Thursday, December 15, 2011

Scandal Used to Tighten Gun Laws?

Scandal Used to Tighten Gun Laws?

  • Attorney General Eric Holder says ATF's failed 'Fast and Furious' gun-trafficking scandal not being used as a platform for tougher gun control, but emails suggest it fueled discussion of new regulations.

News you can use dec 15 2011

Obama urges Congress to pass payroll tax cut

Reuters -
President Barack Obama makes a statement on new minimum wage and overtime protections for in-home care workers in Washington December 15, 2011.

Newt Gingrich: New Ryan-Wyden Medicare plan a "breakthrough"

CBS News -
Republican presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich is reacting positively to a bipartisan Medicare reform plan, tweeting, "The Wyden-Ryan bipartisan Medicare reform plan is a major breakthrough with Democrats and Republicans working together to solve ...

Golden Globes: Surprises and sure things

Entertainment Weekly -
by Dave Karger Not to sound like a broken record here, but before we start discussing how this morning's Golden Globe nominations may affect the Oscar race, it's important to remember that there is absolutely no overlap between the voting bodies of the ...

Are the Clippers the best NBA team in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles Times -
With the acquisition of Chris Paul, will the Clippers finally be the main show at Staples Center? Writers from around the Tribune Co.

Arizona sheriff faces federal allegations of discrimination against Latinos

CNN -
By the CNN Wire Staff Sheriff of Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, Arpaio has sparked controversy by conducting raids using deputies in order to apprehend illegal immigrants and housing inmates in large outdoor tents.

Vladimir Putin calls Russia's protesters 'paid agents of the west'

The Guardian -
Vladimir Putin dismissed the thousands of protesters who have massed against his rule as agents of the west in his first response to the growing discontent during a marathon phone-in show.

Former French leader Jacques Chirac convicted of corruption for his Paris ...

Washington Post -
PARIS - As French president, Jacques Chirac was called all sorts of names, not the least for his vociferous opposition to the US-led war in Iraq.

Human Rights Watch: Syrian troops ordered to use lethal force

Los Angeles Times -
REPORTING FROM BEIRUT –- Syrian military commanders and officials in the country's intelligence agencies gave orders to use lethal force against unarmed protesters and to beat and torture detainees in the crackdown against a 9-month-old uprising, ...

Gingrich says gain in polls comes because voters looking past his checkered ...

Washington Post -
JOHNSTON, Iowa - Newt Gingrich chided his GOP presidential opponents in a new TV ad for going negative and said separately Thursday that his checkered personal history wouldn't be to blame if he begins losing voter support in the run-up to Iowa's ...

Hunger stalks US cities as poverty rises: study

Reuters -
By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A growing number of families in the United States are struggling to put food on the table as poverty rises in major cities, a new survey showed on Thursday.

Obama Overstated Failing Schools Under US Law, Study Finds

BusinessWeek -
By John Hechinger Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Almost half of US public schools are labeled failing under the federal No Child Left Behind law, compared with the 80 percent estimate President Barack Obama's administration cited as a rationale for changing ...

Mortgage rates fall to record lows

CNN -
By Les Christie @CNNMoney December 15, 2011: 1:44 PM ET The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.94%, matching the all-time low hit in early October, according to Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage rate survey.

Corzine faces questions about regulator contacts

The Associated Press -
WASHINGTON (AP) - Jon Corzine disputed an allegation that he knew more about customer money that vanished from MF Global than he previously testified.

US Stocks Gain on US Economic Data

Bloomberg -
By Inyoung Hwang - Thu Dec 15 19:32:34 GMT 2011 Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on December 12, 2011. Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images US stocks rose, snapping a three- day decline in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ...

Facebook rolls out new 'Timeline' design

USA Today -
By Charlie Szold, USA TODAY Facebook's new "Timeline" design will automatically organize your photos, status updates and relationship changes into an interactive - you guessed it - timeline of your Facebook life.

Amazon Says Kindle Sales Topping 1 Million Devices a Week

BusinessWeek -
By Danielle Kucera Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc., the world's largest online retailer, said customers have bought about 1 million of its Kindle e-book readers and tablets in each of the past three weeks, the most detailed sales numbers the ...

Verizon Galaxy Nexus Hands-on

SlashGear -
After weeks of waiting, the Verizon Galaxy Nexus LTE has finally arrived. It's hardly an unfamiliar phone - after all, we reviewed the HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus back in November, coming away charmed by its combination of 720p HD display and Ice Cream Sandwich ...

Steve Jobs, Google+ and iPhone top Google's 2011 search list

Computerworld -
By Sharon Gaudin Based on the most popular 2011 Google search terms, people were most interested in getting information on Apple founder Steve Jobs, the iPhone 5, the iPad 2, and Google+.

Howard Stern Signs as Judge With NBC's 'America's Got Talent'

San Francisco Chronicle -
Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Sirius XM Radio Inc. host Howard Stern has signed with Comcast Corp.'s NBC Universal to become a judge on the reality TV show "America's Got Talent.

100 Days to the Hunger Games! Get Poster Puzzle Piece No. 92!

E! Online -
In case you haven't been keeping count on your calendar, there are now officially less than 100 days until The Hunger Games hits theaters on March 23, 2012.

Two couples hash out their sons' fight in 'Carnage'

New York Daily News -
Film Info: With Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Christoph Waltz Couples turn nasty as they discuss their kids' fight.

You'll survive 'Chip-Wrecked'; kids'll love it

New York Daily News -
Film Info: The singing rodents get stranded on a desert isle. Director: Mike Mitchell. (1:27). G: Wacky peril. At area theaters. Either the “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movies are getting better, or I've accidentally buried my brain for the winter.

Tim Tebow vs. Tom Brady

CNN -
Peter King gives an early preview to the matchup between the 10-3 New England Patriots and the 8-5 Denver Broncos. ENGLEWOOD, Colo.

IndyCar cites wide racing surface as factor in deadly Wheldon wreck

CBSSports.com -
Dan Wheldon was killed when his head hit a post in the fencing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- contact that created a "non-survivable injury" to the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

Bears receiver Hurd arrested on drug charges

Chicago Tribune -
By Jeremy Gorner and Vaughn McClure, Tribune reporters Chicago Bears receiver Sam Hurd was arrested Wednesday night outside a Chicago restaurant after he accepted a kilogram of cocaine from a confidential informant and an undercover federal agent ...

NBA dropped ball in this CBA

FOXSports.com -
Jason Whitlock writes about the sports world from every angle, including those other writers can't imagine or muster courage to address.

South Pole Travel Heats Up on 100th Anniversary of "Discovery"

National Geographic -
By plane and by skis, a steady stream of visitors are flocking to the South Pole in time for the centennial celebrations of two pioneering Antarctic expeditions.

LHC: Higgs boson 'may have been glimpsed'

BBC News -
By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website, Geneva The most coveted prize in particle physics - the Higgs boson - may have been glimpsed, say researchers reporting at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva.

HPV DNA Testing Advised For Females Over 30

Medical News Today -
HPV DNA testing is better than cytology alone in preventing cervical cancer or detecting it early on for women over thirty, researchers reported in The Lancet Oncology.

Magnet therapy may help some stroke survivors recover

CBS News -
It can be an all too common scenario for certain stroke survivors. They can't see or recognize anything on one side of their body.

Group urges government to strictly limit chimp research

USA Today -
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY Science should halt medical experiments on chimpanzees, the closest cousins to humans in the animal world, except perhaps for preventive vaccines for Hepatitis C and some drug therapies where there are no better alternatives, ...

Marijuana use among US teens hits a 30-year high

New York Daily News -
BY Berenice Garcia One of every 15 high school seniors reported smoking pot on a daily or nearly daily basis, according to a report released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.