Topics  —  When PUBLIC UNION workers decide to “screw” those that are actually paying their salaries it's time for a change.  —  BOMBASTIC  —  People died.  The union officials should all be charged with manslaughter.  —  Either that.  Or the citizenry needs to take their own retaliation against the “workers”.

So much for bipartisanship — a slew of recess appointments  —  On Wednesday, Obama shed any pretense of bipartisanship in making six recess appointments.  As were his previous recess appointments, this batch included two individuals whose records are so controversial that they could not obtain confirmation …

O'Donnell Claims Political Witch Hunt  —  Former Tea Party Senate Candidate Denies She Used Campaign Funds for Personal Use  —  Former Tea Party Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell defended herself today against a report that the federal government was investigating her for misuse of campaign funds …

For G.O.P., End of the Preordained Candidate  —  WASHINGTON — A year ago, Republicans here were shut out of governing but could console themselves with having retained their hold on the party apparatus.  This week, they will celebrate the new year having come roaring back to regain the House …

'Don't ask, don't tell' has been repealed.  ROTC still shouldn't be on campus.  —  Now that asking and telling has ceased to be problematic in military circles, ROTC has resurfaced as a national issue: Will universities such as Harvard, Yale and other Ivy League schools be opened …

Inaction and Delays by New York as Storm Bore Down  —  At 3:58 a.m. on Christmas Day, the National Weather Service upgraded its alert about the snow headed to New York City, issuing a winter storm watch.  By 3:55 p.m., it had declared a formal blizzard warning, a rare degree of alarm.

Fox Utterly Destroys Cable News Ratings Competition in 2010  —  The Nielsen numbers are in for 2010, and in the battle for cable news ratings supremacy, Fox News took the title for the ninth year in a row — bludgeoning the competition for another year.  —  The blowout comes on the heels …

Geraldine Doyle, 86, dies; one-time factory worker inspired Rosie the Riveter and ‘We Can Do It!’ poster  —  Geraldine Doyle, 86, who as a 17-year-old factory worker became the inspiration for a popular World War II recruitment poster that evoked female power and independence under the slogan …

Tucker Carlson: Michael Vick ‘should have been executed’  —  Tucker Carlson, filling in for Sean Hannity on Fox News last night, picked up the issue of President Barack Obama's call to Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, during which the president thanked Lurie for giving Michael Vick a second chance.

Cal Thomas She Told Us So  —  Sarah Palin deserves an apology.  When she said that the new health-care law would lead to “death panels” deciding who gets life-saving treatment and who does not, she was roundly denounced and ridiculed.  —  Now we learn, courtesy of one of the ridiculers — The New York Times — that she was right.

The Poorhouse: Aunt Winnie, Glenn Beck, And The Politics Of The New Deal  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … An employee of Associated Charities, a private organization dedicated to alleviating poverty in the District of Columbia, met an old black woman carrying a basket of cinders near the dump …

Man's penis amputated following misdiagnosis  —  Double click on a word to get a translation  —  A Swedish man was forced to have his penis amputated after waiting more than a year to learn he had cancer.  —  The man, who is in his sixties, first visited a local clinic in Blekinge …

PewResearchCenter Interactive  —  Pew Research News IQ Quiz  —  What's Your Political News IQ?  —  To test your knowledge of prominent people and major events in the news, we invite you to take our short 12-question quiz.  Then see how you did in comparison with 1,001 randomly sampled adults asked …

In Israel, No Welcome Mat For African Migrants … Dozens of African migrants cross into southern Israel through the border with Egypt last week.  Construction has begun on a $270 million, 87-mile fence along the porous border.  It's one of four measures proposed to try to stem the flow of African migrants into Israel.

Atheists Excluded from Mayoral Prayer Service (Press Release)  —  Atheists Excluded from Mayor-Elect Gray's Inauguration  —  Washington, D.C.) - Atheists, agnostics, humanists, and other nontheistic Washington, D.C. residents will have no representation at Mayor-Elect Vincent Gray's …

Muslim fanatic jailed for preaching race hate now accused of swindling benefits  —  A notorious Muslim fanatic has been accused of fiddling the benefits system by working while claiming jobseekers' allowance.  —  Abdul Rehman Saleem, known as Abu Yahya, is working on a market stall at the same …

A MISGUIDED SENSE OF VICTIMHOOD, CONT'D.... Maybe it's the season that brings out the worst in far-right Christians feeling sorry for themselves.  —  A couple of weeks ago, Fox News' Gretchen Carlson whined that in American society, it's Christianity that “always seems” to “take the boot.”

Obama approval rating steady at 47 percent  —  Forty-seven percent of the public approves of President Obama's job performance in a new Gallup poll, a figure that has remained relatively consistent since the November midterm elections.  —  Obama saw his approval dip by a statistically …

US revokes Venezuela ambassador's visa amid Chavez row  —  Hugo Chavez had vowed Larry Palmer would not be US ambassador  —  Washington has revoked the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador to the US, the US state department has said.  —  The move comes amid a diplomatic dispute between …

GOP pals could be 2012 rivals  —  Should both Haley Barbour and Mitch Daniels seek the White House in 2012, Americans would glimpse a rare sight in the annals of presidential campaigns: actual friends competing against one another for the nomination.  —  Not “friends” in the political sense …