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Wednesday, July 09, 2008 Obama's Mile High Fantasy Flight Dr. Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: My Opinion! Barack Obama's move to Mile High is an exercise in stagecraft and a smoke and mirror job for the American people. First, it is an affront to the Hillary Clinton delegates who would have comprised half the room if Obama were to appear at the Pepsi Center. It is a calculated move to force networks into the very real choice of only covering his speech on the final day - denying the American people a true look at what the Democrat's platform and policies...

Planning an eco-friendly wedding just underlines how committed Jamie Hanson and Mark Hamlyn are to living an environmentally respectful life. "Sometimes we choose things that are not absolutely perfect, but we do our absolute best," says Hamlyn. An operations manager at Suncor in Fort McMurray with a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Alberta, Hamlyn, 37, met Hanson while on the job. "He wandered into my office to thank the girl I shared an office with for recommending someone to hire and we got to talking," remembers Hanson. Hanson, 32, works for TransAlta Utilities, Suncor's partner, as manager...

A group supporting North American integration is holding its fourth annual "North American Model Parliament" for 100 university students from the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The North American Forum on Integration, or NAFI, began is "Triumvirate" sessions Monday in Montreal's City Hall with a plan to conclude Friday.

<p>While listening to McCain's policy speech, Sen. McCain incredibly stated the following regarding illegal immigration. I repeat this is not a joke.</p> <p>MODERATOR ADDITION - CRITICAL CONTEXT WAS MISSING FROM THIS POST. CONTEXT HAS BEEN ADDED IN ITALICS. POSTER'S ORIGINAL TEXT WILL RESUME AFTER THE ITALICS.</p>

The head of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign refused to concede Sunday that she has no chance to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Terry McCauliffe said it is still possible for Clinton to win the nomination, even though most pundits have concluded that she cannot overtake her rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, to become the Democratic Party nominee. "Look, tomorrow -- something new could happen," said McCauliffe. "Nothing's impossible. You are talking to Terry McAuliffe. I don't believe anything in life is impossible." McAuliffe argued that Clinton would be a stronger candidate than...

I do not think the President of the United States should be a liar, and believe that the overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens agree with me. For security reasons, the whole truth cannot always be revealed, but it is quite obvious that lies are seldom made to protect our nation. Almost invariably, the political fortunes of the prevaricator are at stake. During my campaign for the White House in 1976, veracity was a very important issue, because of the known falsehoods having been told during the Vietnam War and the revelations of the Frank Church senatorial investigation that our government...

Screaming tabloid headlines have declared her campaign "Over!" and calls for her withdrawal from the race are mounting, but Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton - despite lackluster primary results this week - has put out her own steely message: She's not going anywhere. "I'm staying in this race until there's a nominee, and, obviously, I am going to work as hard as I can to become that nominee," the New York senator said at a Shepherdstown, W.Va., news conference today. "I believe that I'm the stronger candidate against Sen. McCain. And I believe I would be the best president among...

America's tax code needs a serious overhaul. The last clean-up was in 1986, when Ronald Reagan turned away from his tax-slashing past to partner with a Democratic Congress and close loopholes, change rates, and broaden the tax base. Over the intervening decades, lobbyists have left their Gucci footprints all over the code, and our system is a bigger mess than ever -- one that should give both Democrats and Republicans pause. For instance, America taxes corporations at the second-highest rate in the industrialized world but collects the fourth-lowest amount of corporate tax revenue. Why? Loopholes, special deductions, tax credits, subsidies,...

"My husband has such a great commitment to me and to my campaign. You know, he loves me. Husbands and wives get out there and work on each others' behalf. I certainly did that for him for many years. And I'm very grateful for all of the help he's given both supporting me, along with our daughter, and making the case for my candidacy.”

<p>Elizabeth English is a mother of two, a partner in a four-year relationship, a social worker. On Saturday, she will add one more title: Catholic priest.</p> <p>English is a member of a small, independent Catholic church that does not recognize papal authority and ordains women to the priesthood.</p>

Jimmy Carter, America’s most powerless, indecisive President, who allowed a mob of uneducated Iranian students to hold Americans hostage for more than a year, says he wouldn’t have done anything differently. Speaking with XM Radio’s Bob Edwards on Tuesday, former President Jimmy Carter (you know, the guy who gave the “malaise” speech) told the radio host that he “would not want to have changed anything” during his presidency. Well, okay, maybe one thing. Referring to the Iran hostage crisis, Carter said, “I have a specific regret in not having one more helicopter when I wanted to rescue our hostages. If...

An inmate filed a $500 million civil rights complaint last week against Terri Schiavo, her parents and husband, claiming her feeding tube was diverting food from his stomach. He also sought a restraining order against them. But a U.S. district judge in Tampa tossed out the complaint Tuesday, saying it describes several “fantastic and delusional scenarios.” South Carolina inmate Jonathan Lee Riches’ handwritten complaint said Schiavo’s feeding tube caused him to suffer hunger pains and dizziness and that her family conspired with the Bureau of Prisons to prevent him being provided food with proper nutritional value. Schiavo died in a...

The politics of being caught in an airport sex sting are tough enough for Sen. Larry Craig, but a legal fight against his guilty plea won't be any easier. The Republican on Wednesday relayed word that he would resign his seat by Sept. 30 only if he fails to withdraw last month's guilty plea to a charge of disorderly conduct. Legal experts say it's tough to convince a judge to allow a guilty plea to be withdrawn, and that even if the tactic succeeds, it could backfire if it leads to a trial where the lurid allegations against the senator...

Let's cut to the chase: conservative Republicans have only one choice for President in 2008: Congressman Ron Paul of Texas. Unlike the GOP frontrunners, Paul is the real deal. No real conservative could support Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Fred Thompson, or Newt Gingrich. When it comes to historic conservative principles, each of these men is as phony as a three dollar bill. That they are now attempting to cast themselves as conservatives is more than laughable: it is downright hilarious. [ snip ] If one wants a true photograph of how a congressman or senator votes on conservative,...

Jack Cafferty was just on CNN with Wolf Blitzer and said that if we weren't spending a total of 1 Trillion dollars in Iraq we could have repaired that bridge and all of the bridges in the U.S.A. instead of building new bridges for roads in Iraq. He laid blame on...guess who? But of course...Bush! When all else fails...CNN and the Liberals find a way to blame Bush. Don't the Democrats run that state for the most part?

Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, said the country is in "great danger" of the U.S. government staging a terrorist attack or a Gulf of Tonkin style provocation, as the war in Iraq continues to deteriorate. The Texas congressman offered no specifics nor mentioned President Bush by name, but he clearly insinuated that the administration would not be above staging an incident to revive flagging support. During the radio interview, Paul said the government was conducting "an orchestrated effort to blame the Iranians for everything that has gone wrong in Iraq."

he Iranian president says Iran is planning to revolutionize its oil industry and turn into a petrol exporter within next five years. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday the country intends to start a "revolution in the country's energy sector" and export 150 million liters of petrol on a daily basis by implementing a five-year plan, Fars news agency reported.

Which opens the door to a Swiftian modest proposal, one that might appeal to any billionaire independent presidential candidate who knows the art of a deal: Rather than try to win the White House outright — a long shot — an independent candidate could instead try for a king-making (or queen-making) bloc of votes in the Electoral College. In doing so, a moneyed candidate like Mr. Bloomberg could advance his post-partisan national agenda — and gain a great deal of power — by introducing coalition politics to America’s system of government, through a power-sharing plan that catapults either the Republican...

Janeane Garofalo's voice was used to torture Iraqis, and they "hated" it. Tony Lagouranis is a former military interrogator, who's now telling his story. And, believe it or not, the formerly cute comedienne and former Air America hostess played a role: Not long ago in Iraq, [Lagouranis] felt "absolute power," he said, over men kept in cages. Lagouranis had forced a grandfather to kneel all night in the cold and bombarded others in metal shipping containers with the tape of the self-help parody "Feel This Book: An Essential Guide to Self-Empowerment, Spiritual Supremacy, and Sexual Satisfaction," by comedians Ben Stiller...

The Wall Street Journal is at it again today, giving the White House free rein over its editorial page. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Republican National Chairman Ken Mehlman do their best to sell the amnesty deal to a skeptical public and enraged conservative base. With the latest Rasmussen poll showing that just 16% believe the bill will actually reduce illegal immigration, the White House is pulling out all everything at its disposal to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, Bush and Mehlman's argument is the same rhetoric that we're tired of hearing. They even have the gall to say...

IN SPEECH, JOHN EDWARDS DENOUNCES WAR ON TERROR, CALLING IT A 'BUMPER STICKER' SLOGAN...

How conservative evangelists are trying to make the United States a Christian nation President Eisenhower famously said, "Our government makes no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith, and I don't care what that faith is." The people Chris Hedges writes about in his new book have a different view: They care a lot about the religion on which our government is based and they think it should be Christianity — their version, of course. "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America" is a call to arms against what Hedges sees as the...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Al Gore is garnering wide praise following his documentary's win at last night's Academy Awards -- even from White House Press Secretary Tony Snow. Asked in a press briefing Monday what he thought about Al Gore's documentary film, "An Inconvenient Truth," winning an Oscar, Snow said, "I'm happy for him," and mused, "It's good to have a second career."

I just thought I would throw it out there for your consideration. Duncan's choice is NOT negotiable. Newt's IS :) Why Newt?... Because yes, we can forgive those who deserve a second chance, and besides, he will pay the price by running in the second slot, as the Vice-President (Not that there is anything wrong with that!). Then, having gained invaluable experience, fully rehabilitated for his indiscretions, THEN, he will be ready to be president. He is still a young man so he's got the time.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Jimmy Carter defended his new book on the Middle East on Thursday against sharp criticism from Jewish groups and said a majority of U.S. citizens including many Jews supported its main proposals. Letters he received since the publication in November of "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid" were largely supportive and included support from many readers who described themselves as U.S. Jews, said the former president. Jewish groups have expressed outrage at the book, arguing that its title and contents could undermine perceptions of Israel's legitimacy. Carter, 82, was addressing a forum at Atlanta's Emory University in which he...

(AP) A New York congressman on Wednesday jokingly suggested the Bush administration may fear a "platoon of lesbians" more than terrorists in Baghdad, given the military's resistance to letting homosexuals openly serve. Rep. Gary Ackerman's criticism of Pentagon policy came as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Ackerman, a New York City Democrat, complained to Rice that the military had fired Arabic and Farsi translators after learning the translators were homosexuals. "For some reason, the military seems more afraid of gay people than they are against terrorists. They're very brave with the terrorists, and...

It was hard to tell what was making Andrea Mitchell angrier: Bill O'Reilly's assertions that NBC has a liberal bias, or his repeated and perhaps ungentlemanly references to the lady's "30 years" of experience. In any case, the look on Andrea's face was unmistakable: she was not the happiest of campers. Mitchell appeared on this evening's Factor for purposes of touting her new book. But kudos to O'Reilly for taking the occasion to directly confront a leading NBC light with the network's undeniable leftward tilt - which Mitchell proceeded to flatly deny. This is must-see video, which you can...

CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush on Friday sent holiday greetings to all Muslims in America, Iraq and across the world as they celebrate the Eid al-Adha religious festival. "Eid al-Adha is an important occasion to give thanks for their blessings and to remember Abraham's trust in a loving God," Bush said in a statement released from his Texas ranch, where he is spending the week pondering changes to U.S. policy in Iraq and staying abreast of Saddam Hussein's execution. Iraq's Shiites will celebrate Eid al-Adha, one of the two most important holidays in Islam, from Dec. 31 to Jan. 4....

Cincinnati (FR) - The completely unknown and cordially disliked Free Republic poster "You Dirty Rats" announced today from his PC that he is not a candidate for the Republican nomination for President for 2008. "After carefully consideration of the chances of victory, I have decided against a run for 2008," he said. YDR noted that his negatives were much less than over half of the Representatives and Senators who have either announced a run, considered running or have issued statements that they aren't running. "Lots of people have seen Jimmy Cagney movies, and they might vote for me on that...

Posted by Noel Sheppard on October 8, 2006 - 13:25. Conceivably one of the finest examples of hypocrisy and liberal media bias I’ve witnessed since this blog was created occurred on Sunday’s “The Chris Matthews Show.” The first subject for the panel – which consisted of Norah O’Donnell, Tucker Carlson, Andrew Sullivan, and Maureen Dowd – was – drum roll please – Mark Foley. As one would expect, there was tremendous disgust for Foley’s behavior, and the panel enunciated ties to Republican corruption and competence. Yet, when the discussion moved to Sen. Hillary Clinton running for president in 2008, and...

Patrick J. Buchanan, Next President of the United States By Paul Streitz Sep 21, 2006, 10;55 Patrick J. Buchanan will be the next President of the United States. Mr. Buchanan is the most qualified man for the position. Mr. Buchanan is the most deserving of the position. Mr. Buchanan is the man whose views most closely align with the vast majority of the American voters. He will win an overwhelming, landslide victory in 2008. Every opinion poll, every discussion in the street and every newspaper’s letters-to-the-editors column shows that Americans want the borders secured and the illegal immigrants removed from...

Prime Minister Tony Blair says he wants to devote his last year as Britain's leader to advancing an Israeli-Palestinian agreement. This is not the first time Blair has made clear his view that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a major destabilizing influence in a region the UK has always considered vital to its interests. Blair is known to have strong feelings of affection for Israel. He is also committed to the creation of a Palestinian state he believes essential to restoring some semblance of calm in the Mideast. So his pledge to work on the issue is not especially surprising. For...

His mantra on peace and non violence still acts as a guiding principle for many across the globe. And as a way of promoting his crusade for peace, Mahatma Gandhi’s family is taking the baton of his philosophy across the world by holding rallies and conferences for terror victims and appealing for universal peace. Bapu’s grandson Arun will lead a rally in Washington DC to highlight peace and non-violence on September 11, the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in which more than 2,700 people were killed. On the same day in Mumbai, his son...

Michelle Malkin has included the video by Gadhan on her HotAir site. Scroll down to the third article and click on the link "Adam Gadahn's convert to Islam-or-die message". This guy is as dilusional as it gets. Best if you are on hi speed internet http://hotair.com/archives/2006/09/02/video-al-qaeda-tells-us-to-convert-or-die/

Just when I thought "The Countdown with Keith Olbermann" (MSNBC - cable) couldn't get any worse as far as quality, integrity and journalistic objectivity it did. Olbermann, who thinks he's in a personal feud with cable juggernaut Bill O'Reilly and "The Factor" (FOX News - cable), must be in a delusional state. Unbelievably, MSNBC tried to sell the idea as a way to energize Olbermann's meager television ratings. But O'Reilly treated the whole matter like Olbermann didn't exist and, as far as ratings go, he doesn't. When I think of MSNBC's prefabricated O'Reilly-Olbermann feud, I picture the FOX News broadcaster...

Can't post the article but check it out! http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aHczjrHrbtxo

Serious movement in D.C. – and if I hadn't been there, I would not have believed it. For several months Joan Wire and her daughter have been trying to secure an appointment with a highly effective government official we'll simply call Mr. Washington. Joan Wire is the stalwart wife of Mike Wire. Mike is the storied "man on the bridge," the single most critical eyewitness in the saga of TWA Flight 800, the 747 that was inexplicably blown out of the sky on the night of July 17, 1996. The CIA built its notorious zoom-climb animation around Mike's position on...

The economy's growth has never before been so driven by real estate. Now that engine is sputtering. Jiany Massad isn't quite ready to throw in the towel on his fledgling career as a Miami real-estate tycoon. But if the local housing market continues to head south, the 30-year-old real-estate broker is already making alternate plans. "I might restart my old business," he says of a home decorating company that specialized in high-end window treatments. "At least it's real-estate-related." With home sales down by nearly a third in Florida last quarter, thousands of those who hoped to cash in on the...

When Jesus was living, he did not align himself with the Jewish religious parties, then called Saducees and Pharisees, nor the secular authorities: King Herod and Rome. He obeyed the Mosaic law and even paid tribute. He told Nicodemus, an old man that he had to be born again to be saved. Jesus meant born spiritually. Jesus preached that this spiritual new baby would be then, dead to the world, living in the world but not of it. He pointed out that worrying about the future was not what a Christian would be doing because tomorrow has enough worries to...

Let me go on record as saying I like Hyundai. For the record, I personally own a Sonata, and it's a great car. That said, will someone from Hyundai's advertising department kindly explain what you were thinking when you authorized the latest commercial for the 2006 Sonata? "Rethink Everything" involves the concept of the Hyundai Sonata turning the world upside down. You can access the commercial online with this URL: http://www.studiodaily.com/filmandvideo/projects/f/commercials/6702.html The spot starts out innocuously enough: a rather cliche scene of a Sonata cruising along a city street. Quickly the spot kicks into high gear: An office located in...

I think the latest commercial for the Huyndai Sonata speaks for itself, and you can access it online using the URL: http://www.studiodaily.com/filmandvideo/projects/f/commercials/6702.html . So the quuestion is, "Why is Hyundai using imagery remisiscent of 911 to help sell cars"?

This is different. This post isn't about what I have gleemed from some 'news-source' today. This post is about HOW do you convince your friends, your family .. your loved ones that "There Is A Crisis" in America and that this crisis continues to grow, each and every day..regardless of whether they believe it or not! The only thing that any of them believe in is: Our Government. I would like to give you the whole story, how I have tried and finally given up, given up in trying to convince my family, my loved ones that we are at...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned against any military strike on Iran in an interview published on Saturday. The United Nations Security Council has demanded Iran suspend uranium enrichment by the end of the month after Tehran failed to persuade the international community its atomic scientists were working on power stations, not bombs. Washington has declined to rule out military strikes as a solution to the nuclear dispute. "The conflict between the United States and Iran must be resolved through diplomatic channels and direct dialogue, because any strike on Iran means the end of stability in the region...

Kerry Still Thinks He'll Get Nod in '08 If at first you don't succeed... A former top campaign fundraiser to Sen. John Kerry insists that when the smoke clears in the race for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president, Kerry will once again be the party's nominee. Here's the scenario the aide outlined for NewsMax: Hillary Clinton is the front-runner and she has the money and the organization to capture the nomination. Other potential candidates, including Joe Biden, Evan Bayh and Mark Warner, don't have the money and will run out of cash before the race is over. Not John...

To our way of thinking, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's eagerness to have California become the de facto world leader of an aggressive effort to combat global warming by requiring businesses to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions has an inescapable fundamental flaw: It would add unique costs to industries here not borne by competitors in the other 49 states, to say nothing of the many developed and emerging nations who see pollution as a small price to pay for prosperity. Especially at a time of growing international competition, for one state to tackle global warming alone isn't just quixotic, it's economic folly. Obviously, a...

This coming weekend the representatives of a new forum of more than 100 Israeli and Palestinian peace and dialogue groups will be meeting in Jordan to advance our conviction that there is no alternative to bilateral negotiations. The new forum coordinated by the Peres Center for Peace and the Palestinian democracy organization Panorama has been created in order to impress upon decision makers and the public in Israel and Palestine that there are partners for peacemaking on both sides. The Israeli peace and dialogue forum, numbering more than 60 organizations, has been meeting regularly since the beginning of the second...

MARTINEZ - After nearly three months of testimony, jurors in the Susan Polk trial began deliberating Tuesday morning. The jury got the case shortly before 11 a.m. after listening to the conclusion of the prosecutor's final argument. Deputy district attorney Paul Sequeira characterized the defendant as a controlling spouse and pressed the absurdity of her accusation that law enforcement tampered with the crime scene. It makes no sense that investigators cut Felix Polk's feet to make defensive wounds, Sequeira said. "Couldn't they cut off a toe for me? I mean, make it more dramatic," Sequeira said. "I mean, if they're...

MARTINEZ - The prosecutor in Susan Polk's murder trial told jurors Monday that despite hearing months of testimony about family dynamics, they need to base their ultimate decision on what they believed happened the night Felix Polk died. "It's still going to come down to what you think happened in that pool house," deputy district attorney Paul Sequeira said to the jury in a courtroom overflowing into the foyer with onlookers. Sequeira halted his closing argument at each of the 14 motions for a mistrial that Polk requested as he spoke. After Polk gives her closing this afternoon, the jury...

Closing statements set for Monday in case of woman charged with killing husband - Jurors sometimes took notes with intensity and other times sat back looking at the ceiling as they listened to the two versions of how Orinda homemaker Susan Polk participated in her husband's death. On Monday, the prosecutor and the defendant are expected to give their closing arguments in Contra Costa Superior Court. They will outline the evidence they have presented to jurors over the past 14 weeks about the couple who met when the defendant was a teenager and the victim was her married psychologist."Dr. Polk...

THESE ARE THE SENATORS WHO VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL PARTY, THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO BE DEFEATED IN 2006, 2008 OR 2010, WHENEVER THEY NEXT COME UP FOR OFFICE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW; THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION -- THAT IS, UNLESS THEY DO NOT MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHO NEVER PAID INTO IT AND AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT. Grouped by Home State Alabama: Alaska: Stevens (R-AK), Yea Arizona: McCain (R-AZ), Yea Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR),...