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Islamists in southern Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth. Abas Hussein Abdirahman, 33, was killed in front of a crowd of some 300 people in the port town of Merka. An official from the al-Shabab group said the woman would be killed after she has had her baby. Islamist groups run much of southern Somalia, while the UN-backed government only control parts of the capital. This is the third time Islamists have stoned a person to death for adultery in the past year. Al-Shabab official Sheikh Suldan Aala...

Rock legend Bruce Springsteen has graced countless magazine covers, from Time to Rolling Stone. But today, on his 60th birthday, he has turned up in a place many of his fans would never have imagined: the cover of AARP The Magazine. The AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) is not exactly the place we’d associate with a rock icon. But editor Nancy Perry Graham said Mr. Springsteen’s landmark birthday was an ideal time to feature him. “We put Bruce on the cover first and foremost because he was turning 60,” she said. “Like the rest of America,...

No wonder Mel Gibson is giving the thumbs-up. Full time has been called on his 28-year marriage to Robyn Moore. The Pope didn't give the order, though. That edict came from Mel's 90-year-old father Hutton Gibson, and it paves the way for his son to marry his pregnant Russian girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva by Christmas. Having had his request turned down by Catholic bishops, Mel, 53, pleaded his case in front of a tribunal of members from the Church of the Holy Family, his breakaway Catholic church in Malibu. Hutton, who once studied for the priesthood only to leave before he...

24 HOURS after Italy's PM made light of allegations about encounters with a prostitute, sensational new audio tapes and transcripts were released purportedly recorded while they were having sex. In the third series of tapes and transcripts to be published by the left-leaning weekly L’Espresso this week, the escort Patrizia D’Addario is recorded apparently telling Silvio Berlusconi that it is several months since she had sex and that a younger man would have already had an orgasm "by now". Mr Berlusconi is then recorded purportedly telling Ms D’Addario that "you should have sex with yourself, you should touch yourself often".

MIAMI – Ex-Catholic priest Alberto Cutie will wed in two weeks, after sparking a scandal when he was photographed nuzzling his girlfriend on a Miami beach, The Miami Herald newspaper said. The wedding will be held in an Episcopal church here at a private ceremony for which several ex-police have been hired to ensure security, according to sources close to the religious. Cutie, born in Puerto Rico of Cuban descent, left the Catholic Church after the photos were published and weeks later announced that he was joining the Episcopal Church, for which he has already given his first sermon. The...

As was reported yesterday, Rev. Alberto Cutié -- the popular Catholic priest caught in a longtime affair -- has joined the Episcopal Church. This morning's New York Times has a surprisingly perceptive lede: A Roman Catholic priest who admitted this month that he was torn between two loves -- his church and his girlfriend -- announced his choice on Thursday.The priest, the Rev. Alberto Cutié, said he was joining the Episcopal Church and planning to marry his girlfriend of two years, who was also becoming an Episcopalian...."With God's help," [Cutié] added, "I hope to continue priestly ministry and service in...

Rielle Hunter compared John Edwards with Gandhi and went around trashing his cancer-stricken wife, it was reported Sunday. A Newsweek writer who courted her as a source during Hunter's affair with the presidential candidate portrays Edwards' mistress as a charming but hugely indiscreet muddlehead who called reporters with New Age babble about Edwards' "old soul." Asked about Elizabeth Edwards, who is unusually well-liked by political operatives and reporters, Hunter told reporter Jonathan Darman, "She does not give off good energy. ... I've only met her once.... She didn't make eye contact with me." Darman wrote of meeting Hunter, a former...

John Edwards finally admitted to what has been known for some time. He has a mistress, Rielle Hunter, but will not admit to being the father of her child. Edwards, being the man that he is, is willing to submit to a paternity test.

Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) said Thursday that he had an extramarital affair that has resulted in a three-year-old daughter in a statement released through a public relations firm. “My personal failings and imperfections have caused enormous pain to the people I love and I am truly sorry,” Fossella said in the statement. “While I understand that there will be many questions, including those about my political future, making any political decisions right now are furthest from my mind,” the lawmaker, who was arrested for drunk driving last week, said. “Over the coming weeks and months, I will to continue to...

"Even a Chinese critic said the design looked like a very big Chinese black man." Lei's sculptures of one particular Chinese man — Mao Zedong – are also at issue. The idea that an artist who has created memorials to someone who has killed and imprisoned millions would be the one to create the most important sculpture to date of King, has some people reeling. Harry Johnson, the head of the MLK memorial foundation, says that critics are ignoring the real reasons that Lei was chosen. "I think it's their right to voice their opinion. I respect their right, number...

It has not been an easy few months for Judith Giuliani. Her rollout to the public received rocky reviews from the political class, Republicans included. A series of negative articles about her shopping habits, marital past and supposedly testy relations with campaign staff followed. Her appearances alongside her husband, Rudolph W. Giuliani, grew suddenly scarce — and some analysts suggested that she keep it that way. So it was perhaps no surprise that at a recent lunch in downtown Manhattan, Mrs. Giuliani offered this self-assessment: “When it comes to politics, I’m new to this.” Over the course of a two-hour...

Monday, May 14, 2007 1:39 p.m. EDT Newt Gingrich: 'Great Possibility' I’ll Run Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said there is a "great possibility" that he would join the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

A fiery pro-Israel speech by an evangelical preacher drew multiple standing ovations from thousands of AIPAC delegates. Pastor John Hagee, who last year founded Christians United for Israel, spoke Sunday night at the launch of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy forum in Washington. Hagee outlined his vision of a united evangelical-Jewish front lobbying for Israel. He pledged to "stand up for Israel, to financially support Israel until Israel achieves a just, lasting peace. Israel, you are not alone." He finished his speech by leading the crowd in a chorus of "Israel Lives!" PART I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDRxmqOn7x4&eurl= PART II...

GOP Insiders See Giuliani's Lead as Fragile March 13, 2007 | 4:03 PM White House correspondent Kenneth T. Walsh: Despite former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's lead in the polls, Republican insiders say the GOP base is so divided and Giuliani's ascension is so fragile that the party's presidential nomination for 2008 is totally up for grabs. "I've never seen the party so split," says a GOP strategist with close ties to evangelical Christians. Giuliani, despite his strong image from 9/11, consistently falls well short of a majority. The latest CNN survey gives him a 34-18 lead over John McCain...

Watch gag-worthy video here. Knowing what we know now about Rudy Giuliani's serially adulterous behavior while married to Donna Hanover and how he dumped her and abandoned his children - moving her and his children out of the Mayor's mansion to move in his latest sexual partner - this video truly triggers the gag reflex. What a loyal husband and father Rudy turned out to be. What a crass and dishonest display of fatherhood and marital bliss this ad was. It brings to mind the garbage that Bill Clinton used to do - the "impromptu" dance on the beach with...

Secret study cited "weirdness factor" among candidate weaknesses FEBRUARY 12--As he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination, Rudolph Giuliani will have to contend with political and personal baggage unknown to prospective supporters whose knowledge of the former New York mayor is limited to his post-September 11 exploits. So, in a bid to educate the electorate, we're offering excerpts from a remarkable "vulnerability study" that was commissioned by Giuliani's campaign prior to his successful 1993 City Hall run. The confidential 450-page report, authored by Giuliani's research director and another aide, was the campaign's attempt to identify possible lines of attack against...

Views of Giuliani put GOP to the test His moderate stands on social issues part with conservative base .......On the first day of his five-day California swing, a blog popular with state conservatives, Flash Report.org, posted a YouTube clip from a February 2000 Meet the Press in which Giuliani boasts that no public official in the nation is "more strongly pro-immigrant than I am." For conservatives who want a president who will crack down on illegal immigration, that sort of talk is very troubling. "That's a big mistake," said Linda Sutter, 50, of Crescent City, Calif., who supports Giuliani because...

MANCHESTER, N.H. - New Hampshire residents likely to vote in the Republican presidential primary a year from now think more highly of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani than any of his rivals, a poll released Tuesday shows. ADVERTISEMENT Giuliani's net favorability rating — the proportion of people viewing him favorably minus the proportion viewing him unfavorably — was 56 percent, well ahead of Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), 32 percent, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 26 percent, in the University of New Hampshire poll for WMUR-TV in Manchester."He's the lesser-known candidate, but he has that rock...

Today Peggy Noonan makes a glancing reference to something I've been meaning to write about for a while with respect to Rudy Giuliani: On 9/10/01 he was a bum, on 9/11 he was a man, and on 9/12 he was a hero. Life can change, shift, upend in an instant. Noonan is over dramatizing for effect, of course, but a while back I got an email from a self-described liberal in NYC saying much the same thing - namely, that in the mythical afterglow of Rudy's performance on 9/11 people have forgotten that (to paraphrase my emailer's formulation) "on September...

WASHINGTON -- Eager to head off Rudolph Giuliani's recent gains in the polls, conservative activists this week strengthened their attacks, with some promising to step up their efforts on the Internet, talk radio and "below-the-radar" to discredit him going forward. They are taking direct aim at one of Giuliani's strongest selling points, at least to some backers -- that he is the Republicans' best hope of stopping Hillary Rodham Clinton. These critics argue that his nomination would prompt a conservative third-party candidate to join the race and split the GOP vote, clearing the way for Clinton's election. "There's no way...

A local public relations heavyweight with ties to the Bush family has joined Rudy Giuliani's presidential team. Gordon C. James Public Relations is doing work for the former New York City Mayor's presidential bid. Gordon James has done work in the past for former President George H.W. Bush and current President George W. Bush. That includes inauguration planning, advance and public relations work. James' wife, Lisa, ran the Bush/Cheney 2008 campaign. She also works for the public relations firm and ran unsuccessfully for chair of the Arizona Republican Party last month. Gordon James told The Business Journal he had no...

The Chicago Tribune seems to fancy itself in the role of kingmaker when it comes to knocking candidates out of political races, and helping hometown politicians it favors to win. Its latest effort has targeted Rudy Giuliani, who all but officially entered the race for the Republican nomination for President in 2008 this week. Within two days of his announcement, a lengthy "investigative" piece appeared on the front page of the paper trashing Giuliani for his high speaking fees and some questionable business clients in the years since he entered the private sector. The hit piece authored by Andrew Zajac...

Rudy Giuliani will prevent a conservative crack-up. Today, after very little effort, Giuliani is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Dick Morris is predicting a Giuliani vs. Clinton race in 2008. Yet some conservatives are dubious of the man who cleaned up New York, returned it to a vigor unimaginable from the 1960s through the 1980s, and then led New York and the country heroically through 9/11. Well, one knows a politician by the company he keeps, and Giuliani has around him the financial people who created the libertarian-conservative Manhattan Institute. He relied heavily on the Institute's policies while governing...

“Murder and graffiti are two vastly different crimes,” Rudy Giuliani once said. “But they are part of the same continuum, and a climate that tolerates one is more likely to tolerate the other.” Good point, Rudy. Now, what about a climate — not to mention a Republican presidential candidate — that not only tolerates, but allows unelected judges to legalize the practice of delivering a child until only its head remains within its mothers womb so the child can be killed by sucking out its brains? What about a climate where same-sex couples are given the same legal status as...

Orwellian euphemism is nothing new in the realm of contemporary American political discourse. Choice, translated by the left, refers to the chopping up of unborn children. Peaceful patriotism permits the trashing of our troops. Just now in a shocking scandal for adjectives everywhere, verbal authorities have booked articulate for bearing concealed racial overtones. We shouldn't, but we do get acclimated to this kind of rank pseudo-intellectualism after a while. What is jarring is to hear linguistic engineering of mind-bending magnitude coming not from the left, but from conservative commentators themselves. Monday night on Hannity and Colmes, RINO Rudi announced his...

Rudy Giuliani is in. Suggested campaign slogan: "He dealt with Brooklyn. He can handle Baghdad.'' He's not a sure thing; he has enough baggage to fill the cargo hold of a cruise ship. His sundry personal-life issues bother social conservatives; the gun control stance dismays the Second Amendment wing of the party; the pro-choice opinions alarm the evangelicals. That leaves about 47 Republicans, right? After all, it's just a party of cousin-marrying yahoos who'd sooner shoot up Planned Parenthood than vote for one of those fish-on-Friday types. Right? No. Voters are more flexible and forgiving than you might expect. And...

Breaking on Fox News. Giuliani Files Statement of Candidacy for President No article yet.

Days of blood and debt and fire define Bill Owens' years as governor. Nights of grief and worry. The eager young conservative elected in 1998 is a remade man today. Accomplished. Scarred. More interesting. After eight years as governor, Owens will leave office next month, having put his imprint on Colorado and its politics. Views of his legacy are as stormy as his times. Owens first ran for the office in a more innocent era, on a cozy and concise platform, promising to build roads, boost schools and cut taxes. And then he was governor and confronted almost immediately by...

Veteran U.S. civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, walks past an anti-U.S. banner placed among the rubble of a building that was destroyed following Israeli bombardment during the 34-day long Hezbollah-Israel war, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2006. Jackson, who said Tuesday that an Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian militants and two others held captive by Hezbollah are alive, also said Syria, a main backer of both Hamas and Hezbollah, wanted to be involved in a prisoner swap that included the three Israelis and Syrian nationals detained by Israel in the Golan Heights....

US brushes off 'crap' accusation Mr Prescott made "an honest and good point", Mr Cohen said The White House has made light of reports alleging that John Prescott said George Bush had been "crap" on the Middle East peace process. Tony Snow, a White House spokesman, said: "The president has been called a lot worse and I suspect will be." Mr Snow added that President Bush would have to face "piquant names" being hurled at him from time to time. The deputy prime minister said the reports of his comments in a private meeting with MPs were inaccurate. However, Mr...

Mel Gibson has become the designated Hitler-of-the-Month for August 2006, displacing both Saddam Hussein and Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the previous front-runners. However, conservative Christians, before rushing to condemn or defend their fallen hero, might ponder the incident for a moment, before presuming to form an opinion. To give credit where it is due, Zev Chafets, in his LA Times commentary “Slurring More than His Words”, makes several valuable points. To begin with, Mr. Gibson’s first line of defense—the Tequila made him do it—is absurd. As Chafets commnts, “Evidently Gibson wants people to believe that, although he personally loves Jews, the...

DOES IT LOOK LIKE SOMEONE IS GUNNING FOR SOMEONE HERE?This morning we get the word that when Rush Limbaugh landed at Palm Beach International Airport in his private plane yesterday the customs folks decided to go through every bag on the aircraft. Alas .. they found a bottle of Viagra that didn't have his name on it. Now this is a big news story, and officials are saying that Limbaugh could be charged with a misdemeanor. OK .. this is a non-narcotic drug. Limbaugh's attorney explains that the bottle carried the doctor's name for privacy reasons. Since authorities in Palm...

Limbaugh Detained At Airport Image Joy Purdy Reporting (CBS4 News) WEST PALM BEACH Sources have confirmed to CBS4 News that conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been detained at Palm Beach International Airport for the possible possession of illegal prescription drugs Monday evening. Limbaugh was returning on a flight from the Dominican Republic when officials found the drugs, among them Viagra. Limbaugh entered a plea deal back in April in a previous case where his charge of fraud to conceal information to obtain prescriptions was dropped under the condition he continue undergoing treatment for addiction. Limbaugh had admitted to...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1656188/posts NYT - Editorial - Finances of Terror - 9-24-2001 The New York Times ^ | September 24, 2001 | New York Times Editorial Posted on 06/26/2006 8:35:39 PM PDT by steveyp The New York Times September 24, 2001 Monday Late Edition - Final SECTION: Section A; Column 1; Editorial Desk; Pg. 30 LENGTH: 545 words HEADLINE: Finances of Terror Organizing the hijacking of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon took significant sums of money. [snip] Washington and its allies must also disable the financial networks used by terrorists. [snip] Much more is needed,...

by Mark Finkelstein June 27, 2006 If the mark of a person at ease with himself is the ability to have a chuckle at his own expense, then Rush Limbaugh is a supremely serene man. In the wake of the incident in which he was detained at the Palm Beach International Airport when it was discovered he had in his luggage a vial of Viagra with a prescription not in his name, you might have imagined that Rush would have begun today's show with an indignant denial of wrongdoing. He might have explained in tedious detail that in fact the...

Radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh is joking about his police detainment at the airport yesterday for carrying Viagra in his luggage. "I've been racking my brain. I'm trying to figure out how Bob Dole's luggage got on my airplane," Limbaugh clowned as he opened his national program today. "I told the doctor, I said, 'Look, I'm worried about the next election, not ... .' A misunderstanding. Now, things are what they are." Former Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas is well-known for his use and endorsement of Viagra, a male sexual-enhancement drug. The host then changed subjects to discuss his visit...

Freudenschade, baby! They NEVER learn. Once again we had premature DUmmie celebrations over an event that fails to happen as you can see in this THREAD titled, "Limbaugh Detained At Airport (illegal prescription drugs...and viagra!)." In this case, the non-event that the DUmmies were celebrating was the "drug bust" of Rush Limbaugh yesterday at Palm Beach International Airport. I put "drug bust" in quotes because there was NO drug bust. What happened was that officials found Viagra in Rush's luggage, questioned him about it, and then released him. NO bust. The Viagra was prescribed by his doctor under his...

Rush Limbaugh was briefly detained Monday at Palm Beach International Airport when customs agents inspected the conservative talk show host's luggage and found Viagra that belonged to two Florida doctors, authorities said. "He was not arrested," Palm Beach County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Pete Palenzuela said. Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, issued a statement through a spokesman saying that agents found a "non-narcotic prescription drug, which had been prescribed by Mr. Limbaugh's treating physician but labeled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh for privacy purposes." Limbaugh, 55, of Palm Beach, and three others arrived on a private jet...

Rush Limbaugh Under New Investigation Sign In to E-Mail This Print Save By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: June 27, 2006 Filed at 11:45 a.m. ET WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Rush Limbaugh could see a deal with prosecutors in a long-running prescription fraud case collapse after authorities found a bottle of Viagra in his bag at Palm Beach International Airport. The prescription was not in his name. Limbaugh was detained for more than three hours Monday at the airport after returning from a vacation in the Dominican Republic. Customs officials found the Viagra in his luggage but his name...

MIAMI, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Roy Black, Rush Limbaugh's attorney, issued the following statement today in response to several inquiries by the media: While going through routine Customs inspection of luggage at Palm Beach International Airport upon his return from an international trip, Rush Limbaugh was detained by customs agents after they noticed a non-narcotic prescription drug, which had been prescribed by Mr. Limbaugh's treating physician but labeled as being issued to the physician rather than Mr. Limbaugh for privacy purposes. After a brief interview, Mr. Limbaugh was permitted to continue on his journey.

Okay, take a breather from the Islam will consume the world, illegal aliens are swarming over the border, and the Democrats are gonna take the house, senate, and, even worse, Bush will NOT be re-elected!!!!! I think this link will work???? http://www.disneycentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25879

I emailed CBS letting them know I won't be watching 2 1/2 Men anymore. Just wanted to do something, anything, to voice my disgust at Charlie Sheen's latest antics. I truly believe, after reading his outlandish remarks regarding 9/11, that Charlie Sheen has lost his mind. From what I've understood, the show 2 1/2 Men is a hit. Do you think those ratings will suffer now, post-Charlie remarks re: 9/11?

If Jeanine Pirro drops out of the 2006 Senate race, the new Republican front-runner against Hillary Clinton would be a conservative former Yonkers mayor with traditional values and a nontraditional personal life. An unscripted, bare-knuckled combat vet and college dropout made good, John Spencer styles himself after Rudy Giuliani - and says he's nothing like Clinton. "We're the same age and we traveled through the same years, but I'm very much the opposite of her," he said. "I've governed and I've governed well," Spencer said. "I've led men in war, and we're a nation at war now. I experienced coming...

(Angus Reid Global Scan) – Many adults in the Empire State want a former New York City mayor to run for president in 2008, according to a poll by Strategic Vision. 62 per cent of respondents say they would like Rudy Giuliani to launch a White House bid.Giuliani—a Republican—garnered national and international attention in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The former mayor currently heads Giuliani Partners, LLC—a consulting firm.Last week, Newsday reproduced the comments of John Dennehy—a strategist during the 2000 presidential run by Republican Arizona senator John McCain—on Giuliani’s possible presidential bid. Dennehy declared, "In my humble...

(AP) Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday he might run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 — unless some candidates promote his ideas. "There are circumstances where I will run," Gingrich told a news conference before a speech at the University of Mobile. Earlier this year, in an interview with The Associated Press, Gingrich said, "Anything seems possible." Asked under what circumstances he would enter the race, Gingrich, 62, said he plans to continue traveling the United States talking about the issues. "My hope is that five or six candidates are going to jump up, steal all of...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich conceded Wednesday that he might run for president in 2008, but said he will spend the coming years focusing on changes needed in the nation and less time talking about his own political ambitions. "The message I'm trying to send is we need to have a discussion over the next three years about really big changes," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We need some time spent by would-be political leaders talking about their vision for the future and answering big questions - before they run out and hire the consultants and...

Spokesman Terry calls for action: We need EVERYONE READING THIS EMAIL to call Governor Jeb Bush RIGHT AWAY, and ask him to do one simple thing: "PLEASE EXERCISE YOUR LEGAL AUTHORITY, AND TAKE TERRI SCHIAVO INTO PROTECTIVE CUSTODY RIGHT AWAY." +++++++++++++++++++++++ ALERT: Wednesday was a rollercoaster of emotions for us, here in Tallahassee, Florida. We've lobbied the state Senators HARD this past week, trying to get just three swing votes to come our way. On Wednesday, the bill that could have saved Terri Schiavo from being starved to DEATH was defeated... by just three votes. There were a number of...

US political activist Jesse Jackson is to help motivate Britain's ethnic minority voters at a rally in London. Ethnic minority MPs and representatives from community groups will also speak at the event organised by campaign group Operation Black Vote (OBV).

Maryland politics has been roiled for the last couple of weeks by the resignation of Joseph Steffen, a former aide to Governor Robert Ehrlich who had to resign for spreading rumors alleging that Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley had an affair with a former WBAL-TV anchor now in New York and got her pregnant. Mayor O’Malley has denied having any affairs and Governor Ehrlich has denied any involvement in Steffen’s activities. Which one you believe seemingly depends on your partisan affiliation. For now, I believe them both. No evidence has come to light which establishes either that O’Malley has cheated on...

snip............ Fecund lawmaker A Tennessee state lawmaker who heads a committee on child welfare has acknowledged that he lives in separate homes with two women whose children he fathered. Sen. John Ford testified in a Juvenile Court hearing in November as part of his defense in a child-support case over increasing his financial support of another child he fathered with a third woman, the Commercial Appeal newspaper of Memphis reported Sunday. The Memphis Democrat has tried to make use of a law he authored that keeps court-ordered support lower when a father is financially responsible for other children. Mr. Ford...