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George Soros Open Society Institute 400 West 59th Street New York, NY 10019 Dear Mr. Soros, It’s no fun, of course, for a writer to get rejected. I’ve been rejected plenty of times by the blogs where I am the Russia columnist, American Thinker and Pajamas Media, and although (most of the time) they were right to do it that doesn’t make it any more pleasant. But getting rejected by George Soros is a whole different matter. Probably, it’s about as low as you can get. This is how it happened to me, as if you didn’t know. A little...

Alan Grayson decided it was time grandstand again on House floor. This time he used his magic math to read the number of people who are dead in Republican districts due to no health care. Click here for the videos. Below is a partial transcript from the first video. Grayson: Mr. Speaker, during the civil war Abraham Lincoln our President often pardoned people who have been convicted of treason. You may wonder why he did that. The answer is because he saw death all around him in the civil war and he wanted to make sure he did nothing to...

An invitation to enter into the rest of the Lord—Pray with real intent—The Spirit of Christ enables men to know good from evil—Satan persuades men to deny Christ and do evil—The prophets manifest the coming of Christ—By faith miracles are wrought and angels minister—Men should hope for eternal life and cleave unto charity. Between A.D. 400 and 421 1 And now I, Moroni, write a few of the words of my father Mormon, which he spake concerning faith, hope, and charity; for after this manner did he speak unto the people, as he taught them in the synagogue which they...

With November now upon us, I have a few disjointed things lying around on my desktop that have been there for several weeks, and since they're all not compelling enough by themselves to introduce a thread, I'll go ahead and get them out of the way now and regroup with some much better philosophy for the next few weeks or so. --Here is a neat quiz that might give some of you grief. Name the 26 teams with the most all-time wins in the Division Formerly Known as I-A in 7 minutes or less and you get to brag about...

*break* Bob McDonnell yesterday announced his transition committee leaders, including Tom Farrell, chairman and CEO of the state's largest utility, Dominion Resources. The transition committee also will include Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling; Attorney General Bill Mims; Bobbie Kilberg, president of the Northern Virginia Technology Council; and Kay Coles James, a Cabinet official under Gov. George Allen. *break* James, who served as director for the Office of Personnel Management under President George W. Bush, also is a former dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University in Virginia Beach, where McDonnell received his law degree. *break* He said the...

Blue Dog Democrats face a dilemma this weekend: Should they oppose legislation they believe is flawed, or move the bill out of the House in the hopes of it changing in conference? That core question was on the minds of many of the 52 fiscally conservative Democrats after a meeting Tuesday with Douglas Elmendorf, the director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), to get an in-person explanation of the differences between the House and Senate healthcare bills. The number of Blue Dogs leaning toward or committed to “no” votes could be in the 30s, according to members, although Blue Dog...

UK: Muslims enraged at being questioned at airport, call for investigation A few weeks ago I was in an airport, having hurried from a venue where I had just given a talk. I don't ever speak from a written text, but I do carry notes -- a page or two of quotations from various Muslim Brotherhood operatives, etc., including jihadist and Islamic supremacist statements by some putative American moderate Muslims, as well as quotations from the Koran and Hadith, etc. I had this material in my suit pocket, and it dropped out when I took off my suit jacket to...

The Story of 'Operation Orchard' How Israel Destroyed Syria's Al Kibar Nuclear Reactor By Erich Follath and Holger Stark In September 2007, Israeli fighter jets destroyed a mysterious complex in the Syrian desert. The incident could have led to war, but it was hushed up by all sides. Was it a nuclear plant and who gave the orders for the strike? The mighty Euphrates river is the subject of the prophecies in the Bible's Book of Revelation, where it is written that the river will be the scene of the battle of Armageddon: "The sixth angel poured out his bowl...

My Wednesday Examiner column, written as the 2009 election returns were coming in, stands up pretty well. But let me add some observations written as the course of the elections became clearer. First, in the governor elections in Virginia and New Jersey, the Democratic candidate ran far behind Barack Obama’s percentages in 2008 and the Republican candidates ran ahead of George W. Bush’s percentages in 2004. The numbers are pretty daunting. In Virginia Creigh Deeds won 41% of the votes, way behind Barack Obama’s 53% in 2008. And in New Jersey Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine won 45% of the votes,...

People say that the election of Barack Obama and his pursuit of radical measures--from state-run health care to unilateral nuclear disarmament--marks the end of American conservatism. One Jeremiah, Sam Tanenhaus, has produced a predictable book, The Death of Conservatism. I do not sympathize with such defeatism. To begin with, conservatism is protean. One kind was neatly summed up by that bluff old Victorian the Duke of Cambridge: "It is said I am against change. I am not against change. I am in favor of change in the right circumstances. And those circumstances are when it can no longer be resisted."...

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is fast running out of money, thanks to more and more bank failures. To replenish its depleted kitty the FDIC recently said it would require healthy banks to make three years of advance payments for future premiums by the end of this year rather than hit them with new assessments. Alas, this is really semantics: The FDIC will still be sucking money from the banking system to finance bank foreclosures, which means less money for loans to sound businesses and consumers. It goes squarely against FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair's stated declaration that "we need them...

President Barack Obama has brushed aside a sharp rebuke at the polls on the first anniversary of his historic election, saying his administration had saved the nation from economic ruin. Just hours after rival Republicans gleefully ousted Democratic candidates in two key gubernatorial races, the White House dismissed suggestions that the results were a referendum on Obama and his policies. Republicans trumpeted Tuesday's victories in New Jersey and Virginia as a conservative comeback one year to the day after Obama vowed before a tumultuous crowd in Chicago that change had come to America. But Obama reminded a school audience in...

We are awash in information about how to have healthy and successful churches. Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven church movement claims to have trained many thousands of pastors around the world. The website for this movement states the vision: “Our vision is to see healthy, balanced congregations producing Purpose Driven lives of all ages everywhere.”1 This movement is being called a new reformation: “Saddleback Church is now but one among thousands of Purpose Driven churches – the vanguard of a new reformation.”2 The churches who most successfully copy Rick Warren’s pattern are honored with a “Church Health Award.”3 As contemporary evangelicals...

SNIPPET: "The third article, titled "Al-Shabaab Recruiting in the West," takes a comprehensive look at what we know about the group's efforts to recruit fighters in the United States, and in other Western countries. The final article concerns the efficacy of the Somali president's recent diplomatic efforts in Minneapolis, Columbus, OH, and Chicago."

The U.S. military said on Tuesday it is now tracking 800 maneuverable satellites on a daily basis for possible collisions and expects to add 500 more non-maneuvering satellites by year's end. The U.S. Air Force began upgrading its ability to predict possible collisions in space after a dead Russian military communications satellite and a commercial U.S. satellite owned by Iridium collided on Feb. 10. General Kevin Chilton, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, called the collision the "seminal event" in the satellite industry during the past year and said it destroyed any sense that space was so vast that collisions were...

Krauthammer on Foxnews Special Report responds to what the House Democrats reaction to the election results are...

An armed Columbus, OH home invader was fatally shot in self defense by one of his victims. Police say that several people were inside a home on Northglen Drive when an armed home invader and at least one accomplice rushed in through the door and threatened the lives of those present. One of the victims reportedly grabbed his self defense handgun and shot one of the armed robbers in self defense. Police arrived to find one home invader lying dead on the living room floor, and another suspect hiding in a bathroom. The surviving suspect was apprehended, and police say...

The U.S. Air Force has a morale problem with its combat pilots. The issue is lack of action for the pilots. That, plus the increased use of unmanned aircraft, and the very real prospect that the age of the manned combat aircraft may be coming to an end. This is made worse with hundreds of fighter pilots being assigned to operating Predator and Reaper UAVs. This was not popular duty, even though the pilots still draw flight pay. It is tedious work, although the UAV operators often saw more combat action than they did when piloting F-16s or F-15s. The...

NEW YORK – On-air promos for a sexual threesome on an upcoming episode of "Gossip Girl" have spurred the Parents Television Council to ask affiliates of the CW network to pre-empt the show. Airing the teen tryst, which is being teased in an ad as a "3SOME," is "reckless and irresponsible," said PTC president Tim Winter in a statement Wednesday. The threesome involves three main characters in the show but they are not identified in the promos. The PTC has urged CW affiliate stations not to air the episode, scheduled for Nov. 9. In a letter to the affiliates, Winter...

We were accused of rooting against America because we laughed after President Obama's ego trip to land the Olympics failed. All we were doing was mocking the drooling hordes who were shocked that the Olympic committee was immune to the charm in which they've invested all their hopes for the future. After all, he showed up. He smiled. He said "Heyyyyy!" That's the formula people, get on freakin' board already!A year later and I'm not sure about what we've learned from this ('Cause you can't hear it enough!) historic presidency. The post-racial tone has manifested itself in a small army...

Huilu has added the 1940's(?) Brit 'Sherlock Holmes' TV series to their line up, with episodes 1 to 39. Back when I only had terrestrial TV, I used to enjoy watching the nightly episode aired on my local PBS channel before going to sleep.

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) confirmed Wednesday that he reached out to influential Republican insider Fred Malek and sought his counsel on how to court former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s endorsement for his Senate bid. As first reported by the Washington Post, Kirk sent a memo to Malek seeking advice on how to acquire a “quick and decisive” endorsement from Palin urging Republicans to embrace Kirk as the “lead candidate” in Illinois. Kirk acknowledged the authenticity of the memo to POLITICO. The Republican’s campaign said that it has sent materials to Palin, though Kirk spokesman Eric Elk downplayed the significance of...

November 5, 2009                                    Thursday of the Thirty-first Week                                in Ordinary Time Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Rom 14:7-12 Brothers and sisters:None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.For if we live, we live for the Lord,and if we die, we die for the Lord;so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.For this is why Christ died and came to life,that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.Why then do you judge your brother or sister?Or you, why do you look down on...

Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard Co. chief executive officer, announced Wednesday she will run for a U.S. Senate seat from California. The announcement by Mrs. Fiorina, a Republican, ends months of speculation about her plans to challenge Sen. Barbara Boxer, the three-term Democratic incumbent. "Get ready," Mrs. Fiorina said during a town-hall-style event in Orange County. "I can take a punch, and I can throw a punch. I'm not a brawler, and I'm not a boxer, [but] I can take on Barbara Boxer." Her campaign so far has played out in quintessential Southern California style. The event was held at...

Former president George W Bush thought that the United States could turn Kabul into Peoria, the archetypal American city in the state of Illinois. President Barack Obama thinks that Kabul is just as good as Peoria. America has shed idealist delusion - that imposing the outward form of democracy in Iraq or Afghanistan would implant its content - in favor of an even stranger delusion, which refuses "to elevate one nation or group of people over another", as Obama told the United Nations on September 23. It was mad to believe that America could remake the world in its own...

Fiat's grand plan for Chrysler's revival sounds awfully familiar. Possible, but still a dream. Chrysler's five-year recovery plan announced Wednesday reveals some good news but a lot of dreams and promises of great improvements. The good news was how its cash had grown by $1.7 billion, to $5.7 billion at the end of September, plus $200 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Of course, Chrysler got $12 billion in help from the government. The dreams involved about everything else: new products to come, new engines, new quality, new manufacturing processes, a doubling of sales per dealer, $3...

We’ve been here before. The government mandates more fuel-efficient vehicles across the board, yet the American public continues to gravitate toward what’s big and powerful. Barring this era of greater responsibility and restraint, which might pass like a fleeting fancy with the recession, why not pick the bigger or more powerful car, we say? A lot of things are different this time around, though. Perhaps most remarkably, quite a few executives of automakers and major auto-supplier companies are voicing out in favor of higher fuel taxes—of more rigorous regulation of what types of vehicles can be built and sold—as a...

< The Best American President India's Ever Had Ashok Malik, That's George W. Bush. On Oct. 30 and 31, George W. Bush visited New Delhi and Bombay for meetings with India's political, strategic and business establishment. In the Indian capital, he addressed an audience of federal government officials, parliamentarians, business executives and foreign policy wonks that comprised the most receptive gathering the former American president had encountered in a long, long time. As Bush left the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit--a high-profile conference organized by a leading Indian newspaper--the ambassador of a major country, a NATO ally, could be seen shaking...

Dick Morris thinks Mob-O-Care is dead after the Democrat electoral fiascos in the last week. I sincerely hope that Morris is right, but I'm not so sure. The trouble is that Obama and the Democrats have no other game plan -- their other ideas, like the suicidal Carbon Tax, are even more likely to get them tossed out of office. Obama's power has peaked -- and judging by the Clinton backlash of 1994, when the GOP won the  House for the first time in forty years, it's downhill from here on out. Nothing in politics is certain, and Obama will...

(Memphis 10/22/09) A woman who rescues dogs wants answers from the Memphis Police Department after officers shot at least one of her pets and the other ran away frightened and possibly injured. Anna Bolton calls 7 year-old Violet the timid one, and 3 year-old Bing the playful one. That's why she can't understand why anyone would be scared enough to shoot Bing, let alone trained officers with the Memphis Police Department. Worse yet, when she got the call and rushed home to a swarm of squad cars, "Nobody had told me my animal had been shot... It's shocking and horrifying...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-barack-obama-iran Home • Briefing Room • Statements & Releases The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release November 03, 2009 Statement by President Barack Obama on Iran Thirty years ago today, the American Embassy in Tehran was seized. The 444 days that began on November 4, 1979 deeply affected the lives of courageous Americans who were unjustly held hostage, and we owe these Americans and their families our gratitude for their extraordinary service and sacrifice. This event helped set the United States and Iran on a path of sustained suspicion,...

Yesterday, a “Your iPhone’s been hacked because it’s really insecure! Please visit doiop.com/iHacked and secure your phone right now!” message popped up on the screens of a large number of automatically exploited Dutch iPhone users, demanding $4.95 for instructions on how to secure their iPhones and remove the message from appearing at startup. Through a combination of port scanning and OS fingerprinting of T-Mobile’s 3G IP range, a Dutch teenager has for the first time automatically exploited a known security vulnerability introduced on jailbroken iPhones - the SSH daemon which unless modified remains running with default users root and mobile,...

Memphis, TN - The City of Memphis tore down the wrong house and it cost taxpayers $29,000. The duplex used to be located at 1072 Garland Street. Records show Memphis Code Enforcement officers never notified the homeowner the house was scheduled for demolition. Memphis city council member Myron Lowery says “Paying for a $29,000 house is a big hit that never should have happened. Someone made a mistake and they should be disciplined for it.” According to city records, four years ago the city began condemning the property. Then it was sold to the current owner. Records show the owner...

American teenagers have more pregnancies, births and abortions than teens in other industrialized countries. Approximately 4 million teens contract a sexually transmitted disease each year. About 820,000 girls become pregnant before they turn 20. Teens are having sex. There is no doubt about that, so does it help that the government will not fund a sex education program that teaches safe sex? 75 percent of parents say they would like their children to be taught both abstinence and safe sex. Yet, one-third of American high schools are teaching abstinence-only sex education. Other schools avoid the subject altogether. If sex education...

Video of story of Alabama's prepaid college tuition program going insolvent in 2016. http://www2.nbc13.com/vtm/news/local/article/pact_will_run_out_of_money_in_2016/106306/

WASHINGTON – It was a big election night for Republicans overall. But their lone disappointment – the loss of a New York congressional seat in a crossfire between moderates and conservatives – could portend struggles next year for GOP leaders. Channeling the Tea Party-inspired energy is a particular headache for Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions, whose costly effort to keep the New York seat was a casualty of the civil war. "There's a huge revolt going on in the country against the political establishment," said former Virginia congressman Tom Davis, who once held the challenging political job that Sessions now has...

<p>Taiwan said Wednesday that its giant neighbour China has started building its first aircraft carrier, a move analysts have said could raise military tensions in the region. The head of Taiwan's National Security Bureau told parliament construction of the carrier had begun, Lin Yu-fang, a legislator of the ruling Kuomintang party, told AFP.</p>

WASHINGTON — Republicans emerged from Tuesday’s elections energized by victories in Virginia and New Jersey, but their leaders immediately began maneuvering to avoid a prolonged battle with conservative activists over what the party stands for and how to regain power. The victories, in races for governor, were cast by the party’s national chairman, Michael Steele, as a sign of a “Republican renaissance.” In New Jersey, Gov. Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat, was toppled by the Republican nominee, Christopher J. Christie. In Virginia, Robert F. McDonnell, the Republican, defeated his Democratic opponent, R. Creigh Deeds. Republicans said the victories showed that...

Part Two:  Channels of Grace Holy Orders Table of Contents     Among the sacraments, none is more distinctively Catholic than the sacrament of Order. The plural, Orders, is commonly used because there are three levels of this one sacrament, namely the diaconate, priesthood, and episcopate. In the Church’s own language, this sacrament is described in the new Code of Canon Law. By divine institution, some among Christ’s faithful are, through the sacrament of Order, marked with an indelible character, and are thus constituted sacred ministers…. They are thereby consecrated and deputed so that each according to his own grade, they fulfill,...

Rumors are circulating that Scott Rothstein, whose current whereabouts aren't known, spent a marathon 18 hours in talks with federal prosecutors last night and this morning. ​Sources say he was not only confessing to his own crimes but pointing the finger at others, including Gov. Charlie Crist, who was so close to Rothstein that he visited his home, dined with him, and attended a party at his wedding last year at the Versace mansion.

Attention Freepers: Right Talk Radio is growing exponentially, and our internet based station looking for people who would volunteer to be field reporters for Right Talk Radio. It would not encompass any travelling, unless you chose to do so. The only instruments you would need is a computer and a cell phone. Other recording devices are optional. Your jobs as field reporters would be of the utmost importance: you will be the eyes and ears of Right Talk Radio and ultimately, of the entire country. Our goal at Right Talk Radio is to put the news out there as to...

Russia currently holds a greater degree of relevance and influence in Moldovan politics than at any time during the eight years of nominal communist rule (2001-2009) and indeed since 1991 in that country. Russia’s growing political role is a direct result of Moldova’s indecisive parliamentary elections held in April and July 2009 –followed by two failed presidential elections– with yet another round of elections possible in 2010. This has created unprecedented scope for Russia to insert itself in Moldova’s internal political game as a would-be power broker. Russia is now competing against the European Union for the role of political...

Would Britain Really Be Any Worse Off If The Commons Was Blown Up Tomorrow? DOMINIC SANDBROOK 05th November 2009 Spool forward to Bonfire Night, 2019. Picture a typical, quiet English town where hundreds have gathered. Children's excited faces glow in the darkness. In a scene repeated in communities across the nation, the bonfire's flames reach the top of the pile of wood and begin to lick at the self-satisfied smile of the effigy of former Commons Speaker John Bercow. The crowds let out a roar of delight. These celebrations are not the traditional ones marking the failure of the Gunpowder...

In a conference call Wednesday night with bloggers and activists for the advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) called on protesters to “scare” members of Congress into killing the proposed health care reform bill. If the protesters succeed in scaring lawmakers, Bachmann said that it could cripple efforts to restructure health care for a decade. “Nothing scares members of Congress more than freedom-loving Americans,” Bachmann said. She said that members were frightened by the August town hall meetings, but “then they came back to Washington, and they got back in the bubble and Speaker Pelosi put the...

MPs voted by a clear margin Wednesday to repeal the federal long-gun registry, signalling for the first time since the program was adopted 14 years ago that it is headed for the scrap heap, despite police assertions that it saves lives. A private member's bill, sponsored by Conservative backbencher Candice Hoeppner, had the backing of all the Tories, from Prime Minister Stephen Harper down, and enough Liberal and New Democrat MPs to clear its first major hurdle of winning support in principle. The bill passed by a surprising 164-137, winning more supporters than expected as 18 opposition MPs rose to...

On Theology of the Heart or the Mind "To Make Truth Triumph in Charity" VATICAN CITY, NOV. 4, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of Benedict XVI's address today during the general audience held in St. Peter's Square. * * * Dear brothers and sisters, In the last catechesis I presented the main characteristics of 12th century monastic and scholastic theology, which in a certain sense we could call, respectively, "theology of the heart" and "theology of reason." A wide debate, at times fiery, took place between the representatives of each current, represented symbolically by the controversy between St. Bernard...

There are some amazing stories brewing on the Scott Rothstein front, but while I'm reporting those, let's look at his cars.

After pumping more than $1 million into an upstate New York House race to elect the Conservative Party’s Doug Hoffman, the Club for Growth is on the hunt again. Chris Chocola, president of the conservative political action committee, made it clear the PAC is looking for more GOP targets who don’t embrace the Club’s limited-government approach. Priority No. 1 is likely to be the Senate contest in Florida, where Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who embraced President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, is being challenged by former State House Speaker Marco Rubio. . . . . . Beyond Florida, other establishment Republicans...

Myriad of Compounds Intended to Stop the Progression of Metabolic Diseases Moves Through the PipelineThe competition to develop new therapeutics targeting metabolic disease is heating up. Here’s why: the latest estimates from the American Diabetes Association state that there are nearly 24 million Americans with diabetes. In addition, approximately 32% of American adults are medically obese. Many companies have honed in on this large and growing market, and several of them presented their latest findings at IQPC’s “Groundbreaking Advances and Key Opinions in Metabolic Diseases Drug Discovery and Development� held recently in San Francisco. “When we founded the company, we...

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who recruited Gov. Charlie Crist to run for Florida’s open Senate seat next year, said today that the National Senatorial Campaign Committee will not put money into the primary Republican battle with former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio. “We will not spend money in a contested primary,” Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told ABC News.