News anchor apologizes after confusing Samuel L. Jackson with Laurence Fishburne (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_Q2iT05jOx-gvLjZK7pPudliE7pl0cRncAIwjx0ueTkEcIKSwbfHdPeehtyDadOJ3XVr9CK1l_Z-eiiz-8nBxRvg95ki20dzQXaoSnc535mxKAtSiAvMiZCn5xrEQ6fsvqiNiBpa1hw/s1600/sam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_Q2iT05jOx-gvLjZK7pPudliE7pl0cRncAIwjx0ueTkEcIKSwbfHdPeehtyDadOJ3XVr9CK1l_Z-eiiz-8nBxRvg95ki20dzQXaoSnc535mxKAtSiAvMiZCn5xrEQ6fsvqiNiBpa1hw/s1600/sam.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;"><span class="dateline" style="box-sizing: border-box;">LOS ANGELES –  </span>A Los Angeles newscaster apologized to Samuel L. Jackson on Monday for confusing him with fellow actor Laurence Fishburne during a live TV interview.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">KTLA entertainment reporter Sam Rubin was interviewing Jackson on Monday morning about the film "RoboCop" when he asked the actor if he'd gotten a lot of reaction to his recent Super Bowl commercial.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">When Jackson asked, "What Super Bowl commercial?" Rubin realized his mistake and began to apologize. But it was too late.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">"You're as crazy as the people on Twitter," an animated Jackson, who was doing the interview by satellite from Atlanta, told Rubin. "I'm not Laurence Fishburne. We don't all look alike. We may be all black and famous but we don't all look alike."</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">As Rubin, who is white, tried to apologize, a smiling Jackson went on at length, listing various black actors and their commercials. Video of the exchange quickly went viral.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">"I'm the `What's in Your Wallet,' black guy," he said of his own commercial for a credit-card company. "He's the car black guy. "Morgan Freeman is the other credit-card black guy. You only hear his voice, though, so you probably won't confuse him with Laurence Fishburne."</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">Fishburne, as the character Morpheus from the "Matrix" movies, appeared in the Super Bowl commercial for Kia automobiles.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">The pair eventually got back to talking about "RoboCop," with Jackson telling Rubin how highly he regards Michael Keaton and Gary Oldman, who appear in the film with him.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">"You do know who they all are though, right?" he teased. "Just in case they have some of them on the show. Do some work. Do some research. Make sure you don't confuse them with those other white actors."</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">When he returned to the air 30 minutes later, Rubin apologized profusely, saying he has interviewed Jackson several times and does indeed know who he is.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">"I really pride myself on the fact that unlike a lot of people who do this kind of work, more often than not I really do know what I'm talking about," he said. "But I didn't 30 minutes ago and I'm really embarrassed about it, and I very much apologize to Samuel L. Jackson and anyone else who was offended for what was a very amateur mistake."</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">FOXNews Reports</div>

News anchor apologizes after confusing Samuel L. Jackson with Laurence Fishburne (BLOG)

LOS ANGELES –   A Los Angeles newscaster apologized to Samuel L. Jackson on Monday for confusing him with fellow actor Laurence Fishburne du...

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Jessica Alba admits she drunkenly gave her husband's birthday cake to the cops (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1Yi8VWPUzC6DoYRfsO2Sz42F-oKNKcf7QnQBQuePKkp3fhTDjBDZqJeuvkXoowzmb_vbjafsAvl6ciFz0b1B_-etGbw1TeCNhLblCs8rTgYi7Ia7IYpUWxTSPq8T3z75DoV7ObRO-Vs/s1600/alb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1Yi8VWPUzC6DoYRfsO2Sz42F-oKNKcf7QnQBQuePKkp3fhTDjBDZqJeuvkXoowzmb_vbjafsAvl6ciFz0b1B_-etGbw1TeCNhLblCs8rTgYi7Ia7IYpUWxTSPq8T3z75DoV7ObRO-Vs/s1600/alb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">Jessica Alba got so merry at her husband Cash Warren's birthday party she attempted to give his cake to the police, <a href="http://popdust.com/2014/02/10/jessica-alba-drunk-cash-warren-birthday-cake-cops/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s linear; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2a5d80; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px; transition: color 0.2s linear;" target="_blank">Popdust reports.</a></div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">The actress appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and explained she was so drunk at the time, she can’t actually remember the incident.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">“With his birthday, he wanted a pajama pizza party and so I guess that’s what you do when you’re a grown adult,” she said. “You have a pajama pizza party and you play games and so we’re all wearing onesies because like what else should adults wear? We’re playing really grown up games like Twister, and Jenga with a twist.”</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">Jessica went on to reveal that as the night progressed, the drinks were flowing and even her straight-laced father-in-law got tipsy.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">“Popo got a little drunk and then he called me the next day and he was like, ‘That was a fun party and the punch … It got me. I got loopy and then when the cops came.’ I was like 'the cops? The cops came?'” she said.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">“He was like, ‘Yeah, you gave them Cash’s cake! You answered the door and you gave …’ I was like 'I don’t remember that at all.' They came by to tell us to turn the music down,” she said.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">Let’s face it, we’ve all been there!</div>

Jessica Alba admits she drunkenly gave her husband's birthday cake to the cops (BLOG)

Jessica Alba got so merry at her husband Cash Warren's birthday party she attempted to give his cake to the police,  Popdust reports. Th...

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Eye infection forces Bob Costas off the air (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMVpB-4Gt70c8Amueqtkx0AAxnPGiPuxxyVKFucjovnPuaWfVG_kLZ_BhTNgUi3w0HsPQJ07mjG2k8pX1EDzpfGQgg62mQDyylHI49_h-KBSqbbiHQfIw0GYfbZEJn8tsBuZmUtG_qL0/s1600/costa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMVpB-4Gt70c8Amueqtkx0AAxnPGiPuxxyVKFucjovnPuaWfVG_kLZ_BhTNgUi3w0HsPQJ07mjG2k8pX1EDzpfGQgg62mQDyylHI49_h-KBSqbbiHQfIw0GYfbZEJn8tsBuZmUtG_qL0/s1600/costa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">NBC’s Bob Costas will be replaced by Matt Lauer on the network’s primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics on Tuesday due to a worsening eye infection that has troubled the veteran anchor throughout the Sochi games.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">Costas made the announcement on the “Today” show Tuesday morning.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">“Reluctantly, I was trying to throw a complete game here, but I think we’re going to have to go to the bullpen, and I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but you’re Mariano Rivera, at least tonight,” Costas told Lauer by phone. “Let’s hope it’s only tonight. I’m walking around, I might as well be playing ‘Marco Polo.’ I have no idea where I am.”</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">Costas, who does not normally wear glasses, has been sporting a pair since the beginning of the Sochi Games due to an infection that started in his left eye and has now spread to his right eye.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">The incident has drawn lots of attention on social media.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">Costas hopes to return to the Olympics desk as soon as possible.</div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: 'Helvetica Nueue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 36px; padding: 0px;">FoxNews</div>

Eye infection forces Bob Costas off the air (BLOG)

NBC’s Bob Costas will be replaced by Matt Lauer on the network’s primetime coverage of the Winter Olympics on Tuesday due to a worsening eye...

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The Day We Fight Back

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/CNcT6-3xwvk" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>'The Day We Fight Back' Calls For Protests Against NSA Spying -- CNet</b></span></div><br />Tech companies and privacy advocates have dubbed February 11 a "worldwide day of activism" to speak out against the NSA's surveillance and mass data collection.<br /><br />Those of you angered over reports of NSA spying are being urged to add your voices to those of a group of 5,300 companies and Web sites staging a worldwide protest.<br /><br />Dubbing February 11 "The Day We Fight Back," organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union, Free Press, Mozilla, Reddit, and Tumblr want Internet users to call or e-mail their legislators to pressure them to end the National Security Agency's mass surveillance program. The groups also are asking Web site owners to set up banners on their pages to urge visitors to join the cause.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57618703-83/the-day-we-fight-back-calls-for-protests-against-nsa-spying/">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More News On "The Day We Fight Back"</b></span></div><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/11/day-fight-back-protest-nsa-mass-surveillance">Protesters rally for 'the day we fight back' against mass surveillance</a> -- The Guardian<br /><a href="http://rt.com/news/activists-internet-protests-fight-440/">‘The day we fight back’: 6,000 websites protest surveillance, honor Aaron Swartz </a>-- RT<br /><a href="http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/11/ngos-companies-chose-february-11-to-fight-back-against-mass-surveillance/">Worldwide day of activism to “fight back” against mass surveillance</a> -- Euronews<br /><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/reddit-tumblr-more-protest-nsa-day-we-fight-back-n26416">Reddit, Tumblr and More Protest NSA With 'Day We Fight Back'</a> -- NBC<br /><a href="http://swampland.time.com/2014/02/10/the-day-we-fight-back-protests-nsa-surveillance/">‘The Day We Fight Back’ Protests NSA Surveillance</a> -- Time<br /><a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2014/02/fight-back/">Tech Companies and Activists Unite to Protest the NSA</a> -- Wired<br /><a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/day-we-fight-back-congress-battered-emails-phone-calls-internet-protest-nsa-spying-1554614">The Day We Fight Back: Congress Battered With Emails And Phone Calls In Internet Protest Of NSA Spying</a> -- IBTimes<br /><a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/198033-web-launches-surveillance-protest">How websites are protesting spying </a>-- The Hill<br /><a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2453028,00.asp">The Day We Fight Back: What You Need to Know</a> -- PC Mag<br /><a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/10/5398638/the-day-we-fight-back-asks-the-internet-to-fight-surveillance">The Day We Fight Back: can an internet protest stop the NSA?</a> -- Adi Robertson, The Verge<br /><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/02/11/day-fight-back-against-nsa-spying-and-big-government-big-secret/">The day we fight back against NSA spying and big government's big secret</a> -- Rep. Ted Poe, FOX News<br /><br /><b>WNU Editor</b>: The Day We Fight Back's website <b><a href="https://thedaywefightback.org/international/">is here.</a></b>

The Day We Fight Back

'The Day We Fight Back' Calls For Protests Against NSA Spying -- CNet Tech companies and privacy advocates have dubbed February 11 a...

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- February 11, 2014

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RyMm6L9WoX8" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Syria: The Wages of Inaction -- Julie Lenarz and Michael Miner, National Interest</b></span></div><br />The unrest in Syria has quickly spiraled beyond a sectarian civil war and into a regional crisis. Two million refugees have poured into Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey at a rate surpassing several thousand a day, with more than 6.5 million displaced overall. Iran and Saudi Arabia are doing battle through proxy forces. Iraq is experiencing the worst eruption of violence in recent years with the resurrection of Al Qaeda. According to the United Nations, 84 percent of the 733 people killed in January were civilians. Hezbollah’s support for the Assad regime has led to a series of deadly suicide bombings in Lebanon by the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in an attempt to draw the country deeper into Syria’s bloody war. An Al Qaeda surge is viewed with great concern in Israel, and while the country has always been an integral part of the terrorists’ narrative, this escalating regional crisis puts Israel in the firing line.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/syria-the-wages-inaction-9857">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials</b></span></div><br /><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/02/11/analysis-by-agreeing-to-peace-talks-assad-plays-for-time-as-troops-wear-down/">Analysis: By agreeing to peace talks, Assad plays for time as troops wear down rebels</a> -- FOX News/AP<br /><br /><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2014/02/games-in-sochi-siege-in-homs.html">Games in Sochi, Siege in Homs</a> -- George Packer, New Yorker<br /><br /><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.573417">Should the U.S. intervene in Syria? What Iraq can't teach us</a> -- Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz<br /><br /><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/2014/0211/On-revolution-s-anniversary-Iranians-ask-Is-this-what-we-were-promised">On revolution's anniversary, Iranians ask: Is this what we were promised?</a> -- Scott Peterson, Christina Science Monitor<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/11/to-see-the-progress-in-afghanistan-stop-viewing-the-country-through-a-western-lens.html">To See the Progress in Afghanistan, Stop Viewing the Country Through a Western Lens</a> -- Sam Schneider, The Daily Beast<br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/02/10/274677316/whos-going-to-be-afghanistans-next-president">Who's Going To Be Afghanistan's Next President?</a> -- NPR<br /><br /><a href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2014/02/10/a-good-time-for-that-pacific-pivot/">A Good Time for that “Pacific Pivot”</a> -- Max Boot, Commentary<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/1086195/central-african-disaster">Central African disaster</a> -- DAWN editorial<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dw.de/debate-intensifies-over-possible-german-army-training-mission-in-somalia/a-17423836">Debate intensifies over possible German army training mission in Somalia </a>-- Deutsche Welle<br /><br /><a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116524/russian-corruption-ruins-athletes-shot-olympic-medals">Petty Corruption Has Killed the Great Russian Athletic Machine</a> -- Julia Ioffe, New Republic<br /><br /><a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/olympics-in-sochi-offer-challenges-and-opportunities-for-new-russia-a-952559.html">Letter from Sochi: The Olympic Debut of New Russia </a>-- Benjamin Bidder, Lukas Eberle and Maik Grossekathöfer, Spiegel Online<br /><br /><a href="http://euobserver.com/opinion/123076">Looking on the bright side of the euro crisis</a> -- Andre Wilkens, EU Observer<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2014/02/10/How-White-House-Blowing-Europe-0">How the White House Is Blowing Off Europe</a> -- Patrick Smith, Fiscal Times<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/11/hollande-us-state-visit-america-new-best-friend">Is France's Hollande taking over Britain's role as America's best friend? </a>-- Pierre Haski, The Guardian<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/02/11/217796/obama-hollande-declare-us-and.html">Obama, Hollande declare U.S. and France bosom buddies again</a> -- Lesley Clark and Anita Kumar, McClatchy Washington Bureau

Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- February 11, 2014

Syria: The Wages of Inaction -- Julie Lenarz and Michael Miner, National Interest The unrest in Syria has quickly spiraled beyond a sectaria...

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World News Briefs -- February 11, 2014 (Evening Edition)

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/i1v3NTefEUQ" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Obama And Hollande Say Trust Restored After NSA Spying -- BBC</b></span></div><br /><i>US President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande have reaffirmed their nations' alliance after revelations of US snooping.</i><br /><br />On day two of his trip to the US, the French leader said at the White House that mutual trust had been restored.<br /><br />Mr Hollande, who was greeted by a military honour guard and a 21-gun salute, attends a state dinner later.<br /><br />Relations broke down in 2003 between the countries when France opposed US President George W Bush's war in Iraq.<br /><br />At Tuesday's press conference, Mr Obama said they had forged bilateral ties "unimaginable even a decade ago".<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26140744">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>MIDDLE EAST</b></span></div><br />Syria peace talks make little progress,<b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/11/us-syria-crisis-talks-idUSBREA1A0QX20140211"> says envoy.</a></b> Syrian talks<b><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/syrian-sides-meet-for-joint-peace-talks/1848748.html"> adjourn with discord</a></b>. <br /><br />Third chemical-arms shipment <b><a href="http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/third-chemical-arms-shipment-leaves-syria/">leaves Syria</a></b>.<br /><br />Syria conflict: UN concerned <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26131742">over Homs detentions</a></b>.<br /><br />Iraq violence: Militants kill <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26134598">15 soldiers near Mosul</a></b>.<br /><br />Israel attacks two sites<b><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/israel-attacks-two-sites-gaza-strip-20142117438628461.html"> in Gaza Strip</a></b>. Israeli military hits Gaza <b><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israeli-military-hits-gaza-in-response-to-rocket/2014/02/11/30bc6056-92e9-11e3-b3f7-f5107432ca45_story.html">in response to rocket.</a></b><br /><br />Turkey PM: No reconciliation with Israel<a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.573771"> until end of Gaza siege</a>.<br /><br />Iranians rally to mark <b><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/iran-rallies-mark-35-years-revolution-201421171757311457.html">35 years of revolution</a></b>.<br /><br />Rouhani calls for national unity, healing; says Iran <b><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/rouhani-calls-for-national-unity-healing-says-iran-will-not-relinquish-defense-capability/2014/02/11/380413b8-9307-11e3-b3f7-f5107432ca45_story.html">will not relinquish defense capability</a></b>.<br /><br /><br />Yemen rebels oppose<b><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2014/02/yemen-rebels-oppose-six-region-federation-2014211101417410323.html"> six-region federation</a></b>. Yemen Shiite rebels, southern group <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/yemen-shiite-rebels-slam-federation-plan-unfair-110611950.html">slam federation plan.</a></b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>ASIA</b></span></div><br />Security fears threaten <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/security-fears-threaten-us-future-afghanistan-214514542--politics.html">US future in Afghanistan</a></b>.<br /><br />US Forces in Afghanistan condemns release <b><a href="http://www.khaama.com/us-forces-in-afghanistan-condemns-release-of-65-bagram-detainees-2777">of 65 Bagram detainees</a></b>.<br /><br />China and Taiwan in <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-26129171">first government talks</a></b>. Taiwan, China talks end cordially, <b><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20140211-707010.html">leave door open--Update.</a></b><br /><br />Grenade attack in <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/11/us-pakistan-peshawarblast-idUSBREA1A0YB20140211">Pakistani cinema city kills 10</a></b>.<br /><br />North and South Korea to hold<b><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/world/asia/north-korea-talks/index.html?hpt=wo_c2"> 'high-level' meeting</a></b>.<br /><br />North Korea seen readying<b><a href="http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/north-korea-seen-prepared-nuclear-missile-tests/"> nuclear, missile tests</a></b>.<br /><br />Thailand in political limbo with <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/thai-government-admits-lack-power-renew-troubled-rice-080432138--business.html">vote re-runs seen in April</a></b>.<br /><br />Afghan girl has first case of polio <b><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/world/asia/afghanistan-polio/index.html?hpt=wo_c2">in Kabul in 13 years</a></b>.<br /><br />US envoy visits Okinawa amid long-running row <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/11/us-envoy-okinawa-dispute-caroline-kennedy">over military bases</a></b>.<br /><br />Australia sees greater risk of<b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/australia-sees-greater-risk-el-nino-weather-pattern-063319262.html"> El Nino weather pattern</a></b>.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>AFRICA</b></span></div><br />Egypt: Islamist group blows up <b><a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/egypt-islamist-group-blows-up-gas-pipeline-in-sinai/">gas pipeline in Sinai</a></b>.<br /><br />Sudan drops parachute bombs <b><a href="http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_11/Sudan-drops-parachute-bombs-on-its-own-people-activists-1928/">on its own people – activists.</a></b><br /><br />South Sudan peace talks <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/south-sudan-peace-talks-set-open-ethiopia-135653651.html">set to open in Ethiopia</a></b>.<br /><br />Algerian military plane crashes into mountain, <b><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/11/us-algeria-crash-idUSBREA1A0YK20140211">77 killed</a></b>.<br /><br />UN: C. African Republic likely<b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2014/02/10/world/africa/ap-un-un-central-african-republic.html?ref=world"> needs more troops</a></b>.<br /><br />Hundreds of Eritreans enslaved in torture camps <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/11/eritreans-enslaved-traffickers-sudan-egypt-torture-camps">in Sudan and Egypt</a></b>.<br /><br />Flooding kills 50 in Burundi <b><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/world/africa/burundi-floods/index.html?hpt=wo_c2">after torrential rains</a></b>.<br /><br />Mali Red Cross team <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/feb/11/mali-red-cross-team-abducted-islamists-movement-oneness-jihad">'abducted by Islamists'</a></b>.<br /><br />African Nations establish council to<b><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/african-nations-establish-council-to-improve-policy-implementation/1847672.html"> improve policy implementation</a></b>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>EUROPE</b></span></div><br />Sochi Olympics 2014:<b><a href="http://winter-games.reuters.com/"> Live</a></b><br /><br />Euro election <b><a href="http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/11/euro-election-countdown-begins/">countdown begins</a></b>.<br /><br />New trove of Nazi-looted art <b><a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/177367#.UvqZgYW0ykM">found in Germany.</a></b><br /><br />Cypriot leaders seek settlement <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/peace-talks-reunite-cyprus-resume-two-break-104040519.html">'as soon as possible'</a></b>.<br /><br />Ukraine unrest overshadows <b><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-ukraine-unrest-overshadows-lviv-2022-olympic-games-bid/1847863.html">Lviv 2022 Olympic Games bid</a></b>.<br /><br />China bristling, Spain seeks to limit its judges'<b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/china-bristling-spain-seeks-limit-judges-39-international-110953178.html"> international rights powers.</a></b><br /><br />Germany warns Switzerland over <b><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/germany-warns-switzerland-over-immigration-curb-vote/story-e6frg6so-1226823259327">immigration curb vote</a></b>.<br /><br />9 Serbs jailed <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/9-serbs-jailed-kosovo-massacre-131134955.html">for Kosovo massacre</a></b>.<br /><br />UK floods: Flood-hit areas in for 'long haul',<b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26131515"> says David Cameron.</a></b><br /><br />Italy, U.S. police crack <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/italy-u-police-crack-big-mafia-drug-ring-151620287.html">big mafia drug ring</a></b>.<br /><br />US destroyer arrives in Spain <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/us-destroyer-arrives-spain-nato-shield-130418241.html">for NATO shield.</a></b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>AMERICAS</b></span></div><br />CBO Director: 'Large and growing US federal debt' <b><a href="http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/cbo-director-large-and-growing-federal-debt-could-produce-fiscal-crisis">could produce 'US fiscal crisis'</a></b>.<br /><br />Canadian government set to comfortably <b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/canadian-government-set-comfortably-balance-budget-2015-211839820--sector.html;_ylt=AgtiudW_qJzeL.gvds8V8DnQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBsMm1uODllBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwM4BHNlYwNzcg--">balance its budget by 2015</a></b>.<br /><br />Major US winter storm <b><a href="http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/02/10/major-winter-storm-targets-battered-east-coast/">‘could be biggest of the season’.</a></b><br /><br />US Congress faces scramble to <b><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/congress-faces-scramble-to-raise-debt-ceiling/1847725.html">raise debt ceiling</a></b>. <br /><br />Obama welcomes France's Hollande for<b><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-hosts-frances-hollande-for-state-visit/1848773.html"> talks at White House</a></b>.<br /><br />Mexico finds skeletal remains<b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2014/02/10/world/americas/ap-lt-mexico-violence.html?ref=world"> along US border</a></b>.<br /><br />EU agrees to launch <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-26123441">negotiations with Cuba</a></b>.<br /><br />4 Latin America economic powers<b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2014/02/10/world/americas/ap-lt-colombia-pacific-alliance.html?ref=world"> sign trade pact</a></b>.<br /><br />Honduras suspends<b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-26141335"> eight US consuls</a></b>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>TERRORISM/THE LONG WAR</b></span></div><br />Video shows U.S. military abduction by Delta Force of Libyan charged in <b><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/video-shows-u-s-military-abduction-terror-suspect-article-1.1608812">‘98 Al Qaeda embassy plot: report</a></b>.<br /><br />Pakistan Taliban readies 500 female suicide bombers, <b><a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/pakistan-taliban-readies-500-female-suicide-bombers-negotiator-says-1.266803">negotiator says</a></b>.<br /><br />Yemen hands 29 Qaeda militants <b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2014/02/11/world/middleeast/11reuters-yemen-saudi-qaeda.html?ref=world">to Saudi Arabia: Website</a></b>.<br /><br />U.S. weighs lethal strike <b><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-weighs-lethal-strike-against-american-citizen/2014/02/10/24bc47ac-9268-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.html">against American citizen</a></b>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>ECONOMY/FINANCE/BUSINESS</b></span></div><br />5 ways China's slowdown will<b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/5-ways-china-39-slowdown-ripple-across-globe-070810380--finance.html"> ripple across globe</a></b>.<br /><br />US Fed Chief sees continued cuts <b><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/us-fed-chief-sees-continued-cuts-in-economic-stimulus/1848943.html">in economic stimulus</a></b>.<br /><br />OECD admits overstating growth forecasts amid <b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/feb/11/oecd-overstating-growth-forecasts">eurozone crisis and global crash</a></b>.<br /><br />Barclays to cut <b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26131799">up to 12,000 jobs</a></b>.

World News Briefs -- February 11, 2014 (Evening Edition)

Obama And Hollande Say Trust Restored After NSA Spying -- BBC US President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande have reaffirm...

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Hospital Lapse Exposed 18 People to Deadly Brain Disease (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitALgKuOGd4O-u6I_SyIxBVznlSY0V5h5bTbswLFzGA03fK2D-xagVD0XEtAm-_WCj1GxCm3u4TZu0-Mi2igtyM23H2ei1VgRD2nawe0O5145i3ALh2bylvWQnmoPrLfYW_byKLcxcvEg/s1600/re.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitALgKuOGd4O-u6I_SyIxBVznlSY0V5h5bTbswLFzGA03fK2D-xagVD0XEtAm-_WCj1GxCm3u4TZu0-Mi2igtyM23H2ei1VgRD2nawe0O5145i3ALh2bylvWQnmoPrLfYW_byKLcxcvEg/s1600/re.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A North Carolina hospital says 18 patients were exposed to a <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/topics/lifestyle/health/creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.htm" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">rare and fatal brain disease</a> after “extra precautions should have been taken, but were not.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., said surgical tools used on a patient suspected of having <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/topics/lifestyle/health/creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.htm" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease</a> should have been subjected to “enhanced sterilization procedures” to remove CJD-linked proteins called prions. Instead, the instruments underwent the normal, less stringent sterilization process and were subsequently used in 18 neurosurgery patients, <a href="http://www.novanthealth.org/home/about-us/newsroom/news-and-information.aspx" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">according to the hospital</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Our standard procedure is to apply the enhanced sterilization process to surgical instruments that are used on any patient who is suspected or confirmed of having CJD in order to prevent possible transmission,” the hospital <a href="http://www.novanthealth.org/home/about-us/newsroom/news-and-information.aspx" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">said in a statement</a>. “There were reasons to suspect that this patient might have had CJD. As such, the extra precautions should have been taken, but were not.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">CJD is extremely rare, affecting one in a million people worldwide per year, according to <a href="http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/cjd/detail_cjd.htm" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the National Institutes of Health</a>. It’s believed to be caused by abnormal prion proteins that lead to a sponge-like pattern of holes in the brain.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Most CJD cases are sporadic, meaning they arise in people with no known risk factors. But up to 10 percent of cases are hereditary, according to the NIH, and 1 percent of them are acquired through contact with contaminated brain tissue.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“The risk to these individuals is remote,” Dr. Jim Lederer, the hospital’s vice president of clinical improvement, said in a statement. “However, we cannot say there is no risk and therefore it is our obligation to notify patients and provide them with information and support. Our first concern is for our patients who are recovering from surgery and may now need additional support.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">CJD can be diagnosed only through an autopsy, but symptoms like memory loss, behavioral changes, lack of coordination and visual disturbances should raise red flags. Over time, these early symptoms give way to involuntary movements, blindness, weakness and coma. There’s no cure, and about 90 percent of patients die within a year, according to the NIH.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The North Carolina warning comes five months after 15 neurosurgery patients were exposed to CJD in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ABC</div>

Hospital Lapse Exposed 18 People to Deadly Brain Disease (BLOG)

A North Carolina hospital says 18 patients were exposed to a  rare and fatal brain disease  after “extra precautions should have been taken,...

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Where's the 9 MILLION POUNDS of RECALLED MEAT?

<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Where's the beef? </span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3JefeFxP_2iT32f6Z5sMPm_KKKUVGOEuuYfzcKUvrc_9BQfPRSrJUuBDVvkh1BAGUm0xjysin7iQrUwjHltGZK-b8RlMZnIEvy-BEnrk0sltfR7YvbuR9x-vkpGT80PnLZv2WqGJi2wY/s1600/BeefMeatPIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3JefeFxP_2iT32f6Z5sMPm_KKKUVGOEuuYfzcKUvrc_9BQfPRSrJUuBDVvkh1BAGUm0xjysin7iQrUwjHltGZK-b8RlMZnIEvy-BEnrk0sltfR7YvbuR9x-vkpGT80PnLZv2WqGJi2wY/s1600/BeefMeatPIC.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The government took it UNDERGROUND</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Supplying the D.U.M.B. OPERATION</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>We all heard the FDA intercepted 9 MILLION pounds of beef that was deemed UNFIT FOR HUMAN FOOD.  Where did it go?  Some say it went to supply the Deep Underground Military Bases.  In fact that's where many MISSING PERSONS end up as prisoners:</b><br /><b><a href="http://www.stevequayle.com/index.php?s=33&d=799" style="color: red;">http://www.stevequayle.com/index.php?s=33&d=799</a> </b><br /><br /><b>ORIGINAL STORY:</b><br /><b><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2014/02/usda-recalls-9-million-pounds-of-meat.html" style="color: red;">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2014/02/usda-recalls-9-million-pounds-of-meat.html</a> </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>...developing...</b></div>

Where's the 9 MILLION POUNDS of RECALLED MEAT?

Where's the beef? The government took it UNDERGROUND Supplying the D.U.M.B. OPERATION We all heard the FDA intercepted 9 MILLION pounds ...

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GOLD and SILVER prices and the coming SHORT SQUEEZE

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Investors watching GOLD and SILVER closely</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOje9suxhSxQNiG2CCvQ4RNTn_PZNVJQWilvahXsUfoCFbu-SzKJd_jquGc1zbfM0OpQEPKzEI5KglYw2fh7COP1BKfkZuZG9kQHRoW5ULuWoBA6vx-RY6Ke_InCNR_k9wzgoAmSHRI_s/s1600/GoldSilverBARS.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOje9suxhSxQNiG2CCvQ4RNTn_PZNVJQWilvahXsUfoCFbu-SzKJd_jquGc1zbfM0OpQEPKzEI5KglYw2fh7COP1BKfkZuZG9kQHRoW5ULuWoBA6vx-RY6Ke_InCNR_k9wzgoAmSHRI_s/s1600/GoldSilverBARS.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Charts setting up for MASSIVE SHORT SQUEEZE</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Massive $400 spike in GOLD imminent: </b><br /><b><a href="http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2014/2/11_Short_Squeeze_Set_To_Fuel_Massive_$400_Spike_In_Gold.html" style="color: red;">http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2014/2/11_Short_Squeeze_Set_To_Fuel_Massive_$400_Spike_In_Gold.html</a></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>RELATED LINKS:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2014/02/silver-price-set-to-rise-toward-100.html" style="color: red;">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2014/02/silver-price-set-to-rise-toward-100.html</a></b><br /><br /><b>...developing... </b></div>

GOLD and SILVER prices and the coming SHORT SQUEEZE

Investors watching GOLD and SILVER closely Charts setting up for MASSIVE SHORT SQUEEZE Massive $400 spike in GOLD imminent: http://kingworld...

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Stephen Leeb expects $2,000 to $2,500 GOLD soon

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>GOLD setting up for a MAJOR SURGE</b></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-n5uSMStWB7I3AdAQ9R4fJBXW3JcDAuxrBuk_ar5LGJPI7TVXBVqMc9C2hXJVlaTbnkFE6X-jUOfncxsxT3CHpgZfKfz2MG5GKxfTIXc7fSic_pJuptHS5c-7Vfy17oGw4Pe8Q5dnOI/s1600/gold_coins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-n5uSMStWB7I3AdAQ9R4fJBXW3JcDAuxrBuk_ar5LGJPI7TVXBVqMc9C2hXJVlaTbnkFE6X-jUOfncxsxT3CHpgZfKfz2MG5GKxfTIXc7fSic_pJuptHS5c-7Vfy17oGw4Pe8Q5dnOI/s1600/gold_coins.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>$2,000 to $2,500 GOLD</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSa8arwFJN4UOFLGDhe3jQRk5XsyoYFtLrbeNNQ9AqRvs-qo2-sZnlL5kN_PGsPf6C-XWBrhtF19GGfNWrBCrkUYaY2neF2yC1u77_2plsRKEvSLzvzrpwiRzvDYYTfiTf1dSHablVbPo/s1600/StephenLeebPIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSa8arwFJN4UOFLGDhe3jQRk5XsyoYFtLrbeNNQ9AqRvs-qo2-sZnlL5kN_PGsPf6C-XWBrhtF19GGfNWrBCrkUYaY2neF2yC1u77_2plsRKEvSLzvzrpwiRzvDYYTfiTf1dSHablVbPo/s1600/StephenLeebPIC.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b><a href="http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2014/2/11_Leeb_-_The_Gold_Market_Is_Setting_Up_For_A_Major_Surge.html" style="color: red;">http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2014/2/11_Leeb_-_The_Gold_Market_Is_Setting_Up_For_A_Major_Surge.html</a></b><br /><br /><b>...developing...</b>

Stephen Leeb expects $2,000 to $2,500 GOLD soon

GOLD setting up for a MAJOR SURGE $2,000 to $2,500 GOLD http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2014/2/11_Leeb_-_The_Gol...

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GOLD approaching $1,300 level

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-uzshqoGYOL8iY9Gfjh4lnJDLth91laNOWkt9Q9mpWfQVZ2rJKCMSzBDZbikD1myy3ikUgvoh8dHDb_Ru4j_zeckULQaOjfFm278a1agw558_mpZliM7Cj26Fp0fVLBCwnmWqxVDe0Q/s1600/GOLDmapleleafrolls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-uzshqoGYOL8iY9Gfjh4lnJDLth91laNOWkt9Q9mpWfQVZ2rJKCMSzBDZbikD1myy3ikUgvoh8dHDb_Ru4j_zeckULQaOjfFm278a1agw558_mpZliM7Cj26Fp0fVLBCwnmWqxVDe0Q/s1600/GOLDmapleleafrolls.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3_JGOlBjrM4?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe></div>

GOLD approaching $1,300 level

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New Footage Shows Suicide Attack Of British Citizen In Syria (Video)

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sG-KgxP9-c4" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br /><b>Previous Post:</b> <a href="http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.ca/2014/02/it-was-british-rebel-fighter-that-led.html">It Was A British Rebel Fighter That Led The Suicide Attack Against Aleppo Central Prison</a>

New Footage Shows Suicide Attack Of British Citizen In Syria (Video)

Previous Post: It Was A British Rebel Fighter That Led The Suicide Attack Against Aleppo Central Prison

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Person of Interest Identified in 39-Year-Old Lyon Sisters Cold Case (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn13z4LOp3gWpoTEdvvHoVwNYEPFCEa-JZns64fzr1rVappDs0ZeXROgOYe7Qb4ttN7c86wSCuhfLcI5IGbS55qQa7Q5ONcQhHLtyWAytJMRyFXhJBfWGDyyr9swbQc0kQpTxnOGsjuwA/s1600/ly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn13z4LOp3gWpoTEdvvHoVwNYEPFCEa-JZns64fzr1rVappDs0ZeXROgOYe7Qb4ttN7c86wSCuhfLcI5IGbS55qQa7Q5ONcQhHLtyWAytJMRyFXhJBfWGDyyr9swbQc0kQpTxnOGsjuwA/s1600/ly.jpg" width="231" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A “drifter” by the name of Lloyd Lee Welch, Jr. was identified today by Maryland police as a person of interest in the 1975 disappearance of two sisters from a Montgomery County shopping mall.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Welch, also known as Michael or Mike Welch, was at Wheaton Plaza on the day Sheila Lyon, 12, and her 10-year-old sister Katherine vanished and was observed “paying close attention” to the girls, authorities said at a news conference.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Welch was employed by a traveling carnival company as a ride operator at the time, police said, and has multiple convictions for sexual offenses against young girls and has been incarcerated since 1997 in Delaware for one of these offenses.</div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px auto 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="HT lyon sisters tk 140211 16x9 608 Person of Interest Identified in 39 Year Old Lyon Sisters Cold Case" height="342" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/HT_lyon_sisters_tk_140211_16x9_608.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Katherine, left, and Sheila Lyon vanished 39 years ago from a Maryland shopping center." width="608" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border-bottom-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-family: proxima-nova, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 10px 5px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 468px;">Katherine, left, and Sheila Lyon vanished 39 years ago from a Maryland shopping center.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Police are hoping to find more information about Welch, who was considered a “drifter” and was in roughly “two dozen locations” from 1974 through 1997, including the Washington, D.C., area; North Miami Beach, Fla.; Los Angeles; Sioux City, Iowa; and multiple locations in South Carolina, police said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">News of the abduction rocked the community in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. It sparked several false leads, but the case went cold. Welch is the first significant person of interest in the 39-year-old case, police said.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“When we went back over all of the information that was accumulated at the time of the occurrence, looking at it with fresh eyes, having the ability to look at folks that we had established were at the scene and looking at where some of these folks are now, that was the lead that we were looking for,” said Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Major.</div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px auto 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="HT welch jr loyd lee tk 140211 4x3 608 Person of Interest Identified in 39 Year Old Lyon Sisters Cold Case" height="456" src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/HT_welch_jr_loyd_lee_tk_140211_4x3_608.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Montgomery County Police mugshot of Lloyd Welch, 1977. He has been incarcerated since 1997. (Courtesy Montgomery County Department of Police)" width="608" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; border-bottom-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); border-bottom-style: solid; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; font-family: proxima-nova, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 10px 5px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 468px;">Montgomery County Police mugshot of Lloyd Welch, 1977. He has been incarcerated since 1997. (Courtesy Montgomery County Department of Police)</div></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Authorities are hoping that additional information on Welch’s past may be able to connect Welch to the Lyon’s disappearance. They urged anyone with tips to call (800) CALL-FBI or visit <a href="https://tips.fbi.gov/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #2e538f; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">fbi.gov</a>.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“We need everyone who may know something to come forward. Regardless of how insignificant it might seem, it might be enough to put the pieces of this puzzle together,” said Steve Vogt, Special Agent in Charge of Maryland for the FBI.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“We know we’re asking for people to remember things they may not want to think about. It’s not easy to come forward if you’ve been assaulted or if you know someone who has,” Vogt said. “You may have tried to put it behind you, but the information you provide can help lead us to information about what happened to Sheila and Katherine. They deserve justice, and the family deserves closure, just as you do.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Police are also looking for additional information on Welch’s longtime girlfriend, Helen Craver, now deceased, as well as any security guards from the Westfield Plaza shopping center who may be able to provide additional details.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In a statement released today, the Lyon family said, “March 25<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span> will mark 39 years since Kate and Sheila were taken from our family. Throughout these years, our hopes for a resolution of this mystery have been sustained by support and efforts of countless members of law enforcement, the news media, and the community. The fact that so many people still care about this case means a great deal to us. We are grateful for any information the public can provide to help bring this story to its conclusion and ask that the family’s privacy be respected during this time.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The girls’ father, John Lyon, once a prominent radio personality at WMAL, is now a victims’ advocate. Their brother, Jay Lyon, 15 years old at the time, became a detective with the Montgomery County Police.</div>

Person of Interest Identified in 39-Year-Old Lyon Sisters Cold Case (BLOG)

A “drifter” by the name of Lloyd Lee Welch, Jr. was identified today by Maryland police as a person of interest in the 1975 disappearance of...

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Our Economy Distilled (Musical Tribute)

The following chart shows the annual change in beer, wine, and distilled alcoholic beverage wholesalers' sales.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUohV3YqCJWNhuR3Kfv2kv6y6WgIebbrBZya4A5YPZEh475TR3BUdmoiZTdqHAXLrz2RqCD5MzGlOGvRcJNjVd4DKAiDCTMwZ6QBCyBk3bGdWKQg2Xmb3vjVlDCBFR3ermK0dNWfIozo/s1600/The+Declining+Party+Ceiling.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUohV3YqCJWNhuR3Kfv2kv6y6WgIebbrBZya4A5YPZEh475TR3BUdmoiZTdqHAXLrz2RqCD5MzGlOGvRcJNjVd4DKAiDCTMwZ6QBCyBk3bGdWKQg2Xmb3vjVlDCBFR3ermK0dNWfIozo/s320/The+Declining+Party+Ceiling.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />Don't let the trend line concern you. As seen in the next chart, I assure you that we are more than prepared to throw a legendary party!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUeOrSQR08eLK3OyalUH7RghRdG3S5cqfYdwrZluDYHbYWYmC25gk59YOUeepeP5mhe6fDnPecztGruawxnFqekSI-scGFB4q07gS1W6uaFQaF3zqHXlHJQRmgcwkIMtCltf-h8pwZwAg/s1600/Party+Preparations.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUeOrSQR08eLK3OyalUH7RghRdG3S5cqfYdwrZluDYHbYWYmC25gk59YOUeepeP5mhe6fDnPecztGruawxnFqekSI-scGFB4q07gS1W6uaFQaF3zqHXlHJQRmgcwkIMtCltf-h8pwZwAg/s320/Party+Preparations.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />Just look at all that inventory accumulation. Yes, sir. Somebody must know something. The party's definitely coming!<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/MGUWx3ocSdA" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>Saturday night - high<br />Saturday night - high 'n' dry<br />Saturday night - I'm high<br />Saturday night - high 'n' dry</i></div><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=rZP">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart #1</a><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=rZQ">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart #2</a>

Our Economy Distilled (Musical Tribute)

The following chart shows the annual change in beer, wine, and distilled alcoholic beverage wholesalers' sales. Click to enlarge. Don...

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Beware of YOU TUBE con artists

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Tacos' take on today's market news</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/QK2gfaz1hNY?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe></div>

Beware of YOU TUBE con artists

Tacos' take on today's market news

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Police: Heroin Sold In Pa. McDonald's Happy Meals (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgprwtFqt0-vgkbcwPzGsW_21Y9ebBRdoRwgsxAxEbTt_xer1v7Fd73jbYX1mMhJdKHPbdFv3nyErkuHi9uaR27m5jrR1oIH_I_a6r-A4euVfbl0g0WjD-h9Mj8bG-HW5xZJz5HR8L_V0M/s1600/24586582_SA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgprwtFqt0-vgkbcwPzGsW_21Y9ebBRdoRwgsxAxEbTt_xer1v7Fd73jbYX1mMhJdKHPbdFv3nyErkuHi9uaR27m5jrR1oIH_I_a6r-A4euVfbl0g0WjD-h9Mj8bG-HW5xZJz5HR8L_V0M/s1600/24586582_SA.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">A woman accused of hiding heroin in Happy Meals and selling them from a Pittsburgh drive-thru has been "emotionally crushed" by the allegations, her defense attorney said Tuesday, though he stopped short of denying the charges.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Defense attorney David Shrager said Tuesday's preliminary hearing for Shantia Dennis, 26, was postponed so Allegheny County prosecutors can get back crime lab tests on the alleged drugs.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Dennis was arrested Jan. 29 after police said they caught her selling 10 doses of heroin hidden inside a Happy Meal to a confidential informant for $80. Dennis would sell the drugs to drive-thru customers who called her ahead of time and uttered the code words, "I'd like to order a toy," police said.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">"She is a single mother of two children, she's in her mid-20s and she's struggling like a lot of people in our economy now," Shrager told The Associated Press. "Certainly, if the allegations are correct, a transaction like this would net a person no more than $10 or $15."</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">"The allegations are disturbing and she's emotionally crushed by them," Shrager said. As to the truth of the allegation, Shrager said, "I'm still investigating it at this point."</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Dennis, of East Pittsburgh, must return to court April 9 for the hearing to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to send the case to trial.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">County prosecutors don't believe the McDonalds franchisee who owned the restaurant knew about the alleged drug dealing. That man, Iftikhar Malik, has declined to comment beyond a statement he released the day of Dennis' arrest.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">"As an employer and a member of the community, the safety of our guests and employees is our first priority," Malik's statement said. "The allegations related to this employee do not represent acceptable behaviors and are not consistent with my values."</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Malik also pledged to cooperate with the investigation.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">Dennis was arrested after an informant accompanied by a police officer called Dennis and ordered the "toy." The informant paid Dennis $82 and received the $2 meal along with 10 stamp bags — or individual doses — of heroin, according to a criminal complaint.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">When Dennis was arrested, police found the buy money — the serial numbers of which were recorded before the deal — plus another $80 and a small amount of marijuana, the complaint said. Police said they also found 50 more stamp bags of heroin in her purse.</div><div itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: proxima-nova, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 22px; padding: 0px;">The charges received wider attention because authorities have been trying to trace the source of fentanyl-laced heroin being blamed for 22 fatal overdoses in and around Pittsburgh in recent weeks. The drugs allegedly linked to Dennis don't fit that profile.</div>

Police: Heroin Sold In Pa. McDonald's Happy Meals (BLOG)

A woman accused of hiding heroin in Happy Meals and selling them from a Pittsburgh drive-thru has been "emotionally crushed" by th...

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Clarence Thomas: Society is overly sensitive about race (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjM-HJMGX9jASExGwboxBKNs17PjlM-2swctGItMRDUizUlO2DJ0y5yo1aa3yxZTGBsU8AaYKy55rBN_X8ALX8_N54MXYVgG_TLx28Kdo4O8ml9ewzXGkA_kUX2yMXV_ApBcM-s9AxQrI/s1600/cc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjM-HJMGX9jASExGwboxBKNs17PjlM-2swctGItMRDUizUlO2DJ0y5yo1aa3yxZTGBsU8AaYKy55rBN_X8ALX8_N54MXYVgG_TLx28Kdo4O8ml9ewzXGkA_kUX2yMXV_ApBcM-s9AxQrI/s1600/cc.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px;">Americans today are too sensitive about race, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas told a gathering of college students in Florida on Tuesday.</span><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392153691664_3038" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Speaking at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla., Thomas<strong>, </strong>the second black justice to serve on the court, lamented what he considers a society that is more “conscious” of racial differences than it was when he grew up in segregated Georgia in the days before — and during — the civil rights era.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392153691664_3063" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“My sadness is that we are probably today more race and difference-conscious than I was in the 1960s when I went to school. To my knowledge, I was the first black kid in Savannah, Georgia<strong>,</strong> to go to a white school. Rarely did the issue of race come up,” Thomas said during a chapel service hosted by the nondenominational Christian university. “Now, name a day it doesn’t come up. Differences in race, differences in sex, somebody doesn’t look at you right, somebody says something. Everybody is sensitive. If I had been as sensitive as that in the 1960s, I’d still be in Savannah. Every person in this room has endured a slight. Every person. Somebody has said something that has hurt their feelings or did something to them — left them out.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392153691664_3073" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“That’s a part of the deal,” he added.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392153691664_3083" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Thomas spent his childhood in a place and time in which businesses and government services were legally segregated. In his 2007 memoir, "<a data-rapid_p="10" href="http://www.amazon.com/My-Grandfathers-Son-A-Memoir/dp/B003H4RB8K" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">My Grandfather's Son</a>," he described his experience growing up as an African-American Catholic in Georgia during the Jim Crow era. “I was a two-fer for the Klan,” he said.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Thomas moved north from Georgia and graduated from Yale Law School in 1974. He went on to a successful judicial career that took him all the way to the Supreme Court. Thomas’ views on constitutional issues usually put him on the conservative side of the court, where he has penned opinions intended to rein in affirmative-action laws and overhaul a section of the Civil Rights Act that requires states with histories of discrimination to seek approval from the federal government before altering voting policies.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Throughout his career, Thomas said, he has experienced more instances of discrimination and poor treatment in the North than the South.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“The worst I have been treated was by northern liberal elites. The absolute worst I have ever been treated,” Thomas said. “The worst things that have been done to me, the worst things that have been said about me, by northern liberal elites, not by the people of Savannah, Georgia.”</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">As one of six Catholics on the court, Thomas also addressed the role his faith plays in his work as a justice.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392153691664_3097" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">“I quite frankly don’t know how you do these hard jobs without some faith. I don’t know. Other people can come to you and explain it to you. I have no idea," he said. "I don’t know how an oath becomes meaningful unless you have faith. Because at the end you say, ‘So help me God.’ And a promise to God is different from a promise to anyone else."</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392153691664_3112" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><em>Disclosure:</em> <em>Chris Moody is a graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic University. </em></div>

Clarence Thomas: Society is overly sensitive about race (BLOG)

Americans today are too sensitive about race, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas told a gathering of college students in Florida on Tuesd...

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Syrian Peace Talks Are Deadlocked

<div style="text-align: center;"><object data="http://www.reuters.com/resources_v2/flash/video_embed.swf?videoId=276813744&edition=BETAUS" height="259" id="rcomVideo_276813744" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="460"> <param name='movie' value='http://www.reuters.com/resources_v2/flash/video_embed.swf?videoId=276813744&edition=BETAUS'></param><param name='allowFullScreen' value='true'></param><param name='allowScriptAccess' value='always'></param><param name='wmode' value='transparent'></param><embed src='http://www.reuters.com/resources_v2/flash/video_embed.swf?videoId=276813744&edition=BETAUS' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' allowfullscreen='true' allowScriptAccess='always' width='460' height='259' wmode='transparent'></embed> </object></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Syrian Talks Adjourn With Discord -- Voice of America</b></span></div><br />U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi says peace talks between delegates from the Syrian government and opposition to President Bashar al-Assad are laborious and not making much progress<br /><br />Tuesday's meeting in Geneva was the second day of a new round of talks aimed at getting the parties to negotiate an end to nearly three years of fighting and set up a transitional government.<br /><br />During a press conference, Brahimi said they are doing their best to make the process "take off," saying cooperation is needed from both sides, as well as, outside parties.<br /><br />"The beginning of this week is as laborious as it was in the first week. We are not making much progress," he said.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/syrian-sides-meet-for-joint-peace-talks/1848748.html">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More News On The Syrian Peace Talks Being Deadlocked</b></span></div><br /><a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/2/11/no-early-progressfromnewroundofsyriapeacetalks.html">No progress from new round of Syria peace talks</a> -- Al Jazeera<br /><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2014-02-11/us-russian-diplomats-may-meet-syria-delegates">Syrian peace talks appear bogged down, no progress</a> -- AP<br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/11/us-syria-crisis-talks-idUSBREA1A0QX20140211">Syria peace talks make little progress, says envoy</a> -- Reuters<br /><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jllFclV6n08YP4Dr--XPw1T8rs1A?docId=24e9ae57-2596-4527-a5b7-d2d8119e2747">Syria talks 'laborious': UN envoy </a>-- AFP<br /><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/un-negotiator-says-syria-peace-talks-making-little-progress/1848934.html">UN Negotiator says Syria Peace Talks Making Little Progress </a>-- Voice of America<br /><a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47120&Cr=&Cr1=#.UvqBy4W0ykM">Renewed Syrian peace talks make little progress as concern rises for detained evacuees – UN </a>-- UN News Centre<br /><a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Feb-11/247017-geneva-peace-talks-will-fail-in-current-situation-syria-minister.ashx#axzz2sxRrfc9B">Warnings of failure as Syria talks deadlocked</a> -- Daily Star/AFP

Syrian Peace Talks Are Deadlocked

Syrian Talks Adjourn With Discord -- Voice of America U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi says peace talks between delegates from the S...

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Top U.S. Intel Chief: Iran Will Have ICBMs By 2015

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/55DbpfI5zbE" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Intel Chief: Iran Will Have ICBM By 2015 -- Washington Free Beacon</b></span></div><br />Iran will have inter-continental ballistic missiles by 2015, a top intelligence official told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday.<br /><br />“I think when the Chairman [of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] talked about our assessment being in the 2015 timeframe, given the development that we’ve seen, that’s accurate,” Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn told Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) at the hearing.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://freebeacon.com/intel-chief-iran-will-have-icbm-by-2015/">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><b>My Comment</b>: And the next question is .... what payload will these missiles be carrying?

Top U.S. Intel Chief: Iran Will Have ICBMs By 2015

Intel Chief: Iran Will Have ICBM By 2015 -- Washington Free Beacon Iran will have inter-continental ballistic missiles by 2015, a top intell...

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Gladiator heads? Mystery of British skulls solved (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0mUkPV75ItRc927NoNiPDTBt8MocgUhLVT0WcAPFqT_BuUk3eMTsP1wkg7JDpmY__NKrF5AG4OF9ugcN9qqEyNwCqhNGo5Pmgd0x-P0vVFf7gEvIc-oPJlTxO3ftmjP8gag4dFf5eZek/s1600/1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0mUkPV75ItRc927NoNiPDTBt8MocgUhLVT0WcAPFqT_BuUk3eMTsP1wkg7JDpmY__NKrF5AG4OF9ugcN9qqEyNwCqhNGo5Pmgd0x-P0vVFf7gEvIc-oPJlTxO3ftmjP8gag4dFf5eZek/s1600/1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A trove of skulls and other body parts unearthed in the heart of London may have once belonged to Roman gladiators, war captives or criminals, a new study suggests.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The remains, described in the January issue of the <i style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Journal of Archaeological Science,</i> belonged to about 40 men, mostly ages 25 to 35, and were marred by violence: cheek fractures, blunt-force trauma to the head, <a href="http://www.livescience.com/39219-can-severed-head-live.html" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px;" target="_blank">decapitation</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; max-width: 480px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /> and injuries from sharp weapons, said study co-author Rebecca Redfern, a curator and bioarchaeologist at the Museum of London. [<a href="http://www.livescience.com/43192-images-british-gladiator-skulls.html" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px;" target="_blank">In Images: Skulls of the Gladiators and War Captives</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; max-width: 480px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />]</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Old find</strong>Great Britain's ancient cities are littered with archaeological treasures, many of which are often dug up accidentally prior to construction. For instance, in 2013, the burial site of <a href="http://www.livescience.com/topics/king-richard-iii/" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px;" target="_blank">King Richard III</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; max-width: 480px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />was found under a parking lot in Leicester, England, and in April 2013, a medieval knight's tomb was uncovered under a Scottish parking lot.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The new site was excavated in 1988 prior to construction, and the skulls and remains of 40 people, along with scrap leather, were found at a marshy site in a pit.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">During the <a href="http://www.livescience.com/29498-plague-helped-destroy-roman-empire.html" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px;" target="_blank">Roman period</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; max-width: 480px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />, the area, near the London Wall, was filled with small timber workshops where shoemakers toiled. The site was also close to an amphitheater, and because of its proximity to a stream, it had religious and ritual purposes as well, Redfern said.</div><div class="aside-block" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-width: 2px 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 10px 0px 10px 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 180px;"><blockquote style="border: 0px none; color: black; font-family: lora, georgia; font-size: 20px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 11px 0px 14px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;">'One of [the skulls] had a beetle-wing case up its nose.'</blockquote><div style="background-position: 0px 50%; border: 0px none; color: #666666; font-family: arial; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;">- Rebecca Redfern, a curator and bioarchaeologist at the Museum of London</div></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Due to a lack of funding, the skulls were never thoroughly analyzed but were instead taken to the Museum of London, where they languished for decades.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Second look</strong>But after Redfern was tasked with clearing out the backlog of items in the museum's collection, she did a more thorough analysis.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Originally, Redfern and colleague Heather Bonney, an earth scientist at the Natural History Museum in London, assumed the skulls had washed up from a nearby cemetery after river flooding. But most cemeteries hold bodies of people who died at different ages, whereas these remains belonged to young men who bore marks of extreme violence.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By measuring the isotopes of carbon (atoms of carbon with different numbers of neutrons), in nearby pottery shards, the team concluded that the men died between A.D. 120 and 160. Because radioactive carbon decays at a reliable rate, the proportion of radioactive carbon relative to other forms of carbon can reveal how old an object is.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Further analysis led them to conclude that the remains were put into a shallow pit that was deliberately dug outside a shoemaker's shop.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The ages and evidence of trauma suggest the Roman-era remains once belonged to gladiators, executed criminals or war captives.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Display and discard</strong>In Roman-era England, it was common for headhunters to collect "trophies" from war captives: For instance, <a href="http://www.livescience.com/24460-hadrians-wall.html" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px;" target="_blank">Hadrian's Wall</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; max-width: 480px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /> was spiked with the heads of enemy soldiers.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"If you were considered to be a barbarian, [the Roman warriors] didn't actually regard you as human," Redfern told Live Science. "You were subhuman."</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So the Romans ironically saw the displaying of barbarian,<a href="http://www.livescience.com/39219-can-severed-head-live.html" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px;" target="_blank">decapitated heads</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; max-width: 480px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /> "as an expression of military power and the force of civilization," Redfern said.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Political criminals and gladiators were also decapitated, likely in the nearby amphitheater.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The team hypothesized that battle-scarred men may have had their heads on display for a while, and the remains were subsequently deposited into the pit.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"One of [the skulls] had a beetle-wing case up its nose," Redfern said. As the beetle type only lives in shallow, stagnant water, the skulls must have been sitting in the pit for a while, she said.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"It must have just stunk," Redfern said.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div>

Gladiator heads? Mystery of British skulls solved (BLOG)

A trove of skulls and other body parts unearthed in the heart of London may have once belonged to Roman gladiators, war captives or criminal...

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