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Investors will look to slew of economic reports to be released this week NEW YORK - Investors are just not sure where the economy is headed. And so the stock market may be in limbo for a while. After stocks stumbled last week on disappointing reports on housing and manufacturing, investors are concerned that the economy's rebound will be slower than originally thought. They may cool their buying and even resort to more selling until they are more certain that the strength of the recovery warrants extending the nearly seven-month-long advance in stocks

Obama got this question last night at the presser in Pittsburgh on Afghanistan... Watch how hesitant he is with the answer, does this sound like a President who wants victory?...Listen Carefully

Purported non Muslim Barack Hussein Obama made a presidential appointment of Muslim Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Arif Alikhan for a top job at the federal Department of Homeland Security. In his new job, Arif Alikhan will be Assistant Secretary for the Office of Policy Development at the Department of Homeland Security. Alikhan has been Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles--in charge of public safety for the city. Why Muslim Alikhan at the Department of Homeland Security you might ask? DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said Alikhan’s “broad and impressive array of experience in national security, emergency preparedness, and counterterrorism will make him...

Do you support the concept of a government-run health insurance program? Yes 19.8% No 67.1% Not sure yet 13.1% Total votes: 857

Posted: 9:23 pm EDT May 14, 2009 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Attorney General Bill McCollum will announce Monday that he's running for governor. A political source close to McCollum says the announcement will be made in Orlando. The source didn't want to be named because the announcement hasn't been made yet.

HAMPTON A Hampton man could face charges this morning after a domestic situation involving his 2-year-old daughter led to a house fire that spread to the suspect's pants. A 38-year-old man, whose name has not been released to the media, remains in a local hospital with burns. A name initially released to the media later proved to be incorrect. Police spokeswoman Allison Quinones said officers responded to a report of a domestic disturbance at 2:17 a.m. on Peachtree Lane and found the man standing outside the residence with a sharp object in each hand. When instructed by police to drop...

RICHMOND — Ammunition was running out so fast at a gun show late last year in Richmond that one man tried to grab a big can of .223-caliber bullets just as another guy was trying to pay for it. There was an argument. “One guy’s coming over his shoulder trying to grab” his can of 500 rounds of ammo, recalled Josh Golden, a gun and ammo dealer who was selling items at the Richmond Gun Show that day on Nov. 15. “They were his, and he was going to let him know that they were his.” In November, firearms transactions...

Run on the Banks Planned for 4/17/2009I have my doubts on whether the guys over at campaignforliberty.com will be successful, but they're attempting to organize a run on the banks on April 17th with the goal being a collapse of the Federal Reserve system - or at the very least to bring attention to Ron Paul's HR 833. They have a web site set up with some information here: http://libertyormayhem.com/

so how many more banks will fry

There is a run on gas going on in SC, TN and possibly Fl. links http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=63652&provider=top http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20080911/NEWS/809110232&title=Cars_jam_gas_lines_in_Ike_panic http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news924781.html

Talks To 60 Minutes About Her Bid For The Democratic Presidential Nomination If she becomes the first woman president, it will be the latest in a lifetime of firsts. (CBS) Senator Hillary Clinton never expected such a tight race. Last fall, she was ahead in the polls by a wide margin with no serious rivals to worry about. Now she finds herself locked in a fierce battle with her opponent Barrack Obama. But she's already won several big states and she's got her eye on two important primaries in early March, Texas and Ohio. With the Democratic nomination in the...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2008 – The tables have turned for al Qaeda in northern Iraq, as a surge of operations there in the new year has put terrorists on the run looking for new places to hide, a commander in the region said today. The shaded area of this map shows the Multinational Division North area of responsibility in Iraq. American Forces Press Service map courtesy of Fred W. Baker III.   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling, commander of Multinational Division North, briefed Pentagon reporters today from Iraq. Operation Iron Harvest, part of...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2007 – A combination of unceasing pressure by U.S. and Iraqi security forces and citizens’ anger at al Qaeda in Iraq’s brutal tactics have put the terror group “on the run,” a senior U.S. military officer said today. (Video) “The surge in operations centered in Baghdad and the surrounding belts and up in the Diyala River Valley have driven much of al Qaeda into the rural areas and has caused them to flee northward,” Navy Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. The recently launched Operation...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2007 – Dozens of military amputees will be part of a record crowd of 26,000 to run the Army Ten-Miler on Oct. 7 at the Pentagon. “It’s hard to believe we are on our fourth year,” Army Maj. David Rozelle said. “Our first year it was just a few of us, our second was 12, and last year we doubled to 24. This year we will be our strongest yet with 30.” Rozelle is team captain of “Missing Parts in Action,” the tongue-in-cheek name for a group of military athletes recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical...

Ancient humans walked but 'struggled to run' By Roger Highfield and Nic Fleming Last Updated: 12:01pm BST 11/09/2007 Ancient humans almost certainly walked upright on two legs millions of years ago but may have struggled to run at even half the speed of modern man, according to computer simulations. A University of Manchester study - presented to the British Association for the Advancement of Science Festival of Science in York- proposes that if early humans lacked an Achilles tendon, as modern chimps and gorillas do, then their ability to run would have been severely compromised. Our early ancestors preferred to...

Throughout 2006, the Democratic Party promised that it would provide a "New Direction In Iraq." They said they wouldn't cut the funding for the war. They demanded more troops, and they led voters to believe the plan was a plan for success via a new direction. They strongly denied it was a plan to abandon Iraq, but on election night, DNC Chairman Dean revealed to Chris Matthews that there never was a plan. They hadn't even formed a committee to brainstorm it. Since then, they've opposed sending more troops, opposed new plans for success such as The Surge, and they've...

Some companies have decided that suspension isn't enough of a punishment for Don Imus. Staples and Procter & Gamble announced that they are pulling their advertising from Imus' radio show following the shock jock's racially charged comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Texas marathon run in Baghdad   Wednesday, 21 February 2007 Story and photo by Spc. Stephen P. Kretsinger Sr.BAGHDAD — Hundreds of residents of the International Zone ran more than 26 miles this weekend, and it wasn’t to avoid incoming small arms fire.Almost 300 people ran in the AT&T Austin Marathon and Half-Marathon as well as the Baghdad Bombs and Bullets 5 miler in Baghdad Saturday. The event was open to anyone in the IZ that wanted to participate. People from several countries registered for the marathon.The event was organized by Capt. Hank Domeracki, chief of operations and liaison,Civil...

An 11-year-old girl may be alive today because a Good Samaritan saw her being dragged underneath a moving van and took bold action to force the van's driver to stop. The girl, gravely injured in the hit-and-run accident about 6 p.m. Sunday, remains in Regions Hospital in St Paul. Police Chief Manila "Bud" Shaver, who spoke with the girl's parents on Sunday night, said the girl's injuries are severe. He was checking on her condition today. The accident happened near the corner of Wentworth Avenue and South Robert Street. "I think she would have been dead in another block or...

WASHINGTON -- After sending strong signals for two years about a second run for the presidency, Senator John F. Kerry has held no public political events in more than two months, even as his potential rivals ramp up their own campaigns. Behind the scenes, Kerry has been more active, hiring several top operatives and hosting several major fund-raisers with Democratic activists, including a breakfast yesterday in New York City and a birthday event at his Beacon Hill home last month, where he raised $250,000. Aides to the Massachusetts Democrat said he is still mulling whether he should run again for...

It has been a discouraging time for many of us on Free Republic. Besides losing an election we now must select a Presidential candidate. We know we are up against both the Democrats and the mainstream media. Surely it is time to think through who we want and why. As 2008 approaches we will ask candidates, “Why are you running for office?” Some stumble but most will answer this question in one of two ways. Either they will claim a desire “to serve the people” or they will conservative issues they support. Adding personal and professional biographical material may flesh...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats, who won majorities in the U.S. Congress in last week's elections, said on Sunday they will push for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq to begin in four to six months. "The first order of business is to change the direction of Iraq policy," said Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), a Michigan Democrat who is expected to be chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee in the new Congress. Levin, on ABC's "This Week," said he hoped some Republicans would emerge to join Democrats and press the administration of President George W....

EU should run asylum policy, says Sarkozy By David Rennie in Brussels (Filed: 29/09/2006) National governments should surrender their powers to judge whether asylum seekers are genuine to a new "single European asylum office", Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to say today. The office would be staffed by officials on secondment from their countries, but would judge asylum applications according to EU rules. Mr Sarkozy, the French interior minister, is in Madrid for a summit of eight EU countries facing large flows of illegal migrants and asylum seekers. A copy of his speech to the summit was leaked to AFP, the...

Dear Friend, I remember when I was back home from Vietnam and veterans were speaking out against the Vietnam war policy, someone yelled at the vets: "You should support the troops." One of those veterans said simply: "Lady, we are the troops." With a war in Iraq gone horribly wrong and a Republican attack machine determined to smear those who speak out, there's nothing more important this fall than electing veterans to Congress who can speak out about Iraq with a special moral authority. And man, do we need them. Recently, John "Randy" Kuhl, a Republican incumbent House member from...

Opposition Democrats expressed outrage at a campaign by President George W. Bush's administration portraying critics of the Iraq war as defeatists reminiscent of those who tried to appease Nazis before World War II. Bush's top aides, including Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, delivered strident speeches last week describing the conflict in Iraq as a crucial part of the "war on terror," invoking World War II and the Cold War. "Can we truly afford to believe somehow, some way, vicious extremists can be appeased?" Rumsfeld asked in his address. Democratic lawmakers said the White House was trying...

Shops run out of money as Zimbabwe changes currency By Peta Thornycroft in Harare (Filed: 22/08/2006) Crowds filled Zimbabwe's banks and shops yesterday as they rushed to meet a deadline to acquire new currency after the government cancelled the old one. Three noughts have been struck off the new notes in an effort to reduce the huge volume of cash required for the simplest transaction in a land where annual inflation runs at almost 1,000 per cent. People had to hand in old notes by yesterday's deadline. But the task was complicated by an official regulation banning anyone from possessing...

A North Carolina man's condition deteriorated Monday after being injured last week in an event connected to an annual festival in Pamplona, Spain. Ray Ducharme's condition worsened since Sunday while he was in intensive care and he was receiving help breathing, Pamplona spokeswoman Begona Lopez told The Associated Press Monday. Ducharme was being treated for a collapsed lung and required a tracheotomy, according to a Web site maintained by his supporters. The latest update on the Web site www.pray4ray.com said Monday that Ducharme would be unconscious for three days while fluid was drained from his lungs. "This is a critical...

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2006 – President Bush kept his promise to a wounded soldier yesterday, jogging around the White House running track alongside Army Staff Sgt. Christian Bagge, who ran with his new prosthetic running legs. Army Staff Sgt. Christian Bagge, who lost both legs in Iraq last year when an improvised explosive device hit his Humvee, runs with President Bush on the South Lawn of the White House, June 27. Photo by William D. Moss  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The president and Bagge, who sported his PT uniform with "Army" emblazoned across his chest, hit the...

Scientists make water run uphill By Roland Pease BBC science correspondent Watch the drop move Physicists have made water run uphill quite literally under its own steam. The droplets propel themselves over metal sheets scored with a carefully designed array of grooves. The US scientists did the experiment to demonstrate how the random motion of water molecules in hot steam could be channelled into a directed force. But the team, writing in Physical Review Letters, believes the effect may be useful in driving coolants through overheating computer microchips. The physics at work here has been witnessed by all of us...

Dry run for bird flu strategy Matt Weaver and agencies Tuesday April 4, 2006 Britain's ability to cope with an outbreak of bird flu in poultry will be put to the test over the next two days as hundreds of officials take part in a simulation exercise on controlling the disease. Exercise Hawthorn is based on a scenario in which a deadly strain of the disease has just been discovered on a free-range farm in Norfolk. The scenario also involves two highly suspect cases at a turkey farm in the north of England and a battery farm in south Wales....

Democrats hold camp to train election activistsBy Lisa Vorderbrueggen CONTRA COSTA TIMES Posted on Sat, Mar. 18, 2006 Jim Dean, brother of ex-presidential candidate and Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, will deliver opening remarks today at a campaign activist training camp in Stockton, a site chosen because it's in one of a dozen congressional districts that Democrats hope to seize from Republicans this year. "Absolutely, we're in Stockton for a reason and that's Richard Pombo," said program director and East Bay Democracy for America volunteer Kathy Klein, referring to the seven-term incumbent Republican congressman. Nearly 200 people have signed up...

Lawsuit: "I Quit" nickname illegal in electionPosted: March 14, 2006, 05:34 AM PST NEW ORLEANS (AP) - One challenger in each of New Orleans seven assessors districts is running with the nickname "I.Q.", short for, "I Quit." All seven have promised that if they're elected, they would use their 90-thousand dollar salaries to hire a professional appraisal firm. But two lawsuits scheduled for hearings today in Civil District Court contend that the nickname is deceptive, and therefore illegal. The defendants are Chase "I.Q. Jones in the fourth District, and Ron "I.Q." Mazier in the fifth. The suit against Mazier has...

US-run jail in Afghanistan 'worse than Guantanamo' By Alec Russell in Washington (Filed: 27/02/2006) An American-run prison for terrorist suspects in Afghanistan has grown to rival and even eclipse Guantanamo Bay with hundreds of inmates in legal limbo, it was disclosed yesterday. Away from the spotlight focused on the more notorious detention camp in Cuba, Bagram, a US base north of Kabul, now houses about 500 detainees, claimed the New York Times. The situation there resembles the "legal void" that led to the Supreme Court ruling in 2004 giving Guantanamo prisoners the right to challenge their detention in US courts,...

Pushy new aides signal Hillary's run for White House By Alec Russell in Washington (Filed: 25/02/2006) Hillary Clinton has recruited two loud-mouthed consultants who masterminded her husband's "back from nowhere" presidential run in a clear hint at her own White House ambitions. James Carville, known as the "Ragin' Cajun", for his no-holds-barred approach and Louisianan roots, became the world's most sought-after election adviser after Bill Clinton's 1992 victory. Officially, he and his long-time partner, Paul Begala, have been hired by Mrs Clinton to raise funds for her campaign for re-election as a senator for New York state in November. But...

Police today captured two crocodiles being kept as pets at a house in southern Portugal. The crocodiles, each aged about 18 and measuring 2.5 metres long, were living in a closed back garden in conditions similar to those of their natural habitat, the Nature and Environment protection branch of the Portimao police, who found the animals, said. The German owner was charged with illegal possession of exotic animals. Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, crocodiles are protected species.

'Footprints' debate to run and run By Martin Redfern BBC radio science unit The markings in the quarry were first identified in 2003 It was a sensational discovery - human footprints said to be 40,000 years old, preserved by volcanic ash in an abandoned quarry in Mexico. The announcement, in July last year, created a flurry of excitement, but was then promptly dismissed by a second team of researchers who re-dated the rocks at 1.3 million years old, impossibly ancient to bear human traces. The original claim has not gone away, however. The first widespread evidence for the human occupation...

A bit foggy on ideas this week, I decided to see what the first picture was if I Googled for images on the word "chasm". Though this is not the first picture that was found, it is the first place that was found, and it's called "The Chasm" in Milford Sound, New Zealand. Now here's a mini-challenge: where's your favorite chasm*? It has to actually be (officially) named "chasm" -- gorges, canyons, and gulches don't count. (I did a bit more Googling, and found a mind-blowing... well, have fun.) *and no chasmas from Mars, either

Few Democrats willing to stand up for statewide races By Jason Embry By W. Gardner Selby AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Sunday, December 04, 2005 On the eve of an election year when the governorship, a U.S. Senate seat and other statewide posts are on the ballot, the Texas Democratic Party last week was urging visitors to its Web site to get behind four hopefuls — including the mother of NFL quarterback Drew Brees — running for the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals. Activists insist that their focus on races such as the 24-county judicial contest is not a sign that the party...

KIRKUK, Iraq (Army News Service, Nov. 28, 2005) -- Soldiers of the mortar platoon for 1/327th Infantry Regiment are training Iraqi Army troops of the Hawijah area to help advance their skills in close combat and joint operations with U.S. forces. Training begins every Saturday at Forward Operating Base McHenry for a platoon of about 40 Iraqi soldiers, and those who meet training standards graduate the following Thursday, according to 2nd Lt. Jason Lathey, the mortar platoon leader for Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 1st Bn., 327th Inf. Rgt. The training begins at the individual level with each IA soldier learning to...

Miss Run Amok stirs up a storm at America's most famous paper By Francis Harris in Washington (Filed: 24/10/2005) Civil war erupted at America's most famous newspaper yesterday, with senior staff exchanging public recriminations over the actions of a controversial reporter nicknamed "Miss Run Amok". The reader representative of The New York Times, a senior figure in the paper's hierarchy, roundly criticised both its editor and its publisher for their "deference" to the reporter, Judith Miller. ‘Misleading’: Judith Miller Ms Miller recently spent 85 days in jail for refusing to reveal sources in the affair of the leaked name of...

Big Easy 5K Run Aids Hurricane Victims The run raised more than $6,200 for the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund. By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Timmons 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment FORWARD OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, TIKRIT, Iraq, Oct. 21, 2005 — While Iraqi citizens were helping themselves take a step forward to a representative government during the constitutional referendum, some U.S. soldiers were helping those struck hard by Hurricane Katrina by donating time and money to the Big Easy 5K run held here Oct. 16. "I like to run and it was a good cause." U.S. Army...

NEW YORK - Arizona Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) is considering a 2008 run for president but says it's unlikely he'd take the No. 2 spot. In an appearance Sunday at a fund-raiser for a local New York candidate, the Republican seemed to humorously rule out ever accepting a vice presidential post. "I spent all those years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, kept in the dark, fed scraps, why the hell would I want to do that all over again?" he said, the New York Daily News reported in Monday editions. McCain, who ran for president in...

I haven't seen this posted yet, so here goes. The Army Ten-miler (race) was run this morning (Oct. 2). The runners left from the start line near the Pentagon at about 08:00 A.M. EDT. At around 8:40 the announcement was made that because of 'security concerns' and at the recommendation of the D.C. Police, the route was being changed - the runners would return to Virginia by Memorial Bridge instead of the 14th Street Bridge, and return to the starting point. We were also told that, unfortunately, the change made the race not official. Does anybody know anything more about...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2005 - Nationally acclaimed marathoner, Shirley Pratt, noted for her 21-run salute to veterans will be on hand to greet Army Reserve runners participating in the Army 10-Miler this Sunday. Pratt will be joining Lt. Gen. James Helmly, Chief of the Army Reserve along with noted actor and recently appointed Army Reserve Ambassador James McEachin in greeting Army Reserve runners and celebrating their completion of the race. Army Reserve soldiers from throughout the United States will be participating in this year’s event. They will be celebrated at the completion of the race at the Army Reserve’s “Hoohah”...

Apropos of yet another “will-he-or-won’t-he” media psychodrama starring Warren Beatty as a possible candidate, this time for the 2006 California governor’s race, I’m reminded of that dreadful 1995 movie, The American President. One line summarizes the Warren situation, uttered by Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd, while accusing a vocal critic of playing to the cameras: “This is a time for serious men, Bob, and your 15 minutes are up.” That’s why I wince every time Beatty pontificates from the sidelines of American politics, no matter if it’s preening from the commencement podium of UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public...

With rucksacks on their backs, the suicide bombers go on a dummy run By John Steele, Crime Correspondent (Filed: 21/09/2005) Three of the four London suicide bombers staged a "dry run" of their attack nine days before the atrocity which killed 52 people, police revealed yesterday. The men, dressed casually and carrying rucksacks similar to the ones in which they would later carry bombs, spent three hours in London checking times and security around an area between King's Cross and Baker Street. Mohammad Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer and Germaine Lindsay were captured on CCTV as they conducted the reconnaissance. Scotland...

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. (CP) - Locked-out CBC employees are blocking a satellite truck from driving to Signal Hill in St. John's where the network had planned to stage live broadcasts Friday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Terry Fox's historic run. The union that represents the employees is accusing the employer of using "scab labour." CBC management has denied the allegation, arguing the employees taking part in the broadcast are employed by an independent production company contracted to do the show. However, the St. John's local of the Canadian Media Guild issued a statement Wednesday saying said it would treat...

CLOVIS, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger all but declared Wednesday that he would run for a second term next year, saying, "I am not in this for the short run," and promising an official announcement Friday in San Diego. Speaking at a special election campaign event in this Central Valley town near Fresno, Schwarzenegger was asked by an audience member if Californians would get "a chance to vote for you again." It was the last question during a carefully planned "town hall" meeting at a window factory. The governor paused, smiled briefly and then revealed what he had been hinting...

HAYWARD, Calif. — Two men who had sex with a transgender (search) teen were convicted of murdering her after they discovered she was biologically male, but a third defendant's case ended in a mistrial. In their verdict Monday, the jury rejected defense arguments that the killing of 17-year-old Gwen Araujo amounted to no more than manslaughter (search). "It's murder," said Gwen Smith, who maintains a Web site memorializing people believed to have been killed because they were transgender. "And a murder conviction shows that transgender lives are valuable." Michael Magidson and Jose Merel, both 25, face mandatory sentences of 15...

Gov. George E. Pataki of New York is headed to Iowa this weekend for what associates described on Thursday as an exploration of whether he should run for president in 2008, reflecting what they called an increased likelihood that he would forgo a bid for a fourth term next year and turn to the national stage. Gov. George E. Pataki could grab the votes of G.O.P. moderates. Mr. Pataki's associates said he viewed the trip - as part of a visit by him to a National Governors' Association meeting, taking place in a state that begins the presidential selection process...