Rick Santorum: A Straight Dad In Prison Is Better Than Two Gay Dads Who Aren’t

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For the second time in as many days, Rick Santorum waded into the issue of gay marriage, suggesting it was so important for children to have both a father and mother that an imprisoned father was preferable to a same-sex parent.

Citing the work of one anti-poverty expert, Santorum said, “He found that even fathers in jail who had abandoned their kids were still better than no father at all to have in their children’s lives.”

Allowing gays to marry and raise children, Santorum said, amounts to “robbing children of something they need, they deserve, they have a right to. You may rationalize that that isn’t true, but in your own life and in your own heart, you know it’s true.”

Casino magnate contributes $5 million to Gingrich-affiliated Super PAC

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As media buzz reached a fever pitch in the minutes before a Republican presidential debate hosted by ABC News, Yahoo! News, and WMUR-TV, Las Vegas Sun reporter John Ralston tweeted unexpected news: Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, Ralston said, has made a $5 million contribution to a Super PAC devoted to promoting the candidacy of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

“ADELSON gave $5M to Newt SuperPAC on Friday,” Ralston tweeted.

The Sun was among the first to report in December that Adelson committed to donate or raise $20 million to aid Gingrich in seeking the White House.

MSNBC chief says he hasn't decided whether commentator Pat Buchanan will return to network

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MSNBC's top executive said Saturday that he hasn't decided whether conservative commentator and author Pat Buchanan will be allowed back on the network.

Buchanan, a former GOP presidential candidate and a paid MSNBC contributor, hasn't been on the network since the publication of his book "Suicide of a Superpower" last October. The book has chapters titled "The End of White America" and "The Death of Christian America" and its author argues that the United States is in the "Indian summer of our civilization."

"When Pat was on his book tour, because of the content of the book, I didn't think it should be part of the national dialogue much less part of the dialogue on MSNBC," said MSNBC President Phil Griffin. The minority advocacy group Color of Change has circulated a petition urging MSNBC to fire Buchanan.

GOP rivals gear up for weekend debates

GOP rivals gear up for weekend debates - CNN.com

Tonight's debate will be at 9pm on ABC. Then tomorrow David Gregory will moderate a debate on 'Meet the Press' at 10:30am

Romney Surrogate: Electability Should Trump 'Beliefs and Principles'

He is saying what most politicians believe:

A New Hampshire surrogate for Mitt Romney said at a local political event that it's evident he will be the Republican presidential nominee and suggested that "beliefs and principles" should not be the deciding factor for voters.

State Sen. Gary Lambert said the most important thing is to nominate somebody who can defeat President Obama.

"I don't get it. This is not about picking a favorite, it's not about picking someone you like," Lambert said. "It's not about picking someone even with your own beliefs and principles. This is about picking a person who can beat Barack Obama, period."

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Young Turks Video: Obama Won't Propose Minimum Wage Increase Despite Promise

Tibet Monks Set Themselves On Fire, Group Says

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A Tibet activist group says two people have set themselves on fire in southwest China in the latest in a series of apparent self-immolation protests against Chinese rule.

The London-based Free Tibet said in an emailed statement late Friday night that witnesses saw a man set himself on fire Friday near a monastery in Aba prefecture in Sichuan province. It says security forces put out the flames and took the man away. His condition is unknown.

Free Tibet says someone else died about the same time in a self-immolation nearby. It gave no other details.
 

Report: Top Syrian general defects with 50 troops

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As Arab League monitors prepared a report on Syria's compliance with its agreement to halt violence against protesters, a senior general reportedly said on live TV he was defecting from the regime's army with up to 50 of his soldiers.

Colonel Afeef Mahmoud Suleiman made the announcement live on Al-Jazeera's Arabic News channel on Saturday, the news organization reported.

Flanked by a group of his soldiers, Suleimen said he wanted to keep protesters safe. Al-Jazeera English translated his remarks from Arabic.

Japan plans to scrap nuclear plants after 40 years

I got a better idea. How about scraping all nuclear plants:

Japan says it will soon require atomic reactors to be shut down after 40 years of use to improve safety following the nuclear crisis set off by last year's tsunami.

Concern about aging reactors has been growing because the three units at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in northeastern Japan that went into meltdown following the tsunami in March were built starting in 1967. Among other reactors at least 40 years old are those at the Tsuruga and Mihama plants in central Japan, which were built starting in 1970.

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'Persistent killings': Christians flee deadly attacks in Nigeria

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Hundreds of Christians have begun fleeing northern Nigeria after dozens were killed in a series of attacks by Islamist militants who issued an ultimatum to Christians to leave the mainly Muslim region or be killed, witnesses said on Saturday.

A Nigerian newspaper on Tuesday published a warning from Boko Haram, a movement styled on the Taliban, that Christians had three days to get out of northern Nigeria.

Since the expiry of that ultimatum, attacks in towns in four states in northeastern Nigeria have left at least 37 people dead and hundreds of Christians are fleeing to the south, according to residents and a Red Cross official.

Gunmen armed with Kalashnikovs have targeted church congregations and a group of mourners in a church hall.

All but Conceding NH, Romney's Rivals Look to SC

This primary demonstrates how the media drives elections. There is still an universal attempt by most of the mainstream press to try and have you believe that Rick Santorum is a serious candidate. All the polls show Romney winning easily. He might not lose any State in the primaries. He's ahead or close to Gingrich, who is fading fast. It's all about profits for the media. And they won't cash in if Romney goes unchallenged in the primaries. Of course, it also shows how most of that same press is pro-Obama:

Mitt Romney's rivals are all but conceding defeat in next Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, looking past a weekend debate doubleheader in the Granite State and focusing on South Carolina as their best chance to slow his march to the Republican presidential nomination.

Romney campaigned in both states on Friday, prominent party leaders by his side, President Barack Obama on his mind.

Giving no ground when the government reported the creation of 200,000 new jobs in December, Romney said America deserves better than the economic results Obama has delivered. "Thirty-five consecutive months of unemployment above 8 percent is no cause for celebration," he said in a written statement.

Republican rivals Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich were no more inclined to applaud Obama for the drop in unemployment to its lowest level in nearly three years. But they had other worries, including a new survey that suggested Romney's narrow victory this week in Iowa's caucuses has sent his support soaring in South Carolina.

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They want a fight? We need to give the Republicans in that State one:

The finish line may be in sight for an end to the House Democratic walkout and the passage of the "right to work" bill that prompted it.

A Senate committee voted 6-4 Friday to advance the legislation that would prevent companies and labor unions from negotiating contracts that require nonmembers to pay fees.

The approval came after a marathon hearing where supporters called the measure a job-boosting tool and opponents labeled it a union-busting, wage-lowering ploy. The vote clears the way for certain passage by the Senate in the coming days.

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