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From left, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., Rep. Melvin Watt, D-N.C., and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., share in a laugh on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 11,2009, during a news conference following the House Passage for Wall Street Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

I pledge my allegiance to God, my country, the flag of the USA and not to one person!!!!

Over the past few years I have collected a lot of tools. With each move, my dad brings tools just in case things need to be fixed around the house. When he leaves, the tools stay behind, so I end up with a new saw, screwdriver or wrench. Then there are the tools that fix the sprinkler system, the tools that come with ‘some assembly required’ furniture, bolts that hang heavy pictures, bolts to hang light fixtures, and then just plain old regular bolts. Oh, and don’t forget the nails… tiny nails all the way up to the amazingly huge...

Cool tools really work. A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We only post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted. I found this website a few months ago and figured I'd share it. Some cool odds and ends. I am not...

So, it's the southern tip of Africa, about 70,000 years ago, and some humans have built a fire. Maybe it's to keep warm, or to cook up some gazelle steaks. To kill time, they do a little flint knapping — whacking one rock with another to chip off razor-sharp flakes. They use the flakes to cut meat or make spear points. After the fire dies down, someone drags a big stone out of the embers and tries whacking that, and discovers that it makes really good flakes: it chips predictably and the flakes are symmetrical and sharp. Eureka — pyroengineering...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House on Sunday pushed back aggressively against criticism that national security has been undermined by releasing classified Bush-era interrogation memos over the objections of some former CIA chiefs. "We are absolutely confident that we have the tools necessary to get the information we need to keep this country safe," senior presidential adviser David Axelrod said. "And we don't believe and the president of the United States does not believe that this is a contest between our values and our security. He thinks we can honor both and execute both. And that's what he's going to...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Meghan McCain warned a group of gay Republicans Saturday that there was "a war brewing in the Republican Party" – a war between the past and the future. "Most of the old school Republicans are scared s***less of that future," she told a gathering of the Log Cabin Republicans, a group of gay and lesbian party members. The 24-year-old daughter of former GOP presidential candidate John McCain pushed back against critics upset over her comments to CNN that she wanted President Obama to succeed, and played down her recent headline-grabbing feuds with conservative commentators Ann Coulter and...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Deprived of its main weapon to revive economic activity, the Federal Reserve opened a two-day meeting Tuesday to consider new tools to open up credit markets and tackle the worst crisis since the 1930s. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which began deliberations at 1800 GMT Tuesday, was expected to leave unchanged its base lending rates at zero to 0.25 percent as it mulls further moves to tackle the credit crunch and economic slump. An announcement by the FOMC is expected around 1815 GMT Wednesday. With the traditional tool of interest rate policy now exhausted, the central...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. listens during remarks of the Fiscal Responsibility Summit, hosted by President Barack Obama, not pictured, Monday, Feb. 23, 2009, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Henry Waxman (R) speak to reporters during the Fiscal Responsibility Summit hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington February 23, 2009. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., second fromleft, accompanied by, from left, Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. gestures...

Chicago Tribune  WASHINGTON -- The CIA's secret prisons are being shuttered. Harsh interrogation techniques are off-limits. And Guantanamo Bay will eventually go back to being a wind-swept naval base on the southeastern corner of Cuba. But even while dismantling these discredited programs, President Barack Obama left an equally controversial counterterrorism tool intact. Under executive orders issued by Obama last week, the CIA still has authority to carry out what are known as renditions, or the secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to countries that cooperate with the U.S. Current and former U.S. intelligence officials said the rendition program is poised...

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve, acknowledging the economy has continued to deteriorate, signaled Wednesday that it will keep using unconventional tools to cushion the fallout, including keeping a key interest rate at a record low for quite "some time." Specifically, the Fed said it is "prepared" to buy longer-term Treasury securities if the circumstances warrant such action. At its December meeting, the Fed said it was merely evaluating that option. The Fed agreed — with one dissent — to keep the targeted range for the federal funds rate between zero and 0.25 percent. The funds rate is the interest banks...

Limbaugh Responds to Obama [Byron York] According to an account in the New York Post, President Barack Obama yesterday told Republican leaders, "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done." With George W. Bush now off the stage, it may be that Obama and some of his fellow Democrats view Limbaugh, and not John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, or any other elected official, as the true leader of the Republican opposition. This morning I asked Rush for his thoughts...

Inaugural No-Nos: Strollers, Coolers, Backpacks and More... The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies has posted on its Web site a number of tips to keep in mind for those planning on attending the Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony and parade. Among the list of items banned from the festivities are baby strollers, coolers, backpacks, thermoses, umbrellas and signs. Go here for the full list and other tips about what to wear and what to expect.

DIY Network is looking for the coolest undiscovered tool in America! Click through our gallery of the inventions that have already been submitted, tell us what you think of them and give them your own ranking. Then, if you think you have an invention that’s equal or better, upload your own! If Chris Grundy and the Cool Tools team pick your invention, you could win $10,000 and be featured in a future episode of Cool Tools! Remember to include with your video: Your name and city Your invention A demonstration of your invention Don’t forget creativity and enthusiasm — they...

BERG v. OBAMA et al Plaintiff Philip J. Berg alleged that Defendant Barack Obama is not eligible for the Office of the President because Obama lost his U.S. citizenship when his mother married an Indonesian citizen and naturalized in Indonesia. Plaintiff further alleged that Obama followed her naturalization and failed to take an oath of allegiance when he turned 18 years old to regain his U.S. citizenship status. The case was dismissed on October 24, 2008. See Jurist for a summary of the dismissal. Tags: * barack obama Plaintiff: PHILIP J. BERG Defendant: BARACK OBAMA, THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE, THE...

They may only look like a couple of sharp rocks, but 400,000 years ago these stones may well have been used as axes to butcher woolly rhinos. Archaeologists were celebrating the find of the two rare huge hand axes found in a gravel pit at a Somerset quarry. Dr Laura Basell, Professor Tony Brown and Dr Phil Toms could not believe their luck when they spotted the pair at Bardon Aggregates' quarry at Chard Junction. And it is thought that the quality of the workmanship indicates it was not our own species wielding the deadly hand axes back in the...

AP story via Fox News. Link only Link

Ancient stone tools discovered in South Carolina Finds at Savannah River site could rewrite America's history By LIZ MITCHELL McClatchy NewspapersPublished on: 06/17/08 HILTON HEAD, S.C. — A local man has unearthed two ancient stone tools in an archaeological dig in Allendale County, S.C., a rare find that could provide more information about how early Americans lived. And if more evidence proves the artifact is a new type of tool and one archaeologists haven't found before, it could be named after Matthew Carey of Hilton Head Island. The 22-year-old University of South Carolina anthropology major volunteered at the Topper Site...

I recently had the need to purchase a new shower head. The local Lowe's only carried ones produced in China. I sucked it up and bought one. It leaked when installed as did the replacement, but I was able to correct the faulty replacement after a bit of work. Today I was at the local Ace Hardware store. That business had shower heads manfactured in America. I purchased one and installed it. It didn't leak. Ace Hardware also had a 3" trimming plane manfactured in the United States. I didn't need it but I bought it along with a tile...

ABC News' Kate Snow reports: ABC News has learned that Leeland Eisenberg -- the man accused of holding hostages at Hillary Clinton's Rochester, N.H., campaign office for six hours on Friday -- allegedly cited one of Clinton's campaign commercials when police say he entered the office and claimed to have a pipe bomb strapped to his chest. According to sources, the campaign office intruder was complaining about insurance issues and mentioned a recent campaign ad widely seen by New Hampshire voters. "She helped that guy, she can help me," Eisenberg allegedly told Clinton campaign staffers, referring to Joe Ward, a...

Hobbits mastered use of stone tools Leigh Dayton, Science writer October 09, 2007 HOBBITS may have had long arms and tiny brains but our new-found cousins were agile and smart enough to make stone tools used to fashion other tools, probably for hunting and butchering animals. What's more, they did so at least 40,000 years before modern humans arrived on their home island of Flores in Indonesia. The discovery comes from Queensland scientists who have studied wear patterns and residue on about 100 stone tools found with the remains of hobbits (Homo floresiensis) in Liang Bua cave by Australian and...

Archaeologists stumble on sensational find 4 October 2007 Prokuplje -- Serbian archaeologists found evidence of the what could be the oldest metal workshop in all of Europe. According to National Museum archaeologist Dušan Šljivar, experts found a “copper chisel and stone ax at a location near Prokuplje in which the foundation has proven to be 7,500 years old, leading us to believe that it was one of the first places in which metal weapons and tools were made in prehistory.” Archaeologists hope that this find in southern Serbia will prove the theory that the metal age began a lot earlier...

"It is a real beauty" - that's President George W. Bush's verdict on the brush cutter he was given by Fredrik Reinfeldt during the Swedish Prime Minister's visit to the White House. In a letter dated June 18th and released to journalists on Wednesday, Bush tells Reinfeldt that he has already put the brush cutter to use on his Texas ranch following the prime minister's visit in May. "Dear Fredrik: I was honored to welcome you to the Oval Office," the president writes. Reinfeldt was slammed by opposition politicians at home for not using the meeting to criticize US policy...

Paratroopers Trade Shop Tools for Security Duty Mechanics, cooks, medics keep watch for VIPs, dignitaries. By Sgt. Timothy Dinneen Regional Command-East Public Affairs CHARIKAR, Afghanistan, March 5, 2007 -- Paratroopers that once spent their days making sure Humvees were ready for battle as mechanics at Fort Bragg, N.C., have exchanged their shop tools for M-4s and are now the driving force outside the wire as part of Task Force Gladius’ personal security detachment. "I trained with them and know what they can do, and they can do their jobs,"Army Cpl. Timothy Cozelos Mechanics, cooks, medics and other 82nd Airborne...

Pfc. Elias Martinez (left) and Pfc. Katrina Nosbich-Stamp, both small arms and artillery repairmen serving with the 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, fix weapons at Camp Striker, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Chief Warrant Officer Christopher Shaffer. CAMP STRYKER — While 10th Mountain Division Soldiers participate in counterinsurgency missions, others in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team are contributing from behind the scenes. The 210th Brigade Support Battalion’s armament repair section is helping ensure Iraqi Army troops have the tools to complete their mission. In addition to repairing and modifying weapons systems for the brigade,...

New in Gaza: Priest, nun human shields Priest, nun from Michigan join dozens of Palestinians gathered at Gaza houses in effort to prevent bombing, say ‘If Israel claims family member involved in violence, arrest them, don’t’ destroy home populated by entire family’ Ali Waked Published: 11.22.06, 16:17 For the past two months, the IDF has been called activists and their family members in Gaza to warn them of their intent on bombing their homes. Palestinians have found away to prevent the bombings; dozens, even hundreds, gather at the homes of those wanted, thereby thwarting the destruction. In recent days, Father...

Last update on 2006-07-16 : Added some tools (mostly command line ones) and updated the links at the bottom of the page. Don't expect lots of additions any more. But you can build your own list if you like: Just download this construction kit, open the included CSV file with your favourite spreadsheet program and modify it to your needs. I use a simple Python script (included in the construction kit) to create this HTML page automatically from the CSV file. Do with all this stuff what you want to. If you like it or if you have any other...

KNIVES are no different than guns -- they both are "tools of death," says the mother of stabbing murder victim Andrew Moffitt. Paulette Moffitt has not failed to notice that knives have been used in two major crimes making headlines this week -- the brutal attempted murder of Karen Parker who was found in Britannia Park and the slaying of Sami El-Ghazal in a parking lot. "A knife and a gun, the only difference is that the gun makes noise. They both take lives," she said, yesterday during a dedication ceremony of a plaque to honour her son. The Moffitt...

An Iraqi Police dog attacks a mock insurgent. Department of Defense photo by Navy Journalist 2nd Class John J. Pistone. BAGHDAD -- It may appear to some that the task of restoring law and order to the streets of Baghdad is too daunting a job for the Iraqi Police. However, the officers of BaghdadÂ’s Rusafah Police Directorate believe that through proper training, hard work and advanced technology they can rid the city of insurgency and terrorism. The directorate recently unveiled some of its tools, showcasing a bomb-sniffing dog and a new secure communications system. The police also demonstrated an advanced...

(Windsor Locks-WTNH, Aug. 25, 2006 Updated 2:56 PM) _ State police tell News Channel 8 that this morning a passenger reported a prohibited item on an inbound U.S. Airways flight from Philadelphia to Bradley International Airport. The crew was alerted to the item just as it was scheduled to land; the plane landed safely around 9:00 a.m. on Friday. There were 50 passengers and five crew members onboard. All remained onboard for about 20 minutes as officials searched the airplane. A utility knife was found on one of the seats of the plane. Transportation Safety Administration and state police are...

Prehistoric tools, weapons discovered in Peruvian Andes AFP August 20, 2006 LIMA -- A team of Peruvian and US archaeologists have discovered prehistoric stone tools and weapons some 10,000 years old in an Andean town, the National Institute of Culture announced Friday. Stone axes, spearheads, and weapons were found in the main square of San Pedro de Chavin de Huantar, an Andean town some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Lima, officials said. "This discovery represents exceptional evidence of the presence of inhabitants in the Pleistocene era," the Institute said in a statement. The Pleistocene went from about 1.6 million...

Front garden yields ancient tools Only one other handaxe of this type has been found that is bigger The Britons of 250,000 years ago were a good deal more sophisticated than they are sometimes given credit for, new archaeological evidence suggests. It comes in the form of giant flint handaxes that have been unearthed at a site at Cuxton in Kent. The tools display exquisite, almost flamboyant, workmanship not associated with this period until now. The axes - one of which measured 307mm (1ft) in length - were dug up from old sand deposits in a front garden. "It is...

Berlin EARLIER THIS MONTH, several hundred people gathered in Nuremberg, the site of an Iran-Mexico soccer match, for a protest. Their concern was that Iran's president might fly to Germany to attend the World Cup match. According to a German peace activist newsletter, the crowd of protesters was most unimpressive, a bunch of losers really. Those denouncing Iran's head of state were a motley crew of "Christian Crazies," "anti-German Germans," and "cheering Persians," the last being "loyalists of the mass-murdering regime of the shah."It's not the first time I have wondered about Germany's real peace activists. Speaking of mass murder,...

Java Man's First Tools Richard Stone INDO-PACIFIC PREHISTORY ASSOCIATION CONGRESS, 20-26 MARCH 2006, MANILA About 1.7 million years ago, a leggy human ancestor, Homo erectus, began prowling the steamy swamps and uplands of Java. That much is known from the bones of more than 100 individuals dug up on the Indonesian island since 1891. But the culture of early "Java Man" has been a mystery: No artifacts older than 1 million years had been found--until now. At the meeting, archaeologist Harry Widianto of the National Research Centre of Archaeology in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, wowed colleagues with slides showing stone tools found...

THESE horrifying knives have been taken off the streets of Coventry in the last 10 days. They are examples of the kinds of blades police and the Evening Telegraph are trying to banish from the city during the One Knife One Life campaign. The campaign, which was launched in the city last week, aims to teach youngsters - and particularly teenage boys - the dangers of knives. Police say young people carry knives to make themselves feel more secure, or because they know other people do. They say they don't think about the potentially devastating consequences carrying a knife can...

Tools 'may be 250,000 years old' Archaeologists found the flint tools in Pan last summer Stone tools found at one of the South's most important early prehistoric sites could date back 250,000 years, archaeologists claim. The historic finds were uncovered at a former gravel quarry on the Isle of Wight during digs last summer. Flint axes found near Great Pan Farm, Newport, are thought to be of the sort used by Neanderthal man. Elephant teeth from the same period were also found. Specialists are now to carry out further investigations of the site. The Great Pan Farm site now looks...

Sikhs in B.C. are cheering the Supreme Court of Canada's decision that upholds the right of Sikh children to wear a ceremonial dagger to school. The case involved a Montreal student who wasn't allowed to wear his kirpan to school. Schools in B.C. have long permitted orthodox Sikh students to wear the ceremonial dagger. In its 8-0 judgment, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a total ban infringed on Gurbaj Singh's guarantees of religious freedom under the Charter of Rights.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2006 – The federal response to Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that the Defense Department is one of the only federal departments capable of playing a critical role in the nation's response to catastrophic events, a government report released today stated. In September, President Bush asked Fran Townsend, his homeland security adviser, to conduct a review about the federal response to Katrina. The result is a report titled "The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned," which outlines what was learned from the government's response to the hurricane and how to better prepare and respond to future domestic...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2006 – The Defense Department did not hamper the transfer of intelligence gleaned from the Able Danger program to other agencies, and the program did, in fact, yield useful tools for the counterterrorism effort, a senior DoD official said here today. In an interview before testifying at the House Armed Services Committee, Stephen Cambone, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, said an extensive DoD review found that there were no formal requests for Able Danger information before Sept. 11, 2001, from other governmental agencies to DoD. The review also found that no one within DoD did anything to...

NATIONWIDE knife amnesty to end the carnage on our streets was launched yesterday. The five-week initiative, running throughout the UK, is aimed at repeating the success of Operation Blade, which took thousands of weapons off the streets of Strathclyde in 1993. Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson yesterday vowed it would be just one of many measures to battle knife crime in Scotland. Victims of the scourge have included policeman Lewis Fulton, knifed through the heart in Glasgow in 1994 as he tried to arrest a teenage schizophrenic. Knives are becoming an increasing menace in the hands of young girls, too. Kirsty...

Tools unlock secrets of early man By Mark Kinver Science reporter, BBC News website Researchers are confident the tools are 700,000 years old New research shows that early humans were living in Britain around 700,000 years ago, much earlier than scientists had previously thought. Using new dating techniques, scientists found that flint tools unearthed in Pakefield, Suffolk, were 200,000 years older than the previous oldest find. Humans were known to have lived in southern Europe 780,000 years ago but it was unclear when they moved north. The findings have been published in the scientific journal Nature. A team of scientists...

1. DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against that freshly painted part you were drying. 2. WIRE WHEEL: Cleans rust off old bolts and then throws them somewhere under the work bench at the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls and hard-earned guitar calluses in about the time it takes you to say, "Ouch..." 3. ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning steel pop rivets in their holes until you...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2005 – Iraqi and U.S. forces continued to make progress in the fight against terrorism in the north-central region of Iraq, detaining suspects and netting weapons and ammunition, officials in Iraq reported today. Raids and patrols throughout the area Dec. 8 resulted in the detention of 22 suspected terrorists and the discovery of four weapons caches, officials said. In an early morning raid near Duluiyah, soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, captured seven suspected terrorists. The men were wanted for staging roadside bomb and mortar attacks against coalition forces in the area....

WASHINGTON - Airline passengers will be allowed to carry small scissors and tools onto planes, reversing a rule that led to confiscation of many thousands of sharp objects at airports since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, a Homeland Security Department official said Wednesday. Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley on Friday will announce changes to the list of items prohibited in carry-on luggage and to the airport screening process, according to the official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the plan has yet to be announced. With federal air marshals on planes, bulletproof cockpit doors, armed pilots and...

Ancient tools at High Desert site go back 135,000 years Chuck Mueller, Staff Writer BARSTOW - In the multicolored hills overlooking the Mojave River Valley, the excavation of stone tools and flakes reveals human activities from the distant past. A new system of geologic dating has confirmed that an alluvial deposit bearing the stone tools and flakes at the Calico archaeological site is about 135,000 years old. But the site could even be older. Calico project director Fred Budinger Jr. said a soil sample, taken at a depth of 17 1/2 feet in one of three master pits at the...

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez marched in Caracas on Saturday to support the leftist leader in his dispute with Mexico's president over U.S. free trade proposals. State workers, unionists and students, many wearing red T-shirts, waved flags and anti-U.S. placards as they marched through the capital accompanied by trucks blaring revolutionary songs, Venezuelan folk ballads and Mexican mariachi music. Venezuela and Mexico withdrew their ambassadors on Monday after Chavez called his Mexican counterpart, Vicente Fox, a "lap dog" of U.S. imperialism for his close ties to Washington and told him, "Don't mess with...

Atheist Now Sues to Take Motto Off Money By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer An atheist who has spent four years trying to ban the Pledge of Allegiance from being recited in public schools is now challenging the motto printed on U.S. currency because it refers to God. Michael Newdow seeks to remove "In God We Trust" from U.S. coins and dollar bills, claiming in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that the motto is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. Newdow, a Sacramento doctor and lawyer, used a similar argument when he challenged the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools because...

For the first time, biologists have documented gorillas in the wild using simple tools, such as poking a stick in a swampy pool of water to check its depth. Until now, scientists had seen gorillas use tools only in captivity. Among the great apes, tool use in the wild was thought to be a survival skill reserved for smaller chimpanzees and orangutans. The research in the Republic of Congo's rainforests was led by Thomas Breuer of the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo, which released details of his study. Breuer is in Africa and was not immediately available for...

The following photo is now showing up on the wires: Here’s another. But don’t miss the view from the other side of this America-hating mime, at Getty Images. (NOTE: Getty images are protected by copyright and cannot be posted here.)