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ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 13, 2009 – Many people know Abraham Lincoln as the 16th American president or the man who brought an end to slavery. But not many know of his military service. Abraham Lincoln, who is considered by many historians and political scientists to be the greatest U.S. president, was born 200 years ago yesterday in a one-room Kentucky log cabin. “Honest Abe” was the real thing -- a self-educated man of the people who rose to greatness, guiding the country through the long and bloody Civil War that marked his presidency. Many historians believe the outcome of the...

Still busily sweeping up little piles of Blagojevich around the capital. We’re facing a bad economy, startling unemployment statistics and a bleak outlook for maybe at least a year or so. But we still find time to worry about some lady with octuplets, whether Jessica Simpson wears mom jeans and a Yankee known as A-Roid. Most of us still have jobs, roofs over our heads, the general trappings of suburbia surrounding us. Although we stand in admiration of him today, I doubt that the railsplitter is weeping for us on the 200th anniversary of his birth. Things were a tad...

Given Obama and the media's insistence upon incessant Abraham Lincoln comparisons, I'm half expecting Obama to show up to his inauguration sporting a beard, wearing a stove pipe hat and delivering the soon to be famous "Leftysburg Address": "Four community organizers and seven friends thrown under the bus ago, George Soros brought forth to these 58 states, a socialist nation, conceived in secret, and dedicated to the proposition that all the wealth should be spread around and nobody should be punished with a baby."

Japan's PM Abe tells coalition he will resign: TV TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has told executives of his ruling coalition he intends to resign, broadcaster TBS said on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party suffered an election drubbing in July and his support ratings have been floundering amid a row over pensions and a series of financial scandals involving cabinet ministers

Japan Prime Minister Abe Threatens Resignation If Anti-Terror Refueling Extension Fails (RTTNews) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is staking his political future on Japan's refueling mission for U.S. antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan. Speaking in Sydney on Sunday, Abe said he stands ready to resign if he fails to get Parliament to extend Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. Abe stressed the extension has become an international commitment he needs to fulfill by all possible means.Abe told reporters "I have no intention of clinging to my duties" as prime minister if the mission is not extended beyond...

Japanese PM calls for 'arc of freedom' spanning Pacific Wed Aug 22, 4:12 AM ET Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a new four-way "arc of freedom and prosperity" with India, Australia and the United States on Wednesday in a speech to the Indian parliament. "A new broader Asia that broke away from geographical boundaries is now beginning to take on a distinct form," said Abe, who began a three-day visit to India on Tuesday. Japan is working to ensure that "a region called the 'arc of freedom and prosperity' will be formed along the outer rim of the...

TOKYO, July 29 – Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat in today’s election in the upper house of Parliament, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed that he would not step down. The main opposition Democratic Party seized control of the upper house by a landslide, capturing seats not only in cities but also in rural districts that have long been strongholds of the Liberal Democratic Party. The rout was widespread, with household names in the governing party falling one after another before opposition newcomers. In a devastating rebuke to Mr. Abe, angry voters punished him for his...

OK, folks. Polls close in a little over one hour (8 p.m. local Sunday night). The results should start rolling in immediately.From the World's Second Largest Economy, might as well get the thread going here!!

Abe Cabinet's approval rate sinks to lowest 30%: Asahi poll (Kyodo) _ The approval rating for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet dropped to 30 percent this weekend, down from 36 percent a week ago to mark the lowest since he took office last September, a major Japanese daily said in opinion poll results published Monday. The Asahi Shimbun said the telephone-based poll on Saturday and Sunday also showed that the Cabinet's disapproval rating came to 49 percent, up from 42 percent in the previous survey on May 26 and 27. The daily said the lower approval rating stemmed from pension-related...

Turning Bush-Abe Alliance Into Friendship By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG WASHINGTON, April 26 — When they met in Vietnam last November, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan presented President Bush with a little gift: a photograph of their grandfathers, playing golf on a course outside Washington with President Dwight D. Eisenhower. After lunch and a garden stroll, Mr. Bush said, “I told the prime minister he needs to get over to the United States quickly.” On Thursday, Mr. Abe took the president up on his offer, arriving in Washington with his wife, Akie, for a two-day stay that is as much...

Just saw this on National live Japanese TV a few minutes ago. Our mouths dropped open in partial disbelief, but also with a cynical sense of "well, there they go again".The Japanese Government announced tonight that they are instructing all Japanese textbook publishing companies who produce history books for school children, to specifically take out an reference to "Japanese Imperial Army forcing Okinawa civilians to commit mass suicide during the Okinawa Campaign". This, however, is a historic truth, and well documented by the American military forces and Japanese/Okinawan survivors and eyewitnesses. It is history. But now the current Japanese...

Mr Howard said the deal would bring the two countries closer Australian Prime Minister John Howard has dismissed suggestions that a security declaration with Japan could strain ties with China. Mr Howard is set to sign the ground-breaking deal during a four-day visit to Japan which begins on Sunday. The agreement is thought to include co-operation on terrorism, peacekeeping and disaster relief. Australia has been looking to exert more influence in Asia, in terms of business as well as regional security. Full details of the pact have not been revealed but it is expected to include plans for greater...

North Korea's announcement that it had successfully tested a nuclear device has renewed concerns that other countries in the region will follow suit. These are not idle concerns. Given Japan's existing nuclear power program, and its advanced technical and industrial base, it could likely develop nuclear weapons in a matter of months. But it is far from certain that Japan will go that route, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was quick to dampen speculation about an ensuing arms race. "Possession of nuclear arms is not an option at all for our country," Mr. Abe said after the North Korean test....

/begin my translation Abe, "Continued nuclear development of N. Korea could lead to its collapse" On Oct. 11, Abe Shinzo, the new Japanese Prime Minister, gave his opinion that continued nuclear development of N. Korea could lead to its collapse. Prime Minister Abe attended the Budget Committee of Upper House, and made comments regarding N. Korea's nuclear test, "If (N. Korea) develops nuclear weapons, it would put the survival of N. Korea in serious condition," according to Japanese media. It is the first time that Prime Minster Abe, a well-known hard-liner against N. Korea, mentioned the possibility of N. Korea's...

Abe risks China fury over war comments By Colin Joyce in Tokyo (Filed: 07/10/2006) The new prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, risked outrage yesterday when he stated that Japanese war criminals were not guilty under domestic law and should have been pardoned when Tokyo regained self-government. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe: revisionist Mr Abe's comments were a direct reference to 28 Japanese "Class A" Second World War criminals at the trial staged by the Americans in Tokyo from 1946 to 1948. They were deemed to bear the most responsibility for starting the war in the Pacific and for atrocities....

Washington LAST Tuesday, Japan’s Parliament elected Shinzo Abe as its youngest prime minister since World War II. Some critics in Japan have called him a “hawkish nationalist,” but in fact, he — like the nearly 80 percent of Japanese also born after the war — has merely been shaped by democracy. Mr. Abe in particular was also influenced by the course of Japan’s alliance with America. In 1960, the 6-year-old Shinzo Abe sat on the lap of his grandfather, Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, while thousands marched outside demonstrating against the first full-fledged security treaty between Japan and the United States....

Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006 China quick to give Abe & Co. warning over Taiwan BEIJING (Kyodo) China has warned Japan's new government over its Taiwan policy, reiterating its opposition to including the island in the scope of the Japan-U.S. security alliance and urging Tokyo to act with caution over Taipei's invitation for former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to pay a visit. If the Japan-U.S. security alliance "exceeds the bilateral scope, it will trigger neighboring countries' worries and become a factor for instability and complexity in the regional security situation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Thursday at a news...

Breaking news, but it was expected.

ALARM - Shinzo Abe will become the new Prime Minister of Japan TOKYO (Japan) - the conservative Shinzo Abe was elected Wednesday chair of the democratic Party-liberal (PLD), to the capacity in Tokyo, and thus will become the new Prime Minister of Japan, one learned at the PLD.

Excerpt - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi endorsed hawkish Shinzo Abe, the front-runner in the ruling party leadership race, as his successor, Kyodo News agency reported Saturday. Koizumi said he will vote for Abe, serving chief Cabinet secretary in his government, in the Sept. 20 election to pick a new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Kyodo reported from Helsinki, Finland, where the prime minister is attending the Asia-Europe Meeting. Koizumi, who took office in April 2001, has said he will step down when his current term as ruling party head ends at the end of September. The new LDP leader...

TOKYO - Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, now widely believed to be a shoo-in to succeed Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in September, has made it clear, if ever there was any doubt, that he will pursue an ultra-conservative, nationalistic and pro-US political and foreign-policy agenda. Abe's policy goals as the new prime minister will include, among other things, giving Japan a greater military role abroad through such means as promulgating a new constitution to replace the post-World War II pacifist constitution, strengthening a security alliance with the United States, and forging a thinly veiled alliance of Asia-Pacific democracies to...

Researchers work to shrink technology that harnesses sun's energy to both heat and coolEvery day, the sun bathes the planet in energy--free of charge--yet few systems can take advantage of that source for both heating and cooling. Now, researchers are making progress on a thin-film technology that adheres both solar cells and heat pumps onto surfaces, ultimately turning walls, windows, and maybe even soda bottles into climate control systems. On July 12, 2006, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) researcher Steven Van Dessel and his colleagues will announce their most recent progress--including a computer model to help them simulate the climate within...

Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe has widened his lead over former top government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda as the voters' preferred candidate to succeed Junichiro Koizumi as prime minister, according to a Kyodo News survey. Nearly half, or 48.1 percent, of those who responded to a nationwide telephone survey favored Abe, up 2.5 percentage points from a survey conducted last month. Fukuda lost 1.9 points and had a support rate of 22.4 percent. He now trails Abe by 25.7 points. Analysts believe Abe's increased media exposure, particularly following the recent missile tests by North Korea, has worked to his advantage, while support...

Southern heritage buffs vow to use the Virginia gubernatorial election as a platform for designating April as Confederate History and Heritage Month. The four candidates have differing views on the Confederacy, an issue that has been debated for years in the commonwealth. "We're not just a few people making a lot of noise," said Brag Bowling, a spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the oldest hereditary organization for male descendents of Confederate soldiers. "This is not a racial thing; it is good for Virginia. We're going to keep pushing this until we get it." Each candidate recently shared his...

IN the pantheon of presidents, was Abraham Lincoln a queer eye among a bevy of straight guys? Yes, claims a new book, "The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln," which has received the imprimatur of a major publisher (Free Press) and a distinctly supportive article in The New York Times. The book's author, the late C.A. Tripp, was a longtime gay writer and former sex-researcher for Alfred C. Kinsey. And he insists that the case is beyond dispute: Lincoln was gay, he writes, naming several alleged lovers. But the evidence is not just slim, it's nonexistent. [snip] Which is why...

President Abraham Lincoln had personal troubles that transcended merely running the war. His wife, the former Mary Todd of Lexington, Ky., had four brothers and two brothers-in-law in the Confederate service, which provoked constant public criticisms and expressions of doubts about the first lady and her own loyalties. Also, Mrs. Lincoln was mentally unstable (she eventually would be institutionalized) and became a madcap shopper whose buying binges in New York's stores drove the president to distraction. Robert E. Lee, the general in command of the Army of Northern Virginia, was the son of Henry (Light Horse Harry) Lee, a hero...