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It’s one of the most secure places on earth, but two Washington area socialites and reality TV wannabes were apparently able to get behind the gates at the White House and mingle with the crowd at the State Dinner in honor of India last night. The Washington Post has the dish on Tareq and Michaele Salahi, below: The First Lady’s office told ABC they would have no comment on the crashers and referred all inquiries to the Secret Service. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan confirms that the agency is looking “into a report that two individuals not on the guest...

As Mahmoud Ahmadinejad entered the Caracas airport in Venezuela, they received him by playing the Pahlavi-era "Sorood e Shahanshahi" instead of the Islamic Republic's anthem! (See video at link above)

Yemen closes Iran hospital, clinic in Sanaa (AFP) – 16 hours ago SANAA — Yemen said on Wednesday it has ordered the closure of the Iranian hospital and clinic in Sanaa due to what it said was Iran's support of the facilities and lack of transparency in their accounts. Both facilities are run by the Iranian Red Crescent. "The interior ministry has decided to close the Iranian clinic and hospital because of lack of transparency of their accounts and... Iranian financial support to these two institutions," said a ministry statement. Yemeni security forces had on October 13 sealed off the...

Tareq and Michaele Salahi SNIP "Honored to be at the White House for the state dinner in honor of India with President Obama and our First Lady!" one of them wrote on their joint Facebook page at 9:08 p.m. SNIP While the White House offered no official explanation, it appears to be the first time in modern history that anyone has crashed a White House state dinner. The uninvited guests were in the same room as President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, although it is unknown whether they met the Obamas and the guest...

Climate change scandal deepens as BBC expert claims he was sent 'cover-up' emails a month before they went publicBy Carol Driver Last updated at 10:10 PM on 25th November 2009 The controversy surrounding the global warming scandal today deepened after a BBC correspondent admitted he was sent the leaked emails more than a month before they were made public. Paul Hudson, weather presenter and climate change expert, claims the documents allegedly sent between some of the world's leading scientists are of a direct result of an article he wrote. In his BBC blog two days ago, Hudson said: 'I was...

Climate Change: Major U.S. corporations have set up a Web site calling for a global climate treaty to be signed in Copenhagen. Considering recent evidence of massive climate fraud, perhaps they should reconsider. Many will remember the classic soft drink ad campaign where young people from many nations gather on a mountaintop and sing that they'd like to buy the world a Coke, the theory being that sharing a soda was the key to world peace. That sort of naivete has led peoples and governments around the world to accept at face value the outright fraud perpetrated by the Milli...

The Corbett Report provides podcasts, interviews, articles and videos about breaking news and important issues Today 's report at the link.

Dubai is asking creditors to accept a six-month suspension on debt repayments for its severely cash-strapped conglomerate Dubai World. The government of the Gulf emirate has also appointed consultants Deloitte to restructure state-run Dubai World's operations. The group includes property developer Nakheel, which built one of the state's most ostentatious projects, the palm-shaped, man-made residential islands of the Palm Jumeirah. The conglomerate also includes DP World, owner of the former P&O ports operator. According to Nakheel, Dubai World has $59bn (£35bn) of liabilities, a large proportion of Dubai's total debt of $80bn (£47bn). The emirate's government said in a statement:...

Former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs has indicated that he might consider an independent bid for the White House in 2012, and early polling shows he could attract up to 14% of the vote. However, some of that is almost certainly a generic protest vote as an unnamed “some other candidate” picks up between six percent (6%) and nine percent (9%) of the vote in similar 2012 match-ups. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that if the choice is between President Obama, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Dobbs, Obama leads 42% to 34% with Dobbs pulling 14% of...

matthew.chayes@newsday.com Quick Summary Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and her former ardent foe, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola), announced they were teaming up to sponsor legislation to combat gun trafficking. Talk about a thaw. In the latest example of politics making for the unlikeliest bedfellows, hugs, mutual praise and chitchat punctuated a news conference between Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a former darling of the National Rifle Association, and her former ardent foe, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola), the stridently pro-gun-control congresswoman whose husband was killed in the mass shooting aboard the Long Island Rail Road. Earlier this year, McCarthy had threatened to derail Gillibrand's upcoming...

Why the deception? And who was behind it? AP? The Obama camp? Someone else? What was its purpose? AP, March 5, 2008: "In the world of today, children have different religions from their parents," she said. She, too, is a Christian. --- Is she really? "Saudi Arabia: Obama's grandmother in Mecca for 'Hajj' ceremony," from AKI, November 25 (thanks to C. Cantoni): Mecca, 25 Nov. (AKI) - The grandmother of US president Barack Obama has arrived in Saudi Arabia for the 'Hajj' or Islamic pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a Saudi daily said on Wednesday. Sarah...

Mecca, 25 Nov. (AKI) - The grandmother of US president Barack Obama has arrived in Saudi Arabia for the 'Hajj' or Islamic pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a Saudi daily said on Wednesday. Sarah Obama, 87, is being accompanied by a nephew and Obama's cousin, Omran. On Wednesday Sarah Obama was in the valley of Mina with an African delegation, according to the Saudi daily Okaz. Obama, the mother of the American president's father, lives in a village in Kenya and is one of the many guests of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud....

President Obama continued his outreach to the world's Muslims today, sending greetings to pilgrims to Mecca. .... "Michelle and I would like to send our best wishes to all those performing Hajj this year, and to Muslims in America and around the world who are celebrating Eid-ul-Adha. The rituals of Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha both serve as reminders of the shared Abrahamic roots of three of the world’s major religions," Obama said in a statement. "During Hajj, the world’s largest and most diverse gathering, three million Muslims from all walks of life – including thousands of American Muslims – will stand...

As President Obama prepares to unveil his long-deliberated war strategy, the Taliban's supreme commander declared today that U.S.-led forces would find only defeat, dishonor and "a bed of thorns" in Afghanistan. The warning, contained in a statement by Mullah Mohammed Omar , the movement's reclusive leader, was issued on the eve of one of the year's most important Muslim holidays, Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice. It marks the end of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which is made by millions of observant Muslims. In his missive -- punctuated by the flowery phrases and high-flown rhetoric typically...

GOP Senator Tells Climate Change Researchers to Retain Controversial E-Mails Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe has sent letters to several climate change scientists and to the inspectors general of various federal agencies notifying them to retain breached documents and e-mails that he says prove researchers are manipulating data to make the case for global warming. The U.S. Senate's leading global warming skeptic has sent letters to several climate change scientists and to the inspectors general of various federal agencies notifying them to retain breached documents and e-mails that he says prove researchers are manipulating data to make the case for global...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States will not be in Afghanistan eight years from now, the White House said on Wednesday, as President Barack Obama prepared to explain to Americans next week why he is expanding the war effort. After months of deliberation and fending off Republican charges that he was dithering on Afghanistan while violence there surged, Obama will address the nation on Tuesday on the way forward in the costly and unpopular eight-year war. He is expected to announce he is sending about 30,000 more troops as part of a new counterinsurgency strategy that will place greater emphasis...

Hacked emails discussed manipulating data to "hide the decline" in global temperatures Calls for an independent inquiry into what is being dubbed "Climategate" are growing as the foundation for man-made global warming implodes following the release of emails which prove researchers colluded to manipulate data in order to "hide the decline" in global temperatures.

Former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs has indicated that he might consider an independent bid for the White House in 2012, and early polling shows he could attract up to 14% of the vote. However, some of that is almost certainly a generic protest vote as an unnamed “some other candidate” picks up between six percent (6%) and nine percent (9%) of the vote in similar 2012 match-ups. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that if the choice is between President Obama, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Dobbs, Obama leads 42% to 34% with Dobbs pulling 14% of...

Pataki would actually be behind 45-42 if he ran. It's pretty clear to me who should run, and that's Rudy. I'm willing to look past the issues like abortion where he is less than conservative if it means a sure win over Gillibrand. I'm pretty sure Pataki isn't so conservative either, so really there's not much of a choice. Don't they have to announce pretty soon whether they are running? In Texas the deadline to get on the primary ballot is January 4th.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 26% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -15. This is the second straight day at -15, the lowest Approval Index rating yet measured for President Obama (see trends). Seventy-four percent (74%) of African-Americans Strongly Approve along with just 19% of white voters (see other recent demographic highlights from the tracking poll). Among all voters, just 34% now give the President good or excellent marks...

Browner says hacked e-mails don't change anything Stephen Dinan Obama administration climate czar Carol Browner on Wednesday rejected claims that e-mails stolen from a British university show climate scientists trumped up global warming numbers, saying she considers the science settled. "I'm sticking with the 2,500 scientists. These people have been studying this issue for a very long time and agree this problem is real," said Ms. Browner, who President Obama has tapped as his chief of policy on global warming. The e-mails were hacked from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia and have come to light...

* US diplomat says destroying Qaeda real goal in Afghanistan * Core strategy is to help Afghans take responsibility of their own security LAHORE/WASHINGTON: Taliban can rejoin the “social and political fabric of Afghanistan” if they renounce Al Qaeda, US special envoy Richard Holbrooke said on Tuesday. In an interview with SPIEGEL, Holbrooke said, “Majority of Taliban do not support Mullah Omar’s extreme views and that there is room for them to rejoin the social and political fabric of Afghanistan if they renounce Al Qaeda and reintegrate peacefully into Afghanistan. And that is a major part” of the Unites States...

The queen of daytime will interview the president of the country during an ABC holiday special that brings together Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama. The network has announced "Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special," which includes an interview with the president, a conversation with the First Couple and tour of the White House.

RealClearPolitics.com, which averages all recent national public opinion polls, now shows President Obama's job approval average has dropped to 49.9%, marking the first time this number has dipped below the critical 50% line. Obama's job disapproval average has also climbed to an all-time high of 44.6%, thus narrowing the approval/disapproval gap to a new low of +5.3%.

Obama climate czar Carol Browner on Wednesday rejected the e-mails that appear to show some British climate scientists trumped up global warming numbers, saying she considers the science settled. "I'm sticking with the 2,500 scientists. These people have been studying this issue for a very long time and agree this problem is real," said Ms. Browner, who President Obama has tapped as his chief of policy on global warming. The e-mails were hacked from the Climate Research Unit at the University of Wast Anglia and have come to light over the last week. They appear to show scientists saying they've...

New Jersey voters are split on whether to legalize gay marriage, but more people now oppose it than support it, a poll found on Wednesday. The Quinnipiac University survey found 49 percent of voters oppose a law allowing same-sex couples to marry, while 46 percent support such legislation, reversing an April poll that found 49 percent supported it and 43 percent opposed it. "When we asked about gay marriage in April, it won narrow approval. Now that it seems closer to a legislative vote, it loses narrowly with the public," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute....

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that President Barack Obama’s “inexperience” might be keeping him from making a decision on an Afghanistan strategy. Asked in an interview with Scott Hennen, a conservative radio host, if Obama's prolonged war strategy review was a “dereliction” of his duties as president, Cheney said: “Well, I haven’t gone that far, and it may in part be inexperience on Obama’s part. ... It may be that there’s confusion on the staff, but I’m not encouraged by it.” Cheney also called the administration’s decision to try the Sept. 11 terrorism suspects in New York City...

WASHINGTON – The White House says President Barack Obama is placing heavy emphasis on how the United States eventually will withdraw from Afghanistan even as he plans to announce a troop increase next week. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that the United States is in its ninth year of military involvement in Afghanistan and "we are not going to be there another eight or nine years." Gibbs says Obama's recent meetings with military advisers have often focused on how to train Afghanistan's police and army so they can secure and hold areas taken from the Taliban after...

WASHINGTON—U.S. Congressman Todd Tiahrt (pronounced TEE-hart), R-Kan., released the following statement in response to heinous accusations from Mayor Bloomberg’s political organization Mayors Against Illegal Guns. On Monday the Bloomberg organization paid for a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post assigning blame for the Fort Hood massacre, in part, to firearm policy authored by Tiahrt and approved by Congress since 2002. “The mayors who politicized the tragic deaths of those whose lives were taken along with the dozens who sustained injuries at Fort Hood should immediately issue a public apology to the victims and their families,� said Tiahrt. “Their use of...

Is it just the angle of the picture or has the Bower in Chief now ordered that a foreign flag be raised above the Stars and Stripes?

When President Obama announced plans to give a speech to the nation’s schoolchildren in September, it set off a frenzy among conservative commentators who deemed it, in the words of Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer, an attempt to “indoctrinate America’s children to his socialist agenda.” Now, with the release of Katharine DeBrecht’s latest children’s book, “Help! Mom! Radicals are Ruining My Country!” — which lampoons senior Democratic members of Congress, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts — it is liberals’ turn to cry foul about the partisan poisoning of impressionable...

Note to fashion reporters: Don't ask Nancy Pelosi what she's wearing. At Tuesday's state dinner, Washington Post's Robin Givhan approached the House Speaker and, according to a pool report, asked, "Is your gown Armani?" "Pelosi shot her a disapproving stare and rolled her eyes a bit," says the pool report. She also refused to answer Givhan's follow up question, "What was that look?!"

President Barack Obama will deliver Tuesday's address on Afghanistan policy at 8 p.m. Eastern time from the United States Military Academy at West Point, the White House said Wednesday. The setting allows the commander-in-chief to talk directly to future officers as he announces a troop buildup in the eight-year war.

Everyone have a happy Thanksgiving!

For a man with the very survival of human civilisation weighing heavily on his broad shoulders, Al Gore cuts a surprisingly relaxed figure. With a Diet Coke in hand, and chewing gum rolling around inside his mouth, one of the great "what ifs" of modern political history strolls into the boardroom of his London-based asset management firm, located in one of the city's "most environmentally friendly buildings". Gore is in the capital, as he is every few months, to spend a couple of days meeting with his partners at Generation Investment Management, the "sustainability-driven" asset management firm he set up...

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fl.) is urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to propose revisions to the Senate's cloture rules so that only 55 votes, instead of 60, would be required to end floor debate. His effort -- spearheaded with the help of an online campaign at StopSenateStalling.com -- takes special aim at the healthcare debate, which Grayson said has fallen victim to countless overused and unfair filibuster threats over the past few months. "Why should launching wars and cutting taxes for the rich require only 50 votes while saving lives requires 60?" asked Grayson, who listed a series of...

Gordon Brown today sparked controversy on the eve of the Commonwealth summit by suggesting he backs the sweeping away of 300-year-old laws that prevent Roman Catholics ascending to the Throne. Mr Brown is also keen to change the ancient rule of primogeniture, which stipulates that men must always take precedence over a woman in line to the throne. The Prime Minister is expected to raise the issue with heads of government in the "margins" of the Commonwealth summit that begins in Trinidad on Friday. It is not a formal item on the agenda of the gathering, which will be dominated...

Central Europe Ready To Send More Soldiers To Afghanistan By Marcin Sobczyk Just as President Obama discusses the idea of putting Afghanistan more in charge of its own security, Central European troop contributors, despite growing casualties, mull sending more soldiers and equipment to the country. With around 2,000 soldiers in the Ghazni province, Poland is leading the Central European pack. The country is mulling an increase of its contingent as generals complain at insufficient staffing and equipment, even blaming politicians for underfunding that may have led to several recent deaths of Polish soldiers. The Czech Republic is also planning to...

Source: Obama to go to Copenhagen climate-change summit Posted: November 25th, 2009 09:25 AM ET resident Barack Obama will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark next month. resident Barack Obama will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark next month. Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark December 9 to attend a global conference on climate change, a senior administration official told CNN Wednesday. The president is also scheduled to be in nearby Oslo, Norway on December 10 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. It is not clear if he will go to Copenhagen before or after Oslo.

U.S. urges Americans to help feed their neighborsTue Nov 24, 2009 6:15pm EST By Jasmin Melvin WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Tuesday urged Americans to volunteer to help feed their neighbors, noting that almost 15 percent of the country's households had a hard time getting enough to eat last year. Every American can chip in to fight hunger, the Agriculture Department said as it unveiled the Obama Administration's new Feed a Neighbor initiative, encouraging activities such as volunteering time at local food banks, helping the elderly get fresh produce, and planning ways to feed children who depend on...

You could call (this) pre-September 11 thinking, except that there never was a time when it would have been sane:((look at this picture) Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq -- the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com. ... Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named "Objective Amber," told investigators he was punched by his captors -- and he had the bloody lip to prove it. Now,...

Crisis pregnancy centers in Baltimore must display signs stating they do not provide abortions or birth-control referrals under a measure approved by the City Council Monday night and thought to be the first of its kind in the nation. Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a Democrat who was lead sponsor of the initiative, called the measure a victory for women's well-being. (snip) But abortion opponents say the bill unfairly targets centers that they say provide accurate information and much-needed assistance to poor women. "The thing that's most disappointing about it is not the particular signs that are put up or the...

Long Island couple is home free after an outraged judge gave them an amazing Thanksgiving present -- canceling their debt to ruthless bankers trying to toss them out on the street. Suffolk Judge Jeffrey Spinner wiped out $525,000 in mortgage payments demanded by a California bank, blasting its "harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive" acts. The bombshell decision leaves Diane Yano-Horoski and her husband, Greg Horoski, owing absolutely no money on their ranch house in East Patchogue. Spinner pulled no punches as he smacked down the bankers at OneWest -- who took an $814.2 million federal bailout but have a record...

Google has apologised after a racist caricature of Michelle Obama became the top result for users searching for pictures of the US First Lady. Anyone typing "Michelle Obama" into Google Images this morning was presented with an altered photo depicting the US president's wife with animal features. In a rare move, Google has posted a message on the top of the results page distancing itself from the image, in the box usually reserved for sponsored links. The note, which states "Sometimes our search results can be offensive. We agree" directs users to a page explaining the technology giant's policy on...

Banks Grapple With Debt Avalanche BY CARRICK MOLLENKAMP AND SERENA NG Banks have spent the past year dealing with a mountain of bad assets. Now attention is turning to trillions of dollars of debt they have maturing over the next few years. Banks unable to maneuver around the challenge could be forced to refinance their debt at sharply higher costs. The situation was caused by banks engaging in cheap borrowing during the credit-market boom that began in the middle of the decade and lasted through 2007. As financial markets hit crisis mode, banks were propped up by government guarantees that...

California has taken a major step toward creating a broad-based trading system to limit emissions of pollutants blamed for harmful climate change. The California Air Resources Board, often a trailblazer in environmental regulation, released a draft rule on Tuesday establishing a cap-and-trade program that sets a declining ceiling on emissions of greenhouse gases and allows companies to buy and sell permits to meet it. California’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The proposed system would begin in 2012 with 600 major sources of global warming pollutants, including power plants, refineries and concrete factories. Similar...

Some employers are continuing to lay off workers. Struggling Internet company AOL last week said it plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs, more than a third of its work force, once it is spun off from the media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. And Hartford, Conn.-based health insurer Aetna Inc. said it will cut 625 jobs, or nearly 2 percent of its staff, and will make similar job cuts in the first quarter of 2010 due to the lagging economy and the potential impact of health care reform. Federal Reserve policymakers said at their November meeting that the unfolding recovery...

Mumbai: D. Sivanandan, Mumbai's police commissioner, was appointed to his position in June after his predecessor came under fire for mishandling the November attacks in which 173 people were killed. Sivanandan, who is credited with wiping out Mumbai's notorious underworld as head of the city's crime branch in the early 90s, taught economics for several years. Known for his iron hand, he was even depicted in a Bollywood movie on gang wars. At a recent interaction on security with business executives, Sivanandan spoke about measures taken to secure the city, the possibility of a new attack, and the need to...

Defence Minister John Faulkner has announced the Government has approved buying the first batch of Joint Strike Fighters. Senator Faulkner says the Government will buy 14 of the next generation aircraft at a cost of about $3 billion, to be delivered from 2014. He says the fighters are expected to be ready for testing in five years and in operation from 2018. The Government plans to buy 100 of the fighters, which would be Australia's biggest defence purchase. Senator Faulkner says the Joint Strike Fighters will make sure Australia maintains its strategic capability. "This decision was underpinned by an unprecedented...

The Japanese ministry of defence has selected the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning-II as its next mainstay fighter jet but will sign a contract for 40 of these 'high-tech' fighters only in 2011, in order to ensure that the much-talked about stealth jet actually delivers on its performance parameters. Japanese agency reports say the defence ministry will seek fiscal allocation only in the 2011 budget for the purchase of 40 of these advanced 'stealth' fighter jets. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation, single-seat, single-engine, stealth, multirole fighter that, currently, is estimated to cost 9 yen billion ($101 million)...