Cross-eyed opossum is hit at Leipzig zoo

A cross-eyed opossum named Heidi sits in her enclosure at Leipzig zoo in eastern Germany.

Heidi, who is not yet on public display, has become an Internet hit, winning more than 65,000 "friends" on the social networking website Facebook!

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Miss Nebraska is the 2011 Miss America

Teresa Scanlan, a 17-yar-old aspiring politician from Gering, Nebraska is the new 2011 Miss America.

Teresa Scanlan won a $50,000 scholarship and a yearlong run with the crown at the competition at the Planet Hollywood casino-resort in Las Vegas, giving the Cornhusker State its first-ever win at the pageant.

Pageant officials said she was the youngest Miss America since the pageant's first competition in 1921.

Miss Arkansas Alyse Eady won $25,000 as first runner-up, while Miss Hawaii Jalee Fuselier won $20,000 for third place.

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Rep. Gabriel Giffords: a hard working politician

Congresswoman Gabby Giffords during a political campaign.

Giffords is shown with her Astronaut husband Mark Kelly.

This photo shows her BMW motorcycle.

Giffords is a Blue Dog (conservative) Democrat and is Arizona's first Jewish Congresswoman.

Mount Etna - dramatic eruption

Fiery lava erupts from Mount Etna, the famous Sicilian volcano.

Doctors: Rep. Giffords shows improvement

Doctors report improvement in Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (pictured) condition. She is opening both eyes, moving both legs and arms and responding to friends and family.

Her doctors call it a "major milestone" in her recovery.

"We're hoping that she crosses through many more," said her neurosurgeon, Dr. Michael Lemole.

She first opened her eyes on her own Wednesday evening while surrounded by her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, and close friends from Congress.

Her left eye, which was unbandaged, started to flicker, and she struggled a bit to widen it.

"Gabby, open your eyes, open your eyes," her husband urged her.

Kelly told her to give him a thumbs-up if she could hear him. She did more than that. She slowly raised her left arm.

Her doctors said her progress was not completely unexpected but still remarkable.

Giffords was still in critical condition.

More here.

Loughners sickness not caused by politics

From a report in the Wall Street Journal:

On all available evidence, Jared Lee Loughner is a mentally disturbed man who targeted Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and anyone near her in Tucson on Saturday because she was prominent and they were tragically accessible.

He joins Sirhan Sirhan, John Hinckley Jr. and many others whose derangement led them to horrible acts of violence.

Whatever confused political motives he expressed seem merely to be part of the maelstrom of his mental sickness.

Much more here.

John Fox hired as new Bronco head football coach

Denver is coming off a franchise-worst 4-12 season. So who did they hire as their new head football coach? John Fox (pictured) from the Carolina Panthers - a team than finished with a 2-14 record in 2010, the only team to finish worse than the Broncos.

Fox replaces Josh McDaniels, who was fired Dec. 6 amid the Broncos worst slide in four decades and the embarrassing Spygate II videotaping scandal.

Fox did take Carolina to the 2004 Super Bowl where they lost to the New England Patriots.

Mike Shanahan took the Broncos to back to back Super Bowls and won them both - one win over Green Bay and the other over Atlanta. That wasn't good enough and owner Pat Bowlen fired him - said he had gone stale and brought in young hot-shot Josh McDaniels who promptly "dismantled" the team by the worst decisions one could imagine.

Did the Broncos owner shoot himself in the foot for the second time in two years?

Bronco fans hope not.

More here.

Easy Rider actor Peter Fonda finds dead body in car

Los Angeles police say actor Peter Fonda (pictured) discovered a dead body in a car and they are investigating the death.

Sgt. Carlton Cook at the West Los Angeles Community Police Station says the "Easy Rider" actor called 911 on Wednesday after he spotted a car parked on the side of Sunset Blvd.

Maybe some out-of-work screen writers will try to make a story out of this starring out-of-work actor Peter Fonda and try to get an out-of-work director/producer to convince a hungry movie studio to make a movie out of the story.

It will never top Easy Rider, but who knows. Besides, it was Fonda who found the dead guy.

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Calls mount for resignation of Sheriff Dupnik

From a report at the link below:

Since he first opened his mouth on Saturday night to address the nation about the terrible shootings at a Tucson Safeway, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik (pictured) has been inaccurate, wrong, or completely biased in his handling of the case.

Never have we witnessed a prominent public figure so inaccurately and viciously politicize a national tragedy like Sheriff Dupnik did this week. And in all of his statements he has either been wrong or misdirected.

Sheriff Dupnik told reporters that shooter Jared Loughner may not have acted alone. It was a group effort. There were others involved. "We have photos." Sheriff Dupnik was wrong. Loughner acted alone.

Sheriff Dupnik told reporters that the killer Jared Lee Loughner had made similar threats in the past. Then yesterday the sheriff backtracked. He said there were no previous threats before the shooting.

It is not uncommon for a sheriff in less populated counties to do favors for a lot of influential people in exchange for votes. If this is how Dupnik kept being re-elected time after time, it may not work in the future.

Even if many voters owe him favors, our secret ballot system may do him in. He is an embarrassment to the county in the eyes of the entire nation and a constant reminder of those avoidable deaths including a 9-year-old girl.

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National 9/11 flag unfurled at funeral for Tucson victim born on 9/11/01

The National 9/11 Flag above was unfurled between two fire trucks in honor of the youngest victim of the Tucson shootings.

Christina Green (inset photo above) was born on September 11 2001.

This photo shows Roxanna and John Green, parents of Christina Taylor Green with their son Dallas at Christina's funeral.

Wired train

A train makes its way through the snow-covered landscape in the western German city of Essen.

Masked Greenpeace activist

A masked Greenpeace activist attends a protest against nuclear power in Bucharest, Romania last month.

An emotional Congress honors victims

Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is shown above with Speaker of the House John Boehner at her swearing in ceremony earlier this month. Giffords is shown in the center photo with her Astronaut husband Mark Kelly.


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Congress met for the first time since the attack on Saturday in Tucson, Arizona.

It was time to pay homage to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and the legacy of the lives lost over the weekend.

Speaker of the House John Boehner (right) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (left) sign the book of condolences and the book of well wishes for the victims of the Tucson, Arizona shooting before attending a prayer service for them in the Capitol in Washington yesterday. Standing behind is House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer.

Speaker of the House John Boehner, overcome with emotion, paused several times during a speech Wednesday as he pledged renewed "commitment to fulfill our oaths of office."

"Let us not let this inhuman act frighten us into doing otherwise," Boehner cautioned. "The free exchange of ideas is the lifeblood of our democracy."

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Congress job approval up sharply as GOP take over House

From a report at the link below:

With so much national attention focused on the keen criminology insights of Arizona's Clarence the Talking Sheriff, a stunning new Gallup Poll on Congress almost flew right by.

Hmm…Clarence the Talking Sheriff? That's good.

The new national survey finds that within only five days of Republicans taking majority control of the House of Representatives on Jan. 4, Americans' approval of the bicameral body's job shot up more than 50%, from its record low of 13% to 20%.

Look for this to be underreported or ignored in most of the media because it reflects unfavorably against liberal politicians.

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Polar bears remain off endangered list angering enviro activists

Environmental activists used the polar bear as a campaign symbol in 2008 during their attacks on the Bush administration’s decision to not place polar bears on the endangered species list.

Now the enviros are angry again. This time at the Obama administration. The Department of Fish & Wildlife declined, yet again, to move polar bears from the “threatened” list onto the endangered list.

The photo is one often presented by envois to "prove" the shrinking the polar bear habitat is shrinking. Only problem is the photo was taken near the southwest part of Hudson Bay -- in July.

Left-wing politicians were angry when Obama kept the Bush tax cuts. Now it's the environmental activists turn to be angry at Obama for keeping the Bush polar bear decision.

The science behind this must be pretty clear or Obama would just cram this through like ObamaCare or the GM takeover.

Even NASA is now predicting a possible cool decade or two which is cooling (pun intended) the threat to the polar bears.

Enviros can always go back to saving whales. Animal Planet even has a TV series to keep their excitement at a high level.

Animal Planet may never do a TV series on saving polar bears. Blood - human blood especially - in the snow is not a pretty sight.

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Just where was Mayor Bloomberg during that last storm?

From a sidebar in the London Daily Mail:

He came under fierce criticism for the city's shambolic response to the Christmas blizzard.

And just where Mayor Bloomberg was during the crisis has remained a mystery until now.

Today it emerged that the politician's private plane had been in Bermuda for the crucial period between December 25 and 26.

Officials at the island's airport described how they received a request for Mayor
Bloomberg's plane to be readied for takeoff the day after Christmas.

The aircraft had arrived in the early hours of December 25 and it is believed he spent the day at his waterfront holiday home.

Leave it to the Brits to sniff out the secrets of politicians and celebrities on this of the pond.

Hmm…wonder if he was attending a global warming celebration of some kind?

It's too bad the London Daily Mail doesn't have a New York edition so residents can learn what's going on in their own city.

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First full length movie shot with iPhone

A movie claimed to be the first ever cinema-standard film to be shot solely on the iPhone has been premiered by celebrated South Korean director Park Chan Wook.

The 30-minute film was shot using an iPhone.

It cost 150 million won ($133,000). Wonder why it cost so much? And Don't tell us it wads because of roaming charges.

More here.

Moment of silence at the capitol rotunda

Guides and visitors pause for a moment of silence in the U.S. Capitol rotunda to honor the memory of the victims of the January 8 shooting in Tucson, Arizona.

Time magazine photo

Photo: turtle on wheels

Tzvika, a turtle who suffered a spinal injury from a lawn mower, pulls herself along with the aid of newly attached wheels at the Wildlife Hospital in the Ramat Gan Safari near Tel Aviv.

About those targets and bullets on maps

The difference between targets and surveyor symbols.

Shown above are the "targets" Sarah Palin is accused of showing on maps. They are not targets.

They are surveyor symbols showing places to concentrate on in future political campaigns, yet radicals at MSNBC, etc. are claiming Palin used them as "cross-hairs" to target opponents with physical harm.

They had no more meaning that the "real" targets used by Democrat politicians shown below.