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Lebanon's March 14 opposition factions insist any future dialogue to resolve political disputes must include a discussion of Hizbullah's terror militias and munitions. Talk of the possibility of re-launching dialogue resurfaced after Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced he would meet President Michel Sleiman to discuss the proposal. Sleiman has repeatedly called for the revival of the dialogue to bridge the gap between lawmakers – who have locked horns in no fewer than five cabinet crises since July – but his calls went unheeded. Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat instead reiterated on Thursday that the March 14 coalition would never accept...

LABOR may have finally bounced off rock bottom but Australia's oldest political party and its leader are still facing a historic loss of public confidence and electoral failure. A three-point rise in the Newspoll primary vote for the ALP has avoided the unthinkable for the Gillard government of going to 25 per cent or below to have less support than the combined vote for the Greens and various odds and sods, but the broader view of this survey of public opinion about Labor - as well as the personal standing of Julia Gillard - is devastating. The electorate has not...

President Obama spoke of lofty intentions to help the world reduce greenhouse gases when he addressed delegates to United Nations talks in Copenhagen in 2009. “We have charted our course, we have made our commitments, and we will do what we say,” he said. “Now I believe that it’s time for the nations and people of the world to come together behind a common purpose.” But the Obama administration is on track to fall more than $200 million short on its $1 billion pledge to help prevent the cutting and burning of tropical rain forests. Lawmakers have slashed requests

Media: Talk about the elite lagging behind a more sophisticated public. Newsweek, trying to overcome its slide into obscurity, thought it could grab attention by smearing Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann. Big mistake. The smear came in the form of this week's cover story, which tried unconvincingly to depict GOP presidential candidate and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann as "The Queen of Rage," with a cover shot that made her look maniacal. But if anything, Bachmann comes across as Thatcheresque in her unmovable opposition to more deficit spending. Question her opposition a journalist may do, but don't make it out as...

Farid Ghadry, leader of the opposition Reform Party of Syria (RPS) that has never had a chance to actually strike roots in Syria, says that Israelis should remain in the Golan even though it must return to Syria. Ghadry, 57, has not lived in Syria since he was 10; his family moved to Lebanon in 1964, and then to the U.S. in 1975. He and other Syrian-Americans started the RPS in 1991, formulating a comprehensive program to bring regime change to Syria based on democracy, prosperity, freedom of expression, human rights and open borders with all neighboring countries including Israel....

Protestors for hire? Demonstrators along the Syria-Israel border were paid thousands of dollars by President Bashar Assad's regime to take part in Sunday's riots, Syrian opposition activists charge. Israeli officials later reinforced the claims, accusing the Syrian regime of encouraging protests along the northern border. Sunday’s riots were an attempt "to divert attention away from the massacre in Syria,” one official charged. "The Syrians will be held accountable for these events.” (Snip) Opposition activists noted that such tactics were previously used by Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein when the Ba'ath Party leader offered a $25,000 reward to the families of Palestinians

Politico published an eye-opening report on Saturday by Ben Smith about “Media Matter’s war against Fox.” Smith wrote that the organization continues to transform itself into an exclusively Fox News-battling group.Media Matters founder David Brock told Politico that his organization’s activism has developed into a “strategy of containment.” This strategy includes extensive work to compile intelligence on the employees of the cable news channel. (Snip)“Somebody in that organization is giving us primary source documents.”

Saturday afternoon: I’m just back from the No Carbon Tax Rally outside Julia Gillard’s energy-hungry office. The rally was a peaceful, gender inclusive-friendly, multiracial event with some thought-provoking signs. Fun fact: Gillard’s office is located near “Big Brothers Pizza”. [Photos below]

Ace put up a post about this a couple days ago: Since 2007, Hillary Clinton partisans were complaining that while Obama pretended to be post-racial, in fact he was sending out his minions to make the bitterly racist attacks, while he floated above it all, clean. They couldn’t actually prove their case — well, they knew Obama’s supporters were making these bitterly-racist arguments on a daily basis, and that Obama did little to restrain them, but they couldn’t prove he directed such attacks. Same thing in the general election, of course — Obama spoke behind closed doors about “bitter clingers”...

Cairo's envoy to US: Treaty is a main element of Egypt’s foreign policy; Supreme Council dissolves parliament, suspends constitution. An influential Egyptian opposition figure and likely presidential candidate called Sunday for Cairo’s peace treaty with Israel to be reassessed, the first sign since former president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster Friday that the 32-year-old agreement may be in jeopardy. Ayman Nour, a former lawmaker and chairman of the Ghad (Tomorrow) party, told an Egyptian radio station that the 1978 Camp David Accords were no longer relevant, and said the country’s leadership should at least rethink the terms of the framework agreements that...

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's opposition on Sunday renewed its call for a rally in support of protesters in Tunisia and Egypt despite a government warning of repercussions if demonstrations take place, a reformist website reported. In a statement published on Kaleme.com, the opposition urged its supporters to rally on Monday in central Tehran and accused the government of hypocrisy by voicing support for the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings while refusing to allow Iranian political activists to stage a peaceful demonstration.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Tehran will refuse permission for a reformist opposition rally in support of the uprising that toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a government official was quoted as saying Saturday. "These people are fully aware of the illegality of their demand and they know they will not receive a permit for staging a riot," Mehdi Alikhani-Sadr, deputy director of the Interior Ministry's political bureau, was quoted by the semi-official Fars news agency as saying. It had always been highly unlikely the government would permit the rally organized by groups it considers seditious. Mehdi Karoubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, who...

It's only one poll - The Hill's survey of likely voters - but it could mean trouble for President Obama and the Democrats: "Only 27 percent of likely voters favor raising the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, while 62 percent oppose it, according to an exclusive poll for The Hill. The poll found solid opposition from Republicans and also from independent voters, who are critical to President Obama's re-election in 2012. "Seventy-seven percent of likely GOP voters and 64 percent of independent voters said they don't want the debt ceiling to be raised. Even among Democrats, more oppose raising the...

Orthodox Jewry in the United States is "fairly solid" in its opposition to a PLO state in the heartland of Israel - though a slight crack has been noted. For instance, the National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) has urged American political leaders to reconsider its "two-state solution" policy. The NCYI also initiated a grass roots effort aimed at “enlightening” U.S. leaders regarding the dangers of pushing for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. In late 2007, when the future of the Jerusalem appeared to be on the table at the Annapolis talks, a broad coalition of Orthodox organizations wrote...

Opponents of Hugo Chávez today made major gains in legislative elections that could weaken the president's dominant power in Venezuela. The opposition overturned Chávez's two-thirds majority in the national assembly, and claimed to have won most of the popular vote. If confirmed, the result would mark a milestone. The Democratic Unity coalition won at least 60 of 165 seats in the assembly – well short of a majority but enough to end Chávez's ability to appoint judges and other officials and to push through major laws. The opposition said it had won 52% of the popular vote, but that controversial...

Rauf on the Ropes An Islamic community center at Ground Zero seems increasingly unlikely. 13 September 2010 The white flag hasn’t reached the top of the flagpole yet, but Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf all but surrendered on Monday morning in his battle to build a Muslim interfaith community center with a prayer room two blocks from Ground Zero. At an unusual meeting Monday morning at the Council on Foreign Relations in midtown Manhattan, Rauf said that he wanted to find a “solution” to the furious imbroglio over the planned center, which opponents say is inappropriate, insensitive to the memory of...

Ground zero mosque opponents are pounding a “drumbeat of hatred” and ignoring the conservative principles of private property and religious freedom, Texas Rep. Ron Paul says. In an exclusive Newsmax.TV interview, the 2008 GOP presidential hopeful alleged that conservative opponents of the mosque and cultural center two blocks from the World Trade Center site in New York City are blaming all Muslims for the Sept. 11 attacks instead of focusing their ire on al-Qaida, the actual perpetrator. Paul’s stance has placed him at odds with many Republicans, including his son, Kentucky GOP Senate candidate Rand Paul, who voiced his opposition...

When the Landmarks Preservation Commission this week gave the green light for a 13-story mosque blocks away from Ground Zero, Mayor Bloomberg lauded the decision as a testament to New Yorkers' "spirit of openness and acceptance." But, as is increasingly the case on such matters, Bloomberg seems largely to have been speaking for himself. Recent poll results certainly suggest that New Yorkers aren't feeling particularly accepting of the undertaking. It's hard to blame them. According to a Siena Research Institute survey released yesterday, 56 percent of city residents -- and 61 percent of respondents statewide -- oppose construction of the...

NAIROBI (AFP) – A Rwandan journalist who accused the regime of attempting to assassinate a dissident general in Johannesburg was gunned down in Kigali, police said Friday, fuelling tensions ahead of August elections. Jean-Leonard Rugambage's colleagues and media watchdog Reporters Without Borders alleged Thursday's killing was linked to reports alleging the involvement of President Paul Kagame's services in the assassination bid. "He was killed in front of his house when he was going home at 10 pm last night," police spokesman Eric Kayiranga told AFP by telephone, adding that the "unknown gunman" responsible for the attack had fled. Rugambage ran...

Last week, Iran's opposition leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi canceled anti-government demonstrations timed to commemorate the anniversary of last year's disputed presidential election. Secretary of the State Hillary Clinton called the cancellation "regrettable," but missed the larger point. The reform these two men offer is not what the majority of Iranians want: They want an end to the current Islamic regime. One year ago, the Obama administration missed an opportunity to support Iran's uprising. They mistakenly calculated that back-door negotiations with Iran's clerics and promises made by its rulers would bring cooperation on the nuclear issue. The Americans were...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials euthanized a 60-pound female black bear Thursday afternoon that attacked a hiker and ended up becoming an Internet cause celebre. Wildlife biologists determined the young bear that park rangers captured May 13 bit the foot of an unidentified man who got too close with a camera as he was hiking along the popular Laurel Falls Trail the day before. Park spokeswoman Nancy Gray said park policy dictates that all animals who attack humans must be euthanized. The bear was put down "in a humane manner," according to a National Park Service news release Thursday.

Democrats and their media allies are counting on voters forgetting the intensity of their opposition to ObamaCare and other elements of the state takeover of parts of American life formerly safely in private hands. "Six months is an eternity in politics," goes the mantra they chant to reassure themselves that retribution at the polls will not be so terribly bad for them, because, after all, the common folk are pretty stupid and unable to carry an idea for very long. Dr. Chris Link disagrees. Laughter is a potent remedy to forgetfulness. He has produced, with his family, a charming video...

Remember when the Left proudly create their weapon of personal and political destruction: "Borking?" They successfully opposed the nomination of Judge Robert Bork by throwing out every wild and unfounded allegation they could at Judge Bork in hopes that some of them would stick. They gave no consideration to the truth of the charges, the charge was simply made to create a perception of Mr. Bork that would damage his chances of being elevated to the Supreme Court. When President Reagan withdrew the nomination, the Left strode to the microphones to proudly proclaim that they had created a new form...

Washington (CNN) -- Five more House Democrats said Tuesday that they will vote against Senate health care legislation, which puts opponents of reform just 11 votes shy of the 216 needed to prevent President Obama from scoring a major victory on his top domestic priority. An ongoing CNN analysis shows that opposition in the House to the Senate health care plan has reached 205 members. A total of 27 House Democrats, including nine who supported the House plan in November, have indicated that they would join a unified Republican caucus in opposing the Senate plan, which passed in that chamber...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama vowed Saturday to salvage his health reform drive and crusade for change despite a "blizzard" of opposition, as he left a snow-buried White House to rally wavering Democrats. Obama motorcaded through deserted Washington streets during a historic winter storm to fire up a party rocked by panic and disaffection after the president's reform drive hit a roadblock ahead of mid-term polls in November. "(It's) good to be among friends. So committed to the future of this party and this country ... a blizzard ... Snowmageddon here in DC!" Obama told Democratic National Committee members...

As the Democratic party tries to conjure up new procedural monkey-business to ram Obamacare down our throats should Scott Brown be declared winner of today's Special Massachusetts Election, Rasmussen is reporting that support of the Democratic plan is at an all time low. The latest Rasmussen poll on the Democratic party initiative reports that just 38% of voters nationwide favor Obamacare, a tie for the lowest level ever . Fifty-six percent 56% of voters oppose the plan. As has been the case throughout the debate, those who feel strongly about the issue are more likely to be opposed. Just 18%...

An Iranian nuclear physics professor has been killed in a bomb attack in the capital Tehran, Iranian media say. They say that Masoud Mohammadi died after a remotely controlled bomb exploded near his home. Iranian media describe him as a "devoted revolutionary professor" killed by "anti-revolutionary" groups. It comes at a time of heightened tension in Iran, following June's disputed presidential election and mass protests against the government. Prof Mohammadi of Tehran University "was killed in a booby-trapped motorbike blast" in the city's northern Qeytariyeh district, Press TV said. It showed pictures from the scene of the blast, saying windows...

Voter Attitudes Towards Health Care Plan Harden - 58% Opposed Wednesday, December 30, 2009 Many have questioned whether those who favor or oppose the health care plan in Congress really know what’s in it. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey suggests that they have a decent understanding of the bill and that voter attitudes towards the legislation have hardened. While several individual components of the plan are popular, reminding voters of what’s included in the plan has virtually no impact on support for the overall legislation. This suggests that there are not major surprises in the legislation that will...

A Less Than Opaque Look At Mel Watt's Motivations To Kill The "Audit The Fed" Bill /snip The Tom Woods' congressional testimony last week Friday in favor of the 'Audit the Fed' bill had two very curious turns, he set off extremely hostile questioning from two congressmen, by the hearings Committee Chair Barney Frank and Representative Mel Watt. Every other Congressman that questioned Woods, and Fed General Counsel Alvarez, was seemingly concerned about where the money the Fed is printing is actually going. But not Frank and Watt. I discussed Frank's hostility, here. Watt was even more hostile. It looked...

"It ain't over till it's over," said the philosopher Yogi Berra. As every sports fan knows, momentum can change in a hurry. The opponent can make a costly mistake that opens the door, a key play can give your team the edge, or you may simply catch a lucky break that changes the course of the game. In what has become the defining issue of the moment, President Obama and the Democrats are attempting to paint passage of ObamaCare as inevitable, and survey ratings that many Americans expect some form of ObamaCare to pass. There are many hurdles to be...

The Iranian regime is increasingly unstable and its collapse has become a real possibility. Economic and international pressure, fractures in the regime, and the increasing hostility of the majority of the population to the government are factors that could prove fatal to the theocracy. As the Iranian government’s pillars continue to shake, a new generation of leaders is poised to fill the gap and take the country in a more positive direction. Let us take a closer look at this new generation of leaders to gauge what may ensue if the tyrannical theocracy falls. The most talked about leader is...

"Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." - George Orwell President Obama has been agitating for the authority to criminalize political opponents since he took office. First there was the raft of DHS reports profiling conservatives as terrorists. Then came the push for a new fairness doctrine, subsequently refined to be achieved in diversity regulations to be imposed on local radio stations. Following these attacks on free speech was the much debated hate crimes legislation, considered by many to be a back-door path to silencing critics of the administration. But, while dangerous to...

"Thousands of people have gathered at a mosque in Guinea's capital, Conakry, to identify those killed in Monday's opposition rally against military rule ... Soldiers used live rounds against huge crowds of protesters on Monday ... Eyewitnesses have told human rights groups of soldiers raping women in the streets during the crackdown ..."

Here we go again. We've seen this scenario many times before: 1. Politicians propose legislation sure to cost the productive classes billions more of their money; 2. Seeing little benefit from the proposal, citizens show their anger in opposition to it; 3. With help from the legacy media, controversy and confusion ensue among the public; 4. Politicians create focus groups and polls to identify opportunities for "clarification" of the plan; 5. Highlighting obscure details as solutions to real problems and vilifying those who oppose them, supporters spin their message through every available media outlet; 6. The public grows weary of...

Racism is driving anti-Obama protests, says Carter Philippe Naughton The former American president Jimmy Carter says racism and fear is driving the wave of anger directed at Barack Obama as he tries to drive through comprehensive reform of the US healthcare system. The 84-year-old included in his analysis the heckling of a Republican lawmaker, who shouted out "You lie" at President Obama during his speech to Congress last Wednesday. “I think that an overwhelming proportion of the intensely-demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, he’s African-American,” Mr Carter told NBC...

Over rising opposition, Libyan leader Muammar el-Qadaffi has canceled his proposed Bedouin tent campout in Englewood, New Jersey. The Libyan leader will instead stay in New York City as he awaits to address the UN General Assembly next month.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Iranian opposition leader Mir Hussein Moussavi announced the formation of a new social and political movement on his Web site on Saturday, following through on a promise made last month and defying a renewed government campaign of intimidation aimed at him and his supporters. The movement is not a political party — which would require a government permit — but a “grass-roots and social network” that will promote democracy and adherence to the law, Mr. Moussavi wrote in a statement on his site. It is to be known as the Green Way of Hope,...

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley confirmed Monday that a new housing development in east Jerusalem had been a topic of conversation last week during a meeting between senior US diplomats and Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren. Crowley said US opposition to construction in east Jerusalem and settlements in the West Bank had not changed. "We have made our views known to Israel," he told reporters. "Our views are not new either: that this kind of construction is the type ... of issue that should be subject to permanent-status negotiations."

Finally, we’re starting to see him sweat. President Barack Obama made his personal icy cool the trademark of his campaign, the tenor of his White House and the hallmark of an early run of successes at home and abroad. But as the glamour wears off and a long, frustrating summer wears on, he is being forced to improvise, stooping to respond to political foes and adjusting his tactics and demeanor for the trench warfare of a legislative agenda. The root of the change is one that faces every president: Economic and international realities that resist political charm. Iran and North...

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has told Mousavi to pursue his demands through the electoral system and called for Iranians to unite behind their Islamic government, an extraordinary appeal in response to tensions over the presidential vote. But Mousavi appears unwilling to back down, issuing on his Web site a call for a mass demonstration Thursday. "We want a peaceful rally to protest the unhealthy trend of the election and realize our goal of annulling the results," Mousavi said. He called for his followers to wear or carry black in mourning for the alleged election fraud and the deaths of...

One day after signing the $410 billion omnibus funding bill into law, along with provisions ending the Department of Transportation's Mexican truck demonstration project, the Obama administration has announced intentions to restart the program as soon as possible.

Rush Limbaugh ‘just an entertainer?" Well, Mark Twain was an entertainer. But he was also one of the finest satirical voices in our history, a searing mocker of our national conscience at the time of slavery. He made people laugh until it hurt, but his aim was fundamentally moral. For the Chairman of the Republican Party to call Limbaugh "just an entertainer" is both inaccurate and political suicide. Michael Steele saw that quickly, and apologized. ‘Nuff said. Steele allowed himself to slip on CNN's carefully scripted banana peel, but he knew better. Most of our media Neanderthals don't.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's call to raise taxes on high earners and greenhouse gas polluters met fierce opposition Tuesday from congressional Republicans and also a few Democrats. "I would never want to adversely affect anything that is charitable or good," Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said of Obama's call to limit high-income taxpayers' itemized deductions for charitable donations and mortgage interest. Republicans said the president's plan to charge fees to industries that spew greenhouse gases amounts to a stealthy tax increase for all Americans that will far exceed the new $400...

Liberty is punch drunk. Every day she absorbs a frenzy of body blows from the Obama administration that are sure to result in knockout, of not permanent hospitalization or a coma. Liberty is not the only lady under assault. Truth has been mugged and muzzled. She cannot be heard. We no longer have a free press. The media is silent about the excesses, abuses, cronyism, and outright corruption of the Obama administration. The media has traded its traditional role of watchdog for lapdog. It uses its bandwidth lavishing praise and worship in a sickening display of, well, a sickening display....

For example, Dr Eugenie Scott of the staunchly anticreationist National Center for Science Education (NCSE) revealed their agenda when she said: “ … I would describe myself as a humanist or a nontheist. I have found that the most effective allies for evolution are people of the faith community. One clergyman with a backward collar is worth two biologists at a school board meeting any day! … What we [such clergy and atheists] have in common is that we want to see evolution taught in the public schools … .”4

We are used to hearing hysterics from the left about the fearsomeness of the "Republican Attack Machine," even though evidence of its existence has been scarce. This is unlike the "Democrat Attack Machine," a term you will never read in the mainstream media, but which keeps humming along destroying innocent conservatives on a near-daily basis. But assuming there ever was anything resembling a Republican version of this machinery, it must be in the shop undergoing repairs right now. Check out the frightening display of partisan unity when Barack Obama met with Congressional Republicans today: Mr. Obama walked into a meeting...

On Obama's agenda, according to his White House website, is the goal to "encourage diversity in media ownership." Obama elaborates on the site that his aim is to "encourage diversity in the ownership of broadcast media, promote the development of new media outlets for expression of diverse viewpoints, and clarify the public interest obligations of broadcasters who occupy the nation's spectrum." The plan apparently aligns with longstanding Democratic suggestions to resurrect the "Fairness Doctrine." The policy was abandoned in 1987 under President Reagan when there were 75 radio talk shows in the U.S. Reagan opposed the policy because it required...

Reporting from Beirut -- Black clerical turbans bobbed up from the sea of long, curly hair and fashionable berets. Venezuelan leftists sought an interpreter to speak with Egyptian nationalists. Iranians handed out DVDs celebrating the assassin of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and baseball caps that carried a quote from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini: "Israel must be wiped out." Many snoozed during former U.S. Atty. Gen. Ramsey Clark's speech about American foreign policy in the 1950s. But all perked up when the Shiite militia Hezbollah's No. 2, Naim Qassem, delivered a fiery keynote speech slamming the United States and Israel's war against...

Bandera local farmers and rancher charge that the I-69 Trans-Texas Corridor Tier One Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) has failed to meet important environmental standards. Barbara Mazurek, Bandera County Farm Bureau President says that these failures are indicative of the problems that exist with the entire Tran-Texas Corridor (TTC). “Because these environmental standards have not been met, the Texas Department of Transportation should seriously consider alternatives to its current model,” Mazurek said. According to Mazurek, there are three main reasons that the DEIS is flawed. • It limits its analysis to alternatives that fit the TTC “vision” of a multimodal...

The House passed a $14-billion, stopgap bailout of the automotive industry on Wednesday night. But in the Senate, Republicans have the votes to prevent it. And despite urging from the exiting Bush administration, they appear poised to do so. This is big. Normally, lame-duck congresses concern themselves with far less consequential matters. The addition of seven or eight more Democrats in the next Congress may come weeks too late to prevent the bankruptcy (or, in the worst case, failure) of General Motors. In the hours leading up to the critical votes, NRO spoke with Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), a...