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ASSIRIYAH — Sunni and Shia tribal sheiks, local government leaders, senior Iraqi Army officials and local Iraqi Police officials from throughout the Taji area recently met at the Prayer Town Hall to continue reconciliation efforts and celebrate the “awakening”—a term used to describe a turning away from sectarianism and violence. More than 200 attendees from the villages of Hor Al Bosh, Sheik Ahmer, Shat Al Taji, Falahat and other areas dined as they discussed issues affecting their villages and ways in which they can improve the quality of life for the people living there. “They decided to have a Sawa...

<p>There, teachers unions, whose idea of progress is preservation of the status quo, are waging an expensive and meretricious campaign to overturn the right of parents to choose among competing schools, public and private, for the best education for their children.</p>

Do you agree with former men's lacrosse coach Mike Pressler's decision to sue the University? Yes No

This is my first post here... hope I'm not screwing up tremendously or violating etiquette... I want to know the opinions of the people here on the concept of humanity moving out into space -- the moon, Mars, and beyond. Anyone have any thoughts to share? Do you feel strongly one way or the other? Neutral? I notice "space" doesn't even show up as a topic here... although we do have topics of "poetry" (which I applaud), "UFOs", and "Weird stuff." Cheers, Hal

I was in a *boring* meeting, absentmindedly doodling on a scratch pad. I was pretty amazed after the meeting when I noticed that I doodled the following: "I so enjoy discussions like these", she said wielding a bloody axe in her hand. After the meeting, I glanced at my notes and have a serious question: is these appropriate in this context? I mean, should the correct grammar be: "I so enjoy discussions like this", she said wielding a bloody axe in her hand. I mean, isn't discussions a collective and therefore implies a singular? Please set me straight. I am...

Michael Vick was always something of an Allen Iverson for Atlanta. Without him, the team is terrible, and with him, the team can never be great. He’s a wonderful athlete who dominates little more than the highlight reel. Truth be told, I seriously doubt the Falcons would have ever succeeded with Vick at the helm. As far as I’m concerned, the dog-fighting scandal was one of the best things that could have happened to the Falcons. They had to get rid of him somehow, even if they didn’t want to accept it. Michael Vick had a special appeal with the...

Of course, there will be the initial criminal investigations and accusations of foul play from those wanting to know if the typical illegal contributions were involved. But what if the Beast was actually sworn in as president? What then? She won't be Queen - at least not after a few years. I mean, c'mon, Americans voting in a large Republican Congress would be obvious after seeing the Clintons in power once more. (Hey, the RATS aren't in the lead by THAT much.) Billy Jeff will be free to troll the grounds for fresh meat. Hillary, with a new stash of...

But that analysis may be too simple. In Delaware Giuliani is asked for the umpteenth time if his views on 'social issues' would be fatal to his presidential ambitions. 'I don't get to decide what the issues are. But they are not usually the ones you think they are going to be,' he says. He is right. National security will still be the overwhelming issue of 2008. Giuliani's strong credentials there could make up for weaknesses elsewhere. There are also signs that his problems with the conservatives could be overstated. First, their power is waning. In 2006's congressional elections the...

The Zanta Clause Is it really possible to ban someone from TTC subways, Dundas Square, King Street, Yorkville, Taste of the Danforth, the St. Patrick's Day Parade, College Park and the Santa Claus Parade? Samantha Israel National Post's Toronto Magazine Saturday, February 17, 2007 The spectator seats are full at Old City Hall's Courtroom 114. A dozen young teenagers skipped school on this Wednesday afternoon in January to defend "Zanta," a local personality (or annoyance) who has been banned from several of Toronto's public spaces, from subways to the Santa Claus Parade. David "Zanta" Zancai's loyal supporters await his...

LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters Life!) - A court in East London is expected to decide this week whether poker is a game of skill, chance or a combination of both. A jury has been asked to weigh up the role played by Lady Luck in the world's most popular card game, after police accused a club owner of illegally hosting a poker session and levying winnings and stakes without a license.Britain's Gambling Act states that a license is needed for hosting a game of chance but not those of skill, like chess.Derek Kelly, owner of the Gutshot private club in...

....But the team has a big problem. Mr. Shyiak was born in Canada and is working as a so-called temporary H1-B professional worker. His visa is expiring and U.S. immigration officials fret that this foreigner may be taking a job from an American citizen. So the university must comply with rules that require it to verify that there is no American worker who is "able, willing, qualified, and available to accept the job at the prevailing wage for that occupation." The university is taking out newspaper ads for the hockey team's head-coach position and hoping no one applies. ...Scott McNealy,...

Between Sept. 11, 2001, and his State of the Union Address in 2002, George W. Bush had America in the palm of his hand. But in that speech, Bush blew it. Singling out Iran, Iraq and North Korea as state sponsors of terror seeking weapons of mass destruction, Bush yoked them together in an "axis of evil" and issued this ultimatum: "I will not wait on events, while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's...

Is Ahmadinejad Another Hitler? "Ahmadinejad--I call him Ahmad-in-a-head--I think he's a Hitler type of person," Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. "He has made it clear that he wants to destroy Israel. He has made it clear he doesn't believe in the Holocaust. He's a, he's a--we all know what he is," the senator added.

As you probably already know, Iranian president Mahmood Ahmadinejad has started a weblog in Farsi, English, Arabic and French. This led me to lookup the whois-record of his domain name, ahmadinejad.ir. There's something strange here. While the first name of the Iranian president is "Mahmoud", the domain registration says "Mahdi". In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam, who will change the world into a perfect Islamic society before the end of times. It is well known that Ahmadinejad is a strong believer in the return of the Mahdi. But isn't this registration a strong indication that...

Did the Dems Threaten ABC? The Democrats have gone nuts over the ABC miniseries, The Path to 9/11. But it's a little hard to see why. Maybe it's because Disney and ABC have been reliably pro-Democrat in the past, so the Dems feel betrayed. Looking at the big picture, though, it's a little hard to see what the Dems are complaining about. I haven't seen the miniseries, but I take it that it doesn't portray the Clinton administration as having taken very effective action against the growing threat from Islamic terrorists. What I don't understand is how the Democrats think...

(snip) ..Academic leftists, and their media allies, are in agreement with many of the stated goals of communism, such as equal distribution of wealth, income equality and other goals spelled out in.."Manifesto of the Communist Party." Leftist elites love the ideas of communism so much that they are either blind to, or tolerant of, its many shortcomings. In practice, communism is nothing less than sheer barbarism that makes even the horrors of Naziism pale in comparison...The Soviet Union murdered about 62 million of its own people..Chinese, 35.2 million murdered. By comparison, Hitler's Nazis managed to murder 21 million of its...

Are People Who Attack American Principles "Un-American"? By JB Williams on Aug 13, 2006 In a word, yes! Living in America (legally or illegally) does not make one an American. Accepting, adopting, understanding, believing in, living, promoting and defending real American foundational principles, (the American dream), makes one an American. Nothing less will do… One who works to stop others from smoking can’t be called anything short of anti-smoking. One who works to stop others from owning guns would certainly and appropriately be deemed anti-gun rights, or anti- 2nd Amendment. If you work to stop abortions, you are certainly anti-abortion...

I must admit that I did not know the Lebanese "army" could field 15,000 people and was under the impression that their military was less than 10,000 "fighting" personnel.Thus when they offered 15,000 individuals to the UN as part of the monitoring force, my mind wondered whether this would include several thousand Hezbollah (or even Syrian or Iranian fighters) being given Lebanese military uniforms and thus have free movement back and forth and "at will" access into the "off limits" or restricted areas of South Lebanon. Similary, if the Lebanese military arrives with a thousand extra uniforms, they can dress...

I was on a 6-person JP court jury. We heard an eviction case. The man had lived in the apt. 6 years. In November, he was working on an elevator and fell four floors. He signed a new lease that month and has been out of work since, but managed to pay five of the six months his $433 rent. Term date on the lease was June 31st. Manager said he owed $741 as of court date, July 26. But the man had a hand-written letter without a date stating he owed $979. No explanation was given for the numbers....

THE CORNER:   HOME    SEARCH    E-MAIL    PRINT    RSS Monday, July 31, 2006 Was Qana Staged? Cont'd [Jonah Goldberg] A giant banner denouncing Rice and the "Qana massacre" might have been made a bit too quickly. I don't want to get too far out ahead on this, but I know we've got a zillion printer-type folks among our readers. Do you guys think such a banner could be made in 2-4 hours (particularly in a supposedly war-ravaged area)?Update: From a reader: "Do you guys think such a banner could be made in 2-4 hours (particularly in a supposedly war-ravaged area)?" Heck...