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Humble salesman stuns judges with opera classic Makes Idol judge Simon Cowell's jaw drop May perform in front of the Queen A MOBILE phone salesman from Wales has stunned the judges of a British talent show with his rendition of an opera classic. Paul Potts, 36, sang Nessun Dorma – made famous by Luciano Pavarotti – for the judges on Britain's Got Talent TV show, who are searching for an act to perform in front of  the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance and win $A250,000. It was a daunting prospect, not only singing for a huge TV audience,...

Britt Hume introduced this segment at the end ofFox News Special Report this evening.This guy is a cell phone salesman and appeared on the British version of "American Idol" - Britain's Got Talent. His name is Paul Potts, he sings the aria Nessun Dorma from Puccini's Turandot, and he is magnificent. Brought tears to my eyes. Pay attention to the judges' reaction: even Simon Cowell was blown away.

Down To Business: Talent Shortage ? Employers Must Take Some Of The Rap Many tech pros are demoralized, thanks to knee-jerk offshore outsourcing and the post-bubble malaise. Employers must move beyond the "you should be happy you have a job" mentality. By Rob Preston InformationWeek March 3, 2007 12:00 AM (From the March 5, 2007 issue) Ask a dozen CIOs and tech vendor CEOs to identify their single most pressing challenge, and you'll likely get at least 10 different answers, right? Not exactly. In fact, they all come back to one overarching concern: finding, grooming, and retaining tomorrow's leaders. I...

Man... per CNN, with 80% reporting, Talent is at 799,007 while McCaskill is at 813,003...

Talent's race still looks do-able but St. Louis County, which used electronic equipment, has only 2 precincts reported--which is unbelievable---!!! And Kansas City shows nothing!

About to get out and doing whatever is to be done to help out today, but before going, I wanted to pass this along to those in the close Senate states that don't know it. Justice Stevens is NOT in good health. Check this thread out here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1733273/posts . Someone in his family has reported that his health is bad, and has some kind of illness, and at 86 that's very serious. The Senate races in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, Montana, Rhode Island are even more important with this news. Justice Stevens WILL NOT BE ON THE SUPREME COURT...

John Kerry's "botched joke"/habitual troop slander has soaked up most of the blogosphere and MSM's attention the past week. But under the radar screen, another embarrassing controversy involving the Democrats and the military has been brewing. Two separate Democrat ad campaigns--run statewide by Missouri Senate candiate Claire McCaskill and run nationally on CNN and FOX by failed Democrat presidential candidate retired Gen. Wesley Clark--have featured an Iraq war veteran identified as Josh Lansdale. First, watch the McCaskill ad (part of a "Missouri Voices" series with the usual "I'm Claire McCaskill and I approve this ad" endorsement at the end) in...

I have just arrived home from the local Talent GOTV effort today. I was privileged to sit in on the end of the day results tally. I am proud to report that the 2006 GOTV effort is smashing the record set in 2004, a presidential year, here in Missouri. They are up over 70% from 2004, and it is ratcheting up even higher. The man in charge of the 2004 GOTV campaign in 2004 got in on the conference call and was amazed at the numbers that the 2006 campaign is generating. Tomorrow is a big day with Ken Mehlman...

About 46 years ago, with no previous immediate family or personal involvement in politics, I began to study our government and the elective and judicial processes. As a local Jaycee president and eventually vice president of the Missouri Jaycees, through Jaycee programs I became aware of Americanism and the threat by outside ideologies to our freedoms. Even though I had an uncle who was a Democratic state senator in Arkansas and an active grandfather in that overwhelmingly Democratic state, neither my father, his associates nor myself and friends had even been politically involved until my Jaycee days. However, through study,...

Missouri's neck-and-neck U.S. Senate contest is heading into the final week with both major party candidates bringing in big names to help rev up potential supporters for next Tuesday's election. Among them: U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and President George W. Bush's press secretary, Tony Snow. Such marquee visits, along with similar big-name conference calls, underscore the national political importance of Missouri's contest between U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., and his Democratic rival, state Auditor Claire McCaskill. Missouri is among a handful of states where voters probably will determine which political party controls...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Opponents of embryonic stem cell research raised more money than supporters during the past few weeks, marking a first in Missouri's costly ballot battle over whether to write stem cell research into the state constitution. Campaign finance reports filed Monday showed the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures topped $30 million in its campaign for proposed Constitutional Amendment 2 on the Nov. 7 ballot. But during the Oct. 1-26 reporting period, three opposing groups actually brought in more money - totaling almost $1.9 million compared with the supporters' $1.3 million. The opponents' fundraising push came as poll...

After all their ads, attacks and debates, Missouri's two major candidates for the U.S. Senate are heading into the campaign homestretch in roughly the same spot as they were almost a year ago — deadlocked. U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, a Republican, and his Democratic rival, state Auditor Claire McCaskill, also are finding their battle increasingly entwined with the fight over Amendment 2, the ballot proposal to protect all forms of stem cell research allowed under federal law. The latest Research 2000 poll conducted for the Post-Dispatch and KMOV (Channel 4) found voters evenly split over whether to re-elect Talent or...

MICHAEL J. FOX was right--at least partially. "What you do in Missouri," Fox said in his now famous TV ad, "matters to millions of Americans--Americans like me." He never mentioned Amend ment 2. He never mentioned the word "cloning." He merely endorsed Democratic Senate candidate Claire McCaskill, the state auditor, and spoke against GOP incumbent Jim Talent. But the subtext was clear: Vote for McCaskill--and while you're at it, vote "yes" on Amendment 2. "As you might know, I care deeply about stem cell research," said Fox, a longtime and visibly suffering Parkinson's patient, in a spot that first aired...

If Republicans lose the Senate, it could be because of the issue that George W. Bush put on the national agenda in his very first televised prime-time address to the nation, serving as yet another reminder of how the GOP’s chances in next week’s elections are inextricably linked to his presidency. Although a Democratic takeover of the Senate is still less than likely, political oddsmakers point to the contest in Missouri as a must-win in any scenario that leads to such a changeover. And that race seems to be turning on stem cell research, the issue Bush introduced to most...

Finally starting to see some activity on behalf of Talent. In addition to what appears to be about a tripling of advertising activity here in St. Louis in the last few days, there has been a huge increase in telephone calls. Just this morning I've had calls from RNC (gay marriage), MO Republican Party (Tax increases), and one other call that I dont recall. Also got a flyer in the mail the other day from RSCC I believe. Still not seeing yard signs like I usuualy do for Jim here in West St. Louis County but several people have suggested...

Jeff Suppan is scheduled to pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the World Series at Busch Stadium, but his time on the mound will not be his only appearance on the baseball telecast. Suppan is one of several athletes in a political campaign commercial to be broadcast regionally during the Fox network’s telecast of the game. The ad urges Missouri voters to oppose stem-cell research and vote against Amendment 2 to the state constitution, on the ballot in the Nov. 7 election. In a video copy of the ad, produced and distributed by an anti-amendment group...

Pro-life advocates in Missouri have prepared a response ad to one that actor Michael J. Fox has made in numerous states that contains misleading information about pro-life candidates and their views on stem cell research. The new ads feature St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan and stars Jim Caviezel of "The Passion of Christ." ... A new study by Steven Goldman and colleagues at the University of Rochester Medical Center finds embryonic stem cells cause tumors when inserted into rats that have Parkinson's. As a result, patients like Fox would likely be killed or face severe problems if treated with...

Jefferson City, MO (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll shows that support for Amendment 2, the Missouri measure that would have the state support human cloning and embryonic stem cell research, is dropping fast. The level of support has dropped from more than a 2-1 margin to less than 10 percent. According to a new Survey USA poll released Tuesday, just 45 percent of Missouri voters say they plan to vote for Amendment 2 while 36 percent will vote against it and another 18 percent are undecided. That's a huge difference from the last survey the polling firm did just two...

*** Just outstanding guest appearance by Sean Hannity on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer, our 'Great American'!!! *** Hannity: Michael J. Fox Can Be Criticized for Stem Cell Ad Radio Show Host Says Ad Won't Affect Midterm Elections' Outcome Video link -http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2604613 (opens ABC News video player) ABC Talk Radio host Sean Hannity spoke to Diane Sawyer about the recent controversey caused by Rush Limbaugh's comments about Michael J. Fox. Oct. 25, 2006 — Conservatives came to the defense of talk radio host Rush Limbaugh over his accusation that actor Michael J. Fox's appearance in a political ad about...

One must be careful to make too much of a given Senate candidate appearing broke at the 3rd-quarter FEC filing time. After all, the national parties and major donors can rescue a strong candidate’s foundering finances. And certain costs, such as advertising, may even still have been paid up front. But when so many candidates from one party, who have been very strong, are suddenly out of cash, while the other party is cash-rich, something may be afoot. In this case, the Republicans continue to use their strategy which produced surprise wins in 2002 and 2004: They are keeping their...

Here Are The Results of SurveyUSA Election Poll #10438 Geography Surveyed: Missouri Data Collected: 10/21/2006 - 10/23/2006 Release Date: 10/24/2006 11:45 AM ET Sponsors: KCTV-TV Kansas City, KSDK-TV St. Louis MO Senate Seat Tips Back To Republican Incumbent Talent: In an election for United States Senator from Missouri today, 10/24/06, 2 weeks to Election Day, incumbent Republican Jim Talent rebounds to inch ahead of Democrat challenger Claire McCaskill, 48% to 45%, according to a poll of 630 Likely Voters conducted exclusively for KSDK-TV St. Louis and KCTV-TV Kansas City. This is a dramatic reversal when compared to an identical SurveyUSA...

Adult stem cell research, that is. I know, but watching Michael J. Fox's near-slanderous attack on Senator Jim Talent, you'd have no idea that when Fox says that Talent opposes research into "stem cells," he means "embryonic stem cells." And it's because Fox, tragically afflicted Parkinson's Disease, needs a cure. But Fox doesn't let on that, yes, even adult stem cells have yielded treatment for Parkinson's. Read the testimony of Dr. Dennis Turner, who suffered extreme shaking from 1991-1999 until adult stem cell therapy, conducted by Dr. Michel F. Levesque, helped give him four virtually pain-free years from treatment. Or...

 Results of SurveyUSA Election Poll #10405   Democrat McCaskill Pulls Ahead of Talent in MO, U.S. Senate Seat May 'Flip': In an election for United States Senator from Missouri today, 10/12/06, Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill leads Republican incumbent Jim Talent 51% to 42%, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for KSDK-TV St. Louis and KCTV-TV Kansas City. Since an identical SurveyUSA poll 4 weeks ago, on 9/14/06, McCaskill has gained 3 points and Talent has lost 5 points. McCaskill's advantage has grown from 1 point to 9 points. The election is in 26 days, on 11/7/06. Most of...

Democrat McCaskill Pulls Ahead of Talent in MO, U.S. Senate Seat May 'Flip': In an election for United States Senator from Missouri today, 10/12/06, Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill leads Republican incumbent Jim Talent 51% to 42%, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for KSDK-TV St. Louis and KCTV-TV Kansas City. Since an identical SurveyUSA poll 4 weeks ago, on 9/14/06, McCaskill has gained 3 points and Talent has lost 5 points. McCaskill's advantage has grown from 1 point to 9 points. The election is in 26 days, on 11/7/06. Most of the movement in the race comes from Independent...

WASHINGTON — In an unusual move, the Republican National Committee is investing heavily in television advertising in Senate races in Ohio, Tennessee and Missouri in what officials describe as a firewall strategy designed to limit Democratic gains in the Nov. 7 elections and maintain the GOP majority. The move reflects a desire on the part of Ken Mehlman, the Republican Party chairman, and other strategists to exercise more control over the drive to retain a majority, according to several Republican officials. They said the decision has caused friction with officials at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which historically has been...

Democrat targets The President’s approval ratings remain low and generic polls (“which party would you be most likely to vote for?”) give an edge to the Democrats, though perhaps by less than in the summer. So the seats most likely to change hands are ones the Democrats are targeting. Montana ought to be safe for the Republicans, and with another candidate, it would be. But Conrad Burns has been linked to uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, now convicted of corrupting public officials. Burns has been trailing for some time, and Montana now pips Pennsylvania as the Democrats best hope of a pick...

Surprise! Young Democrats Busted Vandalizing for McCaskill Gee... is this surprising?The young unhinged hoodlums just can't help themselves. The kiddies are caught vandalizing for Claire McCaskill VIDEO IS HERESomewhere Howard Dean is smiling.

McCaskill (D) 45%; Talent (R) 42%

This meeting was for Kansas City and Saint Joseph. This was the first NRA-ILA activism meeting I have ever attended, so I don't really have a reference point. That being said... The NRA has put together a 13 minute movie on the gun confiscations during Katrina that is incedibly powerful. I hope they stream it so we can spread it around (unlike the LaPierre/Peters debate that we had to buy). This movie will convert moderate anti-gunners as well as motivate the 80 million gun owners who aren't NRA members and who don't vote. The NRA rep said the movie isn't...

Geography Surveyed: Missouri Data Collected: 09/11/2006 - 09/13/2006 Release Date: 09/14/2006 11:30 AM ET Sponsors: KCTV-TV Kansas City, KSDK-TV St. Louis Talent, McCaskill Still Tied in U.S. Senate Race: In an election for United States Senator from Missouri today, 9/14/06, Republican Senator Jim Talent and Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill remain tied, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for KSDK-TV St. Louis and KCTV-TV Kansas City. McCaskill gets 48% of the vote, up 1 point from an identical SurveyUSA poll 1 month ago. Talent gets 47%, also up 1 point. McCaskill's 1-point advantage is within the poll's 4.6 percentage point...

Committeewoman Norma Leggette (4th Ward) isn't sure what the Democratic Party stands for anymore. She wonders how she's supposed to excite constituents in her ward about November's elections. Leggette said there are two Democratic parties in St. Louis - one that benefits whites and another that ignores blacks. "At one time, Democrats were a solution for us. I don't know when that changed or why that changed, but it has," Leggette told me. Her comments underscore a familiar complaint from blacks who claim the Democratic Party takes them for granted. Leggette voiced her concerns Tuesday during a rah-rah session with...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 -- Army Sgt. J.R. Schultz spent much of his down time in Iraq writing songs with his buddies. The endeavor paid big dividends when he entered the Dallas Songwriters Association’s “Songs From the Soul of Service” amateur songwriting contest. Army Sgt. J.R. Schultz was one of about 150 servicemembers who submitted original songs for the Dallas Songwriters Associations’ “Songs From the Soul of Service” amateur songwriting contest. He had two first-place songs, and a third song took a second place. “You Know Me,” his first-place entry in the country category, went on to take the grand...

U.S. Sen. Jim Talent's deluge of ad spending apparently has paid off. The latest Research 2000 poll for the Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV (Channel 4) found that Talent, R-Mo., has chipped away the edge held by his Democratic rival, state Auditor Claire McCaskill. With a little more than two months left before Election Day, the two are in a statistical dead heat. The Maryland-based firm's latest poll of 800 likely voters, conducted Monday through Thursday, found that 47 percent backed McCaskill and 46 percent supported Talent. Two percent supported Libertarian Frank Gilmour, while the remaining 5 percent were

U.S. Sen. Jim Talent's deluge of ad spending apparently has paid off. The latest Research 2000 poll for the Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV (Channel 4) found that Talent, R-Mo., has chipped away at the edge held by his Democratic rival, state Auditor Claire McCaskill. With a little more than two months left before Election Day, the two are in a statistical dead heat. The Maryland-based firm's latest poll of 800 likely voters, conducted Monday through Thursday, found that 47 percent backed McCaskill and 46 percent supported Talent. Two percent supported Libertarian Frank Gilmour; 5 percent were undecided.Advertisement Green Party candidate Lydia...

U.S. Sen. Jim Talent’s deluge of ad spending apparently has paid off. The latest Research 2000 poll for the Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV (Channel 4) found that Talent, R-Mo., has chipped away at the edge held by his Democratic rival, state Auditor Claire McCaskill. With a little more than two months left before Election Day, the two are in a statistical dead heat. The Maryland-based firm’s latest poll of 800 likely voters, conducted Monday through Thursday, found that 47 percent backed McCaskill and 46 percent supported Talent. Two percent supported Libertarian Frank Gilmour, while the remaining 5 percent were undecided.

WASHINGTON - A new poll shows Republican Sen. Jim Talent with a slight lead over Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill among likely voters in Missouri's U.S. Senate race. The USA Today/Gallup poll released Friday showed Talent favored by 50 percent of likely voters, compared with 44 percent for McCaskill. The margin of error was 5 percentage points.

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Sen. Jim Talent is not responsible for $3-a-gallon gas or the Iraq war, but many voters here are linking him to an unpopular commander in chief and say they will punish him at the polls because he is a Republican. Mr. Talent faces a significant re-election challenge in November, with Democratic state Auditor Claire McCaskill essentially running even with him in the polls. Voters in the increasingly frustrated electorate here, especially in economically challenged rural Missouri, say they likely will seek a change, even though they may disagree with the Democrats. Most voters interviewed said life "could...

Claire McCaskill is running against Jim Talent for the United States Senate in Missouri. But, Ms. McCaskill, it seems, has been the subject of a federal investigation into drug use. See the news clips at link.

Missouri State Auditor Claire McCaskill (D) has moved ahead of Senator Jim Talent (R) in the latest Rasmussen Reports election survey to lead the incumbent 45% to 42% (see crosstabs). The candidates were tied at 42% in our survey last month. While a 3-point lead for the challenger is well within the survey’s margin of sampling error, it is a concern for any incumbent to be so far below the 50% level of support at this point in the campaign. Four other Republican incumbents are in similar or even more difficult circumstances (Santorum in Pennsylvania, Burns in Montana, Chafee in...

The fight for control of the House is getting more ink than the battle for control of the Senate, but several recent shifts in individual Senate races merit attention. All year, talk about the Democrats' chances of taking the Senate has focused on the five most endangered Republican incumbents. They are, roughly in order of vulnerability, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Conrad Burns of Montana, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Jim Talent of Missouri. The discussions then turn to the second tier of vulnerable Republicans, speculating whether Democrats can perhaps pick up a sixth seat (the...

The first high-level research center opened by Microsoft was in Cambridge, England. The second was in Beijing. The research and development center that was established in Beijing has served as a model center for the company as it expands to countries like India (last year) and Russia (??). Long before multinational companies had started taking China seriously, Microsoft was already there, thinking of China as NOT just a potential market, but as a source of talent. Microsoft often takes a beating for its bully attitude. What should be said about its attitude for being a forward thinker in developing countries?...

Friends, Please vote in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch online poll for Sen. Talent. (Although unscientific, these polls do make an impression on the public and the self- indulgent press this early in the campaign, so showing a good performance is important.) To vote, click the link below and scroll down, the poll is on the right. http://www.stltoday.com/news

In our latest survey of the suspenseful race for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, Democratic State Auditor Claire McCaskill now nominally leads Republican Senator Jim Talent, the first-term incumbent, by 42% to 41%. That's a distinction without a difference, however, in a survey with a 4.5 percentage point margin of sampling error. Our three-poll rolling average shows a tie of 42% to 42%, confirming the competitive nature of the contest.

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2006 – The Defense Department is working on ways to use technology to save lives on the battlefield, and has created a full scholarship program to increase its talent pool of scientists, engineers and mathematicians, a top official said here recently. During DoD's Women's History Month observance at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial here earlier this month, Sue C. Payton, DoD's deputy undersecretary for advanced systems and concepts, spoke of technologies provided by "the best and brightest female scientists and engineers in DoD and the world." She noted that "dozens of exceptional women scientists...

Over the past 10 drafts, 2,521 players have been selected from 254 schools. 13 schools have had 39 or more players selected. 1. Tennessee -- 64 2. Florida State -- 62 3. Ohio State -- 61 4. Miami (Fla.) -- 60 5. Florida -- 56 6. Nebraska -- 54 7. Georgia -- 51 8. Michigan -- 45 9. Notre Dame -- 44 10. Southern Cal -- 40 11. Texas A&M -- 40 12. Wisconsin -- 40 13. Oklahoma -- 39 These 13 schools account for 26.2 percent of all players drafted (656 of 2,521) In the past ten drafts, there...

Defection from the anti-cloning ranks by Sen. Jim Talent, until now a rising star in the conservative movement, reflects deep divisions in the Republican Party created by the stem cell research issue. When Talent went on the Senate floor Friday to take his name off a bill to ban human cloning, he showed how those divisions imperil his re-election to a second term in Missouri this year. Talent had been a longtime co-sponsor of Sen. Sam Brownback's anti-cloning bill. But Missouri business interests who finance the Republican Party are backing a state constitutional amendment that explicitly allows human cloning to...

Director Michael Gavlak of This Way Pictures has teamed with a Reality TV Editor to create an innovative website where talent from anywhere and everywhere can connect with one another as well as with potential job providers (Casting Directors, etc).

November 11, 2005--Missouri voters may be in for one of the closest Senate races of Election 2006.The latest Rasmussen Reports Election Poll shows Democrat Claire McCaskill with 47% of the vote and Republican Jim Talent with 45%.[NOTE: CrossTabs available for Premium Members]Our previous Missouri poll found the two candidates tied at 46% each. Both candidates are now viewed favorably by 55% of Missouri voters.Both candidates attract 85% of the votes from their own party. McCaskill has a 7-percentage point advantage among unaffiliated voters.During Election 2006, Rasmussen Reports will poll at least once a month in every Senate and Governors' race....

Senators Jim Talent (R., Mo.) and George Allen (R., Va.) are holding a press conference tomorrow announcing that they are going to introduce a constitutional amendment to create a line-item veto.

September 6, 2005--Republican Senator Jim Talent is tied with his Democrat Claire McCaskill in the first Rasmussen Reports poll for this Election 2006 match-up. This early election poll finds both candidates attracting 46% of the vote. Talent narrowly won his Senate seat four years ago by defeating Jean Carnahan. Carnahan had been appointed to hold the seat on an interim basis after her husband died in a plane crash. McCaskill currently serves as State Auditor. Support for each candidate is closely correlated to perceptions of President George W. Bush. Among those who Strongly Approve of the President's job performance, Talent...