The most enduring images of the Great Depression
from 1929 through to the beginning of World War II for America in 1941 were those of homeless people, hobo camps, and of soup kitchens to feed the hungry.

During the Reagan years, the media was filled with stories of the homeless as if to refute any improvement in the economy under a conservative president. These days, however, as America's national debt and deficit continues to spiral out of control, the poor and the hungry remain largely unseen and, most significantly, largely unreported.

About the only thing one can find on the White House website with regard to homelessness are statements about the way %u201Cgreen jobs%u201D will solve the problem. The first stimulus package, however, increased the amount of money that the nation%u2019s food banks received in 2009 so someone involved understood America has a problem.

The New York Times reported $100 million windfall of extra food%u2026%u201D Also reported was that %u201Crequests for emergency food assistance were up by 30 percent in 2008 over the previous year%u201D, but the financial crisis did not occur until late into the last year of the second Bush term.

HWR: Obama%u2019s Invisible Homeless and Hungry by Alan Caruba , 2/13/10          

WASHINGTON--The FBI is pressing Internet service providers to record which Web sites customers visit and retain those logs for two years, a requirement that law enforcement believes could help it in investigations of child pornography and other serious crimes.

FBI Director Robert Mueller supports storing Internet users' "origin and destination information," a bureau attorney said at a federal task force meeting on Thursday.

As far back as a 2006 speech, Mueller had called for data retention on the part of Internet providers, and emphasized the point two years later when explicitly asking Congress to enact a law making it mandatory. But it had not been clear before that the FBI was asking companies to begin to keep logs of what Web sites are visited, which few if any currently do.

FBI wants records kept of Web sites visited :: Before It's News          

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the nation will deliver a harsh blow to the "global arrogance" on this year's anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

"The Islamic Revolution opened a window to liberty for the human race, which was trapped in the dead ends of materialism," Ahmadinejad said during a cabinet meeting on Sunday.

"If the Islamic Revolution had not occurred, liberalism and Marxism would have crushed all human dignity in their power-seeking and money-grubbing claws. Nothing would have remained of human and spiritual principles," he added.

Ahmadinejad said that in the three decades of its history, the Islamic Revolution had inspired some great developments in the world.

The Iranian president made the remarks as the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution approaches.

Iranians are expected to pour into the streets on February 11 to celebrate the occasion in public rallies across the country, as they have done annually over the past three decades.

'Iran will deliver telling blow to global powers on Feb. 11'          

In yet another blow to progress and achievement and the advancement of man, Obama aims to ax the moon mission.

The White House budget proposal, slated to be released Monday, strips all funding for NASA%u2019s Constellation program, a plan to resume manned moon landings by 2020. It also ends funding for the Ares I rocket that had been set to replace the space shuttle, and the Ares V cargo rocket that was to carry supplies needed for humans to go to the moon.

Instead, despite the revelations that exposed the global warming hoax, pulling the mask off the largest fraud in human history, Barack Obama is going full speed ahead with his plan to redistribute the West%u2019s wealth to Third World nations in an attempt to halt a chimerical %u201Cglobal warming.%u201D

He doesn%u2019t seem to care that it%u2019s all a hoax. The University of East Anglia%u2019s climate research unit (CRU), which has been a chief source for the evidence of global warming, was exposed last year when e-mails came to light showing that researchers there had deliberately covered up data that didn%u2019t fit their theory. And this week the university came under fire again, when it was found to have violated laws by refusing to hand over its raw data for inspection after the coverup came to light.

Newsmax - Trillions for Global Warming Hoax, Nothing for NASA          

China suspended military exchanges with the United States, threatened unprecedented sanctions against American defense companies and warned Saturday that cooperation would suffer after Washington announced $6.4 billion in planned arms sales to Taiwan.

The response to Friday's U.S. announcement, while not entirely unexpected, was swift and indicated that China plans to put up a greater challenge than usual as it deals with the most sensitive topic in U.S.-China relations.

China suspends military exchanges with US - Examiner.com          

China summoned the U.S. ambassador on Saturday warning him about consequences for bilateral relations of planned arms sales to Taiwan.

Washington announced its plan to sell $6.4 billion worth weapons to Taiwan on Friday. The decision is likely to affect relations with China already strained by a dispute over Internet censorship.

The United States is again making the wrong decision despite repeated protests from China, the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on its website.

Deputy Foreign Minister He Yafei said in the statement after a meeting with Ambassador Jon Huntsman that the sale could trigger "consequences both sides do not want to see," and demanded the sale be cancelled.

China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory. Beijing has not ruled out use of force against the island, which split from the mainland in 1949 and maintains de facto independence.

Beijing briefly suspended military contacts with Washington in 2008 after the then Bush administration announced plans for arms sales to Taiwan.

The U.S. seeks cooperation with China on a host of issues, including Iran and North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

BEIJING, January 30 (RIA Novosti)

China warns U.S. about arms sales to Taiwan :: Top Russian news and analysis online :: 'RIA Novosti' newswire          

U.S. seeks explanation from China on Internet attacks claims :: Top Russian news and analysis online :: 'RIA Novosti' newswire          
The U.S. expects Beijing to respond to claims that Google and other firms have the subject of Internet attacks originating from China, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

Google recently said it said it had discovered a "sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China".

It also said twenty other firms, which it did not name, had been targeted.

"We have been briefed by Google on these allegations, which raise very serious concerns and questions. We look to the Chinese government for an explanation," Clinton said.

"A primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists," Google said on its official blog.

"These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered--combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web--have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China," the blog post also said.

WASHINGTON, January 13 (RIA Novosti)

U.S. seeks explanation from China on Internet attacks claims :: Top Russian news and analysis online :: 'RIA Novosti' newswire