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How They Tow Cars in Russia

What's Behind Those Stealthy Afghan Talks in Paris? : What's Behind Those Stealthy Afghan Talks in Paris?

Taking Sense Away: Confessions of a Former TSA Screener : OverTheGeicoE writes "TSA gets discussed on Slashdot from time to time, usually negatively. Have you ever wondered about the TSA screeners' perspective? Taking Sense Away is a blog, allegedly written by a former TSA screener, offering insider perspectives on TSA topics. For example, there's the Insider's TSA Dictionary, whose entries are frequently about the code screeners use to discuss attractive female passengers (like 'Code Red,' 'Fanny Pack,' and 'Hotel Bravo'). Another posting explains what goes on in private screening rooms, which the author claims is nothing compared to screener conduct in backscatter image operator rooms. Apparently what happens in the IO room stays in the IO room. Today's posting covers how TSA employees feel about working for 'a despised agency'. For many the answer is that they hate working for 'the laughing stock of America's security appa...

Neighbors say Fountain Valley light show is too much : Hundreds of Orange County residents walk and drive by a Fountain Valley home known for its elaborate holiday light show every year, but some neighbors in the Greenbrook neighborhood tract are saying the house has gone too far. Homeowner Jan Stewart...

I wonder if Democrats announce themselves to a room by shouting "In the name of socialism, give us your money!". ~~~ Sacramento Democrats are demanding $56 million from the City of Santa Ana : “Santa Ana city officials are scrambling to address a $56 million demand by the state due by Friday,” according to the union-funded Voice of OC .  The State of California is run completely by Democrats now, from the State Legislature majority to all of the State’s elected leaders, including Governor Jerry Brown.  And now they are trying to bankrupt our city! “The money is to come from what’s called low-and-moderate income housing funds. Redevelopment agencies were required to set aside 20 percent of their property tax increment revenue – the funds that cities had diverted from going to other local governments in redevelopment zones – for affordable housing programs,” according to the Voice of OC . It would appear that the Benavides Council cabal has chosen a particularly bad tim...

Greeting FAIL

Even Some "Liberal" Journalists Are Losing Their Bearings on Obama's Social Security Sellout | Alternet

A projected 13.1 percent of workers will be unemployed at some point in 2013 | Economic Policy Institute

World Bank fears fresh credit bubble in China on hot money flows - Telegraph

Wicked... : Next year, we're off to see the Wizard...  So we now have our first glance of the Wicked Witch of the West... Walt Disney Pictures released another teaser pic of next year's " Oz the Great and Powerful " today.  It's Rachel Weisz after she's gone dark, or green, I should say.  If you've seen the trailer, then you know she's a bit different at the beginning of the film.  Something turns her.  And she then turns into this.  Not bad.  Definitely wicked. But not the old witch that Margaret Hamilton was...

No, Reuters Did Not Leak Episode VII Plot Info : The Internet has been abuzz with speculation about a Reuters article that supposedly included leaked information about Star Wars: Episode VII , but as it turns out, the article misstated things a bit.

Kid Busted for 'Swatting' Pranks is 12-Year-Old From 'incredibly dysfunctional' family : Tuesday, the LAPD revealed they had determined the mastermind behind a series of " swatting " pranks targeted at celebs, and had made an arrest. Few details have been made public by the LAPD about the suspect, but leave it to TMZ to get some dirt . [ more › ]

I don't know why people think Apple store employees are supposed to be saints.  They're still retail workers. They still are going to do what every other retail employee does. ~~~ Exclusive: Corrupt Apple Store Employees Come Forward Across America : We thought the crookedest little Apple Store in Texas was an isolated case. We were wrong: confessions from Apple's retail squads around the country (and world) poured in. Apple has a serious naughty behavior problem on its hands, and the Evil Geniuses are speaking out. More »

China's airing of 'V for Vendetta' stuns viewers : BEIJING (AP) -- Television audiences across China watched an anarchist antihero rebel against a totalitarian government and persuade the people to rule themselves. Soon the Internet was crackling with quotes of "V for Vendetta's" famous line: "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."...

Paramount Sets Release Date for 'Anchorman' Sequel : Will Ferrell will be back in a glass case of emotion in time for next year's Christmas holidays. read more

NASA's Next-Generation Spacesuit Looks Like Buzz Lightyear : To infinity and beyond -- for real. read more

And yet modern science doesn't heed it's own rules by conducting research seemingly on the sole basis to back up their specific theory and agenda. ~~~ The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date, by Sam Arbesman - exclusive excerpt : Here's an excerpt from The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date , by Sam Arbesman. Facts change all the time. Smoking has gone from doctor recommended to deadly. We used to think the Earth was the center of the universe and that Pluto was a planet. For decades, we were convinced that the brontosaurus was a real dinosaur. In short, what we know about the world is constantly changing. But it turns out there’s an order to the state of knowledge, an explanation for how we know what we know. Samuel Arbesman is an expert in the field of scientometrics—literally the science of science. Knowl­edge in most fields evolves systematically and predict­ably, and this evolution unfolds in a fasci...

A Window Opens for Apple TV : Cable providers are starting to fight against cable channels. It's a dinner bell for Apple.

Why GM Is Glad the Feds Are Selling : The Treasury Department's decision to start selling its GM stake is good news for the company -- and for GM shareholders.

Iran sidesteps sanctions to export its fuel oil : DUBAI/GENEVA (Reuters) - Iran is becoming increasingly creative in dodging Western sanctions, managing to sell a rising volume of fuel oil to generate revenue equal to up to a third of its crude exports, which have been badly hit by restrictions.

Loved and loathed, Park takes South Korea's presidency : SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's first woman president, Park Geun-hye, will have her job cut out when she takes office in February with the economy slowing, her father's autocratic rule still an issue for many and North Korea as unpredictable as ever.

"Fiscal cliff" talks turn sour, Obama threatens veto : WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Talks to avoid a U.S. fiscal crisis stalled on Wednesday as President Barack Obama accused opponents of holding a personal grudge against him while the top Republican negotiator called the president "irrational."

U.S. charges three Swiss bankers in offshore account case : (Reuters) - Three Swiss bankers accused of conspiring with American clients to hide more than $420 million from the tax-collecting U.S. Internal Revenue Service were indicted, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said on Wednesday.

Bad move on Google's part.  I really wanted to see their Motorola cable set top boxes morph into Google TV boxes running Android.  I imagine once Apple gets their cable boxes running that Google is going to come running back into this market. ~~~ Google Sells Off Piece of Motorola For $2.35 Billion : Google spent a whopping $12.5 billion to acquire Motorola Mobility earlier this year. Now, it looks like Google is going to get some of that money back.

A Simple Handle Redesign Keeps This Mug Extra Clean : If you've ever debated the merits of storing a mug upside-down, or right side up, this brilliant redesign renders that discussion moot. When stored right side up, dust can easily collect inside a mug, and when stored upside down, the rim is touching a potentially dirty surface. But the angled handle of the Bevel Mug solves both of those issues. More »

MySpace Tom Is a Prick : Remember MySpace? No, not the new one , but the old, horrible one, the acne of the Internet, the one with Tom's dumb face plastered across it? Ever wonder what happened to him? He makes fun of regular people on Twitter . More »

7 Ways the World Really Could End Tomorrow : There's no shortage of Doomsday naysayers . And sure, it's easy to ignore the prophecies of ancient Mayans . But you know what? The world could end any time—including tomorrow. More »

UN steps up pressure on Israel : The UN and 14 Security Council members demand a halt to Israeli construction in occupied territory as the US state department criticises its ally.

USPTO invalidates key Apple patent used against Samsung : The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has invalidated one of the big patents successfully used by Apple against Samsung in court.

ESPN's Parker apologizes for Griffin comments : Commentator Rob Parker has issued an apology for remarks he made on ESPN2's "First Take" last week regarding Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III.

Online Billionaire Shop Lets You Buy Jets, Yachts in One Click : It must be hard to be a billionaire. Apparently there was no easy way to impulse buy things such as yachts, jets and real estate. Until now.

His son is going to console himself by shoving pool cues up unconscious girls' anuses. ~~~ Haidl, man who brought down Carona, dies : NEWPORT BEACH – Don Haidl, a former assistant sheriff who was convicted of tax crimes and then cooperated with federal investigators in their case against convicted Sheriff Mike Carona, has died.His family confirmed Haidl's death in a brief...

spellbound says FML : Today, someone painted the "Dark Mark" on the side of my car. It won't come off and my kids refuse to get in because it means "a wizard died in there." FML

"Yavin 4 and the rebel base return to the Star Wars plot in the forthcoming Episode VII, announced in October by the Walt Disney Co, in which Skywalker comes back to the planet to build a Jedi Knight academy. However, fans said that Disney will likely film those scenes in a studio rather than return to Tikal.Yavin 4 and the rebel base return to the Star Wars plot in the forthcoming Episode VII, announced in October by the Walt Disney Co, in which Skywalker comes back to the planet to build a Jedi Knight academy. However, fans said that Disney will likely film those scenes in a studio rather than return to Tikal." ~~~ Are These the First Leaked Star Wars Episode VII Plot Details? : This would count as a pretty big leak if it turns out to be true. Buried deep in a Reuters report about Star Wars and Guatemala is a possible leaked plot detail involving the location, and Episode VII. Possible spoilers ahead. More »

Newtown Pastor Tells Story of Sole Surviving First Grade Girl Who Played Dead to Stay Alive | Christian News Network

Of course the school system is forming their own "blue shield" over all this and how their system apparently failed.  Talking to school board members will accomplish nothing.  They're only there to further their own political ambitions or have a personal matter to address in being on the board.  They need to talk to the special education personnel to get the story on how the system failed but I'm sure the teachers union is closing ranks too. ~~~ Sandy Hook shooting: How Lanza's mother 'battled' with school district before deciding to home school him | Mail Online

It looks like the late summer of 2012 is where they fell apart according to that chart. ~~~ How Microsoft Lost Its Mojo in 2012 : Redmond played a risky gambit with Windows 8 and the Surface tablet.

Watch Metric Cover Blondie, Morrissey For VH1 : Someone at VH1 apparently really, really likes the Canadian band Metric. The band took part in VH1′s most recent Divas Live special, covering Blondie’s immortal “ Heart Of Glass ” while more-or-less dressing like the band and standing in front of a backdrop that looked like the Parallel Lines cover art. And as the latest band highlighted in the channel’s “You Oughta Know” series, they also played an acoustic cover of Morrissey’s “ Why Don’t You Find Out For Yourself .” Watch both below. Read More...

A gun ownership renaissance? : Even as Americans have become more and more opposed to new gun control measures in recent years, the actual number of households owning guns has declined. Until recently, that is. The following chart, from the Violence Policy Center , tracks gun ownership in American households from 1973 to 2010. (The VPC is a pro-gun control interest group, but the data are from the nonpartisan General Social Survey.) Read full article >>

A New Financial Bubble--or Three? : A New Financial Bubble--or Three?

The Truth Behind the NHL Lockout : The Truth Behind the NHL Lockout

Foxconn Reportedly Testing Designs for 46-55 Inch Apple Television Sets : Taiwan's Central News Agency reports ( via Patently Apple ) that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision, is currently working with Apple to test several designs for an Apple television set in the range of 46-55 inches. Hon Hai, the world's largest contract electronics maker, has declined to respond to the reports, saying that it never comments on specific business deals with any single client. However, the Hon Hai source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the initial phase of tests on the TVs has kicked off. Nevertheless, the source said it is unlikely that shipments of the appliances will begin as soon as the end of next year. The source claims that Apple may be looking to show off its new television products at CES next month in Las Vegas, but that seems difficult to believe given Apple's penchant for avoiding trade shows and for holding its own medi...

Add a RAM Disk to Your Computer for Faster-than-SSD Performance : Feel the need for more computer speed? Even if you're already rocking a fast SSD ( one of the best upgrades you can make), you can still improve your computer's performance by adding more memory and turning it into a RAM disk, which can be as much as 70 times faster than a regular hard drive or 20 times faster than an SSD. More »

Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First coming to the Disney theme parks : Characters from "Doc McStuffins" and "Sofia the First" will join the cast of Disney Junior - Live on Stage! at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney California Adventure.

Woman gets stem-cell "wrinkle treatment," grows extra bones in her eye-socket : A woman who had a $20,000 stem-cell "enhanced" facelift at a posh Beverley Hills clinic experienced a bony clicking sound and excruciating pain every time she opened or shut her right eye. The bony clicking sounds turned out to be bones. About three months earlier the woman had opted for a relatively new kind of cosmetic procedure at a different clinic in Beverly Hills—a face-lift that made use of her own adult stem cells. First, cosmetic surgeons had removed some the woman's abdominal fat with liposuction and isolated the adult stem cells within—a family of cells that can make many copies of themselves in an immature state and can develop into several different kinds of mature tissue. In this case the doctors extracted mesenchymal stem cells—which can turn into bone, cartilage or fat, among other tissues—and injected those cells back into her face, especially around her eyes. T...

Classy way to make up for your shutout.  I salute you Mr. Cruz and hope your Giants can squeak into the playoffs. ~~~ Cruz visits home of Giants fan, 6, slain in Conn. : New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz has visited the home of the 6-year-old Connecticut shooting victim who was buried in a replica Cruz jersey.

In short, the government is NOT getting back what they invested. ~~~ US government to sell stake in GM : The US government is to sell its remaining 26.5% stake in carmaker General Motors, it is announced.

Bankrupt Kodak gets $525m lifeline : Struggling Eastman Kodak sells its digital imaging patents to a consortium of investors for $525m (£322m).

Official: 2014 Mazda6 to start at $20,880* : Filed under: Car Buying , Sedan , Mazda We got our very first taste of the impressive 2014 Mazda6 back in October, and had more than a few good things to say about the midsizer. One piece of information that was conspicuous by its absence, however, was a sticker price. Now, with zero pomp and circumstance (not even a press release as of this writing), Mazda has dropped what looks to be official pricing for the 6 on its consumer website. $20,880 is the asking price for the base Mazda6 Sport with a manual transmission (plus $795 worth of destination charges, for a total of $21,675). Alaska residents will need to cough up $840 for destination. The loaded-up Mazda6 Grand Touring shown on the site will set you back a total of $30,290 (MSRP of $29,495), but it isn't clear if that's the starting price of the Grand Touring trim. Mazda is taking orders for the new 6 right now, and the cars will be available on January 2, 2013...

Police arrest juvenile over hoax celebrity calls : LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Police have arrested a juvenile they say is responsible for making prank calls that reported violence at the homes of Justin Bieber and Ashton Kutcher and led officers to respond in force to the stars' homes....

I thought about this yesterday when I heard that Ke$ha song got pulled. ~~~ 'Pumped Up Kicks' Yanked from L.A. Airwaves After Newtown Massacre : Foster the People's hit song "Pumped Up Kicks" -- whose lyrics depict a violent school shooting -- won't be getting ANY airplay whatsoever in the wake of the Newtown massacre ... at least on L.A.'s #1 hit music station.Sources at KIIS-FM tell…

'A Christmas Story' Bully Fights for His Image in Court : Zack Ward, who played the film's bully, is fighting over merchandise that he says illicitly used his face. read more

Waiting for his Riddick/Fast & Furious mashup movie. ~~~ Universal Sets Release Date for Vin Diesel Sci-Fi Flick 'Riddick' : David Twohy is back in the director's chair for the third installment of the sci-fi action movie series featuring the escaped convict antihero. read more

Mark Zuckerberg doesn't know how to use HTML5 : Out-Facebooking Facebook... bitch! Open ... and Shut Even as Facebook dumps HTML5 to embrace native app development, calling its early enthusiasm for HTML5 its "biggest mistake," Sencha, a leading provider of open-source web application frameworks and tools, has not only demonstrated real-world readiness of HTML5, but has actually built a Facebook app that performs better than Facebook's native apps.…

Inquiry harshly criticizes U.S. State Department over Benghazi attack : WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Security at the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya was grossly inadequate to deal with a September 11 attack that killed a U.S. ambassador and three others because of failures within the State Department, an official inquiry found on Tuesday.

Fitch warns fiscal cliff could cost U.S. its AAA rating : LONDON (Reuters) - Ratings firm Fitch said on Wednesday it is more likely to strip the United States of its triple-A status if a political deal is not reached to halt $600 billion of spending cuts and tax hikes set for early next year.

Behold the champion of mediocrity. ~~~ President Barack Obama is TIME’s Person of the Year : U.S. President Barack Obama is TIME's person of the year for 2012. In a lengthy piece explaining the choice, TIME highlights the fact that Obama won the 2012 elections contrary to many experts' predictions. TIME's Michael Scherer also argues that Obama is perhaps now more experienced and better positioned to solve some issues which plagued the first four years of his presidency. "After four of the most challenging years in the nation’s history, his chance to leave office as a great President who was able to face crises and build a new majority coalition remains within reach," concludes Scherer. Barack Obama is TIME's 2012 Person of the Year | ti.me/VQVajw #POY2012 — TI… Continue reading...

Police Rescue Dog From Burning Home By Tasering Sword-and-Shield-Wielding Old Man : KATU reports that firefighters couldn't move to put out a house fire over the weekend in Portland, Oregon because a 69-year-old man was parading around outside wielding a sword and shield. As if a firefighter's job wasn't hard enough. It gets crazier. More »

I hated this cartoon series.  Being a X-Men comic fan I found their butchering of the original comic stories to be sacrilegious. ~~~ The 90s X-Men Intro in Stop Motion: Pure Nerd Bliss : Whatever you're doing, just stop. The best cartoon of the early 90s—the X-Men, obviously—has gotten a stop-motion treatment that belongs in some sort of kitschy, bizarro-universe Louvre. This. Is. Awesome. More »

Math + Animated GIF = Nerdgasm : This could be the most deliciously geeky animated GIF ever created. Just in case you didn't believe that Pythagoras' Theorem worked, you now have no reason to doubt it whatsoever. [ Chart Porn ] More »

Netflix Encodes Every Movie 120 Different Ways : The problem with streaming video to different devices—computers, tablets, phones, and whatever else—is that they all demand subtly different streams if they're to look their best. If you're Netflix, which streams to 900 different types of device, that leaves you with some work to do. More »

iOS 6 adoption surges after release of Google Maps app : New data shows that since Google launched its iOS mapping application, there has been a 30 percent bump in people upgrading their devices to Apple's newest mobile operating system.

Biden to head US Newtown response : US President Obama is to announce that Vice-President Joe Biden will lead government attempts to respond to the deadly school shootings in Connecticut.

Three held over maple syrup theft : Three people are arrested over a multi-million dollar maple syrup theft this summer, Canadian police say, but five suspects remain at large.

Baylor Eldric Maggenti Held After Material to Make IED Bombs, Cache of 34 Guns Found : A 66-year-old man who was apparently living in a commercial business park in Costa Mesa was arrested Monday for possessing gun powder, fuse material and other materials sufficient to make improvis... Continue reading "Baylor Eldric Maggenti Held After Material to Make IED Bombs, Cache of 34 Guns Found" >

Christopher Michael Casey, Huntington Beach High School Student, Arraigned For Making Bomb Threat at School : An 18-year-old Huntington Beach high school student accused of making a bomb threat on Friday is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon. Christopher Michael Casey is charged with one f... Continue reading "Christopher Michael Casey, Huntington Beach High School Student, Arraigned For Making Bomb Threat at School" >

Where can I get some mithril? ~~~ Would You Send Your Child to School With Body Armor? : Since Friday's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, sales of body armor for children have been booming . And you can't really blame parents. More »

Big Brother Spying Didn’t Stop Connecticut School Shooter … Or 9/11 : Why Did We Lose Our Rights if the Government Isn’t Even Keeping Us Safe? Beyond any doubt, Big Brother has come to America . Americans are the most spied on people in world history . Everyone in the country is spied on … and even top generals, Congress men and CIA directors  can be targeted . The separation between spy agencies and military operations has disappeared … to the point where the same unaccountable government agency which spies on all Americans also decides who gets assassinated by drones . And anyone who questions government actions or policies may be labeled a potential terrorist . And yet – even with Big Brother sticking his nose in every aspect of our lives – that total surveillance didn’t stop the Connecticut school shooter.  Or the Batman shooter, the shooter of Congresswoman Giffords, Columbine, Virginia Tech, etc. etc. etc. Of course, widespread spying on Americans began before ...

Sudan races to stem yellow fever : Experts say the outbreak of yellow fever gripping Sudan is the worst the world has seen in at least 20 years.

Taliban Murders Six Immunizers in Wake of CIA Polio Ruse : Six people working as polio vaccinators were murdered in three separate coordinated attacks in Pakistan. While no one has yet claimed responsibility, it is widely assumed that the attackers have ties to the Taliban, which has opposed the polio-vaccination campaign as a Western plot and accused vaccinators of working as spies for the CIA.

A Marvelous, Dark Horse... : It was great while it lasted... Star Wars has a large, expansive universe beyond the films...  From television, games, toys, clothing, books to comics, the galaxy George Lucas created is vast and filled with boundless opportunities. If you love Star Wars and you collect comics, then you know that Dark Horse Comics has had the licensing rights to the Galaxy Far, Far Away for a long, long time. And they've done some very interesting, and quite high quality tales over the years.  One of the things that many people wondered after Disney bought Lucasfilm was how long will this relationship continue? Especially since the Mouse owns Marvel , the largest comics publisher in the world. Well, it appears we now have the answer. The Suits in the know have determined that no new contracts will be given to Dark Horse after the current ones expire. So all new projects after 2013 will be handled internally by Marvel.  It's not known yet i...

“In the beginning”...bringing the scrolls of Genesis and the Ten Commandments online : A little over a year ago, we helped put online five manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls—ancient documents that include the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence. Written more than 2,000 years ago on pieces of parchment and papyrus, they were preserved by the hot, dry desert climate and the darkness of the caves in which they were hidden. The Scrolls are possibly the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century. Today, we’re helping put more of these ancient treasures online. The Israel Antiquities Authority is launching the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library , an online collection of some 5,000 images of scroll fragments, at a quality never seen before. The texts include one of the earliest known copies of the Book of Deuteronomy, which includes the Ten Commandments ; part of Chapter 1 of the Book of Genesis , which describes the creation of the world; and hundred...

If We Don’t Learn Something : There is so much being written and said about the shooting in Connecticut : I only want to add a couple of links to pieces I’ve found that bring an Israeli angle to the discussion. Judaism is founded on responsibilities not rights. My right to life is a by-product of my fellow citizen’s responsibility not to harm me. Same with my right to property. This is the most profound difference at the heart of the Jewish state, even if we don’t always realise it. There is no right to bear arms: there is a responsibility to protect life and that, sometimes, is best done with a firearm. Israel has had horrible massacres of children at schools. Tomorrow I’m travelling to a town whose name is infamous for an atrocious event: Ma’alot. In 1974 terrorists held students captive for two days and, when forces went in to kill them, they murdered 22 children and 3 adults before the Golani brigade took them out. Unfortunately we don’t have to soul search for the reas...

I got an idea.  Let's make this crime-ridden city's mayor the governor! ~~~ Analyzing gun violence and its effect on young people in Oakland : Data shows the overall number of reported shootings in Oakland, CA rising in recent years, from 869 in 2009 to more than 1,200 in 2011, the highest since 2003; homicide totals in Oakland follow the same curve. At Oakland North , a post that breaks down shooting data for this Bay Area city to try and understand why the numbers keep rising.

AP Sources: New Obama Offer Moves Toward Boehner : Speaking a few hours after Obama and Boehner met at the White House, these people said the president was now seeking a higher tax rate beginning at incomes over $400,000, up from the levels of $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples that were cornerstones of his successful campaign for re-election.

Episode VII Pre-Production Starts Next Spring : Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy recently talked Star Wars Episode VII with ABC News Radio.

It's more of a roundup of different topics on the issues with links but gives some ideas to the government's plan. ~~~ Connecticut school shooting: NRA’s power, Obama on gun violence, 9/11 for schools?

Rep. Tim Scott of South Carolina to be first black Republican senator since 1978 - The Washington Post

Russia and Libya: will they restore military and technical cooperation? : Moscow (Voice of Russia) Dec 18, 2012 Moscow will resume cooperation with Tripoli on training military specialists for the Libyan army, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters on Thursday. Such a cooperation, which was in place in the former Soviet Union, was scrapped in the wake of a civil war in Libya and the subsequent ouster of Muammar Gaddafi. Bogdanov, who is also the Russian President's special e

Russia sends warships to Syria for possible evacuation : BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia sent warships to the Mediterranean to prepare a potential evacuation of its citizens from Syria, a Russian news agency said on Tuesday, a sign President Bashar al-Assad's key ally is worried about rebel advances that now threaten even the capital.