Italy’s defense minister and the U.S. ambassador to Italy announced Thursday that an Italian site run by defense contractor Finmeccanica has been designated as the assembly site and maintenance center for all F-35 fighter jets based in Europe. MORE

A drowning woman and her husband were saved from a raging Los Angeles river swollen by a devastating storm which has ravaged Southern California.

The pair were saved from the river after firefighters battled the torrent to bring them onto dry land, where they were whisked away for treatment. MORE

CERN’s Large Hadron Collider will be turned back on in March – at double power, scientists revealed today.

The world’s biggest particle collider, located near Geneva, has been undergoing a two-year refit.

Work is now ‘in full swing’ to start circulating proton beams again in March, with the first collisions due by May, the European Organization for Nuclear Research said. MORE

Theologians say Francis — who took his papal name from the patron saint of animals, St. Francis of Assisi — was only speaking conversationally.

But the remark is being seen by some as a reversal of conservative Catholic theology that states because they are soulless, animals can’t go to heaven MORE

From Apple’s forthcoming smartwatch to the Fitbit, there is fierce competition to get consumers hooked on wearable devices.

And soon there will be a bracelet that turns your skin into a touchscreen using a tiny built-in projector.

Wearers of the of the Cicret bracelet will be able to check an email or watch a film that’s projected onto their forearm, and control the picture by using their skin like a touchscreen. MORE

Exactly 199 years ago, in 1815, a “temporary” committee was established in the US Senate called the Committee on Finance and Uniform National Currency.

It was set up to address economic issues and the debt accrued by the US government after the War of 1812. MORE

In June, Tom Ford, designer and provocateur, made weary fashion journalists in London for the men’s shows perk up and do a double take at what was then-called a crucifix/penis necklace by writers. It was equal parts panned as obscene or inspired—a sly allusion to fascinus charms favored during the Roman empire.  MORE

iDollators see their dolls as life partners, not sex toys. Davecat and Sidore (or, as he sometimes calls her, Shi-chan) obviously aren’t legally married, but they do have matching wedding bands that say “Synthetik [sic] love lasts forever,” and he says they’re considering some sort of ceremony for their 15th anniversary. MORE VIDEO: MORE

By Nate Bloom

Irving Berlin, one of the most famous songwriters in American history, was born Israel Baline in Western Siberia, in what is now part of the Russian Federation. Berlin’s daughter, Mary Ellin Berlin Barrett, writes in her book, Irving Berlin, a Daughter’s Memoir (1994) that her sister researched the Baline family origins. While the family originated in what is now Belarus, Irving was almost certainly born in Western Siberia, where his father, an itinerant cantor, had sought work. Berlin’s father didn’t work as a cantor when the family moved to America. Continue reading →

So far I get a 75 to 80% approval. I Have to thank Francis. There is no other explanation.

Continue reading →

One of the best conservative talk hosts around. 20 years of good fight from this guy. Good luck Larry.

The “Sage from South Central” is no longer gracing the airwaves of KABC (790 AM): Larry Elder was let go from the talk station he called home for most of the past 20-plus years. He was informed of the move after what turned out to be his last show Dec. 2. MORE

At this rate, between gambling and now Marijuana the Indians are going to become an economic power in this country. Will it effect our schools?

America’s surging trade deficit with China has resulted in the loss of more than 3.2 million U.S. jobs and California has weathered the biggest hit, according to a report released Thursday.

The Economic Policy Institute’s “China Trade, Outsourcing and Jobs” report reveals that the trade imbalance has cost California 564,200 jobs, mostly in manufacturing. MORE