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I'd be bored too...

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders. The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring. Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest...

Women won at least 44 out of 80 seats in Rwanda's legislative elections, making the central African country the first in the world where men are outnumbered in the national assembly, the electoral commission said Thursday. According to provisional results, women won 20 of the 53 seats attributed in direct elections. In Rwanda's unique voting system, another 24 seats are reserved for women in an indirect vote. According to an official close to the youth council, a woman may also have won one of the two seats reserved for Rwandan youth. With 44 guaranteed seats, women would account for at...

Richardson: Bill Clinton ‘still ticked off at me’ By Klaus Marre Posted: 08/26/08 12:42 PM [ET] New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) said Tuesday that he has made up with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) after endorsing her rival but that he has not even spoken to Bill Clinton since then. The former president is “probably still ticked off at me,” said Richardson,

The spring before his wife began her White House campaign, former President Bill Clinton earned $700,000 for his foundation by selling stock that he had been given from an Internet search company that was co-founded by a convicted felon and backed by the Chinese government, public records show. Mr. Clinton had gotten the nonpublicly traded stock from Accoona Corp. back in 2004 as a gift for giving a speech at a company event. He landed the windfall by selling the 200,000 shares to an undisclosed buyer in May 2006, commanding $3.50 a share at a time when the company was...

An Ohio man says former President Clinton elbowed him in the face after a Sunday campaign rally in Canton, Ohio. The man told Cybercast News Service that he has not ruled out taking legal action against the former president. Robert Holeman, who supports the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), said he shouted Obama's name during the rally and then spoke to the former president as he was leaving the event. As shown on a videotape broadcast on MSNBC Monday morning, Clinton repeatedly wagged his finger in Holeman's face. At one point, Holeman said in an interview with Cybercast...

**EXCERPT** SILVER SPRING, Md. — After losing two caucuses and a primary to Senator Barack Obama Saturday, Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign seemed like it might need a prayer. Or two. And so Bill Clinton started off his day of Potomac Primary campaigning with a stop at the Temple of Praise, an African-American church in Washington, DC. Then he attended services — again — at another church: The Greater Mt. Nebo African Methodist Episcopal Church in Bowie, Maryland. Throughout his five stops Sunday — one in the district and four just outside the Beltway in Maryland — former president Clinton struck...

The man crowned as America's first black president for his unprecedented personal connection to the African-American community has abdicated the throne. By injecting himself into the Democratic primary campaign with a series of inflammatory and negative statements, Bill Clinton may have helped his wife's presidential hopes in the long term but at the cost of his reputation with a group of voters that have long been one of his strongest bases of political support. Illinois Senator Barack Obama won an overwhelming victory in South Carolina with the support of African American voters who made up 53 percent of the vote,...

What furious Hillary really knew about Bill’s affairsLast updated at 00:47am on 28th October 2007 Private life: New book could set back Hillary's presidential campaign with claims that she only stayed with Bill for her own political ends  Hillary Clinton's Presidential ambitions suffered a setback last night with the claim that she knew Bill Clinton was unfaithful long before his seduction of Monica Lewinsky. The only aspect of the sex scandal that is said to have surprised his wife was that his relationship with the White House intern lasted so long. And she was furious that he used the Oval...

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa: As thousands of people cheered along the Fourth of July parade route here, it was the tall man with the familiar white hair who made the crowd go truly gaga. "Bob Barker! It's Bob Barker!" two women shrieked upon seeing the former president, Bill Clinton, in the distance, as he and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York marched hand-in-hand. When the women realized who it really was, they seemed just as thrilled, shouting, "Ohhhh!" and clapping madly.

As the Senate is mulling the details of a compromise immigration bill hammered together by the odd couple of Sens. Edward Kennedy and Jon Kyl, and as members of Congress hear from their constituents over the Memorial Day recess, it may be worthwhile to put the issue in historical context. For most of our history, the United States had no restrictions on immigration at all. I am told that my Canadian-born grandfather was a "nickel immigrant": He took the five-cent ferry from Windsor, Ontario, north to Detroit roundabout 1896. This situation resulted from America's strong demand for labor, coupled with...

For right-wing conspiracy theorists, this is the belly of the beast—a dinner at the Four Seasons in New York for the 20th anniversary of Harvard's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. Portentous Ivy League professors, Upper East Side gazillionaires, Precambrian media pooh-bahs; Dan Rather and Al Franken and Paul Pelosi, spouse of the Speaker-elect. Almost all in attendance cheer the results of the midterms while bemoaning the demise of old media. Suddenly, shimmering over the tabletops, comes a vision of what was and might yet be again: in full plumage, arriving and departing separately per their...

One of the reasons President Clinton's astounding remarks Wednesday evening on the Coast were seen by so few other than those lucky readers in the habit of clicking onto the online edition of The New York Sun is that much of the event was closed to the press. Our correspondent, Josh Gerstein, tells us that not only was press access to the fund-raiser restricted but that tickets to the general public were also sold out. So he worked the line and eventually was able to purchase a ticket to hear the man who is still the most popular Democrat in...

So what if Bill Clinton tied New York traffic in knots just over a month ago with the Clinton Global Initiative Conference? And who really cares that his real birthday was more than two months ago? Ready or not, he's back. This weekend, the former President will be dining and drinking to 60 years with some of world's deepest-pocketed donors at a series of glamorous events around Manhattan, beginning Friday evening and ending with a cocktail party on Gramercy Park in the wee hours Sunday night.

Sen. Clinton says how Bush went wrong and offers her prescription for the war. Clinton met with the Daily News Editorial Board yesterday. These comments are excerpted from her remarks. "We have to deal with the Iraq we have, not the Iraq we wish we had. And the Iraq we have is a deteriorating, violent conflict that, if not technically a civil war, is about as close as you can get. Having been now on the Armed Services Committee for more than 3½ years, the uniformed military has tried to be respectful of the chain of command. They've been unwilling...

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Byron York exposes the pathetic nature of former president Clinton's defense of his failure to take out Osama bin Laden. Clinton rests his defense on Richard Clarke's book: "All I’m asking is if anybody wants to say I didn’t do enough, you read Richard Clarke’s book." But even in Clarke's pro-Clinton account, the former president comes across as hopelessly unserious. Here's how Clarke sums things up: Because of the intensity of the political opposition that Clinton engendered, he had been heavily criticized for bombing al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, for engaging in ‘Wag the Dog’ tactics to divert attention from...

Bloomberg cannot be posted to FR, so here is a link to the story:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBZvrM76tIlk&refer=worldwide_news

Between 1998 and 2000, the CIA and President Bill Clinton's national security team were caught up in paralyzing policy disputes as they secretly debated the legal permissions for covert operations against Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The debates left both White House counterterrorism analysts and CIA career operators frustrated and at times confused about what kinds of operations could be carried out, according to interviews with more than a dozen officials and lawyers who were directly involved. [Excerpted] It was common in Clinton's cabinet and among his National Security Council aides to see the CIA as too cautious, paralyzed by...

Former US President Bill Clinton (R) and daughter Chelsea Clinton (2nd from R), and former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright (2nd from L) listen as US Senator Hillary Clinton (not pictured) participates in a panel discussion titled Women and the Power of Economic Opportunity, at the Clinton Global Initiative, in New York, September 22, 2006....

WASHINGTON - Ex-President Bill Clinton exploded yesterday when asked why he didn't get Osama Bin Laden - and revealed that he had invasion plans drawn up to topple the Taliban and get Al Qaeda. Clinton was clearly annoyed when Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace said viewers had sent e-mails urging him to ask, "Why didn't you do more to put Bin Laden and Al Qaeda out of business?" After a string of related questions, Clinton became red-faced and, in a finger-jabbbing tirade, blamed a conspiracy of media and right-wingers for trying to blame him for Bin Laden's survival. When Wallace...

<p>FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON ON NOT CAPTURING BIN LADEN: 'At least I tried. That's the difference between me and some, including all the right wingers. They ridicule me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed'...</p>

A luncheon being hosted by American businessmen and investors at a swank restaurant for President Gen. Pervez Mushharaf today had surprise visitors King and Queen of Jordan, accompanied by former U.S. president Bill Clinton, in a warm gesture to the Pakistani leader. Towards the end of the function, the three distinguished visitors walked to the President in the dinning room amid cheers from the gathering. They went straight towards the president and warmly shook hands with him. Clinton happend to be in the same restaurant, hosting a lunch for King Abdullah and his wife. They said upon learning that President...

Press Release of Senator Reid SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP URGES DISNEY CEO TO CANCEL MISLEADING 9/11 MINISERIES Thursday, September 7, 2006 Washington, DC — Urging him to cancel the grossly inaccurate upcoming miniseries The Path to 9/11, the Senate Democratic Leadership today sent the following letter to Disney President and CEO Robert Iger. Disney’s subsidiary ABC erroneously claims the misleading miniseries is based on 9/11 Commission report and is planning to air it on September 10 and 11. Shockingly, the network is also planning to use the program as a teaching tool through Scholastic, potentially misinforming thousands of children about the...

Senate Democratic leadership threatens Disney with legal and legislative sanctionsby John in DC - 9/07/2006 06:02:00 PM This letter was sent today by the entire Democratic leadership of the US Senate. This letter is such a major shot across the bow of Disney, it's not even funny. It is FILLED with veiled threats, both legal and legislative, against Disney. US Senators don't make threats like this, especially the entire Democratic leadership en masse, unless they mean it. Disney is in serious trouble. Read it, then read my analysis of it below:September 7, 2006 Mr. Robert A. Iger President and...

Billy Carter, registered foreign agent of the Libyan government and brother of President Jimmy, urinated in public at the Atlanta airport. Sam Houston Johnson, alcoholic and brother of President Lyndon, claimed he was virtually a hostage in the White House and was followed by the Secret Service when he went out. Donald Nixon, budding entrepreneur and brother of President Richard, used his fraternal connection in the late 1950s to secure a business loan. You can choose your friends, but not your family. A number of politicians have found the axiom all too true. Mrs. Clinton’s brothers may yet play a...

HILLARY GOES NUCLEARPROLIFERATION IN THE AGE OF CLINTON by Mia T, 5.30.06     For more than a half decade, the Clinton administration was shoveling atomic secrets out the door as fast as it could, literally by the ton. Millions of previously classified ideas and documents relating to nuclear arms were released to all comers, including China's bomb makers. William J. BroadSpying Isn't the Only Way to Learn About Nukes The New York Times May 30, 1999 Nuclear is now very much in the news as a potential power source because of its lack of contribution to global warming....

The Washington Post today follows up the Times frontpager on the Clinton marriage with a column by veteran political commentator David Broder, titled "The Shadow of a Marriage," in which Broder hints that Bill Clinton has a girlfriend. He does so in a passage that critiques the Times piece: It touched only lightly on the former president's friendship with Canadian politician Belinda Stronach. Then Broder says that the character of the Clinton marriage is the "elephant in the room" with Senator Clinton—and thus, fair game in the political process. I genuinely wish the Clintons luck on this one. I'm never...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is getting her bid for a second term under way with a sometimes emotional 18-minute video that features praise from her husband and even some New Yorkers who opposed her candidacy six years ago. "I didn't vote for her. I think I will this next election," says Tim Damon, owner of Damon Rods in Potsdam, N.Y., whose company's Web site shows former President Bush with a Damon fishing rod. The video, previewed for The Associated Press, will be shown Wednesday at the state Democratic convention in Buffalo as the former first lady...

Bill and Hillary Clinton flew to Chicago together last month to deliver speeches a few hours and a few miles apart. And like any couple, they thought about having dinner at day's end. But life is not so simple when you are married to a Clinton. The former president kept a low profile and left early for Washington, in part to avoid distracting the news media from his wife's speech. They decided later that dinner would not work, so Mr. Clinton did what he often does: He rounded up some familiar faces — former aides including Joe Lockhart and Mike...

If Mary O. McCarthy should ever be so desperate as to need a character witness, or to require one so badly that she must stoop to my level, I declare in advance that I shall step forward pro bono. I am quite willing to accept that whatever she did or did not do or say about the surreptitious incarceration of al-Qaida suspects overseas (and let's not prejudge this), she did it from the most exalted motives. I accept this because, however much of her hard-earned money she threw away on making a donation to the John Kerry presidential campaign, she...

For eight years, Bill Clinton saturated the news media with his exploits in the White House. And now that he's no longer president -- and unlike most former presidents -- he's still getting major press coverage on a daily basis. It's understandable since without the adulation and love poured on the man known as Slick Willie, he'd be left alone with himself. And the reality would set in that beneath all the bluster and verbal gymnastics lay a man who's basically an empty suit. But for now, that is a non-problem for Clinton. For example, Thursday night Bill appeared on...

Like a lingering, nasty winter cold, Willie Brown is one politician the Golden State just can't seem to shake. To remove the notorious former California State Assembly speaker from power, it took a constitutional rewrite that imposed legislative term limits. And after Democrats lost control of the chamber to the GOP in 1995, voters were dumbfounded when Brown outfoxed them, manipulating two Republican surrogates Manchurian-style to retain power. When those limits finally prevented Willie from any additional time in Sacramento, he promptly ran for mayor of San Francisco, serving two terms from 1996 to 2004. Even as many Californians saw...

Before I post this at my website (link above), I thought I would give The Freeper Nation a chance to weigh in on this photo I have chosen for Tweleve Days of Christmas series at The Perspective. Enjoy!

PAHRUMP -- She has yet to apply for a brothel license, but former "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss has moved to Nye County and revealed the identity of the first man picked to work at her Stud Farm for women in nearby Crystal.

The former West Chester Friends School official who said she was fired because she had an affair with former President Bill Clinton yesterday accepted a $90,000 settlement judgment from the school and will end her discrimination case. Myra Belle "Sally" Miller, 66, sued in federal court in Philadelphia last year, alleging she was harassed and discriminated against when school employees learned she was once mentioned along with Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky and Gennifer Flowers. Miller, also known by her former married name of Sally Perdue, ... and was paid between $40,000 and $50,000 a year.

Snerdley looked it up. He found it. April 5th, 1992, this is during the campaign, Bill Clinton said, "And I will appoint judges to the Supreme Court who believe in the constitutional right to privacy, including the right to choose." So there Clinton did establish his litmus test. So it's okay for the libs to say, "We're going to get a pro-choice nominee. They're going to be pro-Roe vs. Wade," but somehow Republicans can't say this. Republican nominees say it. Republican presidents can't say it. "Weeeell, I have never talked to our nominee about that! You know, I don't have...

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005 11:48 p.m. EDT Hillary Clinton: Bush Ruined Bill's FEMA 2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was better organized to deal with disasters like Hurricane Katrina while her husband was president - an approach, she said, that was "rejected" by President Bush. "FEMA was the lead agency during the Clinton administration; it was in charge," Mrs. Clinton boasted during a conference call with reporters. "James D. Witt, the director, understood how to deal with emergencies."

Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky is heading to Britain to study in a Masters in Psychology program at the prestigious London School of Economics. The curvy 32-year-old, who shocked the world when reports of her sex antics with former President Bill Clinton hit newsstands, completed her first degree in psychology in 1995 before she started work for the former U.S. leader. Although the program incurs a staggering $22,000 for non-European students, the fee shouldn't pose a problem for Lewinsky -- she reportedly commanded six-figure payouts for her revealing interviews after Clinton's autobiography was published last year.

Bill Clinton's third inaugural Sunday, September 4, 2005 WASHINGTON -- Over a lifetime, Bill Clinton has exhibited a number of irresistible urges. One, more acceptable than others, was to be inaugurated, which, according to my dictionary, means commencing some office with ceremonies and ritual. According to Bill, he inaugurated himself into marijuana smoking -- but not inhaling -- at Oxford University in England. Five years later, he was sworn in as attorney general of Arkansas, then five times as governor of the state and twice as president of the United States. Now in 2005, Bill Clinton is looking for a...

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton on Monday said the government "failed" the thousands of people who lived in coastal communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and said a federal investigation was warranted in due time.

Porter J. Goss, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, delivered a long-awaited internal report to Congress on Monday night that is said to give a harsh assessment of the agency's performance before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mr. Goss, who was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee before his appointment last year as head of the C.I.A., hand-delivered two copies of the classified report to staff members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. The copies of the report, which is several hundred pages, were placed in committee safes and were not to be opened at least until...

There’s a tangible, almost merciful way that the postpresidency agrees with Bill Clinton. Here in Africa, where he’ll be spending the next seven days, he’s relaxed, smiling, pink. On the first night of our trip, in a faded old colonial hotel in Mozambique, he comes bounding to the dinner table in bright-white pants, a bright-white shirt, an almost-as-white sweater (knotted around his shoulders), and brand-new canary-yellow running sneakers, like some Queer Eye project gone cheerfully awry. I will soon discover that these running sneakers perfectly match one of his ties—he’s brought a whole array of pastel cravats for the Southern...

Diplomacy: Well, that was quick. Last Tuesday negotiators resumed "six-party talks" on North Korea's standing as a rogue, nuke-possessing nation. By Wednesday Pyongyang formally rejected the principal U.S. proposal. The rejection came as no surprise, given the quicksilver temperament of the Stalinist regime's leader, Kim Jong Il. What Washington wanted, after all, was a scheduled dismantling of his nuclear program in return for aid and security assurances.... In last year's presidential campaign, Democratic candidate John Kerry complained about the slow progress of the multilateral approach — odd, considering that he also, and incorrectly, lambasted Bush for pursuing a "unilateral" course...

HILLARY'S SECRET WAR The Clintons’ enemy list Posted: July 19, 20051:00 a.m. Eastern Editor's note: The following is an eye-opening look into New York Times best-selling author Richard Poe's revealing book, "Hillary's Secret War." Whereas Edward Klein's book on the New York senator reveals previously unknown aspects of her personal life, Poe's expose focuses on how Hillary Clinton and the left's "shadow government" have labored to put her and her far-left agenda in the White House by controlling the still-uncensored flow of real news to Americans – via the Internet.If that sounds too fantastic to be true, read on....

Ever since the 1992 election, books about President Clinton have become a virtual cottage industry in conservative circles. With titles like High Crimes and Misdemeanors, Slick Willie, and Legacy, conservative writers have made the case for President Clinton’s impeachment, thoroughly researched his background, and critiqued his Presidency. Indeed, many would conclude that there would be scarcely enough room on the shelf for another title about President Clinton. However, with the paperback version of President Clinton’s memoirs set to hit bookstores in early June, World Ahead Publishing has recently released Their Lives: The Women Targeted by the Clinton Machine by Candice...

WASHINGTON - Former President Clinton, defending his senator-wife's statements on abortion, said Wednesday that Democrats are held to a double standard. The comment came during remarks to Campus Progress, a left-leaning student group. He said young people in his party should speak directly to conservative voters. He contended that Republicans have defined the abortion debate in a way that boxes in Democrats. "So for example, if you're a Democrat and you have sort of normal impulses, you're a sellout, like when Hillary said abortion is a tragedy for virtually everybody who undergoes it, we ought to do all we can...

Below is Richard Poe's review of Edward Klein's The Truth About Hillary. To see his exclusive interview with Edward Klein, click here. The Truth About Hillary What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She’ll Go To Become President By Edward Klein (Sentinel, 2005) Can Hillary win the presidency in 2008? Yes, warns Edward Klein. In his new book, The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She’ll Go to Become President, Klein makes the case that, unless Republicans wake from their slumber, 2008 could well see a restoration of the Clinton...

Publishers are rolling out a string of new books about Hillary Clinton as talk heats up that the Senator from New York will run for president in 2008, USA Today reports Tuesday. Leading the parade of Clinton books will be "The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She’ll Go to Become President” by Edward Klein. The book goes on sale June 21, but an excerpt in Vanity Fair magazine’s July issue offers a taste of what’s expected to be an extremely harsh look at the former first lady. "Just as the swift boat...

Former President Bill Clinton, left, talks with Ball St. student Erin Graham of Muncie, Ind., as he....