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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the occupied Donetsk region of the eastern Donbass on Tuesday, meeting wounded soldiers and assessing the battleground situation after his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin revealed, had toured eastern Ukraine on Monday. Both heads of state made their voyages on the occasion of Orthodox Easter, the holiest day on the calendar for Orthodox Christians. Both Zelensky and Putin framed their visits, through their respective offices, as a way to thank their soldiers for their work on Easter and to assess the progress of the war.

A Kansas man has asked an Iowa judge to let him engage in a sword fight with his ex-wife and her attorney so that he can “rend their souls” from their bodies. David Ostrom, 40, of Paola, Kansas, said in a Jan. 3 court filing that his former wife, Bridgette Ostrom, 38, of Harlan, Iowa, and her attorney, Matthew Hudson, had “destroyed (him) legally.” The Ostroms have been embroiled in disputes over custody and visitation issues and property tax payments. The judge had the power to let the parties “resolve our disputes on the field of battle, legally," David Ostrom...

Are we close to seeing a return of formal dueling at ten paces in Oregon in the next few years? That’s the fun interpretation when you see a headline such as this one in the Associated Press. “Oregon voters may decide to toss constitutional ban on duels.” I’m not immune to the occasion fit of pining for the colonial days, but that sounds a tad bit extreme even to me. But as with most such stories, it turns out to be (mostly) clickbait to the great disappointment of many, I’m sure. Should ongoing discussions in Salem materialize, voters would...

To say that political discourse in our country has reached toxic levels would do disservice to our politicians and pundits. Nothing anymore is sacred inside the arena of politics. Politicians, wishing to observe some degree of decorum, rely on attack dogs to do their heavy lifting. The Left is certainly fond of this tactic using such personalities such as David Letterman, John Stewart, Bill Maher and Chris Mathews. With the powerful influence of the liberal media, Liberals will say anything necessary to discredit or destroy a foe. Consequently, today’s politics is blood sport. Political opinion, even strong political opinion, is...

The Senate campaign of Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today released a link to a video in which the campaign points out that he said he did not serve in Vietnam. The release of the video comes amid allegations, made by a story in the New York Times, that he misrepresented his military service. Read today's story from the Register online: here   In a second video, released by the campaign of Republican Linda McMahon, he is shown saying that he did serve in Vietnam. The Times story, posted on its website Monday night, points to several occasions when Blumenthal. a Democrat,  made reference to...

WASHINGTON – Beware of politicians quoting poll numbers. That was one lesson from the White House health policy conference Thursday as lawmakers in both parties cherry-picked survey results, ignored contrary findings and presented public opinion, which is highly nuanced on these questions, as a slam-dunk. Claims, counterclaims and statistics flew through the room in the daylong talkfest by President Barack Obama and lawmakers from both parties. Some didn't hold up to the facts. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada suggested his party hasn't been preparing to do an end-run around the normal legislative process to pass a health care...

FRANKFORT, Ky. - When you take the oath of office in Kentucky, you have to swear that you haven't taken part in a duel with deadly weapons. The promise usually elicits laughter, and state Rep. Darryl Owens has proposed amending the Kentucky Constitution to do away with the archaic language. The Democrat's proposal cleared a House committee Tuesday. According to Carl Chelf, a retired political science professor at Western Kentucky University, the language comes from Kentucky's frontier days, when the state was a hotbed for dueling. Chelf says the framers of the state constitution wanted to clean up Kentucky's reputation...

Dueling immigration hearings Wednesday in San Diego will present opposite portrayals of illegal border-crossers: Congressional testimony will center on terrorists and criminals, while immigrant testimonials will beg compassion for illegal immigrants. Border-area law enforcement officials are likely to testify in the congressional hearing Wednesday that terrorists, drug cartels and gangsters are crossing the porous southern border in increasing numbers to harm Americans. Most witnesses have given similar statements to Congress before. A later counter-hearing by human-rights activists at a San Diego public park will offer testimonials about how immigration enforcement policy is costing the lives of people who are determined...

Dueling protests reflect immigration divideBy SUZANNE GAMBOA Associated Press Writer May 12. 2006 10:41PM Reflecting the American divide over immigration, protesters on both sides stood a few feet from each other near the Capitol shouting chants and exchanging accusations of racism. The protesters were kept apart Friday by helmeted police officers who stood inside a ring of yellow police tape. A Minuteman Project rally marked the end of a cross-country caravan by the anti-immigration group, whose members patrol the U.S.-Mexican border in search of illegal border crossers. The caravan began in Los Angeles. Minuteman demonstrators, who numbered less than 100,...

Muslims and Christians Hold Dueling Rallies at RCCApr 27, 2006 8:03 pm US/Pacific (CBS) RIVERSIDE Members of a Christian evangelical group and Muslim students engaged in a brief shouting match Thursday at an otherwise peaceful rally and counter-rally at Riverside Community College. Dr. Robert Morey is the organizer of a Christian evangelical group called Faith Defenders and teaches Islamic studies at the fledgling Irvine-based California Biblical University and Seminary. The university began taking admissions last September. Faith Defenders spreads Christian teachings and distributes literature and videos critical of Islam. Morey held a lecture and rally at the campus quad, which...

Few Attend Dueling Rallies at Bush Ranch Saturday November 26, 2005 10:31 PM By ANGELA K. BROWN Associated Press Writer CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - A repeat of last summer's dueling rallies against the war and in support of President Bush drew much small crowds to Crawford on a cool, rainy Saturday. About a dozen Bush supporters stood downtown with signs, one reading: ``Real America won't wimp out.'' Throughout the morning, shoppers and a few tourists leaving souvenir stores stopped in the tent to voice their support for the president. Closer to the Bush ranch, where the president celebrated Thanksgiving with...

CRAWFORD, Texas - Several thousand people descended on President Bush's adopted hometown Saturday, most in a cross-country caravan for a pro-Bush rally and others to support an anti-war demonstration led by grieving mother Cindy Sheehan. Bush supporters gathered for an event marking the culmination of the "You don't speak for me, Cindy!" tour, which started last week in California. The crowd of about 1,500 chanted, "Cindy, go home!" "You are giving hope and encouragement to the enemies of America," said former California Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian, a Republican who co-founded the group that coordinated the rally. Meanwhile, busloads of war protesters...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - It's darn hot in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez agreed Saturday as temperatures climbed to triple digits. There the Republican governor and Democratic speaker diverged in their weekly radio addresses, as the speaker criticized the governor for not doing enough to boost electricity supplies after two days of power-shortage warnings in Southern California. Nunez, of Los Angeles, evoked the rolling blackouts that gripped the state in 2000 and 2001, and criticized the governor for vetoing his bill last year that would have re-regulated California's electricity market. The jousting came a day after a...

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday placed three complicated measures on the Nov. 2 ballot that could help determine how county employees are compensated -- and the cost to taxpayers. Just below the surface of the three densely worded initiatives lies a bitter battle between county officials and the unions representing attorneys, nurses and correctional officers. The unions want to boost their power at the bargaining table with a new rule that would allow an independent arbitrator to settle contract disputes. They succeeded recently in collecting 59,000 signatures, which is far more than the 42,000 needed to...

<p>The report suggesting California's budget shortfall is significantly less than his $34.6 billion estimate sent Gov. Gray Davis scrambling Wednesday to salvage his credibility with lawmakers and his prospects for tax increases this year.</p> <p>Minutes after Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill announced her smaller $26.1 billion shortfall estimate, the Democratic governor's newly appointed finance director, Steve Peace, called a news conference defending the governor's estimate as a "legitimate accounting approach."</p>