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HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents have captured a third district in western Afghanistan, local officials said on Monday, defying Western assertions the rebels are unable to mount large military offensives. The hardline Islamist Taliban relaunched their insurgency two years ago to topple the pro-Western Afghan government and eject the 50,000 foreign troops, expanding their operations further from the mainly Pashtun south where they are strongest. Western forces say the Taliban's greater reliance this year on suicide and roadside bombs is a result of heavy battlefield casualties they and Afghan troops have inflicted on the rebels and the insurgents' inability...

A group of Democratic senators plans to introduce legislation reversing a new law allowing U.S. attorneys to live outside the districts they are appointed to serve. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Max Baucus (Mont.) and Jon Tester (Mont.) plan to drop a bill Monday that will undo a provision inserted into last year’s Patriot Act reauthorization. That language, included at the Department of Justice’s request, allows U.S. attorneys to live outside their districts if the attorney general gives them dual or additional responsibilities. The senators’ planned bill would require that U.S. attorneys reside in the district they are...

Well folks, it looks like the U.S. Census Bureau is finally getting high-tech for their 2010 census. With $600 million poured into the Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA) project, half a million (500,000) field enumerators will be getting hooked up with a HTC Census smartphone. Armed with an EVDO data-only Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC, and integrated GPS, the enumerator's job of collecting absentee census information will get nice and streamlined. As a high-tech plus, the built-in GPS unit also keeps the enumerator honest.Back in 2000, I was actually a census enumerator. My job consisted of driving to households to...

Help!

WHILE my assignment was to write about Minnesota’s important Senate race, I think there’s more to be learned right now from the far closer contest in Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District, which borders Minneapolis-St. Paul to the east, north and west. The race, between Michele Bachmann, the Republican, and Patty Wetterling, the Democrat, has revealed a Bush-era national trend now visible locally. That is, we are facing a choice between a “conservative” who wants to institute radical reforms and a “progressive” who wishes largely to maintain the status quo. In Minnesota’s Sixth District, liberalism is the new conservatism.

SACRAMENTO -- Nearly every time I've walked into the Capitol building this week, I've been buttonholed by one Republican or another who says something like, "Did you see that Nicole Parra voted for driver's licenses for illegal immigrants?" It's all part of the GOP's search for anything they can use to help Republican Danny Gilmore in his campaign to unseat the Democratic assemblywoman who represents the west valley 30th Assembly District. Republican strategists believe the district, while it is heavily Latino in population, is conservative, especially on social issues like immigration, abortion and guns. They hope to paint Parra as...

KABUL, Afghanistan — Army Col. William E. Bulen assumed command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Afghanistan Engineer District from outgoing Commander Army Col. Christopher J. Toomey on Aug 2 during a change of command ceremony here. Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, commander of Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan, presided over the transfer of leadership while Master Sgt. Eric O. Johnson, AED’s Command Sergeant Major, oversaw the exchange of colors. Lt. Gen. Eikenberry used the occasion to reflect on America’s continued commitment to Afghanistan illustrated in the District’s work. “As we look to improve Afghanistan’s infrastructure, AED is helping to lead...

U.S. Air Force Maj. Kurt Workmaster, Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team physician assistant, checks the blood pressure of an elder in the Paryan District, Afghanistan, July 16, 2006. Three medics from the Panjshir PRT treated more than 200 patients during the Medical Civic Action Program, or MEDCAP, which was coordinated at the invitation of Panjshir Director of Health Dr. Jellani. U.S. Air Force photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. John Cumper Medics Visit Remote Afghan District Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team treats more than 200 patients. By Air Force Capt. Joe Campbell Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, July 25,...

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - While Staff Sgt. Randy Myers was dodging roadside bombs in Iraq, his congressman was calling the war a lost cause...Myers said he backs Murtha, an opinion echoed by a number of other troops and their families. Several share his frustration with the conflict. Said Sgt. 1st Class George Wozniak, 36, of Murtha: "He's definitely for a strong military and he definitely supports the troops." Patriotism runs deep in Murtha's district in the Allegheny Mountains, where joining the military is a family tradition and often an economic necessity. Many served in Vietnam and that war exacted a heavy...

After appearing on Fox News Live yesterday, Commissioner Irey is following that up with an appearance today with the morning crew. Please post details here for the TV-impaired. Thank you.

On MSNBC's Countdown show on Friday, substitute host Brian Unger featured a softball interview with Democratic Congressman John Murtha during which Unger queued up Murtha to attack the Bush administration's Iraq policy and Republican critics. The Countdown host bolstered Murtha's credibility by referring to his war record and labelling him a "traditional hawk" while he discredited White House advisor Karl Rove by negatively labelling him as a "partisan attacker trying to squash discussion about Iraq," and proclaimed "the Swift-Boating of the 2006 election has begun." ...Murtha: "Well, it's just, it's a slogan. That's all. Here's a guy [Rove] sitting on...

...Murtha said his stature in defense, and especially his ongoing battle with President Bush and top Republicans over the war in Iraq, makes him a strong candidate for the House leadership role. “So much on the national level right now is related to defense that it is a logical step,” Murtha said. “And what we have to do now is show the public that there will be change.” Some Republicans see Murtha’s war activism and his push for the high House seat as being divisive in his own party. The GOP’s position: Keep it up, Jack. A divided Democratic Party...

Contrary to Jack Kemp's thesis, the greatest civil rights challenge of our time is not granting congressional representation to the District of Columbia. It is helping black Americans throw off the chains of liberalism, which for nearly 50 years has caused enormous harm to the black community, and held back the social and economic advancement of blacks while other minority groups in our society were developing, achieving, and prospering.

Responding to allegations of discrimination, the school district has concluded that an elementary school catering to students of Mexican descent is following its charter, officials said Monday. The district sent observers after Sandy Wells, a reporter working for KABC-AM, was allegedly assaulted outside the school Thursday by a man who demanded his audio tape. Station officials said Wells was also followed as he drove away. Police are investigating the incident. "They have followed the charter that they wrote originally," said Kevin Reed, chief legal counsel for the district. "What we care about is that the curriculum is inclusive and not...

WASHINGTON - The District of Columbia is making historic and startling progress in its effort to gain full voting rights in the House of Representatives, as a compromise between Democrats and Republicans to permanently increase the size of the House to 437 members gains momentum.A Republican, Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, is brokering a deal that would give the district's delegate full representative status, a change that would give the overwhelmingly Democratic district a vote in the House.In exchange, another seat would be awarded to Utah, a heavily Republican state expected to gain a new seat in Congress after reapportionment...

With all the invective it has spewed at the antiwar Jack Murtha, why isn't the GOP helping Diana Irey, his opponent in November? Pennsylvania congressional candidate Diana Irey meets with reporters at the National Press Club in Washington, May 24, 2006. (Event thread here) Last winter, Karl Rove promised his fellow Republicans that their party would win the congressional midterm election on the issues of war and national security. Perhaps he will still be proved right. But six months later, the White House political strategist and his party have backed away from confronting the most outspoken and credible Democratic critic...

http://www.irey.com/about/ Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey is vying to become the next Congreswoman from Pennsylvania's 12th District. Ms. Irey's reasons for challenging her opponent in this race: "For decades, western Pennsylvania looked to John Murtha to stand up for our values. But as the years have drifted by, John Murtha has drifted further and further from the ideals that made this country great. He has become part of the problem in Washington. I don't believe we are receiving the representation in Congress we deserve and the time for change is now." Diana Irey has a proven track record during her...

...In the meantime, my column had been posted on a well-known right-wing American website, where it attracted 119 comments. Oddly, none of them displayed any hint of disquiet over the behaviour of the Marines under investigation. Rather, their outrage was reserved for John Murtha and yours truly. One poster's reaction was to "nuke the Middle East" adding "thank you very much Dishonourable Rep. Jack Murtha". He was later to write "if you can't stand behind our troops, stand in front of them". A few of his co-posters rushed to the website of Murtha's Republican challenger Diana Irey to donate campaign...

WASHINGTON - The Republican opponent of Rep. John Murtha said Wednesday the Democrat should apologize for saying last week that a Pentagon investigation will reveal that Marines killed Iraqi civilians. Diana Irey, a Washington County commissioner, said Murtha, D-Pa., a decorated Vietnam veteran, denied the Marines under investigation due process. She said even serial killers in America's justice system get a fair investigation. "Shame on you, U.S. Rep. Murtha," the 43-year-old Irey said at a news conference with eight veterans standing behind her. "You have clearly lost your way." A spokeswoman for Murtha said he had no comment. On Monday,...

...Diana Irey and a busload of supporters headed to D.C. to demand Murtha apologize to Marines for recently accusing some of them of being cold-blooded killers. ... "Mr. Murtha's comments, I believe, were irresponsible and they put our men and women serving overseas in greater danger," Irey said. Murtha recently said several Marines killed at least 15 Iraqi civilians in cold blood last November and said action should be taken. While the U.S. military doesn't dispute the congressman's claim, Irey said Murtha is in the wrong. "Being a former Marine himself, he should know they have a process in place...

<p>Monongahela, PA – Commissioner and Pennsylvania Congressional Candidate, Diana Irey, will be in Washington, D.C., tomorrow, May 24 for a press conference with veterans. She will travel by tour bus with veterans and supporters from Pennsylvania’s 12th district in order to respond to her opponent’s recent comments attacking U.S. Marines and harming troop morale in Iraq. Irey will stand with veterans and hold a press conference tomorrow, May 24, 2006 at 1:00 p.m., at the National Press Club. Diana will be available to the media for questions after the event.</p>

Michele Bachmann, a fiery social conservative who calls herself a "woman on a mission," easily won endorsement Saturday to be the Republican candidate in the Minnesota's 6th Congressional District. Meeting at Monticello High School, Republican convention delegates gave Bachmann their endorsement on the third ballot. Bachmann, a state senator from Stillwater, got 61 percent of the vote, just over the number required for endorsement. But she was not strongly challenged by any of her three opponents. Delegates then voted to make the endorsement unanimous. State Rep. Jim Knoblach of St. Cloud, Minn., was second to Bachmann with 21 percent. State...

There is new evidence that the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has misled voters as to the actual need for its gargantuan and highly expensive building program. The district's latest estimates show that enrollment in the nation's second largest school district is declining much more rapidly than previously revealed. The precipitous decline could result in some of the schools now being built with bond money sitting as empty and useless as Saddam Hussein's former palaces. The reaction of most citizens of Los Angeles to the mere mention of LAUSD is intense disgust. After all, this district has built a...

SACRAMENTO – During his congressional campaign, Howard Kaloogian has portrayed himself as an aggressive conservative willing to go the extra mile, or in this case, 7,000 miles, to show that the war in Iraq is going well. But a funny thing happened on the way back from Baghdad – at least according to Kaloogian: His group stopped in Istanbul, their pictures got confused and now he's at the center of a national Internet photo scandal. For weeks, Kaloogian's campaign Web site featured a photo of a peaceful city block to help make his case that things are going well in...

Shocking photos are now available that link Texas State House District 48 Republican Candidate Don Zimmerman to Senators Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy. Don Zimmerman's opponent, Jeff Fleece, has mailed out an attack ad claiming that "Don Zimmerman stood with liberal Democrats like Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton against President Bush". Now the truth can be revealed. On December 5th, 2003, Hillary Clinton came to Austin, Texas to promote her Living History book. We have uncovered evidence that Don Zimmerman was there to greet her as she arrived at BookPeople in downtown Austin. Only a week later on December 12th,...

  U.S. Army Capt. Jason Frankenfield Assistant District Attorney Helps Troops in Iraq By Capt. Cory Angell Pennsylvania Army National Guard Public Affairs RAMADI, Iraq, March 10, 2006 — When Capt. Jason S. Frankenfield decided to go to law school he could have never guessed that someday he would be practicing law in a combat zone. That is exactly where he finds himself today, in Al Anbar, the largest province in Iraq. “Being away from home has been challenging,” said Frankenfield. “But I am tremendously proud to be a part of this mission and a member of the Pennsylvania...

The disciplinary arm of the N.C. State Bar dropped charges of felonious misconduct against two former Union County prosecutors Friday because of a 1999 clerical error at the state Supreme Court. The State Bar had charged Kenneth Honeycutt and Scott Brewer with lying, cheating and withholding evidence in a 1996 death penalty case. The ruling Friday marks the second time that Honeycutt and Brewer won on procedural grounds before the bar's Disciplinary Hearing Commission, which sits as judge and jury in disciplinary cases. . . . Prosecutors around the state are concerned that the case is damaging their reputation and...

The N.C. State Bar has challenged the dismissal of disciplinary charges against two former Union County prosecutors, saying they committed felonies to win a death penalty conviction. Kenneth Honeycutt and Scott Brewer were charged with lying, cheating and withholding evidence in the 1996 murder trial. Honeycutt, the former district attorney in Union County, has since returned to private practice; Brewer is now a District Court judge in Richmond County. Last week, the bar's Disciplinary Hearing Commission cited a missed deadline in dismissing the case against them. But the bar's lawyers say there is no deadline to bring charges because the...

I am happy to announce that as of January 1, 2006, I will be assuming the position of Communication Director for former Georgia Congressman Mac Collins. Congressman Collins has declared his candidacy in Georgia’s New 8th District and will be running against Democratic Congressman Jim Marshall. This will mean that I will be significantly reducing the numbers of columns that I will be writing. On occasion I will still, when time permits, write opinion pieces for the foreign press; however, at this time I feel that my primary responsibility as a United States citizen is to work for change at...

Latonia Wilson says she was only trying to do something nice for jurors. “I just thought it would be fun,” she said. “Especially at Christmastime.” Ken Clark, though, thought it was an obvious effort to buy campaign materials with taxpayers’ money. “I’m just amazed that she would even try it,” he said. Wilson is a Democrat who will be seeking her second term next year as district clerk. Clark is a Republican who will be seeking a third term as Precinct 4 commissioner. “Everything is going to be looked at politically,” Wilson said. “I’m not sure what the issue necessarily...

New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers faces reductionNew Orleans City Business June 6, 2005 by Deon Roberts In fiscal year 2006, the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is bracing for a record $71.2 million reduction in federal funding. It would be the largest single-year funding loss ever for the New Orleans district, Corps officials said. I've been here over 30 years and I've never seen this level of reduction, said Al Naomi, project manager for the New Orleans district. I think part of the problem is it's not so much the...

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Sept. 2, 2005) -- Roughly 50 to 60 Marines stationed at the 8th Marine Corps Recruiting District, New Orleans, are relocating to other offices because of dangerous effects of Hurricane Katrina. A temporary headquarters command element is being established in the Fort Worth and Dallas area. Currently, a basic command capability is established at the Embassy Suites, Dallas, and operations will be directed out of Recruiting Substation Fort Worth. It is unclear when the command will be fully functional, but the relocating Marines are expected to regroup in Dallas by Tuesday, said Capt....

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq (Army News Service, Aug. 18, 2005) – Soldiers in Abu Ghraib district clean up a local soccer field for the children in their sector July 29. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, conducted the humanitarian effort. “It’s really sad when you see kids walk around barefoot playing soccer in a trash-filled lot,” said Spc. Jake Butler of 2/130th Infantry. Armed with two trailers, shovels, rakes, and trash bags, the Solders of 2/130th Infantry began the task of clearing years of neglect from the small lot. Many...

.........Their conflicted feelings are important because experts say the state's 6th Congressional District is a barometer of national opinion. "If there is a bellwether district with an incumbent sitting in it, I would pick this district," said Amy Walters, who analyzes House races for the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan organization based in Washington. No neat political categories The congressman, Republican Rep. Jim Gerlach, won a second term with 51 percent of the vote in 2004, as the district narrowly voted for Democrat John Kerry in the presidential race. While partisanship in Washington has reached a fevered pitch, many of...

WASHINGTON — What if we fail to prevent an attack?Assume every line of defense against nuclear terrorism is breached: the efforts to lock up nuclear material abroad, to spy out hidden weapons programs, to deter rogue states and capture terrorists, to detect smuggled bombs at the border or downtown — every preventive measure discussed in the previous five installments of this series. Assume someone, somehow, gets all the way through. It only has to happen once. Assume that this someone puts together a crude atomic bomb, of the “Little Boy” type dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, a heavy and awkward device...

STATEMENT ABOUT INTERNET POLLS by NCPP Polling Review Board While different members of NCPP have different opinions about the potential validity and value of online surveys, there is a consensus that many web-based surveys are completely unreliable. Indeed, to describe them as "polls" is to misuse that term. Journalists who are considering reporting the results of internet-based surveys should ask the following ten questions: Is the internet-based survey designed to be representative, and if so, of what population? If not, it is not worthy of being reported.What evidence is there that the sample is representative of the population it...

Easement acquisition stirs anger By RITCHIE E. STARNES - WEDDINGTON Several property owners in Weddington are still fuming about how Union County officials seemingly fast-tracked the condemnation of their land to help build a sewer-trunk line for developers in 2002. Exercising eminent domain typically strikes an emotional chord among most property owners, but mix in what the residents see as poor communication, insulting compensation and allegations of conspiracy theories, and the result is raw feelings. That's the situation for the majority of 40 land owners who had swaths of their land condemned to make way for the West Fork Twelve...

Americans may be stunned to learn that the District of Columbia has been forced by a federal judge to hand over intelligence data on police tactics, training, and strategies from the last inauguration to an organization with documented ties to terrorist groups and Saddam Hussein.

Why do we not use the term, Legal Industry? Instead, we euphemistically use the term, legal community, as if the members of the legal industry are in actuality a class that is separate from the rest of society. Have many of us considered how the legal industry OWNS the legislative AND judicial branches of government? Think about it -- America has one single INDUSTRY with the power to legislate, adjudicate, interpret, and execute our nation's laws. The legal industry is a special interest that is built-into Congress and the State Legislatures and comprises the largest "professional" membership of those bodies....

If you had a flat tire, would you fix the problem by replacing your car’s muffler? I know, it sounds funny. But that’s exactly the logic permeating throughout San Francisco’s City Hall. When San Francisco’s murder rate spiked in 2004, it could only be expected that local politicians would seek a solution. Why they would seek to emulate a bad solution is anyone's guess. Understanding the problem and using a bit of common sense could go a long way in dealing with such a serious issue, but the idea being floated around City Hall leaves a lot to be desired....

District avoids lawsuit over holiday cards By PETER MALLERpmaller@journalsentinel.com Posted: Dec. 14, 2004 West Bend - A federal lawsuit was narrowly avoided when the school district agreed to allow West Bend East High School students to distribute Christmas cards containing a religious message, a Florida-based pro-religion group said Tuesday. The district gave permission for the project after the Liberty Counsel of Orlando, Fla., threatened to sue the district, accusing it of violating the students' free speech rights, according to Mathew D. Staver, the group's president and general counsel. "We had an attorney at the airport (Monday) headed for Wisconsin to...

Counterterrorism efforts got a major boost last week when an American district court found three Muslim organizations and one individual, mostly based in the Chicago area, guilty of funding Hamas and fined them an astonishing US$156 million.The four were found liable for their roles in the murder of an American teenager, David Boim, on May 13, 1996, when he was shot by Hamas operatives as he waited for a bus near Jerusalem. This case is important in itself, providing some measure of justice and relief for the Boim family. Beyond that, it helps fight terrorism in four ways.First, it validates...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Washington, D.C. homeowners shouldn’t expect to lock and load anytime soon as an effort to repeal a nearly 30-year ban on handgun ownership (search) in the district has hit a snag despite Republican gains in the U.S. Senate that might draw more gun-friendly lawmakers to Capitol Hill. "It still has an improved chance," said Dan Whiting, spokesman for Republican Sen. Larry Craig (search) of Idaho, who had co-sponsored legislation to repeal the gun ban and had hoped to attach the measure to the 2005 D.C appropriations bill. But opponents of the gun ban say D.C. residents are wary of turning...

---snip---Anyway, the military tribunal was all set to try Hamdan when U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson  ruled the Bush administration had no right to declare the man an enemy combatant. Robertson went on to say Hamdan should be classified a prisoner of war and given Geneva Convention protectionsRobertson ruled this despite these facts: Hamdan was not fighting for any country, Hamdan wore no uniform on the battlefield, Hamdan was a member of at least one terrorist group, possibly two.Judge Robertson also ruled that the Geneva Convention  protections supersede any presidential order or designation by military tribunal. In effect, the...

Dozens sick from unknown chemical in DC office building

The poll of 600 likely Republican voters in St. Clair County Michigan’s State Representative District 81 countywide found Alloway leading Pavlov by 12 points, 48 percent to 40 percent in a three-way race with Yale Republican Steve Pray Nader included in the ballot test.

Revisiting Redistricting By William Raspberry Monday, May 24, 2004; Page A23 A lot of people in Illinois didn't like what was happening in their state 135 years ago. Political discourse was becoming more contentious as the electorate became more polarized, north and south. Worse, many thousands of Illinois residents, though fully enfranchised in theory, in fact had little say about who went to Springfield to represent them. These were the voters -- generally Republicans in and around Chicago and Democrats downstate -- who, unable to muster a plurality, could only watch as candidates inimical to their interests were elected. So...

(PA-15th. Congressional District) As Toomey battles Specter and everyone watches. Toomey's open congressional slot is up for grabs. State Senator Charlie Dent, was suppose to be a shoe in. But his prior lead in the polls has evaporated. Running against a candidate that is similar to Toomey. Dent has found himself in a tight battle in the Lehigh Valley. Dr. Joe Pascuzzo, has found a large following of Toomey supporters along the way. Many of them do not like Dent's liberal conservative tactics or views. Since Dent's lead in the race has slipped, Dent has started running negative campaign ads...

A primary defeat two years ago won’t keep Cynthia McKinney out of politics. The former U.S. Congresswoman appears to be making another run for the 4th District, despite a loss in 2002 to Denise Majette. While neither McKinney nor her campaign manager were available to confirm the campaign this week, the McKinney camp has a new Web site up for 2004. At www.cynthiaforcongress.com, the Atlanta woman’s biography describes McKinney as “the voice for the voiceless.” It attributes her loss to Majette to Republican crossover voting. “We have launched this campaign because we have a vision that America can be better...