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Explanation: What's that dark spot on planet Earth? It's the shadow of the Moon. The above image of Earth was taken last week by MTSAT during an annular eclipse of the Sun. The dark spot appears quite unusual as clouds are white and the oceans are blue in this color corrected image. Earthlings residing within the dark spot would see part of the Sun blocked by the Moon and so receive less sunlight than normal. The spot moved across the Earth at nearly 2,000 kilometers per hour, giving many viewers less than two hours to see a partially eclipsed Sun....

The Obama campaign has released a new ad suggesting that little girls will never be able to live full lives unless the government subsidizes their birth control. The YouTube video titled “Letters to the President: The Dreams of Our Daughters” features a mother talking about her two young daughters, six-year-old Daisy and nine-year-old Caroline, in a letter to President Obama. She thanks him for the HHS mandate, which requires all religious institutions and other businesses to include free coverage for birth control, sterilization and abortifacient drugs even if it violates their deeply held religious beliefs. While no overt mention of...

The cover of the 2011 annual report for Amtrak, our government-owned passenger train service, celebrates its 40th anniversary as a business. Well, kind of. It can certainly celebrate its endurance as an organization drawing unending support from the U.S. Treasury and its many, many bondholders. But as a business? I don't think so. In every year since 1971, Amtrak has lost money. Real businesses don't lose money for 40 consecutive years. When they lose money for a year or so, the top dogs get heaved. If the losses go on much longer, the company is taken over, dismembered and sold...

While the leaders of member countries were meeting in Brussels at an extraordinary summit on growth, the European Parliament approved the tax on financial transactions, known as Tobin tax, by 487 votes (152 against, with 46 abstentions). “The joint resolution of Parliament—whose opinion on the subject is only advisory—approves a proposal from the European Commission presented in September 2011,” reports La Tribune, mentioning that it will not come into force before the end of 2014. …Nine countries, including Germany and France, are defending bringing in the tax, but others, like Britain, are opposed because they fear it will provoke financial...

Authorities say a drunken driver injured two women in a head-on collision in Metairie on Saturday, then fled the scene. Deputies later arrested Jesus Guzman-Gomez, 22, of Metairie, an arrest report said. . . Guzman-Gomez was headed westbound in a maroon Jeep Cherokee when he veered inexplicably into the eastbound lanes, an arrest report said. Guzman-Gomez's vehicle crashed head-on into a red Jeep Cherokee being driven by an unidentified 49-year-old woman, Fortunato said. He then drove off without stopping or identifying himself, the report said. The driver of the red Jeep Cherokee suffered head, neck and back injuries, the...

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) -- A severed human foot was mailed to the headquarters of Canada's Conservative Party and another body part was discovered when police intercepted a second suspicious package, police said Tuesday. Police were called shortly after a receptionist opened a blood-soaked box at the headquarters of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's party. The first officers to arrive saw what appeared to be blood stains on the package and immediately called in a special hazardous-material unit. When the specialists opened the package, police found the severed foot inside. Police said the package was addressed to the Conservative Party of Canada...

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has authorized new posters featuring first lady Michelle Obama to be placed in elevators throughout the Department of Labor headquarters in Washington, D.C. These new posters feature a large photo of Michelle Obama and a picture of Solis, along with a few choice quotes about Memorial Day. “In January, First Lady Michelle Obama joined Secretary Solis to announce proposed revisions to the FMLA that will expand military family leave provisions to support caregivers,” the poster reads. “Through our work, we honor our service members, veterans and military families every day.” The poster then quotes the first...

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

JERUSALEM – In the latest “Arab Spring” uprising, the U.S. is backing protesters, many of whom, informed Middle Eastern security officials tell WND, are now pressing to openly announce an affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood. The Syrian opposition has been plagued by infighting, with competing divisions sparring with each other even since the movement began in September of last year....

China readies new missile corvette LATEST TYPE:Defense analysts believe that the new missile boats will be perfectly suited to meet the challenges that China is facing in its South China Sea disputes A new type of Chinese missile corvette, the principal role for which might be to project power in the South China Sea, could be launched “within days,” military watchers said on the weekend. Talk of a Type 056 class first emerged in late 2010. So far, little technical information has been released about the corvettes, which are believed to lie in the 1,400-to-1,700-tonne category. Two shipyards, Hudong Shipyard...

"A Conservative Party staffer made a horrifying discovery late Tuesday morning, partially opening a package that contained what police say appeared to be a human foot. The overwhelming stench from the package sent a staffer running to call police. "Upon arrival, officers noted that the package possibly had blood stains on it," police said in a statement." --- Update: A seoond package addressed the federal Conservative party H.Q. was intercepted at Canada Post. It has been confirmed that the second package contained a human hand. http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/politics/archives/2012/05/20120529-154734.html

Barack Obama gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Dolores Huerta, an honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. During the ceremony today President Obama admitted he stole her slogan “Yes we can!” for his 2008 campaign. (Video at link) ---snip---...Dolores Huerta, an 82-year-old labor activist and co-founder of the United Farm Workers union. Huerta is also an honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. DSA describes itself as “the largest socialist organization in the United States, and the principal U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International.” Huerta has claimed, “Republicans hate Latinos,” and has spoken fondly of Hugo...

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The airlines are making it much more difficult for families with children to travel these days. In recent developments: United Airlines joined US Airways and American Airlines in no longer offering preboarding for families with kids flying in coach. Families are having more difficulty getting adjoining seats. That's because airlines are reserving more seats for frequent fliers and those willing to pay, usually $50 round trip, for the most desirable seats in coach -- window and aisle, and closest to the front of the plane.

(CNN) - Newt Gingrich, speaking outside an event raising money for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, said the event's host, Donald Trump, was not distracting the Republican Party with his questions about the president's birth certificate. "Gov. Romney's not distracted," Gingrich said in Las Vegas. "The Republican Party's not distracted. We believe that this is an American-born job-killing president. Other people may believe that he was born somewhere else and still kills jobs, but that's an argument over background." Gingrich's comments came as Romney and Trump convened with campaign donors at Trump's International Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip...

A report issued by the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China has included U.S. gun ownership among a list of human rights violations, Law Enforcement Examiner Jim Kouri reported yesterday. "The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2011" was published last Friday on the PRC’s Consulate General in New York website. “The United States prioritizes the right to keep and bear arms over the protection of citizens' lives and personal security and exercises lax firearm possession control, causing rampant gun ownership,” the report claims. “The U.S. people hold between 35 percent and 50 percent...

The Texas Republican Senate primary is headed for a runoff, after Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst fell just shy of 50 percent of the vote Tuesday. Dewhurst will face former state solicitor general Ted Cruz, a favorite of the tea party, in the July 31 runoff. The winner of that runoff will be a heavy favorite to succeed retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), after Democrats failed to land a top-tier recruit. With 43 percent of precincts reporting, Dewhurst led Cruz 46 percent to 32 percent. Seven other candidates split the vote enough, though, to push the two into a runoff.

“The secret of Republican political success since the rise of the right is not, as many liberals believe, that they play no-rules hardball. Instead, it’s their skill at projection—at accusing Democrats of doing what they are doing themselves, or are planning to do, or have done.” —Michael Tomasky, Daily Beast Nothing stirs up white racial anxiety in an election year like a black-against-white race war. Never mind the fact that there isn’t one. When has that ever stopped the inventive right wing? Those of us living in the world of objective facts and reality might be mistaken for thinking that...

Hazardous materials released at Institute for Genomic Biology. Escape area if safe to do so. Otherwise seek shelter.

Boeing Super Hornet faces emerging anti-access challenges  The US Navy is upgrading its fleet of Boeing F/A-18E/F fighters with new capabilities, but analysts question the Super Hornet's utility against emerging anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) threats. "Upgrading the F/A-18 family is a good idea, and it could extend their service lives," says analyst Mark Gunzinger of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). "That being said, F/A-18-based platforms are short-range, lack unrefueled persistence, and are best suited for operations in relatively uncontested airspace." ©Peter Collins/Flightglobal But in the future, uncontested airspace is unlikely to remain the norm as potential adversaries...