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LINCOLN, Neb. – An American Indian tribe sued some of the world's largest beer makers Thursday, claiming they knowingly contributed to devastating alcohol-related problems on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota said it is demanding $500 million in damages for the cost of health care, social services and child rehabilitation caused by chronic alcoholism on the reservation, which encompasses some of the nation's most impoverished counties. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court of Nebraska also targets four beer stores in Whiteclay, a Nebraska town near the reservation's border that, despite having only...

A CAMPAIGN treasurer for Democratic lawmakers in California -- including Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Loretta Sanchez -- was arrested by the FBI on suspicion of mail fraud, The Orange County Register reported. US Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek said Kinde Durkee, of Durkee and Associates, was arrested by the FBI on a criminal complaint filed by the US Attorney's Office in Sacramento. KTLA-TV reported that the arrest took place in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank, where Durkee's office are located. FBI Special Agent Steve Dupre said Durkee's arrest was linked with her position as a campaign treasurer for...

State Rep. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, on Monday won the recommendation of a seven-member Republican screening committee to fill the state Senate seat being vacated by Jon Husted. The recommendation will be presented to the full Republican caucus on Wednesday, said Senate President-elect Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond. Lehner was recommended over state Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, and three other applicants for the 6th District seat. “We would expect the caucus to support the recommendation,” said Niehaus. Husted was elected secretary of state Nov. 2 and will take that office in January. The official Senate vote on his replacement will come...

Michael R. Taylor's appointment by the Obama administration to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 7th sparked immediate debate and even outrage among many food and agriculture researchers, NGOs and activists. The Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto Corp. from 1998 until 2001, Taylor exemplifies the revolving door between the food industry and the government agencies that regulate it. He is reviled for shaping and implementing the government's favorable agricultural biotechnology policies during the Clinton administration.

As President Barack Obama‘s approval ratings continue to stagnate, Democrats’ grasp on the White House in 2012 continues to loosen. Though a lot can happen between now and then, some Democrats have already jumped ship from the HMS Obama, and are instead seeking political refuge with a familiar player in Democratic politics, Hillary Clinton. The first televised ad for a Clinton-for-President recruitment campaign has officially hit the airwaves, courtesy William DeJean, a Chicago dentist who tells CNN he thinks the former senator and acting Secretary of State is the “most qualified” Democrat to run in 2012. “I’m a dentist and...

Hot topic for the day FR Discussion thread on this HOT TOPIC

With the leaders of five tribes in attendance, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas read a congressional resolution Wednesday apologizing for "ill-conceived policies" and acts of violence against American Indians by the U.S. government.

Former Rep. Susan Molinari (R-NY) is mulling a run against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) this year, the Staten Island Advance reports. Molinari "said she is being urged to run by her father, former Congressman and Borough President Guy Molinari, and by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, both of whom called her yesterday."

I just watched an old Hollywood movie and the answer was obvious. Their defense technique was just to ride around in circles while even women and children took pot shots at them picking them off. They never had a chance. What idiots.

7 "ughs" in the opening welcome remarks

Ambassador to the Holy See is not like most ambassadorships. For starters, the First Amendment notwithstanding, it is the only position in the U.S. government that involves formal recognition of religion. Ambassadors are not accredited to the Vatican City-State, the 103 acres on the west bank of the Tiber that give territorial reality to papal independence. Ambassadors are accredited to the Holy See, that is, to the Pope in his capacity as leader of the Catholic Church. This was the grounds for opposition to the establishment of formal diplomatic relations from both conservative, evangelical Christians and from the ACLU, two...

A woman who dated congressional candidate Mike Erickson seven years ago said she asked him directly whether he wanted to have a baby. He shook his head no, she said, and paid for her abortion. In interviews with The Oregonian newspaper, the Oregon City woman said she met Erickson in September 2000 and that she had the abortion in January 2001. They saw each other afterward, she said, even going on a trip to Mexico in March, before the relationship ended. She spoke on the condition that only her first name, Tawnya, be used. Erickson agrees that he gave Tawnya...

In a McCain administration, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson would play a dominant role in selecting Supreme Court nominees and other judicial appointments, sources close to the McCain campaign and to Thompson tell us. And why is Fred suddenly everywhere? These sources say that the agreement between McCain and Thompson is behind Thompson’s resurgence in the national media in recent weeks. In a McCain campaign conference call with reporters yesterday on last week’s Supreme Court decision on terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Thompson -- without claiming such status -- played the role of a prominent McCain adviser. Developing…

Following is a transcript of Mayor Giuliani’s address today to the SC GOP’s executive committee in Columbia, South Carolina, with regard to the mayor’s judicial philosophy: "On the Federal judiciary I would want judges who are strict constructionists because I am. I’m a lawyer. I’ve argued cases in the Supreme Court. I’ve argued cases in the Court of Appeals in different parts of the country. I have a very, very strong view that for this country to work, for our freedoms to be protected, judges have to interpret not invent the Constitution. Otherwise you end up, when judges invent the...

Iraq's president said Wednesday he had reached a security agreement with Iran, which the United States accuses of fueling the chaos in the war-torn country. Iran's president called on countries to stop backing "terrorists" in Iraq and for the Americans to withdraw. ADVERTISEMENT Tehran is believed to back some of the Shiite militias blamed in the vicious sectarian killings that have thrown the country into chaos. The United States has said the Iraqi government should press Iran to stop interfering in its affairs in a bid to calm the violence. Presidents Jalal Talabani of Iraq and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran...

THE call went out to a select band of conservative commentators last week: come to a briefing with the president in the Oval Office. Designed to flatter and create a buzz, the idea was to convey firmness of purpose about Iraq and optimism about the November congressional elections. “I’m campaigning like mad and I’m looking at people in the eye and saying, you better have a government that does everything in its power to protect you from attack. You’re right here in the office where I get briefed every morning and I’m telling you, it’s on my mind,” President George...

Did you ever notice that the gas grill is the man's domain? Even in homes where the man of the house has never prepared a single meal in the kitchen -- unless you count pulling a package of Pop Tarts out of the box -- as soon as it's decided that dinner will be cooked on the gas grill, the man of the house eagerly dons his "Born to Barbecue" apron and announces to no one in particular, "OK, let's do some grillin'!!" Of course, there are some men who enjoy all forms of cooking and know their way around...

MIAMI (AP) -- Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after allegedly running a stop sign while in Florida during his team's series against the Marlins last weekend. A few minutes before he was stopped, Bowden and his girlfriend were apparently involved in a physical altercation that left him with scratches and resulted in battery and resisting arrest charges against her. A Miami Beach police report said the 44-year-old Bowden refused to take a breath-alcohol test after he was stopped at 2:22 a.m. Monday. An officer said he saw Bowden run the...

DiFi reacts to the Alito confirmation hearings.

Bill Hemmer needs to be relieved of his duties at FNC. He is slamming the Bush administration for inaction. Saying things like, "What the government is and ISN"T doing" And "I expected to see a Navy Armada show up and save everybody, and I haven't seen it" Someone needs to yank twinkle toes and send him back to low-rated CNNville.