Great Successor’ takes power in N Korea

The death of Kim Jong-il threw the Korean peninsula into fresh uncertainty on Monday as the North Korean regime..

Petraeus scandal: The rise and fall of an American hero

Gen. David Howell Petraeus has been discredited by the news that he had an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, a married woman with two young children. Thirty-eight years of public service have been smeared with the news and have questioned the integrity of the "American Caesar" of our time. FULL STORY

Students safe after armed man reported at Colo. school

All students at a Denver-area high school are safe after a report that a man with a rifle was seen near campus.. FULL STORY

North Korea Presses South to Implement Economic Pact

In its first interaction with visitors from South Korea since the death of its leader, Kim Jong-il..

Source: www.nytimes.com

'The Hunger Games' Catch Fire

From Deadline Hollywood...

Lionsgate just revised upwards its worldwide total to a massive $214.25 million for The Hunger Games which was projected to be the No. 1 title in virtually every single market globally...

Source: www.deadline.com
Nikki Finke

A decade of slow growth?

By Fareed Zakaria From: Cnn.com: Every year at Davos, people like me try to get a sense of the mood of the place, take the temperature of people in this frosty mountain resort.

Obviously, I will give you a highly impressionistic and personal picture, but it’s one I find useful since Davos does bring together leaders in government, business, media – even the NGO community – from all corners of the world. It is genuinely global in a way that few conferences are... FULL STORY

The FACTS: End of the World 2012 phenomenon

Guatemalan Maya natives kneel in front of a temple at the Tikal archaeological site on December 20, 2012. The exquisite site of Mayan ruins began hosting winter solstice ceremonies on Thursday as the region's indigenous people marked the end of an era.

The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs according to which cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on 21 December 2012 . This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar.

Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae have been proposed as pertaining to this date, though none has been accepted by mainstream scholarship. A New Age interpretation of this transition is that the date marks the start of time in which Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 21 December 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.

Others suggest that the date marks the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world include the arrival of the next solar maximum, an interaction between Earth and the black hole at the center of the galaxy, or Earth's collision with a planet called Nibiru. Scholars from various disciplines have dismissed the idea of such cataclysmic events occurring in 2012.

Professional Mayanist scholars state that predictions of impending doom are not found in any of the extant classic Maya accounts, and that the idea that the Long Count calendar ends in 2012 misrepresents Maya history and culture,

While astronomers have rejected the various proposed doomsday scenarios as pseudoscience,stating that they conflict with simple astronomical observations. FULL STORY Source: wikipedia

Bloomberg: The Fiscal Cliff Will Drive the U.S. Into Recession

House Speaker John Boehner says he was "flabbergasted" when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner pitched the White House plan to save the nation from the "fiscal cliff." FULL STORY

6 Ways The Fiscal Cliff Could Affect You

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke used the term "fiscal cliff," it quickly became the newest Washington buzzphrase. As the deadline to avert the cliff nears, it has overtaken the European debt crisis as the most talked-about story in the financial media. The fiscal cliff refers to the enactment of a number of laws that would, if not changed before Jan. 1, 2013, FULL STORY

The U.S. Recovery Has Been Spectacular*

We need a real recovery. That's what Mitt Romney said during the campaign, and he was right. Five years since the start of the Great Recession, unemployment is still far too high. It's not for a lack of optimism among policymakers. As Evan Soltas pointed out, the Federal Reserve keeps predicting that prosperity is just around the corner, only to find it's not. Catchup growth is the new Godot. FULL STORY *Compared to almost every other rich country and almost every other financial crisis.

Fiscal cliff would drive the U.S. economy back into recession.

Fiscal cliff would drive the U.S. economy back into recession before end of 2013, a new report from the Congressional Budget Office said. Congressional Budget Office released a report showing that the most harmful consequences of the fiscal cliff, a fully armed and operational fiscal cliff would cost us 3.4 million jobs. Obama Fiscal Cliff Deal Risks Brush With Recession

Barack Obama wins election for second term as president

President Barack Obama handily defeated Gov. Mitt Romney and won himself a second term Tuesday after a bitter and historically expensive race that was primarily fought in just a handful of battleground states. Networks project that Obama beat Romney after nabbing the crucial state of Ohio. FULL STORY

Do companies get a tax break for shipping U.S. jobs overseas?

A: Not specifically for that reason. But companies can deduct business expenses, including the cost of moving a job to another state or even out of the country. FULL STORY

Has President Obama kept his campaign promises?

On our Obameter, we've rated 38 percent as Kept, 16 percent Compromise and 17 percent Broken. Four years ago, Barack Obama made an extraordinary number of campaign promises -- 508 -- on everything from taxes to whaling. We've been tracking each one and have rated them on our Obameter, a five-level scale from Stalled to Promise Kept. FULL STORY

VP candidates lay groundwork for top of ticket on Tuesday

Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential contender Paul Ryan plowed fertile ground in terms of policy and politics during their debate. FULL STORY

Google Exec Unloading Over A Billion In Shares

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt plans to sell up to 2.4 million shares of stock currently worth nearly $1.5 billion...

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Killer Charles Manson: “Obama Slave of Wall Street..”

President Barack Obama is "a slave of Wall Street," the diminutive cult leader said by telephone..

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com

'IDOL' Contestant Brutally Beaten By Gang Of Girls

Administrators at Brooklyn Academy High School in Bedford-Stuyvesant canceled Friday's talent show in the wake of a all-girl gang assault..

Source: www.wpix.com

Woman Kills Family Cat To Use In Lady Gaga Concert Outfit

A 20-year-old Oklahoma woman was receiving treatment in a hospital Thursday after being charged with animal cruelty for allegedly killing the family cat..

Source: www.myfoxny.com

TSA Agent friskes 6 year old girl: 'Such pretty hair, you have'

The family of the 6-year-old girl who received a pat down at airport security in New Orleans said today there needs to be a different screening process for children...

Source: http://abcnews.go.com