From demographic shifts to federal government policies to alternating trends in retail sales, each photograph offers an example of one of the many conditions or causes of dereliction in the United States. Corresponding details about each location and its circumstance are paired with each photograph to provide a better understanding of the multitude of forces working in each site. Read more » www.huffingtonpost.com

Paul has gained the most and Rick Santorum has lost the most since the last American Research Group survey on January 4-5. In that survey, Paul was at 9% and Santorum was at 24%.

Gingrich and Romney are tied among self-identified Republicans with 29% each, followed by Paul with 18%. Paul leads among independents and Democrats with 29%, followed by Romney with 27%, Gingrich with 12%, and Rick Perry with 11%.

Gingrich leads among those likely primary voters saying they are supporters of the Tea Party with 28%, followed by Romney with 24%, Paul with 20%, and Santorum with 11%. Romney leads with 33% among those saying they are not supporters of the Tea Party or are undecided about the Tea Party, followed by Gingrich with 23%, and Paul with 21%.

Gingrich leads among evangelical Christians with 40%, followed by Perry with 15%, Romney with 13%, Santorum with 12%, and Paul with 10%. Among likely voters saying they are not evangelical Christians, Romney leads with 48% and followed by Paul with 33%.

Gingrich leads among men with 29%, followed by Paul with 23%, Romney at 18%, and Santorum with 14%. Among women, Romney leads with 38%, followed Gingrich with 22%, and Paul with 18%. Read more » americanresearchgroup.com

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Jan 13, 2012 – I’ve never cared that much about Tim Tebow, mostly because he’s never really worth caring about. Everyone spends so much time trying to inject meaning into him and turn him into the football player that’s about more than just football, but I’d rather just watch sports. If we’re going to get all worked up about people who play sports, better to flip out over someone who’s actually incredible on the field.

But this week everything changed. He finally won a meaningful game and looked great doing it, and overnight he’s gone from a cute sideshow to a full-on icon. Now Tebow’s inescapable whether you care about him or not. Read more » www.sbnation.com

At the same time, S&P is expected to spare Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Luxembourg in its long-awaited adjustment of euro zone sovereign ratings.

The French newspaper Les Echos reported the expected downgrades, and France’s finance minister confirmed that his country would be downgraded one notch from its triple-A debt rating.

An Italian news agency has also reported that the Italian government has been notified of an imminent downgrade by S&P.

An announcement is expected to come around 4:30 pm ET, after the US stock market has closed.

“Remain alert tonight when U.S. markets close,” one euro zone source told Reuters. Read more » www.cnbc.com

This year, the festival is experimenting with hosting the same exact lineup twice in a row over two weekends, which means that the dates for the festival are April 13-15 and April 20-22.

Fans who didn’t snag a pre-sale ticket last year may be repeatedly rebuffed right now as Coachella.com is crushed under the weight of its own success. But since the festival is technically twice as long this year, we’re guessing that tickets will be a bit easier to obtain than last year, when tickets sold out exactly one week after the lineup was announced.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, January 13 at 10 a.m. PST and start at $285 for a festival pass. Read more » www.huffingtonpost.com

Not only are these little peepers with the big names — Paedophryne amauensis and Paedophryne swiftorum — the smallest frogs known to man, they are also believed to be the smallest vertebrates on Earth, said the report in the science journal PLoS ONE.

Until now the smallest vertebrate was believed to be a transparent Indonesian fish known as Paedocypris progenetica that averaged about eight millimeters (one-third inch).

The largest vertebrate is the blue whale, measuring about 25.8 meters (yards).

The little land frog Paedophryne amauensis comes in at a whopping 7.7 millimeters, or less than one-third of an inch. The other newly discovered kind, Paedophryne swiftorum, measures a bit over eight millimeters. Read more » www.breitbart.com

Occupy members told authorities that a baby was alone in a tent at about 10 a.m. Wednesday, said Sgt. David Schlosser, a U.S. Park Police spokesman. Officers found the girl alone in the tent with no adults around. The baby had been alone for at least half an hour, Schlosser said.

A man returned to the park while police were investigating and said he was the baby’s father, Schlosser said. The man was charged with attempted second-degree cruelty to children. Schlosser would not release the man’s name, saying doing so could identify the child. Read more » www.washingtonexaminer.com

NEW YORK

The song “Glory” made its debut on his social website Life and Times on Monday – two days after he and wife Beyonce gave birth to daughter Blue Ivy.

An official statement from the couple came Monday afternoon, as both said: “We are happy to announce the arrival of our beautiful daughter, Blue Ivy Carter.”

The couple said the baby was delivered naturally and weighed seven pounds. “Her birth was emotional and extremely peaceful, we are in heaven. … It was the best experience of both of our lives. We are thankful to everyone for all your prayers, well wishes, love and support.”

Jay-Z’s sweet song, in which he says “you’re my child with a child from Destiny’s Child,” gives more revelations.

In the song, Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, talks about where the child was conceived (in Paris) and even reveals that Beyonce had a miscarriage at one point. Read more » www.huffingtonpost.com

Mark Neuman-Lee, an attendee of the Steelers/Broncos game and photographer of the “Mile High Halo,” tells HuffPost he’d never seen the ring prior to yesterday’s NFL upset. Read more » www.huffingtonpost.com

TEHRAN, Iran

Published at 9:46 am ET: Two assailants on a motorcycle attached a magnetic bomb to the car of an Iranian university professor working at a key nuclear facility, killing him and wounding two people on Wednesday, a semiofficial news agency reported.

The attack in Tehran bore a strong resemblance to earlier killings of scientists working on the Iranian nuclear program.
It is certain to reinforce authorities’ claims of widening clandestine operations by Western powers and allies to try to cripple nuclear advancements. Read more » www.msnbc.msn.com