VIDEO from Asian Development Bank Available on thenewsmarket.com: ADB, Partners to Help Manage Pacific's Marine Resources Agains

UK minister declares war on Rupert Murdoch
LONDON (AP) — A senior British minister had to step aside from media policy issues after telling undercover reporters he had “declared war” on media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Business Secretary Vince Cable was taped by Daily Telegraph Journalists posing as constituents saying “I have declared war on Mr. Murdoch and I think we are going to win.” Murdoch’s News Corp. owns several British Newspapers and has a 40 percent stake in broadcaster BSkyB. Its bid to buy the ...

Four freed over deadly Togo raid
They were taken into Custody in the wake of the attack on the team as it arrived for the African Cup of Nations. In August the men were found Guilty of having links to a separatist group which said it was behind the shooting. However, the Attorney General for Cabinda province said their conviction was based on outdated Legislation. Rights organisations have accused Angola of using the 30-minute machine gun attack on the Togolese football team to justify a crackdown on its critics in the provinc...

Poll: Does Obama think U.S. is exceptional?
Washington (CNN) - The vast majority of Americans see the United States as exceptional, according to a new National Poll. But a Gallup Poll released Wednesday also indicates that nearly four in ten say they believe President Barack Obama doesn't hold this same view. Eight out of ten people questioned in the survey say that based on the country's history and constitution, the U.S. has a unique character that makes it the greatest country in the world. The poll suggests there's no partisan divide ...

Christian famous pastor quits his church, moves to Asia
By, Eric Marrapodi , CNN He pastored a 4,000-member church in California. He was a sought-after speaker at major conferences, wrote two best-sellers and launched a DVD teaching series. Then he abruptly resigned and left the country. But in Francis Chan’s unexpected journey there apparently is no hidden Scandal, no money trail, and no ‘other’ woman. “I just want to disappear for a while,” he said in late September as he prepared to leave Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Va

Graham To Be Outed?
A blogger who specializes in outing “closeted” gay political figures claims that evidence of U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (RINO-S.C.)’s Homosexual lifestyle is about to be released. A later tweet from Rogers indicated that he was meeting with an attorney on December 21 to discuss the release of the alleged pictures. On his website, BlogActive , Rogers writes that the meeting with his attorney indeed took place and that a letter has been sent to Graham’s office. “I’...

Al Qaeda Nearly Killed Us All With Sinister Salad Bar Plot
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — the same folks who brought you Printer Cartridge Bombs — flirted briefly with the idea of POISONING Salad BarS at hotels and restaurants, according to U.S. officials! Yes, this plot would have killed millions of diabetic, salad-loving Americans. Every motel lobby would have been littered with obese corpses, their mouth holes stuffed with tainted croutons and cyanide tomatoes. (This silly Terrorist Attack would have killed one or two bulimic vegans,...

Assange Confirms that Bank of America Is the Target of Bank Leak
There has been widespread speculation that Wikileaks would target Bank of America. This has now been confirmed. Specifically, Agence Press France is reporting: Assange also confirmed that Wikileaks was holding a vast amount of material about Bank of America which it intends to release early next year. Will the B of A documents be a bombshell, or sound and fury signifying nothing? ...

Guest Post: Assange Confirms that Bank of America Is the Target of Bank Leak
→ Washington’s Blog There has been widespread speculation that Wikileaks would target Bank of America. This has now been confirmed. Specifically, Agence Press France is reporting: Assange also confirmed that Wikileaks was holding a vast amount of material about Bank of America which it intends to release early next year. ...

Biotech Versus the “Common Interest”
Like a teacher fresh out of ideas who resorts to requiring memorization of material, the American intelligence community, so called, has often resorted to accusations involving sexual misconduct in attempts to silence, or at least strike back at, critics of the imperial policies. Not that the accusations are always baseless; witness the story of Scott Ritter, for one. But realistically, and without excusing such behavior, sexual escapades are nothing new in the annals of the great game. It seems...

My Exclusive Interview with WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange
CENK UYGUR, GUEST HOST: First, our exclusive interview with Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, who sparked a global uproar with his release of hundreds of thousands of pages of secret government documents and diplomatic cables, information ranging from the outrageous -- we had innocent and unarmed reporters and Iraqi civilians being killed by U.S. Troops -- to the downright embarrassing, comments about the hard partying and the Corruption of different world leaders. Not long after that latest re...

House Arrest Doesn't Quiet Julian Assange
At NYT, "Under ‘High-Tech House Arrest,’ Wikileaks Founder Takes the Offensive":BUNGAY, England — When Julian Assange wakes these days, he looks out from a three-story Georgian mansion house overlooking a man-made lake. Under a blanket of snow, the 650-acre Ellingham Hall estate, a mile back from the closest public road, is as tranquil a spot as can be found in eastern England. But Mr. Assange, the Wikileaks founder, who is fighting accusations of sexual misconduct in Sweden, ...

An Authentic Christmas
Last week the New York Times reported that "well over 50 million artificial Christmas Trees will grace living rooms and dens this season…compared to about 30 million real trees." If you are like me, "grace" is not a verb that comes readily to mind when you think of artificial trees. I can't remember the last time I had a real tree, though it was doubtless during the Carter Administration. On principle, I desire genuineness and authenticity, not phoniness, which is why -- come to think of it ...

Last-minute shoppers boost U.S. retailers
CHICAGO, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- 'Twas a week before Christmas and with shoppers' consent, U.S. merchants were busy, sales up 5.5 percent -- from the same period in 2009, retail analysts said. Retail store sales last weekend totaled $18.83 billion -- a big rise from the same weekend last year, said Chicago's ShopperTrack, which estimates U.S. Retail Sales. Last year store revenues dropped 6.2 percent that weekend due to a big East Coast snowstorm, which kept shoppers home. Last weekend's increase inclu...

bob woodward and the new york times spill key secrets
but Julian Assange should go to jail?...

Daily Specials
The Fireside Chat Returns to the White House (The New York Times) The White House Press Secretary is answering questions  from the public via Web cam in front of a crackling West Wing fireplace. Selling the Census (Tech President) The Census Bureau, this year, has turned to New Media again and again to deliver its message to Americans. ...

Were Gonna Party Like Its 1899
“Chuck Schumer, not content with the liberal trope that Conservatives want to ‘turn the clock back’ to the 1950s, says that some ‘hard right people’ in America ‘seem to be wanting to move us back to the 19th century,’” John McCormack writes at the Weekly Standard: On “Good Morning America” Monday, host George Stephanopoulos asked Sen. Charles Schumer how well he thought Barack Obama is working with Congress and what advice he’d give th

Banks are after your homes and your furniture
Bad economy.  No one has any money.  Forecolsures.  Greedy politicians.  Greedy Bankers.  Have you met any yet here in Collin County?  How's your personal economy? I know a few that had their homes foreclosed on and there are a few in my neighborhood that I don't know.  So far, there are over 10 pages of homes being foreclosed upon in our county but I haven't seen or heard of any banks breaking into homes as is represented in the New York Times for a home in Tr...

How to Play WOW For a Living, Get Tenure, and Live in Hawaii - Really - TechHui
The World of Warcraft (WOW) has claimed many souls. Seriously addicted players rack up countless hours in front of the glowing screen, fighting battles with fellow guildies and ascending the ranks of this intricate and still wildly popular virtual word game that is considerd by many to be the finest example of MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) artistry. Alex Golub is among the lucky WOW fanatics. He plays WOW as his day job. No, really. Are you reading yet? Heh. Golub is a tenure-track an...

Gene study shows Neanderthals had eastern cousins
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - DNA from an ancient prehuman girl found in Siberia shows she was likely an eastern relative of Neanderthals and, like them, her species interbred with early modern humans. The species, dubbed Denisovans, lived 30,000 years ago and contributed a significant chunk of DNA to modern Melanesians living on Pacific islands, researchers reported in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. Last March, the same team reported the discovery of the previously unknown species of prehuma...

Neanderthals had eastern cousins: Study
WASHINGTON - DNA from an ancient prehuman girl found in Siberia shows she was likely an eastern relative of Neanderthals and, like them, her species interbred with early modern humans. The species, dubbed Denisovans, lived 30,000 years ago and contributed a significant chunk of DNA to modern Melanesians living on Pacific islands, researchers reported in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature. Last March, the same team reported the discovery of the previously unknown species of prehum...

Jakarta accused over Papua
THE United States fears that Indonesian government neglect, rampant Corruption and Human Rights abuses are stoking unrest in its troubled province of West Papua. Leaked Embassy cables reveal that US Diplomats privately blame Jakarta for instability and "chronic underdevelopment" in West Papua, where Military commanders have been accused of Drug Smuggling and illegal logging rackets across the border with Papua New Guinea. A September 2009 cable from the US Embassy in Jakarta says "...;

Indonesian army linked to drugs
THE United States fears Indonesian government neglect, rampant Corruption and Human Rights abuses are stoking unrest in its troubled province of West Papua. Leaked Embassy cables reveal that US Diplomats privately blame Jakarta for instability and ''chronic underdevelopment'' in West Papua, where Military commanders have been accused of Drug Smuggling and illegal logging rackets across the border with Papua New Guinea. A September 2009 cable from the US Embassy in Jakarta says ''the region is po...

Hulu IPO on hold (for now)
  As Hulu executives chart the evolution of the online video service, the idea of raising money through an initial stock offering appears to be on hold — at least for now, say people familiar with the matter. The service accomplished its initial goal: to offer Web users a way to watch a broadcast television show they missed without resorting to Piracy. Last summer, Hulu launched a Subscription Service that delivers current and classic TV shows to new devices, including game conso...

Treasury prices slightly lower; Fed buys $7.8B
NEW YORK (AP) — Treasurys are inching lower in light trading despite another round of bond-buying from the Federal Reserve. Treasury prices had been slightly higher Tuesday ahead of the New York Fed’s $7.8 billion purchase. But soon after the Fed announced that it bought the Treasurys, prices slowly sank. In afternoon trading, the 10-year note is down 6.25 cents on the day for every $100 invested. The yield is hovering at 3.35 percent. Treasury yields have been rising steadily since ...

A Single Trader, JP Morgan, Holds 90% Of LME Copper
that JP Morgan has denied it owned more than 90% of the copper positions on the LME, we suggested that this could very well mean that Blythe Master's firm could just as easily control 89.999% of the copper and still not misrepresent the truth per that non-commital Press Release. Turns out our unbridled cynicism was spot on as usual. The Wall Street Journal has just reported that in the copper market "a single trader has reported it owns 80% to 90% of the copper sitting in London Metal Exchange w...