— Cartoon by Jim Hunt

Consumer spending barely budged in February: With the dramatic rise in living expenses, it’s no wonder that American consumers turned in the worst spending in 17 months this past February. The Commerce Department said Friday that consumer spending edged up by just 0.1 percent last month, the poorest showing since September 2006. “Consumers are facing bad news on all fronts,” said Nigel Gault, an economist with Global Insight. “Food and energy prices are climbing ever higher, the labor market is slowing, credit is becoming tighter and household wealth is declining as house prices drop.” Economists fear that the “rough patch” we are in now could turn into full-blown recession.

Full Story: MSNBC.com

Obama: Had Wright not retired, I'd have left church: In the middle of the fight of his life Barack Obama has said in an interview to be aired Friday that he would have left his church if his pastor were not retiring. The scandal about Sen. Obama’s preacher and spritual advisor broke two weeks ago, causing the front-runner in the democratic bid for the presidency to come under some harsh fire. Obama acknowledged that statements made by Rev. Wright “deeply offended people.” In an excerpt from the interview Obama said ,"Had the reverend not retired and had he not acknowledged that what he had said had deeply offended people and were inappropriate and mischaracterized what I believe is the greatness of this country, for all its flaws, then I wouldn't have felt comfortable staying there at the church," the senator said.

Full Story: CNN.com

'Suicide pact' survivors face murder charges: Yesterday, in a house on Oglethorpe Lane in Union County three women entered into a suicide pact. In the end one was dead and the remaining two are facing first-degree murder charges. The three Union County women, Linda Kinschasa Maples, 27, Deborah McCord Gibson, 45, and her daughter Jennifer Ashleigh McCord, 23, were under investigation for a prescription forgery case, according to Monroe police Chief Debra Duncan. Deborah McCord Gibson, the only women to die yesterday, entered into the suicide pact with her daughter and Maples for a mysterious reason that has baffled detectives.

Full Story: Charlotte.com

Iraq extends Shia arms deadline: Intense fighting in Basra has led to the death of 130 people in the Southern Iraqi city. Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has personally overseen the battle in Basra, which has included 30,000 troops and police fighting the Mehdi Army, led by radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr. Last night U.S. forces joined in bombing Shia positions. Speaking in Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Unicef and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) called on all the warring parties to allow the passage of food and medical supplies. President George W Bush has praised Mr. Maliki's crackdown, saying "normalcy" was returning to Iraq.

Full Story: BBC.co.uk

Last night when I should've been in bed, I was trolling the Internet and ended up on the ABC News site. That's were I saw the video of Chelsea Clinton telling a student at Belmont University that "That's none of your business," in response to a question about Senator Hillary Clinton's handling of the blow job incident.

Actually, it is the voter's business. See you can't cherry pick what issues matter to people and since her parents have her out on the campaign trail, she has to answer unpleasant and stupid questions.

Little Ms. Clinton said that this was the first time in 70 campus visits that someone had asked her about the famed intern in the blue dress. That's damnit shocking. What the hell is wrong with college students these days? That should've been the first question someone should've asked.

How about this: Chelsea, did you want to whoop Monica's ass for sucking your father's dick?

Or this: Chelsea, did you hear the argument that your parents had when the Linda Tripp tapes came out?

Or this: If your mom can't get Bill to keep it in his pants, how is she going keep Kim Jong il from blowing us the hell up?

Hell, when you're a college student, you can get away with asking stupid shit.

Of course, the dude who asked about Monica had a video as well. He felt disrespected. Little punk.

What are they smoking in the White House and where can I get some? No matter how many times reality threatens to derail the Bush administration's Fantasy Parade, the drum major himself just keeps on high-stepping his way to the bullshitters' hall of fame. You may have noticed that all hell has broken out in Iraq again. Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army now control parts of Baghdad, as well as the important, oil-drenched area around the port city of Basra. Iraqi troops are engaged in fierce gun battles -- along with American "advisers" and a buttload of U.S. airplanes and bombs, naturally -- to dislodge the Mahdis. Explosions are wreaking havoc in the capital, and insurgent rocket fire has so rocked the Green Zone that the State Department has told its embassy staff not to leave "reinforced structures" in the Zone until further notice.

So what does President Delusional do? He gives a speech about how "normalcy is returning" to Iraq, and how his superduper Surge has improved the country's security so much that political and economic progress are blooming there like flowers in April. Bush's crystal ball gazing was so rosy, I kept expecting him to announce the opening of a new Baghdad Mall with Macy's, Hot Topic and Chik-Fil-A as its first tenants -- and maybe a florist shop where Iraqis, who have certainly run out of rose petals to throw at U.S. soldiers' feet by now, can quickly re-stock.

Chicago battles rise in teen murders: Since March 7, 120 students from the Chicago, Ill. ABLA Homes public housing development have been unable to attend Cran Tech High School for fear of being shot and killed. In 2007 Chicago's homicide rate reached a record low, but murder among the youth is out of control. Twenty Chicago Public Schools students have been killed since September. This week "Operation Safe Passage" began, which provides the ABLA Home students escorts to school to curb this violent epidemic among the Chicago youth, the sickness of gun play.

Full Story: MSNBC.com

Los Angeles Times apologizes for Shakur story: The shooting that started the biggest feud in hip-hop music, turning East and West Coast rappers against one another and leaving Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G dead, is now having the truth come out. The LA Times apologized to Sean "Diddy" Combs for alleging he was connected to the shooting of Shakur outside of that now infamous New York recording studio. The Editor of the LA Times said the story was based on an unreliable document fabricated by a want-to-be rapper prison inmate.

Full Story: MSNBC.com

Light-rail station now take plastic: If you are one of many who do not like to carry money around, then the Charlotte Area Transit has a treat for you. The light-rail ticket machine now accepts credit or debit cards with the MasterCard or Visa logo. This may reduce the problem of the ticket machines running out of coins. They have been testing the credit/debit card machine for two weeks.

Full Story: Charlotte.com