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It has taken some time and work, but our president has invented a new language. "Obamese" and "Barackish" aren't quite right, so let's call it "Obamish." Obamish uses English, but it does so to confuse most listeners while really communicating with only a few. Obamish is a language based on lies -- but, when it's effective, it's a language that establishes plausible deniability around the implementation of politically risky, far-left policies. Obamish is an arrogant language, premised on a need-to-know custodial view of the governed. Paul Kengor claims: Obama and Axelrod are geniuses at coming up with words and phrases...

By watching evolution in progress, scientists reveal key developments in the evolution of complex life and put evolutionary theories to the testThe transition from single-celled to multicellular organisms was one of the most significant developments in the history of life on Earth. Without it, all living things would still be microscopic and simple; there would be no such thing as a plant or a brain or a human. How exactly multicellularity arose is still a mystery, but a new study, published January 16 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that it may have been quicker and...

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio — Two miles from the cow pasture where the Wright Brothers learned to fly the first airplanes, military researchers are at work on another revolution in the air: shrinking unmanned drones, the kind that fire missiles into Pakistan and spy on insurgents in Afghanistan, to the size of insects and birds. The base’s indoor flight lab is called the “microaviary,” and for good reason. The drones in development here are designed to replicate the flight mechanics of moths, hawks and other inhabitants of the natural world. “We’re looking at how you hide in plain sight,”...

Most years, we generally don't worry about the flu (unless we're paid to worry about it, or we belong to an especially susceptible population). Yet some years, like this one, threats of a pandemic flu virus make it on everyone's radar screen. So exactly what is it that makes a flu virus reach pandemic proportions? A group of researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control, Mt. Sinai and Harvard recently used engineered versions of the disastrous 1918 flu virus (don't try this at home!) to learn just what makes a flu virus go global.

When we daydream about the future, we tend to focus on the fabulous belongings we're going to have. Jet packs, flying cars, weapons to kill aliens, cell phones that make today's sleek models look clunky -- you name it, we're going to have it. We don't tend to focus, however, on who we'll be in the future. Most of us probably picture ourselves exactly the same, though maybe thinner, as surely we'll all have robot personal trainers by then. While we see the world's technology evolving to meet our needs, we may not think about how we ourselves might be...

When Animals Evolve On Islands, Size Doesn't Matter ScienceDaily (Nov. 8, 2007) — A theory explaining the evolution of giant rodents, miniature elephants, and even miniature humans on islands has been called into questions by new research.The new study refutes the 'island rule' which says that in island environments small mammals such as rodents tend to evolve to be larger, and large mammals such as elephants tend to evolve to be smaller, with the original size of the species being the key determining factor in these changes. (Credit: iStockphoto/Andy Diamond) The new study refutes the 'island rule' which says that...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Nov. 24, 2006 -- U.S. military operations and missions have changed since the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom and will continue to change as the Afghan National Army becomes a more capable and respected force. “Every operation we do, we do with the ANA,” Army Sgt. Maj. Bryan Gran, operations sergeant major for Task Force Iron Graze here, said in a Thanksgiving Day interview. “If a squad of our guys goes out, a platoon of their guys goes out; if a platoon of our guys goes out, a company of their guys goes...

2/23/2006 - SEMBACH AIR BASE, Germany (AFPN) -- Security forces in Europe are preparing for deployment to war zones with an up-to-date curriculum. The mission of the 786th Security Forces Squadron’s regional training center, otherwise known as "Creek Defender," is to provide predeployment integrated base defense training for U.S. Air Forces in Europe security forces. The training also prepares command security forces for missions throughout the European Command’s area of operations and other combatant commands worldwide. When previous training became outdated, the staff prepared a concept of operations in October that remedied that situation, said Senior Master Sgt. Patrick Herdman,...

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 12, 2006 – Special operations commanders know what is needed to meet the ever-changing challenges facing their forces fighting in the global war on terrorism, a panel of special operations leaders said here yesterday. "We've got to field a warrior or technician that is culturally attuned (and) linguistically capable," Navy Capt. Sean Pybus, commander of Naval Special Warfare Group 1, said. "Those are key requirements in the years to come." The panel spoke at WEST 2006, a technology, communication and national security conference co-sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association and the U.S. Naval Institute....

The London bombings have shocked the world and once again raised the question 'Why?'. But people who hurry to blame fundamentalists and poverty are missing the point: Islam itself. Today there is a lot of talk about the root causes of Islamic terrorism and how to deal with them. So what are these root causes then? UK-US foreign policy? The West’s lust for oil? Illiteracy and poverty in the Muslim world? The hijacking of Islam by a few extremists? These, amongst others, are the reasons most left-wing intellectuals and self-declared liberal Muslim thinkers, from British journalist Robert Fisk to Pakistani...

Noses didn't need cold to evolve Bruce Bower From Milwaukee, at a joint meeting of the Paleoanthropology Society and American Association of Physical Anthropologists Fossil evidence that Neandertals possessed exceptionally large, broad noses has often been explained as an evolutionary response to life in cold, dry locales. An expansive schnoz might have warmed incoming cold air or expelled body heat during hunting and other strenuous activities. However, new data indicate that climate played no role in shaping the Neandertal nose. Marc R. Meyer of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and his coworkers found similarly sized nasal passages in a...

THANK GOD FOR OUR JUDGES. (Oops! Sorry. No offense, your honors. I didn't mean to write "God." Or at least I didn't mean anything specific or exclusionary or sectarian or unconstitutional by writing "God." It's just an expression I occasionally use. It does go way back in U.S. history. I hope it's okay.) Anyway. Thank God for our robed masters. If it weren't for them, Christopher Simmons might soon be executed. In September 1993, seven months shy of his 18th birthday, Simmons decided it would be interesting to kill someone. He told his buddies they could get away with it...

In Fallujah, US officers say the remaining rebels are smart, and adapting to changing battle conditions.FALLUJAH, IRAQ – The insurgent safe house in Fallujah looked like every other one on the block, except that it was carefully marked with two new bricks, hanging from cord on the outer wall. Explosives experts had already been in the carport, and blown up several mortar tubes set up in the back of a truck - a mobile artillery unit favored by rebels. Related stories 11/16/2004 As smoke clears, next battles are political 11/16/2004 Next Fallujah battle: hearts, minds more stories... E-mail this story...

Papers have been flapping with new headlines about the latest in a long line of alleged dinosaur ancestors of birds. This one is claimed to be a sensational dinosaur with feathers on its hind legs, thus four ‘wings’.1 This was named Microraptor gui—the name is derived from words meaning ‘little plunderer of Gu’ after the paleontologist Gu Zhiwei. Like so many of the alleged feathered dinosaurs, it comes from Liaoning province of northeastern China. It was about 3 feet (1 meter) long from its head to the tip of its long tail, but its body was only about the size...

Former vice president Al Gore (news - web sites) may be supporting Howard Dean (news - web sites), but retired army general Wesley Clark (news - web sites) has support in his quest for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination from ... Madonna (news - web sites). The Material Girl on Tuesday publicly threw her support behind the retired four-star general, one of nine Democrats seeking to replace George W. Bush in the November 2004 election. "I endorse him because I think he's a great guy," the pop superstar said on CNN Tuesday. "I think he's a natural born leader." Madonna...

Last Updated: Wednesday, 24 September, 2003, 11:09 GMT 12:09 UKMadonna book sells 8,000 copies This was Madonna's first attempt at children's fiction Madonna's children's book The English Roses has sold just over 8,000 copies in its first week in the UK. The book, launched amid a blaze of publicity, made it to number 17 in the national book chart, according to data company Nielsen Bookscan. It was the second bestselling children's book of the week, behind JK Rowling's fifth Harry Potter book. This week the top-selling book in the UK, David Beckham's autobiography My Side, sold 103,508 copies. Madonna's book,...

<p>The middle-aged serial slurper came to Midtown yesterday clad in an early Halloween costume - dowdy tweed suit and bushy hair - to role-play the part of an actual mom.</p> <p>We've seen this gal tied up, beaten down, with cones protruding from her bosom, and naked so frequently, it is to yawn. But Madonna's new, prissy act, unveiled on Fifth Avenue, was downright weird.</p>

Poor Madonna (news - web sites). In her new career as a writer of children's books, lightning has not struck twice. Her first effort, The English Roses, had skeptical critics baying with praise at how effectively she examines the subtle but cruel ways girls exclude those they envy or pity. The book has been translated into 37 languages, and it has been on the USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list since Sept. 22. Its highest rank was No. 7. In the second of Madonna's expected five books, Mr. Peabody's Apples, illustrated by Loren Long, the pop star and mother turns her...

LONDON: "Material Girl" Madonna is said to be gearing up for a fistfight with Warner Bros Records over differences about where her Maverick Records is heading. According to PeopleNews , a reason for the impending parting of the ways may be attributed to a rumour that Time Warner is lining up to sell off the Warner Music Group. Tension seems to be brewing, as renegotiations between the two warring parties is virtually non-existent, sources close to the disgruntled Warner executives, say. Others are even predicting "a nuclear lawsuit," with the big guns of parent company Time Warner lining up for...

Madonna's bestseller November 26, 2003 MADONNA'S second children's book Mr Peabody's Apples is on top of the New York Times best sellers list for children this week. The queen of pop has topped the book chart just eight weeks after her last number one with The English Roses. Children are loving Madonna's tales. As funny as it may sound, Madonna has kept The Cat In The Hat from going number one in the book world. The Cat In The Hat is being propelled by the movie starring Mike Myers, Alec Baldwin and Kelly Preston. Madonna's career as an author couldn't...

Nobody ever says, "Madonna who?" She's part of our culture, an American success story who's maintained a media presence for 20 years now, re-inventing herself with every prevailing wind, while never, ever giving the impression she's doing anything other than what she wants to do. We are by turns impressed, embarrassed, shocked and amazed by Madonna's antics, but we're rarely surprised anymore. Madonna, the dancer from Detroit, set out to become famous and succeeded beyond anybody's but her own wildest dreams. She's 45, and shows no signs of slowing down or relinquishing her place in the spotlight; in fact, she's...

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) --The Material Girl has stepped onto the political stage and endorsed Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark. "I think he has a good handle on foreign policy, I think he's good with people, and I think he has a heart and a consciousness," pop singer Madonna said. "He's interested in spirituality -- I mean, those things mean a lot to me." The singer and children's book author met Clark a few weeks ago for over an hour. In an interview recorded last week with CNN's Denise Quan, Madonna said they discussed his becoming president. The singer told...