Obama’s spending freeze excludes Pentagon, Homeland Security

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/25/obama.spending.freeze/
Washington (CNN) -- President Obama will announce in Wednesday's State of the Union address that he's proposing to save $250 billion by freezing all nonsecurity federal discretionary spending for three years, according to two senior administration officials.
The proposed freeze, which could help position Obama in the political center by sharpening his credentials on fiscal discipline, would exempt the budgets of the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs, along with some international programs.
"We are at war, and we're going to make sure our troops are funded adequately," one of the senior officials said.

UN peacekeepers fire pepper spray on thousands of hungry Haitians waiting for food

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews
Thousands of hungry Haitians spilled into the streets defeating barbed wire and a tiny contingent of blue-helmeted UN peacekeepers distributing food.  The chaotic scene unfolded outside the wrecked presidential palace in Port-au-Prince where aid agencies struggled to control 4000-strong mass of desperate Haitians, two weeks after the devastating earthquake struck.  Security forces fired pepper spray into the air in an effort to disperse the thousands of men, women and children jostling for food.

Hoyer: It's Good for People to Make Money Because Then They Can Pay Taxes

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/60444
(CNSNews.com) – House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D.-Md.) said today in his weekly press briefing that it is good that Americans are making money again because it means they can pay taxes.

From Inside and Out, Climate Panel Is Pushed to Change

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/
There is growing pressure on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, from within and without, to change some practices to ensure the credibility of its future reports.
The latest push came on Monday in New Delhi, where leaders of countries that formed an influential bloc at last month’s Copenhagen climate talks were meeting to assess next steps. The Business Standard of India quoted Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, as calling for the panel’s next set of reports  to contain a broader set of scientific viewpoints on evidence for global warming:

“We need to adopt an open attitude to scientific research and incorporate all views…. Scientists are waiting for the fifth assessment report and amongst us, we will enhance cooperation in the report to make it more comprehensive.”