Link: http://news.antiwar.com/2010/02/03/blair-us-govt-can-kill-citizens-overseas-as-part-of-defined-policy/

In testimony before the House Intelligence Committee today, National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told representatives that American citizens can be assassinated by the US government when they are oveseas.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/f253-f03.shtml

A hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security revealed that US intelligence agencies stopped the State Department from revoking the US visa of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, allowing him to board Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/afpk-f03.shtml

CIA drone missiles attacks claimed the lives of 123 civilians last month alone in Pakistan, while on the other side of the border, US Special Forces have launched an assassination campaign against alleged leaders of Afghanistan’s Taliban movement.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/pers-f03.shtml

There is one overriding message in the budget proposal released by the Obama administration Monday: American capitalism is in decline and faces national bankruptcy.

Link: http://www.uruknet.info/index.php?p=m62881&hd=&size=1&l=e

A recent poll has revealed more than half of Israelis approve of another attack on Gaza. That's despite widespread international condemnation of last year's offensive which killed more than 1300 Palestinians. It comes as recent Goldstone Gaza report said Israel committed war crimes, and there've been many claims of the use of banned weapons.

Link: http://www.truthout.org/jim-hightower-republicans-out-touch-middle-class-sinks56622

American politics is a hoot! Where else can raw ignorance rise to such high places -- and then flaunt itself shamelessly for all to see?
For example, who needs Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien for comic relief, when we've got Andre Bauer? He's the Lieutenant governor of South Carolina (a state, by the way, that really is a comer on the political comedy circuit -- especially after Gov. Mark Sanford's madcap schtick last year involving his disappearance, the Appalachian Trail and an Argentine mistress.

Link: http://rawstory.com/2010/02/consumer-groups-volcker-rule-most-important-financial-reform-initiative/

As the Senate debates financial reform, consumer groups are urging Congress to break up the biggest banks and impose strict limits on proprietary lending, virtually guaranteeing a "repeat" of the 2008 meltdown if those actions aren't taken. The two components comprise the "Volcker rule" for financial reform, named after former Fed chairman Paul Volcker, who proposed them. President Obama has backed it, citing Volcker as a key ally.

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703338504575041663923952520.html

Bank of America Corp. approved more than $4 billion in 2009 pay for its investment bankers and traders, meaning those workers will collect an average of $300,000 to $500,000 for the year, according to a person familiar with the matter. The payout represents about 19% of the roughly $23 billion in revenue generated by investment-banking and capital-markets activities, this person said. The 2009 average will be close to what the bank paid during its peak compensation year of 2006, this person said. The ratio of bonuses to total revenue was 27% during that year, with investment bankers and traders receiving a total of $6.5 billion.

Link: http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17378

The recent election in Massachusetts of Republican Scott Brown to the Senate was a seminal event. It ended the Democratic administration’s ability to ram through legislation. It changed the game. The locomotive hit the bunter.

Link: http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=12090

A high-ranking officer has acknowledged for the first time that the Israeli army went beyond its previous rules of engagement on the protection of civilian lives in order to minimise military casualties during last year's Gaza war, The Independent can reveal.

Link: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50204

European governments failed to help along an international treaty to stop global warming at the United Nations climate change summit in December, but their engineering and power industries see business opportunities in renewable energy sources and their smart management.

Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts02032010.html

Is the financial crisis over? Is the recovery for real and, if not, what are Americans’ prospects? The short answer is that the financial crisis is not over, the recovery is not real, and the U.S. faces a far worse crisis than the financial one. Here is the situation as I understand it: The global crisis is understood as a banking crisis brought on by mindless deregulation of the U.S. financial arena. Investment banks leveraged assets to highly irresponsible levels, issued questionable financial instruments with fraudulent investment grade ratings, and issued the instruments through direct sales to customers rather than through markets.

Link: http://wire.antiwar.com/2010/02/03/3-us-soldiers-die-in-blast-near-pakistan-school/

A roadside bomb killed 3 U.S. soldiers and flattened a girls' school in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday in an attack that drew attention to a little-publicized American military training mission in the al-Qaida and Taliban heartland. They were the first known U.S. military fatalities in Pakistan's lawless tribal regions near the Afghan border, and a major victory for militants who have been hit hard by a surge of U.S. missile strikes and a major Pakistani army offensive.

Link: http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showthread.php?t=102089

Time Magazine has enthusiastically jumped on the bandwagon to back Microsoft executive Craig Mundie’s call for Internet licensing, as authorities push for a system even more stifling than in Communist China, where only people with government permission would be allowed to express free speech.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/02/201023904968849.html

Tehran has successfully launched a probe into space - with two turtles, a hamster and a worm on board. The Islamic republic also plans to unveil three new satellites on Wednesday - all part its ambitious independent space programme - which coincides with celebrations of the country's 31st Islamic revolution anniversary.

Link: http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1332.htm

A grim (Grim? Fantastically hopeful...) report given to President Medvedev today by Finance Minister of the Russian Federation Alexei Kudrin is stating that the private European banking conglomerate known as the United States Federal Reserve System, that basically rules over the finances of America, has given a “shock warning” to President Obama that they do not intend to renew the charter granted to them in 1913 by the US Congress and is set to expire on December 21, 2012, which (coincidentally?) is also the exact date that the controversial Mayan Calendar predicts will be the ending of our present age. Those who control the Federal Reserve System would never dream of releasing their cash cow country of slaves from eternal debt bondage.

Link: http://www.redress.cc:80/palestine/jcook20100203

Leaders of the Arab minority in Israel have warned that they are facing an unprecedented campaign of persecution, backed by the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu, designed to stop their political activities. The warning came after Said Nafaa, a Druze member of the Israeli parliament, was stripped of his immunity last week, clearing the way for him to be tried for a visit to Syria three years ago. In recent weeks legal sanctions have been invoked against two other Arab political leaders, following clashes with the Israeli security forces at demonstrations against the occupation, and pressure is growing for two more MPs to be investigated.