Mama Grizzly mating habits: The WikiLeaks cable you won't see

Germany denies US spy project
BERLIN: Germany's aerospace centre has denied it is working with the United States on a $US270 million high-tech secret spy program, insisting that its plans for a high-resolution optical satellite have purely scientific and security uses. US State Department cables obtained by Wikileaks and published by the Norwegian daily Aftenposten say Germany joined a partnership with the US to create a satellite spying program that was presented as a commercial enterprise but is actually run by the German ...

You Heard It Here Second, But Before the Guardian or Times
Almost two weeks ago (Dec. 22), I griped about the US government hiring out its diplomatic staff in France to Monsanto. This revelation, or confirmation of obvious fact depending on how you look at it, came to us thanks to Wikileaks. The Establishment here in class-free America is rushing to cover up all the details revealed when the curtain was pulled back. I noticed at that time a complete lack of mention of this cable, pointed out by Mike Ludwig at Truthout, at the Times or the Post. Well, on...

Japan Pushed U.S. on Whale Group, Cables Show
Source: Wall Street Journal JANUARY 4, 2011. Japan Pushed U.S. on Whale Group, Cables Show By YOREE KOH In the first set of cables leaked by Wikileaks that originate from the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan asked the U.S. to take action against an antiwhaling Activist group for harassing Japanese whalers, including taking away the group's tax-exempt status. The cables, which Wikileaks posted online with a release date of Jan. 1, were sent two months before a Japanese harpoon vessel collided with ...

France top at stealing secrets
OSLO: France is the country that conducts the most industrial Espionage on other European countries, even ahead of China and Russia, leaked US diplomatic cables say. ''French Espionage is so widespread that the damages [it causes] the German Economy are larger as a whole than those caused by China or Russia,'' an undated note from the US Embassy in Berlin said, the Norwegian daily Aftenposten said yesterday. The newspaper said last month it had obtained all the 250,000 US diplomatic cables WikiL...

Germany denies secret spy project with US
Germany's aerospace centre has denied it is working with the US on a $US270 million ($A266 million) high-tech secret spy program, insisting that its plans for a high-resolution optical satellite have purely scientific and security uses. US State Department cables obtained by Wikileaks and revealed by Norwegian daily Aftenposten say Germany joined a partnership with the US to create a satellite spying program that was presented as a commercial enterprise, but is actually run by the German intelli...

Creeping medievalism
Conservative politics aims to support and preserve the status quo. Reactionary politics aims to restore a bygone status quo. Ever since the early days of the New Deal, leading so-called "conservative" politicians have actually been reactionaries, wanting to take us backwards. The only question is: How far? With the emergence of Torture and the Repeal of habeas corpus under the Bush Administration, the answer seemed fairly clear: at least as far back as the late medieval period, when no one wou...

Wikileaks cable: GM foods pushed by US French embassy
Today's Wikileaks Cable, from the USA's Embassy in France, revealed a GM foods agenda. The first line of the cable's summary reads:  The cable also makes numerous references to 'MON-810,' better known as YieldGard. Leave a comment below about your position on the US's Foreign Policy in this matter. Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner...

Into the verbal trashbins of history
This story might be epic, and could even go viral, but not if Lake Superior State University has anything to do with it. Just sayin.’ The small college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, released on Friday its annual list of “banished words” — terms so overused, misused and hackneyed they deserve to be sent to a permanent linguistic trash can in the year ahead. “Viral,” often used to describe the rapid spreading of videos or other content over the Internet, leads ...

Sarah Palin's Emails Coming Soon?
Is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin taking I.T. tips from Dick Cheney and Karl Rove? As Mother Jones first reported, her... Us too, but the state of Alaska's been stalling on a freedom of information request for more than two years. One prominent Republican calls on his party to drum Palin out of the 2012 race. Here's why he'll be disappointed. More evidence she's not serious. David Corn is Mother Jones' Washington bureau chief. For more of his stories, click here. He's also on Twitter and Facebook...

FNCs Colmes: Tea Party Was a Bunch of Angry White Guys with Racist Signs
On Saturday’s Fox News Watch, liberal FNC analyst Alan Colmes asserted that the Tea Party was a "bunch of angry white guys who went around and put up Racist signs." As a debate ensued pitting Colmes against the other three panel members, he later defiantly asked, "How many blacks did they elect?" leading Jim Pinkerton of the New America Foundation to fire back: "The Tea Partiers elected two - Allen West and Tim Scott, Florida and South Carolina." Colmes also c...

11 Politicians to Watch in 2011
As the new Congress starts its first week, Washington's got a new sheriff in Darrell Issa, a charismatic Mama Grizzly in Kristi Noem, and a rejuvenated Joe Lieberman. Samuel P. Jacobs on who to keep your eye on in the political year to come....

The Year Ahead in Political Narrative
Were it so simple! Sigh. But alas, communication is a complex subject and the role of narratives to frame our understandings of everything that matters to us is a major part of it. So when I say that the following narrative predictions for 2011 are less about what stories will be given to us and more about what we will do with what's "out there" in street and media circulation, you should realize that the success of my narrative predictions will depend, in part, on what you do with them or bec...

PA Senator-Elect Pat Toomey Believes Palin Can Win in PA Against Obama Video 1/2/11
Here is video of Pennsylvania Senator-elect Pat Toomey saying he believes it is possible that Gov. Sarah Palin could win Pennsylvania is a General Election matchup with President Obama. Toomey made the statement on Meet the Press. Toomey pointed to the great concern Pennsylvania voters have over the state of The Economy, and the lack of Fiscal Responsibility in Washington as reasons why he believes Palin could win there. ...

Senate prez poisons the well over NJ Supremes
The President of the New Jersey Senate, with New Jersey's largest newspaper aiding and abetting him, made the enmity between him and the Governor even more acute yesterday, on the occasion of the decision by a Supreme Court Justice not to seek tenure on the Court. Senator Stephen M. Sweeney (D-3-Gloucester) added to the near-constant refrain of criticism that Justice Roberto A. Rivera-Soto has received, ever since Rivera-Soto announced that he would abstain on all cases so long as Appellate Divi...

Our job is to govern, not bicker, says Obama
Stumble This! ABOARD Air Force ONE (AFP) - President Barack Obama, heading back to Washington where a new divided Congress awaits, said Tuesday he expects Republicans will try to stall his reforms but ultimately will work with him to improve the battered economy. "You know, I think that there's going to be politics, that's what happens in Washington," Obama told reporters on Air Force One after departing the island state of Hawaii where he spent 10 days on holiday with his family. He retu...

Obama Has High Hopes for Cooperation
(Fox News Channel) - President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he expects a cold reception from Republicans upon his return to Washington but still hopes for cross-party cooperation to boost The Economy. "You know, I think that there's going to be politics -- that's what happens in Washington," he told reporters on Air Force One, after leaving Hawaii. Obama spent 10 days on Vacation with his family in Hawaii and returns to Washington the day before the new Republican-dominated House of Representa...

Bipartisanship Is in at DC Lobbying Shops
Barack Obama isn’t the only one in Washington who senses a seismic political shift that will require him to get cozier with Republicans next year if he wants to score any victories. Corporate titans eager to get some loving on Capitol Hill for their issues and projects are also suddenly interested in Bipartisanship, turning to lobbying and PR firms that can give them an edge by playing to both sides. “You can sort of hear the ice cracking, the thaw setting in,” says Jack Quinn ...

National debt greater than $14 trillion
Published: Jan. 4, 2011 at 9:31 AM Austan Goolsbee, White House economic adviser, listens to President Barack Obama speak in Washington Sept.. 10, 2010. UPI/Andrew Harrer/Pool WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury reported Tuesday the National Debt -- as of the last day of 2010 -- topped $14 Trillion. The deb increased from $13 trillion on June 1 to $14.02 trillion Dec. 31, CBS News reported. The increase means the Debt is approaching the statutory ceiling of $14.294 trillion set by Cong...

Obama Exhorts Republicans to Put Politics Aside
(Air Force ONE) — Ending a two-week Vacation, President Barack Obama is appealing to newly-empowered Republicans to resist jockeying for the White House in 2012 and work with him to get The Economy growing and the jobless back to work. Facing anything but a political soft landing after his holiday stay in Hawaii, Obama told reporters en route to the capital Tuesday that he understands Republicans, who recaptured the House in last fall's Elections, "are going to play to their base for a c...

Fox News Colmes: Tea Party Was a Bunch of Angry White Guys With Racist Signs
On Saturday’s Fox News Watch, liberal FNC analyst Alan Colmes asserted that the Tea Party was a “bunch of angry white guys who went around and put up Racist signs.” As a debate ensued pitting Colmes against the other three panel members, he later defiantly asked, “How many blacks did they elect?” leading Jim Pinkerton of the New America Foundation to fire back: “The Tea Partiers elected two - Allen West and Tim Scott, Florida and South Carolina.” H...

11 Politicians to Watch in 2011
As the new Congress starts its first week, Washington's got a new sheriff in Darrell Issa, a charismatic Mama Grizzly in Kristi Noem, and a rejuvenated Joe Lieberman. Samuel P. Jacobs on who to keep your eye on in the political year to come. Washington has a new sheriff. Issa will chair the House Oversight Committee, with the power to instigate investigations against the White House and anyone else who the runs afoul of the 57-year-old Californian. Issa promises a busy year: He's already announc...

2010 terms that made us squirm: a linguistic look back in light verse
Listen, my readers, and you shall hear The words we overused last year. Some were slang, and some were formal. Let's just call them "the new normal." The year began with "Snowmaggedon," Showing where we might be headin'. "Cougars" we met and "Guidos" galore, And not just at the Jersey Shore. Amid the World Cup saturnalia We heard — my ears! — the "Vuvuzela." In the Gulf, where fish (ill) swam We focused on a deep "spill cam." Ecologists were on the scene, And soon we all we...

Are RNC Chair Candidates the Last Five Republicans Who Think Sarah Palin is Electable?
The “lightning round” of Monday’s RNC Chairman Candidates’ debate featured a wealth of amusing moments (some even intentionally), but in a political climate that has turned cold toward former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin , perhaps the most comical was the unanimity with which they agreed that the Mama Grizzly could win a General Election. In another Palin-related highlight, moderator Grover Norquist pulled a Katie Couric on the candidates, asking where they got their news....

WikiLeaks: Ahmadinejad was slapped in face by top military commander
That's according to a February 2010 cable from the U-S Embassy in Azerbaijan. The cable was released today by Wikileaks. The cable , which refers to Ahmadinejad as "He Who Got Slapped," describes the meeting of the Supreme National Security Council where the slap took place. Discussing how to deal with last year's opposition Protests, Ahmadinejad said that the Iranian people "feel suffocated" and to calm tensions it "may be necessary to allow more personal and social freedoms, including more fre...

Australia flies aid to flood city
Australian Military Aircraft are ferrying more supplies to a flood-hit city in Queensland as river levels continue to rise. The Fitzroy River at Rockhampton is due to peak early on Wednesday, leading to the Evacuation of hundreds of homes. Floods across Queensland have closed roads and airports, devastated industry and claimed at least three lives. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has offered assistance to Australia - a close ally. "On behalf of President (Barack) Obama and the people ...