Americans' ignorance about politics isn't new, but the latest results from the Pew Poll suggest few are really paying attention. Half of Americans don't even know that Stephen Colbert is a comedian. And among those surveyed, only one in three Democrats knew that Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) was the Democratic leader. "About four-in-ten (39%) know that Nevada Democrat Harry Reid is the majority leader of the U.S. Senate," Pew reports. "About a third (32%) correctly pick Michael Steele as the chairman of the Republican National Committee. Interestingly, nearly half of Republicans (48%) are able to identify Reid as Senate majority leader compared with just a third (33%) of Democrats. More Republicans can identify Reid as majority leader than can identify Steel as chairman of the RNC (37%)."

The idea of secret banking cabals that control the country and global economy are a given among conspiracy theorists who stockpile ammo, bottled water and peanut butter. After this week’s congressional hearing into the bailout of American International Group Inc., you have to wonder if those folks are crazy after all. Wednesday’s hearing described a secretive group deploying billions of dollars to favored banks, operating with little oversight by the public or elected officials. We’re talking about the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, whose role as the most influential part of the federal-reserve system -- apart from the matter of AIG’s bailout -- deserves further congressional scrutiny.

This is a list of countries and territories by current account balance (CAB), based on the International Monetary Fund data for 2007, obtained from the latest World Economic Outlook database (October 2008).[1] Numbers for 2008 should become available in April 2009. Estimates are highlighted.

Israel’s spy agency Mossad and the country's special forces have carried out a number of assassinations of Palestinian militants in the past and have also been blamed for killings which the Jewish state has never publicly taken responsibility for. In addition, the army and air force have carried out so-called ‘targeted killings’ of numerous Palestinian leaders accused of masterminding attacks inside Israel.

US drones, conspicuously absent from the North Waziristan region for several days after militants shot one down on Sunday, returned to the region today, killing five people in the town in Muhammad Khel. The drone strikes, and more importantly America’s default “no comment” position on them except on those rare occasions when they successfully kill a high profile target, have long been a sore spot for the Pakistani public, but the broad base of this opposition has only increased. According to a Gallup poll, only 9 percent of Pakistanis support the idea of US drone strikes on Pakistani soil. AWIP: U.S. Drone Strike deaths prompt AF/PAK payback. This gives the CIA a pretext for more US terror. There will be more AF/PAK payback.

His voice was hoarse from six hours of questioning. But still he was unrepentant. To gasps of anger from grieving relatives Tony Blair used the final moments of his evidence to the Iraq war inquiry to justify leading Britain in one of the country's most divisive conflicts in its history. Asked by the inquiry chairman, Sir John Chilcot, whether he had any regrets, he replied: "Responsibility but not a regret for removing Saddam Hussein. I think that he was a monster. I believe he threatened not just the region but the world. And in the circumstances that we faced then, but I think even if you look back now, it was better to deal with this threat, to remove him from office." Sir John appealed for calm as a heckler shouted: "What, no regrets? Come on!" His voice fading, Mr Blair insisted that Britain – especially its armed forces – should feel an "immense sense of pride" over the Iraq war. WSWS: Tony Blair, war criminal, testifies before inquiry. The Guardian: Blair at Chilcot: a well-rehearsed performance. Daily Telegraph: Iraq inquiry: Tony Blair had no regrets over toppling Saddam Hussein. TimesOnline: Tony Blair was branded a murderer and liar but unrepentant, unforgiven, Blair says: ‘I’d do it again’. PressTV: Tony Blair defends war legacy, cites 9/11. AntiWar: Blair Defends Iraq War, Citing 9/11. Redress: The Chilcot Inquiry showcases the conspirators. AWIP/New Statesman: The bulletproof case against Blair. BBC: BBC website readers air their views on Tony Blair and the war in Iraq and the consensus seems to be that he should be tried for war crimes. The Independent: Mother of British soldier killed in Iraq felt 'sick' being in same room as Tony Blair. Time.com: Unbowed on Iraq, Blair Makes the Case for Targeting Iran: An inquiry panel of career diplomats and academics was never likely to dent his composure. Yet Blair's light grilling still produced a major eye opener: as opponents of the Iraq conflict waited in vain for an apology or some gratifying symptom of inner regret, Blair instead used the platform to argue for opening a new battlefront — against Iran. The Guardian: Blair: truth and lies.

NATO says two US service members and one US civilian have been killed in eastern Afghanistan, pushing the American death toll in January to 29.

A statement by the Western alliance says the deaths occurred Friday, adding that the incident is under investigation. It did not give further information.

The brief statement released Friday did not say whether the three were killed by hostile fire or an accident.

At least 29 American deaths have been reported in Afghanistan so far this month.

The toll is more than double the 14 reported in January last year, reflecting warnings that more US casualties were expected this year as President Obama's administration is sending 37,000 new coalition forces to the war-weary country.

The Canadian Supreme Court today found that the rights of Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen who was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2002 when he was 15, were violated during his interrogation and detention in Guantánamo Bay. The American Civil Liberties Union pointed to the decision as affirmation that the U.S. should reverse its decision to try Khadr before a military commission and should repatriate him to his home country for rehabilitation. "This decision underscores the need for the U.S. to reverse its decision to prosecute Omar Khadr before an illegal military commission," said Jamil Dakwar, Director of the ACLU Human Rights Program.

Area C doesn't sound very ominous. A land of stone-sprinkled grey hills and soft green valleys, it's part of the wreckage of the equally wrecked Oslo Agreement, accounting for 60 per cent of the Israeli-occupied West Bank that was eventually supposed to be handed over to its Palestinian inhabitants. But look at the statistics and leaf through the pile of demolition orders lying on the table in front of Abed Kasab, head of the village council in Jiftlik, and it all looks like ethnic cleansing via bureaucracy. Perverse might be the word for the paperwork involved. Obscene appear to be the results.

President Obama is planning to increase spending on America's nuclear weapons stockpile just days after pledging to try to rid the world of them. In his budget to be announced on Monday, Mr Obama has allocated £4.3billion to maintain the U.S. arsenal - £370million more than George Bush spent on nuclear weapons in his final year. The Obama administration also plans to spend a further £3.1billion over the next five years on nuclear security.

The London Times is reporting: “The chairman of the leading climate change watchdog was informed that claims about melting Himalayan glaciers were false before the Copenhagen summit, The Times has learnt. Rajendra Pachauri was told that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment that the glaciers would disappear by 2035 was wrong, but he waited two months to correct it. He failed to act despite learning that the claim had been refuted by several leading glaciologists.” See the Times article here

The Republicans' shock victory in the election for the US Senate seat in Massachusetts meant the Democrats lost their supermajority in the Senate. This makes it even harder for the Obama administration to get healthcare reform passed in the US. Political scientist Dr David Runciman looks at why is there often such deep opposition to reforms that appear to be of obvious benefit to voters.

After just a small amount of research it is my belief that the much hyped Islam4UK group that proposed a march on Wootton Bassett, is actually a British Intelligence group hired by our corrupt government in order to cause further conflict between Muslims and Brits, to keep support for the wars high and to continue the trumped up threat of terrorism. Anjem Choudary is a unislamic fraud linked to Al-Mujaharoun, a group created by British Mi6 to fight the Serbians in the Kosovo war. Either it came back to bite us on the ass or he is still controlled by our own government! BNP and EDL supporters, and Islam4UK supporters are both dupes, being played like puppets by the new world order (global governance) agenda.

For the newest residents of the Bronx Zoo, New York is a long way from home. The Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates the zoo, recently took in four bear cubs -- three brown bears, all siblings, and one grizzly -- whose mothers were killed by humans in Alaska and Montana.

The three brown bear cubs (two of them are shown above) were rescued by Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials and housed temporarily at a bear rescue facility in the Alaskan town of Sitka. (In honor of their short-term home, one of the cubs, a female, was given the name Sitka. The other cubs, both males, are named Kootz and Denali.) The grizzly cub, a male, was rescued in Montana and is named Glacier after his birthplace, Glacier National Park.

All four are housed together and are "healthy and adjusting well to their new surroundings," according to zoo director Jim Breheny.