Mayo Clinic in Arizona to Stop Treating Some Medicare Patients  —  Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — The Mayo Clinic, praised by President Barack Obama as a national model for efficient health care, will stop accepting Medicare patients as of tomorrow at one of its primary-care clinics in Arizona, saying the U.S. government pays too little.

Obama Palin Shoe Shining Email Could Get Colorado State Worker In Trouble  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  DENVER (AP) — A Colorado state employee could be disciplined for sending an e-mail showing President Barack Obama shining the shoes of former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

The God That Fails  —  During the middle third of the 20th century, Americans had impressive faith in their own institutions.  It was not because these institutions always worked well.  The Congress and the Federal Reserve exacerbated the Great Depression.

Iraqis Angered as Blackwater Charges Are Dropped  —  BAGHDAD — Iraqis on Friday reacted with disbelief, anger and bitter resignation to news that criminal charges in the United States had been dismissed against Blackwater Worldwide security guards who opened fire on unarmed Iraqi civilians in 2007.

TSA nominee misled Congress about accessing confidential records  —  The White House nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration gave Congress misleading information about incidents in which he inappropriately accessed a federal database, possibly in violation of privacy laws …

Former homeland security chief argues for whole-body imaging  —  Since the uncomfortably close attempted attack on Northwest Flight 253 last week, many have focused on why the alleged terrorist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was not placed on a watch list that would have prevented him from flying …

A Note about the Armoured Vehicles from China to Iran // Available in 3 languages: ENGLISH, FARSI, CHINESE  —  (the information about the armoured vehicles in this text has been confirmed by multiple sources):  —  Finally, with the arrival of the first shipment of armoured vehicles …

Napolitano's ‘no drama’ competence shows her potential  —  Most Americans got their first prolonged look at Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, last weekend.  After a passenger on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam ignited a concealed fuse as the plane approached Detroit …

CIA caught in dirty and secretive war against al-Qaeda on Afghan border  —  The deaths of seven CIA agents in Khost province have brought into the limelight the secretive and dirty war being fought by America's intelligence agencies — and the Taleban and al-Qaeda — in the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Crowds in Times Square Celebrate 2010  —  Hundreds of thousands of revelers welcomed the new year in New York City's Times Square, despite the rain, slushy streets and heightened security, capping worldwide celebrations that often emphasized the hopes for a more peaceful tomorrow.

2009 Deadliest Year for U.S. in Afghanistan  —  U.S. Casualties More Than Double in Afghanistan Over Iraq  —  Eight years after the war began, 2009 was the deadliest year for U.S. service members fighting in Afghanistan and the first time American casualties there exceeded the number in Iraq, Pentagon records show.

Chinese New Year  —  It's the season when pundits traditionally make predictions about the year ahead.  Mine concerns international economics: I predict that 2010 will be the year of China.  And not in a good way.  —  Actually, the biggest problems with China involve climate change.