National: The struggling US Postal Service is ending Saturday delivery to save about $2 billion a year. Parcel delivery will continue six days.

• The Federal government is suing Standard & Poor’s, the nation’s largest credit rating agency, charging fraud in evaluation of bad mortgages contributing to meltdown of the economy. The Attorney General’s office claims evidence collected shows S&P knew they were giving good ratings to risky securities. The government wants $5 billion in damages.
• Former Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson, wife of former Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., is now under investigation for campaign finance irregularities just like her husband. Mrs. Jackson resigned suddenly last month. Her husband quit the House late last year after treatment for bi-polar disorder at The Mayo Clinic, and disclosure of an ethics investigation. Sadly, it is not at all unusual for a Chicago alderman to be charged with corruption.
• In her bad crash yesterday in Austria, US ski champion Lindsey Vonn tore two major ligaments in her right knee and broke a bone. This ends the Olympic gold medalist’s season and possibly her career.

Fiscal Cliff 2: President Obama called on Congress to pass temporary spending cuts and revenue hikes to avert the drastic budget cuts known as “sequestration”, coming March 1. Congress passed sequestration as a poison pill to force itself to act sensibly, but has yet to do that.

World: A leading Tunisian opposition politician who criticized the Islamist-led government was shot dead by unknown gunmen.

• Five men have started trial in New Delhi for the horrific fatal rape of a young woman last fall. The first witness is the man who went to the movies that night with the victim and was also beaten in the attack.

Near Miss: A 150-foot asteroid is expected to pass within 21,000 miles of earth on Deb. 15^th which by astronomical measurement is considered a close call. If it hit earth it would be like 2.4 megatons of exploding TNT.

Passing: Essie Mae Washington-Williams, who kept secret most of her life that she was the mixed-race daughter of segregationist NC Sen. Strom Thurmond, has died at age 87. She was born in 1925 after her 22-year-old father had an affair with his family’s 16-year-old black maid. Washington-Williams did not publicly declare her parentage until after her father died in 2003 at age 100.  Thurmond once ran for president as a segregationist.

After 78 Years: Hasbro, the maker of Monopoly, held a vote on Facebook that will result in the clothes iron game piece being replaced with a cat. Will it get along with the dog?

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