ADMINISTRATION TO GIVE CLASSIFIED DRONE INFO TO LAWMAKERS: President Obama has directed the Justice Department to give the House and Senate Intelligence Committees access to classified legal advice that provides the government's rationale for drone strikes against U.S. citizens working with al-Qaida overseas, AP reported Wednesday (February 6th), citing a senior administration official and Democratic lawmakers. Demands to see the information had been growing ahead of today's confirmation hearing for
week by the leak of an unclassified memo on how decisions are made to target U.S. citizens abroad for drone strikes, which indicated the conditions are broader than many had previously believed.
POSTAL SERVICE PLANS TO END SATURDAY MAIL DELIVERY: The Postal Service announced Wednesday (February 6th) that it plans to end Saturday delivery starting in August for everything except packages, to help reduce its financial losses, with Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe saying, "Our financial condition is urgent." However, Congress has to approve the idea, since the independent agency is subject to congressional control even though it gets no tax dollars, and lawmakers have voted in the past to block it. The Postal Service, which suffered a $15.9 billion loss in the past budget year, said it expected to save $2 billion annually with the Saturday cutback. The rise of the Internet has caused the volume of letters and other mail to plummet, but the increase of online purchases it's brought with it has driven up the amount of package shipping, one of the few bright spots for the Postal
Service. However, the biggest factor in the Postal Service's financial woes is the requirement imposed by Congress in 2006 that it pay some $5.5 billion a year into future retiree health benefits, something no other agency has to do.
or not to ease its blanket ban on gay Scouts and adult leaders. The delay was announced after private deliberations by the Boy Scouts' national executive board, and was attributed to, quote, "the complexity of this issue." Since recently announcing that it was considering easing the ban by allowing sponsors of local troops to decide for themselves whether to allow gay Scouts and adult leaders, the Boy Scouts have come under pressure from both the right
and the left. Conservatives, including religious leaders whose churches sponsor troops, warned of mass defections if the ban were eased, while gay right supporters said the proposal doesn't go far enough, that no troops should be allowed to exclude gays, and vowed to keep up pressure on the Boy Scouts' corporate donors.
OBAMA CHOOSES FEMALE EXECUTIVE TO HEAD INTERIOR DEPT.: President Obama yesterday (February 6th) nominated Sally Jewell, chief executive of outdoor retailer REI and an outdoor enthusiast, to his Cabinet as Interior Secretary, charged with overseeing the national parks and energy reserves on public lands. Obama described Jewell, the first woman chosen to join his second-term Cabinet, as a, quote, "expert on the energy and climate issues that are going to shape our future" as well as a executive who understands the link between
conservation and economic progress. Jewell's background includes work in the energy and banking sectors earlier in her career, and she's been a leader in land conservation in the
some industry groups. Jewell would be replacing outgoing Interior Secretary Ken
Salazar.
NINE-YEAR-OLD GIVES BIRTH IN MEXICO: A nine-year-old girl gave birth last week in western Mexico, and authorities there are looking for the 17-year-old who's believed to be the father, who the girl told them was her boyfriend. The baby was born last week by Cesarean
section because of the age of the girl, who reportedly didn't know she was pregnant until her seventh month. Both she and her daughter are doing well. The girl's family alerted authorities after she gave birth, but the presumed father hasn't been seen in the neighborhood they both live in since. If he is found to be the father, he could face sex abuse charges.
GERMAN STUDENT
CHECK IT OUT:
- Hear a sampling of the winning song at: http://tinyurl.com/aqklwq4
CLOSEST EARTH-LIKE PLANET NEARER
closest Earth-like neighbor would be equivalent to the width of
from the Sun.
- These new findings are based on data from NASA's Kepler space telescope, which was launched in 2009.
NEUROLOGIST: 'DARK PATCH' CAN BE SEEN IN BRAIN SCANS OF CRIMINALS: Are the brains of criminals different from those of the rest of us? A German neurologist has added to the growing body of evidence that indicates they are, saying he's discovered a "dark patch"
near the front of the brain in scans of people with criminal records. Dr. Gerhard Roth told
tendencies, and it is unclear how that works."
ANTI-DOPING AGENCY EXTENDS LANCE ARMSTRONG'S DEADLINE: The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has given Lance Armstrong two more weeks to cooperate fully with an investigation into doping in cycling in return for a possible reduction of his lifetime ban on competing in sanctioned sporting events. After he finally came clean last month in an Oprah
Winfrey interview following more than a decade of vehement denials, Armstrong had initially been given a February 6th deadline by USADA to answer questions under oath. However, that was extended yesterday (February 6th) after Armstrong's attorney said that pre-existing obligations would make it impossible for the disgraced cyclist to appear by that date. While USADA has requested the interview with Armstrong, they also dispute his contention in the
Oprah interview that while he doped during his seven since-stripped Tour de France wins, he was clean when he came back from retirement and competed in 2009 and 2010.
FOO FIGHTERS, RISE AGAINST, KID
penned tunes.
In addition to the artists already mentioned, others on the disc include Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello, Bob Seger, Jennifer Hudson, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, My Morning Jacket and the Zac Brown Band.
- Wrote A Song For Everyone is due for release on May 28th.
- Fans who pre-order the album at either iTunes or Amazon will score an instant download of "Born on the Bayou," featuring Kid Rock. The track premiered last Sunday (February 3rd) during the Super Bowl XLVII telecast.
ROB ZOMBIE ALREADY AT
mid-'70s heyday of the Philadelphia Flyers, a hockey team so notorious for their violent tactics on the ice that they were nicknamed the "Broad Street Bullies." Philly.com caught up with Zombie at a Flyers game on Tuesday night (February 5th), where he was meeting with some of the members of the "Bullies" as part of his preparation for the movie.
Zombie said about the film, "It's the greatest sports story ever not told. It's been told other ways, but not film. I had to do it. It reads like fiction. It's so incredible." He added, "We're just wrapping up the script right now, looking to start shooting in the fall. This is sort of a fact-finding mission. This is where I try to get everyone to tell me stories they don't want to tell."
NOW
with someone? I mean, like, I make fun of Coldplay, but I would never say that out loud."
Grohl's comments seemed more in jest than his remarks on Monday night's (February 4th)
show, when he said about Britney Spears, "She just kinda seems dead inside, like there's nothing behind her eyes. Like there's nothing in her boobs anymore!"
- Grohl will continue subbing for host Chelsea Handler on the program
through Friday (February 8th). He sat in for Handler last December 6th and
has also been a guest on the show himself in the past. - The "first and only ever"
- Grohl's documentary,
CHECK IT OUT: Watch Grohl's interview with Nas (his Coldplay
remark comes at around the
first six studio albums, including its 1978 self-titled debut, 1979's Van Halen II, 1980's Women And Children First, 1981's Fair Warning, 1982's Diver Down and 1984's 1984, which was the last record by the band to feature original singer David Lee Roth until 2012's A Different Kind Of Truth.
Guitarist Eddie Van Halen admitted a while back that he can't pick a favorite out of the band's many albums: "Well, I tell ya -- to me, they're all special. They're all a bit different, but I love 'em all. You know, they're all a piece of me, so they're all very special."
- The Studio Albums 1978 - 1984 features all six albums in remastered versions
and packaged in a clamshell box. - There are no bonus tracks or other extra features of any kind. The set can be ordered at VanHalenStore.com or Amazon.
PEARL JAM BASSIST ALMOST CHOSE BASKETBALL AS A CAREER: Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament is known as a basketball fanatic and revealed in a new interview with ESPN that he almost pursued a professional career in the sport instead of music. Ament, who went to the
me down and said, 'If you work really hard, by the time you're a senior, you'll get some minutes on varsity.' I remember thinking, 'There's no way I'm going to work this hard for four years to maybe get some garbage time when I'm a senior.'"
Ament eventually chose music and moved to
sports by some other famous rockers on the scene. He recalled, "There was a period, after I moved, when I had to hide the fact that I played ball from the punk-rock guys . . . Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love talked trash about the fact that I hooped. I once stopped to say hi before a show, and as I walked away, Courtney yelled, 'Go play basketball with Dave Grohl!'"
- Ament still likes to hit the court, and named Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and Steve Gordon of the Black Crowes as two of the best musician players.
- He also said that Justin Bieber was a "terrible" player and that he wasn't impressed with Leonardo DiCaprio's skills when the two played in a celebrity event, adding,
"You know who's a good player? That Malcolm In The Middle kid (Frankie Muniz)." - Ament has recently been working on new music with his side band, RNDM,
although Pearl Jam recently met with producer Brendan O'Brien about getting to work on its own new album. - Pearl Jam did recently confirm that it will play two shows this summer, one on July 19th at
CHECK IT OUT: Read and watch the entire interview with Ament at http://tinyurl.com/baa4wy7:
JENNIFER LAWRENCE STALKED JOHN STAMOS AT A PARTY: Jennifer Lawrence sat down with Conan O'Brien and discussed the embarrassing exchange that went down when she met her childhood crush John Stamos at a party. She told Conan, "I lost my mind. And I got so upset - I didn't want to meet him because when I meet people it's never good, and I was avoiding him. But then my friends brought him over because my friends are jerks, and I started really freaking out. And he asked me if I was on mushrooms and I said, 'No. I'm dead sober. This is just me.'"
MELISSA MCCARTHY
McCarthy has made the decision to censor her 5-year-old and 3-year-old daughters from watching her 2011 hit Bridesmaids which her husband also appears in. She told reporters at the Identity Thief premiere, "I have little tiny kids so they've seen Mike & Molly, but they haven't seen Bridesmaids and they won't see this for a while either."
DEV PATEL
Millionaire co-stars and off-screen couple Dev Patel and Freida Pinto say they don't celebrate Valentine's day because they think every day should be a celebration of love. The pair have been together for over four years and attended the NAACP Image Awards together on February 1st.
LANCE ARMSTRONG FACES FEDERAL PROSECUTION: In light of Lance Armstrong's drug confession, the feds are investigating the cyclist for obstruction, intimidation, and witness tampering. People close to Lance have publicly accused him of threatening them into silence back when the doping first started.
BARBARA WALTERS IS RECOVERING BUT STILL TIRED: Barbara Walters called into Wednesday's (February 6th) episode of The View to update her co-hosts and viewers on the status of her health. She said, "I have been a little weak. I am not in any pain. And I'm not scratching too much. I'm not itching away. I just feel sort of weak and tired, and I probably won't be back on the program for about three weeks."
Monopoly has been replaced by a cat. Hasbro officials made the decision using fan votes from their "Save Your Token" campaign on Facebook. The flatiron fell into last place, garnering just 8% of the vote while the Scottish terrier led the poll with 29%. In the race to become a new token the cat beat a robot, guitar, helicopter and diamond ring. A senior vice president with Hasbro said, "We know that cat lovers around the world will be happy to welcome the new cat token into the Monopoly game. While we're a bit sad to see the iron go, the cat token is a fantastic choice by the fans and we have no doubt it will become just as iconic as the original tokens."
IS
the logo is "offensive", "not very female friendly," and suggest the organization should ditch the tie. One critic added, "This logo sends the wrong message. It seems to scream 'we don't hire women.' Maybe that was not the intention, but that is the message." The president of
seen the rest of the campaign." (
DEAD HERRINGS
lack of oxygen. http://bit.ly/Wv9hzq
TWO MEN RESCUED AFTER TAKING A WALK ON THE
a firefighter and another unidentified helper who had to get into the water to help with the rescue. The guys told reporters that they had no idea they were walking on ice. (Wall Street Journal)
SECOND-GRADER SUSPENDED FOR IMAGINARY WEAPON: A 7-year-old student at
throw an imaginary grenade during recess. The boy's mother, Mandie Watkins said
she got a call from the principal who told her that Alex made no threats but motioned as if he was throwing a grenade. Watkins said Alex told her that he threw the pretend grenade at an imaginary box that had something evil inside of it. Watkins said, "He is very confused. I'm confused as well, so it makes it hard for me to enforce these rules when I don't even understand them." The school said the boy broke one of their "absolute" rules which
prohibits weapons and physical abuse or fighting -- whether real or make-believe. District Superintendent Stan Scheer said, "It fell under that set of local policy they have in the building, and it was shared with all parents in the community at the beginning of the year." Watkins is meeting with school officials in the hopes that she can get her son's suspension
lifted. She said, "They need to have rules that are clear-cut, easy to understand and realistic for this age group." (
LIBRARY OFFERS POLE-DANCING CLASS: A library in
called Love Your Library Day, is offered along with other activities like table tennis, head massages and country dancing. An official explained, "Love Your Library Day is a marvelous opportunity for us all to celebrate the hugely important role libraries play in the heart of our local community. The pole fitness session is a fun and interesting way of encouraging more people into our libraries, trying out all the services on offer and ultimately borrowing
more books." (UPI)
COUPLE HONORED FOR 80-YEAR MARRIAGE: A couple in
their hometown of
- Note: Last year we wrote about a couple in
12 FREE VALENTINE'S DAY PRINTABLES: http://tinyurl.com/b55gpve
THE CONSEQUENCES OF FACEBOOK UNFRIENDING: According to a new study, unfriending someone on Facebook could have consequences in real life interactions. Of those surveyed for the study, 40-percent of people said they would avoid seeing someone in real life that had unfriended them on Facebook, and 10-percent said they were unsure what they
would do. Study autho, Christopher Sibona, a PhD candidate at the
with anxiety and confidence issues could cause damage. (Metro)
GIVING IS HEALTHY: Researches say that providing assistance to others not only makes givers happier, but also protects their health. To find this resaerchers had about 850 participants answer questions about stressful events in the past year of their lives, and
whether they provided tangible assistance to friends or family members. Then the participant morality and time to death was monitored over the following five years. After factoring for other variables, researchers found that those who had helped others during the previous year were less likely to die than those who had not helped others. (UPI)
MEDITATION BOOSTS MUSIC ENJOYMENT: A new study finds that engaging in mindulness meditation could improve enjoyment of music. The study, which was published in the journal Psychology of Music, included 132-students split up into four groups. Two of the
groups listened to a 15-minute mindfulness recording, and then 10 minutes of an opera recording. They were tested for their emotional reaction to the music as well as their "flow" - which is how much they felt themselves getting into the music. The two other groups didn't listen to the mindfulness recording before listening to the music. Researchers found that more than half of those who underwent the mindfulness meditation thought that it helped them to be more engaged in the music. (Huffington Post)
1) Because stalking is an ugly word. Isn't it though? It's just as bad as "golf," or "moist," or "panties." Or even worse, "golfing and stalking in moist panties."
2) Because you don't need to see that stuff. Wait. They're happy without
you? And you're staring at it via your computer screen? No thanks.
3) Because you've matured. Do you know how awesome it feels to use the
Internet for its actual purpose instead of stalking? It's amazing! You feel so
mature, you even start thinking you might Google what exactly a 401k is and
where you can buy one.
4) Because you've moved on. Seriously; you have. Everyday that you got
out of bed, functioned, laughed with your friends, or fell over in a new pair
of heels... you have.
5) Because you'll drive yourself crazy. Seriously, you will. No one
likes to feel that way.
6) Because you owe it to your friends and family. If you can't do it for
yourself, do it for the people in your life. Do you know how sick they are of
you crying every time you see a photo of your ex and their new love doing
something moderately exciting? Pull it together, kid.
7) Because they never really "got" you anyway. If they had, you probably wouldn't have broken up in the first place.
8) Because you'll be missed. You will. Everyone is missed at some point; everyone misses the "us" they used to be even if it's just for a minute or two.
9) Because you have better things to do online. Shopping, starting a blog, downloading music, watching My So-Called Life streaming on Netflix for hours at a time -- the possibilities are endless now that you freed up so much of your time!
10) Because you have your life to live. And because you sat in a
HOW SMART IS YOUR DOG? A new project called "Dognition" hopes to revolutionize scientific understanding of dogs by gathering data from people all over the world. The web
app allows dog owners to record the results of playful experiements they complete with their pets. Brian Hare, with
babies as it drives them in developing language and culture. The app is free. CHECK IT OUT:
- Visit Dognition's website- http://tinyurl.com/aeahqff
WE DRINK
WAFFLE HASH BROWNS
