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I Truly Miss Our Tobacco Smoking Culture . The paraphernalia. The rituals. The camaraderie. The cigarettes and cigars and pipes. The rituals. The coffee and cigarettes. The pipe and brandy. The smoky jazz clubs. . It was an age. In retrospect it added texture to our lives.

An immigrant father who whipped his children with an electrical cable and threatened to stab them has been spared jail because he told the court he didn’t know his actions were illegal in Britain. One boy was left scared and bleeding. The case is likely to have been influenced by the legal precedent established in June, when a high court judge ruled that Immigrants should be allowed to “slap and hit” their children because of a “different cultural context.”The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, originally from The Gambia in West Africa, used an electrical cable with the...

<p>"Some powerful interests who had been dominating the agenda in Washington for a very long time and they're not always happy with me. They talk about me like a dog. That's not in my prepared remarks, but it's true," he told a crowd largely consisting of union members.</p>

The Spotswood High School students are researching the Muslim culture and finding out how much no one really knows about this culture that is sometimes is negatively stereotyped by the public. "What's the first thing that comes to your mind when I say Islam?" said Casey Morris. "Iraq," a fellow student replied. That's what Casey Morris hopes to eliminate through his research project, the stereotypes the public has about Muslims. Not only will he learn about the culture by wearing traditional Muslim clothing and praying five times a day, but "Also going without pork for 30 days, that's going to...

On July 15, I appeared on MSNBC's "Connected" program to discuss the 7/7 London attacks (you can see video of the segment on the linked page). One of my fellow guests was Pierre Rehov, a French filmmaker who has filmed six documentaries on the intifada by going undercover in the Palestinian areas. Pierre's upcoming film, "Suicide Killers," is based on interviews that he conducted with the families of suicide bombers and would-be bombers in an attempt to find out why they do it. Pierre agreed to my request for a Q&A interview here about his work on the new film....

[VHFCN] Real news from Iraq Went to an AUSA dinner last night at the Ft. Hood Officers' Club to hear a speech by MG Pete Chiarelli, CG of the 1st Cav Div. He and most of the Div. have just returned from Iraq. Very informative and, surprise, the Mainstream Media (MSM) isn't telling the story. I was not there as a reporter, didn't take notes but I'll make some the points I remember that were interesting, suprising or generally stuff I had not heard before. It was not a speech per se. He just walked and talked, showed some slides...

An Iraqi woman is hailed for attacking U.S. troops - and condemned for leaving the house without permission. ------------------------------------------------------- ZAQANIYAH, Iraq - There were few tears for Iman Salih Mutlak at her wake. She is a hero to some - a martyr who tried to kill U.S. soldiers with grenades, then died in a hail of their bullets - but her family feels nothing but shame. Their rage comes not because of her planned attack, but because the 22-year-old woman left the house alone and without permission from her father - thereby besmirching the honor of her tribe. "When she...