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Parents of 5-month-old appear in court to face first-degree murder charges, may be facing death penaltyPEORIA - Benjamin Sargent died with his eyes open, fists clenched and strapped into a car seat after eight days without food or water, the county's top prosecutor said Wednesday. The 5-month-old was dropped off at his parents' house on Feb. 4, wearing a bright-blue snow suit and strapped into his car seat. Eight days later, he was found in the same position, said Peoria County State's Attorney Kevin Lyons during a bond hearing for the parents, who are charged with capital murder for...

Democrat Dennis Kucinich quits presidential race, faces tough fight to keep House seat CLEVELAND (AP) _ Democrat Dennis Kucinich abandoned his presidential bid Friday to focus on a tough race for re-election to Congress. Kucinich, speaking at a union hall, told supporters who chanted "Dennis, Dennis," that he would work to keep his campaign promises, not as president, but as a member of the U.S. House. "I won't be president, but I can continue to fight for these important issues as the United States congressman representing the community that is first in my heart, Cleveland, Ohio," he said. Kucinich made...

Lincoln supposedly said: If I call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have? Five? No, calling a tail a leg does not make it a leg. Which brings us to the proposal to treat the District of Columbia as if it were a state. Today's Democratic-controlled Congress wants to give the District, by legislation, a full voting member in the House of Representatives. Having failed to achieve ratification of a constitutional amendment, sent to the states in 1978, which would have conferred statehood on the District (only 16 states ratified it, 22 short of the required...

With all the speculation about John McCain's bid for the White House, there's been little discussion about what would happen to his U.S. Senate seat if McCain actually won the presidency. The talk among Democrats is that Gov. Janet Napolitano might be interested in the job. Turns out if McCain vacated the seat it would be up to Napolitano to appoint a replacement to finish out the term, which ends in 2010. He or she must be Republican. In a recent article, Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, speculated that Napolitano would pick one of her GOP supporters "to serve...

'Cold cash' congressman facing challenge for seat8 other Dems on ballot seeking seat held by Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson Posted: September 23, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La.M The fallout from an FBI investigation into allegations of bribery – and the $90,000 in cash allegedly recovered from his freezer – apparently has U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-Louisiana, battling for his political future. Not only are there about a dozen challengers vying for his seat, which he's held since the early 1990s, but three of the state's former top Democrats have endorsed his chief opponent,...

INDONESIA is set to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council next month - a move that will bolster UN opposition to Israeli actions in the Middle East and hamper the prospect of sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program. The elevation to a non-permanent council seat would be a significant diplomatic victory for Jakarta and increase the international influence of Australia's key regional partner. Indonesia is virtually assured of the position after South Korea withdrew from the race at the weekend. It faces only Nepal in the vote for the seat, which is reserved for an...

NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio — The leading GOP candidate to replace U.S. Rep. Bob Ney is eligible to run in the primary, a county elections board ruled yesterday, denying a complaint filed by the brother of one of her opponents. The Tuscarawas County Board of Elections voted 2-1 along party lines against the challenge, which asserted that state Sen. Joy Padgett could not run because she already lost an election this year. One board member, Socrates Space, abstained from voting because his son, Dover law director Zack Space, is the Democratic candidate who will face the winner of the primary in...

Seat of female libido revealed 22:00 26 June 2006 NewScientist.com news service Andy Coghlan The precise part of the brain likely to be the seat of heterosexual desire in women has been revealed by experiments on mice. The study confirms that the hormone oestrogen is vital for arousal, but only in the specific area of the brain called the ventromedial nucleus (VMN) in the hypothalamus. Sonoko Ogawa of the University of Tsukuba in Japan and her collaborators in the US discovered this by blocking the effects of oestrogen exclusively in that part of the brain in mice. They did this...

WASHINGTON, DC (KNX) -- Congressman William Jefferson says he's staying put. Jefferson is the target of a federal bribery investigation after FBI agents found $90 thousand in cash hidden in his freezer. He denies any wrongdoing and says he has no intention of resigning his seat in the House. "There are two sides to every story. There are certainly two sides to this story,'' Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana told reporters, adding that he could not discuss details of the pending federal investigation. "This is not the time, this is not the forum'' to discuss it, he said. Jefferson declared...

The Republican Party's choice to replace jailed former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham remained up in the air Wednesday, with the two leading candidates separated by less than 900 votes and neither side claiming outright victory. With 100 percent of the precincts counted, lobbyist and former GOP Rep. Brian Bilbray had 19,366 votes or 15 percent of the vote in California's 50th District. Eric Roach, a venture capitalist who poured at least $1.8 million of his own money into the race, trailed with 18,486 votes or 14 percent. County officials said 10,000 last-minute absentee and provisional ballots were being tallied, with...

U.S. Senate set to confirm Alito to Supreme Court By Thomas Ferraro 1 hour, 22 minutes ago Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito walks into the office of Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) on Capitol Hill, January 30, 2006. (Jason Reed/Reuters) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito appeared certain to win Senate confirmation on Tuesday as President George W. Bush's second successful nominee to the Supreme Court. Following several days of debate, the Senate was to vote on Alito, who could move the high court to the right. Alito had a commitment from a required simple majority of...

SAN DIEGO -- Police in San Diego are looking for a potty perp. Someone swiped a high-tech toilet seat worth about $2,700. The seat is thermostatically controlled and circulates hot water to warm the bottom. The theft victim told police the specially made potty seat was taken from an unlocked storage facility. The man said he had the seat because he hoped to market it in the San Diego area, but the company that makes it wanted it back. He said he discovered the seat was missing when he went to get it.

New Delhi, July 1 (PTI) Pledging its "active" support to India becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Britain today said it would back the G-4 resolution seeking expansion of the world body but expressed difficulties in co-sponsoring it. "We believe it is right because of India's size and importance and if the Security Council is to maintain its legitimacy, it is quite proper to ask a country like India to be represented in it," British High Commissioner Michael Arthur told reporters here. Britain has been "very vocal" and "active supporter" of India's membership of the Security Council,...

29 June 2005: With Brazil being opposed by its neighbours, Canada and the US, its run for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council looks hopeless, and both Germany and Japan want it out of the G-4, and G-4’s ultimate disbandment, but only India is holding out. Diplomats said that German foreign minister Joschka Fischer had conveyed opposition to Brazil to India, Japan and Brazil itself, although until the G-4 resolution is moved after the UN General Assembly goes into session in September, India, Germany and Japan will try to push Brazil’s case. The United States, while conveying its...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Doris Matsui, widow of the late Rep. Robert Matsui, reported Thursday that she raised nearly $700,000 in six weeks for the March 8 special primary election to replace her husband in Congress. In fund-raisers held in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento since her husband's Jan. 1 death, Matsui tapped $691,867, including donations from congressional Democrats, political action committees and former Clinton administration officials. The totals greatly overshadowed Matsui's opponents in the heavily Democratic 5th Congressional District race for the seat held for 26 years by her late husband, also a Sacramento Democrat. Fellow Democrat Julie Padilla, a Sacramento...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- A Senate committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would require drivers and all passengers to wear seat belts in trucks, SUVs and cars. After hearing emotional testimony from family members of those killed in crashes, the Senate's public policy committee voted 10-0 to endorse the bill. It now moves to the full Senate, which approved similar legislation last year before it was blocked in a House committee. The bill requires people in front and back seats to buckle up in all vehicles with seat belts, with exceptions for trucks used on farms. People who cannot wear seat...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is reserving the remaining slot on the exclusive Rules Committee for Doris Matsui, the widow of her close friend, the late Rep. Bob Matsui (D-Calif.). Doris Matsui is expected to win his seat in a March 8 Democratic primary. Though the plum position is highly coveted by lawmakers who seek the floor time given Rules Committee members, Pelosi has had some difficulty filling it and it remains open after the rosters of nearly all the other committees have been determined. Pelosi’s first pick for the panel was Rep. Dennis Cardoza (Calif.), a member of...

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Corsi vs Kerry, 2: the Senate Seat Corsi sets his sites on defeating John Kerry again, this time it's Kerry's Massachusetts Senate seat. click on cartoon to see larger version   This is an email-able, copyright-ready graphic you can use in emails, on blogs, in flyers, on posters... anything that's noncommercial.

ANOKA, Minn. - Former boxer Scott LeDoux knocked out his opponent in a tight race for a seat on the Anoka County board. LeDoux, a heavyweight contender in the late 1970s and early '80s, defeatedincumbent Dave McCauley, receiving 51.2 percent of the vote to McCauley's 48.5 percent.

GOP hope is six-seat gain in Nov. By Jonathan E. Kaplan Senior House Republicans believe the GOP will gain about six seats in the Nov. 2 election, increasing the party’s majority in the chamber to 35, although they say it is too early to start making hard-and-fast predictions. Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), a former two-term chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), told The Hill: “It’s too early for that. We could do a half a dozen if it were today. But there’s a long way to go. I always waited until the first or second week in October;...

The Republicans had themselves a bit of sport messin’ around with John Kerry's head and schedule this week. The abuse was well earned. Kerry, you see, has missed almost all votes in the Senate this year while he's scampering about the country trying to become our next president. Kerry, who has nothing to run on save for his military service, decided to make a pilgrimage to the Senate floor this week to vote on a veterans bill. Veterans, you see, aren't all that thrilled with the hatchet job Kerry did on them upon his return from Vietnam. Maybe he...

Oregon Libertarian Tom Cox is following up on his promise: He said last year -- when he was chairman of the state Libertarian Party -- that Republican legislators in his state who voted to approve a tax hike would be opposed when they came up for re-election. He is now running against one of those Republicans. And his move has been noted -- and applauded -- by local media and lawmakers alike. The Salem Statesman Journal, in the capital city, pointed out that both Libertarians and some Republicans said they would do their utmost to kick those lawmakers out of...

Race For Boxer's U.S. Senate Seat Heats Up Fri Feb 13,12:10 PM ET TheKCRAChannel.com There was more sharp jousting Thursday between Republican hopefuls who want Barbara Boxer's U.S. Senate seat. Bill Jones and Rosario Marin each accused the other of failing to protect taxpayers. Her campaign calls a motor home the "Adios Boxer Express." But U.S. Senate candidate Rosario Marin's target Thursday during a Sacramento stop wasn't incumbent Barbara Boxer, it was fellow Republican Bill Jones. "He supported the biggest tax increase in the history of California -- over $7 billion. In fact, he voted for the largest tax increase...

Schwarzenegger breaks fundraising record at up to $500,000 for dinner seat Dan Glaister in Los Angeles Saturday February 21, 2004 The Guardian (UK) During his movie career, Arnold Schwarzenegger could demand the highest fees in Hollywood. And he's lost none of his knack for raising money now that he's a politician. Next week the California governor heads to New York for a dinner that is being billed as the biggest fundraiser in the history of politics. Guests have been invited to donate between $50,000 and $500,000 for a seat at the meal. Even President George Bush cannot command such sums....

House Republicans consider the idea farfetched but not impossible: They would like to win Dick Gephardt's seat next year. Gephardt is campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination and is retiring from Congress. At least seven candidates are running for his 3rd District seat, and many Republicans are keeping an eye on former state Rep. Zane Yates, who entered the race last Tuesday. Not that the GOP considers the race to be winnable right now - the area is a Democratic stronghold, to say the least, and several credible Democratic candidates are running. But Republicans say that if President Bush and...

PAINESVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- Of all the challenges the homeless face, Michael Padula may be in for his biggest to date. The 50-year-old homeless man living out of a van in a city park wants to run for city council. "I am not showboating. I am not doing this for the publicity," said Padula, a self-employed carpenter. "I would not wish my circumstances on anyone." However, Padula's opponent in Ward 2, eight-year council veteran William Horvath, says Padula should be removed from the November ballot. Padula has not established residency for one year, thus rendering him ineligible, Horvath said. Elections...

<p>WASHINGTON - For all the uproar over Sen. Rick Santorum's remarks comparing gay relations to incest, his leadership post in the Senate appears secure for now.</p> <p>Even the handful of moderate Republicans who denounced his comments have stopped short of calling for Santorum to step down as Senate Republican Conference chairman, a post that gives him outsized impact on the Senate agenda.</p>