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Friday, December 16, 2011

House passes $1T budget bill, avoids shutdown (AP)

House passes $1T budget bill, avoids shutdown (AP)

House passes $1T budget bill, avoids shutdown (AP)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 11:51 AM PST

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, followed by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., strides into a GOP strategy session singing 'Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah' on the morning after lawmakers from both political parties came together on an 11th-hour deal to keep the government from shutting down, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)AP - The House has passed a $1 trillion-plus catchall budget bill paying for day-to-day operations of 10 Cabinet departments and averting a government shutdown, while Senate talks on renewing a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits reached a critical phase.

Judge orders trial for 2 Penn St. officials (AP)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 01:07 PM PST

Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary, right, arrives at Dauphin County Court surrounded by heavy security Friday, Dec 16, 2011, in Harrisburg, Pa. McQueary declined to speak to reporters Friday as he entered the courthouse in Harrisburg for the hearing for Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, who are set to appear for a preliminary hearing related to the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case. (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)AP - A Penn State assistant football coach testified Friday that he believes he saw former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky molesting a boy on campus and that he fully conveyed what he had seen to two Penn State administrators.

SEC charges ex-Fannie, Freddie CEOs with fraud (AP)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 11:29 AM PST

AP - The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday brought civil fraud charges against six former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying they misled investors about risky subprime loans the mortgage giants held when the housing bubble burst.

Torrent of bad financial news flows out of Europe (AP)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:06 PM PST

AP - Alarming financial news flowed out of Europe in a torrent Friday, just a week after the EU leaders struck a deal they thought would contain the continent's debt crisis.

Ariz. prosecutor wants immigration checks restored (AP)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 01:08 PM PST

AP - The federal government's decision to stop an Arizona sheriff from checking inmates' immigration status will allow criminals to be released into the community, Maricopa County's top prosecutor said Friday as he asked the president to order Homeland Security officials to restore access to federal systems revoked a day earlier.

AP IMPACT: When your criminal past isn't yours (AP)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:38 PM PST

In this Dec. 18, 2010 photo, Kathleen Casey poses on a street in Cambridge, Mass. A case of mistaken identity landed Casey on the streets without a job or a home. The company hired to run her background check for a potential employer mistakenly found the wrong Kathleen Casey, who lived nearby but was 18 years younger and had a criminal record. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)AP - A clerical error landed Kathleen Casey on the streets.

Comet defies death, brushes up to sun and lives (AP)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 09:09 AM PST

This handout image provided by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, taken, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011, shows the Comet Lovejoy leaving the sun's corona which is several million degrees. A small comet survived what astronomers figured would be a sure death when it danced uncomfortably close to the broiling sun Thursday night. Comet Lovejoy, which was only discovered a couple of weeks ago, was supposed to melt as it came so close to the sun that the temperatures around it would hit several million degrees. Astronomers had tracked 2,000 other sun-grazing comets make the same suicidal trip. None had ever survived. (AP Photo/NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory)AP - A small comet survived what astronomers figured would be a sure death when it danced uncomfortably close to the broiling sun.

Christopher Hitchens, militant pundit, dies at 62 (AP)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 06:41 AM PST

FILE - Essayist Christopher Hitchens speaks during a debate on Iraq and the foreign policies of the United States and Britain, in this Sept. 14, 2005 file photo taken in New York. Vanity Fair reports Hitchens died on Thursday Dec. 15, 2011 at the age of 62 from complications of cancer of the esophagus his magazine. The magazine reports he died in the presence of friends at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. (AP Photo/Chad Rachman)AP - Cancer weakened but did not soften Christopher Hitchens. He did not repent or forgive or ask for pity. As if granted diplomatic immunity, his mind's eye looked plainly upon the attack and counterattack of disease and treatments that robbed him of his hair, his stamina, his speaking voice and eventually his life.

Britney Spears engaged to marry Jason Trawick (AP)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:19 PM PST

FILE - In this May 11, 2011 file photo, singer Britney Spears, right, and Jason Trawick arrive at an Evening of 'Southern Style' in Beverly Hills, Calif. Trawick announced Friday, dec. 16, 2011, on “Access Hollywood” that he and Spears are engaged. The two have been dating since 2009. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)AP - Britney Spears is ready to walk down the aisle for the third time. The 30-year-old pop star has agreed to marry her longtime boyfriend and former agent Jason Trawick.

Judge gives Bonds house arrest, then delays it (AP)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:48 PM PST

Former baseball player Barry Bonds leaves federal court after being sentenced for obstructing justice in a government steroids investigation on Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in San Francisco. A federal judge handed Bonds a sentence of 30 days of house arrest, two years of probation and 250 hours of community service, but delayed the sentence pending an appeal likely to take a year or more. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)AP - Barry Bonds will remain free while he appeals his conviction for giving misleading testimony before a grand jury.

Lawmakers wrangle over extending payroll tax cut (Reuters)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 11:18 AM PST

President Barack Obama makes a statement on new minimum wage and overtime protections for in-home care workers in Washington December 15, 2011. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueReuters - U.S. lawmakers struggled on Friday to agree to a deal on payroll tax relief for 160 million Americans after a roller-coaster week of brinkmanship again laid bare the partisan divide that has gridlocked the Congress all year.

U.S. withdrawal in Iraq rolls into final act (Reuters)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 11:16 AM PST

U.S. Air Force Major Stacie Shafran carries her luggage to a loading paddock while waiting for her departure from Iraq at the former U.S. Sather Air Base near Baghdad, Iraq December 14, 2011. REUTERS/Shannon StapletonReuters - American soldiers signed over their last military base to Iraqi officials on Friday with the U.S. troop pullout drawing to an swift end nearly nine years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

Inflation eases, creates space for Fed stimulus (Reuters)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 10:28 AM PST

Reuters - Consumer prices were flat in November as Americans paid less for cars and gasoline, a further sign of a cooldown in inflation that could give the Federal Reserve more room to help a still weak economy.

SEC sues former top Fannie, Freddie executives (Reuters)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:02 PM PST

Reuters - Six former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were sued by U.S. regulators on charges of misleading investors about the mortgage finance companies' exposure to risky home loans in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

Suspected WikiLeaks source Manning appears in court (Reuters)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 11:27 AM PST

Reuters - An American Army intelligence analyst accused of giving hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. documents to WikiLeaks for public disclosure made his first court appearance on Friday to face charges including aiding the enemy, which could send him to prison for life.

Barry Bonds gets 2 years probation in steroids probe (Reuters)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:45 PM PST

Reuters - Home-run king Barry Bonds was sentenced on Friday to 2 years probation, with no prison time, for his conviction on a single criminal count related to an investigation over steroids use in sports.

Fitch says comprehensive euro zone deal "beyond reach" (Reuters)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 10:55 AM PST

Reuters - Credit rating agency Fitch told the euro zone on Friday it thinks a comprehensive solution to the bloc's debt crisis is beyond reach, as it put an number of the bloc's economies including Italy on watch for potential downgrades.

Exclusive: Google CEO's inner circle: Meet the L Team (Reuters)

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:37 PM PST

View of the entrance of the new headquarters of Google France before its official inauguration in Paris December 6, 2011. REUTERS/Jacques Brinon/PoolReuters - The most powerful group at Google Inc used to be known simply as "The OC," short for operating committee. Now, it goes by a more telling name: "L Team," short for Larry's Team.

Gingrich and Bachmann duke it out early in Republican debate (The Christian Science Monitor)

Posted: 15 Dec 2011 07:57 PM PST

The Christian Science Monitor - In the first hour of the GOP debate in Iowa, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann went toe to toe over Gingrich's $1.6 million in earnings as a consultant to Freddie Mac. 

As government shutdown looms, lawmakers squabbling over policy, not pork (The Christian Science Monitor)

Posted: 15 Dec 2011 06:48 PM PST

The Christian Science Monitor - In Congresses of yesteryear, the 11th-hour, must-pass omnibus spending bill typically set off a spike in earmarks or member projects to grease the deal, adding billions to federal deficits.
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