1/4/2014:: Just plum ran out of time

Natalie Webb Accused Of Molesting Three Of Her Children While Adults Watched (GRAPHIC DETAILS)

An Oklahoma mother faces serious charges after authorities say she sexually abused her children in the presence of other adults.

Natalie Lynn Webb, 30, was arrested in Elk City, Okla., and charged with sexual abuse of children under 12, and child neglect. Police said she abused three of her children from December 2012 to March 2013.

Webb is due in Beckham County Court Jan. 6 for a preliminary hearing, and is being held on a $2 million bond. Her four children now live with their grandparents.

A Dec. 18 police affidavit, obtained by The Huffington Post, contains accounts of repeated rapes, beatings and deplorable living conditions through interviews with Webb and her children.

‘American Idol’ runner-up Clay Aiken mulls bid to represent North Carolina in House

According to Democratic sources familiar with his plans, former American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken is seriously considering a bid to represent North Carolina’s 2nd congressional district in the House.

The sources spoke to The Washington Blade anonymously, but they claim that he’s contacted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to gauge their interest in his potential run. He has also reportedly been working with a Democratic strategist who has worked with former North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue and on Al Gore’s presidential candidacy. Another Democratic source claims that Aiken spoke to pollsters at Heart Research Association in Washington, D.C. last month.

Cambodian forces disperse opposition rally

Cambodian authorities have forced opposition protesters to evacuate their rally base in the capital, a day after police launched a deadly crackdown on striking garment workers.

Dozens of anti-riot police armed with shields and batons flooded into the area in central Phnom Penh, causing about a 1,000 protesters to flee, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

Protesters, backed by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party which claims it has been robbed off a victory in the 2011 elections, have camped in Freedom Park since mid-December in demand for better wages.

Court officials confirm Obama's eligibility case remains on docket

According to a report from World Net Daily, court officials in Alabama confirmed Thursday that the case regarding Barack Obama's eligibility to serve as president filed by attorney Larry Klayman, the founder of Freedom Watch, remains on the docket. Klayman's legal challenge to President Obama's eligibility does not focus on Obama's birth certificate, but rather on the question of whether or not he is a "natural-born citizen" as defined by the founders.

Some argue that to be considered a natural-born citizen a person must be born of citizen parents who were both born in the United States. President Obama's father was of course born in Kenya. However, the Constitution does not define the term, and differing opinions have been offered over time.

Decapitated Woman Case: Husband on Interpol Wanted List

Indian national Harvinder Singh, the husband of a beautician whose decapitated body was found in Whampoa River on Dec 12, is now on the wanted list of Interpol.

The body was identified as that of Ms Jasvinder Kaur, the 33-year-old wife of a logistics executive, also 33, who was working here on an employment pass.

A 25-year-old forklift driver had been arrested in connection with her murder, and police have been looking for her husband Harvinder Singh to help in their investigations.

U.S. Science Funding Falters, Sequestration Only Part Of Problem: Study

The United States is losing its global dominance in the field of biomedical research, and sequestration is only partially to blame.

New research published in The New England Journal of Medicine this week shows that America's global share of money spent on biomedical research went from 51 percent to 45 percent from 2007 to 2012. The study, conducted by five academics and market analysts and titled "Asia's Ascent — Global Trends in Biomedical R&D Expenditures," blames the drop on a decline in private industry investment into research and development accounts. Over that same five-year period, the global share of United States, private, industry research and development expenditures declined from 50 percent to 42 percent. Public funding, meanwhile, stayed relatively stable.

America's loss has been Asia's gain. In the five-year period examined, the overall expenditures from the U.S. (both public and private) into biomedical research declined by 9 percent when adjusted for inflation. Asian-Pacific expenditures, by contrast, increased by 51 percent; China alone saw a 313 percent increase.

Man’s blood alcohol content too high for police to measure

28-year-old Levi B. Carter’s accomplishment is one that’s truly horrifying. KCRG ABC 9 News is reporting that the Iowa City, Iowa man was so intoxicated that when given a breath test, the breathalyzer wasn’t able to calculate it.

The eco-friendly wood in rebuilt New Orleans homes is now rotting

Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation has built 100 energy-efficient and eco-friendly houses in New Orleans to replace homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Unfortunately, the organization believes that some of the wood it used is now rotting, reports The New Orleans Advocate.

The organization used TimberSIL, an innovative glass-infused wood product produced by a South Carolina manufacturer, to build porches and outside steps. The absence of chromated copper arsenate and other chemicals typically used to prevent rot and decay was a selling point for Make It Right.

"Instead of treating the wood with toxic chemicals, it's actually infused with sand, or silica, such that it takes on the properties of treated lumber," Tom Darden, the executive director of Make It Right, said in a 2010 interview. "At the end of its life cycle, which is estimated to be about 300 years, it can be mulched and composted, believe it or not."

White House ‘We the People’ petitions unanswered two years later

The Obama administration has touted the White House website’s ‘We the People’ section as a powerful platform for the American public to petition their government. According to a new report, however, those solicitations are all too rarely acknowledged.

“When I ran for this office, I pledged to make government more open and accountable to its citizens,” United States President Barack Obama wrote on WhiteHouse.gov back in September 2011. He was unveiling at the time the website’s new ‘We the People’ feature, and said the addition of it would be “giving Americans a direct line to the White House on the issues and concerns that matter most to them.”

“Soon, anyone will be able to create or sign a petition at WhiteHouse.gov seeking action from the federal government on a range of issues,” senior advisor David Plouffe added at the time. “If a petition gathers enough signatures, the White House staff will review it, make sure it gets to Obama Administration policy experts and issue an official response.”

But 27 months later, an investigation conducted by federal technology site NextGov has revealed that many of the petitions that have met the criteria needed for a response have been long ignored by the administration — including at least one that’s been in limbo for over two years.

Democrats Basically Out Of Options For Passing Unemployment Insurance

If the number of conference calls held on a bill reflected its chances of passage, an extension of unemployment benefits would have become law weeks ago.

Unfortunately for the 1.3 million Americans who saw their benefits expire on Dec. 28, the constant phone calls haven't facilitated any legislative success.

Two more calls were hosted on Friday, one by congressional Democrats and the other by the Obama administration. The former promoted a new report showing that $400 million has been drained from state economies this week alone by the lapse in unemployment insurance.

UK swept by destructive, ‘17 year-high’ tidal surge (PHOTOS)

Coastal areas in the south and west of the UK have been swept with waves of up to 10 meters (30 feet) high, causing flooding and destruction. With around a hundred flood warnings active on Saturday, the country could yet expect more severe storms.

Gale force winds accompanied by monster waves, twice the height of a double-decker bus, eroded Britain’s Atlantic coast on Friday. Dozens of houses were flooded, piers damaged, roads and railway tracks, including major ones, affected.

At Heathrow several flights had trouble landing because of the wind, while connections to and from Gatwick were hampered by the bad weather.

Ted Cruz still a dual US-Canadian citizen

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz vowed months ago to renounce his Canadian citizenship by the end of 2013, but the Calgary-born Republican is still a dual citizen.

Cruz, 43, recently said in an interview with the Dallas Morning News that lawyers are preparing the paperwork to renounce citizenship, just as he said in August.