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WASHINGTON — The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has warned that the fund insuring Americans’ bank deposits could be wiped out this year without the money the agency is seeking in new fees from U.S. banks and thrifts. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair acknowledged, in a letter to bank CEOs, that the new increased fees and hefty emergency premium the agency voted to levy last week will bring a “significant expense” to banks, especially amid a recession and financial crisis when their earnings are under pressure. “We also recognize that assessments reduce the funds that banks can lend in...

<p>A Florida woman called 911 three times after she paid for a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets at a McDonald's but the fast-food restaurant ran out of them and refused to give her a refund.</p> <p>Latreasa L. Goodman, 27, made the calls after she tried to get her money back from a Fort Pierce McDonald's and the cashier told her all sales were final. Police released the 911 tapes.</p>

Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts suggest that national economic conditions deteriorated further during the reporting period of January through late February. Ten of the twelve reports indicated weaker conditions or declines in economic activity; the exceptions were Philadelphia and Chicago, which reported that their regional economies "remained weak." Consumer spending remained very weak on balance, albeit with slight firming noted by many Districts, particularly compared with holiday-season sales that were very disappointing. Reports on nonfinancial services indicated significant drops in activity accompanied by widespread job cuts. Providers of health-care services reported falling patient volumes, which were attributed in...

If you take your kids to see "The Watchmen," you're a moron...

Suspicious phone conversations on Skype could be targeted for tapping as part of a pan-European crackdown on what law authorities believe is a massive technical loophole in current wiretapping laws, allowing criminals to communicate without fear of being overheard by the police. The European investigation could also help U.S. law enforcement authorities gain access to Internet calls. The National Security Agency (NSA) is understood to believe that suspected terrorists use Skype to circumvent detection. While the police can get a court order to tap a suspect's land line and mobile phone, it is currently impossible to get a similar order...

Women, particularly political independents, don’t like Rush Limbaugh. That was the finding of a poll released last week by Public Policy Polling. It reported that while 56 percent of men had a favorable opinion of Rush, just 37 percent of women did. Nearly half of women had an unfavorable opinion of the conservative radio phenomenon. The total gender gap was a whopping 31 points. Rush dedicated part of his show last week to a “women’s summit,” in which women callers offered their perspective on why such a gap might exist and what the host might do to boost his popularity....

WHITTIER, Calif. - The California Highway Patrol says three men hijacked a truck hauling energy-efficient light bulbs and left the driver tied up on the side of the road. CHP Officer Joe Zizi says the hijacking happened early Wednesday in Whittier, about 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

CBS Evening News: Educational Nonprofit Under Fire For Transporting Politicians With Money That Could Have Gone To Students ### Educap is a multibillion-dollar student loan charity run by CEO Catherine Reynolds. As CBS News Investigative Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reported Monday night, Educap is under investigation by the IRS and Congress for alleged abuse of its tax-exempt status because it charges high interest on charitable student loans, and provides lavish perks with millions in compensation for Reynolds and her husband. CBS News has obtained exclusive details of what may have been the biggest charity perk: use of Educap's $31 million luxury...

A bill to end cost overruns in major weapons systems would create a powerful new Pentagon position -- director of independent cost assessments -- to review cost analyses and estimates, separately from the military branch requesting the program. Those reviews, unlike in the current process, would take place at key points in the acquisition process before a weapons program can proceed, according to legislation sponsored by Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) Last year, the Government Accountability Office reported that cost overruns on the Pentagon's 95 largest weapons acquisitions system totaled about $300 billion, even though...

Another meeting was held between deputy Foreign Minister Marta Fekszi Horvath and US Ambassador to Hungary April H. Foley on Hungary's possible reception of former Guantanamo prisoners, Jan Krc, press attache of the US Embassy in Budapest, told MTI on Tuesday. Marta Fekszi Horvath told MTI earlier in the day that currently 27 inmates were waiting for reception in Guantanamo, and the maximum Hungary would receive is one or two. Hungary wants to wait and see the results of the negotiations of the European Union's justice and refugee commissioners and the Czech foreign minister in Washington on March 16, on...

Tuesday March 3, 2009 "Any" Person Can Be Listed as "Second Parent" for IVF Children: New UK Regulations By John JalsevacMarch 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Women who conceive a child through in vitro fertilization (IVF) or sperm donation can name "any" person as the second parent, as long as the person consents to the arrangement, and is not a close relation of the mother, according to new UK regulations.The new rules, put forward by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), blow wide open the doors on what it means to be a parent, making it possible for women...

B-17 pilot Bill McAleb, who flew several combat missions over Germany during World War II, takes a nostalgic flight on the "Liberty Belle," a newly restored bomber, at Addison Airport. Video at link

NEW DELHI, March 4 (RIA Novosti) - India has successfully tested the latest land attack version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile at a firing range in Pokhran in the Rajasthan Desert, a source in the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. The source said that the weapon was fired in a vertical-launch configuration and the missile had successfully hit its designated target. Officials at India's Defense Research and Development Organization, who has developed the missile together with Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia, were cited by The Times of India daily as saying it "took two and a half minutes to strike its...

Special ElectionAPRIL 7, 2009 Illinois Fifth Congressional District ROSANNA PULIDO, FR's own CHICAGOLADY, is the Republican nominee!Rosanna Pulido for Congress What you can do nowFor more information or to volunteer: tomhoefling@gmail.com This is a tough Special Election in a heavily Democrat district, but it isn't impossible. Rosanna is a GREAT candidate, and will work hard to earn every vote. Once folks get to know her, they love her! She cannot count on the IL GOP, fellow FReepers, which means that she has to count on us. I would ask that over the next five weeks those who take the defeatist...

"1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" host David Shuster on Tuesday repeatedly pestered Texas Congressman Ron Paul to publicly attack Rush Limbaugh and seemed frustrated when "even" the outspoken representative wouldn't give him what he wanted. After wondering "why it's so difficult" for Republicans to disagree with the talk show host's assertion that he wants Barack Obama's policies to fail, Shuster repeated the same question over and over. He complained, "How can we have that argument [about other issues], when even you, Ron Paul, are not willing to take this opportunity to say when Rush Limbaugh says that every Republican wants President Obama...

Political analyst and commentator Roger Stone blames Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s shaky start on not understanding his role as chairman of all Republicans. In an exclusive Newsmax interview, Stone chastises Steele for suggesting he'd work against GOP rogue Senators Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine in the upcoming 2010 primaries because of their votes for the “so-called stimulus” bill. “It is not the national chairman’s job to weed people out of the party,” Stone tells Newsmax TV. “It’s his job to bring people into the party. The National Chairman’s role is to...

Let’s take a look at the silver lining in the cloud that is gun confiscation. Try to remember: nothing is all bad. Economics are a big consideration. Black market guns will likely be cheaper than they were at the gun shop or sporting goods store. And no more serial numbers on guns or any of that silly paperwork to fill out. There will be a market driven “trickle down” effect on the end user’s price. To your benefit. Doncha see? There are at least 65 million gun owners in America today. That’s probably as large a percent of the nation...

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 at 11:32 am Priorities -- Not lining the pockets of contractors Last week the President laid out the foundation of a new vision for our budget and the way government does business. It is a vision based not on ideology, but on the idea that we can and must invest boldly in our future while also making the hard choices and being vigilant to bring in a new era of fiscal responsibility.Last week began with the fiscal responsibility summit, where the President and members of Congress came together to generate ideas to get the country on a sustainable long-term track. One of...

[1]Media Research Center President and NewsBusters.org Publisher Brent Bozell today called on all of President Barack Obama’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) nominees to pledge to preserve the First Amendment freedoms of conservative and Christian talk radio.  Bozell asserted that if they do not do so, they should not be confirmed by the Senate.Denouncing the so-called Fairness Doctrine is not enough. Last Thursday, the Senate passed a rider from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that creates broad new free speech-suppression regulatory powers for the FCC.The nebulous Durbin Amendment potentially allows for the FCC to prematurely rescind talk radio station licenses and...

Top Democrats believe they have struck political gold by depicting Rush Limbaugh as the new face of the Republican Party, a full-scale effort first hatched by some of the most familiar names in politics and now being guided in part from inside the White House. The strategy took shape after Democrats included Limbaugh’s name in an October poll and learned their longtime tormentor was deeply unpopular with many Americans. Then the conservative talk-radio host emerged as an unapologetic critic of Barack Obama shortly before his inauguration, when even many Republicans were showering him with praise. Soon it clicked: Democrats realized...