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Like Jay-Z and Lady Gaga, Harold Ford, Jr. has a tour rider. The former Tennessee congressman, who is now trying to carpetbag his way to a Senate seat in New York, banks about $20,000 when he gives speeches booked by the Greater Talent Network agency. According to the below contract for an appearance Wednesday at a Missouri college, Ford demands that when his limo driver picks him up, the chauffeur must be carrying a sign reading "H.F.." Presumably, if the Democrat's name was spelled out, hordes of fans/groupies would be alerted to his impending arrival and swarm him (something that...

State legislators are criticizing a $35 million bailout plan for the cash-strapped city of Lawrence, as Beacon Hill prepares to debate the proposal amid growing public outcry over the new mayor’s refusal to resign his state representative post. With the city nearing bankruptcy, a key legislative committee will launch discussions today of a measure that would allow Lawrence to take out millions in loans to repair its tattered finances, while appointing an outside overseer to help the city stabilize its budget. Facing a deficit of close to $25 million, the city is in danger of running out of money this...

  It seems Michael Jackson's longtime doctor, Arnold Klein, was telling the truth about Michael's propensity to pee in bottles ... based on the L.A. County Coroner's autopsy report and a strange item found by the foot of the bed. TMZ first published the autopsy findings yesterday. Among the items found in the bedroom where Dr. Conrad Murray was treating Michael Jackson -- "a closed bottle of urine atop a chair." Back in November, we posted a story about Dr. Arnold Klein, who told us that Michael Jackson had a habit of peeing in cups and other objects, often in...

Muslims across the world and in particular those who are campaigning for her release including Lord Nazir Ahmed and human rights groups must also bear in mind the following facts: 1. She was married to a person who bought night-vision goggles and body armour worth $10,000 allegedly for “big game hunting” in Pakistan. He himself subsequently narrates Aafia’s violent personality, extremist views and concerns over her involvement in Jihadi activities. 2. Her second marriage a mere 6 months after her divorce, was to Ammar al-Baluchi, also known as Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali who happens to be the nephew of Khalid...

Torturing the climate numbers until they confessInterview In 2001 the IPCC published its Third Assessment report prominently featuring a graph that became "the logo of global warming". Previous historical reconstructions didn't show our modern warm climate as particularly anomalous. This was very different, and was hailed as a "call to action". Yet Michael Mann's studies were deeply flawed. Omit one or two proxies, for example, and the scary warming 'spike' disappears. Mann's model could produce hockey stick shapes using random data, such as baseball scores, or red noise. Critics alleged that Mann's choices of data and statistical tools all cooled...

If you drive along I-35 in Wyoming, Minnesota, you might see a billboard with a picture of George W. Bush and the words, "Miss Me Yet?" Bob Collins of Minnesota Public Radio says that the billboard is real, not Photoshopped, and he has been trying to chase down who is behind it.

about Nadine Pellegrino, who learned just how powerful the government's word can be. The businesswoman spent a night in the lockup at 55th and Pine after Transportation Security Administration agents said she assaulted them during a screening at the airport. Pellegrino's story differs dramatically from statements TSA agents gave to police and made in court. A TSA spokesman said the agency cannot comment, because of pending litigation: Pellegrino and her husband, Harry Waldman, filed a civil rights suit against the agency in federal court in November. In Pellegrino's view, she stepped into a Kafkaesque nightmare. In court testimony, the TSA...

Federal officials review Toyota Corolla complaints The Associated Press Tuesday, February 9, 2010; 11:54 AM WASHINGTON -- Federal safety officials say they will look into complaints from Toyota Corolla drivers about difficulty with the steering on their vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received about 80 complaints from drivers of 2009 and 2010 Corollas. Many say their cars can wander when they drive on the highway, making it hard to stay in lanes. NHTSA says it will determine if a formal safety investigation is warranted. But agency officials also stress that it is standard procedure to review the...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The rarely-shuttered US government closed down for a second day Tuesday, as the northeast braced for another massive snow blitz just days after a historic blizzard paralyzed the region. Schools in the Washington area were shut and thousands of homes were without power after a massive snowfall barreled across the area Friday and Saturday, leaving some areas entombed in as much as three feet (one meter) of snow. Forecasters said residents now face another wintry onslaught, with another 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of snow forecast to fall on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unlike the...

Facts are stubborn. Paul Krugman, a renowned economist turned New York Times columnist, is more flexible. But he has a lot to say about budget deficit facts. These days it’s hard to pick up a newspaper or turn on a news program without encountering stern warnings about the federal budget deficit. The deficit threatens economic recovery, we’re told; it puts American economic stability at risk; it will undermine our influence in the world.

Here's a primer designed to answer the biggest questions TV viewers may have about watching the Games. Q: What networks in the United States will carry the games? A: NBC is the only network. It paid $820 million for the right to carry the Games — it has broadcast every Olympics, summer or winter, since 1984. But action won't be limited to just NBC, whose local affiliate is KING-TV (Channel 5). Other stations in its empire — MSNBC, CNBC, USA and Universal HD — will also take part. Further coverage will air on its new Universal Sports Channel (115 on...

WASHINGTON - As the region braces for another major storm, one local government is having trouble keeping their plows on the roads, WTOP has learned. As many as 60 of the District's snow plows are not working -- bad news for thousands of residents still waiting for their streets to be cleared.

TORONTO -- The commander of Canada's largest Air Force base, who once flew dignitaries around the country, has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of two women Ontario Provincial Police Det. Insp. Chris Nicholas said Monday that Col. Russell Williams, 46, was also charged in the sexual assaults of two other women. Williams was arrested Sunday in Ottawa. The charges left Canada's military in a state of shock.

Michelle Obama Defends Hubby From Palin’s Attacks: “Change Isn’t Easy & Doesn’t Happen Overnight” Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Jim Hoft Sarah Palin let the Obama Administration have it Saturday night. But that won’t stop Team Obama from pushing their hopey-changey socialist crap. Michelle Obama defended her husband today from recent attacks insisting that, “Change isn’t easy and doesn’t happen overnight.” But it sure hurts. Good Morning America reported: “I think my husband has done a phenomenal job staying on course, looking his critics in the eye, coming up with clear solutions against staying the course,” Michelle Obama told Robin Roberts...

Khamenei, whose public statements should be taken seriously, is promising some sort of devastating “punch” against the West on Thursday the 11th, the same day as the Green Movement is calling for a monster protest against his regime. What might he have in mind? I don’t know; they say a lot of things just for effect, but threats/promises from the supreme leader have a certain standing. If I were an Israeli official, I’d recheck my information on Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. Some think he’s preparing some kind of attack against Israel. .....

This story, about a U.S. soldier who abused his child by holding her head under water for not saying her abc's, is disgusting: An Army sergeant who served in Iraq for 15 months has been restricted to his Washington military base after being accused of waterboarding his 4-year-old daughter because she refused to recite her ABCs. But what I'd like to take umbrage with is how the media has decided to take this act of child abuse and water torture to draw an equivalence to the CIA enhanced interrogation program, which included the waterboarding of 3 known high-value terrorists, resistant...

From Independence, Missouri, in 2008 then-Sen. Barack Obama seeks to reassure voters on patriotism.

A papier-mache figure representing the statue of liberty and U.S. President Barack Obama on a carnival procession float is seen during a preview in Cologne February 9, 2010. The carnival procession will take place on Rose Monday, February 15, when hundreds of thousands of people all over Germany will celebrate. A papier-mache figure representing U.S. President Barack Obama giving money to China's President Hu Jintao (R) on a carnival procession float, is seen during a preview in Cologne February 9, 2010 A papier-mache figure representing U.S. President Barack Obama and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R), who pulls a Trojan horse...

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, February 8, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new country music star has been born - and with a pro-life ballad, no less, that is steadily climbing the country music charts. Matt Kennon’s debut hit single “the Call” has risen to No. 39 on the Billboard 200 list of top country music hits and packs a compelling pro-life, or what some may call a “whole life," message. Accompanied by his guitar, Kennon sings about the lives of two individuals that would have ended very differently without the timely intervention of a phone call. The music video for “The Call” –...

"There is now a coordinated effort underway to demonize Anthem Blue Cross in California for raising rates. Obama singled the company out in a 60 Minutes interview over the weekend and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is playing dutiful attack dog, demanding that Anthem “justify” its rate hikes to the federal government:"

Felony snowball throwing charges have been leveled against two Virginia college students for allegedly pelting a city plow and an undercover police car during Saturday's blizzard. Charles Gill and Ryan Knight, both 21, were nabbed by cops in Harrisonburg, where they attend James Madison University. According to police, the pair first targeted a city plow last Saturday afternoon. The driver responded by calling cops to report the frosty fusillade. When police responded to the scene in a bid to identify the assailants, their unmarked vehicle also came under an icy assault. Gill and Knight, a guard on JMU's basketball team,...

EXCERPT Democrats should also give Republicans plenty of room to do themselves in. By openly declaring themselves for sale to Wall Street, Republicans are displaying the kind of crony capitalism that drives Americans to form Tea Parties. Ironically, this doesn't seem to bother Sarah Palin. Faced with a choice between subsidizing the banks and poor kids, she went with the banks, warning the Tea Party activists that the Obama administration is "taking over" everything, including "health care, student loans." With views like that, she won't have any trouble getting speaking gigs at $100,000 a shot. (The writer is editor of...

The Politico had a story about Big Labor penned by Jeanne Cummings, the reporter famed for going after Sarah Palin's Party purchased wardrobe during the 2008 presidential campaign, that was an object lesson in Old Media bias. Her piece headlined "Labor helps kill its own top priority" is a great example of using language to subtly shade the arguments, in this case those of Big Labor, to elicit a positive view of the ideology contained in the issue. Her piece very subtly shades the goals of Big Labor in a positive light easily giving the reader a feeling that Big...

To borrow a quote from a certain president, “let me make myself perfectly clear.” I don’t want inflexible religious extremists in my government. I don’t want them making policy or enacting laws, and if I see them on my TV, I prefer to change the channel. What I am talking about is the absolutist religion of global warming alarmism. These religious extremists cannot be reasoned with in any way whatsoever. No amount of proof—and with Climate-gate to Rain-forest-gate to Himalaya-gate, there’s been plenty—can shake their faith. Like a fundamentalist religious wacko, the global warming alarmist demands that everyone else believes...

The other day I was slapping Congressman John Boehner (R, OH) around for his absurd claim that there was no difference between the Tea Party movement's principles and the GOP establishment's principles (or lack thereof). Well, today I have to give our Congressional Minority Leader a pat on the back for his letter to Obama about healthcare. For those unaware, Obama has offered to come have another one of his odious "summits" with the GOP. Obama is claiming he wants to "listen" to the Republican's ideas and that its time to work together. It's all a sandbag, though. Obama is...

February 9, 2010 The Potent Tea Party The Left was counting on the tea-party movement to divide the GOP, but it just isn’t happening. Rich Lowry No one has vested more hope in the tea-party movement than the Democrats. For all the scorn and abuse they’ve heaped on the tea-partiers, they’ve counted on them for salvation. The tea-partiers would push the GOP out of the mainstream. They would tar the party with their bumptious extremism. They would stoke a Republican civil war. The tea-partiers would, in short, redeem the Obama administration’s political fortunes, no matter what. This was the oft-repeated...

A high ranking Democratic source in Albany says the latest unsubstantiated report making the rounds of the Capitol Monday is that the story involves an alleged affair between the governor and a woman in Buffalo.

There is no better example of how low intellectuals have fallen than the case of Bernard-Henri Lévy, intellectual, provocateur, member of the well-regarded French nouveaux philosophes and, it seems, all around gullible fool. Bernard-Henri Lévy, better known to those in the know as BHL, has become a laughing stock of modern inteleckshoouls everywhere with the publication of his much anticipated book on philosopher Immanuel Kant. Oh, there's sharp criticism in Lévy's new Kantallope, there's bomb thrown name calling, and nose-up-turning galore. Kant, according to Lévy, is a "raving lunatic" and a "fake." And to prove his case Lévy uses the...

U.S. President Barack Obama after signing a memorandum on the establishment of a childhood obesity task force in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, February 9, 2010. From L-R are: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Obama, and first lady Michelle Obama.

Link to video "PROLONGED DETENTION" is T R E A S O N

An email sent from an Service Employees International Union (SEIU) lobbyist to Democratic members of the U.S. Senate shows that the SEIU had advance knowledge of when key votes on Craig Becker were to be held. Becker is one of Barack Obama’s nominees for the National Labor Relations Board. The email was released by Jeri Thompson, co-host of the Fred Thompson Show. She will be discussing it in detail on her show, which begins at 12PM. Thompson described the email as “marching orders to the Senate HELP Committee, telling them what their schedule was going to be.” According to the...

Sarah Palin received a rock star’s welcome at the Sierra Cascade Logging Conference where she spoke before the first of two sold-out shows at the Redding Convention Center monday. That’s 4,000 people who paid between $54 for a balcony seat to $74 for a floor seat. I had a floor seat - second row, so near the tower of speakers that I followed the example of people around me and wadded tissue in my right ear to reduce the volume.

Three-term City Councilman Larry Seabrook was indicted today on extortion, fraud and money laundering charges -- including shaking down a Bronx boiler company who had received a contract from the Yankees -- after he was caught stealing as part of an ongoing probe stemming from a slush fund scandal, authorities said. The feds claim Seabrook, who has been a member of the City Council since 2001, shook down the unnamed company for $50,000 after they were awarded a lucrative contract by the Bronx Bombers to install boilers at the new Yankee Stadium. Seabrook (D-Bronx) took the money, in the form...

Below are names of some of our FReepers' loved ones who are serving our country. If you have someone you would like to add, please address a post to Billie; Dutchess; dollycali;The Mayor; GodBlessUSA; JustAmy, and we will add their name to this list. As we pray for them, we pray also for all our nation’s leaders, and military personnel, and their families and friends. May God hold them close to His heart. gator girl........................husband severa.......................... brother Maigrey.........................cousin mystery-ak...........son, husband Inspectorette.......................son Blessed American..........nephew Slip18..........................nephew Diver Dave........niece, nephew ConspiracyGuy........2 nephews Pippin............niece's husband sneakers..........................son weldgophardline...............2 son weldgophardline.....brotherinlaw jamaly.................brotherinlaw Future Snake Eater.......cousin...

http://www.aviapedia.com/files/fighters/PAK_FA/PAK-FA-4.jpg http://www.aviapedia.com/files/fighters/PAK_FA/PAK-FA-2.jpg http://www.aviapedia.com/files/fighters/PAK_FA/PAK-FA-1.jpg

DeepCapture has picked up something I've written about before, but none of these folks seem to put together the "big picture", as I outlined yesterday on my Blogtalk show. As Fiderer explains, Paulson asked the banks to create those CDOs “so that they could be sold to some suckers at close to par. That way, Paulson’s hedge fund could approach some other sucker who would sell an insurance policy, or credit default swap, on the newly minted CDOs. Bear, Deutsche and Goldman knew perfectly well what Paulson’s motivation was. He made no secret of his belief that the CDOs subordinate...

SHOCK CLAIM: Naked Body Scanner Images Of Film Star Printed, Circulated By Airport Staff... Bollywood in the buff...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - You know smoking is bad for you. You know inhaling someone else's smoke is bad for you. Now a US study says third-hand smoke -- tobacco residue clinging to surfaces -- is also bad for you. Deepak Chopra on Quit Smoking Related Articles Third-hand smoke also bad for you: study (AFP)'Third-Hand Smoke' Could Be Troublesome, Too (HealthDay) Deepak Chopra on Quit Smoking All Related Articles » smoking HOME » Related Topics Heart & Vascular Health Lung Cancer Respiratory Health Did you find this helpful? Rate this story: Thumbs up Thumbs down thumbs up thumbs down 59% of...

A powerful new solar observatory will spend the next five years recording images of the sun with 10 times better resolution than HD television, peering deep within the sun's layers to reveal just how solar storms erupt. The observations could help scientists build the first effective models for space weather forecasting. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is slated for launch on Feb. 10 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. It carries three instruments that will pierce the mysteries enshrouding the sun's magnetic fields and ultraviolet radiation, which together help shape the Earth's atmosphere every day. "The unique...

Salvation of the Soul 65. What precisely do you mean by the saving of one's soul? The meaning of that requires a brief analysis of man. Man consists of body and soul. The body is material and perishable; the soul is spiritual and imperishable. But the soul is the real you. It is the soul which knows and loves, is happy or miserable. Now as the soul is immortal, it enters at death into an eternal state, whether it be one of supreme happiness, or of direst misery. By "saving one's soul" I mean going from this world in the...

The Archbishop of Canterbury today issued a "profound apology" to the lesbian and gay Christian community. In a powerful address to General Synod Dr Rowan Williams warned that any schism within the church would represent of a "betrayal" of God's mission. But he made clear that he regretted recent rhetoric in which he has sought to mollify the fears of the traditionalist wing of the church. The Archbishop is from the Church's liberal Catholic wing and a man who once espoused equal rights for gays within the Church. More recently he has adopted a conservative line for the sake of...

GOP strategists fret that RNC Chairman Michael Steele's unorthodox management style will mean missed opportunities in November. Every time Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele gets into trouble, a burst of good news for the GOP bails him out. But Republican strategists fret that his unorthodox approach to his job could leave the party short of cash -- and short of the electoral gains that it might otherwise achieve. Republicans, even those who have never been fans of the outspoken Steele, have concluded that trying to oust him would cause the party more pain than it's worth. Still, the RNC's...

Bush "Miss Me Yet?" Billboard Appears Near Highway Posted by Daniel Farber Updated 11:24 a.m. Eastern (CBS) If you drive along I-35 in Wyoming, Minnesota, you might see a billboard with a picture of George W. Bush and the words, "Miss Me Yet?" Bob Collins of Minnesota Public Radio says that the billboard is real, not Photoshopped, and he has been trying to chase down who is behind it.

The military has canceled the deposition of an alleged terrorist mastermind who claimed that he was assaulted by the military following his capture last year. The law firm Puckett and Faraj, representing Navy SEAL Matthew McCabe, made the announcement on Sunday. Major General Charles Cleveland, the convening authority for the upcoming special courts-martial for three of the Navy SEALs involved in the operation, has decided to cancel the trip to Iraq to depose Ahmed Hashim Abed. Since the SEALs have a Constitutional right to confront their accuser in court, the alleged terrorist's statements won't be used as evidence for the...

... now we have a country absolutely teeming with irregular passions and artful misrepresentations, whipped up to an unprecedented pitch and volume by the fundamentally new means of 24/7 cable and the hyperdemocratic web. And instead of a calm club of like-minded wise men (and women) in Washington compromising and legislating, we have a Republican Establishment almost entirely unwilling to defy or at least gracefully ignore its angriest, most intemperate and frenzied faction—the way Reagan did with his right wing in the eighties and the way Obama is doing with his unhappy left wing now. Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush...

Reporting from Sacramento - Even as the state grappled with a budget crisis last year, bureaucrats spent nearly $45 million on new vehicles, almost $30 million on new furniture and more than $2 million on off-site meetings and conferences, a legislative panel has found. The expenditures were outlined in a report released Monday by the Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review, which plans to call on state agency managers to explain their spending at a hearing Wednesday. "These expenses came despite an executive order from the governor last year for each state agency to cut costs and eliminate vehicle...

The Taliban based in Orakzai Agency confirmed on Tuesday that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakeemullah Mehsud is dead. According to a DawnNews report, Mehsud died on Sunday in Multan after succumbing to injuries received in a drone attack in Shaktoi village. However, Alam Tariq the offiicial Taliban spokesman has not yet made a statement. Sources said that Maulvi Noor Jamal has been nominated as Mehsud's succesor. Government officials too have confirmed his death. American and Pakistani officials had been saying Mehsud was dead since the past few weeks. Maulvi Noor Jamal is a native of the Orakzai Agency and rose to...

Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mahsud was killed in a January drone strike, the group confirmed, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. From the paper: "The death of Mahsud, engineer of a devastating series of suicide attacks and raids on markets, mosques and security installations across Pakistan in the latter half of 2009, gives the U.S. another major victory in its ongoing campaign of drone missile strikes against top Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders. "A drone strike last August killed Mahsud's predecessor, Baitullah Mahsud. Missiles fired by drones over Pakistan's tribal areas along the Afghan border have also...

PARIS (AFP) – Leading French intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy has been caught red-faced for praising the work of a philosopher who, it turns out, was invented as a joke by a journalist from a satirical daily. In his latest book "De la guerre en philosophie" (Making war in philosophy), Levy quoted Jean-Baptiste Botul, an expert on German philosopher Immanuel Kant created by journalist Frederic Pages. Levy acknowledged late Monday that he had often quoted Botul's work "The sex life of Immanuel Kant" during many public appearances and in the pages of his latest book. "As it turns out, it was a...

Francisco "Pancho" Real, a former shot caller for the Drew Street clique of the notorious Avenues gang out of Los Angeles, CA, is spilling his guts, and among his allegations is that criminal defense attorneys "provided him with addresses of witnesses so that he and others could threaten them" as reported by Sam Quinones for the Los Angeles Times. Real has named the attorneys, and "Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, declined to comment."