POSTER BOY FOR THE 1 PERCENT

CEO threatens to fire employees if Obama is re-elected

David Siegel via YouTube

David Siegel, the founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts, on Monday sent a letter to his 7000 employees warning that the company would be downsized if President Barack Obama was elected to a second term.

SURPRISE

Romney adviser to LGBT conservatives: Some decisions ‘are going to offend you’

Bay Buchanan speaks to GOProud

A senior adviser to Mitt Romney on Monday assured a group of LGBT conservatives that the Republican presidential nominee would be successful at winning the White House in November.

SO MANY LEVELS OF GROSS

Florida man dies after roach-eating contest

Cockroach via shutterstock

A 32-year-old man died suddenly after entering a roach and worm-eating contest in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

ARITHMETIC

WaPo columnist: Romney budget is ‘math on meth’

WaPo columnist E J Dionne screenshot

Tuesday night on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne said Mitt Romney’s plan to cut taxes, increase defense spending and lower the deficit did not add up.

PROGRESSIVES WITHIN THE CHURCH

Mormons for Marriage Equality ‘taken aback’ by church elder’s criticism of same sex parenting

Mormon Elder Dallin Oaks screenshot

Mormons for Marriage Equality was surprised to hear Elder Dallin H. Oaks condemn same sex parenting during the 182nd Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

YIKES

‘Brain-eating’ amoeba kills 10 in Pakistan

A child drinks water in Karachi, Pakistan in 2011. (AFP Photo)

Authorities in Pakistan’s largest city have launched an urgent investigation after a rare water-borne “brain-eating” amoeba killed 10 people in four months.

Science

Research uncovers the somatosensory basis for pairing red wine with red meat

Why does high-tannin red wine pair well with fatty red meat? According to research published…

Biologists figure out crow’s ‘party trick’ of using tools

Biologists on Tuesday said they had figured out how the New Caledonian crow, a bird…

South Africa plans to build $2.5 billion super telescope

South African President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday gave his political backing to negotiations with foreign…

French and U.S. scientists win physics Nobel Prize for quantum manipulation

Serge Haroche of France and David Wineland of the US won the Nobel Physics Prize…

Tech News

Twitter co-founder turns over operations to focus on mobile payment venture Square

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey said Tuesday he has turned over most operations at the high-flying…

Taiwan asks Apple to blur satellite images of military installations

Taiwan said Tuesday it will ask US tech giant Apple to blur satellite images of…

Media

Study: French online classifieds now outnumber print

French online classified advertisements exceeded ads in print publications for the first in 2011, the…

Jack Welch resigns as Fortune Magazine contributor

Less than a week after accusing the government of falsifying federal unemployment data, former General…

World

Palestinians set first private sector minimum wage

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories — The Palestinian government on Tuesday approved a minimum wage of 1,450 shekels ($376, 290 euros) a…

Chavez backs Assad again, blames U.S. for war

CARACAS — President Hugo Chavez vowed Tuesday to keep supporting Bashar al-Assad, calling him Syria’s legitimate president and blaming the…

‘Gangnam Style’ rapper hailed by UN secretary general

“Gangnam Style” has secured an unlikely accolade after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hailed South Korean rapper Psy’s global hit…

Brazil activists occupy controversial Amazon dam

More than 150 fishermen and indigenous natives occupied Brazil’s on Tuesday, claiming the project will do irreparable damage to the…

Lady Gaga pledges to donate peace prize to AIDS charity

Lady Gaga said on Tuesday she would donate a peace prize given to her by artist and activist Yoko Ono…

U.S. News

Airline passenger held in Los Angeles after smoke grenade and weapons seized

LOS ANGELES — A 28-year-old man on a plane from Japan was arrested in Los…

Still classified: Terror suspects’ own accounts of their abuse

By Cora Currier ProPublica In a motion unsealed last week, the government proposed new ground…

U.S. chef Dan Barber says California foie gras ban is ‘bad idea’

Award-winning US chef Dan Barber said Tuesday that California’s ban on French speciality foie gras…

Bill Gates: ‘I wouldn’t ever choose to run for political office’

Microsoft co-founder turned global philanthropist Bill Gates said Tuesday that he will focus on charity…

Scott Brown said he’d stalk ‘Pussycat Girls’ in angry ex-business partner’s video

A “disgruntled” former business partner is suing Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) for unpaid fees related…

Declassified documents reveal U.S. military tried to develop flying saucers in 1950s

Newly released diagrams show scale of the future that never was after air force cancelled…