Source: CNN

Los Angeles (CNN) -- A German man arrested in Los Angeles early Monday after a string of 52 fires -- mostly in parked cars -- was charged Wednesday with 37 counts of arson, prosecutors said.

Harry Burkhart, 24, was due to appear in a Los Angeles court Wednesday in connection with one of the worst arson sprees in the city's history.

He is also under investigation for arson and fraud in his home country, a prosecution official in Germany said.

"After reviewing the available evidence, we filed 28 counts of arson of property and nine counts of arson of an inhabited structure," Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon. "The current charges relate to arson fires at 12 locations in Hollywood, West Hollywood and Sherman Oaks between December 30 and January 2."



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/04/us/californi...

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

Iowa caucus results, with most of the votes counted, show Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in a dead heat. If the caucus results hold, the importance of the South Carolina primary will grow.

DES MOINES, Iowa

With 92 percent of the votes tallied from the Iowa Republican caucuses, two candidates from different wings of the party were locked in a near-tie – moderate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and conservative former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania each had 24.7 percent. Only 13 votes separated the two.

Network television was projecting the libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul of Texas to finish third, with 21.1 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is in fourth with 13.3 percent. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is fifth with 10.3 percent. Rep. Michele Bachmann is sixth with 5.1 percent.

If the close finish for the top two spots holds, that means the Republican nomination race leaves Iowa with an air of indecision. Next up is the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 10, where Mr. Romney is expected to win easily. But his status as a favorite son there could diminish the meaning of such a victory.



Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/Pre...

The latest from Mark Fiore!

(CNN) -- As you're being inundated with wall-to-wall coverage of the Iowa caucuses this week, keep the following number in mind: zero.

The quest for the GOP's presidential nomination is ultimately a race for delegates. With 2,286 delegates attending the party's national convention in Tampa at the end of August, the backing of slightly over half of that group -- 1,144 -- will be needed for Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, or someone else to capture the prize.

Guess how many of these delegates will be selected in Iowa on January 3. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

Iowa matters for one reason only: the media says so. It's been deemed the first "real" contest on the presidential nominating calendar, and for some reason "first" warrants wall-to-wall coverage. The winner -- or perceived winner -- is almost certain to get a campaign cash boost and ride a tidal wave of media-fueled momentum.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/28/politics/iow...

A Florida animal sanctuary says Cheetah, the chimpanzee sidekick in the Tarzan movies of the early 1930s, has died at 80. But other accounts call that claim into question.

Debbie Cobb, outreach director at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, said Wednesday that her grandparents acquired Cheetah around 1960 from "Tarzan" star Johnny Weissmuller and that the chimp appeared in Tarzan films between 1932 and 1934. During that period, Weissmuller made "Tarzan the Ape Man" and "Tarzan and His Mate."

But Cobb offered no documentation, saying it was destroyed in a 1995 fire.

Also, some Hollywood accounts indicate a chimpanzee by the name of Jiggs or Mr. Jiggs played Cheetah alongside Weissmuller early on and died in 1938.

More:
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireSt...

David Hickman was a star football player in McLeansville, North Carolina. He was a quiet man with a larger-than-life presence. He also holds the distinction of being the last soldier to die before the official announcement of the end of the Iraq war. That fact has made him a part of history, CNN affiliate WGHP reports.

Hickman, an Army specialist, was remembered Thursday by friends as the U.S. marked the official end of the war.

President Obama commemorated the milestone with an appearance at Fort Bragg, where Hickman was stationed before being deployed in September.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/16/n-c-s... /

The last man to die for a mistake.

Video at article.

Just in case anyone missed any of these...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Word that the government is letting BP end its cleanup of the Gulf Coast left many residents seething and fearful over who would monitor or respond to any lingering effects of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Estimates that 90 percent of the region's shores have been cleaned of oil from last year's spill belie the sentiments of many locals who are likely to think first of BP when they spot tar balls or mats of weathered oil in the sand. Such waste has washed ashore for years from a variety of sources, but the spill's traumatic aftermath has linked it with BP in the minds of many.

"Everything is just not how it used to be. When you pull a fish up, it doesn't look like it is supposed to look, like they did before," said Ryan Johnson, a fisherman in Pensacola Beach, Fla.

The agreement approved last week by the U.S. Coast Guard ends BP's cleanup responsibility for all but a small fraction of the coast, and marks a shift to restoration efforts that will likely include planting new vegetation and adding new sand to beaches. Under the plan, BP PLC won't be required to clean up oil that washes ashore in the future unless officials can prove it came from the blown-out well that caused the 2010 catastrophe - a link that the company concedes will be harder to establish as time passes and the oil degrades. Still, a top company official said BP is ready to respond to any oil that's deemed its responsibility.

http://www.adn.com/2011/11/09/2161823/coas...

Fossil-fuel consumers worldwide received about six times more government subsidies than were given to the renewable-energy industry, according to the chief adviser to oil-importing nations.

State spending to cut retail prices of gasoline, coal and natural gas rose 36 percent to $409 billion as global energy costs increased, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said today in its World Energy Outlook. Aid for biofuels, wind power and solar energy, rose 10 percent to $66 billion.

While fossil fuels meet about 80 percent of world energy demand, its subsidies are “creating market distortions that encourage wasteful consumption,” the agency said. “The costs of subsidies to fossil fuels generally outweigh the benefits.”

The Group of 20 nations in 2009 pledged to phase out state aid for carbon-based fuels dug or pumped out of the earth. In the U.S., energy subsidies are becoming an issue in next year’s presidential election after Solyndra LLC went bankrupt with $535 million of loan guarantees by the federal government. Republican contender Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, has pledged to end all federal energy subsidies.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-09/f...

Unbelievable!

Police experimented with a new tactic Friday night as they responded to a weeklong Occupy Seattle demonstration at Westlake Park -- ticketing drivers who honked in support of protesters.

Starting at 11 p.m. Friday, police started pulling over and ticketing drivers who honked as they drove past protesters.

When the first car -- a taxi -- was pulled over, the protesters followed and shouted at police who then formed a blockade around the driver's cab.

The cab driver was then given a $144 ticket -- and protesters ended up handing him money afterwards to help pay for his fine.

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/komo/articl...

Rachel Maddow: Elizabeth Warren, from consumer advocate to candidate. Part 2 (of 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5dXrPsU9MM

For those who missed this last night, Bill Maher was as funny and outrageous as ever...

US energy services giant Halliburton is suing BP for defamation and negligent misrepresentation over the disastrous 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Halliburton claims BP gave inaccurate information to the US company before it did work lining the well with cement.

An official inquiry found that faulty cementing contributed to the disaster, which killed 11 oil rig workers.

BP said it was aware of the lawsuit and, should it come to court, they would "vigorously contest the claims".

The amount of damages Halliburton is seeking has not been disclosed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-1476744...

Giving human names to hurricanes may seem odd, but it's part of a major shift in our relationship with tropical cyclones over the past 60 years.

Hurricane Irene is poised to wreak havoc along the U.S. East Coast this weekend, with some 600 miles of shoreline under official hurricane warnings. After hitting North Carolina's Outer Banks Saturday, the storm is expected to batter several major cities, including Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York.

As with most big hurricanes that threaten land, Irene's human name has become a buzzword throughout her projected path. Millions of people are hearing, speaking, researching and remembering it, and if the National Hurricane Center's forecasts hold true, the name "Irene" could join the ranks of legendary storms such as Betsy, Andrew, Hugo or Katrina.

But where do those names come from? Why do we give human names to violent, mindless masses of water and wind? The practice dates back to the 1950s, although people have been naming tropical cyclones for centuries.

Before the 1940s, only the worst storms were given names, usually based on the place or time of year they made landfall: There was the Sea Islands Hurricane of 1893, the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the Miami Hurricane of 1926 and the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, to name a few. Scientists and forecasters often assigned unofficial numbers to tropical cyclones — Tropical Storm One, Hurricane Two, etc. — but the practice of using more memorable and relatable names didn't begin until the 1950 hurricane season.

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-w...


SPIN CYCLE: Hurricane Irene is seen from the International Space Station as it passes over the Caribbean Sea on Aug. 22, 2011. (Photo: Ron Garan/NASA)