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Ballance to hold another fundraiser before prison term starts Dec 26, 2005 : 3:37 pm ET RALEIGH, N.C. -- Former Rep. Frank Ballance is holding one last fundraiser before he begins serving a four-year prison term at the end of this week. Ballance, a Democrat from Warrenton who represented the First District of North Carolina, resigned in June 2004 for health reasons before completing his first term. He was sentenced to prison in October after pleading guilty to funneling tax dollars into his foundation and using $100,000 for himself and his family. He will be honored Wednesday at the Roanoke...

Gonzales Asked Germany to Hold Hijacker Wednesday December 21, 2005 11:16 PM By ANNE GEARAN AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales personally asked the German government not to release a terrorist accused of killing a Navy diver, but was rebuffed, the Bush administration said Wednesday. Mohammed Ali Hamadi was freed on parole by German authorities after serving 19 years of a life sentence for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA plane during which a U.S. Navy diver was killed. The 17-day ordeal riveted the United States and brought Middle East terrorism home for many Americans. ``We...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, Dec. 15, 2005 – Baghdad took on an air of celebration as the polls closed on this historic election day with little terrorist action. East Baghdad saw one rocket attack, with no direct attacks on polling places or on Iraqis going to vote. Iraqi citizens reported a small homemade bomb that terrorists planted near a polling site, and Iraqi and coalition explosive ordnance technicians rendered it safe. Turnout was high all over the region. Salman Pak, a primarily Sunni area south of here, had people lined up to vote when the polls opened at 7...

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Nov. 23, 2005) -- Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, conducted a medical capabilities assessment and clinic in Baghdad Nov. 18. Medics set up the clinic in a local school, saw more than 100 residents, and dispensed medical advice and basic treatments. “It’s basically a sick call for the people of Baghdad that we’re running here,” said Capt. Scott Baumgartner, 1st Bn., 9th FA physician’s assistant. “We saw an opportunity to do something good for the Iraqi people and followed up on it.” School workers cleaned out two classrooms and medics set up a triage...

U.S. Army Spc. Evan Perkins (right), 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, medic, takes a Baghdad resident's vital signs while U.S. Army Spc. David Tan records the results at a Baghdad school during a medical capabilities assessment and clinic operation Nov. 18, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ben Brody More Photos U.S. Army Medics Hold Clinic for Iraqis Medics set up a clinic in a local school, saw more than 100 residents, and dispensed medical advice and basic treatments. By Spc. Ben Brody2nd Brigade Combat Team BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 22, 2005 — Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery,...

Black caucus suing over budget cutsBy ELLEN TANDY etandy@wbrz.com 2theadvocate.com staff From a report by News 2's John Pastorek jp@wbrz.com Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco gestures during her address at the opening of a joint session of the state legislature in the House chambers of the State Capitol Sunday evening Nov. 6, 2005 in Baton Rouge, LA.. The Govenor called a special session of the legislature to deal with hurricane recovery efforts in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. (AP Photos/Stephan Savoia) A Baton Rouge judge Wednesday put off hearing a lawsuit against Gov. Kathleen Blanco's budget cuts. The Legislative...

La. Lawmakers Hold Session on Storm Relief By DOUG SIMPSON Associated Press Writer The Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. Louisiana lawmakers have just over two weeks to chart their hurricane-ravaged state's future, from rewriting building codes to weighing tax breaks to changing how employment benefits are calculated, and then answering the big question: how to pay for it all. Gov. Kathleen Blanco called the special session starting Sunday for the Legislature to address 77 hurricane-related issues. It has to end by Nov. 22, two days before Thanksgiving. "Frankly, I think it's too much to do in 16 days, but we'll...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2005 – The Defense Department will open the site of the planned Pentagon Memorial and the existing America's Heroes Memorial to the public for the first time on Sept. 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Military honor guard tour guides will lead tours and answer questions during this four-hour period, and a model of the future Pentagon Memorial will be on display, according to a DoD press release. The outdoor Pentagon Memorial is currently being developed at the southwest corner of the Pentagon Reservation. The memorial will feature 184 illuminated benches, arranged according to the victim's...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday denounced a deadly Israeli arrest raid that killed five Palestinians, calling it an intentional provocation aimed at undermining a six-month cease-fire, but he urged militant groups to hold their fire. Militants vowed to renew attacks on Israel, a move that would undercut the good will that resulted from an Israeli pullout from 25 Jewish settlements in Gaza and part of the West Bank. Following Tuesday's completion of the most important stage of the pullout — evacuating settlers — violence flared in three places. A rocket fired from Lebanon exploded...

Sen. Clinton polishes image as political centrist Posted on Tue, Jul. 26, 2005 At the annual conference of the Democratic Leadership Council, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton called for moderation and an ideological `cease-fire.' BY STEVEN THOMMA sthomma@krwashington.com Sen. Hillary Clinton, right, delivers her remarks in Capitol Rotunda during a ceremony honoring artist Constantino Brumidi, on his 200th birthday anniversary, Tuesday, July 26, 2005, in Washington. Brumidi, the political refugee from Italy who painted 'The Apotheosis of Washington' in the eye of the dome of the U.S. Capitol. Seated from back left to right, Sens. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, Bill Frist, R-Tenn.,...

Sen. Barbara Boxer of California has erected a roadblock against John Bolton, President Bush's embattled nominee for U.N. ambassador, in a fight with the administration over access to documents. Boxer said Friday she would lift her hold on the nomination if the administration provided the additional information she was seeking. Boxer took her action to slow Bolton's nomination after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday sent Bolton's name to the full Senate without a recommendation. Boxer's move, which the Republican Senate majority could overturn by getting 51 votes in favor of a motion to proceed despite her hold, could...

May 14, 2005 In Face of Opposition, Bush Renews Support for Bolton By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG WASHINGTON, May 13 - The White House on Friday renewed its defense of John R. Bolton, President Bush's choice for ambassador to the United Nations, urging the Senate to confirm him quickly even as leading Democrats vowed to stall the vote until the State Department turned over certain classified documents. "We believe there is a majority of the Senate that agrees with the president that John Bolton is exactly the person we need at the United Nations during this critical time of reform," President...

Democrat to Offer Social Security Plan By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 42 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Breaking with party leaders, a Democratic congressman plans to introduce Social Security legislation, saying his first commitment is to his constituents. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., said Friday: "I have the largest amount of Social Security recipients of any Democrat anywhere in the country. My allegiance to seniors is greater than my allegiance to the Democratic Party." While Wexler is proposing tax increases that would clash with President Bush's pledge not to expand the existing payroll tax, his legislation was heralded by the White...

Dear Senate Majority Leader Frist: I would respectfully ask that you pull your caucus together and suggest that it vote to adjourn the current sesssion of the Senate. After weeks of slander and inuendo against John Bolton, because he dares to not be bullied by an arrogant State Department bureaucracy (who think they, not the president, makes our foreign policy) we now have the specter of Barabara Boxer putting the 'non-constitutional, anti-democratic, anti-representative government Senators "hold" on Mr. Bolton's nomination. It is clear that neither you nor a sufficient portion of your caucus have the ability to achieve the legitimate...

With a showdown looming over the filibuster of judicial nominees, now is the time to point out another abuse of the Senate's "advise and consent" power. It's called the "hold," whereby an individual Senator can delay indefinitely a Presidential nomination, and it is seriously interfering with the operation of the executive branch.

Frustrated Democrats Find a Voice Lawmakers Use Policy Committee to Investigate Issues They Say GOP Ignores By Dana Milbank Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page A03 C-SPAN viewers tuning in yesterday morning might have thought they misread the results of November's elections. There was Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (N.D.) -- a Democrat -- wielding a gavel and calling to order a hearing on Iraq contracts. Dorgan presided over a wood-paneled Senate hearing room, complete with water pitchers on the witness table, nameplates for the committee members, and C-SPAN 1 -- live! But, paying closer attention, the viewers...

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!

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - U.S. Marines said American forces had taken control Wednesday of 70 percent of Fallujah in the third day of a major offensive to retake the insurgent stronghold. Major Francis Piccoli, of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said enemy fighters were bottled up in a strip of the city flanking the major east-west highway that splits Fallujah. Army and Marine units had pushed south to the highway overnight, Piccoli said. "There's going to be a movement today in those areas. The heart of the city is what's in focus now," he said. The military said at...

Bloodbath fear as Chechen suicide bombers hold 130 children hostage By Julius Strauss in Moscow (Filed: 02/09/2004) Russia was braced for a bloodbath last night after terrorists with Kalashnikov assault rifles and suicide bomb belts stormed a school and took up to 400 hostages, at least 130 of them children. The attackers, thought to number about 17 and be Chechens or their allies, struck as children lined up for the first day of the school year at Beslan, in the republic of Northern Ossetia, about 40 miles from the border with Chechnya. Between four and seven people, including two parents,...

A few years ago, parents of school-age children were assured that drastic reform was about to sweep through public schools. The keystone of that reform was the notion of accountability. Educators who raised student performance could expect cash rewards. Those who didn't could ultimately lose their jobs. But today -- as parents await yet another round of reports on whether schools are improving -- the rewards-and-sanctions system is already badly frayed. There is doubt that many of the most serious sanctions can ever be enforced, and in California, mired in budget woes, the rewards program has dried up with no...