Free Republic

CAIRO – The Middle East's most powerful Islamic political movement is undergoing a leadership struggle as young, more moderate activists try to push the Muslim Brotherhood to soften its fundamentalist ideology and become a more democratic force. The direction the Brotherhood takes could have wider implications. The group is the strongest opposition movement in Egypt, though officially banned. Moreover, it is highly influential beyond Egypt's borders as the father of Islamic movements across the Arab and Muslim world — including the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Egypt's autocratic government has cracked down fiercely on the group, arresting many of its members...

Democrats Vote To Reward Trial Lawyers At The Expense Of Consumers WASHINGTON - During consideration of H.R. 3126, legislation to establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee voted against two amendments offered by Republicans that would prevent abusive litigation. One amendment offered by Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) would prevent abusive litigation by ensuring that the legislation does not create any new private rights of action. The McHenry amendment would leave enforcement of rules, regulations, and duties with the regulators, to ensure that these rules are implemented consistently and fairly. The Democrats' legislation confers...

(AP) — PHOENIX - The bride wore white. The groom looked serious. The chaplain spoke about love conquering adversity. Some in attendance cried. In many ways, it was a perfectly ordinary wedding. Except there was nothing ordinary about it. The ceremony for Timothy Schlappi and Lacey Vollentine took place in room 7-C-29 at Maricopa Medical Center on Wednesday afternoon. Timothy, who has been in the Navy for 13 years, was part of a parachute-jumping exercise in Eloy on Aug. 10. He had jumped in the service more than 850 times. But somewhere between the plane and the ground, something went...

“I am a Zionist…You don’t have to be a Jew to be a Zionist…” Senator Joe Biden “…I want you to know that today I’ll be speaking from my heart and as a true friend of Israel. And I know that when I visit AIPAC I am among friends” Senator Barack Obama’s June Fourth, 2008 Speech to AIPAC The Star de Jure “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”, Sir Walter Scott once said and no truer words could ever be spoken to describe the political machinations of Senator Barack Obama.Ah Senator Obama, a...

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A comment by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama about putting lipstick on a pig has some Republican women in New Mexico glossing their lips and telling him to kiss off. On Wednesday evening they were writing their least-favorite Democrat and puckering up to seal the letters with a kiss. Obama touched off the latest bit of campaign stagecraft with a comment he made Tuesday and which he said was directed at Republican John McCain's economic policies. "You know you can put lipstick on a pig; it's still a pig," the Democrat said. Republicans pounced saying the comment...

A new left-wing organization that wants to help elect Barack Obama president is sending letters to nearly 10,000 major donors who contribute to Republican causes, threatening them with potential legal problems if they finance conservative groups. The nonprofit organization, Accountable America, is even offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the criminal conviction or fines of at least $10,000 for violations of campaign finance laws or other statutes by a conservative group, according to The New York Times. Accountable America is led by Tom Matzzie, former Washington director of the liberal activist group MoveOn.org, and its research director...

Foreshadowing the nation’s changing makeup, one in four American counties have passed or are approaching the tipping point where black, Hispanic and Asian children constitute a majority of the under-20 population, according to analyses of census figures released Thursday. Racial and ethnic minorities now account for 43 percent of Americans under 20. Among people of all ages, minorities make up at least 40 percent of the population in more than one in six of the nation’s 3,141 counties. The latest population changes by race, ethnicity and age, as of July 1, 2007, were generally marginal compared with the year before....

Wildlife officials are still trying to figure out what kind of animal attacked Jose Salazar Jr. in the Sandia Mountains Saturday evening. The 5-year-old suffered a torn scalp and puncture wounds around his neck and arms. He underwent surgery at the University of New Mexico Hospital and is expected to fully recover. Now officials want to know if he was attacked by a mountain lion, bobcat, or bear. Rio Grande Zoo mammal curator Lynn Tupa has a few ideas about what could have mauled Salazar. She said it was most likely a mountain lion. "It was probably an immature cub...

Two people were killed and one was injured in a shooting at a temp agency near Raleigh, N.C., WRAL television reported. The shooting happened around 8:45 a.m. EDT. A man and a woman died, while a second woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries at Phelps Temporary Staffing Service in Louisburg, N.C. Police Chief Rick Lassiter told WRAL that the dead man appears to have been the shooter. Police have not yet established a motive for the shooting. Louisburg is a town of about 3,000 people, about 30 miles northeast of Raleigh.

The state said there will be a six month gap of vulnerability at the border when feds pull National Guard troops. Sate homeland security said the National Guard on the border will leave in July, six months earlier than expected. Officials said border agents won’t take over until December at the earliest, leaving more than 180 miles of border virtually unwatched. The original plan was to have the National Guard watch the border until 6,000 new agents could be properly trained. Border patrol officials said that won’t happen until December, but state officials said that’s not stopping the feds from...

Thousands gathered for the Hezbollah rally in southern Beirut.Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has told thousands of supporters at a rally in Lebanon that the disappearance of Israel is inevitable. "The presence of Israel is but temporary and cannot go on in the region," he told the Beirut rally. Speaking by video link, he again hinted at revenge for the killing of a senior Hezbollah commander in Syria. Hezbollah accuses Israel of being behind the death of Imad Mughniyeh, although Israel denies involvement. Hezbollah - or the Party of God - is a powerful political and military organisation in Lebanon made...

WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The H5N1 bird flu virus may sometimes stick to surfaces or get kicked up in fertilizer dust to infect people, according to a World Health Organization report published on Wednesday. The WHO team reviewed all known human cases of avian influenza, which has infected 350 people in 14 countries and killed 217 of them since 2003, and found that 25 percent of cases have no explanation. Most are passed directly from bird to people, they noted in their report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. And very rarely one person can infect another...

<p>A man was arrested after a government agent allegedly found him in an office building restroom lying next to an inflatable, anatomically correct doll with his pants down.</p> <p>Craig S. McCullough, 47, was charged Wednesday with indecent exposure, a misdemeanor.</p>

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Toys "R" Us Inc is recalling 27,000 wooden coloring cases that were made in China and sold under its Imaginarium brand because lead was found in the printed ink on the art set's outer packaging and in some watercolor paints. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which announced the recall on Thursday, said the 213-piece coloring set includes crayons, pastels, colored pencils and water colors that were packaged in a light tan wooden carrying case. The printed ink on the outer packaging of the case contains lead, and some of the black watercolor paint contains excessive...

Warning is second nationwide in last 30 days Product Marketed Under a Variety of Brand Names The affected Lakeside cut green beans are sold nationwide under the following labels: Albertson's, Happy Harvest, Best Choice, Food Club, Bogopa, Valu Time, Hill Country Fare, HEB, Laura Lynn, Kroger, No Name, North Pride, Shop N Save, Shoppers Valu, Schnucks, Cub Foods, Dierbergs, Flavorite, IGA, Best Choice and Thrifty Maid. U. S. health officials are warning consumers not to eat certain brands of French Cut Green Beans in 14.5 ounce cans manufactured by Lakeside Foods Inc, of Manitowoc, Wisconsin because the product may not...

CHICAGO (AP) - Standing before a church congregation that has witnessed inner-city violence firsthand, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Sunday that more must be done to end a social ill that is "sickening the soul of this nation." Obama told churchgoers at the Vernon Park Church of God on Chicago's South Side that too many young lives are being claimed by violence and more must be done to combat the problem. "From South Central L.A. to Newark, New Jersey, there's an epidemic of violence that's sickening the soul of this nation," the Illinois senator told the crowd. "The...

Riverdale, IL. -- According to Jackson's spokesperson, the Reverend and Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Church, got arrested while rallying against gun violence outside Chucks Gun Shop at 14310 South Indiana Ave., Riverdale. A press release from the Rainbow PUSH Coalition said police officers handcuffed and arrested the two men at approximately 1:30 p.m. as they led an anti-gun protest and engaged in civil disobedience. Jackson and Pfleger have since been released by Riverdale Police by 4 p.m. In wake of the deaths of 35 Chicago Public School students since January, Jackson and Rainbow PUSH Coalition constituents are demanding...

JERUSALEM (AP) - Envoys from the United States, European Union, Russia and the U.N. will meet Tuesday in Jerusalem for the first time since Hamas militants seized control of the Gaza Strip, an Israeli government spokeswoman said Friday. The meeting will be of low-level envoys, spokeswoman Miri Eisin said. A higher-level meeting of officials from the so-called Quartet of Mideast peacemakers was to have taken place Monday in Egypt. But that session was delayed to allow Quartet officials time to assess changes in the region after Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza last week. There has been no official announcement...

CDC releases ill travelers; airline spokesman says no food served on plane. MIAMI - Health authorities released nine passengers who were ill on a flight from Mexico to Miami International Airport on Tuesday. Authorities had initially reported 11 sick passengers on the Aeromexico flight from Merida, Mexico, but a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said nine people were complaining of gastrointestinal-type symptoms. No one was hospitalized, CDC spokesman Von Roebuck said. Aeromexico spokeswoman Gemma Liebanas said the airline is investigating. “I think that the people who got sick, it must have been from something they ate...

<p>FDA tests found antifreeze chemical; agency unsure if items are counterfeit.</p> <p>Five-ounce tubes of toothpaste labeled Colgate and sold in discount stores in four states are being recalled because they may contain a poisonous chemical, according to the importer. A Food and Drug Administration official, Doug Arbesfeld, confirmed that testing had found the chemical in a product with the Colgate label. But he said the agency is unsure if it is really Colgate or a counterfeit.</p>