We know you’ve got Tuesday, Feb. 14, circled on your calendar, but there’s a lot to do before Valentine’s Day, including many ways to celebrate this weekend. See our ideas for the best events this weekend , including dual exhibits featuring two Founding Fathers, plays put together in a day and the International Wine and Food Festival. Read full article > >

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Plan your weekend: Founding Fathers exhibits, Play In a Day

Just after the first anniversary of the onset of the Arab Spring, the Obama administration announced in December an enormous arms sale to Saudi Arabia , with a price tag greater than the annual gross domestic product of more than half the countries in the world. The administration hailed the sale as a “ historic achievement ” that “reinforces the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.” The close juxtaposition of the anniversary and the apparent repair of the temporary rough patch in U.S.-Saudi relations highlights crucial overlooked realities about the Arab Spring and the U.S. response. Read full article > >

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Washington’s bow to Mideast monarchs

Just after the first anniversary of the onset of the Arab Spring, the Obama administration announced in December an enormous arms sale to Saudi Arabia , with a price tag greater than the annual gross domestic product of more than half the countries in the world. The administration hailed the sale as a “ historic achievement ” that “reinforces the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.” The close juxtaposition of the anniversary and the apparent repair of the temporary rough patch in U.S.-Saudi relations highlights crucial overlooked realities about the Arab Spring and the U.S. response. Read full article > >

See more here:
Washington’s bow to Mideast monarchs

Just after the first anniversary of the onset of the Arab Spring, the Obama administration announced in December an enormous arms sale to Saudi Arabia , with a price tag greater than the annual gross domestic product of more than half the countries in the world. The administration hailed the sale as a “ historic achievement ” that “reinforces the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.” The close juxtaposition of the anniversary and the apparent repair of the temporary rough patch in U.S.-Saudi relations highlights crucial overlooked realities about the Arab Spring and the U.S. response. Read full article > >

Read the original post:
Washington’s bow to Mideast monarchs

The first Republican revolution had a short, sharp battle plan: the “ Contract with America .” Ten big ideas. Three pages of text. The second Republican revolution — the one now struggling for oxygen on Capitol Hill — did it differently. Its “ Pledge to America ” noodles on for 48 pages. It contains less ambitious ideas but has glossy photos of 42 GOP congressmen. Read full article > >

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Gingrich campaign brings up comparison of Republican revolutions

In the lore of the U.S. political system, debates are among the most hallowed of rituals. From Lincoln-Douglas on, they have been the moments when voters are supposed to have an opportunity to get to know their candidates, contrast their ideas, evaluate their mettle. Read full article > >

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Why are there so many presidential debates?

When President Obama detailed proposals to reorganize and streamline certain government functions last week, some folks wanted to know why it took nearly a year to develop the plan. One reason is the involvement of federal employees. Read full article > >

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Federal Diary: Federal workers contribute ideas for streamlining government

WASHINGTON — The United States has reached a deal to sell $3.48 billion worth of missiles and related technology to the United Arab Emirates, a close Mideast ally, as part of a massive buildup of defense technology among friendly Mideast nations near Iran. Pentagon spokesman George Little announced the Christmas Day sale on Friday night. Read full article > >

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US seals deal on $3.48 billion sale of missiles, technology to UAE, a close ally in Mideast

TAIZ, Yemen — Every day, Ahlan Muthana breaks away from the past. At pro-democracy rallies, she leads crowds of protesters chanting against the government, an act unthinkable for a Yemeni woman only a year ago. Men who never took her seriously now listen to her ideas and, like disciples, join in her calls for justice. Read full article > >

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For Yemeni women, the future looks uncertain

The rise of “mompreneurs” has been helped by the rise of Internet and social media, which allow child-raising women to exchange ideas without having to leave the house.

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Prototype: If Moms Can’t Find It, They Invent It

The color of 2012 is a citrus-red hue that will give your weary eyes a break from all of those neutrals. Tangerine Tango , Pantone’s 2012 color of the year, was selected because, “there’s the element of encouragement with orange, it’s building on the ideas of courage and action, that we want to move on to better things. I think it would be a disservice to go with a relaxed, soothing color now,” Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, told the Associated Press. Read full article > >

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Tangerine Tango: Pantone’s color of the year in fashion

This is America under President Gingrich: There are two Social Security systems — one old, one new, running side by side. There are two tax systems and two versions of Medicare. Immigration decisions are handled by citizen councils spread across the country. And in the White House is a president who is eager to do battle with the judicial branch. Read full article > >

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Newt Gingrich as president could turn the White House into an ideas factory

Along July 26th Street, named for the era of a long-ago revolution, Egypt’s divides were bridged, briefly, by the simplest of ideas: a chance at self-determination.

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In Cairo, an Election Bridges Egypt’s Divides

With the holiday this week, our list of the best weekend events goes from Thursday through Sunday, so we’ve got you covered from the first bite of turkey to the last snap of football on Sunday. Check out a few of the highlights here, and then view our full list of a dozen ideas. Once you’ve finished your big Thanksgiving dinner, head to the Kennedy Center to dance some of those calories away. The Daryl Davis Band performs two sets of swing tunes for you to jump, twist and dance along to on the floor. Gottaswing providing dance lessons before each set. Read full article > >

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Plan your Thanksgiving weekend: Swing dancing, Mastodon

Though several YouTube clips portray him as a radical, many of Dr. Norman Finkelstein’s ideas and resolutions to the Israel-Palestine conflict are so reasonable that it is no wonder his opponents try to silence and/or discredit him (in fact, an acquaintance of mine complained he wasn’t radical enough!). Speakers can easily be put-down as “extremist” or “anti-Semitic” when their ideas are radically out of the norm. But with Finkelstein these labels go down like a lead balloon.

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“There Has Not Been a Peace Process; There Has Been an Annexation Process”: Norman Finkelstein Discusses the Israel-Palestine Conflict