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C. Hayes WGNTV NEWS February 10, 2010 A magnitude 4.3 earthquake hit northern Illinois early Wednesday morning. The quake struck at 3:59 a.m. in Sycamore in DeKalb County. The quake could be felt as far away as Chicago... 50 miles from the epicenter. We'll have more information as it becomes available. For the latest information, go to the U.S. Geological Survey website.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Parents of some of the children who 10 U.S. missionaries tried to take out of Haiti after its catastrophic earthquake told a judge Tuesday that they freely handed over their kids, the Americans' lawyer said. The parents' testimony means no law was broken and "we can't talk any more about trafficking of human beings," attorney Aviol Fleurant told reporters.

The New York State Senate on Tuesday night expelled a senator convicted of assaulting his companion, the first time a member of the Legislature was forced from office in nearly a century. Hiram Monserrate, a Democrat from Queens, was convicted last fall of misdemeanor assault after a fight with his companion, Karla Giraldo, that left her with a deep gash on her face, though he was acquitted of more serious felony assault charges. Rather than bringing a close to Mr. Monserrate’s legislative career, the expulsion could be the beginning of a lengthy fight that would play out in the courts...

Obama Admin Admits It Tracked Abortion Groups in Wisconsin Madison, WI -- The Department of Homeland Security admitted today that it improperly conducted a threat assessment on pro-life groups in Wisconsin. The assessment came before an expected rally last year in response to the University of Wisconsin Hospital board decided to allow abortions. http://www.LifeNews.com/state4796.html

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday he intends to push for a vote by this weekend on job creation legislation, though another winter storm bearing down on Washington made the Senate schedule increasingly tenuous.Following a meeting of Democratic and Republican leaders at the White House, Reid said he hopes the jobs package will be introduced later Tuesday. A portion centered on a tax credit for new hiring had bipartisan support, at least as of Monday night, he added.Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters after the White House meeting that there is "a chance" that his party...

Fox News now reporting that Pres. Obama;s nomination of leftist radical labor union associated Craig Becker has failed in the US senate.

<p>He must be worried. Sounding all conciliatory about health care resolution, etc. etc.</p>

An unexpected feature of this year's gubernatorial race is the revival of certain political notions identified with early American history. Republican candidate Debra Medina in particular has made nullification a major aspect of her campaign, both in her two debates with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry and on her Web site, which includes, under the label "Restore Sovereignty," the message that the U.S. Constitution "divides power between the federal and state governments and ultimately reserves final authority for the people themselves. Texas must stop the over reaching federal government and nullify federal mandates in agriculture, energy,...

Dozens of members of Iran's religious Basij militia tried to attack Italy's embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said. “About a hundred Basij dressed as civilians tried to assault the embassy shouting “Death to Italy” and “Death to Berlusconi,” Mr. Frattini said referring to Italy's prime minister.

DETROIT, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Part of a Detroit airport terminal was shut down Monday after an Arabic man ignored instructions from security guards, police said.

Why the emotional breakdown? Did I mention he's a democrat?

Quake shakes southern Mexico, felt in capital The Associated Press Monday, Feb. 8, 2010 | 5:57 p.m. A magnitude 5.7-earthquake has shaken southern Mexico near the Oaxaca coast. The quake was centered 35 miles (55 kilometers) north of the fishing and resort town of Puerto Angel, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Information Center. It struck at 6:47 p.m. local time Monday and was felt 280 miles (455 kilometers) away in Mexico City, where buildings swayed gently. There are no immediate reports in damage or injuries.

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Nevada's budget is so far out of balance that by one account the state could lay off every worker paid from the general fund and still be $300 million in the red. The economic downturn has hit so hard that prisons may be closed, entire colleges shuttered and thousands left without jobs. Against the backdrop of an imploding economy and an $881 million shortage, Gov. Jim Gibbons will try in an emergency "State of the State" address Monday to explain the depth of the state's financial crisis and how fixing the gaping hole in the...

The Dow Jones industrial average closed below 10,000 for the first time in three months Monday on nagging concerns about debt loads in Europe. Shares of big banks pulled the market lower, extending a slump that has led to four straight weekly losses. Rising deficits in weaker European economies including Greece, Portugal and Spain have raised questions about the health of the global financial system.

Breaking...

Lebanon Sfeir: Possibilities of War Exist as Long as Hizbullah Wants to Play State RoleMaronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir lamented what he called continued Syrian influence in Lebanon and said that the possibilities of war exist as long as Hizbullah wants to play the role of the state."The side that has arms is forcing itself on others," Sfeir told al-Massira magazine in an interview. "The possibilities of war exist as long as Hizbullah wants to play the role of the state." The patriarch also rejected the presence of two armies in the country, calling "for the continuation of the struggle...

Jeri Thompson blasted Fox News host Chris Wallace on the Fred Thompson show today, calling his joke that he hoped Sarah Palin would sit on his lap during an interview with him "inappropriate" and "insipid," and demanding "action from Fox. Thompson, the wife of the former senator and presidential candidate, told POLITICO's Jonathan Martin that the remark, to Fox Business's Don Imus, amounted to misogyny, and that she was tired of seeing it from "these dirty old men" on Fox, a network that she said ought to be respectful of conservative women. "Sarah Palin is now part of the Fox...

President Barack Obama is planning to host a televised meeting with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on health care reform.

A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee today defended Barack Obama's reliance on a TelePrompTer while ratcheting up Hand-Gate by attacking former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for using notes scribbled on the palm of her hand last night at the Tea Party Nation convention in Nashville.The Hand-Gate scandal was first reported by the Huffington Post and has been picked up by many other outlets including Think Progress, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.The New York Daily News buried the attack by the Democratic National Committee in their article about Hand-Gate: She also gave Democrats an unexpected gift when...

This is the live thread of the Space Shuttle Endeavour..

Ukraine Exit Polls Say Yanukovych Has Won Election Exit polls from Ukraine's presidential election indicate opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych has narrowly won. Mr Yanukovych is given a lead of 3-5% over Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. President Viktor Yushchenko lost in the first round. If correct, it would be a remarkable comeback for Mr Yanukovych, who was swept aside five years ago by the Orange Revolution. He would be expected to make Ukraine's foreign policy more pro-Russian. The BBC's Richard Galpin in Kiev says the result would be an extraordinary indictment of the Orange Revolution leaders' failure to deliver on their...

February 07, 2010 Palin 'Would Be Willing' to Take On Obama in 2012 By Judson Berger - FOXNews.com Sarah Palin has President Obama in her sights, telling FoxNews.com she "would be willing" to challenge him in the 2012 presidential race. Sarah Palin has President Obama in her sights, telling FoxNews.com she "would be willing" to challenge him in the 2012 presidential race. The former Alaska governor, in an interview Saturday on the sidelines of the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, said President Obama's "lack of experience" has held him back his first year in office and that she would...

An explosion in Middletown, Connecticut has rocked the town. Initial reports are that about a dozen people have been injured. Middletown, United States - The Middletown Fire Department just said in a phone interview that they are in the process of putting out a second alarm. There are an unknown number of casualities. The explosion took place at NRG Power Plant on River Road. According to their web site they are the fossil-fueled electric generating plant in the state. Reports are saying that the blast could be felt as far away as Durham.

OFFICIAL FR SUPER BOWL XLIV LIVE THREAD 6:00PM ET - CBS NEW ORLEANS SAINTS - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS VS Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL

p>The Talk Shows Sunday, February 7th, 2010 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Former Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska; Mark Skoda, a talk radio host who helped organize the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tenn.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): John Brennan, President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism adviser; former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan; Ed Gillespie, former Bush White House counselor; Dee Dee Myers, former press secretary for President Bill Clinton.FACE THE NATION (CBS): NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.THIS WEEK (ABC): Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN):...

"We had told them (the West) to come and have a swap, although we could produce the 20 percent enriched fuel ourselves," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech. "We gave them two-to-three months' time for such a deal. They started a new game and now I (ask) Dr Salehi to start work on the production of 20 percent fuel using centrifuges," he said, referring to atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi.

Mumbai: An Emirates airline plane enroute to Dubai aborted take-off at the Mumbai airport on Sunday after an anonymous caller rang up to say that there was a terrorist onboard. The Emirates Mumbai-Dubai flight EK-502, carrying about 356 passengers, was already on runway and scheduled to take off at 9.58 am when the anonymous call came at 9.30 am, an airport official said. Following the call, the flight was called back from the runway and all passengers deplaned. "Checking is on now," an airport official said, adding two passengers were being questioned. Sources said the anonymous caller gave specific information...

NASHVILLE—Sarah Palin is not an official leader of the Tea Party movement, but her presence at the National Tea Party Convention here Saturday night underscored the depth of support for the former Alaska governor as someone who captures the spirit of the conservative grassroots movement. "How's that hope-y, change-y stuff working out for ya?" Ms. Palin deadpanned in a 45-minute keynote address. She used the speech to sharply criticize the Obama administration and congressional Democrats on foreign and domestic policy, and at the same time called for civility and unity within the Tea Party grassroots. "The current form of this...

Mitch Landrieu appears to be winning election in a landslide (~60%).

A LEADING British government scientist has warned the United Nations’ climate panel to tackle its blunders or lose all credibility. Robert Watson, chief scientist at Defra, the environment ministry, who chaired the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 1997 to 2002, was speaking after more potential inaccuracies emerged in the IPCC’s 2007 benchmark report on global warming. The most important is a claim that global warming could cut rain-fed north African crop production by up to 50% by 2020, a remarkably short time for such a dramatic change. The claim has been quoted in speeches by Rajendra Pachauri, the...

GULFPORT — Students and faculty members at Stetson University College of Law were treated Tuesday to one of the rarest sights in American jurisprudence: A U.S. Supreme Court justice riffing on everything from his disappearing hairline to his co-workers to that fancy show his wife dragged him to one night. What's it called again? Oh, yeah: opera. Live from Gulfport, it's Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. "We just sit there and ask questions that don't need to be asked," said Thomas, playfully describing the nation's highest court. It was an inside legal joke that may require background for those who don't...

Amy Kremer of the Tea Party Express on now. She is saying the bickering is unnecessary, and we need to support each other. Don't back down because of negativity of some. If you don't like what another group is doing, ignore them We have one chance, and the time is now We need to stick together. Today is Ronald Reagan's 99th birthday!

WASHINGTON – A blizzard battered the Mid-Atlantic region Saturday, with emergency crews struggling to keep pace with the heavy, wet snow that has piled up on roadways, toppled trees and left thousands without electricity. Officials urged people to huddle at home and out of the way of emergency crews. Forecasters said the storm could be the biggest for the nation's capital in modern history. A record 2 1/2 feet or more was predicted for Washington. As of early Saturday, 10 inches of snow was reported at the White House, while parts of Maryland and West Virginia were buried under more...

ANKARA, Turkey - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Saturday dismissed assertions by the Iranian government that it was nearing a deal with the international community on its nuclear program and said a "different tack" may be needed. Following meetings with senior Turkish officials, Gates told reporters that if Iran was serious about handing over its uranium it would be working with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi opened two new missile production plants on Saturday, just three days after Iran fired a rocket carrying live animals into space, state television reported. The plants will produce a ground-to-air missile dubbed the Qaem (Rising) and a surface-to-surface missile dubbed Toofan 5 (Storm), state television reported. The Qaem is designed to target helicopters at low and medium altitudes, it added. Iran unveiled the new plants as part of its celebrations for the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution later this month. On Wednesday, Iran launched a capsule carrying turtles, rats and worms aboard its Kavoshgar 3...

This week we broke the story of possible criminal wrongdoing in the government takeover of insurance giant AIG. In the last several months, the US government has tried, unsuccessfully, to throw out plaintiff Kevin Murray’s case, alleging that the government’s takeover of AIG puts it in the position of supporting and promoting Islam and Shariah finance. In the discovery process attorneys for Murray, David Yerushalmi and Robert Muise (of the Thomas More Law Center), discovered that the takeover itself may have been illegal, and have attempted to get Treasury Secretary under oath to try and untangle this mess. Again, the...

Overview Beginning with the release of data for January 2010 on February 5, 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) implemented several changes to the content and format of the Employment Situation news release. Changes are reflected in both the text and tables. Summary tables Both the household survey and the establishment survey now provide separate summary tables, which contain commonly used data series from each section of the release. These two summary tables immediately follow the text analysis describing the monthly data. They replace table A in the prior version of the news release. Unlike the prior table...

WASHINGTON – Shoppers jammed aisles and emptied stores of milk, bread and shovels Friday as a massive snowstorm blew into the Mid-Atlantic. Forecasters predicted a record 30 inches or more for the nation's capital, and authorities already were blaming the storm for the deaths of father-son Samaritans in Virginia. The region's second snow storm in less than two months could be "extremely dangerous," and heavy, wet snow and strong winds threatened to knock out power, the National Weather Service said. Flakes started falling around noon in Washington, where the federal government sent workers home early. The storm's wide swath and...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admistration (NOAA) Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco has released the following statement: An epic snowstorm has the mid-Atlantic region in its cross hairs. At this time, personal safety must be first and foremost. National Weather Service forecasters have been tracking this storm for the past week and now that the storm is here it must be taken very seriously. Chris Strong, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) Office in Sterling, Va. just emailed CWG and other media outlets the following note: Our media partners, If you would, please ensure these points get some...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A stung U.S. Sen. Scott Brown lashed out at U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy today for insulting his landmark win by calling his candidacy “a joke.” Brown said Kennedy’s remarks are “mean spirited,” especially coming on the day he was celebrating being sworn into office. “I was elected and the votes are certified and I’m here to do my job. It’s unfortunate that he would use mean-spirited comments like that at a time when we’re just trying to solve the problems of the Commonwealth,” Brown said today on his first full day on the job.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin this morning joined the chorus of voices calling for Scott Lee Cohen to step aside, even as the embattled Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor gave no indication he plans to do so. “He really should spare himself, and his friends and family what he’s about to go through,” Durbin said this morning in Evanston, speaking to WBBM-AM (780). “I’m afraid the disclosures so far really disqualify him.” On Thursday, Gov. Quinn called for Cohen to step down if he couldn’t adequately explain an October 2005 domestic-battery arrest. also allegedly abused anabolic steroids, displayed fits of rage...

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to the Council of Governors. The Council, created January 11 of this year by Executive Order, will work closely with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and other defense and national security advisors to exchange views, information and advice on matters of mutual interest pertaining to the National Guard, homeland defense, synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States, and civil support activities. * Governor James H. Douglas, Co-Chair, Council of Governors * Governor Chris Gregoire, Co-Chair, Council...

You have to go to This Link and register to watch.All they ask for is an email address and a password.Here is the schedule: Breakout Sessions                        10:00-11:00amSMART GIRL POLITICS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The unemployment rate dropped unexpectedly in January to 9.7 percent from 10 percent while employers shed 20,000 jobs. The Labor Department says the rate dropped because a survey of households found the number of employed Americans rose by 541,000. The job losses are calculated from a separate survey of employers. The report also included an annual revision to the estimates of total payrolls, which showed there were 930,000 fewer jobs last March than previously estimated. The department also revised down its estimates for April through October of last year, adding another 433,000 job losses. November was revised...

Ex-Rep. Tom Tancredo Suggests 'Civics, Literacy Test' Would Have Foiled Obama's Election; High-Priced National 'Tea Party' Convention Stirs Debate Among Factions. BY STEVEN PORTNOY & JOHN BERMAN NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 4, 2010. The opening-night speaker at first ever National Tea Party Convention ripped into President Obama, Sen. John McCain and "the cult of multiculturalism," asserting that Obama was elected because "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote in this country." The speaker, former Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., told about 600 delegates in a Nashville, Tenn., ballroom that in the 2008 election, America "put a committed...

The Kennedy political dynasty is shaking in the aftershock of U.S. Sen. Scott Brown’s earth-shattering election, with a new poll showing U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy losing ground as he faces a well-financed GOP foe backed by Brown’s top strategists. The WPRI-12 poll showed the Rhode Island Democrat with a 56 percent unfavorability rating in his district - a negative that grows to 62 percent statewide. Only 35 percent of voters in Kennedy’s district said they would vote to re-elect him. Another 31 percent said they’d consider a different candidate and 28 percent said they would vote to replace him, according...

Senate leaders plan to pass a jobs bill next week featuring tax breaks for employers that hire unemployed workers, a rare bipartisan effort in an election-year Congress sharply divided along political lines. "We want to work with the Republicans and it appears to me, on the jobs program, they want to work with us," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters. "We do believe very emphatically that we will be having a bipartisan bill." The Senate will start work on the bill Monday, Reid said. If the bill is passed by the end of next week, when the Senate...

The Daily Caller Struck Down: Feds Refuse to Explain How Agent Injured Daily Caller Writer By Tucker Carlson and Jon Ward - The Daily Caller 02/04/10 at 5:49 pm The State Department has refused to answer basic questions about an accident that took place in Washington on Wednesday night, in which a U.S. Diplomatic Security Service vehicle struck Daily Caller employee Sean Medlock as he was crossing the street. An agent in the vehicle, Mike McGuinn, did not identify himself to Medlock at the scene, or apologize for running him down. Indeed, Washington, D.C., police drove to a local emergency...

President Barack Obama says "we should take our time" getting to a final health care bill. He said Thursday he wants to go through the legislation in detail with Republicans to examine their ideas and Democratic ideas to see whether there are better ways to improve the nation's health care system than have already been proposed.

Republican Scott Brown was sworn in late Thursday as Massachusetts’ junior senator in a smooth, quick — and cataclysmic — end to Senate Democrats' reign of a filibuster-proof, 60-seat majority. Brown was in the Capitol a little more than two hours, only an hour of which was public. The senator was sworn in twice, once officially on the floor of the Senate chamber and then a second time in the historic Old Senate Chamber for photographic purposes. Vice President Joe Biden, wearing a wide smile, presided over both occasions as Brown stood alongside his wife, Gail Huff, a Massachusetts broadcast...