See the Difference!

To Market! Headlines, Recommendations, Looking Forward

2012-02-02T09:51:00.001-05:00

Asian#marketswere up overnight-Hong Kong's Hang Seng +2.0%; Europe is mostly flat;U.S. #futurespoint to slightly neg open #in#tcot

DJIAFlat Ahead of Jobless Claims, Bernanke Speech: $GMCR's Q1 revenue upmore than 2x schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/con…#stock#market#invest#in#tcot

Whatyou need to know before markets open ow.ly/8PqBREuro share; US #futures;$FB + JPM; Mining Sector; Labor Report #in#tcot

Challengerreport: January job cuts of 53K+, up 39% from a year ago...up 28%from December...Retail and Financial Sectors lead in cuts

GoodNews For Workers: Wages Tick Up As Productivity Slows Down: Q4Nonfarm +0.7%, unit labor costs +1.2%businessinsider.com/nonfarm-produc…#in#tcot

WillIt Pay to Get Aggressive Today?: Taking long positions may berewarded, but #marketis extremely overbought investorplace.com/2012/02/daily-…#in

TheAge Of Permanent QE: "indeed, the balance sheet expansions mighteven end up being quasi-permanent."businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-d…#in#tcot

InitialJobless Claims FALL To 367K, Beating Expectations [371K], down fromlast week's upwardly revised 379K businessinsider.com/initial-jobles…#in#tcot

WeFound Some Good News In The January Layoffs Report: Guess. Go ahead.businessinsider.com/we-found-some-…Okay: gov layoffs have decreased! Ha! #in#tcot

SomeOminous Jobs News Courtesy Of Gallup... : Government is revising itsmethodology...estimates... businessinsider.com/some-ominous-j…#in#tcot

Intel#StockReady to Shine Again: After a 2yr consolidation, $INTC is moving inthe right direction investorplace.com/2012/02/trade-…#market#in#tcot

HT@jasonkeathPower play: How Zuckerberg wrested control of Facebook from hisshareholders venturebeat.com/2012/02/01/zuc…Monster - great work, MZ!

Facebook'sstock ticker: LIKE? TMI? azcentral.com/business/artic…How 'bout $FCBK? No: Facebook’s #stocksymbol will be ‘FB’ zdnet.com/blog/facebook/…

Well,Now We Know What Facebook's Worth -- And It's Not $100B: $FB not afad, either.http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-is-facebook-worth-2012-2#stock#market#invest#in#tcot

To Market! Headlines, Recommendations, Looking Forward

2012-02-01T09:44:00.002-05:00

And now, the first day of the secondmonth of the >New Year!< Make it great!

#Asian#marketmixed overnight-China's Shanghai SE Composite off 1.1%; Europe issharply higher; U.S. #futurespoint to a + open #in#tcot

HereAre The Key #Global#MarketMoving Events For February 1, 2012: ISM at 10:00am EST; CPI at10:30am EST.. businessinsider.com/here-are-the-k…#in#tcot

NewBattle #InThe Chinese Trade War [US deficit up from $9.5B in 2000 to $31.2B in2010] Has Opened Up Over Auto Partsbusinessinsider.com/what-will-the-…

Tariffson China solar gear threatens 60K U.S. jobs: Chinese subsidies haveharmed equipment makers business.financialpost.com/2012/01/30/tar…#industry#in#tcot

TheEU Blocked The Deutsche Boerse/NYSE #Merger:Would Have Controlled 90% Of Europe'$ #Derivative#Tradingbusinessinsider.com/nyse-deutsche-…#in#tcot

$USDslips; euro up on #global#manufacturingdata marketwatch.com/story/dollar-f…#stock#market#invest#in#tcot

U.S.#stock#futuresup; Amazon, data in focus: #Investorswatch for Facebook filing; ADP, ISM aheadmarketwatch.com/story/us-stock…#market#in#tcot

#StocksSet to Soar Ahead of Facebook's Rumored IPO: $AMZN predictedweaker-than-expected Q1 schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/con…#market#invest#in#tcot

U.S.#homeprices decline more than forecast: S&P/Case-Shiller indexdeclined 3.7% from Nov 2010...business.financialpost.com/2012/01/31/u-s…#housing#in#tcot

U.S.private-sector payrolls rise 170,000 in January; December reviseddown to 292,000

TheCase-Shiller #HomePrice Index Has A Major Deficiency That Almost No One Talks About:Contract to Closing businessinsider.com/actually-the-c…#in#tcot

ADPJobs Report MISSES Expectations [182K] At 170K: Dec 'Monster' # of325K revised DOWN to 292K businessinsider.com/here-comes-jan…#economy#in#tcot

NAPMMilweaukee BEATS Expectations [57.5] At 58.4, signalling ongoing goodregional #economicdata businessinsider.com/napm-milwaukee…#invest#in#tcot

ADP:Jan private-sector jobs rise 170K; U.S. Labor Dept reported Decprivate-sector employment only rose 212Kmarketwatch.com/story/story?gu…#in#tcot

U.S.#stock#futureshold gains after ADP data marketwatch.com/story/us-stock…#in#tcot

TheMost Important 'Jobs' Number That's Coming Out Todaybusinessinsider.com/the-most-impor…Charted. #in#tcot

IDon't Think I've Ever Seen Something Fall 30 Sessions #InA Row: The ebb and flow of the Baltic Dry index...businessinsider.com/i-dont-think-i…#tcot

A'Golden Cross' [50dma xing above 200dma] Is About To Appear In TheS&P 500 businessinsider.com/a-golden-cross…Charted. #stock#market#invest#in#tcot

Fed'sPlosser: #Inflationneeds careful watching marketwatch.com/story/feds-plo…Fed needs Auditing; To #QEor not to QE? #in#tcot

WhereAre Rates Headed? 3 Scenarios: Choose your poisonbusinessinsider.com/where-are-rate…WHERE IS #INFLATIONHEADED? pragcap.com/where-is-infla…#QE3#in#tcot

Obama'sMortgage Refi Plan [for "responsible" but "underwater"borrowers] To Go Through [underwater] FHA cnbc.com/id/46218849#finance#tcot

HousingRecovery Plan Called Into Question: Obama substitutes #allgovred tape for #mortgage#industry'sglobest.com/news/12_276/ne…#in#tcot

IncreasedBank Regs, Likely Less Loans Still On Track: #Inyour face Intl Basel III and US Dodd-Frank...globest.com/news/12_276/ne…#finance#tcot

Trumpopens Canada’s tallest condo tower with $6M suites:@realDonaldTrumpbusiness.financialpost.com/2012/01/31/tru…#RealEstate#CRE#REI#invest#in#tcot

1WTC Dock Design Flaw Costs Millions globest.com/news/12_276/ne…Tower Rises, And So Does Its Price Tag online.wsj.com/article/SB1000…#CRE#REI#in#tcot

FacebookIPO's meaning: Zuckerberg faces reality - The OS of corporatecapitalism cnn.com/2012/01/31/opi…#stock#market#invest#in#tcot

pakalertMonsanto files patent for new invention: the pig: It's official.Monsanto Corporation is out to own the world's ... bit.ly/xm900k

Don’tBe Fooled by Golden Cross Hype: #Financialmedia touting pattern, but missing part of the $toryinvestorplace.com/2012/02/daily-…#invest#in#tcot

AT&TSounding Loud-and-Clear Buy Signal: Our internal indicator says nowis the time to purchase $T #stockhttp://www.investorplace.com/2012/02/trade-of-the-day-att-nyset/#in#tcot

Friday! History, Music, Tech, Space, Sports, Quotes, More!

2012-01-27T13:11:00.001-05:00

OnThis Date In 630 TheBattle of Hunain was fought between Muhammad and his followersagainst the Bedouin tribe of Hawazin and its subsection the Thaqif ina valley on one of the roads leading from Mecca to al-Ta'if. Thebattle ended in a decisive victory for the Muslims, who capturedenormous spoils. The Battle of Hunayn is one of only two battlesmentioned in the Qur'an by name, in Sura.

OnThis Date In 1302 Poetand politician Dante Alighieri was exiled from Florence, where heserved as one of six priors governing the city. Dante's politicalactivities, including the banishing of several rivals, led to his ownbanishment, and he wrote his masterpiece, TheDivine Comedy,as a virtual wanderer, seeking protection for his family in townafter town.

OnThis Date In 1756 WolfgangAmadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791), prolific andinfluential composer of the Classical era, was born. He composed over600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante,chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. He is among the mostenduringly popular of classical composers.

OnThis Date In 1785 TheGeorgia General Assembly incorporated the University of Georgia, thefirst state-funded institution of higher learning in the newrepublic.

OnThis Date In 1851 JohnJames Audubon (April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851), French-Americanornithologist, naturalist, and painter, died of natural causes. Hewas notable for his expansive studies to document all types ofAmerican birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted thebirds in their natural habitats. His major work, a color-plate bookentitled TheBirds of North America(1827–1839), is considered one of the finest ornithological worksever completed. Audubon identified 25 new species and a number of newsub-species.

OnThis Date In 1862 Duringthe American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued General WarOrder No. 1, ordering all land and sea forces to advance on February22, 1862. This bold move sent a message to his commanders that thepresident was tired of excuses and delays in seizing the offensiveagainst Confederate forces.

OnThis Date In 1888 TheNational Geographic Society was incorporated. Headquartered inWashington, D.C. in the United States, it is one of the largestnon-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Itsinterests include geography, archaeology and natural science, thepromotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the studyof world culture and history.

OnThis Date In 1903 TheBattle of Dilam, a major battle of the Unification War betweenRashidi and Saudi rebels, was fought in the town of Dilam, south ofRiyadh, the capital of present day Saudi Arabia. After one year ofconquest of Riyadh, Ibn Saud planned to grap Rashidis away fromRiyadh by fake news. Ibn Saud has deployed 1,000 fighters in Riyadhand left the city with another 3,500 and captured Dilam. Rashidisfollowed Ibn Saud to Dilam in order to finish him and regain controlof Dilam. During the battle Rashidis lost 250 men, and totally lostcontrol of southern Nejd.

OnThis Date In 1908 HarryHoudini, Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stuntperformer, actor and film producer, introduced his own original act,the Milk Can Escape. In this act, Houdini would be handcuffed andsealed inside an over-sized milk can filled with water and make hisescape behind a curtain. As part of the effect, Houdini would invitemembers of the audience to hold their breath along with him while hewas inside the can. Advertised with dramatic posters that proclaimed“Failure Means A Drowning Death,” the escape proved to be asensation.

OnThis Date In 1926 JohnLogie Baird, a Scottish inventor, gave the first public demonstrationof a true television system in London, launching a revolution incommunication and entertainment. Baird's invention, apictorial-transmission machine he called a “televisor,” usedmechanical rotating disks to scan moving images into electronicimpulses. This information was then transmitted by cable to a screenwhere it showed up as a low-resolution pattern of light and dark.Baird's first television program showed the heads of twoventriloquist dummies, which he operated in front of the cameraapparatus out of view of the audience.

OnThis Date In 1927 “TheBig Four,” a work of detective fiction by author Agatha Christie,was first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons onJanuary 27, 1927 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in thesame year. It features Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings and ChiefInspector Japp. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings andsixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.

OnThis Date In 1939 AdolphHitler ordered “Plan Z”, the name given to the plannedre-equipment and expansion of the Nazi German Navy (Kriegsmarine).The plan called for a Kriegsmarine of ten battleships, four aircraftcarriers, three battlecruisers, eight heavy cruisers, 44 lightcruisers, 68 destroyers and 249 U-boats by 1944 that was meant tochallenge the naval power of the United Kingdom.

OnThis Date In 1943 DuringWorld War II, 8th Air Force bombers, dispatched from their bases inEngland, flew the first American bombing raid against the Germans,targeting the Wilhelmshaven port. Of 64 planes participating in theraid, 53 reached their target and managed to shoot down 22 Germanplanes—and lost only three planes in return.

OnThis Date In 1944 DuringWorld War II, Soviet forces permanently broke the Leningrad siegeline, ending the almost 900-day German-enforced containment of thecity, which cost hundreds of thousands of Russian lives.

OnThis Date In 1945 DuringWorld War II, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz, Birkenau, andMonowitz and liberated around 7,000 prisoners, most of whom were illand dying. It is estimated that the German SS and police deported ata minimum 1.3 million people to Auschwitz complex between 1940 and1945. Of these, the camp authorities murdered 1.1 million.http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189

OnThis Date In 1951 Forcefullymarking the continued importance of the West in the development ofnuclear weaponry, the United States government detonated the first ofa series of nuclear bombs at its new Nevada Test Site, today known asthe Nevada National Security Site. Nuclear testing at the Nevada TestSite began with a 1-kiloton-of-TNT bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat onJanuary 27th. Many of the iconic images of the nuclear era come fromNTS.

OnThis Date In 1965 TheShelby GT 350, a version of a Ford Mustang sports car developed bythe American auto racer and car designer Carroll Shelby, is launched.The Shelby GT 350, which featured a 306 horsepower V-8 engine,remained in production through the end of the 1960s and today is avaluable collector's item.

OnThis Date In 1967 Duringthe Vietnam War, Specialist Four Donald W. Evans, Jr. from Company A,2d Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, foughtand died. During a firefight on that day, in Tri Tam, in the KontumProvince.of the Republic of Vietnam, Evans repeatedly exposed himselfto enemy fire in order to treat and evacuate wounded soldiers, evenafter being seriously wounded himself. He was killed during thebattle and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.He was also awarded the Purple Heart. The United States Army hospitalat Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado is named in his honor asEvans Army Community Hospital.

OnThis Date In 1967 Apollo1 is the official name that was later given to the never-flownApollo/Saturn 204 (AS-204) mission. Its command module (CM-012) wasdestroyed by fire during a test and training exercise on January 27,1967 at Pad 34 (Launch Complex 34, Cape Canaveral, then known as CapeKennedy) atop a Saturn IB rocket. The crew aboard were the astronautsselected for the first manned Apollo program mission: Command PilotVirgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White and Pilot Roger B.Chaffee. All three died in the fire.

OnThis Date In 1970 JohnLennon wrote and recorded “Instant Karma” in a single day. Itranks as one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history,recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios the same day it was written,and arriving in stores only ten days later. Lennon remarked to thepress, he “wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch, and we'reputting it out for dinner.” The record was produced by PhilSpector, the first of many recordings by the Beatles that Spectorworked on that year.

OnThis Date In 1973 TheParis Peace Accords of 1973, intended to establish peace in Vietnamand an end to the Vietnam Conflict, ended direct U.S. militaryinvolvement and temporarily stopped the fighting between north andsouth. The governments of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (NorthVietnam), the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), and the UnitedStates, as well as the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG)that represented indigenous South Vietnamese revolutionaries signedthe Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam onJanuary 27, 1973.

OnThis Date In 1975 Abipartisan Senate investigation of activities by the Federal Bureauof Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) waslaunched by a special congressional committee headed by Senator FrankChurch of Idaho. A precursor to the U.S. Senate Select Committee onIntelligence, the committee investigated intelligence gathering forillegality by the FBI and the CIA after certain activities had beenrevealed by the Watergate affair.

OnThis Date In 1980 The“Canadian Caper” was the popular name given to the covert rescueby the Government of Canada of six American diplomats who evadedcapture during the seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran,Iran and taking of embassy personnel as hostages by the Iranians onNovember 4, 1979. On January 27, 1980, the American diplomats weresmuggled out of Iran, traveling with Canadian passports, boarded aflight for Zürich, Switzerland, at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport. Theyarrived in the friendly nation safely. The Canadian embassy was thenclosed that day, with Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor and remainingstaff returning to Canada.

OnThis Date In 1984 MichaelJackson and other members of the Jacksons filmed a Pepsi Colacommercial, overseen by executive Phil Dusenberry, from ad agencyBBDO and Pepsi's Worldwide Creative Director, Alan Pottasch at theShrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. In front of a full house of fansduring a simulated concert, pyrotechnics accidentally set Jackson'shair on fire. He suffered second-degree burns to his scalp. Jacksonunderwent treatment to hide the scars on his scalp, and he also hadhis third rhinoplasty shortly thereafter. Jackson never recoveredfrom this injury. Pepsi settled out of court, and Jackson donated his$1.5 million settlement to the Brotman Medical Center in Culver City,California, which now has a “Michael Jackson Burn Center” inhonor of his donation

OnThis Date In 1986 “DoesHumor Belong in Music?,” a live album by Frank Zappa, was released.It features concert recordings from October–December 1984. It wasthe first album by Zappa to be released on CD only (although it wasbootlegged on vinyl for listeners who did not own CD players).

OnThis Date In 1991 MuhammadSiyad Barre, the dictator of the Somali Democratic Republic since1969, fled Mogadishu as rebels overran his palace and captured theSomali capital.

OnThis Date In 1991 SuperBowl XXV was played at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida to decide theNational Football League (NFL) champion following the 1990 regularseason. The National Football Conference (NFC) Champion New YorkGiants (16-3) defeated the American Football Conference (AFC)champion Buffalo Bills (15-4), 20–19, the smallest margin ofvictory in Super Bowl history.

OnThis Date In 1996 Serbian-borntennis player Monica Seles, the former No. 1 women’s player in theworld, defeated Anke Huber of Germany to win the Australian Open.

OnThis Date In 1998 PaulE. Tsongas Arena (usually referred to as just Tsongas Arena), amulti-use indoor sport and concert venue in Lowell, Massachusetts,was opened and dedicated to the memory of prominent local andnational politician Paul Tsongas.

OnThis Date In 2002 TheLagos armory explosion, the accidental detonation of a large stock ofmilitary high explosives at a storage facility in the city of Lagos,Nigeria, took place. The fires created by the debris from thisexplosion burnt down a large section of Northern Lagos, and created apanic that spread to other areas. As people fled the flames, manystumbled into a concealed canal and were drowned. The explosion andits aftermath are believed to have killed at least 1,100 people anddisplaced over 20,000, with many thousands injured or homeless. Thegovernment of Nigeria launched an inquiry, which blamed the NigerianArmy for failing to properly maintain the base, or to decommission itwhen instructed to do so in 2001.

OnThis Date In 2004 “Liveat the House of Blues,” a live album and video by the southernCalifornia punk rock band The Vandals, was released by Kung FuRecords and Kung Fu Films. It was the band's second official livealbum and video, the first being 1991's Sweatin'to the Oldies.-

OnThis Date In 2009 JohnHoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009), Americannovelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic,died of lung cancer at a hospice in Danvers, Massachusetts at the ageof 76.

OnThis Date In 2010 The2010 State of the Union Address was given by United States PresidentBarack Obama to a joint session of Congress. It was Obama's firstState of the Union Address, though he did give a non-State of theUnion address to a joint session of Congress a month after takingoffice in 2009.

OnThis Date In 2010 TheiPad, a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed byApple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media includingbooks, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content, wasintroduced by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and weight fallbetween those of contemporary smartphones and laptop computers. TheiPad runs the same operating system as the iPod Touch and iPhone—andcan run its own applications as well as iPhone applications. Withoutmodification, the iPad will only run programs approved by Apple anddistributed via the Apple App Store (with the exception of programsthat run inside the iPad's web browser).

OnThis Date In 2010 HowardZinn (August 24, 1922 – January 27, 2010), American historian,academic, author, playwright, and social activist, died whileswimming in a hotel pool of an apparent heart attack in Santa Monica,California.

OnThis Date In 2010 JeromeDavid “J.D.” Salinger (January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010), anAmerican author best known for his 1951 novel TheCatcher in the Rye,as well as his reclusive nature, died of natural causes at his homein Cornish, New Hampshire.

OnThis Date In 2010 ZeldaRubinstein (May 28, 1933 – January 27, 2010), an American actressand human rights activist, best known as eccentric medium TanginaBarrons in the movie Poltergeist (1982) and its sequels, PoltergeistII: The Other Side (1986), and Poltergeist III (1988), died. OnDecember 29, 2009, it was reported that, after a month-long stay atCedars-Sinai Medical Center after mild heart attack, her closecompanion and her family made the decision to take Rubinstein offlife support due to both kidney and lung failure. On January 27,2010, Rubinstein died of natural causes at Barlow RespiratoryHospital in Los Angeles at the age of 76.http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-zelda-rubinstein28-2010jan28,0,7108032,full.story

Hattip to any included contributing sources, along with:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page, http://www.-history.com/this-day-in-history, http://timelines.com/, http://www.on-this-day.com/

HappyBirthdaySteve Wynn (1942), Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948), Mimi Rogers (1956),Cris Collinsworth (1959), Buster Rhymes (1962), Bridget Fonda (1964),Tamlyn Tomita (1966), Tracy Lawrence (1968), Heather Nauert (1970),and Alicia Molik (1981).

RIPWolfgangAmadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791), Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph vonSchelling (1775 – 1854), Lewis Carroll (1832 – 1898), Jerome Kern (1885 – 1945), Skitch Henderson (1918 – 2005), Charles E.Scripps (1920 – 2007), Donna Reed (1921 – 1986), Dolores Moran(1924 – 1982), and Troy Donahue (1936 – 2001).

Quotes

The cost of freedomis always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path weshall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.John F. Kennedy

America's abundancewas not created by public sacrifices to “the common good”, but bythe productive genius of free men who pursued their own personalinterests and the making of their own private fortunes. AynRand

There is nothingwrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence, andenergy of her citizens can not cure. DwightD. Eisenhower

Too many of us lookupon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if itis reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves. AlbertEinstein

The characterinherent in the American people has done all that has beenaccomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the governmenthad not sometimes got in its way. HenryDavid Thoreau

The American, bynature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builderwho builds best when called upon to build greatly. JohnF. Kennedy

CourtesyYouTube et al

Only In America

http://ax.itunes.apple.com/us/artist/krista-branch/id376371085
Thisis a video I edited to show how the song "I Am America"inspired people all over the country and changed our lives. I'm veryproud of what Krista has accomplished. Please support her by sharingthe video on your social networks.

ScienceCasts: Solar Eclipse in the USA

NASAScienceCasts SMD "Science Mission Directorate""Science@NASA News" "La Nina" "El Nino""solar eclipse" annular "ring of fire" "partialeclipse" "eclipse glasses" "solar filters"
Visithttp://science.nasa.gov/for more.
Timetables and maps at http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/
A"ring of fire" solar eclipse is coming to the USA thisspring. It's the first annular eclipse visible from the contiguousUnited States in almost 18 years.

Stunning Northern Lights Video: Norway Aurora aftersolar storm

Theskies over northern Europe have been illuminated with an intensedisplay of the northern lights after a week of massive solar stormsshowered the Earth with radiation. Video shot last weekend in Norwayshowed the eye-catching effect of the Aurora Borealis in the skiesabove Birtavarre. The lights are a familiar sight for Scandinavians,but even experienced stargazers were stunned by the intensity of theaurora borealis that swept across their night's sky on Tuesday, afterthe biggest solar storm in more than six years. An aurora appearswhen a magnetic solar wind slams into the Earth's magnetic field,exciting electrons of oxygen and nitrogen. Even before particles fromthe solar storm reached the Earth on Tuesday, a different aurora onMonday night was dancing across the sky as far south as Ireland andEngland, where people rarely get a chance to catch the stunning lightshow.

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RT on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RT_com

Dinosaursin Australia: Fright at the Museum

Thereopening of an Australian Museum of Natural History has been a realthrill for visitors. Some of the delighted and rather frightenedguests however think the animatronic creatures greeting them at theentrance were "a little too realistic".

TheQueensland Museum of Natural History in Brisbane chose to mark itsreopening after renovation with an unusual party. It invited severalanimatronic dinosaurs.
RT on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/RTnews
RT on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RT_com

Remember to look up at the stars and not down to yourfeet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makesthe universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem,there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters thatyou don't just give up.

Professor Stephen Hawking

on his 70th birthday.

To Market! Headlines, Recommendations, Looking Forward

2012-01-26T09:40:00.001-05:00

Asian#marketsmixed overnight-the Nikkei -0.39%; Europe is sharply higher; US#futuresare moderately higher ahead of the open. #in#tcot

Investorsprepare for onslaught of US #economicdata, Greece debt talks, 200+ cos reporting qtrly resultsmoney.cnn.com/2012/01/26/mar…#in#tcot

DJIACautiously Higher Ahead of Data Deluge; $CAT, NFLX in Focus ETFC alsoamong companies to report earningsschaeffersresearch.com/commentary/con…#in#tcot

DecDurable Goods Orders Surge 3% Beating Expecations [2.2%]: Nov ordersrevised to 4.7% from 4.6% businessinsider.com/durable-goods-…#economy#in#tcot

InitialJobless Claims SPIKE To 377K, Missing Estimates Of 370K, up fr 352Klast wk businessinsider.com/initial-claims…#economy#market#invest#in#tcot

ChicagoFed National Activity Index Indicates #EconomicGrowth Is At Its Highest Since March 2011businessinsider.com/chicago-fed-na…#invest#in#tcot

BOOM.There's Your American #ConstructionRecovery businessinsider.com/boom-theres-yo…Expectations abound. $CAT #industry#invest#in#tcot

Foreclosuresmade up 20% of home sales in 3Q money.cnn.com/2012/01/26/rea…#housing#economy#REI#realestate#invest#in#tcot

Mortgagecrimes are focus of new task force: DOJ to create special prosecutorsand SAGs unit to investigate.. money.cnn.com/2012/01/25/new…#in#tcot

Obama's30% millionaire tax: an AMT as ATM for current and futureconfiscation money.cnn.com/2012/01/26/new…X #economy#investmentor not. #in#tcot

NYSAGSchneiderman Tapped By Obama For Mortgage Task Force, part of@whitehouse’snew bureaucracy on MOSA globest.com/news/12_271/ne…#in#tcot

NYCCondo Developer Must Return $16M: Acting SCJ Singh rejected argumentsby developers of the Rushmore... globest.com/news/12_272/ne…#in#tcot

Adagency TBWA Worldwide renews as a tenant at 488 Madison, its propertyoverlooking St. Patrick’s Cathedral globest.com/news/12_272/ne…#in#tcot

Midwest#RealEstateData's Share My Listings (SMyL) Widget Boosts #SocialMediaPresence for Realtors: FB, TW, LNKD #inmarketwatch.com/story/midwest-…

HT@trisha22522Why the #EconomicProjections of Federal Reserve Board are inconsistentbeforeitsnews.com/story/1677/518…#GDP#unemployment#in#tcot

WarningSigns That the #Marketis Topping: Fed lures buyers, but rally may have run its courseinvestorplace.com/2012/01/daily-…#stock#invest#in#tcot

GoBottom-fishing for Netflix at $96: $NFLX rallied after earnings;traders should wait for pullback to buyinvestorplace.com/2012/01/trade-…#in#tcot

StockPagesMary Schapiro, chairperson of SEC, is pushing back against a billthat would require the securities regulator to ... bit.ly/nBhVec

ShortList Of People That Could Replace Geithner In A 2nd Obama Term: Or,Four More Years Of Ouch! - See The List! http://www.businessinsider.com/a-short-list-of-people-that-could-replace-treasury-secretary-geithner-in-a-2nd-obama-term-2012-1#in#tcot

To Market! Headlines, Recommendations, Looking Forward

2012-01-24T09:41:00.001-05:00

Asianmarkets up overnight-Bombay Stock Exchange +1.46%; Europe islower-Greek debt swap impasse; US futures moderately lower ahead ofopen.

DJIA,SPX Head South on Blue-Chip Earnings, Greek Debt Standoff: $DDreports weaker-than-expected qtrly saleshttp://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/opening+view+djia+spx+head+south+on+blue-chip+earnings+greek+debt+standoff/observations.aspx?click=home&ID=109695#in#tcot

ChristineLagarde Warns Of Global Depression If Governments Don't Pay Up: FromPaulson and TARP to status quohttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-art-of-extortion-now-at-the-imf-2012-1#in#tcot

EurozoneFin Mins REJECT Greek Debt Dealhttp://www.businessinsider.com/report-eurozone-fin-mins-reject-greek-debt-deal-2012-1Portugal Is Back, European Markets Are Slippinghttp://www.businessinsider.com/wake-up-portugal-is-back-in-the-danger-zone-and-europe-markets-are-slipping-2012-1#in#tcot

Australiato follow EU lead #inbanning oil imports and imposing a range of other sanctions on Iranhttp://af.reuters.com/article/idAFL5E8CO1K220120124#nucleariran#tcot

Buffett’sBurlington Northern Among Winners From Keystone Denial http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-23/buffett-s-burlington-northern-among-winners-in-obama-rejection-of-pipeline.html$BNI #tcot#GOP

HT@GulfOilSpillsThe BP Oil Spill and Global Warming: scientific proposition taken asfacthttp://nextgenjournal.com/2012/01/the-bp-oil-spill-and-global-warming/#AGW#in#tcot

BP:Global energy needs to be strong-will reach +39%, +1.6% annual-by2030; Exits solar [non-profitable]http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/318332#in#tcot

'WhenOnline Gambling Is Legalized, Facebook Will Be A $100B Company'[revenue, not $100B #in#marketvalue] http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-gambling-2012-1#fb#tcot

$FNMA& FMCC Would Need >ANOTHER $100B !!!< From Taxpayers ForObama's Proposed Mortgage Writedownhttp://www.businessinsider.com/fannie-and-freddie-would-need-another-100-billion-from-taxpayers-for-obamas-proposed-mortgage-writedown-2012-1#in#tcot

REICH:Republicans Need To Realize American Business No Longer MeansAmerican Jobshttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-state-of-our-disunion-a-globalizing-private-sector-a-government-overwhelmed-by-corporate-money-2012-1But #allgovDOES, huh, Bobby? #tcot

Here'sWhy Analysts Don't See The Fed Raising Interest Rates Before 2014http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-analysts-dont-see-the-fed-cutting-interest-rates-before-2014-2012-1Growth, inflation, QE #FOMC#in#tcot

Herehe comes: Soros Warns Of Financial Collapse, Class Warfare And TheRise Of Evilhttp://www.businessinsider.com/george-soros-warns-of-financial-collapse-class-warfare-and-the-rise-of-evil-2012-1#in#tcot#allgovthe solution-not

ForHelp With Their Failed $GM ‘Investment,’ Obama Admin Asked…BainCapitalhttp://www.teapartynation.com/profiles/blogs/for-help-with-their-failed-gm-investment-obama-administration#tpnhttp://biggovernment.com/smotley/2012/01/23/for-help-with-their-failed-gm-investment-obama-administration-asked-bain-capital/#in#tcot#GOP

Higher#natgasPrices Due To Chesapeake Production Cut Spells Profits for Apache$APAhttp://www.investorplace.com/2012/01/trade-of-the-day-apache-corp-nyse-apa-4/#energy#stock#invest#in#tcot

CorrectionMay be Around the Corner: Internal, sentiment indicators negative;drop #inmomentum unsettlinghttp://www.investorplace.com/2012/01/daily-stock-market-news-caution-correction-may-be-around-the-corner/$UUP #tcot

HartzMtn Opens Ground Solar Array in Hamilton, NJ: 5MW doubles company'sportfolio, but logistics, costs...http://www.globest.com/news/12_269/newjersey/more_green/Hartz-Mountain-Opens-Ground-Solar-Array-in-Hamilton-317803.html#in#tcot

Also:
micksayThe Digital Marketing Daily is out! bit.ly/mL7W22▸ Top stories today via @btcgroup @wpear

JFK Library toRelease Last of His Secret Tapes: A window into the final months ofhis life...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/jfk-library-release-secret-tapes-15425986#.Tx6MM_nemGc #in #tcot #GOP #DNC #p2

Friday! History, US Inauguration Day, Music, Space, Quotes, More!

2012-01-20T13:03:00.001-05:00

OnThis Date In 1777 TheBattle of Millstone, also known as the Battle of Van Nest's Mill, wasa skirmish that occurred near the mill of Abraham Van Nest (inpresent-day Manville, New Jersey) during the American RevolutionaryWar. A British foraging party was flanked and driven off by forcescomposed mostly of New Jersey militia, depriving the British of theirwagons and supplies.

OnThis Date In 1825 TheTreaty of Washington City was a treaty proclaimed on February 19,1825, and signed on January 20, 1825, between the Choctaw (anAmerican Indian tribe) and the United States Government, in which theChoctaw Nation ceded land to the United States in return for annualpayments, as well as other accommodations.

OnThis Date In 1828 SarahLincoln Grigsby (February 10, 1807 - January 20, 1828), elder sisterof the future president Abraham Lincoln, died while giving birth to aboy, who also died that day. Sarah's gravesite is located within whatis now known as Lincoln State Park in Indiana.

OnThis Date In 1841 Duringthe First Opium War, China ceded the island of Hong Kong to theBritish with the signing of the Chuenpi Convention, an agreementseeking an end to the first Anglo-Chinese conflict.

OnThis Date In 1863 Duringthe American Civil War, Union General Ambrose Burnside's Army of thePotomac began an offensive against General Robert E. Lee's Army ofNorthern Virginia that quickly bogged down as several days of heavyrain turned the roads of Virginia into a muddy quagmire. The campaignwas abandoned three days later.

OnThis Date In 1887 Duringthe reign of Hawaiian King Kalākaua the United States was granted exclusiverights to enter Pearl Harbor and to establish “a coaling and repairstation.” On January 20, 1887, the United States Senate allowed theNavy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base (the US took possession onNovember 9 that year). The Spanish-American War of 1898 and thedesire for the United States to have a permanent presence in thePacific both contributed to the decision.

OnThis Date In 1909 Newlyformed automaker General Motors bought into the Oakland Motor CarCorporation, which later became GM's long-running Pontiac division.

OnThis Date In 1918 DuringWorld War I, British and German forces clash in the Aegean Sea whenthe German battleships Goeben and Breslau attempt a surprise raid onAllied forces off the Dardanelle Straits.

OnThis Date In 1937 FranklinD. Roosevelt became the first U.S. president sworn into office inJanuary. It was his second of four inaugurations; the first had beenheld fours years earlier on March 4, 1933.http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan20.html

OnThis Date In 1941 U.S.President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office for the third time asEurope and Asia engaged in war. FDR is the only chief executive toserve more than two terms. The oath of office was administered byChief Justice Charles Evans Hughes on the East Portico of theCapitol. The Roosevelts hosted a reception for several thousandvisitors at the White House later that day.http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres51.html

OnThis Date In 1942 TheWannsee Conference, a meeting of senior officials of the Nazi Germanregime, was held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. The purpose of theconference was to inform administrative leaders of Departmentsresponsible for various policies relating to Jews, that ReinhardHeydrich had been appointed as the chief executor of the “Finalsolution to the Jewish question,” and to obtain their full support.http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-wannsee.htm

OnThis Date In 1945 Thefourth inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as the 32nd President ofthe United States was held. The inauguration marked the commencementof the fourth term (which lasted approximately three months) ofFranklin D. Roosevelt as President and the only term (which alsolasted approximately three months) of Harry S. Truman as VicePresident.

http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/chronology/fdroosevelt1945.cfm

OnThis Date In 1949 PresidentHarry S. Truman went to the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol to takethe oath of office on two Bibles—the personal one he had used forthe first oath on April12, 1945, upon the death of President Roosevelt,and a Gutenberg Bible donated by the citizens of Independence,Missouri. The ceremony was televised as well as broadcast on theradio. http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres53.html

OnThis Date In 1953 Theinauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower took place. The oathof office was administered by Chief Justice Frederick Vinson on twoBibles—the one used by George Washington at the first inauguration,and the one General Eisenhower received from his mother upon hisgraduation from the Military Academy at West Point. A large paradefollowed the ceremony, and inaugural balls were held at the NationalArmory and Georgetown University's McDonough Hall.http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres54.html

OnThis Date In 1961 PresidentJohn F. Kennedy distinguished his inaugural ceremony with a poetryreading by fellow New Englander Robert Frost. Blinded by the sun'sglare on the snow-covered Capitol grounds, Frost found himself unableto read the poem he had prepared. Instead, he recited “The GiftOutright” from memory, his words moving many. “Dedication,” thepoem Frost intended to read at the Kennedy inauguration, is featuredin Words and Deeds in American History. “The Gift Outright” canbe found in the Imagination section of the Library's AmericanTreasures exhibition.

OnThis Date In 1965 PresidentLyndon Baines Johnson was joined by Mrs. Johnson on the platform onthe East Front of the Capitol for his inauguration; she was the firstwife to stand with her husband as he took the oath of office. Theoath was administered by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Leontyne Pricesang at the ceremony.

OnThis Date In 1967 “Betweenthe Buttons,” the fifth British and seventh American studio albumby The Rolling Stones, was released in the United Kingdom and onFebruary 11, 1967 in the United States as the follow-up to theambitious Aftermath.Betweenthe Buttonsis seen as the beginning of the Stone's first complete departure fromtheir R&B roots and the beginning of their brief foray intopsychedelia.

OnThis Date In 1969 Analmost-winner of the 1960 election, and a close winner of the 1968election, the former Vice President and California Senator andCongressman Richard M. Nixon was inaugurated as the 37th President ofthe United States. Chief Justice Earl Warren administered the oath ofoffice for the fifth time. The President addressed the large crowdfrom a pavilion on the East Front of the Capitol. The address wastelevised by satellite around the world.

OnThis Date In 1972 Duringthe Vietnam War, and in continued efforts to disrupt an anticipatedcommunist offensive, a contingent of more than 10,000 SouthVietnamese troops began a sweep 45 miles northwest of Saigon to findand destroy enemy forces.

OnThis Date In 1973 Thesecond inauguration of Richard Nixon as the 37th President of theUnited States was held. The inauguration marked the commencement ofthe second term (which lasted approximately one and a half years) ofRichard Nixon as President and the second term (which lastedapproximately nine months) of Spiro Agnew as Vice President. ChiefJustice Warren E. Burger administered the Oath of office to bothPresident and Vice President.

OnThis Date In 1977 Theinauguration of Jimmy Carter as the 39th President of the UnitedStates was held. The inauguration marked the commencement of thefour-year term of Jimmy Carter as President and Walter Mondale asVice President and also marked the end of a shortened term served byCarter's predecessor, Gerald Ford. Chief Justice Warren E. Burgeradministered the Oath of office to Jimmy Carter, and House SpeakerTip O'Neill administered the Oath of office to Walter Mondale. Thiswas the last inauguration that was set up on the East Portico of theU. S. Capitol. The new President and his family surprised thespectators by walking from the Capitol to the White House after theceremony.x

OnThis Date In 1980 Ina letter to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and atelevision interview, U.S. President Jimmy Carter proposed that the1980 Summer Olympics be moved from the planned host city, Moscow, ifthe Soviet Union failed to withdraw its troops from Afghanistanwithin a month. After the International Olympic Committee (IOC)denied Carter’s request, the USOC later voted to boycott the Moscowgames, a decision that Carter announced on March 21, 1980.

OnThis Date In 1980 SuperBowl XIV was played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California todecide the National Football League (NFL) champion following the 1979regular season. Aided by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, theAmerican Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers(15-4) defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion LosAngeles Rams (11-8), 31–19, to win their fourth Super Bowl in teamhistory. This game was the first Super Bowl (and the only one untilSuper Bowl XLI) to feature two pre-expansion era (pre-1960) teams. Itwas also the first time that a team with nine wins or fewer reachedthe Super Bowl, and the last such occurrence until Super Bowl XLIII.The Rams were also the first “host” team to participate in theSuper Bowl (although the game was not in their home stadium, the Ramswere the official hosts). Despite throwing three interceptions,Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw was named the game's MVP bycompleting 14 of 21 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns.

OnThis Date In 1981 Thefirst inauguration of Ronald Reagan as the 40th President of theUnited States was held. The inauguration marked the commencement ofthe first four-year term of Ronald Reagan as President and George H.W. Bush as Vice President. Chief Justice Warren E. Burgeradministered the Oath of office. The inauguration was the first to beheld on the West Front of the United States Capitol Building. Thedecision to move the ceremonies from the East Front was made in June1980 by the Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. This was donepartly to save money, since the West Front's steps could be used as abase for the ceremonial platform, obviating the need to constructone. Another factor was the ability of the facing National Mall toaccommodate more spectators. Reagan's inaugural address was 2,452words long. It utilized the vista offered by the West Front, invokingthe symbolism of the Presidential memorials and Arlington NationalCemetery in the distance. As Reagan was giving the speech, 52Americans held hostage in Iran for the previous 444 days werereleased.

OnThis Date In 1983 “Pyromania,”the third studio album by British rock band Def Leppard, wasreleased. It featured new guitarist Phil Collen and was produced byRobert John “Mutt” Lange. The album charted at number 2 on theBillboard 200 and number 18 on the UK Albums Chart.

OnThis Date In 1985 PresidentRonald Wilson Reagan was sworn in as president for the second time,in a private ceremony at the White House. Because January 20 fell ona Sunday, a public celebration was not held but took place in theCapitol Rotunda the following day. January 21 was one of the coldestdays on record in Washington, D.C.; due to poor weather conditions,inaugural celebrations were held inside the Capitol.

OnThis Date In 1985 SuperBowl XIX was played at Stanford Stadium, on the campus of StanfordUniversity in Stanford, California, to decide the National FootballLeague (NFL) champion following the 1984 regular season. The NationalFootball Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers (18-1)defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) champion MiamiDolphins (16-3), 38–16, to win their second Super Bowl.

OnThis Date In 1989 The200th anniversary of the United States Presidency was observed asGeorge H. W. Bush took the executive oath on the same Bible GeorgeWashington used in 1789. The ceremony occurred on a platform on theterrace of the West Front of the Capitol, and the oath of office wasadministered by Chief Justice William Rehnquist. After the ceremony,the President and Mrs. Bush led the inaugural parade from the Capitolto the White House, walking along several blocks of PennsylvaniaAvenue to greet the spectators.

OnThis Date In 1993 Thefirst inauguration of William J. Clinton as the 42nd President of theUnited States took place. The inauguration marked the beginning ofthe first four-year term of Bill Clinton as President and Al Gore asVice President. Chief Justice William Rehnquist administered the Oathof office.

OnThis Date In 1993 AudreyHepburn (May 4, 1929 – January 20, 1993), British-Dutch actress andhumanitarian, and remembered as a film and fashion icon of thetwentieth century, died in her sleep of appendiceal cancer at herhome in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland. After her death, Gregory Peckwent on camera and tearfully recited her favourite poem, “UnendingLove” by Rabindranath Tagore. Funeral services were held at thevillage church of Tolochenaz, Switzerland, on January 24. MauriceEindiguer, the same pastor who wed Hepburn and Mel Ferrer andbaptized her son Sean in 1960, presided over her funeral. The sameday as her funeral, Hepburn was interred at the Tolochenaz Cemetery,a small cemetery that sits atop a hill overlooking the village.

OnThis Date In 1996 YasserArafat was elected president of the Palestinian National Council with88.1 percent of the popular vote, becoming the first democraticallyelected leader of the Palestinian people in history.

OnThis Date In 1997 Thesecond inauguration of Bill Clinton as the 42nd President of theUnited States took place. The inauguration marked the beginning ofthe second four-year term of Bill Clinton as President and Al Gore asVice President, and markedthe last inauguration of the 20th century .Chief Justice William Rehnquist administered the Oath of office.

OnThis Date In 2001 Outgoingpresident Bill Clinton issued 141 pardons and 36 commutations on hislast day in office. Most of the controversy regarding this activitysurrounded Marc Rich and allegations that Hillary Clinton's brother,Hugh Rodham, accepted payments in return for influencing thepresident's decision-making regarding the pardons. Some of Clinton'spardons remain a point of controversy.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010120/aponline135239_000.htm

OnThis Date In 2001 Thefirst inauguration of George W. Bush as the 43rd President of theUnited States took place. The inauguration marked the commencement ofthe first four-year term of George W. Bush as President and DickCheney as Vice President. Chief Justice William Rehnquistadministered the Oath of office at 12:01 PM. An estimated 300,000people attended the swearing-in ceremony.

OnThis Date In 2005 Thesecond inauguration of George W. Bush as the 43rd President of theUnited States took place. The inauguration marked the beginning ofthe second term of George W. Bush as President and Dick Cheney asVice President. Ailing Chief Justice William Rehnquist administeredthe Oath of office. Attendance at the inauguration has been reportedas being around 100,000, 300,000 or 400,000. As the firstpresidential inauguration after the September 11 attacks, securitywas tighter than previous ceremonies. The inaugural parade route aswell as other related sites were guarded by 13,000 police andsoldiers, in addition to aerial patrols by helicopter and fighteraircraft and rooftop sharpshooters. In downtown Washington, a 100square block area was closed to traffic. Still, after the inauguraladdress, the supporting crowd was so friendly, Bush and first ladyLaura Bush got out of their bullet-proof limousine and walked part ofthe route.

OnThis Date In 2007 HillaryClinton, wife of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and then-Senatorof New York, announced that she was forming an exploratory committeefor president, thereby launching a bid to become the first femalechief executive of the United States.http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/20/clinton.announcement/index.html

OnThis Date In 2009 Theinauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the UnitedStates took place. The inauguration, which set a record attendancefor any event held in Washington, D.C., marked the commencement ofthe four-year term of Barack Obama as President and Joe Biden as VicePresident. Based on the combined attendance numbers, televisionviewership, and Internet traffic, it was among the most observedevents ever by the global audience.

OnThis Date In 2009 SenatorEdward M. Kennedy attended Barack Obama's presidential inaugurationin Washington, but then suffered a seizure at the luncheonimmediately afterward. He was taken via wheelchair from the Capitolbuilding and then by ambulance to Washington Hospital Center. Thefollowing morning, he was released from the hospital to his home inWashington, as doctors attributed the episode to “simple fatigue.”

OnThis Date In 2010 TheUnited States Geological Survey reported a magnitude 5.9 aftershockrattled Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the strongest since the original7.0-magnitude quake struck eight days prior, on January 12.http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/20/haiti.earthquake/

OnThis Date In 2011 U.S.Federal authorities orchestrated one of the biggest Mafia takedownsin FBI history, charging 127 suspected mobsters and associates in theNortheast with murders, extortion and other crimes spanning decades.Past investigations have resulted in strategic strikes aimed atcrippling individual crime families. This time, authorities used ashotgun approach, with some 800 federal agents and police officersmaking scores of simultaneous arrests stemming from different mobinvestigations in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island.http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/January/11-ag-077.html

Hattip to any included contributing sources, along with:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history, http://timelines.com/, http://www.on-this-day.com/

HappyBirthdaySlim Whitman (1924), Buzz Aldrin (1930), Eric Stewart (1945), PaulStanley (1952), Lorenzo Lamas (1958), James Denton (1963), JohnMichael Montgomery (1965), Rainn Wilson (1966), and Skeet Ulrich(1970).

RIPAndre-MarieAmpere (1775 – 1836), Anson Jones (1798 – 1858), George Burns(1896 – 1996), Carlotta Monti (1907 – 1993), Joy Adamson (1910 –1980), Federico Fellini (1920 – 1993), DeForest Kelley (1920 –1999), Patricia Neal (1926 – 2010), and Audrey Hepburn (1929 –1993).

Quotes

Service is never a simple act; it'sabout sacrifice for others and about accomplishment for ourselves,about reaching out, one person to another, about all our choicesgathered together as a country to reach across all our divides.George Bush

Never doubt that a small group ofthoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's theonly thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

The preservation of the sacred fire ofliberty and the destiny of the republican model of government arejustly considered ... deeply, ... finally, staked on the experimententrusted to the hands of the American people. GeorgeWashington

Everyone can be great because anyonecan serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. Youdon't even have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve...You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love... Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.

I know in my heart that man is good.That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there'spurpose and worth to each and every life. Ronald Reagan

If you're afraid of the future, thenget out of the way, stand aside. The people of this country are readyto move again. Ronald Reagan

CourtesyYouTube et al

The Spectacle of Star Death

Takea breathtaking journey into the future, five billion years from now,to see the ultimate fate of the Solar System. This gem fromHubbleCast showcases stunning Hubble imagery of the death throes ofSun-like stars. The wreckage of these dying stars form the buildingblocks of new generations of stars.

YouTubeSpace Lab

Ourpanel has chosen sixty Space Lab finalists from thousands of entries.We need your help deciding who it will be. Vote to put the experimentyou like into space. You can vote on each experiment once a day.http://www.youtube.com/user/spacelab

Legendary Blues Singer Etta James Dies

EttaJames, the feisty R&B singer whose raw, passionate vocals madethe love ballad "At Last" an enduring anthem, has died.James suffered from dementia, kidney problems and leukemia. Theannouncement:http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=697270&ocid=ansent11

The future is not aresult of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, buta place that is created--created first in the mind and will, creatednext in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, butone we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and theactivity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination.John Schaar

To Market! Headlines, Recommendations, Looking Forward

2012-01-19T09:51:00.000-05:00

#Asian#marketswere higher overnight - Nikkei +1.04%; #Europeis higher after 2 solid #bondauctions; US #futurespoint to higher open. #in

DJIALooks to Extend Rally After Bank of America Earnings: $MS EBAY FFIVXLNX step up schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/obs…#stock#market#invest#in#tcot

DecCPI and #housingstarts data released 8:30am ET. Expectations: 0.1% rise #incore CPI; drop in #housingstarts to annualized 678K units.

CPIFLAT IN DEC: Below Economist Expectations: rose at greatest pace on ayearly basis since 2007 businessinsider.com/here-comes-the…#inflation#in#tcot

Dec#HousingStarts Down 4.1% to 657K annualized, MISS Expectations [680K] In ABig Way businessinsider.com/get-ready-for-…#realestate#REI#in#tcot

Initialjobless claims data released 8:30am ET; Consensus is for a drop innew claims to 383,000. #economy#market#invest#in#tcot

BOOM:INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS PLUNGE TO 352K -BOOM: REVISIONS DUE OUT ANYDAY businessinsider.com/here-comes-ini…Chart from 2007-2012 incl. #in#tcot

PhiladelphiaFed Survey for January released 10am ET. Consensus: a drop #inthe general #businessconditions index to 10. #economy#tcot

Here'sA Breakdown Of Why The Conference Board Is Changing Its Leading#EconomicIndicator businessinsider.com/heres-a-breakd…#in#tcot

HomeBuilders Getting More Optimistic: National Assoc of #HomeBuilders index rose for 4th straight month...http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/68023/home-builders-getting-more-optimistic#in#tcot

#EC#ECB#IMFTroika: Irish #economicprogram on track, challenges remain: to reach 3% of GDP deficittarget- marketwatch.com/story/troika-i…#in#tcot

CanBulls Break the Next Bearish Barrier?: $ignificant resistance linesits 12 points above S&P 500’s closehttp://www.investorplace.com/2012/01/daily-stock-market-news-can-the-bulls-break-the-next-bearish-barrier/#in#tcot

BreakoutShould Lead to Quick Run #in$OC: Owens Corning broke through a resistance band yesterdayhttp://www.investorplace.com/2012/01/breakout-should-lead-to-quick-run-in-oc/#stock#invest#tcot

cnnbrkEastman Kodak files Chapter 11 bankruptcy. on.cnn.com/wmyuNc

Bankof America reverses loss, earns $2B #inQ4: $BAC selling stake in Chinese bank, selling debt; offsets losseshttp://finance.yahoo.com/news/bank-america-reverses-loss-earns-122050544.html#tcot

2TierAffiliateThe Darren John Rea Daily is out! bit.ly/il1Wjl▸ Top stories today via @wpear@zwitscherhase- http://paper.li/2TierAffiliate#!business

Plus:

rboeseSuspicion grows China was behind hack of U.S. commission:WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - Suspicion is growing th...bit.ly/wuSx3Z

slkbrookeChinese virus targets DoD Common Access Card, could steal info frommilitary networks - Military Times bit.ly/yfVYTd

cnsnews_comState Department: U.S. Not ‘Overly Concerned’ About IraqDetaining ‘A Handful of U.S. Contractors’ ow.ly/8xFYr

cnsnews_comNapolitano: DHS Is Working with Mexico on ‘Special Interest Aliens’Threat Along U.S.- Mexican Border ow.ly/8xG1H

slkbrookeU.S. May Release Senior Taliban Terrorists » Family Security Mattersbit.ly/xcFC0Y

slkbrookeNetanyahu: No Compromises on Israel's Security - Israel National Newsbit.ly/yUyL28

spongedocksIAEA now heads back to Iran for military application nuclear materialinspections yhoo.it/Avn3h2

HT @GovGaryJohnsonGo to https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/and sign the petition to stop #SOPAand #PIPA.End Piracy, Not Liberty. @google #tcot #GOP

rboese25 senators come out against PIPA anti-piracy bill (TomCheredar/VentureBeat) ow.ly/1gNUF8

sahlersmeyerRT @thefix:Final IA caucus vote total: Santorum 29,839, Romney 29,805. WHOAH.ow.ly/8yYCv

9:23aBREAKING @GovernorPerrydropping out of presidential race #SCprimary#tcot#tpp#GOP

RickPerry to drop out of presidential campaign @GovernorPerryhttp://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/19/us-usa-campaign-perry-report-idUSTRE80I16B20120119 #SCprimary#tcot#tpp#GOP

EdMorrisseyPerry to withdraw and endorse Gingrich today, CNN & Politicoreport is.gd/wqK7Qj

To Market! Headlines, Recommendations, Looking Forward

2012-01-18T09:40:00.000-05:00

#Asian#marketsmixed overnight-Shanghai Composite -1.39%; #Europeis moderately lower; US #futuresare up ahead of open. #invest#in#tcot

ProducerPrice Index Falls, But Core PPI Tops Economist Expectationsbusinessinsider.com/here-comes-the…#inflation#economy#market#invest#in#tcot

Today'sHugely Bullish #HousingDatapoint-MBA: #mortgageapps surged 23.1% #inthe week ending Jan 13... businessinsider.com/todays-hugely-…#invest#tcot

Decindustrial production data released at 9:15am ET: Expectations arefor a 0.5% m-o-m increase #in#industrialproduction. #business#tcot

Dec#IndustrialProduction Comes In Below Expectations [0.5%], Rising 0.4%; reversesNov decline of 0.3% businessinsider.com/industrial-pro…#in#tcot

TheNational Association of Home Builders' Jan #housing#marketindex released at 10am ET: Consensus is for it to hold steady at 21.#in

DJIAHeads for Modest Gains; Goldman Sachs, Yahoo in Focusschaeffersresearch.com/commentary/con…$GS YHOO USB BXS CREE #stock#market#invest#in#tcot

IMFPROPOSES TO BOOST LENDING FACILITY BY >$<500B: Not >$<1T;Sugar rush fades... businessinsider.com/report-imf-pro…#global#debt#economy#in#tcot

WORLDBANK: Brace Yourself For Economic Slowdown: #global#economywill grow by 2.5% 2012, not 3.6%...businessinsider.com/world-bank-bra…#in#tcot

EuropeCrisis Rescue Begins With MIT Men as a Matter of Trustbloomberg.com/news/2012-01-1…#global#inflation#AuditTheFedthen #EndTheFed#in#tcot

INTERACTIVECHART via Google Public Data Explorer: The Rise Of #European#Government#Debtbusinessinsider.com/great-graphic-…#global#economy#in#tcot

HowIreland's Richest Man Went From $6B To -$3.5Bhttp://www.businessinsider.com/sean-quinn-bankrupt-ireland-2012-1#construction#industryvia Anglo Irish Bank #finance#in#tcot

AnalystsAdmit They're Totally Befuddled By What's Happening In The #Treasury#Marketbusinessinsider.com/analysts-admit…#stocksvs #bondyields #in#tcot

EverythingGovernment Is Unofficially Funding This Year: CBO memo to House andSenate re: stopgap measures businessinsider.com/congressional-…#in#tcot

fixedbookDowngrade Alert for Google (GOOG) - Downgrade Alert for Google (GOOG)Investor's Business Daily - 2 minutes ago Ja... ow.ly/1gMMqB

Nance0924Goldman fourth-quarter profit falls but beats estimates: (Reuters) -Goldman Sachs Group Inc's profit fell 56 pe... bit.ly/AeALim

NightmareHome Appraisal Story Shows Why The #Housing#MarketIs Still Messed Up businessinsider.com/a-nightmare-ho…#realestate#REI#invest#in#tcot

NJgreatsNJ Fun Fact New Jersey is a major seaport state with the largestseaport in the U.S. located in Elizabeth. We are the hub of thenation!

The Nutty Newt Saga Continues

2012-01-16T21:47:00.000-05:00

Always a thought-provoking read, agree or not, Robert Ringer hammers home the need for freedom through the capitalist system we so greatly appreciate in the United States.
While sounding off on New Gingrich's getting busy on Mitt Romney's record while at Bain Capital, he brings out the need for focus on the business of business, which is to make a profit, not necessarily to create jobs (!), stating, "Creating jobs is a byproduct of operating a successful business." Love that!
I see the end of this issue as having spent too much time on a minor point: that a capitalist will resist a cross-examine of (all) aspects of embarking on a venture to create profit for a company, and doing it with everyone involved knowing the means by which that company will achieve those profits.
Time to move on, taking from this part of the saga of the 2012 Republican Primary Season what we will, and getting on to the more pressing issues involved in dethroning king Obama.

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The Nutty Newt Saga Continues

by Robert Ringer - Monday, January 16, 2012

Every time you think the media is about to run out of ideas for transforming a nonstory into a spectacular news event, they manage to come up with yet another gem. That said, forgive me for adding my two cents worth to the Bain Capital brouhaha.
Those who know Newt Gingrich best have long predicated he would implode, even after he shot to the top of the polls, which he managed to do by cleverly playing the role of the calm, intellectual, peacemaking elderly statesman who was above the fray. So Gingrich’s angry obsession with taking down MittMan, even if it means destroying his own chances of winning the Republican nomination, is not surprising.
After observing his words and actions — from his climate-changing love-fest with Nancy Pelosi on the couch to his infamous “right-wing social engineering” comment about Paul Ryan’s budget plan — and then his scorched-earth attacks on free-market capitalism — I’ve come to the conclusion that Newt is not just a nasty, egomaniacal, self-destructive, undisciplined flip-flopper.
I hate to make excuses for him, but I truly believe the man is illegally insane — a classic example of a mad genius. So even though I condemn Nutty Newt for his attacks against the free market, I feel compelled to declare him not guilty by reason of insanity.
That said, I believe that Mitt Romney exemplifies everything that’s wrong with politics in this country, so my condemnation of Gingrich for his anti-capitalism remarks is not a defense of MittMan. It’s a defense of capitalism.
Where pundits and conservative politicians are off target in this whole time-wasting affair is that they all seem to agree that Romney should “come clean” and explain his modus operandi while at Bain Capital. Nutty Newt, in a back-pedaling mode, said, “I think he [Romney] owes the country a much more detailed answer about what his career was like.”
That’s a real head scratcher, even coming from Newt. Was Romney ever convicted of a crime — or even indicted? Did he ever lose a lawsuit claiming fraud against him or Bain Capital? If not, what’s to explain?
Gingrich, using the language of the class-warfare crowd, accused Romney of being a “predatory capitalist.” We’re talking serious sticks and stones here. Can you imagine how crummy you’d feel if someone accused you of being — Gasp! — a predatory capitalist? Neither can I, because there is no such thing.
The Einstein of the field, Rick Perry, even went so far as to call the Mitt a “vulture capitalist.” If both Gingrich and Perry are right, that makes Romney the worst of all creatures — a predatory vulture capitalist. Bring out the guillotine!
The fact is that Bain Capital, under Romney’s leadership, helped to launch or rebuild hundreds of companies, including such well-known brand names as Staples, The Sports Authority, and Domino’s Pizza, which resulted in tens of thousands of jobs. But how many jobs Romney created or “destroyed” or how much money he made or lost while he was with Bain Capital misses the point of what capitalism is all about.
Capitalism is a system whereby consenting adults are free to deal with one another on any terms that are mutually agreeable to them, without government interference. You cannot understand capitalism unless you begin with a correct premise. And the premise that even many adherents of capitalism ignore is that the primary — some would argue the sole — purpose of a business is to make as much money as possible for its owner(s).
Of course, it’s true that, in the process of making profits, a business creates jobs, but creating jobs is not — repeat, not — its chief objective. Creating jobs is a byproduct of operating a successful business.
As to charges of “raiding” and “looting” companies, how does a person raid or loot a company he owns? What does raiding or looting a company even mean? If you enter into a free-market transaction to buy controlling interest in a company, you have a right to do whatever you want with that company.
If Bain invested in a company, then decided to sell off its assets and close it down, making a profit in the process, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Businesses are not charities; they are vehicles for making money.
If Romney wants to shed his well-earned image of being a big-government progressive, this is a good time for him to stand up and be bold in defending capitalism. Not by arguing that he was not a predatory capitalist, but by explaining that his objective at Bain was to make money by turning around failing companies and helping small companies to become larger and more profitable — for Bain!
It’s time to end all the silly talk about raiding, looting, and predatory capitalism. And, while we’re at it, it would be nice if we could also stop all the babbling about creating jobs and stimulating the economy. The issue we should be talking about is freedom. Where freedom exists, the economy takes care of itself and jobs automatically follow.
Unemployment is a symptom of a bad economy, and a bad economy is a symptom of a lack of freedom. You cannot have prosperity under a government whose chief goal is to eliminate freedom and equalize income through the use of force.
But instead of focusing on our loss of freedom, presidential debate moderators would rather ask questions like, “What if you had a son who came to you and said he was gay?” We’re $15 trillion in debt and the most important question he can think of is how Rick Santorum would react if he found out his son was gay?
Our loss of freedom didn’t begin with Barack Obama, but it will surely end with him if he is reelected. Wake up, Republicans! Stop the nonsense and start focusing on the issue of freedom.

You have permission to reprint this article so long as you place the following wording at the end of the article:

Copyright © 2012 Robert Ringer
ROBERT RINGER is a New York Times #1 bestselling author and host of the highly acclaimed Liberty Education Interview Series, which features interviews with top political, economic, and social leaders. He has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, The Tonight Show, Today, The Dennis Miller Show, Good Morning America, The Lars Larson Show, ABC Nightline, and The Charlie Rose Show, and has been the subject of feature articles in such major publications as Time, People, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Barron's, and The New York Times.

To sign up for his one-of-a-kind, pro-liberty e-letter, A Voice of Sanity, Click Here.

Friday! History, Music, Space, Cinema, Sports, Quotes, More!

2012-01-13T14:21:00.000-05:00

OnThis Date In 1128 PopeHonorius II granted a papal sanction to the military order known asthe Knights Templar, declaring it to be an army of God.

OnThis Date In 1794 PresidentGeorge Washington approved a measure adding two stars and two stripesto the American flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentuckyto the union.

OnThis Date In 1833 PresidentAndrew Jackson wrote Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing hisopposition to South Carolina's defiance of federal authority. Heclosed with the assertion, “nothing must be permitted to weaken ourgovernment at home or abroad.”

OnThis Date In 1842 Britisharmy doctor William Bryde reaches the British sentry post atJalalabad, Afghanistan, the lone survivor of a 16,000-strongAnglo-Indian expeditionary force that was massacred in its retreatfrom Kabul. He told of a terrible massacre in the Khyber Pass, inwhich the Afghans gave the defeated Anglo-Indian force and their campfollowers no quarter.

OnThis Date In 1847 TheTreaty of Cahuenga. usually called the “Capitulation of Cahuenga,”was signed, and ended the fighting of the Mexican-American War inCalifornia in 1847.

OnThis Date In 1864 StephenCollins Foster (July 4, 1826 – January 13, 1864), known as the“father of American music,” was the pre-eminent songwriter in theUnited States of the 19th century. In an era before transfusions andantibiotics, he succumbed to persistent fever three days after hisadmittance to Bellevue Hospital at the age of 37. Foster was buriedin the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. One of his most belovedworks, “Beautiful Dreamer,” was published shortly after hisdeath.

OnThis Date In 1865 ThroughJanuary 15, 1865. the Second Battle of Fort Fisher was fought. It wasa joint assault by Union Army and naval forces against Fort Fisher,outside Wilmington, North Carolina, near the end of the AmericanCivil War. Sometimes referred to as the “Gibraltar of the South”and the last major coastal stronghold of the Confederacy, Fort Fisherhad tremendous strategic value during the war.

OnThis Date In 1898 Frenchwriter Emile Zola's inflammatory newspaper editorial, entitled“J'accuse,” was printed. The letter exposed a military cover-upregarding Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Dreyfus, a French army captain, hadbeen accused of espionage in 1894 and sentenced in a secret militarycourt-martial to imprisonment in a South American penal colony. Twoyears later, evidence of Dreyfus' innocence surfaced, but the armysuppressed the information. Zola's letter excoriated the military forconcealing its mistaken conviction.

OnThis Date In 1902 TheBattle of Riyadh was fought, a minor battle of the Unification Warbetween Rashidi and Ibn Saud rebels, in Masmak Castle in Riyadh, Thecapital of present day Saudi Arabia.

OnThis Date In 1908 TheRhoads Opera House, located in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, caught fireduring a church-sponsored stage play. The fire started when akerosene lamp was knocked over, lighting gasoline from a stereoscopicmachine. The stage and auditorium were located on the 2nd floor andall auxiliary exits were either unmarked or locked. One fire escapewas available but unable to be accessed through a locked window abovea 3 foot sill. 171 people perished when the exit was crowded againstto escape the fire. Entire families were wiped out.

OnThis Date In 1915 The1915 Avezzano earthquake occurred in southern Italy, by L'Aquila. Theepicenter was located in the town of Avezzano in southern Italy.30,000 direct fatalities resulted from the earthquake, destroying theepicentral area.

OnThis Date In 1916 TheBattle of Wadi was fought, an unsuccessful attempt by British forcesfighting in present-day Iraq during the First World War to relievebeleaguered forces under Sir Charles Townshend, then under siege bythe Turks at Kut-al-Amara.

OnThis Date In 1940 “BrotherRat and a Baby”, the sequel to the 1938 film BrotherRat,about cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington,Virginia, was released.It stars Priscilla Lane, Wayne Morris, Jane Bryan, Eddie Albert, JaneWyman, and Ronald Reagan. Mayo Methot and Alan Ladd appear in smallroles. The movie was directed by Ray Enright and remains notable forfeaturing future US president Reagan and wife Wyman.

OnThis Date In 1941 JamesAugustine Aloysius Joyce (February 2, 1882 – January 13, 1941),Irish novelist and poet, and considered to be one of the mostinfluential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20thcentury, died from a perforated ulcer and gastrointestinalhemorrhaging. He is buried in the Fluntern Cemetery near Zurich Zoo.

OnThis Date In 1945 TheEast Prussian Offensive was a strategic offensive by the Red Armyagainst the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front during World WarII. It lasted from January 13, 1945 to April 25, 1945, though someGerman units did not surrender until May 9. The Battle of Königsbergwas a major part of the offensive, which ended with a total victoryfor the Red Army.

OnThis Date In 1962 Duringthe Vietnam War, Operation Farm Gate, initially designed to provideadvisory support to assist the South Vietnamese Air Force inincreasing its capability, flew its first combat missions with T-28fighter-bombers in support of a South Vietnamese outpost under VietCong attack. By the end of the month, U.S. Air Force pilots had flown229 Farm Gate sorties.

OnThis Date In 1962 ErnieKovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962), a Hungarian Americancomedian and actor who hosted his own television shows during the1950s and is said to have influenced such TV hosts as Johnny Carsonand David Letterman, died at the age of 42 after crashing hisChevrolet Corvair into a telephone pole in Los Angeles, California,while driving in a rainstorm.

OnThis Date In 1966 PresidentLyndon B. Johnson appointed the first African-American cabinetmember, making Robert C. Weaver head of the Department of Housing andUrban Development (HUD), the agency that develops and implementsnational housing policy and enforces fair housing laws.

OnThis Date In 1972 PresidentRichard Nixon announced that 70,000 U.S. troops would leave SouthVietnam over the next three months, reducing U.S. troop strengththere by May 1 to 69,000 troops.

OnThis Date In 1974 SuperBowl VIII was played at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide theNational Football League (NFL) champion following the 1973 regularseason. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion MiamiDolphins (15-2) defeated the National Football Conference (NFC)champion Minnesota Vikings (14-3), 24–7. Scoring the first 24points of the game and leading 24-0 entering the fourth quarter, theDolphins easily won their second consecutive Super Bowl, and becamethe first team to appear in three consecutive Super Bowls.

OnThis Date In 1982 AirFlorida Boeing 727 plunged into the Potomac River in Washington,D.C., killing 78 people. The crash, caused by bad weather, took placeonly two miles from the White House.

OnThis Date In 1999 NationalBasketball Association (NBA) superstar Michael Jordan of the ChicagoBulls announcedhis retirement from professional basketball, for the second time, infront of a crowd at Chicago's United Center.

OnThis Date In 2010 TheodoreDeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13,2010), American R&B/soul singer and songwriter, died ofrespiratory failure at age 59 with his wife Joan by his side, whilehospitalized at Bryn Mawr Hospital in suburban Philadelphia.Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin &the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at theend of the decade.

Hattip to any included contributing sources, along with:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history, http://timelines.com/, http://www.on-this-day.com/

HappyBirthdayFrances Sternhagen (1930), Rip Taylor (1934), Julia Louis-Dreyfus(1961), Trace Adkins (1962), Penelope Ann Miller (1964), PatrickDempsey (1966), Traci Bingham (1968), Nicole Eggert (1972), BamMorris (1972), Orlando Bloom (1977), and Jill Wagner (1979).

RIPWilhelm Wien (1864 – 1928),Kay Francis (1905 – 1968), Robert Stack (1919 – 2003), GwenVerdon (1925 – 2000), and Ian Hendry (1931 – 1984).

Quotes

Life moves on, whether we act ascowards or heroes. Life has no other discipline to impose, if wewould but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everythingwe shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny,denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seemsnasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, andstrength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden onefor him who has the vision to recognize it as such. HenryMiller

Whatever we plant in our subconsciousmind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become areality. Earl Nightingale

The way you activate the seeds of yourcreation is by making choices about results you want to create. Whenyou make a choice, you mobilize vast human energies and resourceswhich otherwise go untapped. All too often people fail to focus theirchoices upon results and therefore their choices are ineffective. Ifyou limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, youdisconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left isa compromise. Robert Fritz

People who have attained things worthhaving in this world have worked while others have idled, haveperservered while others gave up in despair, and have practiced earlyin life the valuable habits of self-denial, industry, and singlenessof purpose. As a result, they enjoy in later life the success oftenerroneously attributed to good luck. Grenville Kleiser

Cease trying to work everything outwith your minds. It will get you nowhere. Live by intuition andinspiration and let your whole life be a revelation. EileenCaddy

The person with a fixed goal, a clearpicture of his desire, or an ideal always before him, causes it,through repetition, to be buried deeply in his subconscious mind andis thus enabled, thanks to its generative and sustaining power, torealize his goal in a minimum of time and with a minimum of physicaleffort. Just pursue the thought unceasingly. Step by step you willachieve realization, for all your faculties and powers becomedirected to that end. Claude Bristol

When our eyes see our hands doing thework of our hearts, the circle of Creation is completed inside us,the doors of our souls fly open and love steps forth to healeverything in sight. Michael Bridge

CourtesyYouTube et al

GRAIL "Rings" in 2012 on This Week @NASA

NASA'sGravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory mission's two spacecraftachieve lunar orbit at beginning of new year and begin their study ofthe moon, from crust to core. Also, FIRST season starts; Booster Day;Commander's Comet; Booms and Whispers; and Curiosity's RAD! Also,Aggies get shuttle sim; Butch & The Titans; and STS-81anniversary.

Kosteniuk - Kurmann,Leukerbad 2011

Chess Queen AlexandraKosteniuk comments her game against Olivier Kurmann at the 2011 SwissChess Championship of Leukerbad.

Pictures Taken at the Right Moment

the firstmontage and video of RAWPr0ductions, the theme is pictures taken atthe right moment. Hope you Enjoy.

Just as our religiousinstitutions are guaranteed freedom in this land, so also do wecherish the diversity of our faiths and the freedom afforded to eachof us to pray according to the promptings of our individualconscience. - President Ronald Reagan, January 13, 1986

Market Recap!

2012-01-12T18:25:00.001-05:00

U.S.#stocksclose higher on Europe bright spots: #investorsopt for optimism on Eurozone troubles marketwatch.com/story/us-stock…$SPX #in#tcot

BillGates Just Bought $571M of This #Stock:biggest purchase #inrecent memory web.streetauthority.com/m/tts/TTS05/ga…Not $BRK! #agriculture#industry#tcot

USsells $21B #in10yr debt at lowest-ever yield of 1.90%: Bidders offered to buy 3.19xthe amount of #debtsold marketwatch.com/story/us-sells…#tcot

Gold#futuressettle at best #infour weeks: Gold for Feb delivery $GC2G +0.70%, added $23.40, or1.5%... marketwatch.com/story/gold-fut…#tcot

From1/10/12: Morning #marketroundup: Apple CEO’s $Ms (more than #GOPworth!), MF Global asks for Immunityhttp://www.theblaze.com/stories/morning-market-roundup-apple-ceo%E2%80%99s-millions-mf-global-asks-for-immunity/$AAPL#tcot

US#StocksEdge Higher on Cautious Euro Optimism: #Oil#futureserased gains on EU's reported Iran decision..schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/con…#in#tcot

Financialsclose higher after early weakness marketwatch.com/story/raymond-…$XLF SPX JPM RF #finance#market#invest#in#tcot

#Stocksto watch Friday: J.P. Morgan, Delta + Wynnmarketwatch.com/story/stocks-t…$JPM WYNN DAL LCC TPG Capital takeover alert AAMRQ #in#tcot

Obamacalls for #debt-limithike (all 0 knows to do): Formal request gives Congress 15dys toobject marketwatch.com/story/obama-ca…#in#tcot#GOP

#Fed2006 Transcript Highlights: Riding #HousingRoller Coaster With Eyes Shut blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012…#Bernanke#Geitner#FOMC#in#tcot#GOP

#StocksManage to Outrun Bad Data (jobless claims, retail, inventories)online.wsj.com/article/SB1000…$WSM TSCO #futures#finance#energy#in#tcot

CEOsurge court to throw out SEC-Citigroup ruling making it harder forcompanies to settle #SECfraud cases reuters.com/article/2012/0…#in#tcot

MFGlobal trustee has no plans to transfer more cash: Former $MFcustomers were disappointed to hear.. reuters.com/article/2012/0…#fraud#in#tcot

MRCGlobal revives IPO plans: $100M offering in common #stockreuters.com/article/2012/0…$MRC $GS #oil#industry#in#tcot

Dataanalytics software maker Splunk files for IPO of up to $125M: Leadunderwriters $MS CS JPM BAC ML reuters.com/article/2012/0…$SPLK #in#tcot

HT@nickgillespieMT @veroderugy:Haste Made Waste: Obamacare’s Rushed Regshttp://www.nationalreview.com/corner/287895/haste-made-waste-health-care-laws-rushed-regulations-veronique-de-rugy#OFAILhttp://www.cnbc.com/id/45928256#tcot#GOP

Kudos@GovWalkerInteresting editorial in Eau Claire about our Waste, Fraud and Abusereport:http://www.leadertelegram.com/opinions/editorials/article_9da634bb-d745-514a-b107-f9f5fa5e9236.html#tcot#GOP

To Market! Headlines, Recommendations, Looking Forward

2012-01-11T09:41:00.000-05:00

#Asian#marketswere mixed overnight-the Hang Seng +0.8%; #Europeanmarkets lower-German DAX down 0.8%; US #futureslower ahead of open. #in

U.S.#Stock#FuturesFall Amid Europe Concern bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-1…Hump Day #marketback and forth #in#tcot

Merkel:Germany may put more funds into ESM marketwatch.com/story/merkel-g…Jan 30 Summit coming #global#economy#market#invest#in#tcot

DJIAPointed Cautiously Lower on #Euro-Zone#DebtConcerns: $EK, AAPL going to courtschaeffersresearch.com/commentary/con…CROX SNX #stock#invest#in#tcot

InvestorsHaven't Been This Worried About A #Stock#MarketCrash Since Early 2009 businessinsider.com/crash-confiden…#economy#invest#in#tcot

U.S.#stock#futuresfall on #Europejitters: Microsoft $MSFT shares pressured after PC sales warningmarketwatch.com/story/us-stock…#market#in#tcot

#Globalregulators may expand the definition of a 'too-big-to-fail'#financialfirm... bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-1…#market#invest#in#tcot

#Europe’sPension Threat Grows as #EconomySputters: State-funded obligations in 19 EU nations 15x higher...bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-1…#in#tcot

AnotherBullish Datapoint For #Housingbusinessinsider.com/another-bullis…Complete History Of US #RealEstateBubbles Since 1800 businessinsider.com/the-economic-c…#in

MetLife$MET Will Layoff Up To 4,300 Employees, Closing Residential #MortgageForward Origination #Businessbusinessinsider.com/metlife-layoff…#in#tcot

Pullbackin Order–Make Sure You’re a Buyer: Profit-taking before the#marketgoes higher investorplace.com/2012/01/daily-…#stock#invest#in#tcot

EndoPharmaceuticals $ENDP on Verge of Breakout: $35.50 Breakthrough makesa good buy for traders, #investorsinvestorplace.com/2012/01/pharma…#in#tcot

Treasurysedge up before auction, Beige Book: Yields on 10-year notes fall 3bpsto 1.93%...http://www.marketwatch.com/story/treasurys-edge-up-before-auction-beige-book-2012-01-11-921130?link=MW_latest_news#bonds#invest#in#tcot

To Market! Headlines, Recommendations, Looking Forward

2012-01-10T09:53:00.003-05:00

#Asian#marketsmarkedly higher overnight-$hanghai SE Comp +2.7%, #Europeis a sharp +; US #futuresup ahead of open. #invest#in#tcot

DJIAReady to Rally on Alcoa $AA Rev, Chinese Trade Data: WDFC, SMSC bracefor post-earnings retreats schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/con…#market#in#tcot

THEAGE OF CONSUMER DELEVERAGING IS OVER: Latest Consumer Credit datajust posted... businessinsider.com/the-age-of-con…#economy#market#invest#in#tcot

#Treasurysslip as #stocksrise ahead of auction: Current 3yr note yield rose 1bps to 0.38%...marketwatch.com/story/treasury…#bond#invest#in#tcot

Europeanstocks lifted by banks, resources: Luxury-goods #stocksrally after upbeat Swatch sales marketwatch.com/story/europe-s…$UHR #invest#in#tcot

NFIBsmall-business index up for 4th month: Expectations for improved#economyand #realestate$ales marketwatch.com/story/nfib-sma…#invest#in#tcot

JPMorgan's$JPM Jamie Dimon Optimistic on #Housing,Stress Tests, MF Global $MF ibtimes.com/articles/27913…#eonomy#market#invest#in#tcot

WhatBernanke Failed To Learn From The Great Depression: ZIRP +command-economy efforts destroying capitalismbusinessinsider.com/why-bernanke-h…#in#tcot

AQuick Reminder Of Why Ben Bernanke's Task Is Incredibly Toughbusinessinsider.com/pegging-your-c…#AudtTheFed#inflation#economy#in#tcot

FourDays Ago, George Soros Said He Upped His Stake In WebMD. Today It'sGetting Crushed businessinsider.com/webmd-george-s…$WBMD #stock#in#tcot

Whatto Look at When the Charts Aren’t Saying Anything: With little inthe way of new technical developments-investorplace.com/2012/01/daily-…#in#tcot

Jumpon the Gold Bandwagon With the ‘Smart Money’: Deep correction #inYamana Gold $AUY may have run its courseinvestorplace.com/2012/01/jump-o…#tcot

Survey:Central NJ Leasing Gains Bode Wellhttp://www.globest.com/news/12_259/newjersey/leasing/-317177.html#CRE#REI#industrial#retail#realestate#invest#in#tcot

Friday! History, Music, Cinema, Sports, Quotes, More!

2012-01-06T13:45:00.000-05:00

OnThis Date In 0871 England's King Alfred (Alfred the Great)defeated the Danes at the Battle of Ashdown in Berkshire.http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/alfred_the_great.shtml

OnThis Date In 1066 Following the death of Edward theConfessor, Harold Godwineson, head of the most powerful noble familyin England, was crowned King Harold II.

OnThis Date In 1205 Philip of Swabia (1177 – June 21,1208), king of Germany and duke of Swabia, and rival of the emperorOtto IV, was crowned for the second time.

OnThis Date In 1759 26-year-old George Washington marriedMartha Dandridge Custis. The recently widowed, Virginia-born Marthawas an educated mother of two. George Washington--then a rising youngofficer in the colonial British army--moved his new bride and familyto his estate at Mount Vernon. Washington soon adopted Martha's twoyoung children, Jack and Patsy. The couple were married until hisdeath in 1799, a 40-year union.

OnThis Date In 1777 After two significant victories over theBritish in Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey, General GeorgeWashington marched north to Morristown, New Jersey, where he set upwinter headquarters for himself and the men of the Continental Armyon this day in 1777. The hills surrounding the camp offeredWashington a perfect vantage point from which to keep an eye on theBritish army, which was headquartered across the Hudson River in NewYork City. Morristown's position also allowed Washington to protectthe roads leading from the British strongholds in New Jersey to NewEngland and the roads leading to Philadelphia, where the leaders ofthe American Revolution were headquartered.

OnThis Date In 1781 The Battle of Jersey was fought, anattempt by France to invade Jersey and remove the threat the islandposed to American shipping in the American War of Independence.Jersey was used as a base for privateering by the British, andFrance, engaged in the war as an ally of the United States, sent anexpedition to gain control of the island. The expedition ultimatelyfailed, and its commander, Baron Phillipe de Rullecourt, died ofwounds sustained in the fighting.

OnThis Date In 1838 Samuel Morse's telegraph system wasdemonstrated for the first time at the Speedwell Iron Works inMorristown, New Jersey. The telegraph, a device which used electricimpulses to transmit encoded messages over a wire, would eventuallyrevolutionize long-distance communication, reaching the height of itspopularity in the 1920s and 1930s.

OnThis Date In 1912 New Mexico was admitted into the UnitedStates as the 47th state.

OnThis Date In 1916 ThroughJanuary 8 the Battle of Sheikh Sa'ad was fought during theMesopotamian Campaign of the First World War. The battle took placealong the banks of the Tigris River between the Anglo-Indian TigrisCorps and elements of the Ottoman Sixth Army. The engagement was thefirst in a series of assaults by the Tigris Corps to try andbreakthrough the Ottoman lines to relieve the besieged garrison atKut.

OnThis Date In 1919 PresidentTheodore Roosevelt died in his sleep in his Oyster Bay, New York homeof a coronary thrombosis (heart attack), preceded by a 2 1/2-monthillness described as inflammatory rheumatism, and was buried innearby Youngs Memorial Cemetery.http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/nytobit.htm

OnThis Date In 1928 “The Circus,” a silent film writtenand directed by Charlie Chaplin with Joseph Plunkett as an uncreditedwriter, was released. The film stars Chaplin, Al Ernest Garcia, MernaKennedy, Harry Crocker, George Davis and Henry Bergman.

OnThis Date In 1941 President Franklin D. Rooseveltaddressed the 77th Congress in an effort to move the nation away froma foreign policy of neutrality. The president had watched withincreasing anxiety as European nations struggled and fell to AdolphHitler's fascist regime and was intent on rallying public support forthe United States to take a stronger interventionist role. In hisaddress, Roosevelt stated that the need of the moment is that ouractions and our policy should be devoted primarily--almostexclusively--to meeting the foreign peril. Roosevelt insisted thatpeople in all nations of the world shared Americans' entitlement tofour freedoms: the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom toworship God in his own way, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

OnThis Date In 1942 President Franklin D. Rooseveltannounced to Congress that he was authorizing the largest armamentsproduction in the history of the United States. He announced toCongress that the first year of the supercharged production schedulewould result in 45,000 aircraft, 45,000 tanks, 20,000 antiaircraftguns, and 8 million tons in new ships. Congressmen were stunned atthe proposal, but Roosevelt was undeterred: “These figures andsimilar figures for a multitude of other implements of war will givethe Japanese and Nazis a little idea of just what they accomplished.”

OnThis Date In 1945 GeorgeHerbert Walker Bush, on leave from active duty in World War II,married former Smith College student Barbara Pierce.http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan06.html

OnThis Date In 1948 TheMinistries Trial (or, officially, The United States of America vs.Ernst von Weizsäcker, et al.) was the eleventh of the twelve trialsfor war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone inGermany in Nuremberg after the end of World War II, held betweenJanuary 6 – April 13, 1949.

OnThis Date In 1952 “Peanuts,” an American comic stripwritten and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, debuted its firstSunday newspaper strip in the half page format, which was the onlycomplete format for the entire life of the Sunday strip.

OnThis Date In 1958 TheSoviet Union announced plans to cut the size of its standing army by300,000 troops in the coming year. The reduction was part of a 1956policy announced by Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev in anticipationof “peaceful coexistence” with the West, and an indication thatCold War relations between the United States and the Soviet Unionwere undergoing a slight thaw in the mid- to late-1950s.

OnThis Date In 1967 OperationDeckhouse Five was conducted by the United States Marine Corps andSouth Vietnamese Marine Corps forces along the Mekong River Delta, aspart of the Vietnam War. The operation was notable in that it was asizable, combined U.S. Marine and Vietnamese Marine amphibiousoperation and it was the last Special Landing Force (SLF) amphibiouslanding to take place beyond the boundaries of I Corps. The operationoccurred January 6–15, 1967.

OnThis Date In 1971 The U.S. Army dropped charges of analleged cover-up in the My Lai massacre in Vietnam against fourofficers. After the charges were dropped, a total of 11 people hadbeen cleared of responsibility during the My Lai trials. The onlyconviction was of 1st Lt. William Calley, a platoon leader in the23rd (Americal) Division, who allegedly led his men to massacreinnocent Vietnamese civilians, including women and children, in acluster of hamlets in Son Tinh District in the coastal south of ChuLai. A Fort Benning court-martial jury found Calley guilty of thepremeditated murder of at least 22 South Vietnamese civilians andsentenced him to life in prison. Subsequent counter-rulings andinterventions by President Richard Nixon and the federal courts wouldeventually reduce his sentence to 20 years, and be paroled afterserving 40 months for good behavior.

OnThis Date In 1975 During the Vietnam War, Phuoc Binh, thecapital of Phuoc Long Province, about 60 miles north of Saigon, fellto the North Vietnamese. Phuoc Binh was the first provincial capitaltaken by the communists since the fall of Quang Tri on May 1, 1972.

OnThis Date In 1975 Ronald Reagan served his last day as theGovernor of California.

OnThis Date In 1993 DizzyGillespie (October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993), the last of theprimary originators of Be-Bop jazz, died in Englewood, New Jersey ofpancreatic cancer at age 75, and was buried in the Flushing Cemetery,Queens, New York. The trumpeter-composer-bandleader had laid thefoundation of modern jazz with pianist Thelonius Monk, drummer KennyClarke, guitarist Charlie Christian, and alto saxophonist Charlie"Yardbird" Parker.

OnThis Date In 1996 TheBlizzard of 1996 began in Washington, D.C., and moved up the Easternseaboard, killing 154 people and causing over $1 billion in damagesbefore it ended. President Bill Clinton was forced to shut down thefederal government for nearly a week, and declared D.C. and ninestates to be disaster areas after this record-breaking snowstorm.

OnThis Date In 1998 Thespacecraft LunarProspectwas launched into orbit around the moon. The craft was crashed intothe moon, in an effort to find water under the lunar surface, on July31, 1999.

OnThis Date In 2001 After a bitterly contestedelection, Vice President Al Gore presided over a joint session ofCongress that certified George W. Bush as the winner of the 2000election. In one of the closest Presidential elections in U.S.history, George W. Bush was finally declared the winner more thanfive weeks after the election due to the disputed Florida ballots.George W. Bush took the oath of office on January 20, 2001, to becomethe 43rd President of the United States.

Hattip to any included contributing sources, along with:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history, http://timelines.com/, http://www.on-this-day.com/

HappyBirthdayEarl Scruggs (1924), Lou Holtz (1937), Bonnie Franklin (1944), AlanStivell (1944), Rowan Atkinson (1955), Howie Long (1960), Julie Chen(1970), and Pierre Woods (1982).

RIPJedediah Smith (1799 – 1831),Charles Sumner (1811 – 1874), Victor Horta (1861 – 1947), CarlSandburg (1878 – 1967), Tom Mix (1880 – 1940), Danny Thomas (1912– 1991), Loretta Young (1913 – 2000), Mickey Hargitay (1926 –2006), Vic Tayback (1930 – 1990), and Syd Barrett (1946 – 2006).

Quotes

Just remember, the same as aspectacular Vogue magazine, remember that no matter how close youfollow the jumps: Continued on page whatever. No matter how carefulyou are, there's going to be the sense you missed something, thecollapsed feeling under your skin that you didn't experience it all.There's that fallen heart feeling that you rushed right through themoments where you should've been paying attention. Well, get used tothat feeling. That's how your whole life will feel some day. This isall practice. None of this matters. We're just warming up. ChuckPalahniuk

Life is full of beauty. Notice it.Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smellthe rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential,and fight for your dreams. Ashley Smith

Don't ask what theworld needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Becausewhat the world needs is people who have come alive. HowardThurman

The life that conquers isthe life that moves with a steady resolution and persistence toward apredetermined goal. Those who succeed are those who have thoroughlylearned the immense importance of plan in life, and the tragicbrevity of time. W.J. Davison

For a long time it hadseemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there wasalways some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first,some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacleswere my life. Fr. Alfred D'souza

CourtesyYouTube et al

Fifth grade trumpet player. VERY GOOD

justamazing

Alien Super-Earth Goes Supercritical?

Researchersnow believe that about a fifth of planet 55 Cancri e (once thought tobe mostly rocky) is comprised of light elements in a supercriticalstate, comparable to the condition of rocket propellent when firingfrom a spaceship during launch.

YouTube Rewind 2011

Seewhat the world watched on YouTube in 2011 with YouTubeRewind:
http://www.youtube.com/rewind
BuyAvicii - Levels on Android Market (http://goo.gl/cO10Y)and iTunes (http://goo.gl/mYIWH).
Re-watchthe year's most viewed videos and use the interactive timeline to seethe moments that defined YouTube in 2011 - the year YouTube hit onetrillion views.
Video Produced by Portal A Interactive[http://portal-a.com]
Top10 Most Viewed:
Rebecca Black - Friday (OFFICIAL VIDEO) -http://youtu.be/kfVsfOSbJY0
UltimateDog Tease - http://youtu.be/nGeKSiCQkPw
JackSparrow (feat. Michael Bolton) - http://youtu.be/GI6CfKcMhjY
TalkingTwin Babies - OFFICIAL VIDEO - http://youtu.be/_JmA2ClUvUY
NyanCat [original] - http://youtu.be/QH2-TGUlwu4
LookAt Me Now - Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes (Cover by@KarminMusic) - http://youtu.be/khCokQt--l4
TheCreep (feat. Nicki Minaj & John Waters) -http://youtu.be/tLPZmPaHme0
MariaAragon - Born This Way (Cover) by Lady Gaga
The Force: VolkswagenCommercial - http://youtu.be/R55e-uHQna0
Catmom hugs baby kitten - http://youtu.be/Vw4KVoEVcr0

Thisis my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadnessintrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips,sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for youreyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that youcan believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself,patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life. RalphWaldo Emerson