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U.S. Sen. Patty Murray received a standing ovation for her stance on health care reform from a Vancouver business crowd Thursday. "If we don't get this right, we cannot compete" in the global economy, Murray, D-Wash., said of health care reform, now being debated throughout the nation, Her comments were rewarded with polite and sometimes rigourous applause from a well-behaved audience of mostly business professionals during lunch at the Hilton Vancouver Washington. Most were members of 10 regional chambers of commerce that jointly hosted the event sponsored by First Independent Bank. Murray also shared her solutions for jump-starting the local...

A Bronx woman is under arrest in the fatal beating of a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor in his Upper East Side apartment, and a manhunt is on for her male accomplice, sources said yesterday.

Charles Murray, no slouch among public intellectuals, described him as the most underrated public intellectual in America today. Murray offered this assessment of George Gilder at a recent American Enterprise Institute colloquium to discuss Gilder's newest book, "The Israel Test." Murray explained: From Gilder's national debut with "Sexual Suicide" (later reissued as "Men and Marriage"), to his seminal "Wealth and Poverty," to his farsighted "Microcosm," Gilder makes being ahead of his times look easy. And, Murray noted with admiration, Gilder has always been right. Is Gilder underrated? Yes, because his gifts and contributions deserve more or less full-time celebration. After...

Notes: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release July 15, 2009 Statement by the President on the Health Care Reform Legislation Passed Today by the Senate HELP Committee "Today, thanks to the unyielding passion and inspiration provided by Senator Edward Kennedy, the HELP committee he chairs has produced a proposal that will finally lower health care costs, provide better care for patients, and ensure fair treatment of consumers by the insurance industry. Like the legislation produced by the House of Representatives, this proposal would offer Americans...

CHEVY CHASE, Md. - Authorities have released the names of a mother and child who were killed when part of a large tree fell on a minivan in Chevy Chase. Kelly M. Murray, 40, of Chevy Chase and her 7-year-old daughter Sloane Murray were pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities say six additional children were also in the minivan at the time of the incident. The group was heading home from a local swimming pool when a storm swept through -- knocking down a tree about three feet in diameter that practically cut the van in half. Sources say the...

I really liked this post by Will Wilkinson on the question of meaning (even if I don't necessarily agree with all of it). It's in response to the argument that having kids is deeply meaningful even if it can't be quantified, which itself is a response to the current fad of pointing out that having kids allegedly doesn't make people happier. Quoting from an earlier piece of his, Will writes: Appeals to meaning are nice, but they just push the lump in the rug. What’s so great about meaning, anyway? For that matter, what is it? How does one validate...

<p>WASHINGTON - At least 80 wealthy liberals have pledged to contribute at least $1 million each to fund a network of think tanks and advocacy groups, to compete with the potent conservative infrastructure built up during the last three decades.</p>

Last week Charles Murray received the American Enterprise Institute’s highest honor, the Irving Kristol Award, and delivered a lecture, ”The Happiness of the People,” a title taken from James Madison’s phrase in The Federalist Paper #62. Murray’s lecture began with his assertion that President Obama and his leading intellectual heroes are the American equivalents of Europe’s social democrats. According to Murray, the European model is fundamentally flawed because it is not suited to the way human beings flourish.

My father always said that anyone who lived through John F. Kennedy’s assassination remembers what they were doing at the precise moment the president was shot. This may well be true, but we also lucidly recall the circumstances of far lesser events such as the controversy surrounding the publication of The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray. The furor its conclusions caused is forever ingrained in my memory. At the time I was a psychology graduate student and found that most of my associates were familiar with the work but...

Dear Mr. ____________: Thank you for writing me regarding your support for oil drilling in the United States. I appreciate hearing your views on this important matter. Just this week, I filled up my gas tank in Washington State at $4.45 a gallon. I understand and share your concern about how high gas prices are affecting families, businesses, and our entire economy, and I am dedicated to finding solutions to this problem. There are many options that I am discussing with my colleagues, from addressing speculation in the futures market to expanding the number of leases for land available to...

Vancouver, WA - U.S. Sen. Patty Murray offered a bleak financial assessment this week for replacing the Interstate 5 Bridge, saying it would be “extremely difficult” for the federal government to provide even the minimum contribution backers expect. Murray, D-Wash., told The Columbian the project faces a number of potential obstacles, including a projected $3.4 billion shortfall in the federal highway trust fund and the possibility of a John McCain presidency. The Arizona Republican has promised to veto any “pork barrel” earmarks that direct federal dollars to projects outside the regular appropriations process. Preliminary financial plans call for using $400...

Dear Senator Murray, We have had 30 plus years to develop a responsible, long-term energy policy and it has not been forthcoming out of the Senate. Any attempt by any sane Senator to put forth a proposal to bring the U.S. to a responsible, long-term energy to bring independence upon foreign oil has met with failure and just plain Senate logjamming. We, out here in fly-over country, follow the votes in the Senate that cause the shenanigans and obstructions to energy independence and we wonder which countries all of you owe your allegiances. We know that you need our votes...

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., wants $500,000 in federal money to build a welcome center in Ridgefield and $1 million for a new records management system for the city of Vancouver. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., wants $1 million to study rare blood issues at a Puget Sound blood center and $1.5 million to assess the feasibility of building a sea wall in Elliott Bay. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., is seeking $1.5 million in federal money to expand a cystic fibrosis program at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, while Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., wants $500,000 for organic farming research...

EXCERPT..... Nelson Ludlow and his wife, Bonnie, (owners of Mobilisa) have donated generously in the past five years, giving $11,500 to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and nearly $20,000 to U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton. At the same time, the Ludlows have mastered the earmark game. Since 2003, Murray and Dicks have favored Mobilisa with at least nine earmarks worth $20.3 million. Mobilisa had to split some of the earmark money with others and hasn't received all of it yet. But most of the company's $13 million to $14 million in revenues since 2003 have come from political pork, federal...

KSL News has learned the man who went on a shooting rampage at two Colorado church properties had been baptized into the LDS Church a year ago. Matthew Murray killed four people and wounded several others Sunday, before he turned the gun on himself. He targeted people at two Christian churches, posting anti-religion messages online before the shootings. But a year ago, he welcomed religion in his life, according to one man who taught Murray about the Latter-day Saint faith. A.J. Ormond was there the day Matthew Murray was baptized. He says he immediately noticed a change; Murray seemed happy,...

For more than a year, Matthew Murray amassed the weapons and ammunition he used in Sunday's attacks on two religious organizations that left four young people dead. Murray, 24, began buying weapons in November 2006 from Front Range gun and sporting-goods stores, according to Colorado Springs police, who had the weapons traced by federal authorities. A large shipment of ammunition was sent to Murray's post office box in Greenwood Village. The shipment was delivered to him but only after authorities had been alerted and determined he could legally possess it. "Everything was by the book," said a clerk at Robert's...

In this second True Crime post of the week we learn the lovely Drew Peterson is having trouble getting a date. Also, he needs money for his defense. We’ll give you the link to send him some. Also, the Colorado church shooter…do these nuts ever consider what they do to the families they leave behind?

Matthew Murray, the man who police say shot and killed four people at two separate locations in Colorado on Sunday, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the coroner’s office said Tuesday. “The death of Matthew Murray has been ruled a suicide,” CNN reported the El Paso County Coroner’s Office said in a statement. “It should be noted that he was struck multiple times by the security officer, which put him down. He then fired a single round killing himself.” Police Sgt. Skip Arms told The Associated Press that Murray shot himself in the head. Police say before Murray, 24, went...

DENVER, Colorado (AFP) — The gunman responsible for shootings at two religious centers in Colorado warned of his plans for the rampage in anti-Christian rants posted on the Internet, it was reported Tuesday. Matthew Murray, who shot dead four people in separate attacks on a missionary training center and mega-church on Sunday, published more than a dozen writings online prior to his shooting spree, KUSA TV reported in Denver. "You Christians brought this on yourselves," Murray reportedly wrote on a Web site for people who have left Pentecostal and fundamentalist religious organizations, shortly before the second of his two attacks....

Spokeswoman Confirms Tip Called In, Investigation Begun. A member of an online support group that Matthew Murray reportedly participated in alerted federal authorities to ominous anti-Christian postings before Murray went on a shooting rampage at a Colorado church. Joe Istre, president of the Association of Former Pentecostals, which operates the online site, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he and other forum participants had grown familiar with the frequent and disturbingly dark poetry and obsessions of one participant, whose nickname was nghtmrchld26. But when that same author -- believed to be Murray -- posted Sunday that he wanted to...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- Matthew Murray wrote on an Internet message board of how he hated Christians between attacks on a mission center and church on Sunday, according to Denver-area media reports. "You Christians brought this on yourselves," Murray wrote at 11:03 a.m. on Sunday, CNN affiliate KUSA reported on its Web site. "I'm coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth and I WILL shoot to kill. ...God, I can't wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don't care if I live or die in...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - The man who killed four people at a church and missionary training center died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound, police said Tuesday. Matthew Murray, 24, was struck multiple times by a security officer at New Life Church Sunday but died after firing a single shot at himself, the El Paso County Coroner's Office concluded after an autopsy.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - The man who killed four people at a church and missionary training center died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound, police said Tuesday. Matthew Murray, 24, was struck multiple times by a security officer at New Life Church Sunday but died after firing a single shot at himself, the El Paso County Coroner's Office concluded after an autopsy.

Matthew Murray was kicked out of a missionary training program five years ago for strange behavior...Murray performed a pair of dark rock songs at a concert at the mission that made fellow workers "pretty scared,"...which included a song by rock band Linkin Park...Werner, of Balneario Camborius, Brazil, said he had a bunk near Murray's and that Murray would roll around in bed and make noises. "He would say, 'Don't worry, I'm just talking to the voices,' " Werner said. "He'd say, 'Don't worry, Richard. You're a nice guy. The voices like you.' "

COLORADO SPRINGS - The two people killed in a shooting spree at a busy megachurch were identified Monday as teenage sisters, police and church officials said. "Our hearts are grieving this morning for them," said Brady Boyd, senior pastor at New Life Church. Colorado Springs Police identified the gunman as 24-year-old Matthew J. Murray of Englewood, who was shot and killed by a member of the church's armed security staff. Boyd said the gunman had no connection to the church and called it a "senseless random attack." He said the security guard was a volunteer but he did not release...

COLORADO SPRINGS A gunman believed to have killed four people at a Colorado church and a missionary training school on Sunday had been thrown out of the school three years ago and had been sending hate mail to the programme and its director, police said last night. Matthew Murray, 24, who was home-schooled and raised in what a friend said was a deeply religious Christian household, was identified as the gunman. His father is a neurologist and a multiple-sclerosis researcher. Five people — including a gunman — were killed, and five others wounded in the two eruptions of violence 12...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- The shooter at both a missionary center and a church Sunday in Colorado was a man who once worked on a mission with the center, a source familiar with the events said Monday.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The gunman believed to have killed four people at a megachurch and a missionary training school had been thrown out of the school about three years ago and had been sending the place hate mail, police said in court papers Monday. The gunman was identified as Matthew Murray, 24, who was home-schooled by his family and raised in what a friend said was a deeply religious Christian household. Murray's father is a neurologist and a leading multiple-sclerosis researcher. Five people — including Murray — were killed, and five others wounded Sunday in the two eruptions of...

The New Life Church shooting tore apart a close-knit and deeply religious family, killing two of four teenage children and wounding the father, relatives said today. The dead are 18-year-old Stephanie Works and her sister, 16-year-old Rachael Works. They were described by their uncle, Mark Schaepe of Lincoln, Neb, as outgoing cheerful, faithful and smart. “It teaches you that life is precious,” he said. The Works sisters are survived by their parents, David Works, who was shot twice in the attack and remained hospitalized in fair condition; and Marie Works, along with two sisters. The other victims of Sunday’s shootings...

Arvada police said Sunday they have "reason to believe" that deadly attacks at two religious institutions 70 miles apart that left four dead and six injured are probably linked. Arvada Police Chief Don Wick said his agency sent officers to share notes with Colorado Springs police. And late Sunday, authorities from both agencies were searching a home in southeastern Arapahoe County they say could be related to the case. "We have reason to believe that the two may be related," Wick said at a news briefing. Two people were fatally shot at a housing complex for missionaries in training at...

Washington, DC—As Veterans’ Day approaches, Senate Democratic leaders today issued the following letter to President Bush, urging him to quickly nominate a new Secretary of Veterans Affairs.  With the military and VA stretched thin by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in light of mismanagement of veterans’ health care at facilities like Walter Reed, our veterans deserve able, permanent leadership. Below is the text of the letter:The Honorable George W. Bush President of the United States The White House Washington, DC 20515Dear Mr. President:We are writing to express our serious concerns about the extended delay in nominating a qualified individual...

  Home | Previous Page | Source URL: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/sep/07092403.html LifeSiteNews.com Monday September 24, 2007 Priest Blasts 'Usual Suspects' For Votes Against Pro-Life Policy FRONT ROYAL, VA, September 24, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International, (HLI) today blasted a gang of 16 Catholic senators for their votes on an amendment to HR 2764 to overturn the Mexico City Policy instituted by President Reagan to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding overseas abortions. "For the most part it's the usual suspects who claim to be Catholic while their consistent pro-abortion votes amount to...

- in a direct appeal to FBI Director Robert Mueller -- expressed concern over the "small number" of agents in Washington state, saying low staffing levels put the "safety and security of our citizens" at risk. Murray, in a terse letter sent Monday, told Mueller that the number of agents in the state must increase in order to address both terrorist threats and basic law enforcement needs. "The FBI's low staffing level not only increases Washington state's vulnerability to terrorism, it also affects the FBI's crime-fighting ability in Washington state," Murray wrote. "I am very concerned about reports that the...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Actor Bill Murray could face a drunken driving charge in Sweden after cruising through downtown Stockholm in a golf cart and refusing a breathalyzer test — citing U.S. law — police said Wednesday. Police officers spotted Murray early Sunday in the slow-moving vehicle and noticed he smelled like alcohol when they pulled him over, said Detective-Inspector Christer Holmlund of the Stockholm police. "He refused to blow in the (breathalyzer) instrument, citing American legislation," Holmlund told The Associated Press. "So we applied the old method — a blood test. It will take 14 days before the results are in."

The mine collapse last night that killed and injured rescuers at a Utah coal mine generated seismic waves that reveal the event was a collapse and not a natural earthquake, seismologists say. And increasingly strong evidence also supports the claim that the magnitude-3.9 seismic event that initially trapped six miners on Aug. 6 was the mine collapse itself and also not a natural earthquake, say seismologists at the University of Utah.

A co-owner of the Crandall Canyon coal mine, where six men were trapped following a cave-in on Aug. 6, 2007, recently got into a combative debate with U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer -- over the carbon emissions from his mines. Robert Murray, vice president of Murray Energy Corp., testified before a Senate committee on June 28, 2007. "You people inside the Beltway, you Senators... don't have the foggiest idea what a person does to pack a lunch and go to work, or wear a hard hat," Murray said, angrily.

WASHINGTON — Washington Sen. Patty Murray questioned a top general Wednesday on whether National Guard units are adequately prepared to fight the war in Iraq. Murray, a Democrat and senior member of the Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee, visited a National Guard base near Tacoma on Monday. She said the "stress and anger" among Guard and Army Reserve members "was at an all-time high." Guard members are concerned about a lack of equipment and frustrated at the short notice they receive before being called to active duty, Murray said. In many cases they are simply not prepared — mentally or physically...

Following are highlights from a speech about global warming and the coal industry delivered by Robert E. Murray, chairman, president and CEO of Cleveland-based Murray Energy Corp. to the New York Coal Trade Association in New York City last Friday. Most participants in the coal industry are very threatened and troubled by the so-called "global warming," or carbon emission constraint, measures that have been introduced into the Congress that will ration the use of coal, with much worse adverse consequences to our American citizens than those that I have already experienced in my lifetime as a result of enactment of...

REDMOND, Wash. - There's no reason to make a mountain of a molehill, unless you're the man who makes a living trapping moles. David Krick is that business owner and this week, he's very scared that he might lose his business. Moles are pesky little creatures. They tunnel their way through your yard, looking for food. They leave behind piles of dirt, or molehills, all over the yard. You can try a variety of ways to get rid of moles, but unless you kill the moles you'll only be forcing them into the neighbor's yard. Once he figures it out,...

WASHINGTON -- The White House and Sen. John Kerry traded their harshest accusations since the 2004 presidential race on Tuesday, with President Bush accusing the Democrat of troop-bashing and Kerry calling the president's men hacks who are ''willing to lie.''

Mayor: 'Either the Judeo-Christian philosophy will survive or the Islamic philosophy will survive'SACRAMENTO, CA -- (OfficialWire) -- 09/11/06 -- The Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV) today called on Californians to repudiate remarks insulting to Muslims made by a mayor in the northern part of that state. CAIR-SV said that Redding, Calif., Mayor Ken Murray claimed Shia Muslims "believe it's acceptable to lie, cheat, steal and kill as long as it ultimately glorifies Allah." "Folks, they're not like us," said Murray. When asked about his offensive remarks, Murray drew a distinction between "mainstream" and Shia Muslims,...

Welcome to the "Checklist for Change" website! As the nine Democratic women in the U.S. Senate, my colleagues and I believe that it is time for a change in Washington: change in agenda, change in tone, and change in direction. That's what our "checklist for change" is all about. This is what we women do - we need our checklists. And we challenge Majority Leader Bill Frist to make the issues on our checklist priorities for the American people this year. This is by no means a complete list of priorities, but these are challenges that Congress can meet right...

AUSTIN, Texas -- Ronnie Earle, awaiting the media-driven frenzy of prosecuting former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, may be involved in another courtroom drama this summer. In 1996, Lacresha Murray was 11 when the Travis County district attorney indicted her on capital murder charges -- the youngest person charged with that crime in Texas. Miss Murray was a suspect in the death of a 2-year-old at her grandmother's day care center in May 1996. The toddler, Jayla Belton, lost consciousness and was rushed to a local hospital, where she died. Investigators found no forensic evidence, but on the basis of...

To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor Contact: Connie Julian, 917-449-9064, Janet Yip 212-941-8086 or commission@nion.us News Advisory: From: International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration WHEN: January 10, 2006 at 1:30 p.m. WHERE: The White House, Walk-in Gate, across from Lafayette Park WEBSITE: http://www.bushcommission.org An unprecedented series of indictments alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity, in five separate areas, on moral, political, and legal grounds, will be delivered by a citizens' tribunal to President Bush at the front gate of the White House this Tuesday, January 10th. Named in the indictments are: President of...

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Sen. Patty Murray said Friday that returning contributions from Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff would "taint" the tribes. The state's senior senator, a Seattle Democrat, said there was nothing wrong with accepting more than $40,000 in campaign donations from out-of-state tribes represented by the disgraced lobbyist. Abramoff's excesses have been halted and Congress is considering myriad ethics reforms, she said. The donations, from 1999 to 2005, placed Murray second among Senate Democrats and ninth overall in the Senate, according to records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington, D.C., organization that tracks money in...

Cantwell's Double Standard CANTWELL SAYS NO TO SPECIAL INTERESTS BUT YES TO ABRAMOFF LADEN CASH??? Maria Cantwell Claims She’s Not Beholden To Special Interests, But Refuses To Return Tainted Special Interest Cash “‘For Far Too Long, The Powerful Special Interests Have Controlled The Agenda In Our Nation’s Capital, Ignoring The People’s Interest,’ Cantwell Said.” (“Wealthy Washington Senate Candidate Refuses PAC Money,” National Journal’s CongressDaily, May 10, 2000) Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Refuses To Return Campaign Contributions Connected To Admitted Felon Lobbyist Jack Abramoff Maria Cantwell Has No Intention Of Returning Abramoff Tainted Campaign Contributions. “Other Northwest lawmakers also received contributions...

WASHINGTON - Lawyers for Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff are in discussions with the Justice Department about his possible cooperation in a congressional corruption probe, a person involved in the investigation said Tuesday night. The probe involves a number of members of Congress as well as staff. A former aide to ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, has already pleaded guilty. Abramoff would plead guilty under an arrangement that would settle a criminal case against him in Florida as well as potential corruption charges in Washington, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the...

The Liberalism of John Paul II Richard John Neuhaus Copyright (c) 1997 First Things 73 (May 1997): 16-21.It is no secret that when Centesimus Annus appeared in 1991 some of us viewed it not only as an important teaching moment but also as a vindication of our understanding of Catholic social doctrine. There was a great temptation to declare triumphantly, "I told you so." That temptation was not always resisted as it should have been. This contributed to a degree of polarization over the encyclical. Liberals who paid any attention at all to the document were not convinced of the...

It would be nice if we could blame it all on muddle. It would be nice if government grows because everything's so complex that muddle begets muddle, and governments balloon — "evolve" — out of the booming, buzzing confusion of any mind set out to grasp it. It would let so many people off the hook. We could say, "forgive them, for they know not what they do." But that's not quite the case. Recently, a clash first between Senator Patty Murray of Washington and Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, and then a clash between Ted Stevens of Alaska and...

The House passed a $286.4 billion highway and mass transit bill Friday that could provide long-awaited relief for the nation's travelers while creating tens of thousands of construction jobs. >snip The bill includes $220 million to help underwrite the multibillion-dollar cost of replacing Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct, lawmakers say. Lawmakers from both parties hailed the highway and transit bill, which would provide more than $4 billion for highway and transit projects in Washington state, and $2.7 billion for Oregon. >snip "Our delegation has done an incredible job of standing up for the viaduct," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Thursday. "We...