August 22, 2011

FOREIGN RELATIONS: Rebels In Lybia Reach Capitol  Rebels have reached Tripoli and claim to have 95% control of the city.  A previous report claiming that they have arrested Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, son of Qaddafi, have been proven false.  President Obama has stated that Qaddafi's rule is coming to an end.  Read More: Fox News | Los Angeles Times

WORLD: North Korea's Leader To Meet Russia's President  Kim Jong Il arrived in Russia by train, which crossed Russia's border for the first time in nine years.  The train will continue on to Siberia where the two leaders are expected to meet.  Read More: Russia Today | The Wall Street Journal

POLITICS: GOP Presidential Candidates Neck-And-Neck With President  Mitt Romney leads Obama 48% to 46%.  Rick Perry ties with 47%.  Obama leads Ron Paul 47% to 45% and leads Michelle Bachmann 48% to 44%.  Read More: The State Column | MSNBC

POLITICS: Representative Maxine Waters Tells Tea Party To 'Go To Hell'  While speaking in Inglewood, California, the Representative stated that she is not afraid of anybody and told the Tea Party to 'go to hell.'  Members of the Tea Party has fired back.  Read More: Los Angeles Times | Washington Post

August 18, 2011

FOREIGN RELATIONS: U.S. Calls For Syrian President To Step Down  President Barack Obama called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.  The U.S. has also imposed more sanctions on Syria and has frozen the government's assets, although few in the U.S.  Read More: Xinhuanet | Bloomberg

DOMESTIC: U.S. To Review Deportation Cases  A new policy will put a low deportation priority on illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have graduated high school and intend on either going to college or enrolling in the armed forces.  Read More:  The New York Times | BBC 

August 17, 2011

SAFETY: BART Police Site Hacked An unknown hacker/group has attacked the BART Police Officers Association website exposing 100 names, addresses and passwords.  Read More: Wired | PC Magazine

FOREIGN RELATIONS: Russia Restarts Iran Nuke Talks The proposal would encourage Iran to open a Nuclear program step by step with international inspections.  Read More: Reuters | The New York Times 

WORLD: Tymoshenko Trial Continues, Former President Testifies In Trial Tymoshenko given one day to prepare her testimony.  Ukraine's former president Viktor Yushchenko testified against the former Prime Minister today.  Read More: AFP | Novinite.com

DOMESTIC: Threats Made Against David Letterman By Jihad American Muslims were told to "cut the tongue of this lowly Jew and shut it forever" by a frequent poster on Islamic jihadist forums.  Read More: The Herald Sun | UPI 

August 16, 2011

POLITICS: Update: Two Wisconsin Senators Keep Their Seats The last two senators, Democrats, facing a recall election in Wisconsin for leaving the state during protest to halt congressional proceedings, were not recalled today by Wisconsin voters.  As we mentioned on August 10th, four out of six Republicans kept their seats in the recall election held last week. Read our post on August 8 and August 10.  Read More: USA Today | The Wall Street Journal

DOMESTIC: Man Ends Six Day Standoff On Radio Tower Man in Tulsa, Oklahoma ended is six day standoff on a radio tower.  He stood on the tower for six day with no food or water and practically no sleep.  Read More: International Business Times | CNN

FINANCE: Fitch Rating Agency Says It Will Keep U.S. Rating At AAA Fitch Rating agency, unlike its rival Standard & Poors says the U.S. will keep its AAA rating from Fitch.  Fitch states it will review its decision at the end of the year.  Read More: The New York Times | The Boston Herald 

FOREIGN RELATIONS: U.S. Official Says Iraq Can Defend Itself  Major General Jeffrey Buchanan says Iraqi forces can defend their country from an insurgency on their own at this point.  Read More: USA Today | The Christian Science Monitor

POLITICS: Media Points Out Its Own Bias Of Ron Paul The media has ignored Ron Paul as a valid Presidential Candidate for weeks, and even years before that.  Now, instead of talking about his policies, the media talks about its own bias against Ron Paul.  Check out the "Highlight of the Day".  Read More: The Christian Science Monitor | Los Angeles Times

Highlight of the Day: Comedian Jon Stewart points out the media bias against Ron Paul and his exclusion of the "top tier".  Watch: Hulu

August 15, 2011

TECHNOLOGY: Google Buys Motorola Google agrees to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 million.  This deal includes lots of patents that Motorola has.  Read More: USA Today | Reuters

DOMESTIC: Wife Of Bernie Madoff To Divorse Husband Ruth Madoff will reportedly divorse Bernie Madoff.  Bernie Madoff is sentanced to 150 years in prison for defrauding investors of billions of dollars.  Read More: Los Angeles Times | Fox Business

POLITICS: President On Bus Tour President Obama is on a bus tour to explain how he plans to boost the economy, create jobs, and reduce the deficit.  His campaign is claiming this is not a campaign tour.  Read More: Los Angeles Times | Des Moines Register 

WORLD: Mubarak Trial Not To Be Televised Hosni Mubarak's trial in Egypt will no longer be televised as he laid in bed for the last time in front of cameras.  Read More: The New York Times | The Christian Science Monitor

Highlight of the Day: President Obama gets in a heated debate with the Director of Iowa's Tea Party about Vice President Joe Biden calling Tea Party members terrorists.  Watch: YouTube

August 13, 2011

POLITICS: Michelle Bachmann & Ron Paul Lead Iowa Straw Poll  Michelle Bachmann wins by 152 votes.  Ron Paul second place.  Pawlenty comes in third with about half votes of Paul.  Read More:  Los Angeles Times | The Christian Science Monitor

DOMESTIC: Bus Flips on Pennsylvania Turnpike A Greyhound bus flipped on the Pennsylvania Turnpike after the driver lost control.  The bus hit the center median then cut across the right lanes of traffic and later flipped over after it his the embankment.  The bus has 25 passengers on board of which 21 were taken to the hospital and 14 already released.  Read More: Chicago Tribune | New York Magazine

DOMESTIC: Philadelphia Enforces Teen Curfew Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter initiated a 9 pm curfew for teen under 19 to stop flash mobs around the city which attack individual and cause property damage.  50 teens were arrested on the first night of the curfew.  Read More: Fox News | The Washington Times

SAFETY: Stage Collapse In Indiana State Fair Kills Four A stage collapse in the Indiana State Fair kills four and injures 40.  Read More: Chicago Tribune | The New York Times

August 12, 2011

DOMESTIC: Parts Of Obamacare Ruled Unconstitutional By Federal Appeals Court  The Eleventh US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Congress exceeded its authority by requiring citizens to purchase health insurance or pay a fine.  Read More: The Christian Science Monitor | The Wall Street Journal

SAFETY: Casey Anthony Ordered Back To Florida For Probation Judge Belvin Perry ordered Casey Anthony, who was found not guilty of murdering her daughter, to report to Florida to serve one year probation.  Read More: Alaska Dispatch | WTSP 10 News

FINANCE: SEC To Review S&P Policies Used To Downgrade U.S.  The Securities and Exchange Commission will review the policies Standard & Poors used for their analysis to downgrades the U.S. credit rating to AA+.  Bloomberg | CNN

August 11, 2011

FINANCE: BNY Mellon Says Will Cut 1,500 Jobs  BNY Mellon has announced that it will cut 1,500 jobs or 3% of its job force.  Read our post on August 5.  Read More: CNBC | International Business Times

ECONOMY: United States Postal Service Seeks To Layoff 120,000 Workers  The United States Postal Service (USPS) is asking Congress for permission to layoff 120,000 workers. Read More: CNN | DailyFinance

FINANCE: Dow Surges Again  Dow surges 400 points today.  Read out post on August 10.  Read More: The Street | The Wall Street Journal

WORLD: Ukrainian President Claims Arrest And Trial of Prime Minister Is Not Politically Motivated  President Victor Yanukovich rejected the concern by Western nations that the trial of Yulia Tumoshenko, former PM, is not politically motivated.  Read our post on August 5.  Read More: Interfax | AFP

August 10, 2011

POLITICS: Update: Republicans Keep Control Of Wisconsin Senate in Recall Election Republicans have won four out of the six seats in Wisconsin's recall election.  With this overall victory, Republicans will be able to keep their majority in the state's senate.  Read our post on August 8.  Read More: The Washington Times | The New York Times

POLITICS: Update: Republicans Pick Their Appointees To Super Committee From House and Senate  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) appointed Senators Jon Kyl, Rob Portman, and Patrick J. Toomey as the Republican senators to join the Super Committee.  Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) appointed Representatives Jeb Hensarling, Dave Camp, and Fred Upton.  Representative Paul Ryan (R) asked Boehner to pass him as an appointee.  This now leaves three open seats to be picked by House Minority Leader , Nancy Pelosi (D).  Read our post on August 9 for Harry Reid's (D) three Senate choices.  Read More: Los Angeles Times | Fox News

FINANCE: Update: Dow Falls Again, 500 Points  In a rocky week, stocks fall again Wednesday.  Read our post on August 9.  Read More: International Business Times | The Wall Street Journal


DOMESTIC: Arizona Appeals Immigration Law Ruling Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has appealed to the Supreme Court a decision by a lower court putting certain parts of Arizona's immigration bill on hold.  Read More: Politico | Los Angeles Times

WORLD: Update: London Riots Riots continue as the Prime Minister, David Cameron, vows to "fight back."  Read our post on August 8.  The Washington Post | The Wall Street Journal

August 9, 2011

WORLD: Riots Near London Continue After three violent nights in London, Tuesday was peaceful within the city after the deployment of thousands of extra police.  However the violence continued outside of London.  Read More: Reuters | The Globe and Mail

FINANCE: Dow Soars Today, 430 Points After losing 600 points yesterday, the Dow got back 430 points today.  Part of the high close is attributed to the Federal Reserve's announcement today, that it would keep its interest rates at near zero for the next two years.  Read More: The Street | Chicago Sun-Times

POLITICS: Democrats Pick Their Three Choices for Senate Super Committee  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Senators Patty Murray, Max Baucus and John Kerry as his three choices for the senate super committee.  Republicans have until Tuesday to make their choice.  Read More: Los Angeles Times | Politico

DOMESTIC: Polygamist Leader Gets Life In Prison A Texas prison has sentenced polygamist leader Warren Jeffs to life in prison for assaulting two underage girls whom he considered his wives through spiritual marriages.  Read More: The Christian Science Monitor | The Statesman

TECHNOLOGY: Hacker Group Threatens To Hack Facebook On Nov. 5 The same group that we mentioned a few days ago, Anonymous, which has hacked 70 law enforcement websites, has threatened to "destroy" Facebook on November 5th.  Anonymous claims that Facebook sells private user data to government and security agencies.  It asks individuals to join in their cause to kill Facebook.  Read our post on August 6.  Read More: International Business Times |  PC Magazine

August 8, 2011

FINANCE: Dow Falls 600 Points, Worst Since 2008 Due to S&P's downgrade on Friday, the stocks fell today.  All three major markets, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and NASDAQ experienced their worst drop since 2008.  Every sector and stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished lower than Friday.  Read More: The Wall Street Journal | The Washington Post

WORLD: London Riots Spread For the third straight day, looting continues in England.  Youngsters set businesses and double decker buses on fire.  Read More: Reuters | The Washington Post

POLITICS: Wisconsin Faces Recall Election Tomorrow Eight lawmakers will face a recall election tomorrow started because of a push by Republicans to pass anti-union legislation.  After continuous protests by unions, the recall election will take place tomorrow which could shift the power of the parties in Wisconsin.  Read More: The Boston Globe | The Christian Science Monitor

FINANCE: Gold Hits All-Time High As stocks fall, Gold prices hit an all-time high today.  Read More: Reuters

ELECTIONS: Bachmann, Romney and Ron Paul ahead of Rick Perry  As Rick Perry considers announcing his run for Presidency, three candidates are ahead according to a Rasmussen poll.  Read More: Chron.com | The New York Times

August 6, 2011

WAR: U.S. Helicopter Shot Down in Afghanistan, 30 Killed (Including SEAL Team 6 Members)  The deadliest incident involving U.S. troops during the 10 year Afghanistan war.  25 of those killed were special operations forces and 22 of those were Navy SEALs.  While the SEAL count includes members of SEAL Team 6, none of the members who took down Usama Bin Laden were of those killed.  Read More: CNN | Los Angeles Times

SAFETY: Hacker Group attacks 70 U.S. Law Enforcement Websites The attack targeted rural law enforcement websites in the U.S.  The hacker group "Anonymous" stated that it stole 10 gigabytes of data as retaliation for U.S. and U.K. arrests of its members.  Read More: The Washington Post | The Daily Beast

FOREIGN RELATIONS: Some Libyan Neighborhoods Face Blackouts, No Water, and Gas Shortages The Libyan government has stated that NATO attacks on power stations and power lines has caused some neighborhoods to live without electricity and water, which cannot be pumped without the power.  The gas prices have also sored to nearly $13 per gallon in a nation has generally enjoyed low gas prices.  Read More: CNN

August 5, 2011

ECONOMY: U.S. Loses AAA Rating from S&P For the first time in U.S. history, one of the two major rating agencies, Standard & Poor (S&P) has downgraded the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+. Read More: S&P (Full Report) | The Washington Post | The Wall Street Journal

FOREIGN RELATIONS: Americans Urged to Leave Syria The State Department is urging Americans to leave Syria while commercial transport is still available.  As protests in the country continue, the Syrian government has limited travel of diplomats which limits their ability to assist Americans located in the nation.  Read More: The Washington Post


FINANCE: U.S. Bank Will Charge for Large Deposits The Bank of New York Mellon has announced that it will begin charging customers 0.13% for deposits in excess of $50 million.  This is the first time a bank has announced such a plan.  As a possible response to this, the stock price has fallen by 3.92% today.  Read More: The Wall Street Journal | The Street

WORLD: Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arrested Yulia Tymoshenko was arrested under a judge's orders.  The judge has ruled that she was "systematically" disrupting courtroom proceedings.  Supporters have showed at the courthouse in protest. Read More: The Boston Globe | Kyiv Post