Link: http://www.ksby.com/news/karl-rove-makes-controversial-trip-to-ucsb/

Karl Rove makes a controversial stop on the Central Coast. The former deputy chief of staff and senior advisor to President Bush spoke at UC Santa Barbara tonight. Rove's visit to UCSB definitely polarized the campus community. Rove spoke for about an hour and a half inside Campbell Hall, but he wasn't the only one having his voice heard. The protestors were out early and often. Many were upset with the fact that more than $14,000 in student fees were used to help pay for the $31,000 visit. Others were just upset with what he stands for. "He's the one that helped Bush and Cheney in the war in Iraq, spread lies, and killing all the Americans in Iraq," Leoncio Mertins said as he protested the event.

Link: http://america-hijacked.com:80/2010/02/26/ahmadinejad-did-not-threaten-to-wipe-israel-off-the-map/

This is a very important video that all Americans should see because it would show them how the media lies to them and manipulates the way they think. They are convinced that there are threats and enemies that don’t exist in reality.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/usec-f26.shtml

First-time jobless benefit claims last week rose to their highest level since the week ending November 14, according to the US Labor Department. The new jobless benefit numbers, together with other data, show that there is no economic recovery for the broad ranks of American workers.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/02/201022618258686515.html

The United States is planning to launch a military offensive in Afghanistan's Kandahar city following the military operation to drive Taliban fighters out of the town of Marjah in Helmand province, a senior US official has said.

Link: http://www.truthout.org/americas-public-debt-the-least-our-worries57233

Various political demagogues and Wall Street interests have mounted a campaign to convince Americans that despite persistent massive unemployment for the foreseeable future, more than 15 million people underwater on their home mortgages, and two unnecessary wars, what we really should be worried about is America's national debt.

Link: http://rawstory.com/2010/02/woolsey-public-option/

A leading progressive in the House of Representatives insisted Friday that the public option fight is "not over" but signaled that its ostensible removal from the final package won't necessarily strip the votes of liberal Democrats in the chamber.

Link: http://www.hiddenmysteries.net/gltest/article.php?story=20100226233614796

Once this fact becomes common knowledge, it will probably mean jail time for several leading Goldman executives and the end of the firm. One of the best lessons I've learned over my career as an investment analyst is the myth of excellent management or "great execution" is really just that – a myth.

Link: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/federal-reserve-chairman-ben-bernanke-warns-congress-that-the-federal-reserve-will-not-print-money-to-pay-for-the-exploding-u-s-national-debt

On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Congress that the Federal Reserve does not plan to "print money" to help Congress finance the exploding U.S. national debt. In fact, Bernanke told Congress that the U.S. could soon face a debt crisis as bad as the one in Greece if the U.S. government does not get things in order financially. This represents a fundamental change in policy for the Federal Reserve, because they have been enabling the massive borrowing by the U.S. government over the past couple of years by "buying" the majority of new U.S. government debt that has been issued. But now the fat cats over at the Federal Reserve have apparently changed their minds. Using uncharacteristic bluntness, Bernanke told Congress that the Federal Reserve is "not going to monetize the debt".

Link: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/02/26/cnn-poll-majority-says-government-a-threat-to-citizens-rights/?fbid=QMszsvnfzMZ

Fifty-six percent of Americans say the government poses an immediate threat to individual rights and freedoms. A majority of Americans think the federal government poses a threat to rights of Americans, according to a new national poll. Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they think the federal government's become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens. Forty-four percent of those polled disagree.

Link: http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/83961-forthcoming-cybersecurity-bill-to-give-president-new-powers-in-cyberattack-emergencies

The president would have the power to safeguard essential federal and private Web resources under draft Senate cybersecurity legislation. According to an aide familiar with the proposal, the bill includes a mandate for federal agencies to prepare emergency response plans in the event of a massive, nationwide cyberattack.

Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/26/news/economy/unemployment_insurance/

Depending on extended unemployment benefits to see you through the Great Recession? You'd better not: The Senate failed to push back the Feb. 28 deadline to apply for this safety net.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2618855320100226?type=usDollarRpt

A record-breaking winter storm slammed New York and much of the U.S. Northeast on Friday, forcing businesses, schools and transportation systems to shut down as nearly two feet (60 cm) of snow fell in the city.

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/7327017/Pound-slides-as-figures-underline-scale-of-UK-recession.html

The pound slid to new lows on Friday after it emerged that an apparent improvement in Britain's growth late last year disguised the fact that the Office for National Statistics has actually cut its estimate of Britain's economic output.

Link: http://rawstory.com/2010/02/iceberg-size-luxembourg-breaks-antarctica/

An iceberg the size of Luxembourg knocked loose from the Antarctic continent earlier this month could disrupt the ocean currents driving weather patterns around the globe, researchers said. While the impact would not be felt for decades or longer, a slowdown in the production of colder, dense water could result in less temperate winters in the north Atlantic, they said Thursday. The 2,550 square-kilometre (985 square-mile) block broke off on February 12 or 13 from the Mertz Glacier Tongue, a 160-kilometer spit of floating ice protruding into the Southern Ocean from East Antarctica due south of Melbourne, researchers said. Giant Antarctic iceberg could affect global ocean circulation Ice broken off from Mertz glacier is size of Luxembourg and may decrease oxygen supply for marine life in the area. The iceberg, measuring about 50 miles by 25, broke away from the Mertz glacier around 2,000 miles south of Australia after being rammed by another giant iceberg known as B-9B three weeks ago, satellite images reveal. The two icebergs, which both weigh more than 700m tons, are now drifting close together about 100 miles north of Antarctica.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/summ-f26.shtml

There was no agreement to back any form of the Democratic-sponsored legislation by the Republicans present, who reiterated that it should be junked and the process be started anew. These disagreements aside, however, the event served to expose the reality that any “reform” of the US health care system being discussed by those in attendance is a million miles away from the needs of the vast majority of ordinary Americans.

Link: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/26/healthcare_summit_ends_in_deadlock_single

After nearly 7 hours of televised debate, President Obama’s so-called bipartisan healthcare summit ended Thursday without any substantive agreement between Republicans and Democrats. Republican lawmakers remained staunchly opposed to using the federal government to regulate health insurance. We speak to Columbia Journalism Review contributing editor Trudy Lieberman, and pediatrician Dr. Margaret Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Program.

Link: http://www.truthout.org/david-sirota-it-is-happening-here57197

Let's pause and give thanks to Glenn Beck. No, seriously -- because that's what he's due. We owe this talk-show-host-turned-political-leader gratitude for using his televised keynote address to the Conservative Political Action Conference to so frankly outline what the conservative movement has become -- and why it repulses so many Americans. Coming days after an anti-tax terrorist kamikaze-attacked a government facility in Texas, and following Republicans like Sen. Scott Brown and Rep. Steve King expressing sympathy for that terrorist's grievances, Beck's homily stands as the moment's most forthright manifesto on the right's authoritarian objectives.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/media/145820/glenn_beck_finally_admitted_his_great_desire%3A_to_%27eradicate%27_progressives

We owe Beck gratitude for using his keynote address to CPAC to so frankly outline what the conservative movement has become -- and why it repulses so many Americans.

Link: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50465

For garment factory workers like Anoma Piyaseele, the European Union’s (EU) concessionary tariffs for imports from Sri Lanka meant little more than a vague term for policymakers to deal with – until news came that they would be suspended soon. As it is, Piyaseele says, she is not sure whether this preferential scheme – officially called Generalised System of Preference (GSP) Plus that has helped Sri Lanka continue to be a major exporter of garments -- had in any way been beneficial to her thus far.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/02/2010225161024106915.html

Obama invited 40 congress members to discuss his proposed healthcare bill. Barack Obama has wrapped up a marathon televised debate with congressional leaders on his plans for healthcare reform, but with no sign of a breakthrough on reaching a deal. The US president called Thursday's summit meeting in an effort to save his health reform programme and get Republicans to agree to his proposals to bring coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/02/201022625531437595.html

Several suicide bombers attacked a hotel popular with foreigners in Kabul, the Afghan capital. At least 17 people were killed and 32 wounded when several suicide bombers attacked a hotel popular with foreigners and the surrounding area in the centre of Kabul. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, one of the deadliest attacks on the Afghan capital in a year.

Link: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/02/25/the_fp_guide_to_climate_skeptics

The field of climate science is under duress, which is wholly different than saying it's discredited. While recent headlines about the woes of U.N.-led efforts to assemble a comprehensive picture of the science have caused gleeful headlines on The Drudge Report and other skeptical media outlets, the vast weight of the evidence -- from melting glaciers to warming oceans to satellite temperature readings, and much more -- still points to a changing climate caused by human activity.