U.S. airlines collected $3.4 billion in bag fees last year. The 24 percent increase from 2009 shows how the airlines are increasingly reliant on charging for once-free services to make money.

The fees — typically $50 round-trip for the first piece of checked luggage — are one of the few bright spots for an industry that is caught between rising fuel costs and customers who expect rock-bottom airfares.

“If it weren’t for the fees, the airlines would most likely be losing money,” said Jim Corridore, airline analyst with Standard & Poor’s.

The amount of attention some people need is just amazing, and in some cases, seemingly insatiable. Take GOP polster Frank Luntz:

Newt Gingrich returned to the campaign trail Sunday, promising to “endure the challenges” and continue fighting for the Republican nomination.

Gingrich was resolute in his speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Los Angeles, his first appearance since 16 of his top staffers resigned last Thursday.

[…]

Following a tweet from the group’s executive director, early buzz about the speech was that Gingrich would use it to announce pollster Frank Luntz as his new campaign manager. Shortly afterward, Luntz said there was no truth to this, and admitted he had floated the idea himself for the sake of his own publicity.

American and Afghan officials are locked in increasingly acrimonious secret talks about a long-term security agreement which is likely to see US troops, spies and air power based in the troubled country for decades.

[…]

Senior Nato officials argue that a permanent international military presence will demonstrate to insurgents that the west is not going to abandon Afghanistan and encourage them to talk rather than fight.

The Afghan-American negotiations come amid a scramble among regional powers to be positioned for what senior US officers are now describing as the “out years”.

Are we looking forward to the “debate” on CNN tonight? You know, the one with the GOP presidential candidates? Me neither. It should be on Comedy Central.

A doctor on his morning walk noticed the old lady pictured above. She was sitting on her front step smoking a cigar, so he walked up to her & said, “I couldn’t help but notice how happy you look! What is your secret?”

“I smoke 10 cigars a day,” she said. “Before I go to bed, I smoke a nice big joint. Apart from that, I drink a bottle of Jack Daniels every week, & eat only junk food. On weekends, I pop pills, have sex, & I don’t exercise at all.”