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Half an hour's drive from Indonesia's parliament, the civilian police in the district of Tangerang go on patrol every evening. A dozen men, crammed into the back of a pick-up truck, cruise the dimly-lit streets, looking for anywhere serving alcohol or any woman they think might be a prostitute. The municipal government in Tangerang has banned both alcohol and "any behaviour that suggests prostitution". It is one of a number of districts which, despite the fact Indonesia is a secular state, have recently brought in local Islamic-style laws. On the night of my visit, the patrol was doing spot-checks on...

TRENTON, N.J. - Last year, New Jersey law officers ticketed 271,182 people for not wearing seat belts in violation of state law. This year, one will stand out: Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who was critically injured in an automobile accident last week. David Wald, spokesman for state Attorney General Stuart Rabner, wouldn't say why state police assigned to protect the governor didn't insist Corzine obey the seat belt law. "As always, we urge all drivers and passengers to wear seat belts," Wald said. Corzine, 60, broke multiple bones in the wreck and remains hospitalized in intensive care, breathing with the...

In the November 2006 election, the voters demanded congressional ethics reform. And so, the newly appointed chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is now duly in charge of regulating the ethical behavior of her colleagues. But for many years, Feinstein has been beset by her own ethical conflict of interest, say congressional ethics experts. As chairperson and ranking member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee (MILCON) from 2001 through the end of 2005, Feinstein supervised the appropriation of billions of dollars a year for specific military construction projects. Two defense contractors whose interests were largely controlled by...

RNC CHIEF KEN Mehlman accepted political contributions from gay porn king?Last week, you'll remember, the RNC, headed by Ken Mehlman, was running that race-baiting 'bimbo' ad against Rep. Harold Ford (D) down in Tennessee. One of the barbs in that ad was the claim that Ford had taken political contributions from "porn movie producers."But it seems there is plenty of porn movie producer money to go around.It turns out that the Republican National Committee is a regular recpient of political contributions from Nicholas T. Boyas, the owner and CEO of Marina Pacific Distributers, one of the largest producers and distributers...

If there were an Academy Award for Hypocrisy, the surefire favorite for 2006 would be the Democratic Party. Just two recent items make the decision a virtual certainty: The Representative Foley "scandal" is really worthy of a whole book on hypocrisy. On the one hand, we have a poor misguided Republican man who had a romantic thing for young boys. He sent them suggestive e-mail. I agree, that's not great. On the other hand, we have a Democratic party that worships ( not likes, WORSHIPS ) a man named Bill Clinton who did not send suggestive e-mails as far as...

WASHINGTON — Democrats are blasting President Bush for giving what they call a political prime-time speech on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The Chinese authorities say they are putting up a huge statue of Chairman Mao Zedong in Tibet. The 35-ton memorial is being built to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the former leader's death. It is being erected in Gonggar County, near the Tibetan capital Lhasa, China's state-run news agency Xinhua said. The statue will rise 7m from a 5m pedestal strengthened to withstand earthquakes. Mao Zedong ordered the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1950. The statue will be the central landmark of Gonggar County's Shangcha square, which covers about 40,000 sq metres, and is scheduled for completion in July.

After Sen. Hillary Clinton went on TV and blamed Bush administration "incompetence" for alleged inadequacies in body armor supplied to U.S. troops fighting in Iraq, Senate Armed Service Committee chairman John Warner agreed to hold hearings. But when Warner gaveled the proceedings into session on Wednesday, body armor expert Hillary was nowhere to be found. "Senator Clinton had a long planned day of events with her constituents in New York and wasn't able to attend the short-notice briefing attended by the chairman and two members of the minority," Hillary spokesman Philippe Reines told the Washington Times. "Her defense aide attended,...

MOSCOW, Dec 20 (Reuters) - He is 29 years old, bearded, exhorts his troops to fight in the name of Allah and speaks Russian with a heavy Chechen accent. Not long ago, that would have perfectly described one of Moscow's most bitter foes. But now, while his former comrades-in-arms dodge troops in the Chechen mountains, Ramzan Kadyrov is a hero of Russia, a frequent guest of President Vladimir Putin and regional leader of the pro-Kremlin political party. Kadyrov is officially deputy prime minister of Chechnya but observers say the Kremlin has made him de facto leader -- something, they add,...

Money connected to Reid Senator arranged for grant now involved in indictment of pastors By TONY BATT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The money that led to the indictment this week of two Las Vegas pastors and the wife of one of them came from federal grants arranged by Sen. Harry Reid in September 2001, a Reid spokeswoman said Wednesday. Moving to distance Reid from a possible scandal, aide Tessa Hafen said the senator sought the money on behalf of a nonprofit social services agency and not for the churches or persons who have been accused of mishandling the money....

Hurricane Katrina was horrific in its devastation, but the orgy of looting and lawlessness that exploded across New Orleans in its wake was, in a way, even more sinister. A natural disaster can inflict massive physical damage on a community. But when human beings become savages, they shred the ligaments of civilization — fairness, trust, respect, consideration — that make life as a community possible.

Why is it OK to get all upset on the alleged mishandling of the Muslim's holy book when owning a Bible or Torah in saudi arabia will get you flogged? If found in your baggage upon entry to SA, they will be confiscated and tossed into the rubbish bin. So let's cut the crap and call THEM on the carpet, for a change.

Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) March 19, 1997: “But I also respectfully suggest that everyone who is nominated is entitled to have a shot, to have a hearing and to have a shot to be heard on the floor and have a vote on the floor.” Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Illinois)September 28, 1998: “We should meet our responsibility. I think that responsibility requires us to act in a timely fashion on nominees sent before us. ... Vote the person up or down.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) September 11, 1997: “Let’s bring their nominations up, debate them if necessary, and vote them up...

We did it... We protested churchill. There was a collection of pro-Churchill moonbats that showed up, and we protested them as well.

TROUBLE SPEAK Ward Churchill copied 'original' art piece Takes a swing at TV reporter who confronted him -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: February 26, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Professor Ward Churchill Adding to a growing list of allegations, controversial University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill appears to have violated copyright law by claiming a reknowned artist's work as his own. Churchill, whose integrity has been challenged since news broke earlier last month of his paper blaming victims of 9-11 for the attacks, made an Indian-theme serigraph in 1981 called "Winter Attack" and printed 150 copies. But one of the buyers,...

Ward Hill as a member of the schismatic Boulder/Denver branch of AIM [American Indian Movement] as spent his whole life trashing the FBI and police. Here is what he said in his "Roosting Chickens" article. He is an anarchist who publishes his books through anarchist publishers. He wants to trash our law enforcement and intelligence organizations so that we will be destroyed. He doesn't want to make them better. He want the USA off the planet. He has often depicted the FBI and CIA as terrorist organizations.

In one of his first policy decisions as head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has approved death sentences for three Arab men accused of helping Israel. Gaza governor Sakher Bseso announced earlier this week that Abu Mazen had transferred several cases of people sentenced to death under Yasser Arafat’s regime to the mufti (arbiter of Islamic law) of Jerusalem, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri. Abu Mazen then signed the decisions, authorizing PA executioners to carry out the death sentences. Shurat HaDin – The Israel Law Center condemned the decision, and though the identity of the three men was not...

Ward Churchill is the professor from Colorado University who called the dead in the World Trade Center "Nazis" and also said that the US deserved 9/11, and that we should have not fought back. Prof Churchill may get fired from the University of Colorado-Bolder He may appear on March 1st, time pending, if the administration approves of it.

The Muslim Council of Britain are planning to boycott this week's commemoration of the Holocaust because they claim it is not racially inclusive. The Queen, Prince Philip and Tony Blair will represent the nation at Thursday's Holocaust Memorial Day national event at Westminster Hall, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. More than 600 Holocaust survivors together with British soldiers who helped liberate the camps will attend. Iqbal Sacranie, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, says it will not attend because the event did not include what it described as continuing human rights abuses...

A stone wall engraved with the names of 76,000 Jews who were deported from France to Nazi death camps during World War II has been unveiled in Paris. The "Wall of Names" memorial is located at the entrance to the French capital's newly renovated Holocaust museum. Some 11,000 of those deported from 1942 to 1944 were children. Nearly all were killed - mostly at Auschwitz in Poland. French President Jacques Chirac will officially open the site on Tuesday, before flying to Auschwitz. Mr Chirac will be one of many world leaders present at ceremonies to mark the 60th anniversary of...