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When the obscene amount of fireworks finally faded from the night sky, Sochi and the country of Russia could sit back and be proud of its Opening Ceremony. It was flashy and artistic, innovative and graceful. Except for a renegade illuminated snowflake that refused to turn into an Olympic ring like its four comrades, the ceremony mostly went off without a hitch. They didn’t have the Hollywood star power of the London Games or the acrobatic genius of Beijing, but they played to their strengths and captured the 40,000 in attendance at Fisht Olympic Stadium with elegant ballet accompanied by...

Programme website: Dr Alex Taylor sets a difficult problem solving task, will the crow defeat the puzzle?

SOCHI, Russia — A dog shelter backed by a Russian billionaire is engaged in a frantic last-ditch effort to save hundreds of strays facing a death sentence before the Winter Olympics begin here. Already, hundreds of animals have been killed, with the local authorities apparently wanting the stray dogs cleared from the streets before Friday’s opening ceremony. While the authorities say the dogs can be wild and dangerous, reports of their systematic slaughter by a pest removal company hired by the government in recent months have outraged animal rights advocates and cast a gruesome specter over the traditionally cheery atmosphere...

ATLANTA (AP) - A generation after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death, his children are fighting among themselves again, this time over two of their father's most cherished possessions: his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize medal and the Bible he carried. The civil rights leader's daughter Bernice King has both items, and her brothers, Dexter King and Martin Luther King III, asked a judge last week to order her to turn them over. She said her brothers want to sell them. In a blistering statement this week, Bernice said their father "MUST be turning in his grave" over the idea....

Former wrestler and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura says he has gone “off the grid” in Mexico to avoid drones knowing where he is. The former third-party governor hosts a show called “Off the Grid” on Ora TV. Ventura said he could remain off the map “as long as we have solar power and we can reach the satellite.” “I view the United States, today, much like East Berlin. And I’m off the grid. I’ve tried for 20 years to warn the country about the Democrats and Republicans, and nobody’s listening.”

During an extended portion of Bill O'Reilly's Super Bowl interview with President Obama aired on Monday's O'Reilly Factor, the Fox News host wondered: "Do you think I've been unfair to you?" Obama replied: "Absolutely, of course you are, Bill." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] When O'Reilly demanded evidence, the President cited the preceding interview: "Bill, we just went through an interview in which you asked about health care not working, IRS, 'Were we wholly corrupt?', Benghazi. Right? So the list of issues that you talk about." O'Reilly pushed back: "But these are unanswered questions."...

The second half of President Obama’s interview with Bill O’Reilly was even rougher for the president than the first, after he stumbled through a feeble and rambling explanation of why the reporter and Fox News are “unfair” and sarcastically asked, “What are you guys gonna do when I’m gone?”

(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. State Department on Friday released yet another "final" environmental impact statement that finds no major objection to the Keystone XL pipeline So why won't President Obama approve the job-creating project that's been in limbo since 2008? White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough repeatedly dodged that question Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We have one department with a study," McDonough agreed. "Now we have other expert agencies -- the EPA and many others -- who have an -- the Energy Department -- an opportunity to look at this and make their determination. The president wants...

If you thought it was cold where you are at the moment then a visit to the Russian village of Oymyakon might just change your mind. With the average temperature for January standing at -50C, it is no wonder the village is the coldest permanently inhabited settlement in the world. Known as the 'Pole of Cold', the coldest ever temperature recorded in Oymyakon was -71.2C. Unsurprisingly, locals are hardened to the weather and unlike in other countries - where a flurry of snow brings things grinding to a halt, Oymyakon's solitary school only shuts if temperatures fall below -52C. (-61.6...

Among the 11 percent is tea-party favorite Tim Huelskamp, although as Ace notes, on Twitter that’s only further evidence of Huelskamp’s racism. If you’re into persecuting minorities, there’s no deeper deep cover than adopting kids who are minorities. It just proves how far you’re willing to go for the cause. This is interesting work by Jim Lindgren but it won’t change a single mind. Republican racism is a “political fact” whether or not it’s an actual one. Coming soon to MSNBC: “Whopping 89 percent of conservatives with step- or adopted kids have no family members from other races.”

If it wasn’t for the oh-so-recent context that renders this acidly ironic, MSNBC’s latest foray into idiocy would hardly be worth mentioning. Coming just a few weeks after its own hosts mocked Mitt Romney’s family and Republicans over a family picture that showed Romney proudly holding his adopted African-American granddaughter — which eventually produced a tearful apology from Melissa Harris-Perry — the network’s official Twitter feed offered up this bon mot about a cereal ad that has nothing to do with politics at all

At the top of Thursday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams proclaimed that "the [Republican] governor of Georgia [Nathan Deal] chose to fall on his snow shovel" over how Tuesday's rare southern snowstorm "was handled, or better yet, mishandled" in the state. However, the coverage that followed failed to mention Atlanta's Democratic Mayor Kasim Reed by name even once. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] In his report, correspondent Tom Costello declared: "A lot of anger directed toward city and state officials for failing to heed the weather forecasts. And today we learned that both...

What is wrong with the hosts at MSNBC? Ronan Farrow, who will begin anchoring a network program on February 24, made a tasteless joke on Tuesday night, comparing war hero Cory Remsburg's struggles to that of politicians in Congress. Farrow tweeted, "Cory 'struggles on the left side.' Congress relates.'" Farrow has not apologized for the tweet On Wednesday, political reporter Mark Murray, whose wife works in the Obama administration, compared Remsburg's struggle to that of the President: "Obama's ending on Remsburg wasn't just a story about America -- it also was a story about Obama.

The ice storm that shut down Atlanta this week was a "fiasco" that was "manmade from start to finish," according to Atlanta Magazine's Rebecca Burns, writing for Politico. But we have to note that, in part, the men who made the fiasco were white ones.

The PJ Tatler recently reported on the case of Larry Brinkin, for many years an “icon” on the Human Rights Commission in San Francisco: “A former high-ranking San Francisco government employee convicted of felony possession of child pornography will continue to receive his government pension because, according to city regulations, evidence of ‘moral turpitude’ is required to revoke a pension yet viewing violent kiddie porn does not qualify as moral turpitude." (Emphasis theirs.) Michael Chapman of CNSNews.com also noted shocking racist remarks in Brinkin’s e-mails about "nailing" black toddlers. The media that loves riffing on pedophile Catholic priests have done...

Senator Max Baucus was supposed to be an easy confirmation ride for the Obama administration, thanks to the clubby Senate atmosphere. Unfortunately for Barack Obama, Ron Johnson (R-WI) asked what should have been a fairly easy question to answer for anyone who has studied our relationship with China in any depth. Baucus ended up admitting that he’s, er … not that guy: Politico’s Alex Burns wonders: Wouldn't the air defense zone issue be, like, the first thing you study up on as a nominee for ambassador to China?

Actually, she claims she’s angry at him for insulting Hillary by supposedly implying that Hillary’s somehow responsible for Bill’s lechery in the Oval Office. But that’s not what Paul’s saying. Hillary’s blameless for that, he reiterated today. The reason he brought up l’affaire Lewinsky this weekend is because, like every other Republican in America, he’s sick of being lectured on gender sensitivity by cretins who’ve spent decades apologizing for the Clenis and Ted Kennedy. His attack was an attack on the Democratic Party, not on Hillary specifically. The war on women garbage isn’t going to end, so he feels he...

Eric Lawson, who portrayed the rugged Marlboro man in cigarette ads during the late 1970s, has died. He was 72. A smoker since age 14, Lawson later appeared in an anti-smoking commercial that parodied the Marlboro man and an “Entertainment Tonight” segment to discuss the negative effects of smoking. Susan said her husband was proud of the interview, even though he was smoking at the time and continued the habit until he was diagnosed with COPD. “He knew the cigarettes had a hold on him,” she said. “He knew, yet he still couldn’t stop.” A few actors and models who...

For Americans concerned about their privacy, the NSA data grabs are daunting, but what about the data grabs happening inside your own home, perpetrated not by the government, but by your coffee machine? Here are nine appliances and other systems inside your house that may be spying on you right now, or used to spy on you in the future. 1. Your Television 2. Your Cable Box 3. Your Dishwasher, Clothes Dryer, Toaster, Clock Radio and Remote Control 4. Your Lights 5. Your Heat and A/C 6. Security Alarms 7. Insulin Pumps and Pacemakers 8. Smartphones 9. Your Tablet and...