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Asked about the open letter of 47 US Senators to Iranian leaders, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Dr. Javad Zarif, responded that “in our view, this letter has no legal value and is mostly a propaganda ploy. It is very interesting that while negotiations are still in progress and while no agreement has been reached, some political pressure groups are so afraid even of the prospect of an agreement that they resort to unconventional methods, unprecedented in diplomatic history. [snip] Foreign Minister Zarif added that “I should bring one important point to the attention of the authors and that is, the...

Obama should really pick up a history book sometime, and read about how one of his predecessors, and one of our nation’s Founding Fathers, handled the threat posed by radical Islamic jihadists, way back in 1801. [snip] According to Jefferson, Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja replied that Islam “was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Qur’an, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could...

[snip] “It looks like he wanted to create the appearance that there had been a public trial when in fact there hadn’t been,” said Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman. [snip] "McCulloch gave Wilson’s case special treatment. He turned it over to the grand jury, a rarity itself, and then used the investigation as a document dump, an approach that is virtually without precedent in the law of Missouri or anywhere else. Buried underneath every scrap of evidence McCulloch could find, the grand jury threw up its hands and said that a crime could not be proved. This is the...

[snip] "To leave nothing vague or ambiguous regarding our nation’s Diplomatic Corps actions in regards to homosexual rights around the globe, the former Massachusetts Senator and presidential candidate [the current U.S. Secretary of State] stated: Across the globe, in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas our diplomats are assisting local LGBT organizations and supporting local human rights advocates working to promote equality, create dialogue, and ensure protections for LGBT individuals."

[snip] one of the 23 so called executive actions on gun control Obama recently signed called for doctors to ask their patients if they owned a firearm. This is not just directed at psychiatrists, but at all physicians including pediatricians. In other words, if your child confesses that Mommy and Daddy have a gun in the house that could conceivably be considered the actions of mentally defective individuals and you could be disarmed. Once we are disarmed we cease to be citizens and become subjects.

HONOLULU - [snip] So-called "birthers" claim Obama is ineligible to be president because, they argue, he was actually born outside the United States, and therefore doesn't meet a constitutional requirement for being president. Hawaii Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino issued statements last year and in October 2008 saying that she's seen vital records that prove Obama is a natural-born American citizen. [snip]

[snip]Armed with a shotgun, wearing masks over their faces and carrying rope, the two men knocked on the door of the Taylor home. When Taylor, 58, a former part-time police officer, answered the door, the two men shoved their way inside. The men had Taylor on the floor, strangling him, and were demanding money and the location of a safe when Taylor's wife, hearing the commotion, came downstairs and told the men she had expensive jewelry upstairs. While they were focused on the jewelry box, Taylor got his handgun. The man with the shotgun pointed it at Taylor, who opened...

[snip] In a letter to Arbitron president Stephen Morris, Obama and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said they were concerned that the meters -- which are replacing paper diaries in radio-audience measurment -- were undercounting minorities. [snip]

Barack-No-Phobia It's a full hour of all the Kidders taking on the jokes that the rest of the media won't touch!   Why won't the late night talk shows make jokes about Barack Obama?   Because he's "not funny enough?"   The Kidders will spend all hour proving that point wrong. Click on this link, download parts 1 and 2, and be prepared to laugh and laugh! Share these with all your friends who've been missing out on how Chicagoans can poke fun at one of their own (well, for the last 20 years or so, anyway). Now you see...

From Publishers Note: (formerly online as http://www.Federalist.com/PDFdigest99-10.asp but now off-line) In Kosovo, the European Roma Rights Center reports that the Kosovo Liberation Army is responsible for the growing number of assaults on Serbs in the region. NATO "peace enforcers" are now clashing daily with Albanian Kosovars trying to attack Serbs, arresting hundreds of ethnic Albanians this week. It's not Ireland, it's Kosovo. It's not Northern Ireland, it's the "Serbian Sector." It's not the Brits, it's NATO. And the beat goes on.... Speaking of Kosovo, Ms. Rodham-Clinton now says of the attack on Yugoslavia, "I urged him to bomb; I supported...

"The Syrian people are ready to extend full support to the Lebanese people and their heroic resistance to remain steadfast and confront the barbaric Israeli aggression and its crimes," said a communiqu¿ from the party's national command issued after a meeting. It said Israel and the United States "are trying to wipe out Arab resistance in every land under occupation" and that President Bashar al-Assad was aware of the seriousness of the situation in the region.

Mother charged in son´s death     By PAUL WOOD, MIKE MONSON AND MARY SCHENK © 2002 THE NEWS-GAZETTEPublished Online March 1, 2002 CLICK TO SEE PHOTO    CHAMPAIGN – A boy was dead and his brother hospitalized and their mother accused of killing them after they were attacked Thursday in their upscale southwest Champaign neighborhood.    Police responded to a call at 3:56 p.m. at 2804 Cherry Hills Drive.    Adam Feinberg, 10, was pronounced dead at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana, at 4:55 p.m. Thursday. Matthew Feinberg, 6, was listed in critical condition there late this morning.    An autopsy was to ...

(David Keene is a D.C.-based governmental affairs consultant and Chairman of the American Conservative Union) Last week the House and Senate were on the verge of agreeing on the anti-terrorist measures requested by Attorney General John Ashcroft to combat terrorism within the United States. Thanks to real scrutiny in the House, the package that will finally be approved will give law enforcement agencies somewhat less than they sought - but more than civil libertarians of the left and right think they need. The bill that finally came out of the House Judiciary Committee differs markedly from what the Justice Department ...

As US airports transition from a complete ground hold for commercial aircraft, Transportation Secretary Mineta has made clear that the skies will be made available for certain purposes which coincide with our national interests. Therefore, certain humanitarian flights will be allowed to bridge the gap between otherwise-stranded air passengers and their destinations. Into this breach steps AirLifeline Midwest, whose volunteer pilots and aircraft stand ready to coordinate (anywhere throughout the Continental U.S.) and carry out humanitarian flights without charge to their passengers. AirLifeLine Midwest is aware that certain medical personnel, for example, might desire to pitch in with their efforts ...

Voice of the People A tax-cut parable FT. WORTH--Every night, 10 men met at a restaurant for dinner. At the end of the meal, the bill would arrive. They owed $100 for the food they shared. Every night they lined up in the same order at the cash register. The first four men paid nothing at all. The fifth, grumbling about the unfairness of the situation, paid $1. The sixth man, feeling very generous, paid $3. The next three men paid $7, $12, and $18, respectively. The last man was required to pay the remaining balance, $59. He realized that ...

CBS News Radio reports that an elector in DC turned in a blank ballot to protest the lack of full voting rights enjoyed by the District. These electors were pledged to Gore.

Would you buy a used car from this guy? &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp For those of you who might've missed it, or who want a keepsake/memento by which to remember this vainglorious speech, click here to download a Winzipped 1MB, 7 minute, 5 second RealPlayer video file of Vice President Gore's concession speech. I.e., Winzip and RealPlayer required.

Click here or on the above jpeg for a 1.9MB, 12:59, Winzipped, Realplayer (56K speed) video of the interview transcribed interview below, from the December 8th early-evening edition of Hardball (later editions excised this Republican-perspective interview). (OH = Orin Hatch, CM = Chris Matthews, JK = Judge Kogan (MSNBC Legal Analyst)) CM: Now, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committe, Senator Orin Hatch of Utah. Senator, your reaction to this decision. OH:Well, this is...this is a decision that disregards all the rule of law. I mean, this is what I've been fighting against for twenty years. Remember what I ...

During his interview this evening (~11:30EST), Patrick J. Buchanan presents his view of his being used by the Gore campaign. Included here is a 1.3M Real Player file showing the 5:10 interview. (You must have Real Networks Real Player and WinZip to view this file. If on download, your browser shows row upon row of strange characters, wait for the download to complete, then save the file on disk, and click on the zip file to open it, then select "patjbuch.rm" to play the interview.) Click here to see the interview. Unlike his portrayal by the Gore campaign in ...

Drive to Hand Over Illegal Firearms (in the Netherlands) During a large-scale action to hand over firearms, which is to begin this November throughout all of the Netherlands, the emphasis will be on so-called "worthless weapons"--race-starter pistols, flare pistols, [and pellet guns]. That's the word that comes from the Council of Chief Judicial Commissars. "It should be clear to all Netherlanders that possession and use of such weapons is undesirable and under certain circumstances, punishable by law," according to Mr. P. Vogelzang, Chairman of the Council. Owners of illegal firearms will find amnesty during the drive if they hand in ...