Impeached former US President to swear in socialist NYC Mayor! (via The Political Commentator)You would expect that this might occur in other countries around the world but not in America and certainly not in New York! A philandering and impeached former President of the United States selected to swear-in the newly elected socialist Mayor…
If you don’t like Facebook, you can leave – it’s easier than you think (via Pando Daily)By Robbie Fordyce and Luke van Ryn On December 26, 2013 Breaking up is hard to do, especially with social media. But thousands of people are doing just that, and with the new year and its inevitable resolutions just around the corner, it might be a…
Asian markets rise after record US highs (via AFP)Asian shares rose Wednesday after another record-breaking close on Wall Street and strong economic data from the US, though most financial markets in the region were closed for the Christmas holiday. The dollar also traded higher against major currencies…
Every day is a blessing (via The Christian Science Monitor)Self-help author Melody Beattie wrote about gratitude: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.... It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of…
In 2014, keep an eye on India (via The Christian Science Monitor)Two exceptional seeds were planted this year in India, the world’s largest democracy. Each one is worth watching in 2014 for its potential global impact. The first is the coming to power of the Aam Aadmi (Common Man) party in the state that includes…
Jeeves and the Wedding Bells (via The Christian Science Monitor)Jeeves and the Wedding Bells, by Sebastian Faulks, St. Martin's Press, 256 pp. Authorized sequels and prequels generally inspire a, well, quelling feeling in me. The best of them are the work of sincere fans who are themselves gifted writers, like Anthony…
Why nonChristians are drawn to Christmas (via The Christian Science Monitor)One curious trend in the global economy is how many countries with few Christians now enjoy aspects of Christmas – the giving of gifts, an exchange of cards, even singing “Last Christmas” by Exile. What other religion has had its holiday traditions…
Will France ban childhood beauty pageants? (via PBS News Hour)WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In the public imagination, France is renowned for many things: its cuisine…its culture… as well as a very open embrace of female beauty. You can’t walk a city block in Paris without seeing the scantily clad models showcasing…
DD BOOST FOR KIDS (via Repost Video News)SINCE PHIL ROBERTSON'S SUSPENSION WAS ANNOUNCED LAST WEDNESDAY... THE DUCK COMMANDER'S AUTOGRAPHED POSTERS... WHOSE PROCEEDS BENEFIT THE MARINE TOYS FOR TOTS PROGRAM HAVE SKYROCKETED...
'Hobbit' stays on top at N. America box office (via AFP)The latest installment of the Tolkien series, "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," retained the top spot at the North American box office this weekend, according to industry estimates Sunday. The second part of The Hobbit film trilogy, starring Ian…
Cloud computing in China: On the verge (via GlobalPost)Enlarge HONG KONG — For years, China has lagged while the rest of the world raced to embrace cloud computing. Wasteful investments, hodgepodge standards, and a regulatory regime hostile to foreign players have hindered widespread adoption of the technology…
Syria has become a terrible place to be a woman (via GlobalPost)Enlarge ALEPPO, Syria and ANTAKYA, Turkey — Nawar refuses to be seen as a victim. Even when describing how Syrian soldiers tortured and assaulted her, she remains tough and outspoken. Sitting in a quiet corner of a coffee shop in Antakya, she spoke…
Warning sign: The news on AIDS isn't all good (via GlobalPost)Enlarge JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Health agencies are warning of an “alarming” increase in AIDS-related deaths among adolescents, a new front line in the fight against a global epidemic that has waned in recent years. This worrying new trend…
French stage smokeless revolution (via GlobalPost)Enlarge PARIS, France — It wasn’t long ago that France was a country often experienced inside a cloud of smoke. Bars were cloaked in a pungent haze and ashtrays graced the tables of most restaurants, where smokers relished lighting up between courses…
Cupid for India’s HIV positive (via GlobalPost)Enlarge An Indian bride and groom smear yellow rice - Talambralu - on their heads during a mass wedding ceremony in 2009. Many Indians consider their wedding day the most important of their life. A matchmaking service helps HIV+ people who want to get…
Israel Plays Down Importance Of Alleged Spying By U.S. And UK (via Repost Video News)Israeli officials said they were not surprised by allegations the United States and Britain had spied on the country's leaders and played down the importance of any information its allies may have gleaned. Leaked documents from former NSA contractor…
EU wants Google to make more effort to end antitrust case (via The Inquirer)THE EUROPEAN UNION COMPETITION COMMISSIONER JoaquÃn Almunia has told a Spanish radio station that Google's efforts to end its antitrust case need more work. Almunia's office has confirmed his comments to us, and provided us with an official translation…
100% Of New Power Capacity In US Came From Renewable Energy In November (2nd Month This Year) (via Clean Technica)I got news of this a couple of days ago and decided to pass on covering the story since we basically already covered it 3 weeks ago, when the news was that 99% of new power capacity added in November would come from renewables. That somehow changed…
Obama holds out hope for immigration reform in 2014US President Barack Obama spent much of Friday's lengthy press conference looking back at 2013, but he often returned to an issue he believes has a silver lining for the New Year: immigration. Calling comprehensive immigration reform "the biggest thing…
E-cigarette boom prompts debate over benefits (via GlobalPost)BORDEAUX, France — As more smokers take to electronic cigarettes, the debate about the impact “vaping” — as using the products is called — could have in the fight against tobacco smoking is becoming more acute. On one side, the head of one…
India's invisible maids (via GlobalPost)NEW DELHI, India — She is only a footnote in one of the biggest diplomatic rows between India and the US in recent memory. But for Agnes Samuel, the high-profile dispute between her daughter-in-law and diplomat Devyani Khobragade had terrifying consequences…
A surprise hidden in a phone box (via The Christian Science Monitor)'Phone Fossil'(Courtesy of Gary Duehr) Under a rainy ledge outside a Boston-area subway station, four people take shelter on a bench, absorbed in their smart phones. A woman in a fox-eared hat thumbs her phone’s display, and a man’s glasses reflect…
Bitcoin value – and reputation – plunges after China balks (via The Christian Science Monitor)The value of Bitcoins on the Mt. Gox exchange plunged more than 40 percent Wednesday before recovering somewhat, in response to an announcement that the largest Bitcoin exchange in China has frozen all yuan deposits. BTC China announced yesterday on…
'Her,' which examines love and technology, is incredibly timely (via The Christian Science Monitor)'Her' stars Joaquin Phoenix.(Warner Bros. Pictures/AP) If ever there was a romantic scenario for our time, it’s “Her.” Set in a slightly futuristic Los Angeles, it’s about Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a lonely guy who finds love with…
No escaping Christmas (via The Christian Science Monitor)“Let’s take a trip for Christmas this year. I really want to be away!” I said to a friend, hoping to convince her to travel with me. It would be the second Christmas since my mom and dad had passed. I had spent the first one with dear friends,…
The upside of a Boston snowstorm: meeting your neighbors (via The Christian Science Monitor)Last February, my adopted city of Boston experienced a snowstorm that even this upstate New York, lake-effect-snow-knowledgeable transplant would categorize as significant. What was most impressive, however, wasn’t the two feet of snow, but the impressive…
The upside of a Boston snowstorm: meeting your neighbors (via The Christian Science Monitor)Last February, my adopted city of Boston experienced a snowstorm that even this upstate New York, lake-effect-snow-knowledgeable transplant would categorize as significant. What was most impressive, however, wasn’t the two feet of snow, but the impressive…
Much Loved (via The Christian Science Monitor)Much Loved, by Mark Nixon, Abrams Image, 128 pp. Sometimes I find a photo book with such a simple, great concept that I wonder: Why didn’t I think of that? In his new book, Much Loved, Mark Nixon photographed 65 stuffed animals that were adored and…
Good news for kids: Fathers playing a bigger role in their lives (via The Christian Science Monitor)There’s growing awareness that children generally benefit from a father’s involvement in their lives, and a new statistical portrait shows that fathers – even those who don’t live with their children – are taking on more than just the role…
Grace abounds (via The Christian Science Monitor)Many years ago, on a cross-country drive, I was struggling with a lot of concerns as to whether I could meet the challenging work that was confronting me. At one point I thought to myself, “I’ve been doing a lot of mental talking about these issues…
EU wants Google to make more effort to end antitrust case (via The Inquirer)THE EUROPEAN UNION COMPETITION COMMISSIONER JoaquÃn Almunia has told a Spanish radio station that Google's efforts to end its antitrust case need more work. Almunia's office has confirmed his comments to us, and provided us with an official translation…
Government removal requests continue to grow, says Google (via The Inquirer)THE NUMBER OF REQUESTS from the government to remove content from Google's services has grown considerably over the past year, the search engine giant's latest Transparency Report has revealed. Receiving 3,846 government requests to remove 24,737 pieces…
China will require its 250,000 journalists to pass a 'Marxism test' (via GlobalPost)Enlarge A newspaper vendor looks out from her booth on a street in Shanghai in January 2013. After a year in which Chinese media tested the government's restrictions, the Party is now requiring journalists to pass a Marxism exam in order to keep working…
Why A Carbon Tax Is Necessary (via Clean Technica)Originally published on Global Warming Is Real. By Richard Matthews. As 2013 winds down, there are promising signs that we may actually see a price on carbon in the U.S. In 2010, the cap-and-trade bill was killed in the Senate by the fossil fuel industry…
Survey Showing Users OK With Tracking is Contradicted by…Everything (via slashdot)A poll touted as demonstrating that consumers are more worried about hackers than about persistent tracking of their online activities says more about research bias than the sensibilities of U.S. consumers. The telephone survey of 1,000 voters was conducted…
‘This one feels different’: Rachel Maddow on the fall of Utah’s marriage equality ban (via Raw Story )Even as more marriage-equality bans around the country fall by the wayside, Rachel Maddow noted on Friday, the news that the same thing happened in Utah — “yes, that Utah” — stood out. “I don’t know why this one feels different, but this…
Giants links: Opportunity is knocking for several young players (via NJ.com)Opportunity abounds this week for several of the Giants’ first- and second-year players as starters continue to be sidelined by injuries. If there’s a sliver lining to this lost season, that would be it. Against the Lions, slot receiver Jerrel Jernigan…
Might Pentagon have been alerted sooner to boozy US general in Moscow? (via The Christian Science Monitor)The latest bad behavior story coming out of the Air Force – involving the alleged boozy cavorting of the US general in charge of nuclear weapons in the hotel bars of Moscow, no less – has senior military officials again grappling with precisely…
Is WhatsApp the new MySpace? (via Pando Daily)By Hamish McKenzie On December 20, 2013 The last year has been very active for WhatsApp. The world’s leading messaging app has continued to see explosive growth, and is now seeing 400 million active monthly users – an important metric that shows…
How young newsmakers helped shape the world in 2013 (via PBS News Hour)By: Allison McCartney Pope Francis and NSA leaker Edward Snowden can argue over who rightly deserves the title "Person of the Year," but many of the year's big stories involved younger people. From drone strikes and cutting edge medical research, to…
How young newsmakers helped shape the world in 2013 (via PBS News Hour)By: Allison McCartney Pope Francis and NSA leaker Edward Snowden can argue over who rightly deserves the title "Person of the Year," but many of the year's big stories involved younger people. From drone strikes and cutting edge medical research, to…
US spacewalkers get ready for orbiting lab repairs (via AFP)Two American astronauts are to step out Saturday on the first of three spacewalks to replace a broken cooling pump at the orbiting International Space Station. The spacewalk is set to begin at 7:10 am (1210 GMT) and last six and a half hours, NASA said…
Target confirms massive credit card security breach (via Los Angeles Times Video)Target said today that it was investigating a large-scale security breach involving stolen credit and debit card information for 40 million of its retail customers nationwide. For more: http://lat.ms/1dp0uoj http://lat.ms/1kZfTyj http://lat.ms/JLZrpY…
Crossword Puzzle: What Did We Learn About the NSA This Year? (via EFF)We've certainly learned a lot this year about the surveillance state. Thanks to the cache of intelligence documents leaked by Edward Snowden, as well as the hoards of legal records we liberated through our Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, we've…
Obama faces the press: So, Mr. President, how bad was your year? (via The Christian Science Monitor)President Obama at a year-end news conference danced around the question of whether the rough Obamacare roll-out and his sinking poll ratings have made this the worst year of his presidency. “We have had ups and we have had downs.... This room has…
Texas Court Allows Cops To Search First, Acquire Warrants Later (via Techdirt)The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has just made it much easier for Texas cops to skirt the Fourth Amendment. Why secure a warrant when you can just take a look around beforehand to see whether a warrant's worth pursuing? (h/t to Techdirt reader K…
Texas Court Allows Cops To Search First, Acquire Warrants Later (via Techdirt)The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has just made it much easier for Texas cops to skirt the Fourth Amendment. Why secure a warrant when you can just take a look around beforehand to see whether a warrant's worth pursuing? (h/t to Techdirt reader K…
2013 Fantasy Football Podcasts (via Fox Sports)Ryan Fowler Updated Dec 19, 2013 5:19 PM ET Throughout the 2013 fantasy football season, Ryan Fowler will be talking to a variety of NFL beat reporters from around the country to get you the inside information and analysis you need to be prepared…
Weary Obama seeks Hawaii sun's waking touch (via AFP)A weary Barack Obama, eyelids heavy, predicted Friday that the restorative power of sleep and the sunshine of his native Hawaii would restore his wilting fortunes after a bleak year. The US president began 2013 with a soaring inaugural address laying…
Happiness And Laughter Are Natural Immune Boosters (via Honey Colony)By Dr. Mercola There are many studies supporting the belief that people with an upbeat and positive perspective tend to be healthier and enjoy longer lives. For example, in one study,1 the tendency to always expect the worst was linked to a 25 percent…
