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Barack Obama preens, and garners this sort of headline: "Sources: Obama ready to ban harsh interrogations": President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to prohibit the use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques by ordering the CIA to follow military rules for questioning prisoners, according to two U.S. officials familiar with drafts of the plans. Of course, there is one very big catch: However, Obama's changes may not be absolute. His advisers are considering adding a classified loophole to the rules that could allow the CIA to use some interrogation methods not specifically authorized by the Pentagon, the officials said. ......

In an effort to cast himself as independent of the influence of money on politics, Senator Barack Obama often highlights the campaign contributions of $200 or less that have amounted to fully half of the $340 million he has collected so far. But records show that a third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more - a total of $112 million, more than the total of contributions in that category taken in by either Senator John McCain, his Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries. Behind those large donations...

Mr. EDWARDS. Mr. President, as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I firmly believe that the issue of Iraq is not about politics. It's about national security. We know that for at least 20 years, Saddam Hussein has aggressively and obsessively sought weapons of mass destruction through every means available. We [Page: S8554] GPO's PDF know that he has chemical and biological weapons today. He has used them in the past, and he is doing everything he can to build more. Each day he inches closer to his longtime goal of nuclear capability--a capability that could be less than...

Presidential wannabe Barack Obama came to Detroit earlier this week and hammered on Detroit automakers for spending too much time focusing on horsepower rather than fuel efficiency. Here's an example of his lovely comments: "For years, while foreign competitors were investing in more fuel-efficient technology for their vehicles, American automakers were spending their time investing in bigger, faster cars..."-SNIP-That must explain why the Illinois Senator and Presidential candidate owns a HEMI-powered V8 Chrysler 300C. Obviously it's Chrysler's fault Obama bought a big 5.7-liter engine from them -- he just didn't have a choice.

DUBLIN: Irish rock star and rights campaigner Bono received an honorary British knighthood yesterday in recognition of his services to the music industry and for his humanitarian work. "I couldn't be more proud," the U2 singer said at a ceremony at the British ambassador's residence in Dublin. "I would like to thank Her Majesty's ambassador for pinning this award on me in my hometown, and the band for not bursting my balloon,'' he said in remarks carried on U2's website (www.u2.com). Bono is now a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, or KBE, but as...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Al Gore is garnering wide praise following his documentary's win at last night's Academy Awards -- even from White House Press Secretary Tony Snow. Asked in a press briefing Monday what he thought about Al Gore's documentary film, "An Inconvenient Truth," winning an Oscar, Snow said, "I'm happy for him," and mused, "It's good to have a second career."

I heard that Al Gore people are saying that he buys Carbon offsets to cover his carbon footprint caused by his 4 homes, private jet travel and other travel. This raises a question: Are the purchase of carbon offsets tax deductible? To what extent? Is he using the taxpayers to fund his carbon footprint reduction or is he doing this on his own?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is proving once again that the Democrat label of “party of the people” is simply that: a label. Now, the San Francisco liberal is complaining about the size of the House speaker’s jet and requesting one much larger than Republican Dennis Hastert was provided. As noted in a FOX News story, following the attacks of September 11, 2001, “the Pentagon agreed to provide the House speaker, who is second in the line of presidential succession, with a military plane for added security during trips back home.” C-20 twin-engine aircraft Republican Dennis Hastert was the first speaker...

Monday, May 22, 2006 12:44 a.m. EDT Mel Gibson Slams 'Da Vinci Code' Catholic actor Mel Gibson has slammed "The Da Vinci Code" book and movie for attacking the beliefs that he holds sacred, World Entertainment Network reported. "The Passion of the Christ" star has been outraged about the thriller's controversial plot concerning Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. [Editor's Note: Get NewsMax's special report "The Da Vinci Con" FREE with Ann Coulter's book, "Godless" – CLICK HERE NOW!] Gibson says, "What worries me is that people will take this as fact. "I'm not angry, per se, that it refutes everything...

On CNN today, Bill Bennett hit back at the American media, especially CNN, for refusing to show the Danish cartoons that sparked the current controversy. During the lead-in, CNN showed a number of anti-Semitic cartoons from Middle Eastern newspapers as part of a feature story on double standards in the Arab world. But when the segment turned to a debate between Bennett and Arab American Institute president James Zogby, Bennett criticized CNN for its own double standard — showing the anti-Semitic cartoons as part of a news story, but refusing to show the Danish cartoons:

CAIRO, Egypt — Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri said in a videotape aired Monday that President Bush was a "butcher" and a "failure" because of a deadly U.S. airstrike in Pakistan targeting the bin Laden deputy, and he threatened a new attack on the United States.

Ethics In Government: Hillary Clinton is on a personal jihad against what she calls the Republican-led "culture of corruption and cronyism" in Washington. Corruption? Cronyism? She's one to talk. It's hard to think of a more unqualified candidate for Girl Scout of Washington. But Hillary, queen of the Arkansas mafia, has appointed herself to that role in this, the next stage of her pre-2008 media makeover. The rehabilitation is complete: Meet St. Hillary, defender of all that is right and decent. Yes, she's almost ready to seize power again — if, that is, she can get away with the con....

Former vice president Al Gore has turned himself into a one-man grand jury, ready to indict the Bush administration for any number of crimes against the Constitution. Whether you agree with Gore's conclusions or not, the speech that the 2000 Democratic nominee for president gave this week in Washington was as comprehensive a rundown of George W. Bush's ventures to the limits of executive authority as anyone could hope to find. Gore is hardly an objective observer. Having outpolled Bush in the popular vote only to see his apparent victory taken from him by a divided Supreme Court, Gore cannot...

Today on NBC News' "Meet the Press," host Tim Russert boxed liberal Sen. Chuck Schumer (D.-N.Y.) into a corner over Schumer's opposition to Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Russert reminded Schumer of a letter he wrote to President Bush in 2001 that said: "The ABA evaluation has been the gold standard by which judicial candidates are judged..." He then said to Schumer: "And now we have this from the ABA: 'Samuel A. Alito Jr. (nominated 11/10/05), to be an associate justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. Rating: `Well qualified' by unanimous vote of the standing committee' of the ABA. It's...

Mel Gibson will appear on second hour of ABC's "Good Morning America" program tomorrow morning. The man who produced and directed the most awesome, the most moving motion picture of 2004, will have a surprise announcement that FReepers will NOT want to miss!!!PLEASE TUNE IN! TELL A FRIEND OR LOVED ONE AND HAVE THEM TUNE IN!!!

Just reported on NBC News

"John Kerry is the number one Senate recipient of banker donations over the past 15 years, and his attacks today are completely hypocritical. This is another example of Kerry’s willingness to say one thing and do another. If John Kerry really cared about bank customers, he wouldn’t have skipped the vote on the fair credit legislation that the President signed to ensure fair treatment of credit applicants and to prevent identity theft." -Steve Schmidt, Bush-Cheney '04 Spokesman Kerry On The FACT Act:Kerry Skipped The Vote On The Fair And Accurate Credit Transactions Act Of 2003. (H.R. 2622, Roll Call...

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LOS ANGELES - Distributors of Michael Moore (news)'s documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" are appealing to get a PG-13 rating, instead of R. A screening by the Motion Picture Association of America's appeals board has been set for June 22, just three days before "Fahrenheit 9/11" hits theaters. But the film's distributors are trying to move that screening up to this week to expedite a decision, said Tom Ortenberg, president of Lions Gate Films, one of the companies releasing the film. An R rating means those younger than 17 cant' see the movie unless accompanied by an adult. The MPAA ratings board...