National: Former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said this morning in confirmation hearings to become Secretary of Defense that the US must lead other nations in confronting threats and “maintain the strongest military in the world.”

• The organization that controls New England fisheries voted drastic cuts in the legal take of Cod; 77% in the Gulf of Maine and 55% in the Georges Bank because the fish population is dangerously low, and may not recover.
• An early-season tornado ripped through Adairsville, GA as bizarre weather continues to mark the winter of 2013. An arctic front in the north colliding with a southern warm front caused tornadoes in Mississippi, Georgia, Indiana and Tennessee, as well as wildly swinging temperatures. It was 63 in Chicago Tuesday, dropping to 16 this morning.
• A 15-year-old high school majorette who performed at the inauguration was shot dead in a Chicago park about a mile from the President’s home. The city has had 42 murders already this year.
• The NY Times reports that Chinese hackers have attacked the paper’s website. The Times says this coincides with the paper’s reporting on how China’s prime minister accumulated a billion dollar fortune. Computer consultants say the break-ins bear footprints of the Chinese military.
• The madly popular Coachella music festival in California sold out its 2013 tickets in just about 24 hours. Weekend 1 went in 20 minutes.

World: Both Syria and Iran say they might retaliate against Israel for an air raid near Damascus in which Israel hit a convoy believed to be carrying weapons to Hezbollah militiamen in Lebanon. Russia also objected. Syrians said the target of the attack was a scientific research facility.

Killer Kats: Scientists estimate that the domestic cats people love so much kill 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion mammals a year … things like shrews, chipmunks and voles. The study says Fluffy is one of the single greatest human-introduced threats to wildlife. But gosh, she’s so cute.

By Any Name: Research In Motion, maker of the Blackberry mobile phone, decided to change its name to Blackberry because no one recognizes the name Research In Motion. And after losing nearly 15% of its 20% market share, they may soon realize no one recognizes the name Blackberry either.

Passing: Patty Andrews, the last survivor of the singing Andrews sisters who crooned the boys during WW2, died at age 94. The sisters’ hits included “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B” , “I Can Dream, Can’t I?”, and “Rum and Coca Cola.”

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