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"...During a question-and-answer session following the mostly lighthearted talk, he added that reaching out to other religions is the best way to combat violent religious extremism. "Sometimes in the West, [there is] some impression that Islam is something militant. Totally wrong," he said. "Since [the] Sept. 11 event, I try to reach out to Muslim brothers and sisters. ...They are wonderful -- Islamic people. Very warm-hearted. Very sensible," he said, adding that some Christians, Buddhists and Hindus are also extremists. "These few mischievous people cannot represent whole traditions," said the Dalai Lama, who will continue lecturing at Lehigh through Tuesday...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Retired US General Wesley Clark on Sunday said Republican White House hopeful John McCain lacked executive experience to be president, in rare criticism of the Vietnam veteran's military service. Clark told CBS television that McCain was a hero for enduring years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam "but he hasn't held executive responsibility. "That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded -- that wasn't a wartime squadron. He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall." Clark, former NATO supreme allied commander, said McCain's combat experience as a fighter pilot did not make him...

Olympia, Washington: Dee Williams wanted a simpler, greener life -- so she built her dream house, an 84-square-foot cottage on wheels, which is currently parked in a friend's backyard. Not only did she save money using salvaged materials (the front door came from a dumpster, for instance), but the entire house is small enough to fit into a standard parking spot. Says Williams, 'Right now, there's nowhere else I want to be.' Williams’ trailer cottage is surprisingly roomy inside, largely thanks to its clever use of height. For example, Williams’ bed is in a loft above her kitchen. Williams is...

“While the natural instincts of democracy lead the people to banish distinguished men from power,” Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America, “an instinct no less powerful leads distinguished men to shun careers in politics, in which it is so very difficult to remain entirely true to oneself or to advance without self-abasement.” Some 170 years and 36 presidents later, the choice presented to the American people at this year’s presidential election does not merely confirm the correctness of the Frenchman’s assessment; it amplifies his verdict in an absurd, almost surreal manner. Among America’s presidents—many of them impressive and some great,...

The idea came up on a thread today that perhaps it would be a good idea to write to the various conservative websites/publications that currently pay/publish Patrick Buchanan, and let them know that we would like them to stop publishing him. The thought is that PJB is basically a useful idiot for the left, allowing them to paint conservatives as racists, and tying the right wing to Nazism. He makes us look like irrational haters when we really aren't. He is used by MSNBC and others to make fools of us. It's not an effort to silence him. He can...

Controversial actor Rupert Everett has accused British soldiers risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan of being "whining wimps", it emerged today. --snip-- And comparing troops from now and then he said: “In Burton's day they were itching to get into the fray. “Now it is the opposite. They are always whining about the dangers of being killed. Oh my God, they are such wimps now! "The whole point of being in the Army is wanting to get killed, wanting to test yourself to the limits. Now you have to fly 15,000ft above the war zone to avoid getting hit....

Supporting Barack Obama: “I don’t feel there’s any lip service with [Obama]. I don’t feel like he’s one of those jaded politicos who say one thing and are talking out of both sides of their mouth. I also feel we’ve done such damage to our reputation – and as someone who lives outside America for half the year, I overhear things that I wish I didn’t overhear. A lot of people in the West think that we’re not very sensitive to the rest of the world, and I think that having a president called Barack Hussein Obama in 2008 says...

What is it with photographers these days? Are they really all terrorists, or does everyone just think they are? Since 9/11, there has been an increasing war on photography. Photographers have been harrassed, questioned, detained, arrested or worse, and declared to be unwelcome. We've been repeatedly told to watch out for photographers, especially suspicious ones. Clearly any terrorist is going to first photograph his target, so vigilance is required. Except that it's nonsense. The 9/11 terrorists didn't photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid subway bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn't photograph...

NEW YORK Sgt. Jason Dene, the nephew of actress and activist Mia Farrow, died in Iraq last week and his uncle blames George W. Bush for the loss. , "To date all the family has heard from the Army is that Jason variously died 'in his sleep' ...' in other words, natural causes." Whatever the cause, Patrick Farrow feels he knows what really killed his nephew: "Because of the arrogant, corrupt lies of George W. Bush and his neo-con handlers my nephew is dead, and I am mad as hell...Jason Dene was not killed by enemy fire nor friendly fire...

<p>All political art is propaganda (that is the point), but most political posters are bland, forgettable, wallpaper.... [Shepard Fairey] wanted to make posters that the cool cats would want. The 2008 Democratic primary season equivalent of the Che poster (with all that implies). More Mao, more right now.... The kind of poster that might sell on eBay, as a signed Fairey Obama recently did, for $5,900....</p>

Obama preached to his flock yesterday and what he said would surprise many people with a little knowledge of history (a class Obama clearly flunked). He said that the Soviet Union collapsed because we negotiated with them.....stop laughing, let me finish.....and that Iran really isn't that big of a threat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew5qP2oPdtQOk, history lesson. The USSR collapsed because their economy collapsed. That collapsed because they tried to keep up with Reagan and the defense build up along with the "star wars" program. Then he goes on to say Iran and the US have common interests? Is he freakin insane? We neither...

Senator McCain gave a speech in Portland, Oregon Monday reiterating and explaining his longstanding support for a “cap-and-trade” approach to global warming. He proposes that the government require reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions but allow companies to trade emissions credits, supposedly creating an efficient, market-based distribution of the regulatory burden. Support for this policy is the biggest mistake his campaign has made so far. Early in this speech, Sen. McCain ran through a litany of woes that we can expect from global warming: “reduced water supplies, more forest fires than in previous decades, changes in crop production, more heat waves afflicting...

The saga of horror novelist Stephen King's disgraceful comments about America's military took an interesting turn Monday when shortly after instructing visitors to his website to send me a message stating "Hi, Noel—Stephen King says to shut up and I agree," his own message boards were shut down.This followed the creation of a number of threads by members that wanted to comment about King's remarks.The cover-story for shutting down the boards came from the Moderator in a thread entitled "Stephen King Insults Soldiers":

Writer Stephen King: If You Can't Read, You'll End Up in the Army or Iraq Photo of Noel Sheppard. By Noel Sheppard | May 5, 2008 - 09:54 ET Remember shortly before Election Day 2006 when Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) suggested that if you don't get a good education, "you get stuck in Iraq" (video available here)? Well, last month, famed horror auther Stephen King was speaking in front of a group of high school students at the Library of Congress, and he virtually made the exact same statement. For those that can bear it, what follows is another in...

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Even as he came on stage to give the keynote address at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas, it was obvious that Tim Robbins' remarks had caused controversy backstage. The Academy Award-winning actor and critically acclaimed screenwriter, director and producer first indicated to the audience that he would not be giving his speech. Then, floor agents of the NAB organizers ordered journalists' video cameras turned off. An NAB spokesman later said Mr. Robbins contract had a "no filming" clause. Ultimately, Mr. Robbins changed his mind and started talking. Listen to the six best...

AIRPORT CITY, Israel - Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday he hoped to help open talks between Hamas and U.S. leaders, saying Washington's policy of not meeting with people it labeled terrorists was counterproductive. Carter angered Israelis with his plans to meet in Syria this week with the leader of the Islamist group, which rules Gaza and is largely responsible for rocket fire against Israeli towns. Hamas has killed some 250 Israelis in suicide bombings and has been blacklisted by the U.S. and Israel as a terrorist organization. Speaking at an event organized by an Israeli financial newspaper, Carter said...

[Obama friend and associate, William/Bill Ayers, from his own red-communist-star-headed website, calls out Hannity and 'others' to debate communism vs capitalism] April 6, 2008: Imperialism. I’m against it, and if Sean Hannity and others were honest, this is the ground they would fight me on. Capitalism played its role historically and is exhausted as a force for progress: built on exploitation, theft, conquest, war, and racism, capitalism and imperialism must be defeated and a world revolution—a revolution against war and racism and materialism, a revolution based on human solidarity and love, cooperation and the common good —must win. We begin...

Spengler points out that Obama's women reveal his secret "Cherchez la femme," advised Alexander Dumas in: "When you want to uncover an unspecified secret, look for the woman." In the case of Barack Obama, we have two: his late mother, the went-native anthropologist Ann Dunham, and his rancorous wife Michelle. Obama's women reveal his secret: he hates America. Apparently Michelle Obama has been known to put down Obama or "bitch-slap" him as Spengler suggests but she has high praise for his now deceased mother whom, she says, was possessed of "naivete". "Naivete" is a euphemism for Ann Dunham's motivation. Friends...

ATHENS, Greece - American director Jules Dassin, whose Greek wife Melina Mercouri starred in his hit movie "Never on Sunday" and six more of his films, died late Monday at an Athens hospital, officials said. He was 96. The cause of death was not made public. A spokeswoman for Hygeia hospital said only that he had been treated there the past two weeks. Dassin, a leftist activist whose more than 20 films also included "Topkapi," abandoned Hollywood in 1950 during the Communist blacklisting era. Five years later, he won wide acclaim for "Rififi," famous for its long heist sequence that...

(March 25, 2008) -- Given the current tragedy in Iraq--hell, given the past five years--you would think the many pundits who agitated for an attack on that country, largely on false pretenses, would have take the opportunity of the arrival of the fifth anniversary of the war (or the 4000 dead milestone) to drop to their knees, at least in print, and beg the American public for forgiveness. With more than 60 percent of their fellow Americans now calling the war a "mistake" and agitating for troop withdrawals--and the president's approval rating still heading south, thanks to their war--it would...

Was Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King on the mark last week when he asserted Islamic terrorists would rejoice if Sen. Barack Obama becomes the next U.S. president? As a journalist and author who has conducted dozens of on-the-record interviews with Muslim terrorists, including with some of the most notorious Palestinian terror leaders, and who has documented many of those interviews in a recently released, 210-page book, "Schmoozing with Terrorists," I can answer the above question with a resounding "yes." Terrorists worldwide would indeed be emboldened by an Obama election victory not so much because of the senator's middle name –...

(last paragraph) When that consensus assumes, for example, that World War II was "good," or that the United States arms build-up "won" the Cold War, it protects the militarized economy, the status of the military-industrial elite, the iron lock of incumbents on office. Any reinterpretation of this salvation history, it is feared, would undermine the economy, disempower the elite, unsettle politics - and deprive the citizenry of meaning in an otherwise meaningless world. Voters may want change, but not change at this level. Yet "national security" is bogus - part ghost story with which the nation scares itself at bedtime,...

Nader is running. So says MSNBC LIVE

Our fearless leader and beloved president's last State of the Union address aired on Monday night, for all of America to witness. Expecting another boring strain of mission statements and self-proclaimed heroism, I instead found myself riveted by his confidence, even pride (some say audacity) as he spewed his seventh and final series of lies, warps of truth and propagandist refuse that would put Stalin's PR guy to shame. In the spirit of this annual political tradition, I would like to dedicate this column to our fallen angel's final speech to his people, and subsequently recap his success as our...

Fred Thompson the subject of a new book to be released in Aug/Sept tying his entrance into the 2008 Presidential race to the defeat of the Republican Party in 2008. Book will claim Thompson's entrance and later withdrawal, reminiscent of Ross Perot with delegates diverted from more electable candidates.

Editor - From reading The Chronicle's banner-line propaganda, which teases the "star envy" piece within ("A modest proposal for celebs on the skids," Thursday), I could only hope this great city was more clever than its increasingly lame-brain paper. In its unequivocal naming of Chavez as dictator on A1, either "Pop Culture" man Peter Hartlaub or his equally biased Chronicle editor, doesn't quite understand that Venezuela's President Chavez was democratically elected, and that dictators don't lose constitutional referendums. The Chronicle should take comfort that the New York Times generally does no better than them here. Yet, in the paper's attack...

Just in case you thought there was a limit to the vulgarity of Paul Begala . . . Bill Clinton's former adviser was a guest on the Situation Room this aftern0on on CNN. Talk turned to the strategy Republicans should adopt in upcoming special elections. WOLF BLITZER: How much of a lightning rod -- you're an expert on this subject -- will Hillary Clinton be for Republicans out there, cause they're already, in some of these special elections that are coming up, they're already pointed to her to try to help Republican candidates? View video here.

Tehran Times Political Desk TEHRAN – British MP George Galloway says there is no indication that the U.S. is willing to enter talks with Iran over its nuclear program. Iran and the U.S. have held three rounds of talks in Baghdad to improve the security situation in Iraq. A fourth round of talks between the arch foes is also imminent. However, the U.S. has said Iran should first stop its uranium enrichment program as a precondition for direct nuclear talks, although, as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has the right to enrich uranium for civilian applications. “There...

<p>From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Sean Penn will endorse Kucinich this afternoon at a press conference in San Francisco, a source close to the Hollywood actor said. He will also be speaking on "the Constitution, the media and Dennis Kucinich," the source said. Expect a political speech.</p>

Seven days prior to events which would set the world on-edge, newly-hired Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria "Torie" Clarke offered an equally startling admission to Agency France Presse wire service, but which received scant attention within U.S. media. On September 5, Ms. Clarke--lured back into government service by pal Mary Matalin on Vice President Dick Cheney's staff, from a high-paying post as Manhattan office director for the venerable public relations firm of Hill & Knowlton--the former PR chief to Senator John McCain and one-time George Bush (the elder) staffer would divulge to foreign media that the United States, via the Pentagon and...

BOGOTA, Colombia — The army stumbled on the handwritten diary during a raid on a guerrilla camp. It lay near the embers of a communal kitchen where fleeing rebels left their breakfast untouched. "I'm tired, tired of the FARC, tired of the people, tired of communal living. Tired of never having anything for myself," wrote the author, a 29-year-old Dutch woman. Colombia's government couldn't have hoped for better propaganda against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. It leaked excerpts from the diary found last June to the media, even making available an English translation of the Dutch entries....

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 11/16/2007 Pelosi: Once Again, Republicans Refuse to Hold the President Accountable for His Failed Iraq Policy Washington, D.C. — Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today after Senate Republicans blocked consideration of a Democratic bill that would change the direction of the President’s failed Iraq policy by requiring the orderly redeployment of our troops while providing them with the resources they need: "Once again, the Republican minority in the Senate has blocked the will of the majority of the American people and the Congress. "Congressional Republicans' stubborn refusal to...

The United States has entered a recession, according to highly-regarded investor Jim Rogers, who told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper on Wednesday he was switching out of the dollar and into yen, the yuan and the Swiss franc. (snip) Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum Fund with billionaire investor George Soros in the 1970s, said it made sense to desert the dollar.

When actual Americans are polled (live) Ron Paul's campaign for the Republican Presidential Nomination consistantly draws around 2%. Yet his "supporters" on the internet make him the winner of many internet polls. How can this be explained?

Tone Of Country Music Changing Over The War By CONNIE SCHULTZ [Ohio] -- Anyone silly enough to claim that patriotism can be whittled down to who wears an American flag pin and who doesn't, or who supports the war and who doesn't, had best pay attention to what's happening in country music. Forget all those political polls, which partisans love attacking as too partisan, anyway. When it comes to judging the mood of the American people, there's no better barometer than country music. It appears that a lot of people who love country music have had their fill of this...

Conservative evangelical leader Dr. James Dobson admits that a third-party plan supported by pro-family leaders might unintentionally help elect democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton. The influential pro-family advocate still contends, however, that he would rather vote following his values than compromise and be forced to choose between two pro-choice candidates. “We’re very, very concerned about the implications of a Hillary Clinton presidency, but you know, we have been working … for 35 years, I’ve been trying to defend the unborn child,” Dobson said on Fox’s Hannity & Colmes show Monday. “That’s been my life. That’s been my belief, along with...

For the most part, the whole debate was a snorefest in my opinion. One of the only things that woke me up was this little spat. As always, Ron Paul opens himself up and asks for it. Quite entertaining.

vThis morning's column by James Carroll, the Boston Globe's resident gushy liberal, is so predictable you wonder whether it might have been written by a liberal-column generator software program. You know the kind: insert issue, names of political players, a few factoids, and let the program spit out the boilerplate of a standard leftist diatribe. I mean, as soon as you knew that Carroll was writing a column about Ahmadinejad's visit to the U.S., could there be any doubt as to where he'd come down on the controversy surrounding the Iranian president's desire to visit Ground Zero? And Carroll doesn't...

New Haven (WTNH) _ A veteran TV and film actor hit the airwaves at a New Haven radio show and made some sup rising comments on the anniversary of 9/11. It was about 9:15 on the morning of 9/11 and actor James Brolin was the special guest interview on the Chaz and AJ morning show on WPLR. He was promoting his new movie "The Hunting Party." A transcript of an audio clip from the show reads: Brolin: "It's kind of a parody on how come we can't catch war criminals with all of our sophisticated stuff, you know?" AJ: "That's...

Once again, we are expected to believe a handful of patsies—excuse me, “terrorists”—were capable of taking out a U.S. military base, this time the Ramstein air base in Germany, but thanks to the diligent work of Germany’s “special police officers,” these America-hating miscreants were apprehended before they attacked. In addition to Ramstein, reports the New York Times, these would-be terrorists plotted “massive attacks” against the Frankfurt international airport and “several sites frequented by Americans, including discos [and] bars…. German and American officials said that such indicators made them suspect (sic) connections to Al Qaeda.” Monika Harms, the German federal prosecutor,...

"The right wing will come at this movie. I have done something that just cannot be done. You can never say anything critical of the troops."

The New York Times has now corrected a "smear" about Pete Seeger being 50 years too late in denouncing Stalin. Thanks to the intrepid research of Times reporter Daniel J. Wakin, the record has now been set straight. Pete Seeger was only about 40 years too late in criticizing Stalin. What inspired Wakin to make this "major" correction was a report by historian Ron Radosh in the August 31 New York Sun that Pete Seeger sent him a letter recently expressing his regret that he didn't see what anybody with a pair of even slightly discerning eyes could have spotted:...

A native Californian's recent visit to Egypt becomes one of religious discovery and cultural disillusionment. ___ Friday morning came, and the broad-shouldered young African American made his way to the sedated city's ancient quarters. He walked the streets with the determined gait of a football receiver to Al Azhar Mosque, arriving just as the muezzin's call to prayer summoned the faithful. Suddenly, the outgoing Californian ceased his banter and gaped, awestruck, at the intricately carved minarets reaching for the heavens, the browns, reds, greens and blues interwoven into masterful calligraphy. Salahudin Ali was a long way from the drab office...

Brian De Palma wants to stop the war, and he thinks his new movie about an Iraqi girl's rape can help, regardless of the consequences or the rights and privacy of Iraqis. In a Friday August 31 Reuters article, De Palma asserted “The movie is an attempt to bring the reality of what is happening in Iraq to the American people. Sky News online picked up the thread that he hoped his film "Redacted" will alert people about “these horrible things things that are happening, this horrible war that I am financing as an American citizen.”De Palma's comments were made...

Fidel Castro is an ingrate. That must be what Sen. Christopher Dodd is thinking now that Cuba's communist tyrant has endorsed a Democratic ticket of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. "The word today is that an apparently unbeatable ticket could be Hillary for president and Obama as her running mate," he wrote in a column Tuesday in Cuba's Communist Party newspaper, Granma. He also had nice things to say about two of his favorite stooges: Jimmy Carter, for trying to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba during his feckless presidency; and Bill Clinton, for his part in...

I had thought that perhaps the tide was turning on those who glorified Che Guevara as a revolutionary man of the people. I was wrong. Over the weekend Chicago's local PBS affiliate aired a segment of a DVD box set that is being distributed by PBS called The British Beat. The DVD is a retrospective of the British Invasion and features Animals lead singer Eric Burdon donning a giant Che Guevara button down shirt at a 2005 concert where he stumps for PBS on stage. Note that this is a 4 disc box set and PBS could have chosen any...

Here’s our jaw-droppingly sick 2-minute leftist hate of the day, at the Guardian’s “Comment is free” pseudo-blog, where journalist Neil Clark argues that Iraqi translators working for UK forces are “traitors,” and should not be allowed asylum in Britain. Instead, Clark hopes they’ll be slaughtered by the “true heroes” of Iraq. Yes, really. Comment is free: Keep these quislings out. The interpreters did not work for “us”, the British people, but for themselves - they are paid around £16 a day, an excellent wage in Iraq - and for an illegal occupying force. Let’s not cast them as heroes. The...