US, Arabs press Mideast Peace

I wouldn't hold my breath. But this is the way to go. Israel and the Palestinians have to negotiate to create a Palestinian state.

in reference to:

"The Obama administration is laying out a new tack in Mideast peace efforts, pressing Israel and the Palestinians to take on the tough issues of borders for a Palestinian state and the status of Jerusalem before addressing other obstacles. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said after meeting Friday that resolving those matters first would eliminate Palestinian concerns about continued construction of Jewish settlements in disputed areas. Clinton and Judeh said negotiations should begin as soon as possible and be bound by deadlines. Their comments came as the Obama administration's special Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell prepares to visit Europe next week and Israel and the Palestinian territories later this month to try to relaunch stalled negotiations."
- US, Arabs press Mideast peace (view on Google Sidewiki)

Mind-Readers the Future of Air Security?

But until then Americans are unsafe in the skies.

in reference to:

"A would-be terrorist tries to board a plane, bent on mass murder. As he walks through a security checkpoint, fidgeting and glancing around, a network of high-tech machines analyzes his body language and reads his mind. Screeners pull him aside. Tragedy is averted. As far-fetched as that sounds, systems that aim to get inside an evildoer's head are among the proposals floated by security experts thinking beyond the X-ray machines and metal detectors used on millions of passengers and bags each year. On Thursday, in the wake of the Christmas Day bombing attempt over Detroit, President Barack Obama called on Homeland Security and the Energy Department to develop better screening technology, warning: "In the never-ending race to protect our country, we have to stay one step ahead of a nimble adversary.""
- Mind-Readers the Future of Air Security? - CBS News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Video: Obama Promised Healthcare Debate on C-Span

It is becoming plainly clear that Barack Obama is just another politician, who make promises they never keep.

CBS:

President Obama wants the final negotiations on health care reform - a reconciliation of the House and Senate versions of the bill - put on a fast track, even if that means breaking an explicit campaign promise.

"The House and Senate plan to put together the final health care reform bill behind closed doors according to an agreement by top Democrats," House Speaker Nanci Pelosi said today at the White House.

The White House is on board with that, too, reports CBS News political correspondent Chip Reid. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stressed today that "the president wants to get a bill to his desk as quickly as possible."

Special Report: Health Care Reform

During the campaign, though, candidate Obama regularly promised something different - to broadcast all such negotiations on C-SPAN, putting the entire process of pounding out health care reform out in the open. (That promise applied to the now-completed processing of forging House and Senate bills, too.)

Back when Republicans controlled Congress and George W. Bush was in the White House, it was Democrats who angrily complained about secret backroom deals.

Video: Study: Living with Men makes Women Fat

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Neighbors: Suspect in Mo. Shooting unhappy at Work

This the kind of stupid headline that leads mass shootings. The media presents killers as somehow having a grievance. Anyone with issues reading and watching headlines of mass killings see that the killers are portrayed almost sympathetically, rather than showing them as the cowards they really are.The press has a responsibility to stop glamorizing the killing large numbers of people. Until then we will go through just about every week with another mass shooting. It's become a new spectator sport in America.

in reference to:

"The man widely identified as the gunman in a fatal shooting spree at a St. Louis industrial plant was described as an amicable family man and good neighbor, who would rake an elder's leaves and bring him holiday treats. But 51-year-old Timothy Hendron of Webster Groves, a St. Louis suburb, was unhappy at work, according to those who knew him even casually, and embroiled in a pension dispute with his company that was being litigated this week in U.S. District Court in Kansas City."
- Neighbors: Suspect in Mo. shooting unhappy at work (view on Google Sidewiki)

State Department failed to confirm terror suspect's visa

The more we learn the worse the ineptitude in this case. Does anybody really believe this will be rectified?

in reference to:

"It is one of several unconnected dots -- the State Department failed to determine that Christmas bombing suspect Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab had a U.S. visa until after he nearly set off explosives on a U.S.-bound airplane. State Department officials told CNN on Thursday that a series of errors caused AbdulMutallab to avoid classification as a terrorist, which would have have placed him on a no-fly list and caused his multiple entry visa to be revoked. One of those errors was the inability of the State Department -- which issues visas -- to initially determine whether AbdulMutallab had one. It is unclear whether earlier awareness of the visa in itself would have helped keep AbdulMutallab off the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit, Michigan. Now the 23-year-old Nigerian faces charges including attempted murder of the other 289 people aboard the flight after allegedly failing detonate the explosives in his underwear."
- State Department failed to confirm terror suspect's visa - CNN.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Policeman hurt in car bomb blast in Northern Ireland

Back to the bad old days?

in reference to:

"A officer from the Police Service of Northern Ireland has been taken to hospital after a bomb exploded under his car in County Antrim.The man, who is a Catholic, was seriously injured in the explosion which happened on the Milltown Road in Randalstown at 0630 GMT. It is believed the officer had driven about a mile from his home when the bomb went off. Army technical officers are now at the scene of the ongoing security alert. 'Murder attempt'No one has claimed responsibility for planting the bomb, but the DUP's William McCrea, who is the MP in the area, said he had no doubt that dissident republicans were behind the attack. The chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Barry Gilligan, described the bombing as "an attempt to murder". He added that those who carried it out "cannot be allowed to succeed in bringing any further terror" to Northern Ireland and urged anyone with information about the incident to pass it to the police. South Antrim SDLP Assembly Member Thomas Burns said the scene of the attack was not far from Massereene Barracks, were two soldiers were shot dead by the Real IRA last March."
- BBC News - Policeman hurt in car bomb blast in Randalstown (view on Google Sidewiki)

Gay Marriage Bill Defeated in New Jersey

This is a matter for the people to decide, not a court matter.

in reference to:

"New Jersey's Senate has rejected a proposal to allow same-sex couples to marry in the state. Lawmakers voted 20-14 late Thursday against the bill that would have made New Jersey the sixth state to allow gay marriages, the New York Times reported. The measure's supporters had hoped it would pass before Jan. 19, when Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, who promised to sign it, steps down. Corzine will be replaced by Republican Chris Christie, who has said he opposes the bill. With the legislative process exhausted, gay marriage advocates and opponents will prepare for a new fight before the New Jersey Supreme Court, the Times reported."
- Gay Marriage Bill Defeated in New Jersey -- Politics Daily (view on Google Sidewiki)

FBI seizes passport of man Questioned in Terror Probe

Strange case.

in reference to:

"The FBI executed a search warrant and confiscated the passport of a man previously questioned in an investigation into an alleged attempt at mass destruction on U.S. soil. Authorities seized the passport of Bosnian immigrant Adis Medunjanin, 25, on Thursday. Medunjanin was previously questioned in connection with 24-year-old Najibullah Zazi, who is charged with conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction on U.S. soil. "We were looking for his passport, and we got it," said FBI spokesman Rich Kolko. Medunjanin voluntarily turned over the document when the FBI turned up, said his attorney, Robert Gottlieb. "We have no idea why they wanted his passport," Gottlieb said. The FBI did not explain. Medunjanin arrived in the United States in 1994 and was naturalized in 2002. His home in the Whitestone neighborhood of the New York borough of Queens was searched in September when the Zazi investigation broke. Medunjanin, his sister and parents were interviewed at the time as part of the investigation, Gottlieb said. Medunjanin talked with police for about 14 hours, he said. Medunjanin has not been charged in connection with the investigation of Zazi and has denied any knowledge of the case. Authorities say Zazi, who has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges, planned to be in New York and use an explosive device on September 11, 2009."
- FBI seizes passport of man questioned in terror probe - CNN.com (view on Google Sidewiki)