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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York conservatives have invited Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson to speak at a fall celebration -- not native son and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. State Conservative Party officials said it's not meant to be a slap at anyone, merely what they wanted to do. Giuliani has supported abortion rights, gun control and has been divorced twice, all issues that make him less popular among Conservatives than other candidates. The Conservative Party is the fourth largest in New York and can often be influential on the Republican side in elections. The party has...

The Marijuana Policy Project (www.mpp.org) reports that 55% of polled enrolled members of New York State's Conservative Party support medical marijuana with 35% oppose. See New York Conservatives Favor Medical Marijuana Bill, Poll Shows ... However, the leadership of the Conservative Party is adamantly opposed to medical marijuana. It is not really suprising to those who actually know many New York Conservatives that they support medical marijuana. It is a little reported fact that the Christian Coalition has endorsed medical marijuana. There is both a philosophical and self-interest component to these unexpected positions.... Just as many black Americans diverge from...

Possible GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson had two meetings on Rudolph Giuliani's home turf today. Thompson met with Michael Long, head of the state conservative party and with Steve Cassidy, president of the firefighters union. Yesterday, the International Association of Fire Fighters released a video, criticizing Giuliani's handling of 9/11. When asked about the controversy, the former Tennessee senator, a Republican, refused to weigh in and would not comment on Giuliani's record on 9/11. "I have the greatest respect for Steve and his organization and what they're doing,” said Thompson. “I've read about it but I don't have enough knowledge...

The Conservative Party long ago decided that too much talk of the British way of life, like too much loud opposition to immigration, made them sound crypto-racist. That left the patriotism card for Labor to play. Indeed, as the Conservative Party has moved rapidly to the left, whole swathes of policy have been left open for Labor. Cameron is greener-than-thou, positively enthusiastic about public spending and skeptical of George W. Bush.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who earlier in his career developed a powerhouse international influence in action films and body building, now appears to be exporting a new Arnold product: a signature blend of California conservatism that has growing appeal to political leaders in other countries. The governor's distinct political recipe -- melding bipartisanship, business sensibilities and a strong environmental message -- is one reason he has been invited to address the 2007 conference of the British Conservative Party. The gathering of 10,000 in late September in Blackpool will be headed by Tory leader David Cameron, the dynamic...

The subject of community cohesion, for understandable reasons, has become prominent in our national conversation over the past few years. But it is a challenge we have faced before: the question of how we live together is as old as humanity itself. Throughout history, there have been periods when Britain has not been entirely comfortable with itself or individual communities within it. Who would now question the contribution made by Jewish people to British society - or even talk about there being a conflict between being British and Jewish? And yet, only 50 years ago, this was exactly the debate...

Excerpt - The House of Commons has overwhelmingly passed a motion recognizing Québécois as a nation within Canada. Conservatives, most Liberal MPs, the NDP and the Bloc voted 266 to 16 in support of the controversial motion, which earlier in the day had prompted the resignation of Michael Chong as intergovernmental affairs minister. Fifteen Liberal MPs voted against the motion, along with Independant MP Garth Turner. Prime Minister Stephen Harper had introduced the surprise motion on Nov. 22, raising the ante on a Bloc Québécois motion that sought to declare Quebecers a nation without reference to Canada. The motion states:...

Stephen : We hardly know you Harper was supposed to be a boring technocrat as PM ... what happened?By LORRIE GOLDSTEINBy now it's apparent that we conservatives got much more than we bargained for in Stephen Harper. Then again, so did the Liberals, Bloc, NDP and the Parliamentary Press Gallery. Conservatives thought we were getting a technocrat as prime minister who would gradually shrink the federal government down to its core responsibilities of finance, defence, foreign affairs, justice, immigration, transportation and communications. We thought his view of the world was pretty much limited to Alberta. Boy, were we wrong. In...

TORONTO -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper stunned Parliament on Wednesday by introducing a motion recognizing the French-speaking province of Quebec as a nation within Canada — a moved aimed at pre-empting Quebec's separatist party which intends to do the same. The Bloc Quebecois said it intends to introduce a motion Thursday that states Quebec is a nation. But the wording of that motion apparently does not include the words "within Canada," leaving federalists to worry it could be misinterpreted. The flap has reignited passions over whether the French-speaking province should be given independence. Quebecers have twice voted down referendums seeking...

When things get bad in the United States it is reassuring to turn to Canada, a country with a high standard of living, a small military and a national healthcare plan. Canada always seemed to be, if a bit duller than America, also a bit saner. But this is changing. The new Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, inspired by the neocons to the south, appears determined to visit the worst excesses of George Bush's Presidency on his own country. He plans to pull Canada out of the Kyoto Protocol and expand military spending. He defended Israel's massive bombing of southern...

Saturday, November 11, 2006 'Truth' organization wants GOP 'gays' to come out Critics says presence undermining values Republicans say they support Posted: November 11, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern ? 2006 WorldNetDaily.com The president of Americans for Truth says it's time for the homosexuals in the Republican Party to come out of the closet. "In recent weeks, homosexual activists have sought to 'out' various high-level GOP staffers and leaders as homosexuals, to highlight their hypocrisy in working for a socially conservative party," said Peter LaBarbera. "Now we in the pro-family movement are calling for full disclosure for a different reason: because...

Saddam verdict timing 'suspect' Former Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind has accused the US of delaying the verdict in Saddam Hussein's trial to coincide with the mid-term polls. He told BBC One's Question Time he had no evidence but the timing of the verdict was "deeply suspect". The former president of Iraq was this week sentenced to death by hanging for crimes against humanity. The White House has dismissed similar accusations as "preposterous" and said the Iraqi judges determined the timing. Tory MP Sir Malcolm said he believed the US told the Iraqi court to hold off until just before the...

One of the most significant phenomena in current Canadian politics – i.e. the growing shift of Canada's Jewish community from the Liberal to the Conservative Party – took a major stride last week when the top contender for the Liberal leadership accused Israel of committing a war crime. Michael Ignatieff, a longtime Harvard authority on human rights and international law who came back to Canada two years ago to seek the Liberal leadership, seemed to stumble into the accusation. In an interview with the Toronto Star last August, he was asked about the Israeli bombing of the Lebanese town of...

Canada's Harper government delightfully surprised both its friends and its foes last week. It leaked the fact that it may bring in a "Defence of Religions Act" to protect critics of homosexual practice from prosecution under human rights codes, and to prohibit the firing of marriage commissioners who refuse on the grounds of their religion to "marry" homosexual couples. Social conservative allies were surprised because opposition to gay marriage, which had begun to seem a lost cause, was being revived. Government foes are equally delighted, because they assume that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has finally made a blunder that will...

He headed them off at the pass. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a western Canadian from Alberta where cowboy hats and boots are still proudly worn, played the sheriff well at the 53-nation Francophone summit in Bucharest last week when he stopped a last-minute publication of an anti-Israel amendment on the conference’s last day. Harper, the leader of Canada’s ruling Conservative party, shot down the amendment, sponsored by Egypt, because it “deplored” the effects of the recent war in Lebanon without recognizing Israeli suffering. “The amendment wants to recognize and deplore the war and recognize the victims of Lebanon. We...

The three federally funded agencies most responsible for turning Canada from a stolid conservative backwater into a raving feminist-gay backwater were cut off at the knees this week in a budget brought down by the Harper government. Reducing federal spending for the first time in nine years, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty also reported a $13-billion surplus in last year's operations. The surplus, he said, would be directed to debt reduction. Liberal governments had been increasing spending by an average 8.2 percent annually, peaking in their final year with a whopping 14.4-percent increase. That had been done in a desperate attempt...

In a move to keep a State Senate seat in the Republican Party’s hands, Robert J. Helbock, the Conservative candidate in a three-way race, announced yesterday that he was withdrawing from the battle to succeed longtime Senator John J. Marchi of Staten Island. Mr. Marchi, a Republican who has held his seat for 50 years, announced earlier this year that he would not run for re-election. Earlier this month, Mr. Helbock, who was a longtime counsel to the retiring senator, was narrowly defeated in the Republican primary for the Senate seat by City Councilman Andrew J. Lanza. Mr. Helbock decided...

Canada's new Conservative government, elected on the short-term promise of repairing some of the more grievous deficiencies of its Liberal predecessor, will have to develop a long-term vision for the nation before it can hope to win a majority, says an observant academic writing last week in the National Post. The historical record shows, he says, that only leaders with an inspiring perspective of the future win majorities in Canada. The writer is Adam Chapnick, and he teaches history to the Canadian Forces College, the equivalent of an Annapolis and a West Point combined. In his prognosis, Chapnick sees what...

Prime Minister Harper's role in the recent Mideast crisis is interesting, and one that his own External Affairs Department may not be quite comfortable with. External Affairs has always been less than enthusiastic about Israel. Canada's attitude to Israel has traditionally tended to be even-handed, but under Paul Martin, Canada at the United Nations voted several times to condemn Israel for its policies. There are about 20 to 25 seats in Canada that have a sizable Jewish presence, and these seats have always been Liberal. The Reform party under Preston Manning and the Tories under Harper did not get anywhere...

He may be the prime minister, but Stephen Harper is just an ordinary Canadian when it comes to personal wealth. Unlike his multimillionaire predecessor, Paul Martin, Harper has no vast holdings in shipping companies or real estate. In fact, according to documents filed with the ethics commissioner, the Conservative PM has no assets or liabilities that would put him in a conflict of interest and no investments or business interests that need to be sold or held in a blind trust. The only thing the PM declares is a gift is an honorary membership "valued at $500" from the swanky,...