JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It was approaching 11 p.m. at the Hyatt hotel bar here on Sunday, and reporters covering Newt Gingrich’s campaign were enjoying a few drinks when a familiar figure approached. Gingrich put a hand on the shoulders of two women at the table and imparted a big scoop. “There’s a new poll coming out,” he announced. “I’m within five points of Romney. . . . I’ve got all the momentum.” Read full article > >

See original here:
The end of the road for Newt Gingrich?

Featured the actor coming out of the closet.

Read this article:
Lautner’s Gay ‘People’ Cover Fake

A job with NBC is the latest step in Chelsea Clinton’s gradual coming out as a public figure, one who seems to be finally accepting her celebrity.

More:
Chelsea Clinton, Living Up to the Family Name

Singer Charlotte Church tells an inquiry her mother attempted suicide “at least in part” because she knew a story was coming out about her father’s affair.

See the original post:
Church tells of family’s torment

Ho ho ho! The big news coming out of the Senate Democrats’ weekly lunch? “We chose Secret Santas,” Sen. Ben Nelson told our colleague Paul Kane . For real! In an effort to inspire collegiality, six lawmakers — led by Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.)— have organized the Senate’s first-ever mystery-gift exchange. They’re pushing for bipartisan swaps, though the numbers aren’t quite even: Of 58 senators signed up, 21 are Republican and 37 Democrat. Read full article > >

Follow this link:
Senators pick ‘Secret Santas’ for gift exchange

Ho ho ho! The big news coming out of the Senate Democrats’ weekly lunch? “We chose Secret Santas,” Sen. Ben Nelson told our colleague Paul Kane . For real! In an effort to inspire collegiality, six lawmakers — led by Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.)— have organized the Senate’s first-ever mystery-gift exchange. They’re pushing for bipartisan swaps, though the numbers aren’t quite even: Of 58 senators signed up, 21 are Republican and 37 Democrat. Read full article > >

Continue reading here:
Senators pick ‘Secret Santas’ for gift exchange

“You have 219 new regulations coming out, costing over $100 million each.”  — Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Oct. 27, 2011   Read full article > >

More here:
Bogus claims that just keep getting repeated — and a further explanation of the Pinocchio scale

A fight appears to be brewing between Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney over tax policy. On Wednesday, Perry declared that he would be coming out with a flat-tax plan next week . In Iowa Thursday morning, Romney said the flat tax has “positive features” but you have to make sure it “doesn’t raise taxes on middle-income Americans.” Read full article > >

See the original post here:
Romney and Perry headed for tax war

With little good news coming out of Wall Street or Washington, President Barack Obama plans to tout his administration’s role in an economic renaissance percolating along the west coast of Michigan during a scheduled visit Thursday.

Read the original here:
Obama to revisit economic bright spot

Well, there’s at least one person who’s optimistic about the budget talks. Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday he is “confident” the talks between the White House and congressional leaders will produce “well beyond” $1 trillion in cuts. Coming out of…

See the article here:
Biden: ‘Well Beyond’ $1T in Deficit Cuts

The Arab Spring saw pop-culture coming out of Al Jazeera English, especially in the United States, where cable companies continue to keep the Qatar-based network off the air. GQ’s Michael Paterniti went to AJE’s headquarters and met with its stars in…

See original here:
Al Jazeera English’s Winning News Strategy

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are back in the fifth installment of the Fast and Furious franchise, roaring into theaters on Friday and coming out with an estimated $33.2 million. The result was the largest opening day ever at the box office during the…

Continued here:
Fast Five Sets Records

Fast Five, the fifth installment in the lucrative Fast and Furious franchise is coming out in a few weeks, April 29th to be exact, and we have a special featurette all about Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and what is what like to shoot the movie there. Take a look at it below and then go ahead and submit your fan questions in the comments section

It was a routine day at the Birmingham, England airport in 1990. The British Airways crew had gotten up early to prepare for a trip to Malaga, Spain. About 13 minutes into the flight, flight attendant Nigel Ogden walked into the cockpit to offer the captain Tim Lancaster and co-captain Alistair Atcheson a cup of tea. As he was walking out, the plane was rocked by an explosion. He turned around and this is what he saw, as he told it to the Sydney Morning Herald ‘s Julia Llewellyn Smith . I whipped round and saw the front windscreen had disappeared and Tim, the pilot, was going out through it. He had been sucked out of his seatbelt and all I could see were his legs. I jumped over the control column and grabbed him round his waist to avoid him going out completely. His shirt had been pulled off his back and his body was bent upwards, doubled over round the top of the aircraft. His legs were jammed forward, disconnecting the autopilot, and the flight door was resting on the controls, sending the plane hurtling down at nearly 650kmh through some of the most congested skies in the world. Everything was being sucked out of the aircraft: even an oxygen bottle that had been bolted down went flying and nearly knocked my head off. I was holding on for grim death but I could feel myself being sucked out, too. John rushed in behind me and saw me disappearing, so he grabbed my trouser belt to stop me slipping further, then wrapped the captain’s shoulder strap around me. Luckily, Alistair, the co-pilot, was still wearing his safety harness from take-off, otherwise he would have gone, too. The aircraft was losing height so quickly the pressure soon equalised and the wind started rushing in – at 630kmh and -17C. Paper was blowing round all over the place and it was impossible for Alistair to hear air-traffic control. We were spiralling down at 80 feet per second with no autopilot and no radio. Ogden could feel his arms being pulled out of their sockets. And because of the altitude, it was extremely cold. (Ogden would suffer frostbite from the flight.) The co-pilot managed to get the autopilot back on and the plane came back under their control. Nonetheless, the pilot was still stuck outside the window of the plane. I was still holding Tim, but my arms were getting weaker, and then he slipped. I thought I was going to lose him, but he ended up bent in a U-shape around the windows. His face was banging against the window with blood coming out of his nose and the side of his head, his arms were flailing and seemed about 6 feet [1.8 metres] long. Most terrifyingly, his eyes were wide open. I’ll never forget that sight as long as I live. I couldn’t hold on any more, so Simon strapped himself into the third pilot’s seat and hooked Tim’s feet over the back of the captain’s seat and held on to his ankles. One of the others said: “We’re going to have to let him go.” I said: “I’ll never do that.” I knew I wouldn’t be able to face his family, handing them a matchbox and saying: “This is what is left of your husband.” If we’d let go of his body, it might have got jammed in a wing or the engines. I left Simon hanging on to Tim and staggered back into the main cabin. For a moment, I just sat totally exhausted in a jump seat, my head in my hands, then Sue came up to me, very shaken. In front of all the passengers, I put my arms around her and whispered in her ear: “I think the Captain’s dead.” But then I said: “Come on, love, we’ve got a job to do.” Believe it or not, everything turned out OK. Eighteen minutes after the explosion, they were back safe on the ground. Some people were frostbitten and a little banged up, but they survived. This amazing anecdote got dredged up Business Insider’s Henry Blodget in the wake of the recent Southwest Airlines in-flight decompression incident .

See the article here:
What to Do When Your Pilot Gets Sucked Out the Plane Window

Pop singer Ricky Martin is given an award from a leading US gay and lesbian organisation after coming out as gay last year.

Excerpt from:
Ricky Martin wins gay media award