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A suspected looter in this week’s riots and his mother are being thrown out of their council home. In the first case of its kind, Daniel Sartain-Clarke, 18, and his mother have been served with an eviction notice as council bosses seek to turf them out of their £225,000 taxpayer-subsidised flat. Sartain-Clarke is charged with violent disorder and attempting to steal electronic goods from the Currys store at Clapham Junction, South London, on Monday night.

That's the reaction of the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council to the president's urging of budget negotiators to make the difficult choices necessary to reach a "grand bargain" to raise the nation's debt limit. "It's not going to get easier, it's going to get harder. So we might as well do it now; pull off the Band-aid, eat our peas," Obama said at a White House news conference. A spokesman for the pea council said it wasn't interpreting the remarks in a negative context. "We take President Obama's comment on the need to 'eat our peas' as a reference...

An Oregon town's City Council voted down a proposal to say the Pledge of Allegiance before every council meeting, but later passed a compromise that seemed to make no one happy. The approved measure allows the pledge to be recited at just four Eugene City Council meetings a year, those closest to the Fourth of July, Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Flag Day. It was supposed to be simple, but Councilman Mike Clark soon found out when you’re dealing with God and country, nothing in Eugene is easy.

On June 9, 2011, an Executive Order established the White House Rural Council with 25 executive branch departments including Defense, Justice, Homeland Security, National Drug Control, Environmental Quality, Labor, Commerce, Interior, EPA, Housing, Health, Education to name just a few. The order covers 16% of the American population who lives in rural counties because they “supply our food, fiber, and energy, safeguard our natural resources, and are essential in the development of science and innovation.” “Strong, sustainable rural communities are essential in winning the future and ensuring American competitiveness in the years ahead.” What kind of future are we supposed...

SEPANG: The special meeting or muzakarah of the National Fatwa Council has decided not to put a ban on the "poco-poco" dance among Muslims in the country as long as it is practised according to the stipulated regulations. The National Fatwa Council would remain respectful of the decision made by the Perak Fatwa Council to ban the dance in the state as their research showed that it had elements of Christianity and soul worshipping. National Fatwa Council chairman Tan Sri Dr Abdul Shukor Husin said the regulations referred to the guidelines issued by the council in 2007, which reminded the...

(Reuters) - The United States will seek a second term on the U.N. Human Rights Council which has made significant progress over the past two years despite a "biased and disproportionate focus on Israel," the State Department said on Thursday. "We believe that U.S. engagement in the Human Rights Council has directly resulted in real progress," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement announcing the decision to seek a new term. Despite opposition by some pro-Israel groups, the Obama administration took the United States into the council in 2009 with a promise to focus on traditional Western concerns...

After getting elected chairman of the D.C. City Council in November, Kwame Brown asked for a black Lincoln Navigator L, with a DVD player for the back seat, a power moonroof, polished aluminum wheels and an all-black interior. When the Public Works Department delivered a black Navigator with a gray interior, Mr. Brown's office told the city to send it back. "He was just very clear he wanted black on black," said Brown spokeswoman Traci Hughes. "It doesn't show as much dirt and wear and tear." Public Works' employees found a second Navigator in Coldwater, Mich. But Mr. Brown was...

Dear Freepers, My daughter is planning to run for student council after spring break. This will be her third school election. She's been a member of her student council during her 8th and 9th grade years, and would like to take this on during the next school year in 10th grade. Where she's at is here...she is wanting to do a giant poster of a word cloud using words similar to this: She has to come up with a slogan, and place it somewhere on her poster. She then needs to tie her slogan into her speech. She and I...

Gun Control Debate Breaks Out at City Council Meeting They argued over controlling assault rifles such as the AR-15 used to ambush a city police officer last summer. By Jerry Bohnen Tuesday, January 18, 2011 Oklahoma City councilman Sam Bowman made it clear at Tuesday's city council meeting where he stands on gun control. He favors it. Especially when it comes to assault rifles like the kind used last summer in an ambush that wounded city police officer Katie Lawson. Bowman's stance and applause for Police Chief Bill Citty's call for registration of assault rifles got councilman Brian Walters standing...

The ideology that reigns in Saudi Arabia comes into plain view on the website of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars, where boys and girls sharing a swimming pool causes "mischief and evil" and bringing flowers to a hospital patient is discouraged because it's a foreign custom that "imitates Allah's adversaries." And those fatwas come from the government-appointed body of clerics who are the guardians of the kingdom's ultraconservative Wahhabi school of Islam. But there's also a whole other world of independent clerics issuing their own interpretations, often contradictory... Now King Abdullah is moving to regain control over this abundance...

City Council Meetings to Begin with Muslim Prayers By BOB CONNORS Updated 6:50 PM EDT, Tue, Sep 7, 2010 In the wake of the battle over a mosque at Ground Zero, a move by Hartford City Council is sure to have its critics. The Council announced Tuesday that it has invited local imams to perform Islamic invocations at the beginning of the Council meetings in September. Though meetings don't regularly begin with any form of prayer, an email from the Common Council called it "an act of solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters." The email even referenced the ongoing...

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — People in the world's most populous Muslim nation have been facing Africa — not Mecca — while praying. Indonesia's highest Islamic body acknowledged Monday it made a mistake when issuing an edict in March saying the holy city in Saudi Arabia was to the country's west. It has since asked followers to shift direction slightly northward during their daily prayers. "After a thorough study with some cosmography and astronomy experts, we learned they've been facing southern Somalia and Kenya," said Ma'ruf Amin, a prominent cleric of the Indonesian Ulema Council, or MUI. "We've revised it now...

Indonesian Muslims told to change prayer direction JAKARTA, July 16 — Indonesia’s Muslims learned today they have been praying in the wrong direction, after the country’s highest Islamic authority said its directive on the direction of Mecca actually had people facing Africa. Muslims are supposed to face the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia during prayer and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued an edict in March stipulating westward was the correct direction from the world’s most populous Muslim country. “But it has been decided that actually the mosques are facing Somalia or Kenya, so we are now suggesting...

As reported here, Huntington Indiana has the ability to open a closed fire station and bring back to work 6 laid off fire fighters. The fire fighters were laid off last year because of a major budget shortfall for the city. This closed the east end fire station, the only fire station between downtown Huntington and the town of Roanoke. Near the closed fire station are factories, a natural gas bulk plant and a petroleum bulk plant. This closed fire station was the closest line of security for these businesses.

The United States and its allies suffered a series of setbacks at the United Nations on Friday as the Human Rights Council flirted with media censorship and was poised to elevate an anti-American politician and a Cuban to key positions. Concerns about censorship were raised after the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which has tremendous sway in the United Nations, successfully pushed through a resolution that creates a watchdog to monitor how religion is portrayed in the media. The OIC says it will promote religious tolerance by ensuring that religion is not defamed, as it claims occurred when...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-establishing-national-prevention-health-promotion-and-public-health Home • Briefing Room • Presidential Actions • Executive Orders The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release June 10, 2010 Executive Order-- Establishing the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council EXECUTIVE ORDER ESTABLISHING THE NATIONAL PREVENTION, HEALTH PROMOTION, AND PUBLIC HEALTH COUNCIL By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 4001 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148), it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Establishment. There...

The Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC) has yet really to condemn the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia 35 years ago. Or the Marxist orchestrated famine in Ethiopia that killed almost as many during the 1980s. It never directly condemned the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Saddam HusseinÂ’s hundreds of thousands of murdered victims also failed to arouse the WCCÂ’s concern across 25 years. Nor has the multitude of crimes by IranÂ’s theocracy across 30 years interested the WCC. North KoreaÂ’s slave state for the WCC is a place of pilgrimage but not criticism. Even North KoreaÂ’s recent unprovoked torpedoing of...

Last year, Huntington Indiana's Mayor Steve Updike started laying off workers and this year changed trash pick up to bi weekly because of a budget shortfall. He then went on to propose a service fee for the citizens of Huntington. He has since brought some emergency workers back and started weekly trash pick up. That leaves the service fee.....

At the Tuesday night meeting of the Huntington City Council, over a hundred citizens voiced their outrage at a proposed city service fee.

Huntington Indiana's trash has been piling up and causing odor and animal problems since Mayor Steve Updike changed the pick-up schedule to the second and last weeks of the month. But after consideration, has changed the schedule back to three days a week. The original change was because of massive deficit problems by the city. Over the last year, Huntington officials found the city in a huge monetary hole because of property tax appeals. The mayor cut personnel and services, attempting to alleviate the problem. He had made cuts to the total of over 600,000 dollars to try and cover...

Last year, the Huntington Common Council tried to pass a signage bill that caused a huge backlash from local business owners. It called for limited sign space, amount and placement. The proposal was defeated. In March of this year, they tried again. For a second time, the proposal was defeated. The proposal from the Huntington Planning Commission contained 35 pages and was not business friendly. So back to the drawing board. Now they have planned a vote for this coming Tuesday.

(IsraelNN.com) In a letter to US. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Jewish leaders in Judea and Samaria explain the unshakeable historic and religious bonds between the Jewish People and Jerusalem. The letter was written in response to President Obama’s and Clinton’s criticism of Israel’s intentions to build in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo. The neighborhood is a part of Jerusalem-proper, and is surrounded nearly completely by Jewish-populated areas. Though it is part of area liberated by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War, it was not recaptured from Jordan, but was rather considered no-man’s land between 1949 and 1967.

Los Angeles City Council members have figured out how to be in two places at once. It's no magic trick. But some say the public is being fooled all the same. So instead of being recorded as absent, the council members have a technological fix: The chamber's voting software is set to automatically register each of the 15 lawmakers as a "yes" unless members deliberately press a button to vote "no."

GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Current members of the Ghazni Provincial Reconstruction Team introduced incoming PRT members to the Provincial Development Council at the Governor’s Compound Hall in Ghazni city, Afghanistan, Mar. 4. The meeting, led by the Ghazni Deputy Governor, Alhaj Allahyar, was held to discuss the projects previously approved by the PDC and potential new projects. “It has been an honor to work with each and every one of you and the people of Ghazni,” said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Wilson Marks, the current Ghazni PRT commander. “We will make sure that the incoming team knows the status of the...

BATAVIA — Brockport area resident George S. Boley Sr. faces an immigration hearing in Batavia on charges he took part in murders in Liberia as leader of a tribal group, according to Monday’s Buffalo News. Boley, 60, was arrested Jan. 15 at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo. He is being held at the Federal Detention Center in Batavia until his immigration hearing Wednesday, the News report said. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement official Lev Kubiak said Boley is suspected of having served as the leader of the Liberia Peace Council tribal group that

Some unprecedented news today, folks. Never in the history of the United Nations has a U.S. President taken the chairmanship of the powerful UN Security Council. Perhaps it is because of what could arguably be a Constitutional prohibition against doing so. To wit: Section 9 of the Constitution says: No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. The UN...

Regular readers of this column will doubtless recall my recent column in which I reported on the new Council of Governors (CG) that President Barack Obama has created. See my column here. Well, Obama's CG is quickly beginning to take shape. According to the Associated Press (AP), "President Barack Obama has selected Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to serve on an advisory council for defense and national security issues. "Nixon was one of 10 governors named Thursday [February 4, 2009] by Obama to the newly created Council of Governors." The 10 governors (and one of them is not even a State...

If you've been watching the daily scandals destroy the credibility of the U.N. IPCC, then you might not realize that Cambridge, Massachusetts is in a state of climate emergency. This is not hyperbole, but an official policy order, passed by the City Council in May 2009, "recogniz[ing] that there is a climate emergency" and requesting the City Manager "to direct the appropriate city departments to increase the City's responses to a scale proportionate to the emergency."

Obama's faith council is finalizing its draft report this week, and one of the key debates that emerged from the phone conference yesterday was whether there should be rules requiring religious groups to cover up religious symbols if they receive federal funding for services. For example, if a church gets money for a soup kitchen, would it have to remove or put a cloth over all crosses, pictures, etc., every time it gets ready to feed the hungry? That sparked a lively debate among council members that largely dominated yesterday's two-hour teleconference. Melissa Rogers, director of Wake Forest's Center for...

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS By the authority vested in me as President by theConstitution and the laws of the United States of America,including section 1822 of the National Defense AuthorizationAct of 2008 (Public Law 110-181), and in order to strengthenfurther the partnership between the Federal Government and Stategovernments to protect our Nation and its people and property,it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Council of Governors. (a) There is established a Council of Governors (Council).The Council shall consist of 10 State Governors appointed bythe President (Members), of whom no more than five shall be ofthe same political...

On the surface, it might seem like Jacksonville City Councilman Clay Yarborough is a real-life Grinch. He votes "nay" more often than his 18 other council colleagues, opposing public funding for feel-good initiatives like after-school programs, affordable housing and historic preservation. Most of the time, he's the sole dissenter.

'The Nude' exhibit at downtown gallery to feature portraits and live, naked people ASHLAND — City Councilman Eric Navickas and his partner, Amy Godard, will hold a nude show at their downtown gallery in January in response to an attempt to ban nudity in the city. "The Nude" exhibit will feature traditional nude portraits and conceptual art involving live, naked people. "We feel that the nude ban is not only an attack on freedom of expression but also an attack on the human body itself," Navickas said. "We wanted to have a show to celebrate the nude body and differentiate...

DETROIT (WXYZ) - The Detroit City Council's front-running candidate is about to be homeless. Pugh's campaign manager says he is still able to represent the people of Detroit because he knows what they're going through.

Not only was Republican Richard J. Berry elected mayor of Albuquerque yesterday, but the G.O.P. also took control of the Albuquerque City Council, as the New Mexico Independent reports: GOP challenger Richard Berry surprised even himself Tuesday, knocking off longtime Democratic Mayor Martin Chavez and avoiding a two-man runoff while doing it. Berry, a two-term Republican state legislator, bested Chavez in convincing fashion, collecting nearly 44 percent of votes to Chavez’s 35 percent. Richard Romero received nearly 21 percent of the vote. Only provisional ballots remained to be counted early Wednesday. ... City Councilor Michael Cadigan lost a bid Tuesday...

A council is urging allotment holders not to lock their sheds in case thieves damage the structures while breaking in.Tenants have been warned that padlocks can lead to thieves forcing their way through doors and windows of the council-owned sheds to steal garden equipment. Bristol City Council claims its 'Don't Use a Padlock' initiative will save taxpayers' money because fewer sheds will have to be repaired or replaced. Its guide reads: "Don't padlock your shed; it can save the shed being damaged if someone does try to get into it.....

Experts debate proposed 'big brother' medical councilFrom Kevin Bohn and Jessica Yellin CNN updated 10:04 p.m. EDT, Thu July 23, 2009 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Obama administration is touting a provocative proposal to give a medical advisory council the power to help decide the scope of coverage that would be eligible for reimbursement under Medicare. Administration officials say the proposed council would improve health care quality and control costs. But some health care industry groups object to the proposal, saying such a council would not be qualified to make those judgments. This council would consist of doctors and health care...

Walter Hart, a convicted pimp and dead-beat dad, is running for city council. A man who spent 7 years in a federal prison is running on a 'second chance' platform.

President Barack Obama is creating a White House council to handle issues that affect American communities and workers tied to the automotive industry. The White House says Obama will sign an executive order Tuesday to establish the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers. The council will be chaired by the president's economic adviser, Larry Summers, and his labor secretary, Hilda Solis.

June 15, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - This article presents the Christian attitude toward abortion before the first ecumenical council, that is, until A.D. 325. Because the New Testament does not comment on the morality of abortion, this article considers the writings of the first generations of Christians after the apostles, for they indicate that opposition to abortion (1) was shared at a time when the writers — or Christians not many generations earlier — personally knew the apostles or their first disciples and thus benefited from their unwritten teachings and interpretations of Scripture, (2) comes from a date so early that...

It was confirmed this afternoon that Labour have lost control of Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Lancashire, three of the their four remaining councils that the Tories were targeting. Labour also lost power in Nottinghamshire to no overall control, meaning that they now run no English county councils. ........................................

Americans have been hearing for several years about potential war with Iran. For instance, on September 17, 2006, Time magazine reported, “The U.S. would have to consider military action long before Iran had an actual bomb.” On October 10, under the heading “A Chilling Preview of War,” Time warned: “As Iran continues to enrich uranium, the U.S. military has issued a ‘Prepare to Deploy’ order.” In September 2007, US News & World Report stated: “Amid deepening frustration with Iran, calls for shifting Bush administration policy toward military strikes or other stronger actions are intensifying.” And in June 2008, President-to-be Barack...

A political candidate who bowed out of the Minneapolis City Council race is being called a fraud and some people are even calling for a criminal investigation. In an exclusive interview with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, the 23-year-old former candidate for Minneapolis City Council admits he lied to campaign donors, volunteers and supporters. Charles Carlson burst onto the political scene in December. The University of Minnesota grad student with a British accent announced his campaign for Minneapolis City Council.

Marion County City-County Councilman Ed Coleman is switching parties from Republican to Libertarian. Coleman, who was first elected as an At-Large candidate in the Republican take over of the Council and Mayor’s office in 2007, has come under fire from the fellow Republican Councilmen and the County party for bucking party line on votes as well as voting against the Mayor on issues he deemed too intrusive for government…even local government. Coleman, who apparently has been mulling a switch for quite some time, was originally targeted by Democrats as a potential new party member, but conservative political convictions kept him...

This is great news, but I still wonder what took the FBI so long. "FBI Cuts Off CAIR Over Hamas Questions," by Mary Jacoby for IPT News, January 29 (thanks to Jeffrey Imm): The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has cut off contacts with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) amid mounting concern about the Muslim advocacy group's roots in a Hamas-support network, the Investigative Project on Terrorism has learned. The decision to end contacts with CAIR was made quietly last summer as federal prosecutors prepared for a second trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF),...

There's a new front in the conflict between Jew and Muslim: Broward County Click here for restaurant inspection reports buses. Fifty of the county's 290-bus fleet have been chugging around area streets for the past several weeks with a message that might seem more oblique than inflammatory. Black letters on a white backdrop proclaim, "ISLAM: The Way of Life of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad." The $60,000 ad was paid for by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "We owe it to our fellow Americans to let them know that Islam stands for peace," said Altaf Ali, director of CAIR's South...

Candidates for City Council Non-Democrats need not apply for two seats Sunday, January 4, 2009 3:36 AM By Robert Vitale THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH A phone-book-size stack of resumes and cover letters sits on the desks of Columbus City Council members who will pick two new colleagues on Jan. 12. Sixty-five people applied to fill the vacancies. Over the next week, the five council members who remain will examine qualifications and read through essays on the big issues facing Columbus. They'll meet with any or all of the candidates before their public debate and vote. However, their job won't be so...

(IsraelNN.com) The widely-disseminated Arab Moslem position that the Temple Mount is not Jewish has been debunked - by the Supreme Moslem Council (Waqf) of Jerusalem, in a Temple Mount guide published in 1925. Wakf guidebook, 1925, cover The Temple Institute Guidebook Puts the Lie to Current Arab Campaign In 1997, the chief Moslem cleric of the Palestinian Authority, Mufti Ikrama Sabri, stated, "The claim of the Jews to the right over [Jerusalem] is false, and we recognize nothing but an entirely Islamic Jerusalem under Islamic supervision..." Thus began a campaign to convince the world that the millennia-old natural association between...

Ira N. Forman, Executive Director of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) today released the following statement: Today, Senator John McCain made his first critical presidential decision with his selection of his Vice Presidential running mate. McCain’s judgment appears lacking. In Governor Sarah Palin McCain chooses a running mate with zero foreign policy experience and a brewing scandal which is being investigated by the Alaska state legislature. The contrast with Senator Joe Biden could not be starker and more unfavorable for the soon to be Republican nominee. For a party which claims it is trying to reach out to the...

Detroit mayor's mom faces US House challengers Link only Detroit Council Moves Ahead on Plan to Oust Kilpatrick Link only

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick suffered two defeats before City Council today when a committee rejected his plan to sell the Detroit Windsor tunnel and Members indicated they would fight using city money to pay the mayor's lawyers.