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The other day President Obama issued a special message to the Muslim world for the annual Ramadan holiday. Tonight, before leaving Wednesday for the rest of his stay-cation at Camp David, the president hosts a White House banquet to celebrate the same holiday. Invited guests include three cabinet secretaries, numerous diplomats, five members of Congress including the lone Muslim, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, and chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization mission. Here is the list of invited guests, as provided by the White House: Cabinet: Defense Secy. Robert Gates, Atty. Gen. Eric Holder and Kathleen Sebelius, Secy. of Health and...

"You know you're wrong for that poster, right?" The lady asked, eyeing Representative Bobby Rush's face under the prominent words "I Sold Out to White Politicians . . . ." It didn't surprise Illinois Carry representative "Dr. G" that she took offense; the poster is obviously meant to be too provocative to ignore. What's surprising, he says, is the number of people at a Chicago event who made a point of signing his petition for concealed carry reform. He wasn't at a gun show or a gun-rights rally, after all. For only the second year, Illinois gun rights groups including...

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After watching the excellent new Johnny Depp movie "Public Enemies" -- the story of romanticized desperado John Dillinger's murder in Chicago with the help of the Outfit -- Wings and I realized something. We were hungry. So we walked over to Volare, the fine Italian restaurant at Grand and St. Clair on Wednesday evening, where three amazing things happened: 1. We had the most superb sausage and peppers in the universe. The sausage was beyond tasty, the peppers perfectly cooked, the sauce to kill for. 2. A group of people came in, the women in red dresses, the men in...

TVNewser has learned legendary CBS newsman Walter Cronkite, 92, who once held the title of "Most Trusted Man in America," is said to be gravely ill, according to multiple CBS News sources. The network began updating his obituary more than a week ago, a source adds. CBS News executive Linda Mason, designated to speak on Cronkite's behalf, had no comment. The avuncular Cronkite anchored "CBS Evening News" for 19 years, until 1981, when he was forced to retire. Dan Rather was named his successor. Cronkite maintained an office at CBS, where he was a special correspondent. A native of St....

Over 1000 cities and counties across the United States have signed Proclamations for Wounded and Ill

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Governor Pat Quinn is promising to go through the state budget line by line to look for waste and inefficiency. Some lawmakers say all he needs to do is take the elevator one flight down to find a waste of taxpayer's money. Dane Placko reports on the debate over what to do with the lieutenant governor's office.

There are very dangerous economic implications. More dangerous still in this so-called stimulus package are the socialized health care provisions that have been placed in the legislation by stealth. It appears that under these provisions, a federal government office will determine for physicians nation wide which procedures and treatments are cost-effective and which ones are not. The focus has been on patients over 50 years of age, and especially the more elderly. But these provisions appear to affect the very young as well. In 1979 we had a daughter born with very severe hydrocephalus (water head), and if these provisions...

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong-Il had brain surgery after a stroke but is recovering, South Korea's defence minister has told parliament in a private briefing. Defence Minister Lee Sang-Hee said no unusual troop movements had been detected in the communist state and South Korea's military was maintaining its customary alert level,

SEOUL -- North Korea put on a show of strength Wednesday in the face of reports that dictator Kim Jong Il is seriously ill, with his second-in-command holding a rare meeting with a foreign media organization to dispel the accounts. Mr. Kim remained out of sight, however, a day after missing celebration activities for North Korea's 60th anniversary. In neighboring South Korea, government officials reinforced reports that emerged from U.S. intelligence officials Tuesday that Mr. Kim suffered a debilitating illness recently.

WASHINGTON (UPI) — Pentagon officials are blaming some mental health discharges of U.S. troops in Iraq on what they call pre-existing mental conditions. Experts say many of the approximately 10 soldiers and Marines discharged every day for mental health problems actually have combat-related problems, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Sunday. By classifying the health problems as non-combat related, the military is saving money on treatment, the newspaper said. Sens. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., have inserted language in a defense authorization bill to make it harder to discharge troops on those grounds, and to require a review of...

Our insane mental health system Faith-based finalists: The poorest among us are those who’ve lost their minds, according to psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey | Marvin Olasky I first heard E. Fuller Torrey critique America's mental health non-system nearly two decades ago—and the evidence of breakdown has only increased since then. The mentally ill now form probably half of the homeless and prison populations. Exploited and victimized by others, and often terrorized by their own phobias, they are a threat to themselves and to others, causing one-tenth of the homicides in the United States. Torrey, a psychiatrist who specializes in helping...

2/22/2008 - LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- A team of Air Force and Army medical specialists from Wilford Hall Medical Center here flew to Greenville, S.C. Feb. 21 to transport a 6-week-old baby boy back to Wilford Hall for advanced medical care. The 15-member critical care air transport team, which included neonatal and pediatric critical care physicians, pediatric surgeons, critical care nurses and respiratory therapists, flew to South Carolina on a C-130 Hercules with their battery-operated portable extra corporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, equipment. An ECMO machine is a heart-lung bypass device which circulates and oxygenates the blood,...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2008 – A critical illness can stretch any family emotionally and financially, but when the patient is a child, the potential stresses are even greater. Stephen Jordan and his wife, Elena, spend time with their children, William (front left), Zachary (back left), Samuel (back middle) and Emma at one of Believe In Tomorrow National Children's Foundation's retreat facilities. All of the foundation's facilities give military families priority. Stephen serves in the Navy. Courtesy photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Believe In Tomorrow National Children’s Foundation is helping ease those burdens. It provides, free...

Best-selling author's early findings about street-level prostitution draw criticism from local social workers A two-year study of the economics of prostitution in Chicago found the women were forced to service police officers, worked more during holidays like July 4th and varied pricing based on their customer's race, according to a preliminary paper presented by the researchers. University of Chicago professor and "Freakonomics" author Steven D. Levitt and sociology professor Sudhir Venkatesh of Columbia University organized a two-year study of street-level prostitution in the Roseland and Pullman neighborhoods. The study, which ended in May, also included Washington Park for about 8...

PEOPLE with mental illness are three times more likely to smoke, and experts say not enough is being done to help this vulnerable group quit. A new Access Economics report shows almost 1.3 million Australians with a mental illness are smokers, costing $33 billion a year. SANE Australia, which commissioned the report, is calling for urgent action to introduce quit smoking programs and supports for people with a mental illness. Executive director Barbara Hocking said smokers with a mental illness paid about $2.8 billion every year in tobacco taxes, but there was little evidence of equitable funding and few programs...

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Sunday he’ll push for a complex plan that would make sure all Illinoisans can obtain health insurance within the next three years. Under his “Illinois Covered” plan, the state’s 1.4 million uninsured adults could enroll in government health services, get help paying for private coverage or buy insurance under a new program the state would require insurers to join. People making up to four times the federal poverty level could qualify. That’s an annual income of about $40,000 for one person and $80,000 for a family of four. The more people earn, the less...

The Guardian's Sound of Silence Posted by Marc Landers on October 3, 2006 - 13:13. Remember when the AP ran the bogus story about the Crowd booing when President Bush annonunced that Bill Clinton was ill? There was no booing and the report created a firestorm in the blogsphere. Faced with an onslaught from bloggers, the AP was forced to retract the story. The Guardian's Jonathan Freeland was caught in the reverse when he claimed there was no applause in response to this statement by PM Blair at the Labor Party conference: "So when Blair said that a withdrawal from...

16th of June DEFEATING DEPRESSION PART 1 “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad” Proverbs 12:25 Depression- from Webster’s New Unabridged Dictionary Low spirits, gloominess, dejection, sadness, a decrease in force, or activity, or amount, a decrease in functional activity. An emotional condition either normal or pathological characterized by discouragement, a feeling of inadequacy, the act of humbling abasement as a depression of pride. Abasement, reduction, sinking, fall, humiliation, dejection, melancholy. Major Depression Facts Major depression is the No.1 psychological disorder in the western world.(1) It is growing in all age groups,...

EXCLUSIVE: ASTONISHING SIDE EFFECT OF SCOT'S RARE GENETIC ILLNESS Treatment turned grey hair dark and smoothed wrinkles A GRANDAD suffering from a rare disease has found a bizarre side effect to his treatment - it makes him look 20 years younger. Reggie Myles, 62, feared he would be crippled for life after being struck down by the genetic disorder Porphyria Cutanea Tarda. He lost his mop of grey hair, his weight dropped to just seven stones and even the simplest tasks such as making a cup of tea became impossible. He was put on a gruelling regime of treatments including...

Cuban President Fidel Castro is transferring power provisionally to brother Raul while he undergoes an operation, Cuban TV announces.

Ill wind blows over storm-hit lands The US hurricane season starts today with predictions of severe turbulence ahead Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington Thursday June 1, 2006 The Guardian (UK) Barstools are all that remain from a restaurant in Long Beach, Mississippi, after hurricane Katrina. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Alberto, Beryl, Chris and Debby. Somewhere over the Atlantic, a combination of warm sea surface temperatures and wind shear is brewing up a string of tropical storms that threaten to unleash a fresh season of devastation on coastal America. With New Orleans still surrounded by the wreckage of Katrina, a new hurricane season...

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (May 19, 2006) -- After spending more than two years protecting the commandant of the Marine Corps and then the President of the United States, one Marine is now adapting to life with the Marines of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, as they prepare to deploy to Iraq. Cpl. Richard R. Casper, a 21-year-old Washburn, Ill., native, said he never dreamed he would stand in the oval office or have his photograph taken with the president six times. “The whole experience was awesome,” said Casper, who now serves as...

Blair: I'll quit next year - trust me By George Jones, Political Editor and Brendan Carlin (Filed: 09/05/2006) Tony Blair abandoned his election promise to serve a full third term last night, indicating that he could stand down next summer. Although he refused to set a timetable for his departure, saying that it would paralyse government, he anointed Gordon Brown as his successor and promised to give him sufficient time to establish himself before the next election. Tony Blair was in no mood for compromise yesterday As the Labour Party stood on the brink of civil war over the timing...

CHICAGO - Former Gov. George Ryan, who drew international praise when he commuted the sentences of everyone on Illinois' death row, was convicted of racketeering and fraud Monday in a corruption scandal that ended his political career in 2003. Ryan, 72, sat stone-faced as the verdict was read and afterward vowed to appeal. "I believe this decision today is not in accordance with the kind of public service that I provided to the people of Illinois over 40 years, and needless to say I am disappointed in the outcome," the former governor said. Ryan faces up to 20 years in...

On Feb. 21, Doubleday will publish the book that cost me my job: "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy." The germination began when I heard about the extraordinary efforts made by the White House to ram the Medicare drug benefit through the House of Representatives during the night. Until that point, I had given President Bush the benefit of the doubt—even on things with which I was uncomfortable. For example, I had reluctantly concluded the Iraq War was justified on the basis of what I knew at the time it began. I don't normally...

This is an open thread for Illinois Freepers to talk about the GOP Primary Election today. Can Judy Baar Topinka be stopped?!?!? Stay tuned!

From: Korean Friendship Association/Corey Kobernik Sent: Sunday, February 5, 2006 1:54 PM Subject: Birth Anniversary of Leader KIM JONG IL Dear Friends, The 64th anniversary of the birth of Leader Kim Jong Il takes place on the 16th of February. This is a very joyous holiday in which the Korean people celebrate in a myriad of ways. People all around the world will be involved in marking the occasion as well through various activities including sending their own personal congratulatory greetings. We highly encourage you to avail yourself of this opportunity to honor Leader Kim Jong Il on his birth...

ZAIDON, Iraq (Feb. 3, 2006) -- The sun was rising on the second day of Operation Trifecta and it was time for Sgt. Chad T. Johnson, a combat engineer attached to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, and his engineers to impair insurgent operations in the Zaidon area. The Rockford, Ill., native was given the task of helping a platoon from Company F search vast areas of farm land looking for weapons and explosives the insurgents are suspected to have hidden there. “This is one of the primary missions for the engineers in this area of operation,” stated Johnson, a 1994...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Jan. 20, 2006) -- Major Paul T. Deutsch of Addison, Ill., the disbursing officer for Camp Lejeune, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal during an awards ceremony Jan. 18 for his service while deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 04 - 06. Deutsch deployed with Headquarters and Service Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, and served as the Service Company commander. He oversaw five platoons including disbursers, postal clerks, exchange salesmen, dental technicians and mortuary affairs specialists. Service Company covered the entire Al Anbar province during their seven-month stay, and achieved amazing things, according...

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Dec. 14, 2005) -- As Operation Iraqi Freedom moves closer to 2006, the Marines of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment are working more and more with local platoons of Iraqi Army soldiers in order to prepare them for the day when coalition forces leave Iraq. While most Iraqi soldiers go through rudimentary training, nothing replaces the experience and knowledge gained by patrolling through hostile neighborhoods. To help them gain that knowledge, Marines from Company I, including Lance Cpl. Ryan Burg, routinely patrol alongside the IA to guide them through the lessons the Marines have learned during their...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Nov. 17, 2005) -- Lance Cpl. Grant A. Paschali, a native of Aurora, Ill., spent his childhood playing with G.I. Joes and camping in the woods. He had a BB gun and knife collection and wore camouflage clothes, so it wasn’t a big surprise when he joined the Marine Corps seven days after his 19th birthday. Since he left for Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Calif., Paschali has been living his childhood dream, and found the reality of life in the military to be a gratifying experience. “I’ve always been in shape, and...

FOR countless Democrats around America, the announcement last week of a new initiative linking Senator Hillary Clinton to one of her party’s most appealing new stars amounted to a match made in political heaven. Not since President George W Bush crushed the Democratic party’s hopes in last November’s election have two senators with perhaps the strongest chances of beating Republican rivals to the White House formed such an intriguing alliance. Clinton has been linked with Senator Barack Obama, the charismatic black Democrat from Illinois, in a healthcare initiative that unites two formidable and ambitious politicians who have their eyes on...

From the linked article: Michelle Mulkey, a spokewoman for Sheehan, who lives in Vacaville, Calif., said Sheehan hoped to be back in Texas within 24 to 48 hours. Mulkey said Sheehan's mother, Shirley Miller, was in a hospital emergency room and Sheehan didn't yet know how serious her condition was. Something just doesn't ring true about this paragraph. It's too convenient. Her mom could be in and out of emergency in hours, depending on the situation of course, and could be back home before Ms. Sheehan even arrives. Yes, mom could need post-visit help, but how can Ms. Sheehan "hope"...

On July 21, 2005, a standing room-only crowd of Democrats filled a Highland Park, Illinois, public library conference room to hear two local businesspeople talk about their company and its future plans. The attraction? These weren't your everyday corporate suits: it featured Sheldon and Anita Drobny, who last year put Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo on their upstart liberal Air America talk radio network. Hearing about their "success" was surely appealing. To Democrat activists, these were bona fide celebrities. Sheldon, a Venture Capitalist, CPA and former IRS agent, spoke first, according to the 10th District Democrats Newsletter:

Barack Obama's rousing oration at the August 2004 Democratic convention established America's favorite son of a goatherd as the shining hope of his desperate party. After humiliating the hapless Alan Keyes in November, he took his seat in Washington as the junior Senator from Illinois and set himself immediately to the thankless service of the workingman. On June 4, Obama appeared in Galesburg to deliver a commencement address at Knox College that has liberal scribes writing love poems and doodling hearts inscribed "Obama 2008." In a valentine that appeared on the New Republic website, David Kusnet says that "All Obama...

Israeli rock/folk singer Ariel Zilber, who moved to the Gaza Coast in solidarity with the Jews of Gush Katif, was a guest on Israel National Radio’s "The Beat with Ben Bresky" today. Zilber had just returned from his weekend home in Elei Sinai, a Jewish community, home to residents with a wide range of Jewish observance. “On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I live in Natat, in the Galilee,” said Zilber - “near the Hizbullah. And on Thursday I travel to Elei Sinai to spend the weekend with the people of Gush Katif.” The veteran Israeli pop-music icon is known...

A Glimpse Ahead Timothy Snodgrass The Impossible Will Come Alive In 2005 01/28/05 In January of 2004, as we began to intercede for the New Year the Holy Spirit gave us the prophetic slogan, "The Seas will Roar in 2004". This year we were given a new slogan, "The Impossible will come Alive in 2005". As the veil of darkness begins to come down over nations and regions, along with great shakings will come great breakthroughs; signs, wonders, healings and a spectacular release of miracles in impossible circumstances. This year, although we are ultimately poised to gain much ground, there...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

Public health officials say Americans should roll up their sleeves for a dose of reality: For most of us, getting a flu shot is not a life-or-death matter. The flu vaccine will not necessarily prevent you from experiencing the flu's miserable symptoms, like fever, hacking cough, runny nose and "hit-by-a-truck" body aches. Studies show the shot generally works well, but its effectiveness can range from 52 to 90 percent depending on the strain of virus and a person's age. If you are elderly or chronically ill, the vaccine can help jump-start your body's weakened defenses and perhaps prevent the worst...

BURLINGTON, Iowa -- A psychiatrist who police say smeared excrement on dollar bills used to pay a parking ticket has been charged with harassment of a public official. Ronald Preston McPike, 52, was arrested Sept. 30 at his office in Burlington. He pleaded not guilty to the charge, a misdemeanor, and was released on $125 bond pending a Dec. 8 court appearance. Officers received an envelope in July labeled "Foreign brown substance on bills." The envelope contained several dollar bills and a parking ticket made out to a vehicle registered to McPike, police said. Tests indicated the brown substance was...

ERIE, Pa. -- A man who soiled his underwear and tried to dispose of the evidence by tossing it over the fence of the city's largest reservoir has been fined $5,000. The city bomb squad and hazardous materials crew responded after an Erie Water Works employee spotted a black bag near the 33-million gallon Sigsbee Reservoir last month. The reservoir was shut down for several hours while the bomb squad X-rayed the bag and hazardous materials crews waited to test it. Police tracked down Troy Musil, 18, of Erie. He told police he'd been ill and soiled his underwear. He...

Please forgive me if I seem to ramble on! I don't have any documented proof, but when you finish reading this, join me and finding the proof to back up my claims and in assumptions. They are out there, I've read, heard, and known this for years! Q:What is Democracy?According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary: Main Entry: de·moc·ra·cy Pronunciation: di-'mä-kr&-sE Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural -cies Etymology: Middle French democratie, from Late Latin democratia, from Greek dEmokratia, from dEmos + -kratia -cracy 1 a : government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b : a government in which...

Most sportsmen I know don't see the need to get worked up over New York State Assembly legislation that would ban the sale and ownership of a .50-caliber gun. Understandably, since the .50 cal that comes to mind these days is the modern 50-pound, single-shot sniper's rifle our military uses on targets a mile away. Costing anywhere between $2,000 and $11,000, with ammo as hard to find as a unicorn's toenail, the .50 cal is an exotic. Although there are high-end target shooting competitions for such guns, and they are legitimate, legal functions undeserving of governmental interference. But I'm also...

Feb 15, 9:01 AM EST 300 People Fall Ill on Carnival Cruise GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- A Carnival Cruise Lines ship returned from a five-day cruise to Mexico on Saturday with more than 300 people sick with a gastrointestinal illness. Carnival officials said preliminary tests show the outbreak might have been caused by a norovirus. The virus is spread through contaminated food, contact with infected people or poor hygiene. It can be prevented by regular hand-washing. "They did try to handle it very well, from a cleaning perspective and disinfecting and sanitizing things," passenger Christal Davis said after leaving the...

BP staff ill after opening package Police are carrying out chemical tests at the Moscow office of BP after staff fell ill following the arrival of suspicious mail.The British firm's employees suffered headaches, rashes and felt a stinging in their eye after handling mail that had arrived from Houston, Texas. A spokesman for BP in London said the office had received a parcel "which had a substance on the outside of the package which is now being tested by the authorities. Police experts are testing the air and the mail for chemicals, but have found no powder or liquid inside...

16 Staffers Known Exposed, No One Reported Ill By Lauran Neergaard The Associated Press Published: Feb 3, 2004 WASHINGTON (AP) - Sixteen Senate staffers underwent decontamination - basically a fancy word for showering - for exposure to the deadly poison ricin, and so far no one has turned up ill. That reassures health officials, who note that enough people were around the ricin-containing powder that if anyone were going to be ill, symptoms should have begun by now. "As each minute ticks by, we are less and less concerned about the health effects," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the...

Source: BioMed Central Date: 2003-12-26 Don't Worry. You're Not Old – Just Ill "It's all just part of getting old" may not be enough to explain the health problems that elderly people suffer, according to two Dutch researchers, writing in BMC Geriatrics this week. They think that the infirmities associated with old age are symptoms of diseases contracted during life. When doctors consider how to treat elderly patients, they are likely to think, 'is this patient ill, or just old? Can their complaints be explained by the 'normal ageing process' or does the patient have an undiagnosed disease?' Gerbrand Izaks...

BOSTON -- As millions of Catholics prepare for the traditional midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, the Boston Archdiocese is making an unusual plea to parishioners. NewsCenter 5's Jorge Quiroga reported that church leaders are asking anyone with cold or flu symptoms to take certain precautions and avoid some rituals. The announcement comes days after two elderly men on Cape Cod died of flu complications. But public health officials warn against overreactions saying the cases are not unusual considering the ages of the victims, 89 and 90. Parishioners attending Christmas Mass are urged not to shake hands as a sign of...

One factor in the third general terror alert raised in the United States since the September 11 relates according to US media, to intelligence information indicating the the former Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden has gained possession of a so-called dirty or radiological bomb. The target date referred to in electronic intercepts is Mid-December. It has also been suggested that such weapons may have smuggled into the United States.On Oct. 12 DEBKA-Net-Weekley reported from its intelligence sources that Bin Laden had almost certainly procured a supply of uranium -235 six months before the September 11 suicide attacks. The uranium was ...