In major reversal, U.S. agrees to rebuke Israel in Security Council  —  The U.S. has informed Arab governments that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body “does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity,” …

Click HERE or on video in upper left to listen to Marquez's report.  —  “There was a canister that looked like — No!  No!  No!  Hey!  I'm a journalist here!” he yelled.  —  “I'm going!  I'm going!  I'm going!  I'm going!,” he said.  “I'm hit. ”  I just got beat rather badly by a gang of thugs," Marquez said later. "

The Christie speech: We must fix America  —  Chris Christie took Washington by storm on Wednesday with his first national address - a blunt call for the country's leaders to follow in his fiscal footsteps by making real cuts in unsustainable levels of spending if they want to pull America back from the “edge of disaster.”

Nameless Republican Ties Obama in 2012 Election Preferences  —  Young voters less supportive of his re-election than of his election in 2008  —  PRINCETON, NJ — U.S. registered voters are evenly split about whether they would back President Barack Obama for re-election in 2012 (45%) or “the Republican Party's candidate” (45%).

House adds $500 million in cuts  —  The House on Wednesday made its first substantive changes to a $1 trillion Republican spending bill, adopting amendments that underscore the new Tea Party bent in Washington.  —  Yet the most costly questions will come before lawmakers on Thursday …

The One-Man Political Machine  —  On a brutally cold morning in mid-December, Rahm Emanuel, hatless and wearing a glove on only his left hand, stood for an hour in front of the turnstiles at the Paulina el station, which sits in his old Congressional district on Chicago's North Side.

Colin Powell demands answers over Curveball  —  Former US secretary of state asks why CIA failed to warn him over Iraqi defector who has admitted fabricating WMD evidence  —  Colin Powell, the US secretary of state at the time of the Iraq invasion, has called on the CIA and Pentagon to explain …

As U.S. Agencies Put More Value on a Life, Businesses Fret  —  WASHINGTON — As the players here remake the nation's vast regulatory system, they have been grappling with a subject that is more the province of poets and philosophers than bureaucrats: what is the value of a human life?

Percentage Who Say Obama Response Was Correct Exceeds Totals Of Those Who Wanted More Support for Mubarak or Protestors  —  UTICA, NY - U.S. likely voters are more likely to say the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was positive rather than negative for the U.S. …

Let's Be Clear  —  I've said this before, and I will say it again.  Unless your proposal includes a substantial increase in taxes and a substantial amount of cuts to the military budget as well as ending the farm subsidies and giveaways to big oil and big energy and big business …

Bachmann on Obama's birthplace: 'That isn't for me to state'  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said Thursday it's not for her to say whether President Obama is a citizen of the United States — or a Christian.  —  “That isn't for me to state; that's for the president to state,” Bachmann …

Obama budget plan shows interest owed on national debt quadrupling in next decade  —  Interest payments on the national debt will quadruple in the next decade and every man, woman and child in the United States will be paying more than $2,500 a year to cover for the nation's past profligacy …

Deficit Plan Details Emerge  —  Bipartisan Senate Group Mulls Spending Caps That Could Trigger Tax Increases  —  A bipartisan group of senators is considering legislation that would trigger new taxes and budget cuts if Congress fails to meet a set of mandatory spending targets and other fiscal goals aimed at reducing federal deficits.

Rick Scott rejects money for Orlando-Tampa high-speed rail  —  TALLAHASSEE — Republican Gov. Rick Scott rejected $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money to build a high-speed train between Orlando and Tampa Wednesday, baffling supporters who already had spent $66 million getting ready for the project.

Businesses are refusing to hire the unemployed, commission told  —  Being unemployed is, for many, not fun.  There are no co-workers to mock at the water cooler, no expense accounts on which to wine and dine associates and no impressive title to drop when you're trying to pick up the ladies (or men, for that matter).

Madison schools close for the day to allow teachers to protest Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting budget plan.  —  Kids have the day off because the district knew that the teachers would be calling in sick in order to participate in a political demonstration. … Okay, now, everybody go to the demonstration!

Read the full article … Interest in attributing the risk of damaging weather-related events to anthropogenic climate change is increasing1.  Yet climate models used to study the attribution problem typically do not resolve the weather systems associated with damaging events2 such as the UK floods of October and November 2000.

Is Seasteading the Future?  —  Here's a novel idea: Escape the suffocating chains of intrusive government by starting your own country!  —  That's Patri Friedman's idea.  He comes from an impressive line of libertarian thinkers.  Milton Friedman, the Nobel-prize-winning free-market economist, was his grandfather.

Darrell Issa's first subpoena targets Countrywide VIP Program  —  House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa's first subpoena takes aim at Countrywide Financial's VIP program, launching a probe that seeks to out lawmakers who got sweetheart terms on home loans.

Japan halts whale hunt after chase by protesters  —  The Sea Shepherd group's vessel (r) blocked the main Japanese ship's loading bay  —  Japan has suspended its annual Antarctic whale hunt following protests from a campaign group.  —  Activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society …

On Chauncey DeVega's Herman Cain Post  —  Editor's Note: Yesterday, Chauncey DeVega, an African-American writer, published a post on AlterNet assessing the CPAC performance of Herman Cain, a right-wing potential presidential candidate, in strong and provocative language.  Like DeVega, Cain is African American.

California high court to rule on key Prop. 8 issue  —  (02-16) 17:32 PST SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court has rejoined the battle over same-sex marriage, agreeing to decide the crucial question of whether sponsors of an initiative can defend it in court when state officials refuse to do so.