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The Obama administration filed court papers Monday arguing that a federal marriage law discriminates against gays, even as government lawyers continue to defend the law. Justice Department lawyers are seeking to dismiss a suit brought by a gay California couple challenging the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. The administration's response to the case has angered gay activists who see it as backtracking on campaign promises made by President Obama. In the court papers, the administration urges law's repeal but says that in the meantime, government lawyers will continue to defend it as a law on the books. The government's previous...

Time is running out for the legislatures in Arizona, California, Indiana, Mississippi and Pennsylvania to solve budget gaps. Reporting from Indianapolis and Denver -- The last time Indiana missed its deadline for passing a budget and had to shut down the government was during the Civil War. But on Monday, as lawmakers raced to hammer out an agreement over school funding, state agencies began preparing 31,000 workers to be temporarily out of a job. Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has warned residents that most of the state's services -- including its parks, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and state-regulated casinos --...

'I'm better off dead. I'm done': Michael Jackson's fateful prediction just a week before his death By IAN HALPERIN 28th June 2009 Genetic condition had ruined his lungs and left him unable to sing He became so skeletal, doctors believed he was anorexic He had nightmares about being murdered – and wanted to die He used swine flu as an excuse to avoid coming to England He thought he was agreeing to 10 concerts – it was 50 Whatever the final autopsy results reveal, it was greed that killed Michael Jackson. Had he not been driven – by a cabal...

We are already seeing Sen. Ensign being attacked by local liberals, and it is spreading to the national level. However, reserve your judgement for a moment. You must consider certain facts about the affair. * Ensign was separated from his wife at the time. * One they reconciled, he ended the affair. * The husband apparently demanded money from Ensign to keep quiet. So it will depend on your own value system as to whether he should really take heat for violating his vows. It would be understandable to hold scorn for Ensign since he slept with the wife of...

UPDATE, 5:55 p.m.: Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) has acknowledged an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer in a statement released by his office. "I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions," said Ensign....

I write this on the morning of the end of the once-mighty General Motors. By high noon, the President of the United States will have made it official: General Motors, as we know it, has been totaled. As I sit here in GM's birthplace, Flint, Michigan, I am surrounded by friends and family who are filled with anxiety about what will happen to them and to the town. Forty percent of the homes and businesses in the city have been abandoned. Imagine what it would be like if you lived in a city where almost every other house is empty....

An openly-gay, teenage boy was just voted "Prom Queen" at Los Angeles' Fairfax High School in a campaign that began as a stunt -- but ended up spurring discussion on the campus about gender roles and teen popularity. Sergio Garcia, 18, was crowned queen Saturday night at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. "I feel invincible," Garcia said in his tiara and charcoal-gray tuxedo. A few days earlier, he gave a speech that won over some cynics and led to an ovation and his unlikely victory. "At one time, prom may have been a big popularity contest where the best-looking guy or...

<p>LOS ANGELES – An openly gay teen was voted prom queen at Los Angeles' Fairfax High School in a campaign that began as a stunt . . . .</p>

Rick Strandlof, executive director of the Colorado Veterans Alliance and the man most colleagues knew as Rick Duncan, was front and center during the 2008 political campaigns in Colorado. He spoke at a Barack Obama veterans rally in front of the Capitol in July, co-hosted several events with then- congressional candidate Jared Polis and attacked Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer in a TV ad paid for by the national group Votevets.org. And the mostly Democratic candidates he supported — looking for credibility on veterans issues and the war — lapped it up appreciatively. Now, politicians are dealing with news that...

Dan Walters: What’s Plan B if five ballot measures fail? ShareThis By Dan Walters dwalters@sacbee.com Published: Friday, May. 1, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 3A Prospects are rapidly diminishing for the five ballot measures that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders say they need to keep the state budget from drowning in red ink. So, one might ask, what's Plan B? Rejection of three measures (Propositions 1C, 1D and 1E) would have a direct impact totaling nearly $6 billion on the 2009-10 budget, which was supposedly balanced by Schwarzenegger and legislators in February. Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor has already...

State budget deal to be unveiled Monday Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross Sunday, February 8, 2009 Buckle your seat belts - the ride is about to get wild in Sacramento, with state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg planning to put a $42 billion budget deal up for a vote. The deal - a combination of cuts and tax hikes - is expected to be unveiled Monday, then put up for a vote Tuesday. Whether there are enough Republican votes to make it fly, however, is unknown. "Darrell has made it clear that there was no handshake agreement, and there may not...

CENTERVILLE, Utah — The man escaped with a few cuts to his arm, but the toilet made out much worse. Police say a man's gun fell out of its holster while he pulled up his pants after using the bathroom at a Carl's Jr. restaurant Tuesday. The gun fired when it hit the floor and shattered the commode. A few shards of porcelain cut the man's arm, and a woman in an adjacent restroom who was frightened by the noise reported she was having chest pain. Both people were checked at the scene and released. Police say they confiscated the...

<p>SCIENTISTS have warned that Christmas lights are bad for the planet due to huge electricity waste and urged people to get energy efficient festive bulbs. CSIRO researchers said householders should know that each bulb turned on in the name of Christmas will increase emissions of greenhouse gases.</p>

(11-19) 16:21 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- The fireplace police descended on the Bay Area on Wednesday. For the first time ever, residential fires are illegal under a new law, passed in July, that bans home burning on winter season Spare the Air days. The first such ban took effect at noon. Seventy inspectors from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District planned to spend the day and evening patrolling residential neighborhoods, looking for telltale chimney wisps. Violators will get warnings by mail. Repeat offenders face fines of as much as $2,000. The fireplace police say they are determined to keep...

A jury on Monday determined that the Holy Land Foundation and five men who worked with the Muslim charity were guilty of three dozen counts related to the illegal funneling of at least $12 million to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. The unanimous verdicts are a complete victory for the government, which streamlined its case and worked hard to carefully educate jurors on the complex, massive evidence presented in the trial. Guilty verdicts were read on 108 separate charges. The prosecution victory is also a major one for the lame duck administration of President George Bush, whose efforts at fighting...

First day back at work for the ‘Cuda, and it wasn’t uneventful. I’m giving you two versions, the nitty gritty 90-second hit from CNN and the extended director’s cut from MSNBC. No names are named, but the hint she drops about the NAFTA smear probably having come from one of her debate preppers is as heavy as a barbell. Who was in charge of prepping her? Among others, according to Fox News: Randy Scheunemann, her chief defender, as well as … Steve Schmidt and Mark Wallace, husband of Nicolle. Hmmmm.

House Democrats are bypassing renewal of the offshore oil drilling ban by including the entire Pelosi “drill nothing” energy bill in a draft of a Continuing Resolution. HUMAN EVENTS obtained a copy of the most recent House draft CR this morning. The Pelosi bill, HR 6899, fails to open more than a miniscule part of the available offshore drilling areas and -- even worse -- it establishes permanent bans on development of most other domestic energy sources (natural gas, oil shale, etc.) and does nothing to develop nuclear power. It passed the House earlier this month and is now languishing...

The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update finds John McCain continuing to lead Barack Obama, 48% to 43% among registered voters.

Family Of Subway Robbery Suspect Says Customer Shouldn't Have Pulled Trigger POSTED: 10:30 am EDT June 29, 2007 PLANTATION, Fla. -- The family of one of the men who was shot by a retired United States Marine while they attempted to rob a Subway sandwich shop said the customer shouldn't have pulled the trigger. According to Plantation police, two armed men barged into the Subway at 1949 Pine Island Road shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday, demanding money...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Senate candidate Al Franken says he will pay about $70,000 in back income taxes in 17 states going back to 2003. The Minnesota Democrat has been under attack by Republicans for failing to file tax returns in California for several years when the comedian-turned-candidate earned money there. Franken tells The Associated Press he never intended to avoid paying taxes. He says during the years in question, he paid his entire income tax bill to the city and state where he lived. Franken says he did this on the advice of his accountant, but that he...