House ethics committee reviewing Pete Visclosky and Todd Tiarht's ties to PMA

They'll just get a slap on the wrist.

in reference to:

"The House ethics committee announced Friday that it is reviewing cases involving Reps. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kansas) and Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.), the latest sign that the panel continues to look at the activities of senior members of the powerful Appropriations Committee. The Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent ethics watchdog group, made recommendations to the ethics committee Dec. 2 regarding both lawmakers, according to statements from the panel. The ethics committee has 45 days to review an OCE recommendation and can ask for another 45-day extension. At the end of that period, the ethics committee must either vote to begin a formal investigation of the case or dismiss it, at which point the OCE recommendation becomes public. Visclosky was subpoenaed in late May by a federal grand jury conducting a criminal probe into his relationship with the PMA Group, a now-defunct lobbying firm that specialized in winning multimillion dollar earmarks from the Appropriations Committee. Charles Brimmer, Visclosky’s former top aide, also received a document subpoena from the grand jury. Brimmer left Visclosky’s staff shortly before news of the subpoenas broke."
- House ethics committee reviewing Pete Visclosky and Todd Tiarht's ties to PMA - John Bresnahan - POLITICO.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Mullen: Up to 10K Troops Heading to Haiti - CBS News

Once again the U.S. government is trying to turn this into a American problem or concern. This is a world event. There many countries that have already come to Haiti and planning to help. The impression given by Obama is that America is leading the way. Not true. We should be proud of what help we do provide. But, the rest of the world deserves credit also. In fact there have been many international peace workers in Haiti for years. Even while the American government ignored the plight of the Haitians for decades.

Mullen: Up to 10K Troops Heading to Haiti - CBS News

Bible Possibly Written Centuries Earlier, Text Suggests - Yahoo! News

Bible Possibly Written Centuries Earlier, Text Suggests - Yahoo! News

Rasmussen: 67% Say News Media Have Too Much Influence Over Government Decisions

Rasmussen: 67% Say News Media Have Too Much Influence Over Government Decisions

FBI seeks public's help via Times Square billboard

FBI seeks public's help via Times Square billboard

Plum Island Mystery: Body Washes Ashore New York's Secretive Government Island

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/15/plum-island-mystery-body-_n_424524.html
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Simple eye test for Alzheimer's could catch disease at crucial early stage | Mail Online

Simple eye test for Alzheimer's could catch disease at crucial early stage | Mail Online

Is America's financial collapse inevitable?

I don't agree with much from Buchanan or Worldnet. But, the idea of America going bankrupt is a serious one.
Is America's financial collapse inevitable?

Mass. Senate poll shows shift toward GOP candidate

A Republican victory here would have serious implications for the Democrats in November.

in reference to:

"A new poll in the Massachusetts Senate race shows a shift in favor of the Republican Party and a potential disaster for President Barack Obama and his Democratic political agenda in Tuesday's special election.DiscussCOMMENTS (0) The Suffolk University survey released late Thursday showed Scott Brown, a Republican state senator, with 50 percent of the vote in the race to succeed the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in this overwhelmingly Democratic state.Democrat Martha Coakley had 46 percent. That was a statistical tie since it was within the poll's 4.4 percentage point margin of error, but far different from a 15-point lead the Massachusetts attorney general enjoyed in a Boston Globe survey released over the weekend.The Suffolk poll also confirmed a fundamental shift in voter attitudes telegraphed in recent automated polls that Democrats had dismissed as unscientific and the product of GOP-leaning organizations.And it signaled a possible death knell for the 60-vote Democratic supermajority the president has been relying upon to stop Republican filibusters in the Senate and pass not only his health care overhaul, but the rest of his legislative agenda heading into this fall's mid-term elections."
- Mass. Senate poll shows shift toward GOP candidate - Boston.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Banks Set for Record Pay

This is disgusting. Congress should pay for this in November. Start with voting the incumbents out. Vote out every long serving member of Congress. This government obviously in the pocket of big business. Your a fool if you believe otherwise.

in reference to:

"Major U.S. banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their people about $145 billion for 2009, a record sum that indicates how compensation is climbing despite fury over Wall Street's pay culture. An analysis by The Wall Street Journal shows that executives, traders, investment bankers, money managers and others at 38 top financial companies can expect to earn nearly 18% more than they did in 2008—and slightly more than in the record year of 2007. The conclusions are based on an examination of securities filings for the first nine months of 2009 and revenue estimates through year-end."
- Wall Street Bonus and Compensation Levels Likely to Set a Record - WSJ.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

NBC Video: Aid Workers Stuck in Dominican Republic

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Attack on Google exploited Microsoft browser flaw

That's why you should use Firefox.

in reference to:

"Recent sophisticated cyber attacks on Google Inc and other businesses exploited a previously unknown flaw in Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer browser. The weakness in the world's most widely used browser was identified by security company McAfee Inc, and later confirmed by Microsoft. Google said on Tuesday that in mid-December, it detected an attack on its corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of its intellectual property. It eventually found that more than 20 other companies had been infiltrated. McAfee said on Thursday that those who engineered the attacks tricked employees of the companies into clicking on a link to a website that secretly downloaded sophisticated malicious software onto their PCs through a campaign that the hackers apparently dubbed "Operation Aurora." "We have never seen attacks of this sophistication in the commercial space. We have previously only seen them in the government space," said Dmitri Alperovitch, a vice president of research with McAfee. Microsoft later confirmed the flaw, and sent out an advisory to users to help mitigate the problem. It is still working on a patch that would solve it. "The company has determined that Internet Explorer was one of the vectors used in targeted and sophisticated attacks against Google and other corporate networks," Microsoft said. The world's largest software company said using Internet Explorer in "protected mode" with security settings at "high" would limit the impact of the vulnerability."
- Attack on Google exploited Microsoft browser flaw - Yahoo! News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Drone attack kills 12 as U.S. steps up campaign in Pakistan

This is what we need to do more of in the war on the terror. Civilian losses could be limited more than they are if we had better intelligence.
in reference to:

"A U.S. drone missile attack killed 12 people in the country's troubled tribal areas Thursday, the latest in a dramatic step-up of such strikes since a Dec. 30 bombing killed seven CIA workers. In the last two weeks, U.S. drones have carried out at least eight missile strikes in the country's largely ungoverned tribal region along the Afghan border. A video released last week linked the Pakistani Taliban to the suicide bomb attack at a U.S. compound in eastern Afghanistan where the CIA workers were based. Thursday's early-morning drone strike targeted a suspected militant compound and nearby seminary in the village of Shaktoi along the border of North and South Waziristan, both regions regarded as strongholds for the Taliban and al-Qaida. Tariq Hayat Khan, a top official with the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where North and South Waziristan are located, confirmed the strike and said there were initial reports that senior Taliban commanders may have been among the dead.
- Drone attack kills 12 as U.S. steps up campaign in Pakistan - STLtoday.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

'Super snake' fears on the rise in Florida

Sounds like something from a horror film.

in reference to:

"Fears of a new "super snake" emerging in the Everglades grew this week during a hunt to track South Florida's invasive python population.A three-day, state-coordinated hunt that started Tuesday had, by Wednesday, turned up at least five African rock pythons -- including a 14-foot-long female -- in a targeted area in Miami-Dade County.Those findings add to concerns that the African rock python is a new breeding population in the Everglades and not just the result of a few overgrown pets being released into the wild, according to the South Florida Water Management District."
- 'Super snake' fears on the rise in Florida - latimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Chinese hackers pose a growing threat to U.S. firms

As I argue regularly, we need a new counter-terrorism agency. Cyberterrorism is a serious threat to America. And we seem unable to deal with it.

in reference to:

"The scale and sophistication of the cyber attacks on Google Inc. and other large U.S. corporations by hackers in China is raising national security concerns that the Asian superpower is escalating its industrial espionage efforts on the Internet. While the U.S. focus has been primarily on protecting military and state secrets from cyber spying, a new battle is being waged in which corporate computers and the valuable intellectual property they hold have become as much a target of foreign governments as those run by the Pentagon and the CIA. "This is a watershed moment in the cyber war," James Mulvenon, director of the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis at Defense Group Inc., a national-security firm, said Thursday. "Before, the Chinese were going after defense targets to modernize the country's military machine. But these intrusions strike at the heart of the American innovation community.""
- Chinese hackers pose a growing threat to U.S. firms - latimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Kimmel Appears on Jay Leno and Ridicules Him

Latenight wars getting really ugly:

Jimmy Kimmel stepped into NBC's late-night fray on Jay Leno's turf, taking comic aim at him and NBC on "The Jay Leno Show."

Appearing by satellite Thursday for Leno's "Ten at Ten" question-and-answer segment, the ABC late-night host was asked to relate his best prank ever. Kimmel replied that he told a guy five years ago that he'd give him his show, and "then I took it back."

It was a thinly veiled reference to Leno's agreement in 2004 to surrender "The Tonight Show" to O'Brien in 2009, after 17 years as host.

NBC, which is ending Leno's prime-time show, wants to return him to 11:30 p.m. EST by bumping O'Brien and "Tonight" to midnight, a plan O'Brien has rejected. The network was in talks with both hosts.

Kimmel also joked that Leno had "$800 million, for God's sake," and advised him to leave other hosts' shows alone.

Leno might have known what to expect from his guest, who'd already made pointed fun of him on Tuesday's "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Wearing an exaggerated fake chin to play Leno, Kimmel joked that he was taking over all late-night shows, including Kimmel's, and announced that ABC stands for "Always Bump Conan."

O'Brien did some pummeling of his own Thursday, in what is becoming a pattern for him and Leno.

Survivors of Hudson jet landing gather year later

Seems like yesterday.

in reference to:

"It should have been a death knell: "Brace for impact." But a year after 155 people lived through the water landing of the incapacitated US Airways Flight 1549 in the middle of the frigid Hudson River, many of them are gathering to celebrate the anniversary of their unlikely survival. On Friday, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger is expected to join other crew and passengers to revisit the site where he deftly set down his Airbus A320 on Jan. 15, 2009, after it crossed paths with a flock of Canada geese that disabled its engines. The group, which will include First Officer Jeffrey Skiles and the plane's three flight attendants, is to gather in the morning for a breakfast to thank first responders and the Greater New York and Northern New Jersey chapters of the American Red Cross. In the afternoon, they will meet with boat crews and other rescuers to board one of the passenger ferries that plucked them from the icy water. Together, they'll return to the place where they made their escape. At 3:31 p.m., the moment of impact, they'll raise glasses in a toast to life."
- Survivors of Hudson jet landing gather year later - washingtonpost.com (view on Google Sidewiki)