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WASHINGTON (CNN) — One year after then-presidential candidate Barack Obama called for an investigation into passport snooping of candidates' passport files by State Department employees, a second of three workers fired and prosecuted over the incident has been sentenced.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., has referred constituents raising concerns over President Obama's eligibility to occupy the Oval Office to an online "fact" organization that relies for its answer partly on information from the Obama campaign. The response from Kyl to an Arizona constituent was revealed just one day after a Florida WND reader alerted WND to the fact Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., had told him that Obama's eligibility was affirmed by voters who supported him in the Democratic primary and general elections in 2008. The response from Kyl to a voter who asked about Obama's ability to meet the constitutional...

Compared to 2004, Republican turnout declined by 1.3 percentage points to 28.7 percent, while Democratic turnout increased by 2.6 points from 28.7 percent in 2004 to 31.3 percent in 2008.

Washington Post staff writer Paul Farhi penned a nasty little critique of Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher in Thursday's paper, deriding the conservative critic of Barack Obama as "a leftover artifact from a forgotten time." Grouping Wurzelbacher in with other "campaign distractions," Farhi panned, "He's Clara Peller, Willie Horton or Gennifer Flowers -- names that are the questions in a 'Jeopardy!' category called 'Presidential Campaign Distractions.'" (Of course, Wurzelbacher's "distraction" was to challenge the economic policy of Obama.)

The election of 2008 proved catastrophic for opponents of comprehensive immigration reform. Republicans lost seven Senate seats -- eight if the courts sustain Al Franken's lead in Minnesota. On June 28, 2007, each of the eight previous office-holders (Republicans, all) voted to block the Bush administration's immigration bill. Replacing these eight immigration hardliners are five new senators clearly favorable to a comprehensive approach -- six, counting Franken -- and two whose positions are unclear. All, of course, are Democrats. In the House, comprehensive immigration reformers picked up at least 14 votes, and "enforcement-only" advocates lost 14. Ten incumbent members of...

What's the state of the republic — and its citizens — this Presidents Day 2009? It is a state of deep confusion. Here are some polls to ponder, as America considers presidents past and new. Brace yourself. Before he was elected president, Senator Barack Obama was ranked the most liberal member of a very liberal U.S. Senate by the respected, non-partisan National Journal, which is famous for its rankings of members of Congress. In short, then, a decisive majority of Americans elected as president the most liberal major presidential candidate in the history of the republic. This was unprecedented. To...

The conservative reaction to Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential victory proved surprisingly tame in many circles. Popular talk show hosts like Hugh Hewitt and right-of-center blog sites such as Instapundit weren’t thrilled, to put it mildly. But they echoed the thoughts of many sober conservatives when they accepted the people’s choice and, in their own way, celebrated the ascension of a man of color to the country’s highest office. They loved their country as much on Nov. 5 as they did the previous day. Of course, not everyone was in such a charitable mood as it became clear Obama’s lead wouldn’t...

... Alexandra Pelosi, the filmmaker daughter of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi,... attended many such events to make a film about the people who attended, those who fought against a Barack Obama presidency. "Right America, Feeling Wronged," debuts Monday on HBO. ... For all the talk about the historic nature of Obama's victory, there were still millions of Americans who weren't ready for that kind of change, weren't ready for a black president, she said. ... Campaigns are tough and the rallies bring out the true believers. There was plenty of nastiness on the other side, such as...

Are you fed-up with driving around town and seeing old purple junkers, pink pimp-mobiles or some Prius or Volvo with a college faculty parking pass, all festooned with ugly Obama-Biden stickers on the bumpers. Someone genius here in Orlando has printed up some red, white and blue bumper stickers with the slogan I'm easy fool, so I voted for They wait until nighttime, then slap them to the left of the existing Obama-BIden bumper stickers, so it now reads, "I'm so easy to fool, I voted for Obama-Biden (You can visualize the layout on the Obama voter's car.)Some other phrases...

The crash of 2008 continues to reverberate loudly nationwide—destroying jobs, bankrupting businesses, and displacing homeowners. But already, it has damaged some places much more severely than others. On the other side of the crisis, America’s economic landscape will look very different than it does today. What fate will the coming years hold for New York, Charlotte, Detroit, Las Vegas? Will the suburbs be ineffably changed? Which cities and regions can come back strong? And which will never come back at all?

On Today's Show...   Blockbuster! An electronic run on money market accounts nearly destroyed the US economy. Who was behind it, and was it aimed at helping Obama win? (Rush 24/7 Members: Listen Here) • Zero Hedge: How The World Almost Came To An End At 2PM On September 18   Obama and Geithner are a team of con men. Obama aims to con the liberal base and the media. Geithner aims to con Wall Street. Neither can con us. (Rush 24/7 Members: Listen Here)   "Where is the damn saucer?  The Senate is supposed to be the saucer...

SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Saturday that the Republicans only had themselves to blame for losing control of Congress and the White House. "The country fired us from our congressional majority in 2006. Why? The country didn't stop being conservative. The Republican Party did," Jindal told a gathering of Arkansas Republicans. "We became what we came to Washington to change -- the party of earmarks and government spending. The party needs to stop worrying about what to do to fix itself. Let's worry more about fixing our country. Then the party will fix itself."

Overlooked in coverage of Tim Geithner’s and Tom Daschle’s unpaid taxes is the $70,000 that Minnesota Democratic senatorial candidate Al Franken has admitted to owing in back taxes, interest, and penalties. Last April, the California Tax Franchise Board revealed that Franken owed the state $5,800 in taxes, fines, and penalties because he did not file returns in 2003 through 2007. Franken then admitted that he owed more than $50,000 in back taxes to 17 states.Franken blamed everything on his accountant of 18 years, saying he failed to report the income from the comedian’s celebrity appearances and speeches in those states...

A wide-ranging investigation has been launched into allegations that a well-known Pueblo resident has molested many boys over the years, including most recently when he was the manager for Sen. John McCain's presidential-campaign office in Pueblo. Under investigation is Jeffrey Claude Bartleson, 52, who was arrested Jan. 29 and then re-arrested Wednesday after a campaign worker in the McCain office told police she believed Bartleson molested one of her sons. Sgt. Brett Wilson, who heads the Pueblo Police Department's special victims unit, said today that there are "several active investigations" involving Bartleson.

Adult Stem Cell Success Stories 2008 Update: January-JuneWe are pleased to present FRC's June update on advances in human treatments and research with adult stem cells.  This is the third report.  The prior ones were "Adult Stem Cell Success Stories - 2006"[2] and "Adult Stem Cell Success Stories-2007 Update".[3]   Every six months, we will present new cases of people being helped by adult stem cells, which are abundant throughout the human body and whose use does not pose the ethical dilemmas encountered with embryonic stem cell research.  Adult stem cells are already being used to treat over 73 different...

ADULT STEM CELL SUCCESS STORIES - 2008 UPDATE: JULY-DECEMBERby David Prentice, PhD, William L. Saunders, JD, Jan Ledochowski, and Lukas LucenicResearch using adult stem cells continues to yield successful treatments for many human diseases and injuries.  In this update we highlight some of those treatment successes from the last six months.  This update follows on our previous releases of adult stem cell success stories from the first half of 2008, as well as from 2007 and 2006,[1] and our pamphlet with stories and pictures of patients successfully treated with adult stem cells.[2]Autoimmune diseasesFirst Bari Martz's fingers turned blue. Then she...

. . . According to the left, voter ID was a dastardly Republican plot to prevent Democrats from winning elections by suppressing the votes of minorities, particularly African-Americans. . . . numerous academic studies show that voter ID had no effect on the turnout of voters in prior elections. The plaintiffs in every unsuccessful lawsuit filed against such state requirements could not produce a single individual who didn't either already have an ID or couldn't easily get one. The two states with the strictest voter ID requirements are Indiana and Georgia. Both require a government-issued photo ID . . ....

YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Global Security Concerns > Report Top Private-Sector Security Concerns in 2008 GLOBAL SECURITY CONCERNS Worldwide 7 Jan 2009 Printer Friendly Email Article Private Sector Says Terrorism, Maritime Piracy, Corruption Among Growing Threats Terrorism loomed large as one of the top security concerns of 2008 for U.S. businesses, nongovernmental organizations and academic institutions operating overseas, according to private sector constituents of the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC). “This past year we saw terrorist attacks against U.S. and other Western interests in northern Africa, the Arabian peninsula, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and in Turkey,” said...

Bernard Goldberg is back with "A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (And Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media." The Regnery Publishing book, which goes on sale Monday, indicts mainstream print and electronic journalists not for having liberal biases, which are a given, but for becoming open and unapologetic activists for Obama. Goldberg says that "Chris Matthews is the most egregious example of media slobbering. ... Chris Matthews is an embarrassment of the first order." Goldberg also says: "But I'll tell you something else -- and this is the single most embarrassing sentence I...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Of course it hurts to lose. And John McCain also says that after losing the election to Barack Obama, the easiest thing to do would have been to feel sorry for himself. But the Arizona Republican is back in the Senate, part of what he calls the loyal opposition to Democrats in power, and ready to work with Obama.

Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, said Sunday he had few regrets about his White House campaign and no second thoughts about picking Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. “I don’t have a lot of regrets about it. I think we ran an honorable campaign,” McCain said on “Fox News Sunday.” The Arizona senator added that he was proud of things he had accomplished during the campaign and the people he surrounded himself with. In addition, he argued, the campaign may have made him “more effective here in Washington in these very difficult times.” Asked...

FROM OUR FEBRUARY ISSUE: Obama's overwhelming victory once again shattered the Republican Party's hopes for the Jewish vote. The causes: Canny Democratic countermeasures as well as a reduced concern for Israel among American Jews.

Rudy Giuliani analyzes the reason the Republican party is losing in recent years and what it can do to enlarge it's base. Stressing the importance of big tent politics and under-emphasizing social issues. In any case, the economy is the main reason McCain lost, but other social issues have also created a bad stereotype of Republicans in general.

From what the experts are saying, the economic crisis of 2008 would be the buggest since the Great Depression that started in 1929. So in this new crisis, the stock market is going down, unemployment is going up, banks are filing for bankruptcy, some Americans automakers barely survive, etc. With this current situations, big enterprises are even thinking about changing their corporate logos.

On the day President Obama officially takes office as the 44th President of the United States, a Kansas museum honors the guy who lost the Presidential Race, John McCain; albeit for a much different reason. John McCain came in second to President Obama. Some say 2nd place is the first loser. It's probably frustrating to come so close to the Oval Office, but Mr. McCain can take comfort as one small town in Kansas proves 2nd place is more important to them than first. President Obama makes history as the first African-American Commander-in-Chief. But as millions honor the 44th President...

I know everyone is disgusted that Obama is president... but is anyone still disappointed that McCain lost? It seems that it didn't take McCain very long to return to his old McCain-Feingold ways once the campaign was over. I am generally not too conspiracy minded, but I am almost of the mind that McCain's job was simply to throw the election to Obama... If you can stomach it, rewatch those debates. If that was not a case of someone "taking a dive", I don't know what is. McCain's job now will be to put the bipartisan smiley face on Obama's...

After wrestling with this decision for two years now, I have resigned from the Republican party. The party no longer represents my values and I see no hope for real change in the foreseeable future. The following letter is being sent to the Republican National Committee along with the California Republican Party by U.S. Mail. If you feel the same way, you are welcome to use this letter, or portions of it, for your own letter of resignation if you wish. Then contact your state Secretary of State's office to change your voter registration.

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, have you thought back to the 2008 election? Have you asked yourself who was responsible for that loss? Have you asked yourself who really should shoulder the blame and the burden for the defeat of Senator McCain? A lot of people have been speculating this, a lot of postmortems on the election. Let's go to the BBC. BBC World Service, host Stephen Sackur spoke with former McCain campaign manager Rick Davis and asked Rick Davis on whose shoulders rests the burden of the McCain defeat. DAVIS: We didn't successfully reach out to them. I mean, but...

Next Tuesday, Barack Obama will be sworn in as our 44th President. On this historic occasion, PARADE asked the President-elect, who is also a devoted family man, to get personal and tell us what he wants for his children. Here, he shares his letter to them. Dear Malia and Sasha, I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always...

A political party shouldn't rely on a dead idea. BY MATT MILLERThe Wall Street Journal Though Barack Obama is offering record tax cuts this year as part of a new stimulus package, make no mistake -- taxes will rise substantially in the next decade. The reason is simple: As 76 million baby boomers hit their rocking chairs, we're poised to double the number of seniors on Social Security and Medicare. We've already got $50 trillion in unfunded liabilities in these and related programs. There's no way to make the math work at current levels of taxation. Don't take my word...

Wednesday January 7, 2009 By the Numbers: The Ten Most Popular LifeSiteNews.com Stories of 2008 January 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - From the bizarre to the beautiful, in 2009 LifeSiteNews published thousands of original stories on many of the most important developments having to do with the issues of life, culture, faith and the family. But after crunching the numbers we found that the following ten stories came out on top as the most read LifeSiteNews.com stories of the past year. Many of these stories are just as important now as they were when they were first published. We hope you enjoy this retrospective.The Top 10 Most...

Thank God for and congratulations to Barak Obama. America has gone to the extreme to prove that racism does not exist and that everything is racially equal and Blacks have no more reason to complain, speak of slavery, or cry discrimination. However, their desperate attempt to make themselves and the world believe this is true, will never work. The mere suggestion of current headlines, articles, and newscasters that everything is alright is embarrassing because no one in their right mind is stupid enough to believe that. We have NOT reached the promise land, King's dream has NOT been fulfilled, and...

Some of the most popular TV shows today are top ten lists. Everything from the top ten most deadly snakes to the top ten worst disasters is being aired. Here is a top ten list of what could be considered the hardest things to believe from the year 2008. That there are only ten is also hard to believe when in reality there are literally hundreds. That Barack Obama and the Democratic National Convention have spent an estimated $1,000,000 to keep Obama's official birth certificate from being seen when it only costs $10.00 to produce it. For ten bucks it...

Academia Nuts Outed by: Malcolm A. Kline, January 05, 2009 With three semesters gone, the list of dubious academic achievements of 2008 is a long one but we will try to whittle it down to: • Lionizing Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers, himself a tenured professor on, among other outlets, the website supportbillayers.org; • Demanding a federal bailout by the U. S. Congress, the outgoing Bush Administration, the incoming Obama government or any combination of the above while sitting on billion-dollar endowments; • Insisting on academic freedom for professors while their students fail to answer basic historical questions; • Denying...

Washington, Jan 4 : Despite her failed U.S. vice-presidential bid, Sarah Palin has emerged as the top political newcomer of 2008. The Alaska governor was a significant political figure in her own right before 2008, but in the span of just a few months the former Wasilla mayor exploded onto the national scene to become the first woman nominated for national office by the Republican Party and one of the most controversial political figures in the country. Caroline Kennedy landed the second spot. The last living child of President John F. Kennedy, the 51-year-old Manhattanite emerged from her famously private...

Week of babies and lies Sarah Palin talks about her daughter's baby, and a hoax that fooled Oprah Winfrey falls apart. Buzz Week in Review A collective exhale ushered the volatile 2008 out the door this week, although one baby who caused a political storm managed to quietly slip himself out before the end. Meanwhile, a long-time Oprah hoax and high-seas piracy stirred up the Buzz—and the searches—during this transition period. Mom, Do We Have to Do a Combo Celebration? Bristol Palin's boy emerged not as the grandson of the first female vice president, but as another December baby who...

This is actually a pretty good list if you visit the link. Spitzer, Palin, Blago, Obama. 2008 was certainly one of the weirdest years politically. Who would have predicted the fall of Hillary and at the hands of Obama who is so much more to the left than even Hillary.

Before we break into 2009 and consider what the future may offer, it is worthwhile looking back to review the year that passed. So I’ll do that right now, in real time. 2008 was a signature year of change - and not just in politics and economics. The changes in technology and the technology market were many and various, and some were profound. Here are the ones that I suspect were the most important. 1. The GPU and the CPU: The GPU (graphics processing unit) is in the process of usurping the CPU on client computers and access devices (but...

Summing up, let me just say that I reject, repudiate, renounce, denounce, dismiss and utterly regret 2008. Sayonara and good riddance. Which is not intended to convey offense toward anyone of Japanese descent, nor to serve as commentary on any but the preceding 12 months of the Gregorian calendar. Not that other calendars, including the Goddess Lunar Calendar, aren't perfectly good. In fact, I categorically denounce any person or statement (or calendar) that disparages or causes distress to any living creature on this great planet or that serves to divide us from any other planet in this universe – or...

Please see link for the current list of states which have submitted their Certificates of Vote for the 2008 Presidential Election. To date, 24 states have reported: Alabama (9) McCain (R) Arizona (10) McCain (R) Colorado (9) Obama (D) Delaware (3) Obama (D) Georgia (15) McCain (R) Illinois (21) Obama (D) Indiana (11) Obama (D) Kentucky (8) McCain (R) Maine (4) Obama (D) Michigan (17) Obama (D) Mississippi (6) McCain (R) New Hampshire (4) Obama (D) New York (31) Obama (D) North Carolina (15) Obama (D) Ohio (20) Obama (D) Oklahoma (7) McCain (R) Pennsylvania (21) Obama (D) Rhode Island...

Each successful Black person in the USA world marketplace deserves a trophy because each has had to deal with daily career aspects, daily living aspects, and daily racism. Racism coping includes being harshly judged about every little thing (including that which the critics know nothing about); walking a tightrope between what opposing White people think the Black person should do and what Blacks have to do; and getting around the obstacles that racists deliberately throw. Although individuals think uniquely, they can be classified based upon the brain’s thinking “centers” (e.g. rational, emotional, self preservation). Ancient Africans used both sides of...

December 30, 2008: Oh What a Day! I'm so glad that my father told me to buy a special notebook and to write everything down because that's exactly what I did. When we left from Cyprus, one reporter asked me "are you afraid?" And I had to respond that Malcolm X wasn't afraid; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn't afraid. But little did I know that just a few hours later, I would be recollecting my life and mentally preparing myself for death. When we left Cyprus, the Mediterranean was beautiful. I remember the time when it might have been...

You know, it’s funny how all those women pundits who tore a strip off of Sarah Palin because she couldn’t define the Bush Doctrine in 25 words or less have, you know, remained silent, you know, about Caroline Kennedy repeating the phrase "you know" 142 times in a short interview with the New York Times — you know? That's right, in an interview with Nicholas Confessore and David M. Halbfinger, which was run in its entirety in the NYTs, Kennedy sounded more like, you know, an '80s valley girl than the privileged daughter of a former U.S. president. Here's what...

Humorous Look By Uncle Jay As He Explains The News For 2008

The Top 10 quotes of 2008, as compiled by the editor of the Yale Book of Quotations: 1. "I can see Russia from my house!" — Comedian Tina Fey, while impersonating Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on the TV comedy show "Saturday Night Live," broadcast Sept. 13. 2. "All of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years." — Palin, responding to a request by CBS anchor Katie Couric to name the newspapers or magazines she reads, broadcast Oct. 1.

The three great stories of 2008 were the financial meltdown, the turn-about in Iraq, and the Chicago Way. All of them conveyed a certain sense of the surreal — whether the vaporization of the nation’s 401(k)s in a few hours, or Harvard Law School graduate Barney Frank asking Harvard Law School graduate Franklin Rains of the soon-to-be bankrupt Fannie Mae whether he felt under-regulated, ~snip~ Quite suitably we end the war year with an Egyptian-based Iraqi journalist trying to hit the president of the United States with his two shoes — being canonized by the Arab Street and not-sot-secretly appreciated...

This is entering into the realm of the bizarre -- from the web site of KHQA TV (HT LGF), http://www.connecttristates.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=233822 regarding a story I have saved at my web host from November 5 (bold is mine): http://www.bizzyblog.com/BlagoObamaToMeetPerKHQA110508.html KHQA TV wishes to offer clarification regarding a story that appeared last month on our website ConnectTristates.com. The story, which discussed the appointment of a replacement for President Elect Obama in the U.S. Senate, became the subject of much discussion on talk radio and on blog sites Wednesday. The story housed in our website archive was on the morning of November 5, 2008....

ammorris writes "Don't be the laughingstock of your friends when you shout 'Happy New Years' a second too early ... The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service has announced that a leap second will be added on December 31, 2008 at 23h 59m 60s, meaning that this year will be exactly one second longer. The last leap second occurred Dec 31, 2005; they are added due to fluctuations in the rotational speed of the earth. You can read all about leap seconds on Wikipedia."

The Dimmest Bulb of 2008: Vice-President-elect - Joe Biden There are a lot of reasons why congressional reporters long ago nicknamed the Delaware Democrat as "Senator Gaffe." His performance as Barack Obama's vice presidential nominee demonstrated yet again that Biden is a truly gifted goof. Here's Biden's top five goofs, as rated by About.com's Daniel Kurtzma: 5. "Look, Jon's last-minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the No.1 job facing the middle-class, and it happens to be, as Barak says, a three letter word: jobs, J-O-B-S, jobs." 4. "A man I'm proud to call my friend. A man who will...

Viewing the United States through the eyes of a foreign national is one thing. And viewing the United States through the eyes of foreign media professionals is another thing. So as we close-out 2008, and begin a new year with the soon-to-be President Obama, the view from the “foreign news desk” may shed some light on some of the ways in which the world misunderstands both our country, and our President-elect. I don’t have any “McCain scandal” to tell. No tabloid-style inside scoop about John McCain and Sarah Palin squabbling behind the scenes on election night, or Palin’s daughter’s boyfriend’s...