The Huffington Post - Read the Latest News from the U.S.

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New daytime show "The Talk" has been renewed by CBS for a second season.The "View" knockoff has been getting some good ratings lately, averaging 2.4 million viewers for the week ending Jan. 14.More...

Source: 'The Talk' Renewed By CBS

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With the recent huff over college students not learning a darn thing (45% Of Students Don't Learn Much In College), I figured it was time to offer what goes on in the mind of a college professor. This is what I care about and don't care about in class:1.  DON'T CARE if your cell phone goes off, as long as I get to answer it.  These days, I'm having trouble distinguishing incoming calls from texts. Droid!More...

Source: 8 Things Your Prof Cares (or Doesn't Care) About in Class

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Rumors are flying that the Egyptian government is now restricting access to Facebook after blocking Twitter yesterday, according to TechCrunch and sources on Twitter. In Alexandria, @antikano tweets:

FACEBOOK & TWITTER are now FULLY BLOCKED IN EGYPT #Jan25More...

Source: Facebook Blocked In Egypt? Rumors Persist, But No Confirmation

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The Financial Times is expanding its efforts around online video with a new television studio in its London headquarters, new video staffers in its New York and Hong Kong bureaus, and by providing simple video cameras to its print reporters in the field.

While much of the FT articles are behind a subscription wall, videos remain free.

For an overview on the expansion of the FT's plans and an overview on the value of video journalism, we spoke with Richard Edgar, the global head of video operations. He was in New York recently when we caught up with him.

Online Video Journalism Summit at The Washington Post on February 1

The editorial and business opportunities around online video journalism will be explored at our event at The Washington Post on Tuesday, February 1 from 9 - 11:30 ET.  We regret that Mr. Edgar is unable to join us, but delighted we have his comments here.More...

Source: Financial Times Ramps Up Online Video Efforts with London Studio, Expanded Staffing in New York and Hong Kong

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For Annabel Park, founder of the Coffee Party USA, the influence of corporations on elections is "a cancer in our political system." Speaking by phone, she elaborates on this heavy metaphor with a statement even more dire: that if Americans remain cynical and allow the cancer to spread as much as it has, then corporate influence "will permanently control the political narrative in the United States."What could be so terrifying but so influential that it caused this full-time documentary filmmaker and political activist to "work 20 hours a day" to halt the cancer from spreading?More...

Source: At 'Summit for People,' Cautious Optimism About Ending Citizens United

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To understand how Chicago politics works one need only do a doctoral thesis on the Daley I mayoral years, the Daley II mayoral years -- both of which turned Chicago into The City That Works -- or watch a West Wing-like television series that I may have to co-write, Man on Five, which is insider code for Da Mayor of Chicago, whose office is on the fifth floor of City Hall. But right in your face, situated as you step off the elevator with its highly polished brass doors.A few days ago Rahm Emanuel, former Illinois Congressman and, until recently, President Obama's Chief of Staff, was the front runner to win the February 22 mayoral election. It looked neat and played like Chicago style Monopoly. The highly esteemed Richard M. Daley, son of the revered Mayor Richard J. Daley and brother of the well respected Bill Daley, the former Secretary of Commerce and midwest head of Jamie Dimon's J. P. Morgan Chase who replaced Rahm Emanuel as President Obama's Chief of Staff as Former Chief of Staff Emanuel returned to Chicago to fill the Mayor of Chicago's office on five when our beloved Mayor Richard M. Daley announced he would not run for a 7th term.More...

Source: Man on Five: The Chicago Mayoral Race

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I've been feeling lately as if some of the scenes I'm writing are too vague. I'm missing a tangible sense of the rooms my characters exist in, and the things they interact with on a daily basis. What I need is a little set decoration. So today, I spent my writing time on the hunt for buildings, houses and rooms, as well as the things inside them -- typewriters, couches, coffee makers. Here are 5 places I searched:Google Images. Obvious, I know, but what an amazing resource. It's the perfect place to start. I peered into the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel, the lobby of the Waldorf, a 1950's suburban kitchen.More...

Source: The Making of a Novel: Set Decoration

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Artist Thomas McKean was riding the subway when he idly wondered how many words he could spell using the word 'Metrocard'. Then he fixated on variations of design using the actual card itself. After enough subway musing, he decided to collect discarded Metrocards and use them as his palette for grand mosaics.

I was entranced by the actual surface of the MetroCard - it actually has a beautiful glow, like enamel - and the slight variations in color from one card to another. I also like the challenges presented by using a limited palette, just the same way I admire the limitations imposed by writing a sonnet, yet the immense opportunites one can find within these limitations. (It took me a while to permit myself to use the back of the card - usually white - which of course gave me a lot more leeway.) And yes, the subway itself, does inspire me: perhaps it goes back to admiring George Tooker's subway paintings, but I've begun a series of drawings of different subway entrances, most of which have some unusual aspect in their lay-out as they had to be constructed to fit in odd spaces.

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Source: Thomas McKean's MetroCard Mosaics (PHOTOS)

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PresidentObama has  been lavished with praise for his focus onMore...

Source: Missing From the State of the Union: The Clean Air Act

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It certainly feels like the national spotlight is on higher education.  And to the general public, it may even appear that we are marching bravely toward meeting the country's needs for higher education in the 21st century.  But are we? Many faculty on college campuses around the country are not convinced.Recognizing the need for a highly educated workforce to ensure the country's global competitiveness, President Obama, for instance, set an ambitious goal for the nation -- to have the highest percentage of college graduates of any country in the world by 2020. At the state level, a number of state governors have committed to increasing graduate rates in their public colleges and universities as their part in this national project. Foundations have funded initiatives to increase graduation rates.  And the heads of many state college and university systems have followed suit.More...

Source: Higher Education at the Crossroads: It Is Time for the Faculty's Voice to Be Heard