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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will test its crowd-scanning facial recognition system, known as the Biometric Optical Surveillance System, or BOSS, at a junior hockey game this weekend, according to the Russian news agency RT. With assistance from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, DHS will test its system at a Western Hockey League game in Washington state. The test will determine whether the system can distinguish the faces of 20 volunteers out of a crowd of nearly 6,000 hockey fans, to evaluate how successfully BOSS can locate a person of interest.

What did Zimmerman do wrong (or right) before, during, and after the shooting? I think he was right (and it probably saved him at trial) to call the police and talk for a long time. I think in general his decision to get out of the truck to see where the suspect was going was right. I assume he made a mistake, wasn't alert enough, or underestimated the danger if he saw Trayvon approaching, and that allowed Trayvon to take him down with a sucker punch. During the fight, I don't know (or care) whether GZ's description of events is...

I just saw this anti-gun commercial during the Olympics. Their point is that Obama and Romney both need a gun control plan because 48,000 Americans are murdered with guns every four years. If they can afford a commercial during the Olympics, I think it's time that conservatives noticed them.

Media coverage now implies that the U.S. Supreme Court will determine the fate of President Obama's health care law. But nothing the court decides will keep the law alive for more than a brief period of time. There are three ways the health care law could meet its end. The first, obviously, is the Supreme Court could declare some or all of it unconstitutional in June. If it gets past that hurdle, the law also could be ended by Election 2012. If a Republican president is elected, the GOP will almost certainly also win control of the Senate and retain...

New orders for U.S. factory goods fell in April for the third time in four month . . . orders for manufactured goods dropped 0.6 percent during the month. The government also revised its estimate for new orders in March to show a steeper decline . . . The Labor Department on Friday reported that job creation slowed in May for the fourth straight month.

Google remembered, which is a step in the right direction.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 20% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-two percent (42%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -22. For the full month of October, the president’s Approval Index rating fell to the lowest level yet measured for this president. Just 17% now believe the U.S. is generally heading in the right direction . . . Overall, 44% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's job performance. Fifty-five percent (55%) at...

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 23% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -18 . . . Overall, 47% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's job performance. Fifty-two percent (52%) at least somewhat disapprove.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will deploy additional amphibious ships to the Mediterranean, the military said on Friday, as part of the Obama administration's plans for responding to ongoing violence in Libya. The USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group will deploy on March 23 "ahead of its original schedule in order to relieve units from the USS Kearsarge (Amphibious Ready Group) currently positioned in the Mediterranean Sea," it said in a statement. The arriving group includes the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan, based in Virginia, and other ships.

In a move rare in the United States and perhaps unprecedented in Idaho, Boise County is filing for federal protection against a multimillion dollar judgment. . . . James Spiotto, an expert on Chapter 9 bankruptcies, told The Bond Buyer in a Tuesday article that there have been about eight municipal bankruptcies per year in the U.S. for the past four decades. Among the most famous cases: Orange County, Calif., in 1994 and Vallejo, Calif., in 2008. . . . BANKRUPTCY COMES ON HEELS OF JUDGMENT A federal jury in December found that Boise County violated the federal Fair Housing...

In an interview with Al Hunt of Bloomberg News scheduled to be shown Friday night, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. commented on the need for disclosure when corporate interests contribute to political groups. “I was amazed at the amount of money, this $200 billion of money that is — where there’s no accountability,” he said ... But his tongue slipped again a moment later. “So it really — I’ve never seen this before, so the only caveat I’d put in terms of the House is how much impact this $200 billion are going to mean.”