Mother's milk stirs unlikely political debate

First lady Michelle Obama found herself at the center of an unlikely breast-feeding debate this week when three prominent conservative women criticized her for encouraging the creation of a "nanny state."

Conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham on Tuesday asked Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota, about an announcement by the Internal Revenue Service that the purchase of breast-feeding equipment would be considered a medical expense. Ingraham suggested that the first lady's advocacy of breast-feeding as a way to fight childhood obesity might have been "coordinated" with the IRS decision.


http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/02/18/nanny.state/index.html?hpt=T2

The Day the Dollar Died

Project

Girl killed by Metrolink train.

A commuter train struck and killed a girl this afternoon at Magnolia Avenue and Buchanan Street in Riverside, closing down a main commuter rail line during the afternoon rush hour.
Witnesses told police that she waited for a freight train to pass and then proceeded across the tracks about 3:45 p.m., stepping in the way of the westbound Metrolink train on a parallel track.
No one on the Metrolink train was hurt, and the roughly 45 passengers were to be bused to their destinations in Orange County, Metrolink's Sherita Coffelt said.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_wtrain09.136288eba.html

American Sauce: Obama now vs. then

Forget the instant pundit opinions about last week’s State of the Union (the bipartisan seating chart may be the headline for decades to come anyway).
Consider instead what President Obama’s second State of the Union (and fourth address to Congress) tells us about how his words and promises have changed since he announced his run for the White House, exactly four years ago next week.
This week’s American Sauce compares candidate Obama with President Obama. And we notice some changes.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/31/american-sauce-obama-now-vs-then/

Kepler Finds a Swarm of New Worlds

For a year and a half now, NASA's Kepler space telescope has been staring, pretty much constantly, at a group of about 156,000 stars, located near the constellation Cygnus. In all that time, month in and month out, Kepler's digital eyes have barely blinked.

Jordan's king dismisses government, appoints new PM

The dismissal follows several protests calling for change in Jordan -- protests that echo demonstrations that have swept across North Africa and the Middle East in the last few weeks.
King Abdullah II asked Marouf Al Bakhit to form a government in Jordan that will implement "genuine political reform," the Royal Court said in a statement.
The government will "take practical steps, quick and concrete, to launch a process of genuine political reform" and "comprehensive development," according to a letter from the king to Al Bakhit. It also will act to strengthen democracy, the letter said.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/01/jordan.government/index.html?hpt=T2