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Jeffrey Zaslow, a longtime Wall Street Journal writer and best-selling author with a rare gift for writing about love, loss, and other life passages with humor and empathy, died at age 53 on Friday of injuries suffered in a car crash in northern Michigan. [snip] At the Journal his subjects ranged from the anguish of losing a car in the Disney World parking lot, to the power of fathers' lunchbox letters to their daughters, to the distinctive pain of watching a beloved childhood stadium go under the wrecking ball. More recently, he became one of America's best-selling nonfiction writers, known...

It's not a football tale, it's a basketball one, but the sudden rise of Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin has drawn obvious comparisons to You Know Who. Dear NBA: You've found your Tim Tebow. Jeremy Lin's unlikely rise with the Knicks has been Tebowesque, and the 23-year-old point guard doesn't mind the comparisons. In this case, not a Florida icon with a bronze statue raised in his honor, but an undrafted kid out of Harvard, previously kicked to the curb by the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, only to be picked up by the Knickerbockers just days after Christmas....

You have been waiting in suspense for Me to move in a spectacular way , not for yourselves but for the Body and the Bride and to AWE the lost and stolen those wandering aimlessly in the darkness with no hope ! YEA ! I Declare Hope is Here ! And your Glory Cloud has landed but it is the key of Faith swinging in the incense of worship that causes My smoke to Gather , My wings to spread as over the Mercy Seat ! And My Eyes and My Heart to Rest upon you as I nestle you...

<p>Maine – Texas Congressman Ron Paul has taken a commanding lead over his GOP rivals in the Maine Caucus heading into its final day on Saturday, hoping to extinguish Rick Santorum’s modest campaign winning streak and launch a comeback of his own in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.</p>

History shows that world orders, including our own, are transient. They rise and fall, and the institutions they erect, the beliefs and "norms" that guide them, the economic systems they support—they rise and fall, too. The downfall of the Roman Empire brought an end not just to Roman rule but to Roman government and law and to an entire economic system stretching from Northern Europe to North Africa. Culture, the arts, even progress in science and technology, were set back for centuries. Modern history has followed a similar pattern. After the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, British control...

This is likely to be the first of many commentaries on this matter, but I feel compelled to address specific points that have been made to support President Obama's unconstitutional mandate upon Catholic affiliated institutions. Firstly, supporters of the mandate defend the proposition because as they say most Catholics do not agree with the Church on the matter of artificial birth control. Jehmu Green, on Fox News no less cited polling that 98% of Catholics oppose the Church and have used contraception. Juan Williams, also on FOX, cited a FOX NEWS poll that showed 61% of all Americans agreed with...

U.S. Catholic Church leaders said they will fight President Barack Obama's controversial birth-control insurance coverage policy despite his compromise that religious employers would not have to offer free contraceptives for workers, shifting the responsibility to insurers. In an abrupt policy shift aimed at trying to end a growing election-year firestorm, Obama on Friday announced the compromise. But the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said its concerns were not addressed and cited "serious moral concerns." In a statement issued Friday evening, the bishops said Obama's proposal "continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to...

San Diego – Van Jones, the former Obama Administration green czar who resigned in controversy, appears on the fast track to a political comeback — emerging as a star at this weekend’s California Democratic convention and lauded by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as a “leader of the future.” Jones, who as head of an activist group called “Rebuild the Dream” has become a leading voice of the Occupy movement, was given the star speaking slot to address hundreds at the kickoff Friday night reception here sponsored by state party chair John Burton. To the cheers of the grassroots activists,...

http://www.mediaite.com/online/watch-cpac-2012-live-streaming-here/

...Republicans, led by Majority Leader Trent Lott, delayed Sotomayor’s confirmation vote for more than a year. When the vote finally happened, 29 Republicans — including most conservative stalwarts like Mitch McConnell, Phil Gramm, Jon Kyl and even John McCain — voted no. Santorum joined every Democrat in the Senate and 24 other Republicans in voting yes. Sotomayor was confirmed by a vote of 67 to 29. It does not appear that Santorum talked publicly about his decision to vote in favor of Sotomayor’s confirmation. As many conservatives predicted, she was eventually nominated to the Supreme Court — but not until...

Romney wins CPAC with 38%.

One thing I’ve learned while researching my new, nearly finished book is that both history and news, history’s so-called rough draft, are not written by the “victors” as much as they are censored, twisted and reconfigured by what I can best describe as “the mob.”

A new team is set to join the NASCAR racing league, a sport currently holding the number two spot in revenues and number of viewers (after football) – American Israel Racing (AIR). The goal behind the new initiative: "Promote awareness of and support by Americans for Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East." The new team is planning on having their car, adorned with an Israeli flag; participate in the Daytona 500 which is set to take place at the end of the month in Florida. The race is considered one of the most watched sporting events in...

Eager to achieve universal insurance coverage for health issues caused by illicit sexual behavior, and put an election-season gaffe caused by his disregard for others' consciences behind him, President Obama has proposed to liberate religious institutions from his Administration's demand that they cover sinful behavior. His Solomonic compromise: make the insurance carriers rather than the religious institutions pay for it. One still might wonder what business it is of the State to dictate to religious institutions what activity they may meaningfully regard (by not subsidizing it) as sinful, which is the real point of the dispute. Everyone knows that feminists...

So I'm on the phone with Samsung Tech support in SOUTH CAROLINA - not Bombay or Sri Lanka, (thank you very much Samsung) to troubleshoot the connection problems with the other half's inability to print wirelessly from across the room to our recently acquired Samsung Color Laser Printer CLP-325W. (The HP 6300 was a gross waste of time, talent, and energy, NEVER AGAIN as they say in Tel Aviv)) And I'm musing that the process is not much different than when I would accompany my long past Dad with a paper bag full of Philco TV tubes to the local...

Created for OMG! For America

“My contract does not prohibit me from endorsing, thank goodness,” Ms. Palin said. “So I’m just like 60 percent, 70 percent of Americans still trying to decipher who’s best.

Bill Clinton's allies speak out on Lewinksy affair Friends and colleagues of the former US president Bill Clinton will speak publicly for the first time of their shock and sense of betrayal over his affair with Monica Lewinsky. By Roya Nikkhah 8:19PM GMT 11 Feb 2012 A new programme about the former president, which will be broadcast in the UK and America on February 20, explores Mr Clinton's alleged womanising throughout his political career. During the two-part documentary, Dick Morris, a loyal adviser to Mr Clinton, describes the moment the former president telephoned him shortly before evidence of his affair...

Please DO NOT MISS that speech. PHENOMENAL!!! http://www.therightscoop.com/full-speech-daniel-hannan-at-cpac-2012/

This cat's tale is somewhat of a "Cinderella story." Six months ago, The Oregon Cat Project got a call about a feral cat at an area vet hospital. He wasn't much to look at - thin and dirty, covered in scabs. He seemed to be about five or six years old, and his ear was cropped – the trademark of a trap-neuter-return cat. After his arrival at The Oregon Cat Project, it was hard to tell Tank's true personality, since he was in "shut-down mode." But the organization, which works with feral cats, continued to care for him, and Tank...

The federal agency that sells and transmits most electrical power in the Northwest has proposed a plan to cover half of wind producers' lost revenue when they're forced to shut down wind farms during periods of excess hydropower production. The plan would affect Cowlitz PUD, which owns interests in two Central Washington wind farms, but would not lower or raise rates significantly, PUD officials said. "This is not going to do anything that would appear to be a rate-driver," PUD spokesman Dave Andrew said Wednesday. Over the objections of wind energy producers, the federal Bonneville Power Administration last spring ordered...

Frank Gaffney has written in FrontPage magazine an article that is much needed and long overdue: "A Troubling Influence," about the extensive ties that conservative activist Grover Norquist has with radical Islamic elements. This is a lengthy and exhaustively documented piece about a man who has stood as a singular obstruction to efforts to alert people to the gravity of the threat from radical Islam. All of it should be read carefully, but here are a few highlights: The association between Grover Norquist and Islamists appears to have started about five years ago, in 1998, when he became the founding...

Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department, a recent book by J. Christian Adams, provides shocking evidence of DOJ racial bias toward minorities and the failure to apply federal law in a race-neutral fashion. A five-year DOJ Voting Rights Section veteran, Adams cites his firsthand experience with officials who sought to promote a radical racialist agenda and who knowingly violated the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA). Adams sounds an alarm, arguing that the values and actions pursued by the DOJ jeopardize our constitutional republic and endanger America's core principles of government of the people, by the people,...

Newt Gingrich has a promise for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper: If you wait for the U.S. elections, Republicans will come through for you on the Keystone XL pipeline. “My message to Prime Minister Harper: ‘You do not need a partnership with the Chinese,’” Gingrich said during his turn in the Conservative Political Action Conference spotlight Friday afternoon. “If you give us a few months, … when we beat Obama on election night, we will approve [the Keystone XL pipeline] on Jan. 20.” Gingrich said he would sign an executive order approving Keystone on his first day in office. Harper’s...

AJ Spiker won a narrow election Saturday morning to become the new chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. Spiker eked by interim chairman Bill Schickel by a 9-8 vote on the second ballot. Spiker is a realtor from Ames, the former chairman of the Story County GOP, and represented Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District on the State Central Committee. He served as one of the co-chairs for Ron Paul’s presidential campaign in Iowa. Spiker replaces former chairman Matt Strawn, who resigned in the middle of his second term. Strawn’s last official day on the job was Friday. “It feels great....

ROANOKE, VA -- The Virginia Attorney General's office is investigating the campaign of Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, over claims of ballot signature fraud. At the end of December, Gingrich told CNN that the reason he did not qualify for the Virginia primary, is because one of the people his campaign hired falsified a lot of signatures. The attorney general's office tells WSLS that the State Board of Elections asked it to investigate the claim. A spokesman for the attorney general's office emphasized that the investigation is not looking into Gingrich himself.

In comparison, social conservatism is far more crucial and needful for a healthy society than fiscal conservatism can ever be. If only one position is to be taken and a single edge of the sword of conservatism to be used, it MUST be the social-moral edge. All else will fall into place when this principle is honored. It has been the abandonment of the Conservative social-moral position that has destroyed our U.S. culture and society and changed - or deranged - it like unto a decadent and immoral, godless whore. Because of this violation of Almighty God’s truth and moral...

Democrat and Republican members of Congress admittedly did not write or read law they approved impacting both the financial and personal behavior of every citizen of every age.Now this gang of fraudulent, deceitful, scurrilous hucksters pretend egregious shock at the fact that their free fall defense of our Constitution gave over to the administrative branch the ability to create regulations having the enforcement of law whereby religious liberty is no longer a fundamental right of Americans. Rather, it is a conditional concept susceptible to the capacious whim of a federal civil employee.Now come the ‘leaders’ of Congressional thieves of money,...

Texas on the Potomac frequently shares the best national political content from the Texas Tribune. Today, we offer you analysis by the Trib’s David Muto. One roadblock stands between Mitt Romney and a much-needed comeback this weekend: Ron Paul. Romney, looking to stop the bleeding after losing losing three straight contests to Rick Santorum on Tuesday, has turned his focus to Maine, which will announce the results of its week long caucuses on Saturday. But Romney, who won the state handily in 2008, faces stiff competition from Paul, the only candidate who had campaigned in the state before its caucuses...

<p>Giant projects such as the reconstruction of 1 World Trade Center, or Freedom Tower (pictured), always end up costing more than the original estimates because “that’s just part of the way the world works,” Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday.</p> <p>“It would be really naive on any big project to say it’s never going to come in for more,” Bloomberg said.</p>

Here's video of all 13 field goals by New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin on his way to a career-high 38 points against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Lin scored in every conceivable manner, knocking down 3-pointers, hitting pull-up jumpers, taking defenders off the dribble, hitting leaners and hitting a nifty spinning lay-up, among other feats of offensive genius. The Knicks defeated the Lakers, 92-85, and Lin's 38 points were a game-high, topping Lakers guard Kobe Bryant. Lin finished 13-for-23 from the field and added 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals in 39...

If Italian inventor Andrea Rossi's cold fusion machine, called the E-Cat, really works, then the world's energy problems are all but solved. Rossi claims that a small amount of input energy drives a fusion reaction between hydrogen and nickel atoms inside his machine, producing an outpouring of surplus heat that can be used to generate electricity. And instead of the nasty radioactive byproducts given off by nuclear fission reactors — think Fukushima or Chernobyl — the E-Cat spits out just a teaspoon of copper.

PORTLAND, Maine – Drawing on his by now well-honed debate skills, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney on Friday deftly put down an aggressive attack by a few hostile members of a town hall audience, who challenged him repeatedly on issues ranging from his overseas investments to his support for hydrofracking. It was a rare bit of rhetorical chaos at a Romney event, which are typically as subdued as the candidate tends to be. But the former Massachusetts governor defended himself in a calm and concise manner, winning thunderous applause from the audience of about 300 people at several points. Tensions...

Three West Virginia coal plants just announced they will close this year. Metro News reported: Ohio based FirstEnergy Corporation announces it will close three coal fired power plants in West Virginia by this fall. The closings come directly from the impact of new federal EPA regulations. The plants to close are Albright Power Station, Willow Island Power Station, and the Rivesville Power Station. The company says 105 employees will be directly impacted. The three plants produce 660 megawatts and about 3-percent of FirstEnergy’s total generation. In recent years, the plants served as “peaking facilities” and generated power during times of...

In the third seminar of the Conservative Intellectual Tradition in America, Speaker Gingrich talks to Mallory Factor's class about American History.

President Barack Obama tried to console frustrated supporters by placing blame for the slow pace of change on the nation’s “founding fathers.” “You and I know what needs to be done to bring social justice to every American,” the President observed. “But our enemies in Congress and the states are exploiting loopholes left in the Constitution by our nation’s early leaders. The requirement that laws must be approved by both houses of Congress enables obstructionists to block the mandate I received from voters in 2008. The autonomy granted the states under the Tenth Amendment insulates them from total compliance with...

Remember, There's Maine "I think I have a natural connection with the people of Maine. Mainers tend to be fiscally conservative, and as governor of a state next door, Massachusetts, they know that I was the guy that balanced the budget all four years and lowered taxes 19 times. So I think I've got a good chance of getting support from our friends in Maine." -- Mitt Romney in an interview with WCSH of Portland, Maine. Maine Republicans will on Saturday evening announce the results of precinct-level straw polls taken at 36 of 39 caucuses being held across the state's...

The pro-life movement has long argued the inextricable link between the right to life and the other two rights affirmed in our Declaration of Independence.  There is a reason, we have argued, the Founding Fathers intentionally wed “life� to “liberty� and “the pursuit of happiness.�  The “unalienable rights� of the Declaration are derived from our being “created equal� by a “Creator� who “endowed� us with “certain unalienable rights.� Without the first of these rights, there is no basis for the second and third.  Our liberty as Americans is based upon our identity as human persons.  We have been given...

Like my colleagues, I've spent the past couple days at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the nation's largest gathering of conservative activists. A few random thoughts: 1. There is a heavy Rick Santorum presence this year. His mometum with conservative activists is still noticeable. I'll be surprised if he doesn't win the straw poll. 2. Ron Paul, by contrast, does not have a large presence here this year despite winning the last two straw polls. Paul is the only major Republican presidential candidate who didn't address CPAC. The wisdom of this decision will be evaluated in large part based...

Apart from not having the first delegate commitment, exactly what have “victories” in Iowa, Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota acknowledged? First: that participants in caucuses are underwhelmed to voice their solidarity with their higher ground constituents. This “group think” forum is void, by necessity, of critical thought. This is not to say that the caucus forum is the antithesis of the primary process. It is always much easier when espousing your “heartfelt commitment” to an issue to take the high road when exposed to the crowd in a non-binding farcical display. These same “voters” will doubtlessly “rethink” that stance when confronted...

And we're the ones, the old-fashioned conservatives, we want to deny people a good time, we want to deny people fun, we want to deny people all these things in life. So we have yet another example of life in America under the thumb of an ever-expanding state with central planning, otherwise known as "well-intentioned liberalism." From violating religious rights where there is no power permitted to do so, to mandating the purchase of products, to now mandating insurance companies sell certain products at a price that's also mandated, from czars, to denying the right to travel, it's all here....

One of the bigger mistakes people make in reading Scripture is that they read it as a spectator. For them Scripture is a collection of stories and events that took place thousands of years ago. True enough, we are reading historical accounts.But, truth be told these ancient stories are our stories. We are in the narrative. You are Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Deborah, Jeremiah, Ruth, Peter, Paul, Magdalene, Mother Mary, and, if you are prepared to accept it, you are also Jesus. As the narrative we read unfolds, we are in the story. We cannot simply watch what others say or...

The United Auto Workers plans to take part in more non-violent protests in its fight against what it calls right-wing policies that have hurt the middle class. UAW president Bob King told a crowd of more than 500 at the 75th anniversary of union's first contract with General Motors that more direct action like such as the Flint sit-down strike of 1937 is needed today. “They’re trying to shred the social contract,” King said at the event held in Flint. “We don’t spend too much. This is still a rich country The problem is we’ve lost our moral compass,” said...

FEBRUARY 11, 2012 Immaculate Contraception An 'accommodation' that makes the birth-control mandate worse. Here's a conundrum: The White House wants to impose its birth-control ideology on all Americans, including those for whom sponsoring or subsidizing such services violates their moral conscience. The White House also wants to avoid a political backlash from this blow to religious freedom. These goals are irreconcilable. So you almost have to admire the absurdity of the new plan President Obama floated yesterday: The government will now write a rule that says the best things in life are "free," including contraception. Thus a political mandate will...

C-SPAN continues its LIVE coverage of the 39th annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Saturday in Washington. The last of the 3-day conference wraps up today with speeches by Grover Norquist and Sarah Palin. Also speaking today, Chairman of National Republican Senatorial Committee Sen. John Cornyn. On Friday, the three top GOP candidates for the Republican nomination -- former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum -- addressed the conference. Rep. Ron Paul was invited to speak this year but instead stayed on the campaign trail. More than 10,000 conservatives are in...

In my previous post on the alleged ballot access and delegate count issues of Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, I went into great detail on the exact number of delegates that Gingrich wouldn’t have access to because of his ballot qualification issues. After Santorum’s 3 victories Tuesday, I think that his candidacy now merits the same level of detailed analysis. State by state in order of their dates of voting, here are the states that Santorum will not have the ability to win all of the delegates from.

The White House has released their proposal for the Federal Budget for 2012. Before we discuss the 2012 budget, harken back to President Obama saying in 2009 that he will CUT the deficit in half by the end of his first term. His first term ends in January 2013, so he has less than a year to accomplish his promise. The projected deficit for 2012 is forecast to be $1.33 trillion, 2.6% higher than the $1.296 trillion deficit in 2011 and 16% higher than the $1.15 trillion projection released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) last week. This is a...

Born in One Country -- Raised in Another I was born in one country, raised in another. My father was born in another country. I was not his only child. He fathered several children with numerous women. I became very close to my mother, as my father showed no interest in me. Although my father deserted me and my mother raised me, I later wrote a book idolizing my father----not my mother. Later in life, questions arose over my real name. My birth records were sketchy. No one was able to produce a legitimate, reliable birth certificate. I grew up...

The Legenday White-Skinned Cloud People Of PeruVillage of the Cloud People Archeologists have discovered a 12-acre lost city deep within the Amazon rain forest that may shed light on a long-lost tribe of white-skinned, blonde-haired people known as the Cloud People. The Cloud People, also known in legend as “the white warriors of the clouds” established expansive kingdom located in the northern regions of the Andes in present-day Peru during the ninth century. Bordered by the Maranon and Utcubamba rivers, in the zone of Bagua, their civilzation extended up to the basin of the Abiseo river, and to the very...

Fellow Christians! In the pastoral letter of the German bishops of June 26, 1941, which was read out in all the Catholic churches in Germany on July 6, 1941, it states among other things: It is true that there are definite commandments in Catholic moral doctrine which are no longer applicable if their fulfillment involves too many difficulties. However, there are sacred obligations of conscience from which no one has the power to release us and which we must fulfil even if it costs us our lives. Never under any circumstances may a human being kill an innocent person apart...