Saturday, December 31, 2011
Must Read Stories Today
Hope reigns as U.S. rings in 2012, after dud 2011
Times Square was awash in hopeful sentiments as it prepared to welcome hordes of New Year's Eve revelers looking to cast off a rough year and cheer their way to something better in 2012.
Perry criticizes Santorum, Paul as Iowa caucuses near
Struggling to regain his footing after a virtual free fall in the polls in recent months, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday doubled down on his attacks on former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and opened fire on Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
Tea party looks for strength in numbers
With polls showing the movement's popularity sagging, tea party members from across the country are warning that anyone who thinks they are sleeping in 2012 is in for a rude awakening come Election Day, when they plan to pick up where they left off in 2010 by bolstering their voices for limited government on Capitol Hill.
For troops, many happy returns
Operation Welcome Home Maryland at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport has organized welcomes for more than 190,000 military personnel since 2007, but with the withdrawal of troops from Iraq over the past three months, it has never been busier.
World rings in 2012 and bids adieu to a tough year
Glittering fireworks in the shapes of butterflies, hearts and a cascading waterfall exploded over Sydney's Harbour Bridge on Sunday as cheering revelers welcomed 2012 and bid a weary adieu to a year marred by natural disasters and economic turmoil.
Romney braves rain, mocks Obama's Hawaii vacation
Standing on a stage in a chilly, wet field in Iowa, Mitt Romney on Friday mocked President Obama for being on vacation in Hawaii.
In 2012, Obama to press ahead without Congress
Leaving behind a year of bruising legislative battles, President Barack Obama enters his fourth year in office having calculated that he no longer needs Congress to promote his agenda and may even benefit in his re-election campaign if lawmakers take little action in 2012.
Muslims skip NYC mayor's event to protest spying
More than a dozen Muslim clerics and civic leaders skipped Mayor Michael Bloomberg's annual interfaith breakfast Friday, saying they were upset that he supported police department surveillance efforts in their neighborhoods.
Verizon reverses on $2 fee for one-time payments
After a customer backlash, Verizon Wireless on Friday dropped a plan to start charging $2 for every payment subscribers make over the phone or online with their credit or debit cards.
Baby sitter murder charge in Indiana girl's death
A trusted family friend who confessed to police that he bludgeoned to death a 9-year-old Indiana girl in his care then dismembered her just days before Christmas was formally charged Friday in the killing.
Obama delays request for $1.2T debt limit increase
President Obama is delaying his request for another $1.2 trillion increase in the nation's debt limit at the request of congressional leaders.
In Europe, debate grows over new nuclear power
The future of atomic energy in Europe looked bleak after the nuclear disaster in Japan, but some European leaders now see nuclear power as the only clean alternative to dirty coal-fired plants or unreliable wind and solar energy.
Emboldened by monitors, Syrians hold huge protests
In the largest protests Syria has seen in months, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets Friday in a display of defiance to show an Arab League observer mission the strength of the opposition movement.
Russia: Nuclear submarine fire finally out
Firefighters extinguished a massive fire aboard a docked Russian nuclear submarine Friday as some crew members remained inside, officials said, giving assurances that there was no radiation leak and the vessel's nuclear-tipped missiles were not on board.
Spain revises up deficit and raises taxes
Spain's new government warned Friday that the country's budget deficit will be much higher than anticipated this year, as it unveiled a first batch of austerity measures that include surprise income and property tax hikes.
Parents held responsible for underage drinking
Parents of teens: If you think a drinking disaster at your kid's party can't happen at your house, not with your kid, because he's a good kid, it's time to wake up and smell the whiskey bottle tossed on your lawn.
Commentary |
SILBER: The mutating al Qaeda threatTen years ago last month, the now-infamous "shoe bomber," Richard Reid, boarded an American Airlines flight bound for Miami from Paris, intending to kill himself and all of the other passengers by detonating an explosive device he had concealed in his shoes. What was unknown at the time is that Reid was not supposed to act alone. Saajid Badat - like Reid a British citizen - was supposed to ignite his own pair of explosive shoes on a different trans-Atlantic flight, but he dropped out in the plot's final stages. KUHNER: Will Obama steal the 2012 election?Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. claims Jim Crow is returning. In a recent speech, Mr. Holder said that attempts by states to pass voter identification laws will disenfranchise minorities, rolling back the clock to the evil days of segregation. He said that a growing number of minorities fear that "the same disparities, divisions and problems" now afflict America as they did in 1965 prior to the Voting Rights Act. According to the Obama administration, our democracy is being threatened by racist Republicans. Hence, the Justice Department must prevent laws requiring a photo ID to vote from being enacted. KNIGHT: Voter ID terrifies DemocratsThe most consequential election in our lifetime is still 10 months away, but it's clear from the Obama administration's order halting South Carolina's new photo ID law that the Democrats already have brought a gun to a knife fight. EDITORIAL: A New Year's resolution for Capitol HillUncle Sam ended the year having saddled Americans with another 81,836 pages of regulations. No issue was too small or insignificant to escape attention in the federal government's final week of pronouncements. EDITORIAL: Fear and hope in 2012The year 2012 is shaping up to be one to remember. Though there are many reasons for apprehension over what lies ahead, there's less to fear than the doomsayers would have us believe. President Obama and Congress have been racking up debt like there's no tomorrow, but that's no reason to credit particular prophecies of the end times. |
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