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The Associated Press "fact check" of Sarah Palin's new book wasn't enough. Now the left is just coming out and claiming Palin is a flat out liar. That was the argument made by Bella DePaulo in a Psychology Today blog entitled "Sarah Palin's Lies." DePaulo, who has a Harvard Ph.D. in psychology and experience in analyzing lying, claims Palin excels at it. "From my post as an outside observer, it seems to me that Sarah Palin doesn't care much about the truth. In that way, she is a very special liar," she wrote in the Nov. 19 "Living Single" blog.

Announcing the Uniform EnCounters GC3 Writing Competition Hey, everyone! As promised: We have a writing competition! As I wrote in my last post, have I got a deal for you! This blog's sister site, UniformEnCounters, is hosting a fundraiser/writing competition designed to benefit three good causes (GC3): wounded troops; soldier morale; and you, the writer. Here's what you do. Contest Rules 1. In 700 words or less, write an essay, story, or poem depicting a servicemember or members of the U.S. Armed Forces or their allies (i.e., Australia, Canada, etc.) 2. The subject matter can be any active duty scenario...

LOS ANGELES – Larry Gelbart, the comedy writer famed for his work on "M-A-S-H" and "Tootsie," has died. Gelbart died at his Beverly Hills home Friday morning after a long battle with cancer, .. He was 81. Gelbart won a Tony award for "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and an Emmy for "M-A-S-H," the classic TV comedy based on the Robert Altman film about Army doctors during the Korean War. He was nominated for two Oscars, for .. "Tootsie" and "Oh, God!"

Today I came across a tweet by TommyXtopher:Will be off the grid for awhile dealing with the fact that I just got fired by PoliticsDaily.comYes, you read that correctly, an in-the-tank liberal media guy was fired. What is the world coming to?In a recent article entitled "Bad Bunny" Tommy takes on the Playboy's vicious slam on conservative women. In response to the negative feedback generated by the article Playboy pulled the article. However, Caleb Howe captured screen shots - WARNING: NSFW! It is a good illustration of the new era of peace ushered in by the Obama administration. Vile attacks...

Friday, February 20, 2009, 15:37 Irish author Christopher Nolan dies The death has been announced of award-winning Irish author Christopher Nolan (43). Nolan, who suffered from cerebral palsy due to being deprived of oxygen during his birth, used a pointer attached to his head to write three books, one of which won the Whitbread Prize in 1988. A statement issued on behalf of the Nolan family said he ingested some food into his airways yesterday and died in Beaumont hospital in Dublin at 2.30am today. Nolan, who was born in on September 6th, 1965, spent the early years of his...

During the early hours of July 12, 2008, at Georgetown Medical Center, we lost a friend, writer, articulate commentator, father, husband, and an American Patriot, Tony Snow. Over the years, I have watched more talking head shows than I can remember, and most likely care too remember. Tony Snow was different because he created a fresh approach to discussing politcs. His pull no punches, combative exchanges that were not cutting, along with his wonderful sense of humor would always captivate his audience. Tony was articulate, charming, and eloquent. Tony's personality came across as honest, strong, but far from cocky, hateful,...

There are readers, and then there are fans. Readers offer condolences when a favorite author falls ill. Fans offer bone marrow. Robert Jordan, author of the best-selling Wheel of Time series, has fans. And if you want to understand them, take a look at his blog. Since last spring, when he announced he had a rare blood disease called amyloidosis, Jordan, 58, has been chronicling his life-and-death struggle online. Whenever he's well enough to write, he thanks the fans who sent care packages, and those who donated to the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn., where he is being treated. Then...

The Heritage Foundation mourns the loss of former U.N. envoy Jeane Kirkpatrick today. She will be remembered for her strong stance on defending U.S. interests and principles at the U.N. Her relationship with Heritage was close and collaborative through the years. Not only was she a regular participant when we put together programs on foreign policy, she contributed an address on Strength as part of our 1998-1999 “Leadership for America” campaign. She will be missed. Please read her essay, Defending U.S. Interests and Principles in the United Nations, below, as well as Edwin Feulner’s statement on her passing, and archived...

Oriana Fallaci (1929 - 2006) was called a leftist. Oriana Fallaci was called a fascist. I do not believe in the Left or the Right. I believe in the wet grass under my stockened feet soaking my skin. That is very much reality; that is not the symbolism of semantics. Labels are what men and women pin on each other as they seek to define the truth in their own minds. Fallaci was very much herself, whatever she believed in, and like most of us, her beliefs likely changed over time, with the ebb and flow of crisis and chaos,...

HONOLULU John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer who helped draft memos on treatment of terrorist prisoners, said Monday that in wartime, the question is not whether to give up civil liberties but "how much is enough." Yoo, now a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, drew attention at an American Bar Association convention panel on whether tactics such as the detention of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay and the surveillance of phone calls may erode liberties. Unlike past conflicts, the United States isn't at war with any traditional nation state, Yoo said, but is at war with...

<p>Mystery writer Mickey Spillane dies after a long illness, a nursing home spokesman says. He was 87.</p>

Jailed Iranian writer barred from seeing lawyer June 13, 2006 TEHRAN (Reuters) - Canadian-Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo, arrested in Tehran last month on spying charges, has been denied access to a lawyer during his interrogations, the judiciary said on Tuesday. Canada earlier this month asked Iran to either release or charge Jahanbegloo, who has joint nationality, and the case has further strained the icy relations between the two governments. Jahanbegloo has worked and lectured on democracy in Iran and how the Islamic Republic can engage with the West, and has written on the importance of acknowledging the Holocaust. Iran's President...

Writer facing jail for mosque threat By Malcolm Moore in Milan (Filed: 07/06/2006) The Italian author Oriana Fallaci, who once wrote that Muslims "breed like rats", may be facing up to three years in prison after she vowed to blow up a mosque. Ms Fallaci, 75, who has cancer, is due to appear in court next week charged with the lesser offence of vilifying Islam, punishable with a £3,450 fine. But after her latest outburst in the New Yorker last week Muslim leaders are demanding that she be tried for inciting religious hatred, which carries a three-year jail term. The...

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Miramax Films is developing a satirical comedy with the former editor in chief of the Onion. "Homeland Insecurity" will track the misadventures of two Arab-Americans who are mistaken for terrorists while on a business trip to Texas. Robert Siegel will write the screenplay; he has co-written the script for "The Untitled Onion Movie" for Fox-based Regency Enterprises.

Yes, there is this apparent misperception about writers and writing. Outsiders see it as a life of ease, glamour, money, beautiful women, cafés on the Rue de Seine, schmoozing with celebs, lots of adventure. You know, the whole Hemingway experience and anyone- can-do-it kind of thing. Then you combine that with the fact that most people believe they have what it takes to be a writer without any training, because at a very rudimentary level everybody is a writer.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Prominent Iranian philosopher and writer Ramin Jahanbegloo has been arrested on suspicion of espionage, newspapers said on Thursday. Iran's judiciary on Wednesday confirmed the arrest, without specifying the charges brought against Jahanbegloo, who also holds Canadian citizenship. The first high-profile intellectual arrested since the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last June, Jahanbegloo is being held at Tehran's notorious Evin prison, where most of Iran's jailed political dissidents are kept. Several newspapers carried reports linking the top writer's arrest to "espionage." "Jahanbegloo has been arrested ... on charges of spying," an unnamed source was quoted by the official...

WASHINGTON - Not long after columnist Jack Anderson's funeral, FBI agents called his widow to say they wanted to search his papers. They were looking for confidential government information he might have acquired in a half-century of investigative reporting. The agents expressed interest in documents that would aid the government's case against two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, who have been charged with disclosing classified information, said Kevin Anderson, the columnist's son. In addition, the agents told the family they planned to remove from the columnist's archive — which has yet to be catalogued...

Best-selling author Allison Brennan readily admits that she's "boring." You want proof? Brennan has it. Here's a typical day in what she mockingly calls " the glamorous life" of writer Allison Brennan, stay-at-home mom. First thing in the morning, e-mails are answered. She then gets her five children (yes, five, ages 1 to 12) ready for school. With the children away, Brennan writes for two to three hours in the peace and quiet of her Sacramento home. At noon, she picks up her three youngest. Then, if everything works out, she can write another hour or two during nap time....

For a homework assignment I must interview someone who has the same career I would desire. The career I chose was writer, however, I chose that career because I have genuine interest in it. I've written poetry, short stories, and a play before. So if there is a FReeper out there who could please spare some time for my 15-question interview, then please FReepmail me. Thank you in advance.