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The University of Virginia has declined President Obama’s request to speak on campus next week, citing security costs and the disruption of classes.

A University of Virginia spokeswoman says President Barack Obama will not be at the university when he comes to Charlottesville on Wednesday. In a statement released Friday, it was confirmed that the university declined the president's request to speak at UVA. UVA says the Obama campaign requested the use of one of two outdoor venues - the Amphitheater or the Harrison-Small Library plaza. The university declined the request for a number of reasons including class cancellations, which UVA estimates could be more than 186 classes on the second day of school. The other main reason is they would have to...

RADFORD, Va.— Would you say no to the Vice President? One New River Valley business owner turned Vice President Joe Biden down. This might happen more than you think from both political parties, most businesses just don't talk about it. The owner of "Crumb and Get It" - did. Chris McMurray's bakery has been open only since May, barely three months. Wednesday morning, advance teams for Vice President Joe Biden walked in. "I approached her she said Joe Biden is coming to town today," McMurray said. "Crumb and Get It" is a mom and pop store. Literally. Chris and his...

A Jewish class on why Jews do not accept Christianity. I post for Jews to self-educate and for Christians to understand the Jewish point of view--not that it matters (that they do.)

If a group of Ukrainian lawmakers succeeds in its mission, television shows and movies like “Brokeback Mountain” that sympathetically portray gay men and lesbians will be banned. So will gay pride parades.The recently introduced bill, supported by the president’s representative in Parliament, would impose prison terms of up to five years and unspecified fines for spreading the “propaganda of homosexuality,” which the measure defines as positive depictions of gays in public. ..Although homosexuality was decriminalized in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, and Russia after the fall of communism, animosity toward gay people remains high in both countries. St. Petersburg, which...

Former President George W. Bush will not attend the Republican convention next month in Tampa, POLITICO has learned. “President Bush was grateful for the invitation to the Republican National Convention,” Bush spokesman Freddy Ford wrote in an e-mail. “He supports Governor Romney and wants him to succeed. President Bush is confident that Mitt Romney will be a great President. But he’s still enjoying his time off the political stage and respectfully declined the invitation to go to Tampa.” Asked if the former president had been invited to only attend or whether he was also asked to speak, Ford said the...

A fresh round of Democrats has announced they will not be attending the party convention in Charlotte. Most troublingly for President Obama, several of them are from North Carolina, and not only have they decided not to drop in on a convention held in their own state, they’ve refused to endorse Obama for president in 2012. The latest round of Democrats fleeing from Obama include North Carolina congressmen Mike McIntyre and Larry Kissell, plus candidate Hayden Rogers. Additionally, news broke just before the Fourth of July holiday that Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas has decided not to attend the party...

BY KEVIN McDERMOTT > kmcdermott@post-dispatch.com > 314-952-9667 stltoday.com | Posted: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 2:21 pm Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is confirming that she will not attend the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., in September. A statement from her office says it's standard practice for her when she's running for election. But one Republican official is calling it "a pathetic attempt to distance herself from Barack Obama." In an emailed statement attributed to an unnamed aide, McCaskill's office said she is declining to attend because she's is running for office herself.

Wealthy Americans aren’t just leaving tax-heavy states like New York and California, they’re leaving the country. U.S. citizens are defecting at record levels in order to escape high taxes, the New York Post reported. About 8,000 U.S. citizens are projected to renounce their citizenship in 2012, or about 154 a week — versus 3,805 in 2011, or about 73 per week, according to immigration officials, the Post reported. They want to avoid tax bills resulting from the proposed 55-percent hike on the wealthy and the anticipated expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts at the end of the year, the Post...

I had been asked to walk in the Media Memorial Day Parade, due to knowing the veterans for many years and working with them at Veterans Nights at The Media Theatre. Ed Buffman had asked me to assist with carrying the PA Veterans Museum Banner, as has been done regularly several times before. I had with me a Gay Pride Flag, one that was to memorialize all of this country's gays and lesbians who had died in the line of duty. I wanted to drape it over my shoulders as a quiet remembrance. I was told point blank by Ed...

Don't try to friend MaLi Arwood on Facebook. You won't find her there. You won't find Thomas Chin, either. Or Kariann Goldschmitt. Or Jake Edelstein. More than 900 million people worldwide check their Facebook accounts at least once a month, but millions more are Facebook holdouts. They say they don't want Facebook. They insist they don't need Facebook. They say they're living life just fine without the long-forgotten acquaintances that the world's largest social network sometimes resurrects. They are the resisters.

At the Democratic convention four years ago, her spirited speech helped unite the party behind Barack Obama. And four years from now, many Democrats hope she’ll be the White House nominee delegates rally around. But as for the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte – Hillary Clinton won’t be coming. This year, she’s secretary of State. And as the country’s chief diplomat, she’s expected to stay above all things partisan. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, will be at the DNC in Charlotte, his spokesman, Matt McKenna, confirmed Friday. But various federal statutes and the State Department’s ethical guidelines will...

Rush Limbaugh has rejected an advertiser’s apparent attempt to reunite with his show after the company initially dropped its ads from the program following his remarks about contraception advocate Sandra Fluke. The company, Sleep Train, calls itself “the No. 1 Bedding Specialist on the West Coast, and most recognized mattress retailer in the region.” In an email to Sleep Train President Dale Carlsen (obtained by The Blaze), a representative of the show says that Limbaugh personally considered the company’s request, but denied it considering its public comments following the controversy. “Thank you for your requests last week and this week...

The best response is ridicule. Here's a start collected over the last few days. What do you call a woman who needs $3,000 for contraception? Very busy. What do you call a woman who wants to be paid to have sex? A professional. What do you call a homely professional "reproductive rights activist" who claims to needs $3,000 for contraception? Dreaming. So if we pay for Sandra Fluke's birth control, do we have to pay for flowers and a dinner too?

Here me out before you conclude. I have a rational argument for what I am proposing. In WWII, to defeat Japan America used psychological warfare as part of the battle. They knew that the ultimate destruction of the Japanese Empire at that time was to defame their leader/god figure. By humiliating him on national television forcing him to claim to the world that he is indeed not god and that he has been defeated allowed Japan to succeed and renew in the future. What we did is why Japan is such a successful country today. Islam is using that exact...

What's the value of a car used by Barack Obama? Apparently not $1 million. An eBay auction for a gray 2005 Chrysler 300C leased by Obama before he became president closed late Wednesday with no bids meeting that minimum asking price, after which the listing agent hinted that $1 million might have been too much to expect.

A more disciplined Perry goes back to work in Iowa By Jason Embry AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Updated: 10:02 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011 Published: 9:56 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011 Texas Gov. Rick Perry moved through Iowa on Saturday a more disciplined presidential candidate than he was in his initial swing through the state almost two months ago. Gone were Perry's earlier suggestions that the Federal Reserve chairman is approaching treason or that U.S. troops would rather serve under a military veteran than under President Barack Obama. Instead, during three Saturday stops in northwestern Iowa, Perry stuck to brief prepared remarks...

Federal bailout funding may have prevented General Motors from going through a normal bankruptcy process, but it has come at a significant price in terms of reputation and potential buyers. Fifty percent (50%) of American adults are less likely to buy a GM car because of the bailout. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds just four percent (4%) are more likely to buy from the company that critics refer to as Government Motors. Forty-two percent (42%) say the bailout has had no impact on their buying plans one way or the other. The flip side of the data...

<p>Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) says he is not apologizing to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz for attacking the Florida Democrat in an e-mail.</p> <p>“That is not happening,” West told Fox Business Network’s Stuart Varney Thursday morning when asked whether he plans to apologize to Wasserman Schultz, who is the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.</p>

WASHINGTON, DC- Congressman Jeff Landry (R, LA-03) released the following statement after he declined the President's invitation to the White House this morning: "I have respectfully declined the President's invitation to the White House today. I don't intend to spend my morning being lectured to by a President whose failed policies have put our children and grandchildren in a huge burden of debt. Over the past two years, President Obama and congressional Democrats have overseen the largest budget deficits in U.S. history. On top of that, the President's budget adds $1.3 trillion to our national debt every year for the...