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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived here last night for two days of talks and criticized proposed housing expansion in Jerusalem over the Green Line as undermining the US-backed push for peace. As Rice arrived, she appeared more exasperated with the Israeli construction than she has in past condemnations of announcements of building plans that have often come just before or after her visits in the past 18 months. "Unfortunately, there have been a few [building plans], whether I'm coming or not," Rice told reporters on her plane. "Look, it's a problem, and it's a problem that we're going...

Obama is a complete fool and Oprah said he has wisdom!!! Shame, on Obama for saying 57 States in the USA, also two States he didn’t see, Alaska and Hawaii.

This would be the first of my many trips to the minefield at the junction where love and politics meet. Jimmy is not an elected official, but being married to him has given me a sliver of appreciation for the pressures couples feel and the judgments they provoke when they move in the world of politics, whether or not they sit on the same side. My friends--Westside-Topanga-artist-former-Peace-Corps-writer-multicultural-all-is-Zen pals--first questioned my sanity, then became angry. After my buddy Rachel was sure I wasn't kidding about the whole Republican thing, she demanded to know how I could even stand to be in...

All McCain voters are selling the rest of us TRUE CONSERVATIVES out! Enough! Show you have the values of your convictions and leave the BLUE BLOOD REPUBLICANS in Washington, crawling on their knees for forgiveness!

RAMALLAH – United States-run programs that train militias from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization have been utilized to kill Jews and were instrumental in the "success" of the Palestinian intifada that began in 2000, a senior Fatah militant trained by the U.S. told WND. "I do not think that the operations of the Palestinian resistance would have been so successful and would have killed more than 1,000 Israelis since 2000 and defeated the Israelis in Gaza without these [American] trainings," said Abu Yousuf, a senior officer of Abbas' Force 17 Presidential Guard unit in Ramallah. The U.S. has...

Bin Laden Video Fools AP I’m more convinced than ever that Osama bin Laden is no longer consuming oxygen, as another videotape is released by the As Sahab freakazoids: Bin Laden praises martyrdom in new video. CAIRO, Egypt - A new al-Qaida videotape posted Sunday on a militant Web site featured a short, undated clip of a weary-looking Osama bin Laden praising martyrdom. The bin Laden clip, which lasted less than a minute, was part of a 40-minute video featuring purported al-Qaida fighters in Afghanistan paying tribute to fellow militants who have been killed in the country. Bin Laden glorified...

RENO, Nev. — A couple authorities say were so obsessed with the Internet and video games that they left their babies starving and suffering other health problems have pleaded guilty to child neglect. The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a boy age 22 months and a girl age 11 months, were severely malnourished and near death last month when doctors saw them after social workers took them to a hospital, authorities said. Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria told Reno Gazette-Journal. Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty...

One would think that Britney Spears should catch a break. She is freshly out of her 'rehabilitation' program and already out clubbing and attending basketball games. She has covered her bald dome with a variety of wigs and hats, has had some work done on her teeth, and now even has big blue eyes thanks to some new contact lenses. She looks refreshed, but still the memory of her crotch flashing ways has caught up to her.

MESA - Hundreds of people who believe the government has lied about the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States plan to gather in Chandler later this week to strategize about how to find out the truth. The 9/11 Accountability: Strategies and Solutions Conference will be held Friday through Sunday at the Crowne Plaza San Marcos Golf Resort in Chandler. The conference will include keynote speakers, panel discussions, strategy workshops and a documentary film marathon. Theories on what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, include one that the government planted bombs to bring down the World Trade Center towers...

Former revolutionary Daniel Ortega has been sworn in as president of Nicaragua nearly 17 years after he was ousted from power. (Pic: Reuters) Mr Ortega was joined at his inauguration by Venezuela's leftist leader Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales. In a rousing speech before thousands of supporters the three called for a leftist front in Latin America which would unite in favour of the poor and oppose US influence in the region. "Now we have the task of forging a new path, a road that allows Nicaraguan families to live with dignity, that allows the Nicaraguan people...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday endorsed the idea of talks with Iran and Syria to help ease the bloodletting in Iraq, saying it would also be in Tehran's interests. Clinton spoke in the Netherlands the day after the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel that included senior officials from his administration, proposed engaging the two Middle Eastern countries -- and U.S. foes -- in the search for peace in Iraq.

BE HERE, OR BE NOWHERE!

Stars and politicians are battling big business in California's multi-million-dollar green crusadeIT IS a bitterly fought campaign that is pitting Hollywood against big oil; environmentalists against businessmen and millions of dollars against even more millions. As Americans prepare to vote in congressional elections, the most expensive campaign battle is taking place in California. But the nearly $110 million (£58 million) spent to date is not about a seat in Congress. It’s about oil. California has long been a pioneer state for environmental issues, so it was little surprise that it should come up with Proposition 87 — a tax on...

Subject: Democratic Convention Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2006 07:29:10 -0500 7:00 P.M. Opening flag burning. 7:15 P.M. Pledge of allegiance to the United Nations. 7:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast. 7:30 - 8:00 P.M. Non religious prayer and worship(mostly to selves) == Jessie Jackson & Al Sharpton. 8:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast. 8:05 P.M. Ceremonial tree hugging. 8:15 - 8:30 P.M. Gay Wedding -- Barney Frank Presiding. 8:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast. 8:35 P.M. Free Saddam Rally. Cindy Sheehan -- Susan Sarandon. 9:00 P.M. Keynote speaker: The proper etiquette for surrender – French President Jacques...

I normally do not comment about other people's blogs, but I was cruising the blogosphere when I happened upon this prizewinning road apple over at Wonkette. Filled with that morbid curiosity that drives one to look more closely at a particularly ghastly traumatic injury, I just had to look to make sure my eyes did not deceive me. They didn't. Great fancy Moses, people! I haven't seen so many maggots in one confined space since I lifted the lid on my garbage can last month during the trashmen's strike. Evidently, the slouches at Wonkette are unable to carry on conversations...

What happened to the support that the Bush administration said it had for sanctions against Iran? LAST SPRING the Bush administration struck what looked like a clever diplomatic bargain with European governments, Russia and China on addressing Iran. The Islamic regime, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, would be offered a "clear choice" between a package of economic and political treats -- including the direct dialogue with the United States that Tehran has long craved -- and international sanctions, depending on whether it agreed to suspend its nuclear program. Bush administration officials said they agreed to back the incentive package...

On the Pete Wilson Show, he is allowing and/or encouraging the leftist tin-foil mad hatter crowd to call. The moonbat gang are repeating all the great conspiricy theories attributed to G.W. and 9/11. Numbskull's on display. This is only of interest to those able to recieve KGO radio 810 AM.

CHICAGO, Illinois -- Living in Boston these past two years I have had many opportunities to visit the Old Granary Burying Ground, where several Boston Massacre victims are enjoying their final rest alongside John Hancock, Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. During my sole semester in the Emerson College Master's program last fall, these little forays became a near daily ritual. At this point I have tagged along on more of the free tours of the graveyard than I can count. In all that time, however, I don't believe I ever heard as much talk of Samuel Adams as I did...

TEL AVIV, Israel — With a cease-fire appearing to unravel even before it begins, Israel is facing a protracted war under a divided government. At the insistence of the government's political opposition and other parties, plans are already under way to launch a formal inquiry in the Knesset into what went wrong in what many here are calling the worst defeat in Israel's history. The inquiry also will explore a further indignity: how the Jewish state has come for the first time to agree to negotiate the relinquishment of land, the Shebaa Farms, in direct response to a deliberate act...

Flood of claims for 'Noah's Ark' Legendary vessel of Genesis story goes from nowhere to everywhere -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: July 16, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Joe Kovacs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com After centuries of scouring the Earth for Noah's Ark, claims are now flooding in that the legendary vessel of the Bible has been found. Last month, headlines screamed that a Texas team of archaelogists believed they had possibly located the biblical boat in Iran. But hang on to the "Hallelujah!" chorus a little longer. There are numerous claims about the final resting place, from Ararat to Armenia. With modern...

Psst! Hey kid! Come over here and jump off this bridge! All the cool kids've done it 'n you're the only one left! It won't hurt, it'll be fun. Anyhow, if ya don't do it, I'm gonna come back 'n bugya, 'n bugya, 'n bugya forever till ya do. With that sort of reasoned discourse in the background, accompanied by taunts of "You smell like an ASHTRAY!", Philadelphia finally jumped on the bandwagon and banned smoking. Well, sorta. They banned it unless you're a bar that agrees not to feed its customers anything healthy, one that's well-off enough to have...

U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona today issued a comprehensive scientific report which concludes that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of developing heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent. The finding is of major public health concern due to the fact that nearly half of all nonsmoking Americans are still regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. The report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, finds that even brief secondhand smoke exposure can cause...

Death of the concept What else has to happen before the architects of this catastrophe admit their failure? Meir Eindor The entire new concept of security, based on the notion that Israel should dig in and realign itself behind a fortified wall, crumbled at Kerem Shalom. Once and for all it was proven that there is no substitute for a strong IDF presence in areas where terrorists organize. The evacuated area has been filled with dozens of sub-groups of terror organizations, and hundreds of armed cells receive weapons, some from "official" sources, some (mostly anti-tank weapons) which move freely across...

The House and Senate will soon start hammering out the stark differences between their immigration reform proposals. The Senate bill would put undocumented workers in the United States on a path toward citizenship. But the House version, firmly supported by the Republican leadership, omits such a plan, which many in the GOP call "amnesty." It stresses enforcement. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, introduced the original House bill. As Judiciary Committee chair, he is expected to be the House's lead negotiator on the immigration bill. He spoke with U.S. News about how this is going to be a difficult bargaining...

Psilyclbin Mushrooms, Bags Of Marijuana Also In CarGREEN, Ore. -- Three California youths had their road trip interrupted when a bong fell from their car at the feet of a policeman during a traffic stop. An Oregon State trooper pulled the car over Thursday near the Douglas County town of Green. Police said the large drug pipe fell out as 18-year-old Benjamin Breiner of Berkeley, Calif., opened the car door. The trooper said he found a bag of psilycybin mushrooms and several bags of marijuana. One occupant, 19-year-old Michael Fox of Oakland, Calif., told the officer he had a California...

On Recent Wars Things Not Figured Out May 17, 2006 People ask how we got into our splendid mess in Iraq and why we can’t get out. The question is a subset of a larger question: Why, since WWII, have so many first-world armies gotten into drawn-out guerrilla wars in bush-world countries, and lost? Examples abound: France in Vietnam, America in Vietnam, France in Algeria, Russia in Afghanistan, Israel in Lebanon, etc. Why don’t they learn? The answer I think is that militaries are influenced by a kind of man—call him the Warrior—who by nature is unsuited for modern wars....

One of three "American Idol" viewers believes a vote to FOX's wildly popular talent-search program counts at least as much as voting for president, according to a new survey. Pursuant, a Washington, D.C., research firm, said 35 percent of those polled felt they were making better use of their time voting for the next Grammy hopeful than in a political election. "There is something about people who felt maybe their vote in the last elections didn't count, but with 'American Idol' . . . [they're] hoping to propel someone to stardom," said Melissa Marcello, president of Pursuant.

CIA Director Porter Goss abruptly resigned yesterday amid allegations that he and a top aide may have attended Watergate poker parties where bribes and prostitutes were provided to a corrupt congressman.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Poor Jim Carrey. His movies have raked in nearly $2 billion at box offices, but now a leading entertainment magazine says the comedian's asking price of $25 million a film has become "a bit of a gamble." ADVERTISEMENT In its issue out this week, Entertainment Weekly rates top stars on whether they are worth the money. Among those whose asking prices have become too high are Carrey, Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell and Eddie Murphy, the magazine said. It added that after years of ever-rising star salaries, the prices for top talent are now coming down because...

Immigrant labor -- both legal and illegal -- has been an important force propelling U.S. economic growth for years. Growth in the native population has been in decline since the 1970s, so immigrant workers have filled in, providing half of the growth in the U.S. labor force since 1990. ...

How would you like to be a regular citizen working at your job at home who gets a telephone call by a seriously husky voiced male directly saying....."this is the lockup, we have a warrant out for your arrest, (my name)."..... Takes one aback just a little, don't you think? Just needed to tell all FReepers ........... this is how the 'Muscular Dystrophy Association' chooses to call Americans in order to try to find donors here in my area. After thinking for a moment or two I told the guy on the phone to go f**k himself after he belatedly...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Two relatives of Sept. 11 victims testified for the defense Wednesday in Zacarias Moussaoui’s death-penalty sentencing trial. One told the jury her family does not want to “get caught in a whirlpool of sadness and anger.” Medical sociologist Marilynn Rosenthal, whose son Josh was killed at the World Trade Center, said her family feels strongly “something good has to come out of what happened” and family members have endowed an annual lecture on 9/11 at the University of Michigan, where she teaches. Robin Theurkauf, whose husband, Tom, died in the South Tower, also testified that “the Bible...

AUGUSTA, Maine --Private clubs will have new procedures to follow when they vote on whether to allow smoking. Gov. John Baldacci on Thursday signed into law a bill that will allow club smoking policy to be decided by a majority of club members who return ballots, rather than a majority of all of a club's members. The new law will correct what critics saw as a flaw in the current procedure, in which smoking policy is decided by a majority of each club's members. Critics said that poses problems because many club members are inactive or can't be located when...

Time to dust off the whoopee cushions and hand buzzers. April Fools' Day is here and there's no better place for wisecracks and shenanigans than at work. In its annual April Fools' Day survey, CareerBuilder.com found 33 percent of workers have played a practical joke on a co-worker and 17 percent are planning office tricks for this year's holiday. Although it might be thrilling to finally one-up the office funnyman, pranks also help beat something that's no laughing matter: workplace stress. More than half of workers reported working under stress in another CareerBuilder.com survey. Stress and worry on the job...

An 11-year-old boy was run over by his parents’ car during a dangerous stunt near the corner of Mahan and Benson streets in Ridgecrest on Monday, police said yesterday. According to Ridgecrest Police Sgt. Robert OBergfell, the boy was riding on the hood of his parents’ car driven by his father, 31-year-old Jeremiah Harp of Ridgecrest. His mother, 32-year-old Stacy Harp, was a passenger in the vehicle. The Harps were allegedly using their car to push another car down Mahan while their son was “car surfing” on the hood, said OBergfell. The pushed car got ahead of the Harps’, and...

Preamble: As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives, and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others. We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized. Consequently, we defend each person's right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world...

Companies are charging smokers more money for health insurance CINCINNATI — Smokers already feeling pressure from increasing cigarette costs and workplace smoking bans are now feeling squeezed from another direction — health insurance premiums. A growing number of employers — private and public — are charging employees who use tobacco more money for their health insurance coverage. Employers hope that the higher charges will motivate more employees to stop smoking, resulting in improved health and lower health care costs for the companies and their workers. "With smokers costing companies about 25 percent more than nonsmokers in the area of health...

DOHA, February, 15 2006, (IslamOnline.net) – The Norwegian parliament has amended the Penal Code to criminalize blasphemy in the wake of the republication of Danish cartoons that lampooned Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) by a Norwegian magazine, Christian and Muslim leaders in Norway said on Tuesday, February 14. "Law 150-A, which has been approved by parliament, criminalizes blasphemy and clearly prohibits despising others or lampooning religions in any form of expression, including the use of photographs," Norway's Deputy Archbishop Oliva Howika told reporters after a meeting in Doha with Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the head of the International...

If there was ever a scene that stunned me and shamed me, was to see today the tape of the opening of the Supreme Court sessions for the Judicial year 2006 which took place two days ago. President Chavez was in attendance, the President of the Supreme Court gave a speech in which he spoke of Justice and independence. The Hall was packed with Justices and the employees of the Court. Then the session ended and the Justices in their solemn robes proceeded to show why this revolution is absolutely grotesque and immoral and why everything that was expressed during...

GREEN RIVER, Wyo. - A quote in a fake news release that was intended as an April Fool's joke ended up in a front-page story in the Los Angeles Times. The story in Tuesday's editions of the Times noted how successful the reintroduction of wolves had been 10 years ago, but said the predators remained controversial.

A bureaucratic stalemate is turning San Francisco's underpasses near the Bay Bridge into a free-fly zone for the homeless -- with the city's cops being ordered to stay out or face possible discipline charges. In recent months, squatters have been setting up camps amid the piles of beams and pillars stored under roadways for the retrofit of the bridge and its freeway approaches. In the meantime, police say, there has been a proliferation of auto break-ins and petty crimes around the freeway -- plus a growing chorus of complaints from neighbors and merchants who have had to put up with...

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez marched in Caracas on Saturday to support the leftist leader in his dispute with Mexico's president over U.S. free trade proposals. State workers, unionists and students, many wearing red T-shirts, waved flags and anti-U.S. placards as they marched through the capital accompanied by trucks blaring revolutionary songs, Venezuelan folk ballads and Mexican mariachi music. Venezuela and Mexico withdrew their ambassadors on Monday after Chavez called his Mexican counterpart, Vicente Fox, a "lap dog" of U.S. imperialism for his close ties to Washington and told him, "Don't mess with...

Now that Cologne has opened Carnival season (on the day that most of Europe was celebrating Armistice Day), we can look forward to some pretty strange Masses over the coming months. Here are some examples from previous years.

Mar del Plata, Argentina, Nov 4 (EFE).- A Nobel laureate and a leftist Bolivian presidential candidate - but not, as had been promised, an Argentine soccer icon - led a march of thousands of anti-U.S. protesters through the streets of this seaside resort city Friday, hours before the inauguration of the Summit of the Americas. Retired athlete Diego Maradona, who had vowed to lead the demonstration to "repudiate" the presence of U.S. President George W. Bush, was in town but did not join the vanguard of the marchers. The explanation provided was that the former captain of the national soccer...

Abbas Claims Terrorists Have Disarmed 18:04 Oct 20, '05 / 17 Tishrei 5766 (IsraelNN.com) Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) told a press conference several minutes ago that he has succeeded in disarming terrorist gangs. He did not refer to the Monday murders of three Israelis. Abbas and President George W. Bush met reporters after an hour-long discussion. Abbas said terrorist organizations have accepted his demand not to hold public demonstrations with firearms and that their disarming will enable them to participate in PA elections. Hamas terrorist leaders, the major challenger to Abbas, have said they will not...

THE FUELS THEY ARE A-CHANGIN' Come gather 'round suckers Wherever you drive And admit that the freedom Around you has died And accept it that soon You'll be screwed to the wall. If your bucks to you Are worth savin' Then you better start thinkin' Or you'll rust in a stall For the fuels they are a-changin'. Come bozos and wombats Who know nothing of science And stretch your mouths wide Spewing on compliance And don't stop too soon For the smoke's still in spin And there's no tellin' who That it's maimin'. For the losers now Will be losers...

Americans who don't believe in God have decided it's time they had a lobbyist in the nation's capital. Their new advocate describes herself as a "soft, fuzzy atheist." Lori Lipman Brown starts Monday as executive director of the Secular Coalition for America. Her two goals: keep religion out of government and win respect for a stigmatized minority. The magnitude of those challenges is, well, biblical. Think Daniel entering the lion's den, or David taking on Goliath. Christian conservatives wield enormous clout here through a network of advocacy groups and relationships with politicians from President Bush on down. Atheists, humanists and...

WHAT THE BRITISH ARE READING ABOUT US THIS TODAY [Kathryn Jean Lopez] From a friend in London: this is from The Sun, the UK's largest newspaper, on saturday, Sept 10 2005, in a column by Jeremy Clarkson. I quote this verbatim (it's not up on their website, so i'm typing it in) "Hollywood has taught America that the military can solve anything. It's full of chisel-jawed heroes who never leave a man on the field and never fail to get the job done. So they'd have New Orleans sorted out in a jiffy. Unfortunately, on the street you've got some...

September 11 was not so much a discrete event as part of a continuum. It was the result of broad strategic failures that, preceding it by decades, continue to this day and are likely to continue on. It is as if the country has lost, as exemplified by the Left now out of power, a great deal of the will to self-preservation, and, as exemplified by the Right now in charge, not a little of its capacity for self-defense. Our politics and policies have somehow been parceled out to opportunists like Michael Moore -- purveyor of conspiracy theories and hatreds,...

Bush-basher Michael Moore, in a posting on his Web site, wrote that "those pesky scientists" had "predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter, making a storm like this inevitable." He further mocked the president with the comment, "Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles." According to Moore's theory, hurricanes didn't exist before man-induced global warming happened. And in left-looped logic, Bush is to blame for the hurricane because he failed to submit Kyoto to another losing vote. (The Senate disposed of the treaty 1995 to nothing in the...