STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* China is increasingly in competition with the U.S. for influence and access
* U.S. argues it isn’t trying to contain China but is trying to understand it
* The U.S. is pressing China to get involved in global issues
* But Washington dreads the day Beijing is immune to its pressure
via Analysis: Keeping a check on America’s banker – CNN.com.
08:02 AM ET 01.18 | Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco, who recently complained of being thrown under the bus by his head coach, apparently isn’t thrilled in Cincinnati. And while coach Marvin Lewis has been clear that there is “no option” in his contract, there is a thought that he won’t be back with the Bengals. So where will the electric receiver/entertainer end up? Ochocinco sent a tweet to a Boston Herald reporter that read only this: “@RapSheet PePe and Bill #EPIC.” Pepe, of course, is one of Ocho’s alter egos. So he’s doing a little flirting. We’ll see if coach Bill Belichick passes him a note after study hall.
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 27% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Thirty-seven percent (37%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -10 (see trends).
Strong Disapproval of the president has been consistently lower since Obama reached a deal on tax cuts with Congressional Republicans last month.
Voters give the president positive reviews for his response to the Tucson shooting. However, they don’t expect any lasting change in the political dialogue.
Most voters believe the health care law passed by Congress last year will increase both the cost of care and the federal budget deficit. Scott Rasmussen has provided a video overview of public opinion on the topic for Platinum Members. Then from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. Eastern, Platinum members can join Scott for a live chat session to answer your questions about health care reform.
The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve. It is updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). Updates are also available on Twitter and Facebook.
Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president’s performance. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.
Republicans hold an eight-point advantage on the Generic Congressional Ballot.
Eighty-two percent (82%) have a favorable opinion of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Who I want to speak with:
The 18% that do not have a favorable opinion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I mean really, what was MLK thinking? That whole compassion and social equality angle is a bit cliche. His nonviolent approach to horrificly oppressive treatment by the white majority was pretty soft Dr. King.
…
18%, chiiild pleeease.
I can only hang my hat on the fact that that 18% mistook Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for some other historical figure that was not a champion of justice, equality, and a better America.
A suicide bomber has killed at least 50 people outside a police recruitment centre in the Iraqi town of Tikrit, officials say.
At least 100 other people were injured in the blast in the town, some 80 miles (130 km) north of Baghdad.
The toll from Tuesday morning’s blast was the highest from a single attack since a Baghdad church siege in October which killed more than 50 people.
Violence in Iraq has ebbed in recent years, but deadly attacks persist.
The bomber – wearing a vest packed with explosives – was in the middle of about 100 volunteers who were waiting outside the building to be interviewed, witnesses said.
Most of his victims were police recruits, officials say.
via BBC News – Suicide bomb kills 50 at Iraqi police centre in Tikrit.
aborigine, anthropophaginian, anthropophagite, anthropophagus, brute, bush dweller, cruel person, head-hunter, ogre, ogress, primitive, ruffian, savage.
I’m on a thesaurus kick.
Pick any of the above and it describes these brutish cruel savages. Any “person” that would settle on blowing themselves up and kill innocent civilians is beyond comprehension by reasonable, true, persons.
I get you’re angry and your only ‘salvation’ is Allah and the purported virgins awaiting your naive butt in paradise. But contemplation would reveal you are no man, or woman, of faith. You are no more than a sociopath, a psychopath, a person devoid of real human emotion that would curb your sinister endeavors. You are animal, not a good Muslim fighting the “infidels.” You are a desperate and pathetic miscreant reverting to the most despicable of crimes to find some misplaced sense of purpose.
Three ministers have withdrawn from the national unity government unveiled only a day ago in Tunisia, reports suggest.
They are reportedly from the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT), which played a key role in protests which ousted the former president.
PM Mohammed Ghannouchi angered many protesters when he kept several ministers from the former ruling party in their jobs.
The government now admits 78 people died in a month of protests.
Mr Ghannouchi had hoped to placate protesters on Monday by announcing a government of national unity – which included members of the opposition but also retained members of the ruling RCD party in key ministerial positions.
But some protesters had denounced the new administration as a betrayal and now the junior transport minister has said he and two other ministers are leaving, AP news agency reported.
