Every year, thousands of incredible images of the sky are taken from observatories on the ground and in space, from spacecraft, and from amateur astronomers. And it seems that the people who make these images are getting better with time, creating nothing short of art.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/12/14/the-top-14-astronomy-pictures-of-2010
Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize seven times, Holbrooke joined Obama's administration in January 2009 as special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, dealing with two of Washington's most vexing foreign policy challenges.
Those who watched Fox News almost daily were significantly more likely than those who never watched it to believe that most economists estimate the stimulus caused job losses (12 points more likely), most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit (31 points), the economy is getting worse (26 points), most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring (30 points), the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts (14 points), their own income taxes have gone up (14 points), the auto bailout only occurred under Obama (13 points), when TARP came up for a vote most Republicans opposed it (12 points) and that it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States (31 points). The effect was also not simply a function of partisan bias, as people who voted Democratic and watched Fox News were also more likely to have such misinformation than those who did not watch it--though by a lesser margin than those who voted Republican.
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/brunitedstatescanadara/671.php?nid=&id=&pnt=671&lb=
In a show of unity, top diplomats from South Korea, the United States and Japan met in Washington last week and said they would not resume negotiations aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program until the country's behavior changes. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited South Korea last week and warned Pyongyang to stop its "belligerent, reckless behavior."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/13/AR2010121300133.html
The world honey bee population has plunged in recent years, worrying beekeepers and farmers who know how critical bee pollination is for many crops. A number of theories have popped up as to why the North American honey bee population has declined--electromagnetic radiation, malnutrition, and climate change have all been pinpointed. Now a leaked EPA document reveals that the agency allowed the widespread use of a bee-toxic pesticide, despite warnings from EPA scientists.
Rowley's support for WikiLeaks stems from its function as an outlet for potential whistle-blowers in the national intelligence section of the federal government who have no avenue to share information without fear of reprisal. Currently, there is no federal law protecting those who would reveal illegalities like fraud, waste, abuse or threats to public safety.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/exclusive-wikileaks-benefits-public-intelligence-officers
Oilfield services company Halliburton is in negotiations with the Nigerian government to keep its former CEO, Dick Cheney, out of prison.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/halliburton-500-million-cheney-prison
A car blew up near the busy shopping street of Drottninggatan, and another explosion hit nearby minutes later.
Swedish newspapers said the second blast was set off by a suicide bomber, and a local news agency said it received a threatening e-mail.
But a police spokesman told the BBC that no cause had yet been determined.
It looks like everyone at Fox News agree: you can’t just imprison a foreign national for unknown crimes, but you can assassinate them! I’m glad we all believe so strongly in freedom of speech.
The now infamous Wikileaks recently released a cable from Afghanistan revealing U.S. government contractor DynCorp threw a party for Afghan security recruits featuring trafficked boys as the entertainment. Bacha bazi is the Afghan tradition of "boy play" where young boys are dressed up in women's clothing, forced to dance for leering men, and then sold for sex to the highest bidder. Apparently this is the sort of "entertainment" funded by your tax dollars when DynCorp is in charge of security in Afghanistan. No Homo.