Literally a sociopath: Ayn Rand, in her notebooks, worshiped a notorious serial murderer-dismemberer, and used this killer as an early model for the type of “ideal man” that Rand promoted in her more famous books — ideas which were later picked up on and put into play by major right-wing figures of the past half decade, including the key architects of America’s most recent economic catastrophe — former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan and SEC Commissioner Chris Cox — along with other notable right-wing Republicans such as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Rush Limbaugh, and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

Full Story: Ayn Rand, Hugely Popular Author and Inspiration to Right-Wing Leaders, Was a Big Admirer of Serial Killer | Books | AlterNet.

The mild-mannered fraud investigator’s new book, “No One Would Listen”, is set for release next week, with a foreword by short-seller and Greenlight Capital president David Einhorn who calls Markopolos a “hero.”

Super-Whistleblower’s Other Cases

Or you can just call Markopolos the super-whistleblower. Among the revelations in the book, he writes that the Madoff case is just the tip of the iceberg of his multiple probes of financial shenanigans:

Full Story: Madoff Whistleblower Book: Claims He Uncovered State Street Fraud, Thought About Killing Madoff.

Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc agreed on Wednesday to take steps to help inconvenienced owners of more than 500,000 recalled vehicles in New York state, prompting other states to seek similar deals.

Under a program announced by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the U.S. arm of Toyota Motor Corp promised expedited repairs and other “special accommodations” to New York residents who bought Toyota vehicles from dealers in that state.

Toyota agreed to pick up and return vehicles slated for repair, provide alternative transportation such as rental cars or taxi reimbursement while owners are “unable or unwilling” to use their vehicles, and arrange for the transport of owners to their dealerships or workplaces, Cuomo said.

The special assistance package, to be provided at no cost to vehicle owners or dealers, was unveiled as Toyota President Akio Toyoda prepared to testify before the U.S. Congress.

Full Story: Toyota recall pact with NY sought by other states | Reuters.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood testified, however, that the possibility of an electronic problem couldn’t be ruled out.

At a hearing mixed with harrowing personal testimony and precise technical explanations, James Lentz, the president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., admitted to a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that the Japanese automaker hasn’t “lived up to the high standards that our customers and the public have come to expect from Toyota.

Full Story: Recall may not solve problem, Toyota executive tells Congress | McClatchy.

David Lindorff -

The deliberate suicide crash bombing by a domestic terrorist pilot of a small plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas has exposed a grave failure of the Homeland Security Department to protect us Americans from the threat posed by the virtually unregulated use in this country of small aircraft.

Just about anyone can own and fly a small plane, and these, as we have now seen, are readily adaptable into kamikazi missiles capable of destroying large buildings.

If Homeland Security won’t act, then it is up to Congress to move quickly to tighten up security and control over small planes. We need to insist that anyone seeking a pilot’s license first submit to a full screening by the FBI. No one with a criminal record of any kind should be permited to fly or ride in a small plane. The same should be true with regard to all foreigners. Since it’s not possible to do a full check of the background of persons from other countries, only US citizens should be able to obtain and fly small aircraft within US airspace.

All civil air pilots and their passengers should be required to pass through meal detectors before entering an airfield. We don’t want them carrying hand grenades or other weapons onto their planes. Planes should also be subject to full searches by specially trained government inspectors before takeoff to be sure they have not been packed with explosives.

Full Story Wake Up America: The Looming Threat of Terrorists in Small Aircraft… and Cars | CommonDreams.org.

OPS:  So now we have to take away guns a Civilian aircraft and …… cars.   It’s only ‘logical’  

PS: Don’t forget that bicycles have been used also. Better get them while were at it

Despite pressure from some lawmakers, President Akio Toyoda said he won’t be attending the U.S. congressional hearing on the automaker’s quality lapses, entrusting the job to U.S.-based executives — though would consider an appearance if the committee requests it. He said he wanted to focus on improving quality worldwide.

“I trust that our officials in the U.S. will amply answer the questions,” Toyoda said Wednesday in his third news conference in two weeks. “We are sending the best people to the hearing, and I hope to back up the efforts from headquarters.”

Full Story Toyota probes Corolla steering, considers recall – Yahoo! News.

Sink the Bismarck!’s 41% ABV renders it more alcoholic than whiskey or vodka. BrewDog has preempted the expected accusations of irresponsibility from British alcohol awareness groups, and explains that the beer should be consumed responsibly, “in spirit-sized measures.”

Full Story Sink the Bismarck!: Brewery Releases World’s Strongest Beer At 41% ABV.

A New York doctor claims that he was booted from a Spirit Airlines flight for asking for water for his pregnant wife on Sunday.

Mitchell Roslin, the Chief of Obesity Surgery at Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital, says that after being grounded at LaGuardia Airport for two hours in a hot plane his attempts to get water for his 7-month pregnant wife were repeatedly refused.

Roslin informed the New York Post that flight attendants told him that it was “against corporate policy” to give him water before the plane was in the air.

Full Story Pregnant Woman, Husband Kicked Off Spirit Airlines Flight For Asking For Water.

Soon enough, in 2008, a jazz band was playing at what amounted to a mortgage-burning party for the $4 million town house.

Most political groups in Washington would have been barred by law from accepting that kind of direct aid from corporations. But by taking advantage of political finance laws, the caucus has built a fund-raising juggernaut unlike anything else in town.

Full Story In Black Caucus, a Fund-Raising Powerhouse – NYTimes.com.

Moments later two red lights broke through the low clouds, heading almost directly toward the ground. It was a light aircraft, and for a second, as it descended below the tree line, the man thought it would climb back up. Instead, there was a terrible thud, and the sky turned orange. When the fire crews arrived, they found the burning wreckage of a Piper Saratoga strewn across a vacant lot. The plane had narrowly missed a house, but the explosion was so intense that the home’s plastic siding was on fire. So was the grass. The pilot had been thrown from the plane and died instantly. Body parts and pieces of twisted metal were scattered everywhere. A prayer book lay open on the ground, its pages on fire.

The crash would have remained a private tragedy confined to the pages of the local press and the hearts of the pilot’s widow and four children, but within days the blogosphere was abuzz with rumors and conspiracy theories: The plane, it was said, had been sabotaged and the pilot murdered to cover up the GOP’s alleged theft of the Ohio vote in the 2004 presidential election. At the center of this plot was the Saratoga’s pilot, a prodigiously gifted IT expert named Michael Connell, whose altar boy charm and technical brilliance had made him the computer whiz of choice for the Republican Party. Left-wing Web sites openly referred to Connell as “Bush’s vote rigger” and claimed that his fingerprints were on all the most controversial elections in recent history. There were dark whispers of electronic pulses or sniper fire being used to bring down the plane—a black ops attack designed to keep him from testifying against his former cronies. Right-wing bloggers and talk show hosts derided such claims as the twisted delusions of liberal nut jobs and tinfoil hatters. The mainstream press sat on its hands.

But while the rumors, innuendos, and allegations continue to swirl through the ether, evidence has recently emerged that suggests the Ohio vote may have been hacked, and that Connell was involved.

Born in 1963 in Peoria, Illinois into a large Irish-American family, Michael Connell was a lifelong Republican and a devout Roman Catholic who went to Mass every day and wore a wristband saying what would jesus do? What Connell did was realize the potential of the Internet to shape politics. While still in his 20s, he worked as finance director for Republican Congressman Jim Leach, and as director of voter programs for Senator Dan Coats of Indiana. In 1988 Connell developed a voter contact database for George H. W. Bush, thus inaugurating a long association with the Bush family: Connell worked on Jeb’s gubernatorial campaign in Florida in 1998; two years later he was the chief architect of George W. Bush’s Web site as Dubya launched his bid for the White House.

But it was while serving as tech guru to Karl Rove that Connell developed his deepest and perhaps most problematic professional relationship. Recruited in the late ’80s, Connell became Rove’s most trusted cyberlieutenant: a Web wizard who could turn portals into power and who would gain access to the very heights of American politics by the time he reached 30 years old. Connell’s two Ohio-based companies, New Media Communications and GovTech, became virtual research and development labs for the Republican Party, building and managing Web sites and e-mail accounts for both Presidents Bush and a long list of leading Republicans. GovTech also designed and managed numerous Congressional IT systems, including those for the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees, putting Connell “behind 
the fire wall” of some of the most sensitive gov–ernment Web sites from the safety of the Bush White House.

“Mike was known as the GOP’s Mister Fix-It,” says Stephen Spoonamore, an IT security expert and friend of Connell’s. “He built really intelligent tools that allowed people who wanted to win elections do a better job organizing their data.” But aside from his more legitimate business, Connell was no stranger to the darker side of American politics. He was forced to resign from Senator Coats’ campaign for his involvement in ethical violations. Connell’s was also the hand behind the Web site for the notorious Swift Boat Veterans’ for Truth smear campaign against John Kerry and GWB43.com, the secret e-mail account used by Rove and dozens of other White House staffers.

Full Story The Mysterious Death of Bush’s Cyber-Guru | Maxim.com.

The couple had only met a few times during their courtship. Each of these times the woman had worn a niqab, an Islamic veil that covers most of the face.

After the marriage contract was signed in Dubai, the ambassador tried to kiss his new wife. However, as he removed the veil, he was shocked at what he saw.

“He was absolutely horrified,” a guest said. “The bride had a nice personality, but there was a good reason why she was hiding her looks behind a veil.”

Full Story Ambassador Discovers Bride Is Bearded, Cross-Eyed Behind Veil.

“I don’t see Toyota as an infallible company that never makes mistakes,” President Akio Toyoda said at a news conference Tuesday. “We will face up to the facts and correct the problem, putting customers’ safety and convenience first.”

The number of vehicles recalled globally by Toyota Motor Corp. now has ballooned to 8.5 million, including for floor mats that can trap gas pedals and faulty gas pedals that are slow to return to the idle position. The 2010 model of the Prius – the world’s top-selling hybrid and Japan’s top-selling car – wasn’t part of the earlier recalls.

There have been about 200 complaints in Japan and the U.S. about a delay when the brakes in the Prius were pressed in cold conditions and on some bumpy roads. The delay doesn’t indicate a brake failure. The company says the problem can be fixed in 40 minutes with new software that oversees the controls of the antilock brakes.

“Let me assure everyone that we will redouble our commitment to quality as the lifeline of our company,” Toyoda said.

Full Story Toyota Prius Recall 2010: Company Begins Worldwide Brake Recall On Flagship Hybrid.

Full Story 13 Things NOT To Get Your Valentine This Year (PHOTOS).

“Have you given any thought to moving beyond the bedroom?” patrons were asked in a not-too-subtle promotional e-mail.

The individual bathrooms will be open for sexual escapades from the 12-15th February. According to the manager, Rory Gallagher, a french maid will be working the toilets, making sure everything is “going smoothly and kept clean.”

“We’ve always had little trysts in our bathrooms,” co-owner Donna Dooher told The Toronto Star. “We’re taking it to the next level on Valentine’s weekend.” She added that customers are expected to bring their own condoms.

Full Story Mildred’s Temple Kitchen, Canadian Restaurant, Encourages Customers To Have Sex In Its Bathrooms.

OPS: THE spot for a Nooner

Comcast will remain as the corporate name, but the company will emphasize Xfinity in advertisements and on 24,000 service trucks and thousands of employee uniforms.

The new brand name will first appear in Comcast ads, around the time of the Winter Olympics, in Philadelphia and 10 other markets and will then appear in Comcast’s cable-franchise areas in other parts of the country.

Full Story Comcast unveils new brand name and logo | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/04/2010.

The nation which survived the Cold War and rallied after 9/11 may have its global power greatly eradicated by this fiscal crisis

Economic historian Niall Ferguson, writing for Newsweek, believes that the United States may be entering an unprecedented period in its history. After successfully surviving the best that the 20th century had to throw at it, it may be undone from within by its own largesse and mismanagement.

The nation which survived the Cold War and rallied after 9/11 may have its global power greatly eradicated by this fiscal crisis.

During the past generation, the U.S. has built itself up as the preeminent world power. In terms of military, economic, and diplomatic power the U.S. reigned supreme. Now however, those positions are being challenged from within.

Full Story An Empire At Risk | Economy In Crisis.

The bombs would be surgically implanted into men’s buttocks and women’s breasts, and could evade traditional airport security. According to The Daily Mail, MI5 became aware of the threat due to chatter on ‘Arab websites’ earlier this year.

he Daily Mail article reports:

Experts said the explosive PETN (Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate) would be placed in a plastic sachet inside the bomber’s body before the wound was stitched up like a normal operation incision and allowed to heal.

Full Story Surgically Implanted Bombs: The Next Terror Threat? (VIDEO).

Researcher Lorianne Updike Toler was intrigued by the centuries-old document at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

On the back of a treasured draft of the U.S. Constitution was a truncated version of the same document, starting with the familiar words: “We The People. . . .”

They had been scribbled upside down by one of the Constitution’s framers, James Wilson, in the summer of 1787. The cursive continued, then abruptly stopped, as if pages were missing.

A mystery, Toler thought, until she examined other Wilson papers from the Historical Society’s vault in Philadelphia and found what appeared to be the rest of the draft, titled “The Continuation of the Scheme.”

Full Story Early draft of the Constitution found in Phila. | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/02/2010.

Reporting from Washington – President Obama has found another long-lost cousin: Scott Brown, the Republican state senator from Massachusetts who won the Senate seat long held by the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

The president and the senator-elect are 10th cousins, according to the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Brown’s victory Jan. 19 over Democratic candidate Martha Coakley cost the Democrats their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and may have jeopardized passage of Obama’s top legislative priority — a healthcare overhaul.

Full Story Family link is found between Obama and Scott Brown – latimes.com.

That explains why Prime Minister Netanyahu is leading Zionism’s hysterical call for the world to stop demonizing Israel.

At the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem on 25 January, he said: “There is evil in the world, and it doesn’t stop, it spreads. There is a new call to destroy the Jewish state. It’s our problem but not only our problem. This (the re-emergence and growth of anti-Semitism according to Netanyahu) is a crime against the Jews, and a crime against humanity, and it is a test of humanity.”

Full Story Dissident Voice : Anti-Israelism: Why Zionism Doesn’t and Can’t Get It.

I just learned that my friend Howard Zinn died today. Earlier this morning, I was being interviewed by the Boston Phoenix, in connection with the release in Boston in February of a documentary in which he is featured prominently. The interviewer asked me who my own heroes were, and I had no hesitation in answering, first, “Howard Zinn.”

Just weeks ago after watching the film on December 7, I woke up the next morning thinking that I had never told him how much he meant to me. For once in my life, I acted on that thought in a timely way. I sent him an e-mail in which I said, among other things, what I had often told others about him: that he was,” in my opinion, the best human being I’ve ever known. The best example of what a human can be, and can do with their life.”

Our first meeting was at Faneuil Hall in Boston in early 1971, where we both spoke against the indictments of Eqbal Ahmad and Phil Berrigan for “conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger,” from which we marched with the rest of the crowd to make Citizens’ Arrests at the Boston office of the FBI. Later that spring we went with our affinity group (including Noam Chomsky, Cindy Fredericks, Marilyn Young, Mark Ptashne, Zelda Gamson, Fred Branfman and Mitch Goodman), to the Mayday actions blocking traffic in Washington (“If they won’t stop the war, we’ll stop the government”). Howard tells that story in the film and I tell it at greater length in my memoir, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers (pp.376-81). But for reasons of space, I had to cut out the next section in which Howard–who had been arrested in DC after most of the rest of us had gone elsewhere–came back to Boston for a rally and a blockade of the Federal Building. I’ve never published that story, so here it is, an out-take from my manuscript:

Full Story A Memory of Howard | CommonDreams.org.

Thus far, President Obama’s financial reform strategy has reeked of political expediency—talk tough to Wall Street, act gentle, ride out the populist anti-banker tide, hope for the best, change nothing. But Obama may have awakened to the smell of one-term coffee after last week’s Massachusetts Senate race results. It’s certainly heartening to see Obama eschewing the advice of Wall Street-placating Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for that of the sager, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Nevertheless, demonstrating the serious financial reform behind the political fluff talk will take more than a stint of administrative realignment.

Big bank stocks tanked after Obama rolled out the new Volcker rule, and mainstream media headlines attributed the declines to investor concerns that the crazy days of unregulated bank trading will be coming to an end. But the President’s actual proposals were not enough to seriously rattle anyone on Wall Street. If anything, the banks were fretting over the prospect of losing the tag-team of Geithner and Fed Chief Ben Bernanke, whose joint brainpower has showered $6.4 trillion in subsidies upon the industry.

Full Story Obama and Volcker Must Go After the Big Banks | Economy | AlterNet.

That’s how an Oxford coroner reacted to a recent ruling ordering the details of the former United Nations weapons inspector’s death locked away for 70 years, according to a Mail Online report.

Kelly’s story, however, was gravely important in 2003, just before he was found dead in the woods behind his home in Oxfordshire, U.K. As the BBC revealed in the wake of his passing, he had been the key source behind a story claiming intelligence on Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction was “sexed up.”

Hours before his death, he reportedly e-mailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller, warning her of “many dark actors playing games,” according to the BBC.

Full Story Details of Iraq whistleblower’s alleged suicide to be sealed 70 years | Raw Story.

OP:S doesn’t something like that usually mean that someone in the government was involved?

Some privacy advocates and travel groups charge that a remotely readable chip in the passports, which the State Department intends to begin issuing after a roll-out to government employees in August, could be scanned by criminals or terrorists out to target Americans.

Under current plans, the chip, called a radio-frequency ID or RFID chip, will contain the same identifying information as is printed in the passport–name, passport number, birthday, and place of birth. The data will be unencrypted, and will also include a digital picture for use with facial recognition technology.

Full Story Electronic Passports May Make Traveling Americans Targets, Critics Say – PC World.

OPS: be aware that these remotely accessible personal  data transmitters are showing up in all kinds of places

On the eve of the first anniversary of President Obama’s inauguration, it’s become painfully obvious that elected officials are not going to save us. The 2008 election was all about “Hope.” But Hope is simply not cutting it.

What we need is Hope 2.0: the realization that our system is too broken to be fixed by politicians, however well intentioned — that change is going to have to come from outside Washington.

This realization is especially resonant as we celebrate Dr. King, whose life and work demonstrate the vital importance of social movements in bringing about change. Indeed, King showed that no real change can be accomplished without a movement demanding it.

As Frederick Douglass put it: “Power never concedes anything without a demand; it never has and it never will.”

Full Story Arianna Huffington: “Hope” Has Been a Bust, It’s Time for Hope 2.0.

Labour Party general secretary Peter Watt tells how he prepared for the visit to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk.

‘En route I got a call from one of the PM’s team asking if I could make sure that there were half a dozen “obviously sick” children for Tony to meet,’ he says. ‘I spent several hours scouring hospital wards for poorly looking kids … and had them in position seconds before Tony turned up.’

Full Story Tony Blair: ‘Find me some obviously sick children’ | Mail Online.

Scott Ritter, 48, of Delmar, N.Y., engaged in a sexually graphic online chat with an undercover police officer posing as a 15-year-old girl nearly a year ago, police in northeastern Pennsylvania said. He then turned on a webcam and masturbated on camera, they charged.

Monroe County authorities traced the exchange to Ritter through a cell phone number he provided, and confirmed the match through photographs, according to a police affidavit. Charges were filed in November and the Pocono Record revealed Ritter's involvement on Thursday.

Full Story Scott Ritter Charged In Child-Sex Sting.

The way the 54-year-old automobile salesman sees it, the “empire” is about to implode and tiny Vermont can lead the way by becoming its own independent republic. So he’s running for lieutenant governor, topping a slate of secession-minded candidates seeking statewide offices this year.

Their name: Vermont Independence Day.

“The only hope is to just say, ‘Look, this isn’t working for us. We want to start fresh again, with a real democracy,’” Garritano said. “I think that’s the answer. Hopefully, it won’t take another horrible economic breakdown to realize that the people running things don’t look out for the little guy, or us, or the soldiers. It’s all about profit and getting the last drops of oil on Earth and trampling people’s rights.”

Full Story Nine Vermont state office candidates favor secession | Raw Story.

OPS: can’t wait to hear what Bernie Sanders has to say about this on Thom Hartmann’s show – Friday

Hundreds of Amish families in the region are likely to be free from that requirement.

The Amish, as well as some other religious sects, are covered by a “religious conscience” exemption, which allows people with religious objections to insurance to opt out of the mandate. It is in both the House and Senate versions of the bill, making its appearance in the final version routine unless there are last-minute objections.

Full Story Watertown Daily Times | Amish families exempt from insurance mandate.

An Audio interview:

Dan Ellsberg provides us with his analysis of Barack Obama’s presidency, shares with us what led him to cast his vote for Obama, and how and why he’s been let down and betrayed by our current president. He discusses the stark similarities between the previous administration and Obama’s Whitehouse on issues and abuses related to civil liberties, and questions the possibility of ‘hoping’ again. Mr. Ellsberg talks about his experience as a whistleblower, the futility of disclosure to Congress then and today, the current sorry state of the US media, and more!

Ellsberg Dan Ellsberg graduated from Harvard in economics in 1952, served in the US Marine Corps from 1954-57, and obtained a PhD in economics from Harvard while working for the Rand Corporation in 1962. In 1964 he joined the Defense Department to work principally on decision-making in the Vietnam War. Mr. Ellsberg precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a Top-Secret Pentagon study of US government decision-making about the Vietnam War, to the New York Times and other publications. Ellsberg has ever since campaigned for peace and encouraged others to speak truth to power.

Here is our guest Dan Ellsberg unplugged!

Full Story Sibel Edmonds’ Boiling Frogs Post | Home of the Irate Minority.

A Workbook on Bank Reserves and Deposit Expansion

The purpose of this booklet is to describe the basic process of money creation in a “fractional reserve” banking system.

This complete booklet is was originally produced and distributed free by: Public Information Center Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Introduction
The purpose of this booklet is to describe the basic process of money creation in a “fractional reserve” banking system. The approach taken illustrates the changes in bank balance sheets that occur when deposits in banks change as a result of monetary action by the Federal Reserve System – the central bank of the United States. The relationships shown are based on simplifying assumptions. For the sake of simplicity, the relationships are shown as if they were mechanical, but they are not, as is described later in the booklet. Thus, they should not be interpreted to imply a close and predictable relationship between a specific central bank transaction and the quantity of money.
The introductory pages contain a brief general description of the characteristics of money and how the U.S. money system works. The illustrations in the following two sections describe two processes: first, how bank deposits expand or contract in response to changes in the amount of reserves supplied by the central bank; and second, how those reserves are affected by both Federal Reserve actions and other factors. A final section deals with some of the elements that modify, at least in the short run, the simple mechanical relationship between bank reserves and deposit money.
Money is such a routine part of everyday living that its existence and acceptance ordinarily are taken for granted. A user may sense that money must come into being either automatically as a result of economic activity or as an outgrowth of some government operation. But just how this happens all too often remains a mystery.
What is Money?
If money is viewed simply as a tool used to facilitate transactions, only those media that are readily accepted in exchange for goods, services, and other assets need to be considered. Many things – from stones to baseball cards – have served this monetary function through the ages. Today, in the United States, money used in transactions is mainly of three kinds – currency (paper money and coins in the pockets and purses of the public); demand deposits (non-interest bearing checking accounts in banks); and other checkable deposits, such as negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts, at all depository institutions, including commercial and savings banks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions. Travelers checks also are included in the definition of transactions money. Since $1 in currency and $1 in checkable deposits are freely
convertible into each other and both can be used directly for expenditures, they are money in equal degree. However, only the cash and balances held by the nonbank public are counted in the money supply. Deposits of the U.S. Treasury, depository institutions, foreign banks and official institutions, as well as vault cash in depository institutions are excluded

ModernMoneyMechanics.pdf (application/pdf Object).

She called authorities and when deputies arrived, they found his wife’s face slightly red with a small amount of sauce on it.

Ziegler, 39, was arrested at the couple’s home in the 10300 block of Spoonbill Road West around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday and charged with domestic battery.

A web designer, he denied that he hit his wife. Bond was to be determined.

Full Story Man arrested after attacking wife with meatloaf | HeraldTribune.com | Sarasota Florida | Southwest Florida’s Information Leader.

Michael Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center since 2007, decided not to return to his agency’s “bat cave” nerve center in McLean, Va., until several days after Christmas, two U.S. officials said.

“People have been grumbling that he didn’t let a little terrorism interrupt his vacation,” said one of the sources.

The NCTC, the post-9/11 clearinghouse for intelligence to detect terror plots against the U.S., is under intense scrutiny for failing to “connect the dots” on Nigerian bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Full Story NCTC director Michael Leiter remained on ski slopes after Christmas Day airline bombing attempt.

If there is one thing you can count of from the press and politicians its to use overworn phrases like they are trained parrots repeating what they heard without ever really understanding what they mean.. How many times have we heard politicians and hack journalists use the phrase, “Sooner rather than later” and “at the end of the day”.

But ever since Condoleeza’s Rice use of the term ” we couldn’t connect the dots” in response to why she and Bush didn’t prevent 911, the press and politicians have made that the cliche used the most while not one journalist or politician including the most recent user, President Obama, has ever understood for a minute what it really meant.

They use it as if its a term of art used to describe some kind breakdown in a complicated system of far flung and disparate pieces of information that prevented someone from taking action when in truth it means exactly the opposite.

All of the irrefutable evidence ( and it IS irrefutable) is that Bush, Rice and Cheney had more than enough information to have made decisions and taken action that would have easily prevented 911. In fact its safe to say that had anyone other than Bush been president, Democrat or Republican — Gore, Clinton, Powell, McCain — anyone — 911 would have been stopped in its tracks.

Full Story Why everyone misuses “not connecting the dots”.

“If I were going to make up an alias, I wouldn’t pick Rosenberg. I’d pick Jolie or Pitt…Do terrorists wear Manolo Blahniks? I can tell you Donna Karan does not make anything that hides a bomb…I tried the tears; they didn’t work. I tried reasoning. I couldn’t bribe because I didn’t have any money. I said ‘I’m going to have a heart attack over this,’ so the woman called the paramedics.”

Full Story Think Progress » Joan Rivers deemed a danger to national security, bumped off Costa Rica flight back to U.S..