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Dangerous Brady States July 19, 2008 at 3:14 am · The lamestream media told you: The Brady Center gun-control group has issued its list of the states with the best gun laws, and we give them prominent coverage of this each year without checking for accuracy, the net effect of their custom ratings, or what they consider the “best” gun laws to be. We’re just “finding truth and reporting it,” since the Bradys did say what we said they said. The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that: Barre Bollinger, a GeorgiaCarry.Org member, looked into the Brady Center’s state ratings. (A score...

Everything was on fire. The trucks. The bazaar. The grass. It looked surreal. It looked like a movie. That was what Spc. Tyler Stafford remembered thinking as he stepped onto the medical evacuation helicopter. The 23-year-old soldier would have been loaded onto the bird, but the poncho that was hastily employed as his stretcher broke. His body speckled with grenade and RPG shrapnel, the Vicenza, Italy, infantryman walked the last few feet to the waiting Black Hawk. That was Sunday morning in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province. At a forward operating base — maybe as big as a football field —...

On Sunday, July 13, a remote combat outpost near the village of Wanat in Afghanistan's rugged Kunar province on the Pakistan border was nearly overrun by a combined force of some 200 Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The outpost was manned by men from the 173rd Airborne Brigade and Afghan Army personnel. The attack was well coordinated and designed for one purpose -- to overrun the outpost and kill everyone in it. No way were the outnumbered Sky Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, C Co., 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment going to let that happen. Today's Stars & Stripes contains...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc rejoined the Shi'ite-led government on Saturday in a breakthrough for national reconciliation after parliament approved its candidates for several vacant ministerial posts. Getting the Accordance Front to return after it quit a year ago in a row over power sharing has been seen as key to healing divisions between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs. Sunni Arabs have little voice in the current cabinet, which is dominated by Shi'ites and ethnic Kurds. "Today, parliament voted to accept our candidates ... This means the Accordance Front has officially returned to the government," a...

B. Hussein Obama has come and gone on his visit to Jalalabad Air Field in eastern Afghanistan. He landed about 1515 local and was gone by 1800, which is more than enough time for any Democrat to check the Natioanl Defense box, and he is now just as qualified as John McCain to speak on all matters related to Operation Enduring Freedom. During his visit he toured the Task Force (TF) Bayonet 173rd Brigade (Sky Soldiers!) Headquarters and Tactical Operations Center (TOC). Well, that's the big news from the front line fellow FReepers. Keep up the fight at home and...

Critical talks in Switzerland over Iran's nuclear program began today with Iranian and United States officials making their highest-level diplomatic contacts since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana smiled as they posed for pictures before heading into the closed-door meetings which will include U.S. undersecretary William J. Burns, the State Department's No. 3 official.

GENEVA - The United States said on Saturday after inconclusive international talks with Iran's nuclear envoy that Tehran must choose between cooperation or confrontation and give up sensitive nuclear work. "We hope the Iranian people understand that their leaders need to make a choice between cooperation, which would bring benefits to all, and confrontation, which can only lead to further isolation," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement after the talks.

Brack Obama launched his week-long world tour with a brief stop in Kuwait and then began a longer visit to Afghanistan, ahead of planned stops in Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and England. The highly anticipated trip was launched in secrecy, with Obama’s campaign refusing to confirm that he had left the country, citing security reasons. The campaign announced early Saturday morning that Obama was on the ground in Kabul, Afghanistan. The U.S. military later said Obama was greeting U.S. troops at Jalalabad airfield in eastern Afghanistan. Obama made a secret stop in Kuwait and visited U.S. service members, then...

SNIP Mr. Obama touched down in Kabul about noon, according to a statement released by his aides. His trip has been cloaked in secrecy, which advisers said was due to security concerns set forth by the Secret Service. SNIP The governor of Nangarhar province, Gul Agha Shirzai, a burly former mujahedeen commander with a brutal past but who is favored by the United States as someone who gets things done, was the only Afghan official to meet Senator Obama and Senators Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, and Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, at Jalalabad airfield along with the United...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryJuly 19, 2008 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This is a challenging time for families across our nation. I know many families are worried about rising prices at the pump and declining home values. So this week my Administration took steps to help address both these challenges. To help address the pressure on gasoline prices, my Administration took action to clear the way for environmentally responsible offshore exploration of key parts of the Outer Continental Shelf, or OCS. Experts believe that these areas of the OCS could...

WASHINGTON — A plan to lift the ban on coastal drilling is stalled on Capitol Hill, for one simple reason: A Californian who opposes President Bush's proposal is calling the shots in the House of Representatives. Despite growing public support for ending the ban, even in California, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she won't allow a vote. "I have no plans to do so," Pelosi said Thursday. It's an example of the vast power placed in the office of the speaker, who sets the agenda for the 435-member House. Members can force a vote if enough of them sign...

BAGHDAD, July 19 (UPI) -- A group of disgruntled Sunni Arab lawmakers have rejoined Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet in a key reconciliation step, observers say.

Cuban President Raul Castro is giving over more state-owned land to private owners. http://youtube.com/watch?v=4xLR4g7wcN8

BERLIN (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months. In an interview with Der Spiegel released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible. "U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."

Omar Khadr, a Canadian detainee accused of killing an American soldier during a firefight in 2002, is seen both sobbing and angry in the seven and a half hours of poor quality video issued by his lawyers. Khadr, 21, describes mistreatment at the hands of American guards. But his main complaint, of damaged eyesight, dates from the shoot out with a US patrol in Afghanistan. In one segment he repeatedly cries: "Help me." Khadr, who played in Osama bin Laden's private compounds as a child, was 15 when he was arrested and 16 when the Canadian agents were granted access...

Cost of Government Day By Grover Norquist This year Americans have worked until today, July 16, to pay for the total costs of federal, state and local government. This is 197 days of the year consuming 53.9 percent of national income. Over the past 22 years, in only four years (1982, 1983, 1991 and 1992) did Cost of Government Day fall later in the year. Federal spending will consume 83.7 days. State and local spending will consume 50.5 days effort. Federal regulations cost 4l.7 days and State regulations cost 20.9 days. The spending data is precise, the regulatory burdens are...

District residents will be able to keep a handgun in the home for self-defense but that right would be limited to the home and not outside it, city leaders said today, announcing new gun regulations in response to the Supreme Court's recent ruling striking down the city's handgun ban. Gun owners will have to pass vision and written tests, provide a photo with their application to register a gun, and submit their weapon for ballistics testing. Guns will also still require trigger locks. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and interim Attorney General Peter J. Nickles announced the regulations alongside D.C....

Rick Wagoner just finished briefing the employees, here are a few highlights... Cut truck production by 300,000 units Next gen truck development suspended Retirees will lose health care at age 65, but pensions will get a bump to fund private health care, plus medicade/medicare kick in then All salaried employee merit increase and bonuses eliminated (inc. execs) through the end of 2009 Engineering levels to be at 2006-2007 levels, no new hiring + head count reductions No mention of salary decreases Buyouts, MSP (mutual separation packages) and "other separation strategies" will be rolled out. Investment in small engine development and...

The House for a second time defeated a Democratic bill to require energy companies to explore their existing oil and gas leases or lose them. The “use-it-or-lose-it” bill (HR 6515) was the Democratic leadership’s response to a drumbeat of Republican calls for legislation to open up new public lands and offshore areas to oil and gas drilling. It was a retread of a measure (HR 6251) that Democrats rushed to the floor ahead of the July 4 recess under suspension of the rules, an expedited procedure requiring a two-thirds vote for passage. The 223-195 vote on that bill June 26...

In a "Worst person in the world" segment Keith Obermann called Veternan Bud Day a CLOWN because Mr. Day said "he was not prepared to bow the knee to the "Muslims," referring to Muslim terrorists who seek to destroy America.

(Porn star Alexia Moore performs on stage ... ... and hurries out of court Friday night.) (Louis Posner) Teams of vice cops swooped down and busted a posh midtown strip club that catered to stockbrokers and bankers - and featured porn stars who charged $5,000 for private trysts. Prominent tax lawyer Louis Posner; his wife, Betty; and 19 others were arrested on a variety of prostitution and money-laundering charges at The Hot Lap Dance Club, which the couple ran out of a velvet-heavy loft, police said. Cops said Posner raked in $1 million over the last 10 months from the...

Former Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan on Friday said that since Gov. Sarah Palin took office, members of her administration and family pressured him to fire a Palmer Alaska State Trooper to whom her sister was involved in a bitter child custody battle. Monegan said phone calls and questions from the Palin administration and the governor's husband, Todd Palin, about trooper Mike Wooten started shortly after Monegan was hired and continued up to one or two months ago. The governor herself also had a brief conversation with him about Wooten in February, Monegan said. The new assertions from...

U.S. missile defense sensor test called successful 07/18/08 19:07:54 A missile launched from Alaska was successfully tracked Friday by land-, sea- and space-based sensors in a test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the Boeing Co. said. The test demonstrated the most complex integration to date of radars required to support a missile intercept, Boeing said in a statement. The test used a Navy destroyer-based Aegis Long Range Surveillance and Track system in the Pacific; the AN/TPY-2 radar in Juneau, Alaska; the Upgraded Early Warning Radar at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., and the...

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama arrived Saturday in Afghanistan on the first stop of his tour of the Middle East and Europe, aimed at boosting the U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful's foreign policy credentials, his campaign confirmed. The U.S. senator from Illinois also plans to visit Iraq, although details of the trip have have not been made public for security reasons. The fight in Afghanistan has become a more pressing issue on the political radar. Three times as many coalition soldiers and other military personnel have died in July in Afghanistan than in Iraq. On Sunday, nine U.S. soldiers...

President Bush said Friday he will soon agree with the Iraqi government on a "general time horizon" for when U.S. troops will leave Iraq, a significant shift in White House policy that it said would nonetheless remain conditional based on events on the ground. By the end of this month, the two governments hope to finalize an agreement that will allow U.S. troops to stay in Iraq into 2009 and will include what the White House described as goals for down the road, when more troops can come out.

Omaha, NE - Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel's Vice-Presidential stock has jumped again. Hagel's move up the ladder comes as he sets off for a Mid-East road trip with Barack Obama. According to CBS News Hagel is now third in the Obama Veepstakes, behind Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Indiana Senator Evan Bayh. A week ago Hagel was fourth. All this comes as several sources tell Action 3 News that Hagel's been snubbing the Nebraska's Republican Party. Last week-end at the annual GOP State Convention in La Vista, Hagel was a no-show. State Chairman Mark Quandahl says Hagel did not make...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683 Village of Morton Grove to Repeal Gun Ban Friday, July 18, 2008 Fairfax, VA. – Today the Village of Morton Grove moved to avoid imminent legal action by the National Rifle Association by amending its Village Code to remove the current handgun ban and incorporate sections of the Illinois Criminal Code. “We are pleased that the Village of Morton Grove took steps to repeal its draconian gun ban,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA’s chief lobbyist. “Finally Village residents can exercise the same constitutionally-protected rights that the rest of the country enjoys.” Final...

WASHINGTON -- Dick Heller, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that overturned Washington's strict 32-year-old handgun ban, announced his candidacy on Thursday for the U.S. House of Representatives. Heller, 66, is seeking the seat currently held by Eleanor Holmes Norton. He is gathering signatures to run on the ballot as a libertarian candidate. Heller, an armed security guard, sued the District after it rejected his application to keep a handgun at his home for protection in the same Capitol Hill neighborhood as the court. "Mr. Heller's challenge to Ms. Norton is welcomed in the spirit of debate, and as...

Many people across the Arab world are excited and amused that a black man with the middle name 'Hussein', who is pledging to end the war in Iraq, has become the Democrats' nominee for president of the US. But in Iraq, which is preparing to receive Senator Barak Obama this weekend, a sense of realism prevails. He said that he would have all US combat troops out of the Arab country within 16 months of becoming president. All this, however, sparks fear rather than joy among many Iraqis across the political and sectarian spectrum. Withdrawal of US troops is not...

As Sen. Barack Obama prepares for his second visit to Iraq, Iraqis are divided over his plan to withdraw U.S. combat troops in 16 months should he be elected president. "Iraq will be in hell, and we will find ourselves at the gates of civil war," said Maied Rashed al-Nuaemi, a provincial council member in Mosul, a city in northern Iraq where Iraqi forces are battling the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq. "The American presence in Iraq is the safety valve to keep this country quiet. If they withdraw, that will lead to calamity." Mohammed Sulaiman, 56, a retired...

It shouldn't have come as a surprise that the District of Columbia can and will continue to all but completely disarm its law-abiding citizens after the Supreme Court ruled otherwise. After all, this is the same D.C. that was home to the most restrictive firearms laws in the country - until the Court struck them down. The same D.C. that banned the law-abiding citizens from possessing any handgun. The same D.C. that forced its law-abiding citizens to keep the few firearms they could possess both unloaded and disassembled or locked at all times. And the same D.C. that has disarmed...

President Bush spent the night in Tucson, Arizona where he arrived late yesterday evening after touring the areas effected by the wildfires in California. This morning, the President participated in a fundraiser for Congressional candidate Tim Bee before boarding Air Force One. Arriving in Houston, Texas this afternoon, President Bush spoke on behalf of another Congressional candidate Pete Olson at Ellington Field. (Transcript) No doubt in my mind Pete Olson will make a fine United States congressman and I'm proud to be here to support him. The President attended a private fundraiser for Olson late this afternoon. From there the...

MSNBC News Services updated 34 minutes ago HOUSTON - The largest mobile crane in the nation collapsed at a Houston oil refinery Friday, killing four workers and injuring six others, a company vice president said. The crane, capable of lifting 800,000 pounds, fell over at a LyondellBasell refinery in southeast Houston about 2 p.m. The large crane fell on or knocked a smaller, nearby crane. Witnesses said an alarm sounded, and employees ran to a lunch tent that was designated as an emergency evacuation area. However, the crane toppled on top of the tent, killing some inside, KRPC-TV, an NBC...

Riling Muslim leaders, one of John McCain's fellow Vietnam POWs defended the Iraq War Friday by saying, ``The Muslims have said either we kneel or they're going to kill us.'' ''I don't intend to kneel and I don't advocate to anybody that we kneel. And John doesn't advocate to anybody that we kneel,'' Col. Bud Day added in a conference call with reporters arranged by the Republican Party of Florida on behalf on McCain. Muslims and Arab-American groups quickly denounced what they described as the ''bigoted'' comments from Day, a Pensacola resident, Medal of Honor recipient and member of the...

Site pulls slogan after controversy Committeeman linked Obama to O.J. Simpson By David Maccar; Editor A Pemberton GOP committeeman came under heavy scrutiny last week after it was discovered he posted a slogan linking presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama to O.J. Simpson on what was called "The Official Website of the Pemberton Township Republicans."The slogan, "Obama Loves America like O.J. Loved Nicole," referring to retired NFL star and his late ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, was denounced by many as racist. Simpson was tried and acquitted for the murder of Brown and her boyfriend Ronald Goldman in 1994, but was...

On June 5, 1873, in a letter to The Times, Sir Francis Galton, the cousin of Charles Darwin and a distinguished African explorer in his own right, outlined a daring (if by today's standards utterly offensive) new method to 'tame' and colonise what was then known as the Dark Continent. 'My proposal is to make the encouragement of Chinese settlements of Africa a part of our national policy, in the belief that the Chinese immigrants would not only maintain their position, but that they would multiply and their descendants supplant the inferior Negro race,' wrote Galton. 'I should expect that...

TUCSON, Arizona (AFP) — US President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have agreed on "a general time horizon," not an "arbitrary timetable" for a drawdown of US forces, the White House said Friday. In talks by video conference Thursday, Bush and Maliki said improving security conditions in Iraq should allow for including that goal in a pending long-term diplomatic and security pact, said spokeswoman Dana Perino. "Improving conditions should allow for the agreements now under negotiation to include a general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals -- such as the resumption of Iraqi security control in...

BEIJING: Chinese authorities have replaced top police and security officials in the Muslim dominated Xinjiang province, which is the hotbed of separatism and political violence. They have also closed down 41 "illegal" places of worship. These places of worship were used as training ground for conducting a "holy war", Chen Zhuangwei Chen, the police chief of Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang province, said.

TEHRAN (FNA) - Iran's Air Force chief announced that the Islamic Republic has successfully launched the production line of radar-evading "stealth" fighter jets. Brigadier General Ahmad Mighani was quoted by press tv as saying Tuesday that the new jets would significantly enhance the Air Force's combat and defensive capabilities. Iran has recently started manufacturing superior "Quick Reaction" tanks to increase its defense self-sufficiency. Iran has also developed an electro-optical surveillance system that acts as a viable alternative when radars fail to cover a particular range. "We have upgraded our air force fleet, radar-systems, and missile systems over the past few...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel accused six Arabs on Friday of trying to set up an al Qaeda cell in Israel and said one of them had proposed attacking helicopters used during a visit by President George W. Bush. Israel's Shin Bet counter-intelligence agency said one of the suspects had used his mobile phone to film helicopters at a sports stadium in Jerusalem that was used as a landing site for Bush's delegation. The suspect then posted queries on Web sites frequented by al Qaeda operatives, asking for guidance on how to shoot down the helicopters, the agency said in a...

Dozens of protest groups are planning a full schedule of classes, concerts, marches and other actions during the Democratic National Convention, hoping to capture the world's attention and recruit new activists. Ron Lewis shoots video and transmits it to his Web site, ronlewis.com/live, at an event Thursday by We Are Change Colorado. The organization said it plans to video DNC protests and police, posting clips on YouTube.com for the public to see. They are both energized and organized, and most insist they are not looking for trouble. "We are completely peaceful," said Rob Weiland, a 37-year-old courier from Denver and...

Riot in Guangdong after a man beaten death By boxun Jul 17, 2008 - 4:07:10 PM Huizhou, Guangdong: On the night of 17th, angered crowds destroyed police cars after an innocent man beaten death. The source said three policemen were killed in te riot. The maa was a passenger of motorcycle taxi, he was stopped by police and asked to pay 200 Yuan. He refused to pay, then the police took him to a police station where he was beaten to death.

Two days after telling an online town hall meeting that NASA had "failed us miserably" and "wastes a vast amount of money," Houston Rep. John Culberson said Thursday he was weighing legislation to overhaul the structure of the space agency responsible for about 20,000 Houston-area jobs. (snip) "We need revolutionary change, a complete restructuring," Culberson told the Houston Chronicle. "NASA needs complete freedom to hire and fire based on performance, it needs to be driven by the scientists and the engineers, and it needs to be free of politics as much as possible." The fourth-term lawmaker said he was "kicking...

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic effort to pressure energy companies into drilling for oil on lands they already leased from the federal government, calling the legislation a sham.As the fight over gasoline prices reached the floors of both the House and Senate, the Democratic initiative to spur exploration in areas where drilling has been sanctioned fell short of the margin needed under rules used to bring the measure to the floor even though it drew majority support.The vote was 244 to 173, more than 30 votes less than required. Rejecting the measure were 162 Republicans and...

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac -- emboldened by emergency regulatory actions that have triggered a two-day rebound in its battered stock -- is considering raising capital by selling as much as $10 billion in new shares to investors, according to people familiar with the matter. The high-stakes maneuver would have the potential to avoid a full-blown government rescue for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, twin keystones of the U.S. housing market. The publicly traded, government-sponsored companies own or guarantee about $5.2 trillion of home mortgages, or nearly half the total outstanding, and are at the center of government efforts to prop...

ABC News' Jennifer Parker reports: Presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said conservative criticism of his wife, Michelle, infuriates him. "I don't have a thick skin when it comes to criticism of my wife," Obama told the women's magazine Glamour in an interview to run in the magazine's October issue. "And you know, the problem is that rarely do these folks have the guts to say it to your face." Obama, who is vying for the support of women voters who flocked to Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign during the primaries, argued his wife and Clinton have been the target...

Former Atty. Gen. Testifies Today Former Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft answered questions about his role in the drafting of detainee interrogation rules. In his opening statement, Ashcroft admitted that he had "limited recollection" of the events pertinent to the committee's inquiry.

Today the President and First Lady attended Tony Snow's funeral, the President made a wonderful speech about how special Tony was and I have chosen these words to be the quote of the day as the content does much in putting things into perspective. We may get tied up on the minutiae of life but Tony Snow showed where our priorities should be never compromising his beliefs but always bearing in mind what was important and treating the rest with good humour and a smile. After attending the funeral the President travelled to California to view some of the damaged...

That nervous laughter you hear is the sound of party activists responding to speculation that Barack Obama or John McCain might pick a vice presidential candidate from the opposing party. More specifically, it is reaction to talk that Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) is being seriously considered as a running mate for Barack Obama or that Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, is a potential choice for John McCain. Though it’s nothing more than unfounded conjecture at this point, top conservative and liberal activists nevertheless say that any cross-party selection of that kind would...

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called President George W. Bush "a total failure" who "has no ideas," in an interview with CNN. Responding to stinging criticism from Bush on the Democratic leadership in both houses of Congress and the slow pace of the legislative agenda, as Congress prepares for its one-month summer recess in August, Pelosi let loose: "You know, God bless him, bless his heart, the president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject." Pelosi, 68,...