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The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board is said to be considering removing former president Ronald Reagan’s name from the City’s airport. “National monuments should reflect an accurate picture of a society’s character and core values,” said Board Chairman H.R. Crawford. “Reagan symbolized a kind of ‘cowboy individualism’ that ran counter to the mainstream of American history. His political ascendancy was an aberration, a detour, so to speak, on the nation’s road to greater social consciousness. We shouldn’t be exaggerating that detour by having the City’s airport named after him.” Crawford suggested that “if we have to personalize it, LBJ or...

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ASHLAND, Ky. (WSAZ) -- A mother says the straws she bought for her three-year-old daughter were shaped like a male sex organ. Andrea Bailey says she went shopping at the Ashland Wal-Mart on Thursday, February 28th, and bought a package of fun straws for her three 3-year-old daughter, Ashlynn. Bailey says Ashlynn came in and used one shaped like a heart. A couple others in the package, though, were shaped like something different. “There are two of them that are shaped like the male private area,” said Bailey. “I called Wal-Mart and they very rude with me about it. They...

Straw ... proposals    It will be OK to bash a burglar     By GRAEME WILSON Published: Today     HAVE-a-go heroes who defend themselves against thugs and burglars are to be protected, Justice Secretary Jack Straw pledged yesterday. People who use reasonable force should not fear prosecution, he said. He is proposing reforms he says would protect people who ACTED “instinctively”, FEARED for their safety or the safety of others and used FORCE that was not “excessive or disproportionate”. Mr Straw – who has helped catch muggers or burglars four times himself – said: “Law-abiding citizens should...

A curious thing happened this year at the Maryland Republican Party booth at the State Fair: A GOP presidential straw poll was won by Ron Paul, the idiosyncratic congressman from Texas who is a fierce critic of the Iraq war. Perhaps just as curious was the Maryland GOP's decision to trumpet the results in a news release last week with the headline: "Maryland GOP Presidential Straw Poll Is a Big Success; Grassroots Candidate Wins Surprise Upset." According to the release, Paul received 263 votes, and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani (for whom Republican former governor Robert L. Ehrlich...

I was there to help count the ballots. These results should match the 'official' results which will be announced by the MD GOP in a news release tomorrow. Here are the results: Ron Paul - 263 (28%) Rudy Giuliani - 220 (24%) Fred Thompson - 188 (20%) Mitt Romney - 89 (10%) John McCain - 54 (6%) Mike Huckabee - 35 (4%) Tom Tancredo - 16 (2%) Sam Brownback - 12 (1%) Duncan Hunter - 3 (0%) Write Ins: New Gingrich - 17 (2%) Bob Ehrilich - 3 (0%) (Ehrlich is former Republican Governor of MD) Other - 11 (1%)...

The vote was supposed to be until 1 or 2 pm, but GOP security prevented registered Delegates from entering the building who were wearing Ron Paul signs at 10am. I was standing over by the Granny warriors when 2 delegates approached me and asked me to help them get into the convention center. They had showed up at the door a little before 10am wearing Ron Paul shirts. The security guard told them to change into proper attire. They left and changed then came back and it was now 10:10/10:20 and the security told them the registration was closed. Apparently...

Pictures and podcasts of Iowa Straw Poll can be viewed and listen to at http://symbibazo.com/dotnetnuke/

The much-hyped Iowa Straw Poll finally took place tonight, and the results are in. As expected, Mitt Romney was the victor. Of course, with top-tier candidates like Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson refusing to participate, anything less than a solid first-place finish would have been devastating to the Romney candidacy. Anyway, here are the complete results, along with my commentary: 1. Mitt Romney - 4516 votes - 31% This is roughly the same percentage George W. Bush got in 1999. And we all know what happened after that: the momentum from his victory here helped secure Dubya's place...

AMES -- Admittedly, this reporter was skeptical when numbers like 40,000 were thrown around when people were estimating the number of attendees at the Straw Poll. Now, we see where that number comes from. At 11:30, the crowd has arrived. Hundreds are chowing down on Hickory Farms barbecue under the Mitt Romney tent, while a smaller but still impressive number eats Famous Dave's next door at Sam Brownback's headquarters. At this moment, it appears that Romney's crowd is the largest. The former Massachusetts governor speaks to the assembled multitude first, around 12:45 CT, so his voters may be motivated to...

Thousands of Republicans – from Iowa and beyond – are strolling the grounds just outside of Iowa State’s basketball arena in Ames this morning as GOP candidates woo them with food, drink, music and games for the kids. Iowa GOP chair Ray Hoffman expects there to be more people here today than were here eight years ago when just over 20,000 voted in the Iowa GOP’s Straw Poll, a first test of organizational strength among the campaigns. “The wind is blowing just a little bit. People are out. Everybody's got a smile on their face,” Hoffman said of the crowd....

At a southeast Ames coffee shop Friday morning, U.S. Congressman Duncan Hunter mingled with guests, telling stories of life on the campaign trail and why he is the best candidate to be president of the United States in 2008. The gathering space was filled with a few undecided voters and a mob of Hunter supporters. It was the sort of scene that replicated itself at restaurants, cafés and candidate headquarters in Mid-Iowa throughout the day Friday as Republican senators, congressmen and former governors sought to generate excitement and the last few votes that could lead them to a better...

Dear FRiends, I'm leaving in about an hour to leave for Ames, Iowa "first in the nation" Presidential Straw Poll. I'm attending a delegation with Fair Tax that left from Dayton, Ohio about noon today, and is schuduled to arrive in Illinois shortly to pick some of us up. Being from Illinois, I had to patiecently wait through the 2000 primaries (my first as a FReeper), only to find out the original field of nine candidates had been cut down to three by the time my state voted. My preferred candidate at the time (Forbes) had dropped out long...

Looking for info: Does one need to be a Resident of Iowa to vote in the Iowa Straw Poll? Not the primary - the Straw Poll?

As the state Republican convention de-camped, the sponsors of a presidential straw poll in which 429 delegates participated declared unannounced candidate Fred Thompson by 44 percent. Consider it yet another sign — like fights over a budget veto and immigration — of restlessness among the base. Thompson came within three votes of matching all those gathered by Mitt Romney, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich put together. The poll was jointly conducted by the Young Republicans and the Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia. The results were as follows: Fred Thompson — 188 votes, or 44 percent Newt Gingrich —...

Fred Thompson has beat out all challengers in the WisPolitics 2007 GOP Convention Straw Poll beating out Wisconsin’s own Tommy Thompson by 11 votes. Maybe they all watched this video. For our commentary on Tommy Thompson’s speech and the entire 2007 WI GOP Convention with photos, click here. Here are the results:

I am wondering, when do we conservatives finally declare war on the mamby-pamby liberals who use our party as a platform against the Democrats, with no real difference in philosophy but rather a means for running a two card monty against us? When do we notify the Republican party that if they elect Rudy, McCain, or any other RINO, we will sit out the election and not vote? I think we should threaten to do this, and if our hand is called, lay it on the table. I am so sick of this. We have GW Bush, a "compassionate conservative"...

Leader of the House of Commons, Jack Straw sprang to the defence of Christmas today - insisting he wanted a "big conversation" with whoever suggested that decorations should be banned from offices. Mr Straw said he believed such "politically correct nonsense" was inspired by people wrongly "second-guessing" how sensitive others were about the issue. He said he had not come across anyone - atheist, agnostic, or of any religion - who held that people should not be allowed to celebrate the festivals of mainstream faiths. Christians were "delighted" to recognise holy days such as the Muslim festival of Eid and...

Not long ago in the hospital in which I once worked, a young male nurse was asked by the administration to remove the ironmongery with which he had recently adorned his face and ears. He was outraged by this assault on his inalienable right to mutilate himself in any way that he chose, which he believed to be narrow-minded. He was, after all, the owner of his face and ears in fee simple; they were his to dispose of as he saw fit. As it happens, he was a decent and dedicated young man, albeit one with the bad taste...

MUSLIM leaders have accused ministers of “stigmatising an entire community” and launching a “relentless barrage” against Islamic Britons.Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), has written to Ruth Kelly, the communities secretary, accusing her of pandering to an “Islamophobic” agenda. The letter follows Kelly’s announcement last week that the government was cutting funding and official ties with the MCB, which until now has been the main body representing British Muslims. One senior Muslim source said: “The government is pandering to a far-right neocon agenda which is promoting Islamophobia.” The MCB says in the letter: “In recent...

This week's Jihad Watch videoblog at Hotair explores the controversy that Jack Straw, of all people, has kicked up in Britain by suggesting that he'd rather Muslim women didn't wear the niqab when they come see him.

Gordon Brown has backed Commons leader Jack Straw over his comments on Muslim women wearing veils.The chancellor told BBC's political editor, Nick Robinson, it was important to "have a proper debate". Last week, Mr Straw said it would be better for integration if women did not wear veils as they were "a visible statement of separation". Earlier, Prime Minister Tony Blair said his colleague had been "perfectly sensible" in raising the issue. 'Cultural changes'Asked on BBC One's Six o' Clock News whether Mr Straw had been right to say it would be better for integration if people did not wear...

Straw UnveiledBy Robert SpencerFrontPageMagazine.com | October 10, 2006Jack Straw, the leader of the UK’s House of Commons and one of the most prominent members of the British Labour Party, has enraged British Muslims by saying on a BBC radio program that he would prefer that Muslim women not wear the hijab. Replying to a question to that effect, Straw said: “Yes. It needs to be made clear I am not talking about being prescriptive but with all the caveats, yes, I would rather.” Straw explained: “Communities are bound together partly by informal chance relations between strangers -- people being able...

AN unholy alliance of Muslims and far-Right extremists was last night threatening Jack Straw’s future as an MP as he was accused of playing the race card in a bid to salvage his career. Protesters took to the streets of Mr Straw’s Blackburn constituency yesterday to vent their fury over his call for Muslim women to stop wearing veils. One Muslim community leader, who helped him to get re-elected with a reduced majority of 8,009 last year, described the remarks by the Leader of the Commons as "like a family member going against us". One in four voters in Blackburn,...

The Government was plunged into disarray as a senior Minister accused Muslim women of being 'selfish' by refusing to stop wearing veils.Amid growing signs that the controversy is causing civil disorder, Commons Leader Jack Straw's deputy Nigel Griffiths claimed that women who cover their faces in public are ignoring the feelings of others. But a Government split emerged as Mr Griffiths was attacked by Race Relations Minister Phil Woolas who said: "In all honesty, I don't think these women are being selfish." Mr Woolas said outspoken comments by figures such as Mr Straw had provoked a dangerous backlash, with worried...

Communities and Local Government Minister Phil Woolas has become the second minister to join the debate over Muslim women who veil their faces. Wearing veils could provoke "fear and resentment" and play into the hands of far-right activists, he warned. In an article for the Sunday Mirror, he urged Muslims to be aware of the views of non-Muslims. His words follow Jack Straw's call for Muslim women to take off veils at his Blackburn constituency surgery.

Blair leaves Straw isolated in row over veils By Graeme Wilson, Political Correspondent (Filed: 07/10/2006) Jack Straw provoked anger yesterday by suggesting that community relations would be helped if Muslim women did not wear full veils. One of several mosques in Blackburn, which has a large Muslim population Jack Straw was left out in the cold by Tony Blair and Cabinet colleagues last night after he stepped up the row over Muslim veils by saying that it would be better if women discarded them altogether. The Leader of the Commons faced fierce criticism from some Muslim groups after disclosing that...

Cabinet Minister Jack Straw has said he would prefer Muslim women not to wear veils at all.The Commons leader said he did not want to be "prescriptive" but he believed that covering people's faces could make community relations more difficult. Mr Straw has said he asks Muslim women at his Blackburn constituency surgeries if they would mind removing veils. Some Muslim women called his remarks insulting, but other Muslims said they understood his concerns. Meeting strangersMr Straw is Labour MP for Blackburn, where about 30% of residents are Muslim. He sparked controversy when he told his local paper he asked...

JACK Straw, the former foreign secretary, waded into a race and sexism row last night after admitting he asks female Muslim constituents who visit him to remove their veils. Mr Straw, who is now the Leader of the House of Commons, said it led to better community relations and added that no woman had ever refused. But Muslim groups accused him of insensitivity and "selective" discrimination. But Mr Straw said he stood by the remarks expressed in an article with his local paper, where he said concealing a face was a "visible statement of separation and difference". He had felt...

Former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has revealed that he asks Muslim women to remove their veils when they visit him in his Blackburn constituency. The Leader of the Commons said he does it because he feels uncomfortable talking to someone whose face he cannot see. He said he makes sure a female member of staff is with him during his surgeries and, after explaining his position, asks the woman to take off her veil. The politician said he tells them that "this is a country built on freedoms. I defend absolutely the right of any women to wear a headscarf."...

Muslim women in the UK who wear full veils make "better, positive relations" between communities more difficult, Commons leader Jack Straw has said. Failing to show the mouth and nose was "a visible statement of separation and of difference", the MP wrote in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. Now he asks women who meet him if they would consider taking off their veils. But the Islamic Human Rights Commission claimed the Blackburn MP's request would cause selective discrimination. "It is astonishing that someone as experienced and senior as Jack Straw does not realise that the job of an elected representative is...

The Foreign Secretary spoke his mind on the Middle East — and became a target in Washington WHEN JACK STRAW was replaced by Margaret Beckett as Foreign Secretary, it seemed an almost inexplicable event. Mr Straw had been very competent — experienced, serious, moderate and always well briefed. Margaret Beckett is embarrassingly inexperienced. I made inquiries in Washington and was told that Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, had taken exception to Mr Straw’s statement that it would be “nuts” to bomb Iran. The United States, it was said, had put pressure on Tony Blair to change his Foreign Secretary. Mr...

Tony Blair's isolation over the Middle East crisis deepened last night after it emerged that Kofi Annan privately told Jack Straw of his anger at Britain's refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire. The UN secretary general's office denied last night that he had urged Mr Straw to put pressure on Mr Blair to abandon his close alliance with President George W Bush over not condemning Israeli military action. But two days later, Mr Straw, who was foreign secretary until May, issued a statement condemning some Israeli strikes as "disproportionate". His criticism led to a major Cabinet split over Middle...

Rep. Tom Tancredo's get-tough-first attitude on immigration reform is having a positive impact on his possible presidential run in 2008. The Colorado Republican won tonight's GOP straw poll in Macomb County, Mich., located in the Detroit metro area. Tancredo took about 18% of the vote of 325 votes cast at the Lincoln Day Dinner. Although it was only a plurality on a fractured GOP ballot, Tancredo beat out GOP heavyweights Rudy Giuliani, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Here are the complete results, courtesy of Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis: Candidate Votes Percent Tom Tancredo 60...

(CBS/AP) Two London papers have speculated this weekend that complaints by President George W. Bush forced a British minister from his post because of his opposition to the use of nuclear force against Iran. The Independent suggests that a phone call from the U.S. president to British Prime Minister Tony Blair led to the removal of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw Friday. The newspaper reports that friends of Straw believe Mr. Bush was extremely upset when Straw pronounced any use of nuclear weapons against Iran "nuts." Both The Independent and the Guardian write that Straw's "fate was sealed" after a White...

US Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice has made a "bittersweet" phone call to Jack Straw and his successor as foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said "she had no better or closer colleague than Jack Straw". He also said that Ms Rice looked forward to working with Mrs Beckett.

Straw softens tone as he offers Hamas financial lifeline By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 20/04/2006) Britain wants to have "normal relations" with Hamas and is seeking means of unfreezing millions of pounds worth of aid to Palestinians, Jack Straw said yesterday, in a striking softening of tone. Two days after a Palestinian suicide bombing killed nine people in Tel Aviv, the Foreign Secretary appeared to be moving away from America's policy of isolating the new Hamas-led Palestinian government and starving it of funds. Mr Straw wants normal: relations with Hamas He also appeared to adopt a more indulgent...

LONDON: When it came time to grab a few hours' rest before landing on a secret mission in Baghdad last weekend, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted that British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw take the bed in her aircraft's private cabin. Mr Straw was horrified when he woke to find that Dr Rice, one of the world's most powerful women, had slept on the floor so her guest was more comfortable. What one British newspaper called Bedgate reflects a growing friendship between the two and their bid to work more closely on issues such as Iran, Iraq and the...

LONDON (AFP) - Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was rapped for ungentlemanly conduct after reportedly commandeering US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's private quarters on her official jet. ADVERTISEMENT Rice was reported in a number of British newspapers to have graciously offered her British counterpart the use of her bed and cabin on the Boeing 757 plane and Straw ungallantly accepted, leaving her to sleep on the floor. What one newspaper called "Bedgate" is said to have happened as the political bedfellows flew to Kuwait at the weekend before transferring to a military flight bound for Baghdad.

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2006 – Iraqi politicians need to move forward, choose senior parliamentary leaders, and form a permanent government, America's top diplomat said in Baghdad today. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw talk to reporters during a press conference in Baghdad April 3. Defense Department photo   "The Iraqi people are rightly demanding that they have a government after they braved the threats of terrorists to go to the polls and vote," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw accompanied Rice, who arrived in Iraq yesterday. The...

Condoleezza Rice talks with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Sunday. BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterpart, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, flew to Baghdad on Sunday for a visit aimed at jump-starting the process of forming a national unity government. Rice and Straw -- who flew into the Iraqi capital Sunday from northwest England -- met with Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish politicians, who have been stalled in their efforts to form a government following the December 15 parliamentary elections."This is a really important time for the Iraqi leadership, for the Iraqi people, for...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw arrived in Baghdad Sunday, a British Embassy spokesperson said. The spokesperson declined to comment on the purpose of the visit, but it occurred amid increasing pressure on Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step aside as the Shiite nominee for a second term to break the stalemate in talks with Sunnis and Kurds on forming a new government. On Saturday, Shiite politician Qassim Dawoud joined Sunnis and Kurds in calling for a new Shiite nominee. The British spokesperson, who refused to be named due to embassy rules, said Straw would...

Tuesday, March 14, 2006The Straw Man Yesterday I turned on CNN International and promptly saw British Foreign Minister Jack Straw once again equivocating the Iranian nuclear threat with the "threat" posed by Israel's nuclear weapons and saying that once Iran is dealt with Israel will have to be dealt with. I don't know if this was merely a rebroadcast of his statement last Thursday or something new since I didn't catch the story from the beginning. Last week he added: If you want to see a nuclear-free Middle East, you've got to remove that threat from Iran, including the rhetorical...

Israel avoids wrangling with Straw Herb Keinon, THE JERUSALEM POST Mar. 13, 2006 Israel will not make an issue over British Foreign Minister Jack Straw's statement last week that after the world deals with Iran's nuclear "threat," it will deal with Israel's. Straw gave a lengthy television interview in Britain Thursday, following the decision to send Iran's nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. When asked about a "double standard" regarding Iran, Straw replied: "I want a nuclear-free Middle East. It's the policy of her majesty's government. We've been working to achieve that. We have ensured over...

Britain to Urge Europe to Help Iranians Win More Freedom March 12, 2006 Reuters /Madeline Chambers LONDON -- Britain will call on Monday for an expansion of global broadcasting in Iran and more material in Farsi published on the Internet in an effort to support Iranians' aspirations for greater freedom. At a time when Iran is locked in a dispute with the international community over its nuclear programme, Foreign Minister Jack Straw will say in a speech, extracts of which were obtained by Reuters, that the Islamic state is heading in the wrong direction. He will urge world organisations to...

British FM: Israel and Iran Both Potential Threats 23:51 Mar 11, '06 / 11 Adar 5766 By Ezra HaLevi England's Foreign Minister Jack Straw says that the world should worry about disabling Israel's nuclear capabilities as much as it is concerned with preventing Iran from going nuclear. Straw said Thursday that Britain is seeking a "nuclear-free Middle East." He said that Iran and Israel were the only two countries left that posed "potential threats" now that Iraq and Libya's nuclear aspirations have been neutralized. The foreign minister, who has made headlines in the past criticizing the Jewish state, conceded that...

Straw risks US fury over 'gulag' Guantanamo By George Jones (Filed: 22/02/2006) The confusion within the Government over Britain's attitude to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp deepened yesterday when Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, compared it to a Soviet-style "gulag". It was the most critical description yet by a member of the Cabinet of the camp where terrorist suspects are held indefinitely by the United States authorities. Jack Straw: comments are likely to anger the US Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, called last week for its closure, but Tony Blair said only that it was an "anomaly" which would...

Britain will not give up on diplomacy to solve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program, foreign minister Jack Straw said Wednesday. Military action is unlikely to be necessary and is "not on the agenda," Straw told the House of Commons' foreign affairs committee. He said there is no proof that Iran has a nuclear bomb, though he noted there is a "very high level of suspicion" about Tehran's intentions. "I really don't think it would be wise to speculate in an abstract way about the circumstances in which it might be on the agenda," Straw said. But when asked by...

Straw rules out threat of military action against Iran By Philip Sherwell in Washington and Colin Freeman (Filed: 29/01/2006) The international dispute over Iran's nuclear programme is heading for a showdown this week as American and British officials make a last-ditch bid to secure Russian and Chinese support for referring Teheran to the United Nations Security Council. Iran is engaging in a characteristic display of diplomatic brinkmanship as it gives off mixed signals about a Russian compromise proposal ahead of Thursday's emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. Jack Straw: 'The military option is not on...