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House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio holds up the gavel after receiving it from outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. during the first session of the 112th Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Photo by Charles Dharapak / AP)

Cost-cutting decisions led to BP disaster

According to the White House Oil Commission, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was an avoidable disaster caused in part by a series of cost-cutting decisions made by BP and its partners.

Guardian

BP oil spill caused by a ‘failure of management’

BBC

US census: Number of poor millions higher than estimated

The number of poor people in the U.S. is millions higher than previously known, with one in six Americans — many of them 65 and older — struggling in poverty due to rising medical care and other costs.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

America’s new recession: altered life

ABC News

GOP overhauls rules in House

New speaker of the House John Boehner promised a new era of transparency in lawmaking. But he also pledged to push forward the conservative agenda that swept his party into power.

New York Times

John Boehner elected speaker of the House

Politico

Special section:

112th Congress begins

C-Span

Boehner assumes speaker’s gavel

YouTube

Cleric who fought US returns to Iraq

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, a fierce opponent of the United States and head of Iraq’s most feared militia, came home after nearly four years in self-imposed exile in Iran.

Houston Chronicle

Blog:

Muqtada al-Sadr, anti-US cleric, returns to Iraq amid supporters and fanfare

(NPR)

The Two-Way

Playing with your child: Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing

Countless parents of young children are finding themselves navigating a world in which many experts praise parent-child play, while an equal number warn against raising a spoiled generation.

San Jose Mercury News

NATION

Numbers show immigration enforcement is working

This year promises to be another contentious one for immigration. The new Republican leadership in the House of Representatives has indicated it will take an even harder line against illegal immigration.

NPR

Legislators set sights on ‘anchor babies’

CNN

Blog:

Study: Texas not likely to enact an Ariz.-style immigration law

(Houston Chronicle)

Texas on the Potomac

‘Earmarks’ to nowhere causing states to lose billions

During the past 20 years, orphan earmarks reduced the amount of money that states received: $7.5 billion in total that could have been used to replace obsolete bridges, repair aging roads and bring jobs.

USA TODAY

Earmark black hole swallows billions

MSNBC

POLITICS

Obama signs historic food safety law

The food safety law aims to secure the farm-to-table food chain. But some Republicans are threatening to hold up funding, saying the food supply is already “99.999 percent safe.”

Christian Science Monitor

WikiLeaks: ‘Voluptuous’ nurse cable costs diplomat his job

In what appears to be the first diplomatic casualty from the latest WikiLeaks revelations, the U.S. ambassador to Libya has returned to Washington and U.S. officials say he is likely to leave his post.

McClatchy Newspapers

Why journalists aren’t standing up for WikiLeaks

Newsweek

Obama press secretary Gibbs to leave White House

Officials say White House press secretary Robert Gibbs is leaving the White House to set up his own consulting business and become an outside political adviser to President Barack Obama.

USA TODAY

Special section:

Where did everyone go? 10 staffers who have left the Obama administration

MSNBC

EDUCATION

Virtual students are used to train teachers

The student-teacher faces a rowdy class. These students are avatars — computer-generated characters whose movements and speech are controlled by an actor.

Education Week

Is deep reading in trouble?

“Deep reading,” or slow reading, is a process in which people can critically think, reflect and understand the words. But it may also be a fading practice.

Contra Costa Times

HEALTH

FDA launches review of tobacco products

Tobacco products introduced or altered since February 2007 must be reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration if they are to remain on the market.

HealthDay

New medical school model: Adopt a family to treat

Many of the new medical schools are also trying to reshape medical education. They are rethinking their approach with a community-based medical curriculum.

NPR

SPORTS

Lewis will stay on with Bengals

The front office won’t change significantly. The Bengals will still be practicing in the cold. Even with all that, Marvin Lewis decided to stay.

Sports Illustrated

Sources: Marvin Lewis wants changes

ESPN

49ers name Trent Baalke their GM

Team President Jed York’s search for a general manager ended just down the hallway at Trent Baalke’s door. The team announced Baalke as the San Francisco 49ers’ general manager.

San Francisco Chronicle

RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY

102 and still preaching

The Rev. Noah Smith — both preacher and Renaissance man — was called later in life but has no plans to quit.

Star Tribune

Pope rejects appeal from closed parishes in Boston

Pope Benedict XVI has rejected an appeal from a group of Boston-area parishioners who asked him to reverse a 7-year-old decision to close their churches, some of which have been occupied since in protest.

Boston Herald

Columns And Op-Ed

The opinions in the items below are not necessarily those of DailySource or our editors. Read more.

Blog (Bob Mankoff):

Trash talk

From the Desk of Bob Mankoff

(The New Yorker)

Editorial:

Filibuster fuss: in support of Senate Democrats’ effort to revise rules

Houston Chronicle

Blog (Jonathan Cohn):

Another day, another death panel smear

(The New Republic)

Citizen Cohn

Column (Linda Fuerst):

Does what you eat affect how long you live?

The Herald

Editorial:

5 questions for 112th Congress

USA TODAY

Column (Andrea Stone):

House GOP might want to skip over some parts of Constitution

AOL News

Column (Jill Richardson):

How to get your city to allow backyard chickens

Grist

Column (Sam Harris):

Is the ruination of America even possible?

AlterNet

Site edited by: Jameson O'Neal, Ashley Nawn, Sanaz Ariya, Rachel Barrus, Izzy Rosen and Catherine Lux.

GOOD NEWS

Leukemia drug may offer a way to fight Parkinson’s disease

A drug already used in some leukemia patients prevented brain cells linked to Parkinson’s disease from being destroyed in mice, a finding that could point to a way to slow progression of the disease.

Houston Chronicle

$33M in unclaimed money for veterans dating back to World War I

Veterans and their families may be eligible to receive unclaimed funds totaling about $33 million, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Advocacy groups say many had no idea the money is there.

ABC News

President signs into law latest GI Bill changes

Marine Corps Times

State-of-the-art Ewa Makai school opens to students

It’s hard to pick just one thing to get excited about at Ewa Makai Middle School, Hawaii’s most energy-efficient and state-of-the-art school campus.

Honolulu Star-Advertiser

WORLD

World food prices enter ‘danger territory’ to reach record high

Soaring prices of sugar, grain and oilseed drove world food prices to record high in December, surpassing the levels of 2008 when the cost of food sparked global riots.

Guardian

Food riots warning

Reuters

Women fighters willing to die for Gaza

With faces covered and guns loaded, Palestinian militants are training among the sand dunes of Gaza. These militants are women preparing to fight their sworn enemy, the state of Israel.

CNN

Facebook generation fights Hungarian media law

As Hungary takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has introduced a new law aimed at gagging the media and the Facebook generation is up in arms.

Spiegel International

BUSINESS

Auto sales have gone up for 1st time since the recession

Auto sales rose in the United States last year for the first time since the recession. They‘re still far from what they were just a few years ago — but the downsized industry can still post profits.

Yahoo! News

US stresses the need to reduce China trade imbalance

President Barack Obama’s national security adviser pressed for efforts to reduce U.S.-China trade imbalances and also discussed ways to rein in North Korea in talks with China’s foreign minister.

Reuters

ENVIRONMENT

Bumblebees seem to be taking a nosedive in North America

Four bumblebee species once common across North America have suffered precipitous — and so far mysterious — declines, a new study shows.

National Geographic

Alaska’s local indoor ‘farms’ producing micro vegetables

In Alaska, giant cabbages and other huge plants generally rule the garden, but a couple of local growers are going the opposite direction — they’re cultivating micro produce.

Anchorage Daily News

LIVING AND ENTERTAINMENT

Is Alec Baldwin interested in political office? The answer is ‘yes’

Knowing Alec Baldwin’s long-running interest in politics, Eliot Spitzer asked if he was ready to “get into this game.” Baldwin said he is "very interested” but leaving acting would be “extremely painful.”

CNN

For teens, ‘tanorexia’ starts with mom

A new survey finds many teen girls’ first trip to the tanning salon is often with their mother in tow.

MSNBC

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Making books do things e-books can’t

Mainstream publishers say printed books are far from extinct. E-book sales rose 193 percent in 2010, although they still account for only 9 percent of the market.

Los Angeles Times

Week after holidays, e-book sales outdo print

USA TODAY

Consumer electronics show dominated by tablet computers

Industry watchers expect 100 or more tablets to be shown off at the four-day technology extravaganza in Las Vegas. The devices are part of a trend towards greater mobility and smarter living.

BBC

Walrus babies are the goal of new scientific research

He’s strong, healthy and hirsute. She’s social and friendly with Rubenesque curves. Yet this walrus pair have failed to yield a calf, so scientists are now making an attempt at artificial insemination.

San Jose Mercury News

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