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SAN FRANCISCO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he has struggled to turn himself from a joke-cracking bodybuilder and actor into a politician able to muster support for what he calls the big issues. --snip-- In the interview Schwarzenegger described himself as a "big-issue guy." --snip-- But knowing California cannot solve these problems alone, he has joined forces with four nearby states to fight global warming and discussed with Bush using the state as a catalyst for resolving America's health care problems, he said. Last year Schwarzenegger, accusing Washington of lacking leadership on the environment, paired with British Prime Minister Tony...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2006 -- The Iraq Study Group released its findings today in a report made available this morning to President Bush and Congress, and later to the general public. “We believe that the situation in Iraq today is very, very serious,” former U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton, co-chair of the bipartisan panel commissioned by Congress to examine the way ahead in Iraq, said at a news conference following the report’s release. “We do not know if it can be turned around, but we think we have an obligation to try, and if the recommendations that we have made...

A man accused of plotting to detonate bombs in Britain acknowledged talking about blowing up the Houses of Parliament, but said the suggestion was meant as a joke. Omar Khyam, 24, who is standing trial along with six others, denies conspiring to cause an explosion. He told jurors at London's Central Criminal Court that, while watching Prime Minister Tony Blair take questions in the House of Commons in "we just made a comment 'Can you imagine if you dropped a bomb right there and then? You would take out all the MPs (members of Parliament)." Khyam confirmed it was he...

WASHINGTON — President Bush expressed "serious concern" Saturday over the suicides at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay and directed an aggressive effort by his administration to reach out diplomatically while it investigates. "He wants to make sure that this thing is done right from all points of view," White House press secretary Tony Snow said Saturday evening. Bush, who is spending the weekend at Camp David, was notified at 7:45 a.m. EDT. Snow said it was during his daily intelligence briefing just afterward when the president voiced his concern over the incident and directed that the bodies be...

Last week Governor Schwarzenegger complained that the Federal government was not doing its job in keeping our border secure. He noted how porous the borders are, drug dealers, terrorists and illegal aliens get into our nation with only minor difficulties. Arnold is right, the purpose of the Federal government is to protect the borders, not create amnesty programs when you fail to do the job. But, local, county and state government agencies can also take a hand in this issue. Just as an open border is a magnet to those wanting to leave their home country, but not follow the...

Bush says global climate change 'serious' problem 34 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said global climate change is a "serious long term" problem and insisted that the United States, which rejected the Kyoto protocol, was leading research into finding solutions. Climate change was one of the key issues to be raised by British Prime Minister Tony Blair during a summit with Bush at the White House. Bush told a press conference afterwards, "I've always said it's a serious long long-term issue that needs to be dealt with, and my administration isn't waiting around to deal...

Far too few among the Christian community are willing to remain steadfast in their beliefs, in the face of the enormous pressures of liberal social change. Fortunately, Bruce N. Shortt exemplifies the meaning of such worthy resolve. Last year Shortt, along with T.C. Pinckney, made waves at the 2004 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) by stating the obvious. America’s educational system has, over the past several decades, completely degenerated from any pretense of promoting academics. Instead, it is primarily focused on a program of indoctrinating students towards countercultural social transformation. Relentlessly working to eradicate any references to God or traditional morality,...

I am heading to Iraq and I really need some financial advice/opinions on my situation. My wife is a school teacher (HS Special Ed) and I am now a soldier again, so our income is obviously not written about in the "Financial Times". My quandry is this-thanks to a very respected and generous family member who passed, we have $50,000.00 cash that I would like to do something with while I am gone for a year. If any of you pros on here can give me your 'opinions' on how that can make the most money in a year, I...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

I am starting a grammar thread at the behest of Xenalyte and TheMom. Post your most irritating pet peeves of grammar or usage here.

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Dear fellow saints of our Lord Praise be to the Lord Jesus How are you? We do pray for you. Yesterday we have visited Seenath. She is not improved. Becoming weaker and weaker. Tahira, mother of Seenath is totally discouraged and uneasiness. My wife Mercy stayed back in the hospital to pray with her, as well as giving them a company. My children Besly, Hepzy and Lesly are having regular classes tomorrow, so I returned back with the chldren. Please pray for everybody. In Jesus Pastor Paul Ciniraj, Salem Voice, Devalokam (P.O), Kottayam, Kerala-686038, INDIA. DO YOU LOVE ME One...

Kerry's Close So how can you tell when he's closing, people keep asking me. And when is he going to start? He is John Kerry, who I've watched in every election he's ever won. As best as I can tell, he started yesterday; the truth is, he really started today, taking questions and saying the same thing he did yesterday. For John Kerry, closing means discipline. It means defining the message, and sticking with it, hammering everything through it, until the end. "As I said in my speech yesterday," John Kerry kept saying in answer to questions today, and then...

Serious defects hit cell phone batteries, computer parts From wire reports July 18, 2004 Hundreds of thousands of computer parts and cell phone batteries have been recalled in recent weeks because of serious defects. No. 1 PC maker Dell recalled 38,000 Auto/Air Power Adapters connecting laptops to power outlets in cars and planes. Users may get shocked if they plug the wrong cord into the adapter. No. 2 PC maker Hewlett-Packard is recalling the memory component of 900,000 laptops over a problem that can make them crash or lose data. H-P blames memory-makers Micron Technology, Samsung, Infineon Technologies and Winbond....

The selection of John Edwards to be John Kerry’s vice presidential pick is a defining moment in this election. It is not a defining moment in the gooey “Kumbaya” way that the media has described, in which their hero, having selected the handsome young Senator, ascends to the White House rising on a gust of populist hot air. What it is really, is the final break John Kerry has made with seriousness and the idea that somehow he might manage as Commander in Chief. Prior to this selection, Kerry had shown dangerous signs of not being serious. For example, he...

SAN ANTONIO -- A strain of avian influenza found on a Texas chicken farm is highly contagious and far more dangerous to chickens than originally thought, and it has spread to live bird markets in Houston, federal officials said Monday. However, the flu is not the same strain that has killed at least 22 people in Asia, said Dr. Ron DeHaven of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The strain, found in Gonzales County in South Texas, poses little threat to people, said Dr. Nancy Cox of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Go here for entire story...Click here.

Climate change 'more serious threat than terrorism' The Government's chief scientific adviser says climate change is a more serious threat to the world than international terrorism. Sir David King's message appeared to be mainly directed at US president George Bush, who has launched a war on terrorism but faces accusations of ignoring environmental peril. Writing in the leading American journal Science, Sir David spelled out the accumulating evidence of global warming effects, and the dire predictions made by experts. He said if greenhouse gas emissions continued unabated, "millions more people around the world may in future be exposed to the...

KEENE, N.H. -- The bold plan for near-universal health care offered last week by Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri sent echoes across the entire Democratic presidential field. Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina, who were campaigning in New Hampshire over the weekend, were asked at voter forums if they could match it -- which, at this point, they cannot. Vermont's former governor, Howard Dean, a physician whose campaign posters proclaim "The Doctor Is In," paid tribute in his own acerbic fashion by trashing the ambitious Gephardt proposal as "pie in the sky." Dean has hoped...

<p>WASHINGTON — The federal government warned Americans on Monday to take its latest terrorism alert seriously and to prepare for a possible attack involving biological, chemical or radiological weapons.</p> <p>Clearly more worried than at any time since Sept. 11, 2001, officials recommended that citizens stockpile enough food, water and medicine to last at least three days, and have duct tape and plastic sheeting to seal windows and doors. They advised that Americans educate themselves on how to survive a possible attack with a weapon of mass destruction.</p>