The War on Weeds
Robert C. Koehler

Today's big news stories -- the wars, the eco-disasters -- all seem to have the same gaping hole in them. This hole is lack of awareness, and its thrum, once you begin to hear it, soon becomes deafening: We can't go on like this.

Senate Passes Landmark Financial Reform Bill
Caitlin Huey-Burns

The Senate gave final approval to a 2,300 page financial reform bill after over a year of craftsmanship, concessions, and marathon debates. President Obama is expected to sign the bill, putting into law unprecedented regulations on Wall Street and protection for consumers

The Vanishing American Consumer and the Coming Trade War
Robert Reich

President Obama has vowed to double U.S. exports within the next five years. That's because exports are critical for rebooting the American economy. It's clear American consumers can't get the economy going on their own. They can't restart the jobs machine. They've run out of money and credit.

Is It Too Late to Stop Iran
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

The peril increases daily that Iran will become a nuclear power. Arab leaders are as alarmed as Israel. The West huffs and puffs, and huffs and puffs again, but is nowhere near blowing the house down. It is behaving as if it has all the time in the world. It does not. While the Iranians are enriching, the United States is hesitating

The Middle East's Private Little War
Joel Brinkley

It's not at all surprising that one of the Arab world's most senior diplomats is eager for the United States to attack Iran. The unusual part is that the diplomat said that at a very public forum. There seems to be an unwritten rule that little if anything be said in public, even though Iran and the Arab world are actually fighting a private little war. The reason for that is simple.

Restraining the Profit Itch
Robert C. Koehler

The gap between the diffuse human yearning for a decent world and the organized agenda of the corporatocracy, has never, in my lifetime, been wider. What the BP Oil Spill has yet to reach are the headquarters of corporate power and the consciences ensconced therein. The arrogance of the great capitalists remains undamaged

American Decline Is a State of Mind
Victor Davis Hanson

We are hearing of all sorts of reasons why the United States is doomed to decline. After all, America is piling up deficits at a record rate. The current recession is heading into its third year. Unemployment still hovers at nearly 10 percent. Many think the war in Afghanistan is as good as lost. The largest oil spill in American history has been gushing up from sea for nearly 80 days

When National Strategy Document Is Not the National Strategy
Paul Kennedy

What does it mean when a national government, especially a government that is always at the center of world attention like that of the United States, issues public policy documents that are supposed to explain its defense priorities and its overall global strategy? And what sense does it make to let everyone, including your enemies, know what your concerns and your plans for the future are?

Obama Immigration Speech All Words -- No Action
Andres Oppenheimer

Before we get into the things Obama should have said -- but didn't -- in his much-awaited address on immigration, let's give him credit for tackling one of the hottest issues in America today and for doing it in a balanced way.

The Top 5 American Cars of All Time
Luigi Fraschini

Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Corvette among the best cars America has ever offered

The Greatest Cars

2010 FIFA World Cup Final

 

Obama Presidency (c) M. Ryder

The Making of Barack Obama
Walter Russell Mead

Who is Obama? What does he really believe? How has his quest to find and understand his place in American life shaped him and his vision for the United States? These are the questions that David Remnick, the author of Lenin's Tomb and the editor of The New Yorker, sets out to investigate in The Bridge, an intelligent and searching biography of Obama.

 

 

Big Oil, 'Small People'
(c) Donna Grethen

Beyond Petroleum
Robert C. Koehler

It was more like a momentary rip in the global power continuum, a spill of outrage on the stage of a major oil conference in London when two Greenpeace activists interrupted a speech by British Petroleum chief of staff Steve Westwell

 

Forget Obama - Fear the Real State Capitalists
Ian Bremmer and Sean West

Since President Obama has taken office, a chief assertion from his critics has been that he is socialist. But there is little evidence that he wants to dramatically revise the U.S. economic system. While imprecise accusations of socialism score political points for the accusers, in listening closer to Obama's critics they seem to actually be accusing him of being a state capitalist

 

Landon Donovan

At Last Americans Becoming Soccer Fans
Andres Oppenheimer

Good news for those of us who love soccer and want the game to keep growing: U.S. television ratings for the World Cup have been very good so far, and many sports analysts are predicting that the United States will soon become a major soccer power.

BP Oil Spill: First, Do No Harm
Robert C. Koehler

As Planet Earth continues to hemorrhage crude oil from its wound we grope, beyond our anger and guilt, simply to imagine what damage we have done in the pursuit of human empowerment. This is bigger than BP, blameworthy though the company may be. It's a crisis of civilization, which means all of us

Why Classified Secrets Should Be Kept From the Public
Alex Kingsbury

In his latest book, 'Necessary Secrets: National Security, the Media, and the Rule of Law', Schoenfeld traces the tense history between the news media and the government over disclosures of classified information

Market Ups & Downs
(c) Mark Weber

Value and Growth: Why Investors Need Both
Ben Baden

Value versus growth investing: which one is right for you? Managers of value funds search for unloved, discounted companies and dividends, while growth managers look for companies whose earnings are expected to grow at an rapid rate. Comparisons aside, you don't have to choose between one or the other: every investor should have a combination of the two. Here's how

Why Supreme Court 'Originalists' Are Wrong About Constitution
Zach Miners

While the U.S. Constitution was signed in 1787 as the final word on all legal matters, there's a lot of room for debate when interpreting it for contemporary times. In his new book, The Living Constitution, David Strauss examines how the understanding of the Constitution needs to evolve, as it has, while still providing the anchor for American jurisprudence. Strauss discusses his views

America Has Two Sets of Rules
Arianna Huffington

The bracing reality that America has two sets of rules -- one for the corporate class and another for the middle class -- has never been more indisputable. The middle class, by and large, plays by the rules, then watches as its jobs disappear -- and the Senate takes a break instead of extending unemployment benefits. The corporate class games the system

Diabetes: Could You Have Diabetes and Not Know It
Nicole Gregory

When it comes to the dangers of diabetes, Americans are pretty clueless. There is no cure for diabetes, and its damage can be severe, leading to heart disease, stroke, nerve damage and kidney problems. Over 23 million people in the United States have some form of diabetes, and nearly a quarter of them don't know it. Here's what you can do

Ongoing Gulf Oil Spill Destroys the Myth of Competence
Leonard Pitts Jr.

After a month and a half of top kill and junk shot, of chemical dispersants and high-tech domes, of skimmers and controlled burns, this is what we have to show for it. We are now told it may take another 'two months' to stop oil from spewing into Gulf Coast waters. Weeks later, one other consequence becomes jarringly apparent: the Myth of Competence has died

Should Investors Sit This One Out?
Rob Silverblatt

Perhaps the most daunting aspect of the recent market turmoil is the simple fact that whenever stocks shoot up, a whole army of rally-killing scenarios seems poised to swoop in and drag prices back down. As this confluence of factors injects a sense of unpredictability into the stock market, it's no surprise that many jittery investors have opted to sell some holdings and hang onto the cash

Unfair Trade Practices: Killing Economy and Wiping Out Jobs
Robyn Blumner

'It's the trade deficit, Stupid.' Maybe if people walked around with signs and T-shirts with that slogan rather than rail against the federal budget deficit, the American worker wouldn't be in quite the fix he's in. More people need to be mad that America is a sucker when it comes to global trade. Even as millions of Americans have lost jobs because of it

The War on Terror: Stopping Orwell's Nightmare
Robert C. Koehler

With the war on terror in its ninth year and disappearing from even the pretense of national debate, let alone outrage and protest, and with the President of Hope prosecuting it so quietly most of us no longer notice, we could be at an eerie national transition point, beyond which war is no longer controversial or a big deal but just the way things are

 

The Longevity Revolution

Longevity Revolution Will Restructure Life
Fred Pearce, New Scientist Magazine

Humans are living longer and the implications of this may overwhelm all other factors shaping the species over the coming decades. The longevity revolution affects every country, every community and almost every household. It promises to restructure the economy, reshape the family, redefine politics and even rearrange the geopolitical order over the coming century

BP Oil Spill: And a Child Shall Lead Them
Carl Hiaasen

British Petroleum announced today that it has fired its top engineer for safety design and replaced him with Jody McNamara, age 12, a sixth-grade honors student at the Dwight Eisenhower Middle School in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Do Great Leaders Make History or Are They Carried Along by the Tides of Change
Paul Kennedy

Are Great Leaders really all that decisive in altering the tides and currents of world affairs? This is a general question which has attracted attention from historians, philosophers and political scientists for over 2,000 years, and rightly so, because it is about the causality of changes over time. What, after all, changes the course of history?

Who Got Hit Worst in the Great Recession Market Crash
Mark Miller

Media coverage of the 2008 market crash often focuses on investors close to retirement age. The story line is that pre-retirement investors took some of the worst hits and compounded their difficulties when they panicked and sold at market bottom. All true. But, the overall record of these close-to-retirement investors actually is considerably better than those of other age groups

Female Corporate Executives Shaking Things up in Political Races
Johanna Neuman

In the past, most women candidates worked their way laboriously up the political ladder, beginning in the back rooms of campaign offices addressing envelopes or answering the phones, running for the local school board or city council. But now, a vanguard group of powerful businesswomen who excelled in corporate America present themselves in the political arena running for Congress

Sizing Up Your Retirement Nest Egg Needs
Emily Brandon

Few Americans know how much they need to save for retirement. Less than half of current workers have even attempted to calculate how much money they will need. Here's how to tell if you are saving enough for retirement

Fear of Failure? Three Tips to Guarantee Success
Robert Pagliarini

It takes guts and determination to invest time into improving yourself or starting a business. If you've taken night classes, started a blog or have participated at Toastmasters, you know you are putting yourself on the line. It's hard work and there is ample room for disappointment, rejection and failure? What is our obsession with failure? People see failure as a colossal mistake. It's not

Labrador Retrievers Still Top Dogs in America
Steve Dale

The Labrador Retriever is the most beloved dog in America, retaining its top dog status now for 19 consecutive years, according to American Kennel Club (AKC) registrations. However, the real canine news belongs to the comeback kid, the German Shepherd, which now ranks second in popularity for the first time since the days of Rin Tin Tin

Guide to Great Educational Websites for Kids
David LaGesse

Parents will invariably turn to the TV and PC. But pediatricians and educators recommend that screen time for children be limited to a couple of hours a day. A growing number of Web sites can help ease the guilt with reasonably wholesome (even educational) fare that's also entertaining enough to keep a youngster's attention.

Diplomacy Won't Keep the Financial System Safe
Marc Levinson

The global financial crisis that began in 2007 marked the failure of an ambitious experiment in financial diplomacy. International agreements on the regulation of banking and securities did little to protect against a financial meltdown that severely damaged the world economy

Paying the High Price of Food Waste
Sharon Palmer, R.D.

More than 40 percent of the food produced for consumption in the U.S. will never be eaten. In fact, food waste in America has increased by about 50 percent since 1974, reaching more than 1,400 calories per person per day. That's almost half of the daily calorie requirement for the average person. Why are we food wasters? The answer to that question is complicated and requires introspection

Why Politicians Should Lie
Jessica Rettig

Politicians get a bad rap for their sometimes elusive relationship with the truth. Yet Martin Jay says there are times when lying may be the right thing to do. After compiling the arguments of political philosophers through the ages, Jay, concludes that the American public should focus less on whether politicians are being truthful and more on the outcomes of their policies

BP Oil Spill Calamity: Having to Play Defense
Jules Witcover

For a politician who got elected promising change, Barack Obama increasingly finds himself having to deal with what's already happened. The chief culprit no longer George W. Bush, or even Wall Street. Now it's British Petroleum. While still trying to undo the damage of Iraq and the recklessness of banking tycoons, Obama is now confronted with the worst environmental calamity

10 Cool Gadget Gifts for Grads
David LaGesse

Graduation is just around the corner for the nation's campuses, where a generation of students has grown up in a life of high-tech study and entertainment. The electronics store is a natural place to ponder gifts for work and play, and we save you some of the browsing with these 10 suggestions of useful and unusual devices from the tech world

Teens Don't See Drinking and Driving Dangers
Driving Today

Spring school rituals -- prom and graduation -- begin with so much excitement and promise, yet they can end in tragedy for hundreds of teen drivers and their passengers. New research from Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) suggests this season could be no different

How Government Can Make the American Public Happy
Zach Miners

Political leanings can have a lot to do with how someone feels about government and the policies it enacts. But to what extent does an individual's overall happiness spring from government actions. n his new book, The Politics of Happiness: What Government Can Learn from the New Research on Well-Being, Derek Bok attempts to answer that question, among others

How Close Are You to the Financial Edge
Kathy Kristof

Americans are falling deeper into debt, and they are increasingly waiting too long to seek help. How close are you to the financial edge? To help you find out, here's a 10-question multiple-choice quiz

Congress Had a Role in the Financial Crisis
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

Corn and hogs in the Midwest seem a long way from condos in Florida. There is, in fact, a direct link and it's one worth contemplating in light of the pursuit of Goldman Sachs by Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

U.S. and Russia Should Share Anti-Iran Missile Defense
Henry Kissinger

I favor developing a joint missile defense with Russia against Iran. But the U.S. also needs missile defenses controlled by the United States against strategic attack from other directions. So, let's cooperate with Russia on Iran, but we cannot relinquish missile defenses aimed at other threats

Journey of a Citizen
Robert C. Koehler

Too much awareness is a tough burden to carry. I got an e-mail the other day from a reader who opened up the deep, confusing paradox of being a citizen of the American empire

A 60-mile Walk for Mom
Leonard Pitts Jr.

It was April 15. I went and mailed my taxes. It felt surreal, doing this mundane civic chore on the day breast cancer took my mother. I remember being vaguely surprised that taxes were still due, that the world had not stopped, that here was life, going on regardless. Now here we are, 22 years later and I just signed up to walk 60 miles as part of the Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure.

United States - 5 Ways to Keep America Great
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

Altogether Americans are a little sadder. Everyone seems to be talking about decline and recession, about an aging America that no longer leads the world and is falling behind a rejuvenated China. Worry has always preceded reform in America. We have had periods of decline and loss of confidence. But America has always bounced back. And, there is a developing consensus on what we have to do

Al-Qaeda has Lost the Battle. But has it Won the War?
Chris Thomas

In retrospect, 9/11 seems to have become an even more iconic day then we thought. Tactically, it was of course the most catastrophic attack ever on US soil. On the surface we have viewed 9/11 as a geopolitical event. But in longer range terms, and with the benefit of hindsight, it may be fair to ask: Has al-Qaeda achieved its strategic aim of bringing down the United States as a world power?

Carville to Democrats: Pray Now to Avoid Disaster in November
Paul Bedard

The election environment has turned so ugly for Democrats that one of their most celebrated election advisers -- James Carville -- is suggesting days of prayer and pure luck to hold off a fall disaster.

Strange Sighting in Iraq
Paul Greenberg

What can this be approaching across the sands of Iraq? It can't be. It's not possible. It's not found in this unnatural habitat ... and yet there is. It shows the outward signs, including some of the innate strengths and inevitable weaknesses and distinctive eccentricities of that rarest of creatures in those Mesopotamian climes: democracy.

Many Americans Still Clueless About Retirement Saving
Humberto Cruz

Altogether, 54 percent of American workers are at least somewhat confident of having a comfortable retirement and 75 percent are at least somewhat confident they'll be able to cover at least their basic expenses. However, the way I see it, this merely reflects again the false confidence that had characterized survey findings consistently before the economic downturn

7 Steps Toward a Healthy Heart and Long Life
January W. Payne

Whether you believe your heart is in great shape or not, here are the American Heart Association's seven steps to take early in life to ward off cardiovascular disease

Will Lady Gaga Really Take Madonna's Crown?
Liz Smith

Lady Gaga is most often compared to Madonna, and cited as her inheritor to the crown as Queen of Pop. It's certainly not going to be Britney Spears! Hard to judge at this point. The culture and the music biz has changed so much since Madonna's advent in 1983, that the landscape is almost totally unrecognizable. So, can Lady Gaga hold onto her popularity?

Time to Act on a Bleak Fiscal Future
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

There is gridlock in Congress, and it is most troubling in the Senate. Senators are supposed to take a long view of the national interest. Then there's the unproductive partisanship from the wing nuts on both sides whose venom spews continuously in the news media. They would be mildly entertaining were it not that America is in the grip of a severe financial crisis.

Global Warming Fact Denial Won't Change Climate Back
Joseph Romm

Big Oil wants us to remain addicted to oil, a major source of carbon pollution. So it and other special interests have conducted an aggressive disinformation campaign for more than a decade to convince Americans that there's a major disagreement among scientists on the dangers posed by carbon pollution, just as the tobacco industry disputed the science to keep smokers addicted.

Energy Race: United States Needs Coherent Clean Energy Strategy
Kent Garber

It's easy to see inaction. In the Senate, everything crawls. At the climate change talks in Copenhagen, the outcome was disappointing. For those who wanted bold action on energy, the past year has left much to the imagination. But things are changing, incrementally.

How Health Reform Will Affect Older Americans
Mark Miller

Opponents of health reform used smokescreens to frighten older Americans -- conjuring up everything from death panels to dire predictions of slashed Medicare budgets and totalitarian takeovers of hospitals and doctors' offices. But it's really not nice to scare Grandma. So, now that the smoke is starting to clear, let's consider the important benefits in the new law for people over age 50

How Greece's Debt Crisis Affects America
Matthew Bandyk

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou traveled to the United States to promote a message: We're in this together. The debt crisis that has threatened the Greek economy and the stability of the European Union's monetary policies very much involves America's interests, Papandreou stated in a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

The 1960s: A Decade of Promise and Heartbreak
Kenneth T. Walsh

The Sixties decade remains a very significant, landmark moment in the history of the United States. It was a huge jumping-off point for the country. In some ways the Sixties marked a defining moment. It really is a watershed decade in launching our 50-year history.

'Undercover Boss' Most Subversive Show on TV
Arianna Huffington

Is reality TV finally living up to its name? Most of what we are served up under that rubric is actually the furthest thing from reality. Enter 'Undercover Boss,' the new CBS reality show in which corporate CEOs don disguises and spend a few days experiencing what it's like to be a low-level worker at their companies.

The Great B-17: A World War II Memory
Andy Rooney

There have always been stories of war because death is of ultimate importance, and war is often about death. Of all the inanimate objects that have been important to my life, none that involved death were more important than the B-17

It's All Rice and Potatoes to Me ...
Andy Rooney

I know you didn't ask, but here are some of my opinions on the best things to eat. I'm going to give them to you whether you want them or not.

Three Seasons...Not Four!
Andy Rooney

Of all the seasons, I like spring the least. Spring doesn't start for a couple of weeks, but I thought I'd get a jump on explaining my dislike. I like summer, I like fall and winter, but I've never cared much for spring, especially early spring.

Is There a Middle East Peace Solution
William Pfaff

Internationally speaking, there are only two subjects to talk about in the Middle East. These are Israel, the Palestinians and the Americans; and Iran and Israel. The two subjects dominated the annual meeting here of the Institute for Mediterranean Political Studies otherwise known as the Club of Monaco

Global Energy After The Economic Crisis
Christof Ruhl

Commercially traded energy is what classical economists used to call a 'basic good': directly or indirectly, it enters the production of every other produced commodity or service. Because these resources are finite and unevenly distributed, they seem to become increasingly hard to come by when global economic activity expands. This is the logic behind the concept of energy security.

At Last, A Woman Prevails on Oscar Night
Liz Smith

How wonderful that Miss Bigelow made history as the first female ever to take Best Director. That was some long wait in the outer office -- 'uh, Oscar will be right with you, Miss Whoever You Are Who Thinks You Can Direct!' Up in heaven's happy portals the pioneer likes of Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino are cheering.

 

Healthcare Reform

IRS Cracks Down on Fraudulent Tax Preparers
Alex Kingsbury

The number of Justice Department actions against tax-return preparers and tax-scheme promoters has skyrocketed from a single prosecution in 2001 to more than 435 injunctions and other legal actions since. The dramatic increase in enforcement has coincided with growing calls from lawmakers and tax officials to regulate an industry that has quietly escaped oversight for decades.

Who Will Be the New Global King of the Hill
William Pfaff

China and India stopped being part of what was called the third world when the Communist world disappeared in a shattering of global illusions in 1989. Since then there has been a search to find a new King of the Global Hill. The United States rejoiced for a few years in being the sole superpower, considering it an opportunity to remake the world according to its own advantage.

America Rides off Into the Sunset
Victor Davis Hanson

National leaders have only long-term self-interests and so seek to expand their influence whenever they can. Obama better understand that. As such, a world without strong U.S. leadership really would become a far more dangerous place where the strong do as they please and the weak obey as they must.

 

Super Bowl XLIV: Saints 31 - Colts 17

Saints Alive!
Brees by Colts 31-17 for Super Bowl XLIV Victory
Super Bowl XLIV - Saints 31 Colts 17, Drew Brees Super Bowl XLIV MVP

Saints Quarterback Drew Brees throws pair of touchdown passes as the New Orleans Saints rally from early 10-point deficit and defeats the Indianapolis Colts 31-17. Brees awarded MVP for completing 32-of-39 with 288 passing yards, two TD passes, 0 interceptions and 114.5 passer rating.

 

Death of Democracy
(c) Don Wright

Controversial Supreme Court Decision Expected to Reshape Financing of Elections
Alex Kingsbury

In one of the most contentious rulings in recent Supreme Court history, the high court overturned decades of legal precedent that limited how corporations, unions, and other organizations can participate in the political process. The 5-to-4 decision is all but certain to dramatically reshape the conduct of elections in the United States, campaign finance experts say.

J.D. Salinger: Artist Who Never Wanted to Be an 'Idol'
Mitch Albom

When someone told me J.D. Salinger had died, I jokingly asked, 'How do they know?' It was dark humor and a tad disrespectful. But I was trying to be complimentary. Salinger, who was even more passionate about his privacy than his writing, had managed, at age 91, to die a legend in both areas.

U.S. & China Trade Barbs After Google's Ultimatum
Alex Kingsbury

What began as a quiet post on Google's official blog has ballooned into a full fledged international tempest, with the U.S. and China trading barbs about the role of the government in regulating the Internet. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday condemned cyber attacks and called for an Internet where all have equal access to knowledge and ideas

Predicting the Fed's Next Move
Rob Silverblatt

The Federal Reserve didn't pull out any surprises when it blandly announced that it will keep interest rates near zero as the economy continues to recover. But even as the Fed remains fairly tight-lipped about when it will begin ratcheting up rates, economists have been quick to speculate about what's in store. Here are some predictions

Upcoming Iraqi Elections - Political Tremors
Brett H. McGurk

Recent news that Sunni candidates were banned from upcoming Iraqi elections has focused attention on that March 7 vote -- a crucial election for a new government to serve through 2014. Much is at stake, and the United States will have to maneuver carefully, supporting but not overtly interfering with the vote, cabinet formation, and then a new Iraqi government.

Economic Risk in 7 Countries Spooking Investors
Matthew Bandyk

Despite federal spending consuming 27.2 percent of GDP, the United States maintains a Aaa rating. But you can't say the same about many countries in both the developed and developing world where continued fallout from the economic crisis is hurting their credit ratings. As a result, investors have viewed the economic situations in these countries as increasingly risky bets.

Real Estate - Strategic Defaults and the Foreclosure Crisis
Luke Mullins

Foreclosure tallies continue to break records and even more homeowners appear headed for foreclosure this year. However, as the housing crisis rumbles forward, an additional driver of home foreclosures has become clear: Strategic Defaults -- borrowers able to pay their mortgage are simply walking away because they believe it's best for their finances

Rising Yachts Lift No Tides
Jesse Jackson

The government argued that they had to resuscitate the banks in order to save the U.S. economy. So, they rescued the banks not to save the banks, but to save the economy. It 'worked.' Banks are back, making profits and gearing up bonuses. However, unemployment and home foreclosures are rising and personal bankruptcies are at record levels. Obviously, there is a fundamental disconnect ...

Did Heidi Montag's Plastic Surgery Go Too Far?
Deborah Kotz

Was reality TV star Heidi Montag's decision to have 10 cosmetic procedures in one day a sign of her low self-esteem and addiction to plastic surgery? Or was it a brilliant PR move to land her on the cover of People and launch her singing career?

 

Devastation in Haiti
(c) Paul Tong

Earthquake Buries Progress in Haiti
Joshua Kucera

Even before Haiti's massive earthquake, the news from Haiti could seem relentlessly grim, from hurricanes to political violence to desperate poverty. But for the last year or so, things had actually started to look up in the hemisphere's poorest country.

Social Security: Let's Not Kill the Golden Goose
John Rother

Social Security's enduring popularity reflects the insurance nature of the program: Recipients have an earned right to their retirement benefits. Everyone who pays into the program is entitled to benefits. If you work long enough in covered employment, you qualify, no matter where you stand on the income ladder.

Social Security: Congress' Ponzi Scheme
John Rother

The fantasy of Social Security is seductive. We imagine there is an actual trust fund somewhere that takes in money and manages it responsibly. When we retire, we are 'entitled' to that money. Reality is not so attractive: Social Security is just a promise by Congress to take money from younger people and give it to older people.

The Dawning of a Ripe Old Age
Longevity Researchers

If there were a pill that could add two decades to your life, would you swallow it? Not if you're like most people scientist Matt Kaeberlein asks -- they see it as an invitation to purgatory. But when the University of Washington longevity researcher dangles the prospect that those extra years would be spent spry and hale, not enfeebled and ill, they listen up.

 

Wall Street CEOs
(c) Walt Handelsman

Wall Street CEOs: The Mea Culpa That Wasn't
Robyn Blumner

Here is the testimony I would have liked to have heard from the CEOs of Wall Street's largest banks -- institutions whose irresponsibility and greed nearly brought down the economy

 

Airport Security Checkpoints
(c) Walt Handelsman

What Airport Security Really Costs
Matthew Bandyk

Many Americans see waiting in lines, taking off their shoes, and other security measures as necessary evils. Since the Christmas incident, the government has planned to spend about $1 billion on full-body scanners and other security technology. However, the money spent on airport security goes far beyond the actual equipment.

 

(c) Don Wright

Global Political-Risk Outlook for 2010
Ian Bremmer and David Gordon

The biggest risk for 2010 comes from the point at which these trends converge: U.S.-China relations, Iran, European Fiscal Divergence, U.S. Financial Regulation, Japan ... Our top 10 geopolitical concerns for 2010 and their impact on the world

 

Trainspotter's Guide to the Future of the World
Paul Kennedy

The article didn't make for pleasant reading, especially for people like myself who think that efficient railway services and other forms of well-run mass transport are a subtle but nifty measure of a country's level of civilization and, in most cases, of its social and economic fabric

United States The Corporate State of America
Paul Greenberg

Can anybody be surprised at the latest development in the saga of U.S.A., Inc.? The government now has advanced GMAC, the financial arm of Government Motors, formerly General Motors, another $3.8 billion in cash, acquiring a majority stake in that lending agency, which is laden with debt itself.

Asleep on the Terrorist Watch: Northwest Flight 253
Paul Greenberg

It was just as frightening, and in its own way even more infuriating, than the almost successful attempt to blow up Northwest Flight 253 as it approached Detroit on Christmas Day. I'm talking about the wholly unacceptable comment/excuse offered by this country's secretary of supposed Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.

Solving World Health Issues a Few Dollars at a Time
Philippe Douste-Blazy and Daniel Altman

Starting in this quarter, hundreds of millions of people will have an unprecedented opportunity to help the world's most unfortunate inhabitants. When purchasing airline tickets through most major reservation Web sites or through a travel agent, consumers will be asked if they want to make a direct contribution to the fight against the world's three deadliest epidemics

The New Population Bomb
Jack A. Goldstone

Averting this century's potential dangers will require sweeping measures. Policymakers must adapt today's global governance institutions to the new realities of the aging of the industrialized world, the concentration of the world's economic and population growth in developing countries, and the increase in international immigration.

Mind of Martyr: How to Deradicalize Islamist Extremists
Jessica Stern

Is it possible to deradicalize terrorists and their potential recruits? Saudi Arabia, a pioneer in terrorism prevention and rehabilitation, claims that it is. And yet so far, the Saudis have shared very little information about their program's successes and failures.

America Through the Reality Lens
Jonah Goldberg

Culturally, this has been the decade of the reality show. And what do we have to show for it? Not much more than the contestants themselves.

Top 10 Political Scandals of 2009
Paul Bedard

It might not have reached the heights of the Watergate and Lewinsky years, but the political scandals of 2009 had something juicy for everybody. Republicans went for sex, Democrats for money, and former Gov. Sarah Palin simply bailed out on Alaska

Socialized Medicine and 'Just War'
Ross Mackenzie

The jobs summit, the economy, Copenhagen and East Anglia, Tiger Woods -- in the news an abundance of the bizarre. And let us not overlook Tareq and Michaele Salahi, that other uncredentialed couple oddly winding up in the White House. Of the many issues before an astonished populace, two issues ... Socialized Medicine and 'Just War' ... stand at the forefront of American politics in 2009

U.S. No Longer the Great Job Creation Machine
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

The nervousness of millions of Americans is entirely justifiable. They see economic head winds all about them. The biggest economy in the world is held hostage by shoppers and consumers who are scared and pessimistic. What are our job prospects? The problem in the job market going forward is not so much layoffs in the private sector, which are abating, but a lack of hiring.

 

The Young Presidents: Youth is a Double-Edged Sword for President Obama
Kenneth T. Walsh

Youth has always been a double-edged sword for America's presidents. It tends to inject the White House with fresh ideas and energy, but it can also lead to impetuousness and a disregard for the tried and true. So far, Barack Obama has demonstrated both the positive and the negative sides of the equation.

 

(c) Nancy Ohanian

'The Great Global Security Underwriter' Will Pay a High Price
William Pfaff

Most surveys on America's two current wars and on foreign policy generally, find majority support for staying at home and minding America's own business. Especially now, when it has become no longer possible to treat the national deficit as if it doesn't matter, and when the president has just ordered another 'surge' of troops to the Afghanistan war.

 

Journalism: Desperate Metaphors, Revenue Models and the Need for Better Journalism
Arianna Huffington

Apparently, some in the old media have decided that it is, in fact, an either/or game and that the best way to save, if not journalism, at least themselves, is by pointing fingers and calling names. It's a tactic familiar to schoolyard inhabitants everywhere: when all else fails, reach for the nearest insult and throw it around indiscriminately.

Gift Cards: Not Always the Easiest Holiday Present
Matthew Bandyk

For busy Americans who don't have the time or inclination to find the perfect gift for each person on their shopping list, a gift card is the next best thing. But while it might be popular to buy gift cards ...

 

Financial Crisis, Enron, Hurricane Katrina Examples of Leadership Gone Wrong
Tamara Lytle

The New Orleans masses who huddled in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, the Enron retirees who lost their life savings, and the laid-off workers buried under the economic ruin of financial companies all live with a simple truth. Just as spectacularly as great leadership can spark success, failed leadership can bring down cities, businesses, and economies

Crisis Management: Leading Successfully Through the Storm
Bret Schulte

Contemporary examples of strong crisis leadership are in surprisingly short supply, experts say. And all too often, the reaction to a crisis is to hunker down and ride it out. But there are a few modern standouts, especially in the business world.

The 'Reform' That Ate America
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

 

We Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
Victor Davis Hanson

High unemployment, the recession and a terrorist resurgence in Afghanistan are bad enough. But there are a number of problems on the horizon that could dwarf President Obama's first-year trials. Why the pessimism? In short, we are doing nothing to prepare for the crises to come.

 

Beginning of a New World Economic Epoch
Paul A. Samuelson

President Barack Obama's 2008 electoral landslide victory averted a global financial meltdown. Had Republican Sen. John McCain won that election, present U.S. GDP would have been even lower than it is now, by more than 15 percent! And similar losses in global productivity would also have taken place.

 

United States: Single-eyed Vision
Robert C. Koehler

The promise the United States once represented to the world has spent itself, and what we have to offer in terms of opportunity, or at least hope, is overshadowed by the spreading shadow of our hubris. And it's all coming home to roost.

Human Survival The Twin Brother of Nuclear Annihilation
Robert C. Koehler

Whether the underlying premise is faulty or valid, the nuclear weapons industry is here to stay as long as people believe in sufficient numbers that our survival is 'the twin brother of annihilation.'

Nobel Peace Prize: Mixed Signals, Or 'Blessed Are The Cheesemakers'
Paul Kennedy

On hearing the surprising news of President Obama's award of the Nobel Peace Prize, I could only wonder at the Norwegian award committee's own very long track record of sending out mixed messages about its intentions and reasoning.

Brandenburg Gate - Berlin, Germany

When Freedom Was at High Tide
Paul Greenberg

The great tide had been building for years, for decades. But it would take daring and determination to release it. Walls do not come tumbling down by themselves, however much it might seem that way looking back. There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to freedom. High tide came November 9, 1989, when the Wall came down

Communism's Enablers and Excusers
Cal Thomas

On Nov. 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was pulled down to the consternation of leftists, who still had faith socialism could work with the right leaders, and to the delight of conservatives, who believed that socialism and communism guaranteed mutually-shared poverty. Two years later, the Soviet Union crumbled. Soviet communism might not have endured for 70 years had it not been for enablers in academia, religion and journalism

Americans' shrinking retirement nest egg
(c) William Brown

The Modern Retirement Plan: Cross Your Fingers
Robyn Blumner

I come in contact with the failure of America's retirement system at my local supermarket. That's where a corps of elderly gentlemen bag my groceries. After the bags are piled in the cart, they ask me with slackened faces if I need help to the car. It's always a mildly awkward question. I am far more agile, and we both know it. Without fail this thought enters my mind: What went wrong for them?

 

 

Norman Borlaug: The Man Who Changed Everything
Norman Borlaug (March 25, 1914 - September 12, 2009)

Norman Borlaug, a plainspoken Iowa farm boy who worked his way through the University of Minnesota during the Depression. His death at 95 came at the end of a life as rich as the bountiful fields he left across the world. To quote the citation that came with his Nobel Prize in 1970, "More than any other single person of this age, he has helped provide bread for a hungry world."

The Emerging Economic Order
(c) Jack Ohman

U.S., China and the Emerging Economic Order
Henry Kissinger

The assumption that the end of the recession will restore the familiar global economic system ignores the psychological and political upheaval that has taken place.

A vast tide of liquidity coupled with America's appetite for consumer goods had sent enormous amounts of dollars to China that, in turn, China lent back to us for still more buying.

 

 

The Default Power and American Declinism
Josef Joffe

The history of declinism shows that doom arrives in cycles, and what comes and goes, logically, does not a trend make. Today, as after past prophecies of imminent debility, the United States remains first on any scale of power that matters -- economic, military, diplomatic or cultural -- despite being embroiled in two wars and beset by the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

 

Big Government Medicine
(c) Dick Locher

Big Government Medicine
Victor Davis Hanson

Big new taxes. Big new spending. Big new government. This seems to be the proposed cure for the Wall Street-inspired recession. The government now runs major banks and companies, and plans to take control of the American health-care system. And it aims to tax how energy in the United States is used to monitor carbon use.

 

Frustrated Baby Boomers Alienated from the Political Debate
Mary Kate Cary

There's a big disconnect in politics right now. The older baby boomers, the ones in their 50s and 60s, are increasingly left out of the political discourse. That crowd is part of the biggest demographic segment of our population -- more than a quarter of our citizens. They're dismayed that their local newspaper -- if it still exists -- places more emphasis on obituaries and local real estate news. Any national news is buried somewhere far from the front page. They feel like they can't get issue-oriented policy news anymore and are ...

Iraq War -- What War
Victor Davis Hanson

The war in Iraq is scarcely in the news any longer, despite the fact that 141,000 American soldiers are still protecting the fragile Iraqi democracy, and 114, as of this writing, have been lost this year in that effort. But after the success of the surge, there are far fewer American fatalities each month

An Amazon Kindle for Every Student
Zach Miners

Forget better standards, merit pay for teachers, or rebuilding the crumbling infrastructure of America's aging schools. No, if we really want to fix the U.S. education system, we must start with Kindles. Thomas Z. Freedman, the primary author of the paper, writes that having a "Kindle in every backpack" (the title of the proposal) is not just an educational gimmick but could improve education quality and save money

Government Bailout
(c) Paul Tong

Opportunity Cost of the Bank Bailout
Arianna Huffington

The lopsided 'recovery.' Banks that received billions in taxpayer handouts now reporting massive profits and setting aside record amounts for executive bonuses, and the American people continuing to face 9.5 percent unemployment, 10,000 foreclosures a day and vital services being cut.

 

Iran at Crossroads of History
Will this Regime Fall Like Shah's
Abolhassan Bani-Sadr

Within six short weeks since the recent election, the government of the Islamic Republic has been publicly divided, delegitimized, challenged and weak. As a result, we can now draw some analytical parallels between the current regime and the pre-1979 monarchy, and between the two occasions of political unrest.

Working Together, Brazil, Russia, China and India Increase Leverage
Ian Bremmer

In 2003, a report authored by Goldman Sachs economists popularized the term BRICs -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- to describe a whole new category of emerging-market powerhouse. The report argued that with sound political leadership and relative international stability, the BRIC economies would together outpace the original G6 industrialized nations in dollar terms by 2040 -- a fundamental shift in the global balance of power. Since then, these four countries have assumed ever-greater importance in the international investment community's collective imagination.

 

Obama's Great Race to Change America
(c) Matt Wuerker

Obama's Great Race to Change America
Victor Davis Hanson

Why does President Obama want to implement all at once radical changes in American foreign policy, environmental policy, education, health care and the tax code? The answer is easy: If he does not achieve these initiatives soon, he never will. Almost none of Obama's proposed policies any longer enjoy majority support among voters

Housing Crisis Conundrum:
Which America Do You Live In
Ilyce Glink

It almost feels as though there are two economies.

First, we have the so-called 'good news' from Wall Street, where the big financial companies are crowing about billion-dollar profits, paying $100 million bonuses, and repaying warrants. Then we have the Main Street economy, where people can't get lenders to call them back, where jobs continue to be lost, home values continue to fall, net worths shrink and foreclosures continue to rise.

Working to Improve the Economy
Kenneth T. Walsh Interviews Christina Romer

Christina Romer -- chairwoman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers -- recently spoke with Kenneth T. Walsh about what has gone wrong, when an economic recovery might occur, and what it's like to work with President Obama.

 

The Growing Divide in American Politics
(c) Mark Weber

Polarization is the New Political Bipartisanship
Mary Kate Cary

Gone are the days of Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan's famous friendship; George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton's joint humanitarian efforts seem like a relic from a different era.

Early Economic Recovery: Fiction or Fact
Paul A. Samuelson

Ever since the global meltdown began in 2007, Wall Street pundits and government officials have proclaimed cheery optimism that meaningful global recovery will occur by the second half of 2009, or the first quarter of 2010. So, as in an earlier time, they're telling us we have nothing to fear except fear itself. Well, we have now entered 2009's second half. The question is whether the early economic recovery is fact or fiction. Paul A. Samuelson shares his findings ...

 

War and the Balance of Power
(Nancy Ohanian)

War By Other Means
Robert C. Koehler - International Politics & World Affairs

We live in a world where arrogance and power are concentrated to an unbelievably fine point, while responsibility is diffused into a global mist.

A few fanatics can plot and wage a war, stirring up consequences infinitely beyond what they are capable of imagining, then retire, when things go bad, into a luxury tinged with disgrace.

 

 

President Obama

 

Iraq: American Troop Withdrawal

 

The Pentagon's Wasting Assets
Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr.

Several events in recent years have demonstrated that traditional means and methods of projecting power and accessing the global commons are growing increasingly obsolete--becoming "wasting assets," in the language of defense strategists

 

Iranian Elections 2009: Iran's Crisis of Legitimacy

 

 

 

A Positively Reaganesque Start to Obama Presidency
Howard Baker Jr.

 

In the Senate, Two Is a Lonely Number
Katherine Skiba

Everyone Agrees We Need Wall Street Reforms ...
Arianna Huffington

Supreme Court: Strip Search of 13-Year-Old Unconstitutional
Zach Miners

Flipping the Taliban: How to Win in Afghanistan
Fotini Christia and Michael Semple

Political History of the Stars & Stripes
Andrew Burt

 

Asia Economy: Tamed Asian Tigers, Distressed Chinese Dragon
Brian P. Klein and Kenneth Neil Cukier

ALSO on the economy & global financial crisis:

 

International current events & world affairs

 

What Does the Future Hold for GOP?
Future of the Republican Party by Jonah Goldberg

 

Politics

 

Andy Rooney

 

Arianna Huffington

 

Chris thomas

 

MOVIES: MOVIE REVIEWS & MOVIE TRAILERS

 

RECIPES

 

Vacation Travel

 

health & fitness

 

NEWS, TOP STORIES, BREAKING NEWS & HEADLINES

US troop death tally of 63 makes for deadliest month in Afghanistan - The Guardian

msnbc.com

US troop death tally of 63 makes for deadliest month in Afghanistan The Guardian Three US troops died in blasts in Afghanistan, bringing the military death toll for July to at least 63 and surpassing the previous month's record as the deadliest for American forces in the nearly nine-year-old war. The three died in two blasts in ... 3 NATO Troops Killed in AfghanistanVoice of America Afghans riot near U.S. Embassy, burn SUVsmsnbc.com 3 more US troops die in southern AfghanistanForbes The Associated Press -BBC News -Vanity Fair all 1,469 news articles »

BP lawsuits over oil spill take center stage - Reuters

ABC Online

BP lawsuits over oil spill take center stage Reuters Drill ships and response vessels work in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast line while attempting to drill relief wells at the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill wellhead July 27, 2010. By George Prentice BOISE Idaho (Reuters) - More than 2000 miles ... Tony Hayward: 'I became a villain for doing the right thing'USA Today Gulf of Mexico Has Long Been a Dump Site for IndustryNew York Times BP's Hayward Defends Tenure, Spill ResponseWall Street Journal ABC News -The Associated Press -AFP all 1,090 news articles »

Economy slows sharply in second quarter - Los Angeles Times

CBC.ca

Economy slows sharply in second quarter Los Angeles Times The nation's measure of economic growth shows a modest 2.4% gain in spring, compared to a 3.7% rise earlier in the year, more evidence the fragile recovery is losing steam, a Commerce Department report says. By Don Lee, Los Angeles Times A new ... US Economy Grew 2.4% in Second Quarter, Below ForecastBloomberg Imports slow second-quarter growthReuters US economic growth slowsCNNMoney MarketWatch -AFP -CNBC all 468 news articles »

Alleged Rogue GI Sent to US in WikiLeaks Probe - FOXNews

CBC.ca

Alleged Rogue GI Sent to US in WikiLeaks Probe FOXNews An Army private suspected of leaking tens of thousands of classified Afghan War documents has been transferred from Kuwait to a Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia, where he remains in custody. Pfc. Bradley Manning, a 22-year-old intelligence ... WikiLeaks founder 'disappointed' by Gates' remarksCNN White House Implores Wikileaks: Don't Post More DocumentsCBS News White House urges halt to spilling of war secretsThe Associated Press AFP -The Australian -The Guardian all 614 news articles »

Immigration law protesters hit the streets - NorthJersey.com

Globe and Mail

Immigration law protesters hit the streets NorthJersey.com PHOENIX β€” Hundreds of marchers protesting Arizona's hard-line stance against illegal immigration took to the streets Thursday as the local sheriff launched raids to arrest illegal migrants β€” vivid signs that the ... Arizonans React to Court Ruling as Limited Immigration Law Takes EffectVoice of America Arizona sheriff not relenting after court rulingThe Associated Press Amid protests, Arizona appeals ruling on state immigration lawBoston Globe Dallas Morning News -BusinessWeek -Arizona Republic all 6,675 news articles »

Wildfire explodes in rural hills near Los Angeles - The Associated Press

Los Angeles Times (blog)

Wildfire explodes in rural hills near Los Angeles The Associated Press PALMDALE, Calif. β€” Firefighters plan an aggressive air attack at first light Friday against a fast-moving wildfire that exploded in northern Los Angeles County, chewing through more than 7 square miles of dry brush, forcing thousands of evacuations and ... 1500 LA homes threatenedLos Angeles Times Crown Fire burns 8000 acres, threatens homesabc7.com Wildfire threatens Palmdale homesDaily Breeze KFMB -CNN -KTLA all 858 news articles »

Charlie Rangel: List of Charges - CBS News

New York Times (blog)

Charlie Rangel: List of Charges CBS News For each violation, the Investigative Subcommittee scrutinizing Rangel determined there is "substantial reason to believe that a violation of the Code of Official Conduct, or of a law, rule, regulation, or other standard of conduct applicable to the ... Rangel Entangled With LobbyistsThe Washington Independent GOP gets wish: Rangel case in campaign seasonThe Associated Press Gibbs: Charles Rangel Ethics Trial 'Right Course'ABC News New York Post -New York Daily News -New York Times all 4,201 news articles »

Pakistan Death Toll From Northwest Flash Floods, Heavy Rain Rises to 408 - Bloomberg

The Hindu

Pakistan Death Toll From Northwest Flash Floods, Heavy Rain Rises to 408 Bloomberg Pakistan's death toll from flash floods and heavy rains in the northwest has risen to 408 and may climb further as thousands are still stranded in the region's worst storms. ... 3 days of floods kill hundreds in Pakistan9&10 News Pakistan Death Toll From Northwest Flash Floods Rises to 408BusinessWeek Pakistan monsoon floods kill more than 320AFP Voice of America -NPR -The Hindu all 977 news articles »

Rosie O'Donnell, Sarah Palin disapprove of Obama's 'View' visit - USA Today

The Guardian (blog)

Rosie O'Donnell, Sarah Palin disapprove of Obama's 'View' visit USA Today Former View co-host Rosie O'Donnell didn't think it was a great idea for President Barack Obama to chat up The View ladies. "I have mixed feelings about that," said O'Donnell, 48, on her Sirius XM radio show Wednesday, the day before Obama's episode ... Obama appears on 'The View': A bit of TV historyPhiladelphia Inquirer Television review: President Obama on 'The View'Los Angeles Times The View from Main Street Tells a Different TaleTaipan Publishing Group CBS News -Boston Herald -Christian Science Monitor all 1,070 news articles »

Syrian president, Saudi king arrive in Beirut - Xinhua

The Guardian

Syrian president, Saudi king arrive in Beirut Xinhua BEIRUT, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz arrived in Beirut on Friday. The two leaders were welcomed at Beirut airport by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, ... Saudi, Syrian leaders make rare visit to LebanoneTaiwan News Arab leaders seek to boost Lebanon stabilityFinancial Times Saudi, Syrian, Lebanese Leaders Hold Summit in BeirutSan Francisco Chronicle Monsters and Critics.com -Asia Times Online -BBC News all 730 news articles »

Top Stories - Google News
Google News

 

UK soldiers push to clear Taliban
Hundreds of UK soldiers launch an operation to clear Taliban insurgents from a key stronghold in southern Afghanistan.

Points failure caused rail crash
A points failure caused the Potters Bar train crash which killed seven people, an inquest jury decides.

Prescott Iraq intelligence doubts
The intelligence on Iraq's weapons threat was "not very substantial", former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott says.

French mother 'relieved by truth'
A French mother who admitted killing eight of her newborn babies is relieved that her secret is finally out in the open, her lawyer says.

Immigrant worker limit criticised
Government plans to limit the number of skilled foreign workers allowed into the UK are criticised by the Lord Mayor of London.

Fugitive Nadir will stand trial
Fugitive Polly Peck tycoon Asil Nadir, who fled to northern Cyprus in 1993, confirms he will come back to the UK to stand trail on theft charges.

Expenses four in appeals defeat
Three ex Labour MPs and an ex-Tory peer lose appeals over a ruling that they are not protected from prosecution over expenses fraud allegations.

Strikes and ash extend BA losses
BA reveals a steep quarterly loss of £164m after being hit by cabin crew strikes and disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud.

Benefits face 'radical' shake-up
Merging all tax credits and benefits into a single payment is one option being considered by Iain Duncan Smith in a "radical" welfare shake-up.

Gove defends academy schools list
The Education Secretary insists there no is rush for schools in England to become academies, after criticism over the number of schools coming forward.

Suspect mail at US Paris embassy
Two employees at the US embassy in France are taken for medical check-ups after a suspect package is identified at the building's post room.

Life on Mars? Rocks may contain remains of life
Researchers identify rocks that they say could contain the fossilised remains of life on early Mars.

Rare million pound car clamped outside Harrods
A luxury car worth £1.2m is clamped outside Harrods in central London after being illegally parked.

Live - England v Pakistan
England look to wrap up Pakistan's first innings quickly and enforce the follow-on after tea on day two at Trent Bridge.

Bristol City capture keeper James
Bristol City sign England goalkeeper David James following his release from Portsmouth.

Ennis makes strong start at Euros
Britain's Jessica Ennis gets her bid for European heptathlon gold off to a strong start by winning the 100m hurdles and the high jump events in Barcelona.

Vettel heads Alonso in practice
Red Bull appear to be in total control as McLaren struggle during second practice for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Redknapp defends Parker pursuit
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp defends the club's pursuit of West Ham's Scott Parker insisting the Hammers are guilty of unsettling the midfielder.

Scarlett case 'may help tourists'
The mother of teenager Scarlett Keeling says she hopes the trial into her death in Goa will improve the region for tourists.

Sex parties banned at London home
The High Court bans a man from staging sex parties and pole-dancing classes at the mansion he owns in central London.

Man arrested over gangland murder
A 28-year-old man is arrested in connection with the murder of Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll in Glasgow.

Child, 3, drowned in garden pond
A toddler drowned after falling into a garden pond during a visit to a house in Edinburgh, it has emerged.

Widow's relief as remains found
The widow of a man believed to have been killed by the IRA in 1981 said she felt sad but relieved that her husband's remains appeared to have been found.

PSNI release riot suspect images
Pictures of 14 suspected rioters are released by police investigating trouble in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast.

Charges follow quad bike deaths
Two men, 21 and 23, will face charges after a raid on a Cardiff shop ended with the deaths of two others on quad bikes.

Family funeral tribute to soldier
Hundreds of mourners attend the funeral of a "brave, courageous and loyal" soldier killed in Afghanistan.

Three charged with Uganda bombing
Three Kenyan men are charged with carrying out bomb attacks in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, that killed at least 76.

Four fined over SA 'racist video'
Four white South Africans are fined $2,700 (£1,700) each after making a video humiliating black university workers.

Sale of EDF's UK networks agreed
A consortium headed by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing agrees to buy the UK networks of French power group EDF for £5.8bn ($9.1bn).

China river hunt for toxic drums
Search teams in north-east China are still searching for thousands of barrels of toxic chemicals washed into a major river by flooding.

Deadly forest fires ravage Russia
Forest fires kill at least 23 people in central Russia, while a forecast of heavy rain brings relief to Moscow.

Sarkozy threat on police attacks
President Nicolas Sarkozy says he would like to strip French nationality from anyone of foreign origin who threatened the life of a police officer.

Military kills Mexico drug lord
The Mexican government says security forces have killed leading drug trafficker Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel.

Cuban hunger striker returns home
Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas, who was on hunger strike for more than 130 days, is released from hospital.

Beirut talks seek to ease tension
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah are in Beirut for talks with Lebanese leaders aimed at calming sectarian tensions.

Saudi warned on expelling Somalis
The UN refugee agency urges Saudi Arabia to stop deporting Somalis, saying 2,000 have recently been sent to Mogadishu.

South Asia floods kill hundreds
Floods caused by heavy monsoon rain kill hundreds of people in Pakistan and Afghanistan, washing away whole villages, roads and bridges.

US has deadliest Afghan war month
US forces suffered the deadliest month of their nine-year Afghan campaign, with 63 service members killed in July.

US closes its consulate in Juarez
The US consulate in the border city of Ciudad Juarez has been closed indefinitely while a security review is carried out.

Canada weighs pig killer retrial
The Canadian Supreme Court decides whether to grant a new trial to a pig farmer convicted of killing six women.

US economic growth slows to 2.4%
US economic growth slowed between April and June, with GDP growing by an annualised rate of 2.4%, the US Commerce Department says.

Royal Mail pension plan opposed
The Pensions Regulator is opposing a crucial plan to pay off the £10bn deficit in the Royal Mail pension scheme.

Disney sells Miramax film studios
Walt Disney announces the sale of its Miramax film division for about $660m to a group of private equity investors.

MoD 'to pay for Trident renewal'
The MoD is facing further pressure on its budget after the chancellor says it will have to pay for new nuclear submarines, and not the Treasury as before.

Public to veto council tax rises
The public will be able to veto their council tax bills in England if charges are above an agreed limit, ministers will announce.

Coalition deal 'untruths' claim
Labour's Ed Miliband claims the coalition government was "built on a series of untruths" after revelations in a BBC documentary.

Calcium pills 'raise' heart risk
Calcium supplements taken by many older people could be increasing their risk of a heart attack, research shows.

Pregnant women rights questioned
The right of women to choose whether they have home births is being questioned by a leading medical journal.

Drug prescribed after web search
A father persuades the NHS to give his sick daughter a "miracle" drug he found on the internet.

Maths fears over A-level reforms
Plans to reform A-levels could put students off maths and lead to university department closures, an academic body warns.

150 schools ask to be academies
More than 150 top schools in England have applied to become academies, government documents show.

Dramatic fall in pupil expulsion
There has been a dramatic fall in the number of pupils excluded from schools in England in the past year, official figures show.

Call to check on mobile security
Owners of mobile phones are being asked to test the security of their network to see if enough is being done to stop eavesdropping.

UK troops use iPad app for fire mission training
Newsbeat's had an exclusive look at new training being given to UK soldiers at the Royal School of Artillery in Wiltshire.

Facebook data hoarder speaks out
Security researcher Ron Bowes tells BBC News why he collected and published the personal details of 100m Facebook users.

Mammals decline in Chernobyl zone
The largest wildlife census of its kind conducted in Chernobyl reveals evidence of mammals declining in the exclusion zone.

Galapagos off Unesco danger list
A UN panel votes to remove the Galapagos Islands from a "red list" of endangered heritage sites, to protests from a leading conservation group.

X Prize for oil spill solutions
The X Prize foundation, best known for launching the private spaceflight industry, launches a $1.4 million oil clean-up challenge.

DeGeneres leaving American Idol
Comedienne and chat show host Ellen DeGeneres is leaving American Idol after one season on the judging panel.

Ben Shephard says goodbye to GMTV
Ben Shephard bids farewell to GMTV after 10 years telling viewers: "I'm going to miss all of you, every single one of you."

Awards double for Valentine band
Welsh rock band Bullet For My Valentine scoop two prizes at this year's Kerrang! Awards, including best British group for the third year running.

Child-free by choice
More women in the developed world are choosing not to have children. So why do others think it's OK to question this decision?

The big cheese
With thousands expected to flock to a major cheese fair, why are Britons taking this once-humble foodstuff so seriously?

Was Dr Crippen really innocent?
Hawley Crippen is one of the most infamous killers in British history. But was he really innocent of murdering his wife?

Grim task of China oil clean-up
China is struggling with an arduous clean up after the country's worst oil spill, with grim conditions for those involved.

'I survived grizzly bear attack'
A Canadian woman has said she played dead in order to escape from a bear during an attack in Montana that left one man dead.

Rescues as Pakistan flood toll soars
More than 400 people have been killed and nearly 400,000 displaced in floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains in northern Pakistan.

Families' reaction to crash verdict
The families of the victims of the Potters Bar train crash say they would like a public inquiry into the incident which killed seven people.

A walk-in cow wash - it's Odd Box
The world of doggy ice cream, a huge waterfight in Russia and a walk-in cow wash. It's the week's weird and wonderful video stories in Newsbeat's Odd Box with Dominic Byrne.

Symphony to celebrate Yorkshire
Hundreds of amateur musicians have set the sights and sounds of Yorkshire to music.

Pakistan fighting Taliban on two fronts
The BBC's John Simpson visits the city of Peshawar in Pakistan to see how the country is dealing with fighting two Talibans.

London's cycle-hire scheme explained
Transport correspondent Richard Scott investigates how London's new cycle-hire scheme works.

Bad trip
Are family holidays worth all the hassle?

Hoop dreams
Did they really play croquet at the Olympics?

On your bike
Testing London's new hire bicycles

7 days quiz
Who's the 'good lad'? Crisps boy, Massa or Dr Watson?

Rum ration
What did they do with the drunken sailor?

On the run
Northern Cyprus is a "haven" for fugitives no longer

Pick up a Penguin
Colourful 75-year history of the famous book publisher

Sex tourism boom
Brazil's uphill struggle curtailing lucrative trade in underage sex

BBC News - Home
The latest stories from the Home section of the BBC News web site.

 

 

 

81st Academy Awards - 2009 Oscar Winners & Nominations

2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

From the beach on Canouan Island in the Grenadines, supermodel Bar Refaeli graces the cover of the highly anticipated 2009 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SWIMSUIT ISSUE.

Refaeli, a three-year veteran of the SI SWIMSUIT ISSUE, is the first Israeli model to land the cover of the coveted magazine. Photographer Raphael Mazzucco, who also photographed the 2008 cover of Marisa Miller, captured the cover photo during a two-day shoot with Refaeli on Canouan Island in the Grenadines.

The 2009 SWIMSUIT ISSUE takes a journey to four countries with ancient cultures and pillars of modern beauty and makes stops in Naples, Italy; Cappadocia, Turkey; Riviera Maya, Mexico; and Tenerife, Canary Islands.

 

SUPER BOWL XLIII

 

POLITICS