THE HEADLINES

U.S. GIVES (SORT OF) GREEN LIGHT TO PROTEST IN TUNISIA, BUT A DEFINITE GREEN ONE FOR EGYPTIAN SUPPRESSION OF THE PROTESTS THERE.

(EPA/Pool)

(Global Research)

Anti-government protests sweeping across Arab states of the Middle East produce a “two-track” policy of U.S. State Department as support is offered for a proto-democratic uprising in Tunisia. Where Egypt is concerned, this country is of far more strategic geo-political interest to the U.S. and statement of continued support for the repressive regime of Hosni Mubarak leads quickly to intensified assault on the protesters.

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THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE U-TUBED.

(Antiwar.com)

Government bans Facebook, Twitter, text messaging and ultimately internet access as protesters gather for escalated protests against repressive Mubarak regime. If the world is watching, it will have to do with peeks between the cracks of this edifice of suppression.

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OKIE PROMISED LAND OF THE 1930s BECOMES THE WASTELAND OF 21st CENTURY EPICENTER OF MORTGAGE CRISIS.

(Mother Jones)

Ma Joad brought grandma’s corpse and the rest of “the family” over the desert to the verdant valley of central California. Now this region is mired in desperate conditions of unemployment and a mortgage foreclosure rate 5 times that of the country at large. An investigative tour through the region is used in a article denouncing the futility of an 18-months long congressional hearing into the mortgage crisis which questioned almost none of the victims of the crisis and saved hardly any homeowners from dispossession.

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PRESIDENT OBAMA GAVE THAT GREAT “COME TOGETHER” SPEECH IN TUCSON AFTER THE MASSACRE THERE; THEN FAILED TO MENTION GUN CONTROL ISSUES IN HIS 62-MINUTE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS.

(Christian Science Monitor)

While other “hot button” issues went unaddressed in the SOTU, the omission of concern about assault weapons of the kind that severely wounded a member of Congress whose seat was empty for the speech, was especially disturbing to gun control advocates. A presidential spokesman offers assurance that the President favors a ban on assault weapons and will address the issue in due course

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SNOW-WEARY PENNSYLVANIA GROUNDHOG TAKES INCOGNITO TRIP TO SUNNY FLORIDA.

(Palm Beach Post)

A depiction of a bathing-suited Punxsutawney Phil lounging on a beach is the latest stunt of a desperate campaign of the Palm Beach Visitors and Convention Center to attract more northern tourists fed up with the latest wave of snow storms in the northern states. Phil will almost surely see his shadow next week if he stays in Florida, but what that will portend for the duration of northern winters remains to be determined.

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Quote of the day…

No. I think the time has come for President Mubarak to begin to move in the direction that – to be more responsive to some… of the needs of the people out there.

Vice President Joe Biden, in answer to question whether Hosni Mubarak should step down as Egyptian President in view of popular protests there.

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