Obama Wants to Avoid an Iranian Military Conflict; Good Luck with That (ContributorNetwork)
ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | President Barack Obama said Sunday it would be risky to attack Iran. Ya think? He wasn't concerned about Iranian military capabilities, and really shouldn't be. They are no match for anything the U.S. Navy would throw at them or anything our allies already have positioned in the region. He's more concerned about the impact it would have on the price of oil.

Facebook Not the First or Only Business to Exploit Users (ContributorNetwork)
ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | It doesn't matter if an internet company goes public, like Facebook's big IPO announcement. Users are exploited to advertisers. This is the way of the business world. Ad dollars makes the world go around. Using or selling user information to businesses isn't anything new; it's been going on long before Facebook.

They're Food Stamps -- Not Junk Food Stamps (ContributorNetwork)
ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | As reported in an article by the Sun Sentinel, two lawmakers in Florida, Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood and Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, are attempting to pass legislation that would ban the use of food stamps to purchase soda, sweets, and junk food. While they feel that taxpayers shouldn't have to "foot the bill for Mountain Dew," a sentiment shared by many Americans, some people, including Plakor and Storms' fellow GOP colleagues, feel it's not up to the government to decide what people can and cannot eat.

Time to cut off aid to Egypt? (The Week)
The Week - As tensions rise between Egyptian authorities and U.S. pro-democracy groups, Cairo risks losing the Western aid its military depends on

Good day, bad day: January 31, 2012 (The Week)
The Week - Israeli scientists learn to breed black tomatoes, while a top liberal arts college admits to cheating — and more winners and losers of today's news cycle

The X Factor bloodbath: 'An admission of failure'? (The Week)
The Week - After an underwhelming first season, Simon Cowell hands pink slips to host Steve Jones, as well as judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul

Are teens ditching Facebook for Twitter? (The Week)
The Week - More and more young people are tweeting, especially as their parents ease into Mark Zuckerberg's social network

Sniffing smelly T-shirts: The new way to find a soulmate? (The Week)
The Week - An Atlanta artist decides to try following her nose to love, creating a matchmaking party based on little-understood magnetic aromas

The Catholic Church vs. 'ObamaCare' (The Week)
The Week - The feds will soon require religiously affiliated hospitals and colleges to offer insurance coverage for contraception. Does that violate the first amendment?

Obama's 5 biggest mistakes (The Week)
The Week - The president's Republican opponents will surely spend 2012 hammering away at his failures. So what exactly are they?

Washington's sea lion murder mystery (The Week)
The Week - Eight protected marine mammals with gunshot wounds are found dead in the Puget Sound area. Who would do such a thing?

Gingrich, Romney and Paul Are Good, Bad and Ugly at Debate (ContributorNetwork)
ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | The GOP debate Monday brought to a head some of the major issues and brought out strong reactions to the candidates. With the candidate pack reduced to five, each had more time to speak, self-promote and attack opponents. The debate also proved what a circus the political arena has become when the audience became such an active participant that it almost needed a podium of its own.

Phobos-Grunt Falls into the Pacific; Russians Blame America (ContributorNetwork)
ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | ABC News reports the remnants of the Russian Phobos-Grunt probe crashed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, thus ending the latest attempt by Russia to revive its planetary probe program. The Russians said most of it burned in the atmosphere.

Rand Paul 'Detained' at Nashville Airport, Refuses Pat-Down (ContributorNetwork)
ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | Tea party favorite Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., made a political statement Monday morning when he refused a fully body pat-down after an abnormality was found in a full body scanner. According to a Facebook message posted on Paul's profile, which appeared around 10 a.m. Eastern time, he "is being detained at the Nashville Airport by the TSA [Transportation Security Administration]."

Mitt Romney Savors His Victory in New Hampshire (ContributorNetwork)
ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | Savoring his victory in the New Hampshire primary, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was understandably ebullient. He had been denied the same victory in one of his home states in 2008 by the then future nominee Sen. John McCain.