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April 12, 2008 Warwick--Funnel cake, barbeque and lost of grits was in order for anyone in the Warwick town square on Saturday. The town dubbed the grits capital of Georgia held the 11th annual festival this year and organizers said it was the biggest so far. "It was fabulous, fabulous, fabulous, the lord blessed us with rain and the lord blessed us with sunshine, we had an exorbitant amount that got in the grits pit", said Robbie Woolbright. Morgan Nolen and Olivia Deal participated in a festival favorite, the Quaker Grits Pit. "It was disgusting it stunk really bad," said...

He'll never want breakfast again. Pat Bertoletti, a mohawk-sporting chef from Chicago, gulped down 21 pounds of buttery, goopy grits in 10 minutes to win $4,000 in the first World Grits Eating Championship at Louisiana Downs on Saturday...

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - July 19, 2006 - A University of Illinois researcher had discovered a fourth copy of a rare letter Abraham Lincoln had written by to the nation's governors in 1861. The letter John Lupton found Tuesday in the Lehigh County Historical Society's holdings was one Lincoln wrote as part of an unsuccessful ratification process for a constitutional amendment Congress adopted during the term of his predecessor, President James Buchanan, that would have made slavery the law of the land. The president remembered for abolishing slavery had been willing to push the amendment as "kind of a carrot...

OTTAWA - With the first federal budget under their belt, the Conservatives are enjoying a 10-point lead over their Liberal rivals, a new poll has found. The Sun Media-SES Research survey shows Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Tories now have the support of 38% of Canadians, compared to 28% for the Grits. The NDP has the support of 19% of Canadians, while the Bloc Quebecois has 9% and the Green Party 6%. The national poll of 930 Canadians on May 9 revealed a five-point climb for the Conservatives in the last three months since Feb. 9. The survey of committed voters...

OTTAWA — John Manley’s announcement that he will not be a candidate to lead the federal Liberals is symptomatic of a greater malaise infecting Canada’s “natural governing party.� Former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna’s return to Canada is seen as a slam-dunk for his Liberal leadership ambitions. One high-powered Grit told me he could raise $1million for McKenna in one hour. Where does that leave the party that desperately needs a real leadership race, not the make-believe farce that characterized Paul Martin’s rise to power? Is the party’s desire for power so deep that the obvious message emanating from last...

In a last-minute blow to high-profile Liberal candidate Michael Ignatieff, the president of the party’s riding association in Etobicoke-Lakeshore swung his support today to Conservative rival John Capobianco in Monday’s federal election. The controversial process by which Ignatieff was acclaimed the candidate over local hopefuls ruled ineligible by the party was a major factor in the decision, said Ron Chyczij, who had hoped to contest the nomination himself. "I can no longer in good conscience support the Liberal candidate in this riding," he said in a statement released this afternoon. "After the nomination fiasco, I’ve purposely waited on the sidelines...

he Conservative Party has an 18-point lead over the Liberals in a new poll, giving them 42 per cent support nationally and setting possibly setting the stage for a major electoral shift. The Tories have gained two points since a similar poll released Monday, while the Liberals fell three points. "These numbers would deliver a majority government," pollster Tim Woolstencroft of The Strategic Counsel told CTV.ca on Tuesday. "We've seen a transformation of the electoral landscape that's basically on par with 1993, 1984, 1968 and 1958," he said, referring to elections which generated big majorities. However, Craig Oliver, CTV's chief...

Updated Mon. Jan. 16 2006 11:41 PM ET With one week remaining before the election, the Conservatives have unleashed their own vicious television ad, but this time the target is Jack Layton and his New Democrat Party. The Tories have taken aim at Layton in the commercial, charging among other things that he is in favour of higher gas prices and legalizing drugs. The ad features a Jack Layton-style moustache and mouth digitally placed over the mouths of Canadians, with a male voice speaking. "I support legalized drugs," says the voice, speaking for a mother with her young child. "Who...

Government expected to fall, accused of income-trust leak OTTAWA - The battle lines are firmly drawn for what will be a bitter winter election that will mirror the nasty and short-lived 38th Parliament, which is expected to fall tonight under the weight of a non-confidence vote brought on by a united opposition. The Conservatives continued to hammer their core theme of corruption as they hurled allegations that Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's office leaked details of income-trust changes, just days after opposition leader Stephen Harper linked the Liberals to organized crime. The Liberals, meanwhile, having learned from their early mistake of...

OTTAWA, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The leaders of Canada's three opposition parties met on Sunday to decide how and when to try to bring down the 16-month-old minority Liberal government and force an election, possibly as soon as next month. Following a change in heart by the New Democratic Party, which said on Monday that it would no longer be able to support the Liberals, the heads of the three parties met in Conservative leader Stephen Harper's office in Parliament. They kept reporters away from the meeting, but were understood to be discussing whether to bring the government down before...

1. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits. 2. Thou shalt not eat Cream of Wheat and call it Grits; for this is blasphemy. 3. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Grits. 4. Thou shalt only use Salt, Butter and Cheese as toppings for thy Grits. 5. Thou shalt not eat Instant Grits. 6. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits. 7. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits. 8. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits. 9. Thou shalt not put sugar on thy Grits either. 10. Thou shalt not put sugar or syrup on...

We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail!

I was amused by how many people expected me to join in the weeping and wailing over the defection of Belinda Stronach. I was so pleased with the news that I sent her a thank you note. I enjoy having time prove me right. Those who openly questioned her abilities, qualification and commitment were written off as jealous or sexist dinosaurs. Most of the media was so intent on selling the myth that she was a sharp, capable and popular conservative that they overlooked nearly all evidence to the contrary. As a leadership candidate Belinda was unimpressive. The only successes...

Pizza man sorry for bringing down Canada minister Wed May 11, 2005 04:55 PM ET OTTAWA (Reuters) - A pizza shop owner who forced former Canadian immigration minister Judy Sgro to resign by claiming she had offered to help him avoid deportation has admitted he lied and has apologised, Sgro said on Tuesday. Sgro quit her job in January after Harjit Singh filed an affidavit accusing her of offering to help him stay in Canada in return for pizza deliveries and assistance with her election campaign. Singh was deported to India in February. "I now admit I did not have...

It is impossible for Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's beleaguered minority Liberal government to carry on governing while under investigation for corruption, Conservative leader Stephen Harper said on Friday. Asked if he would agree to Martin's request to hold off bringing down the government until after an official inquiry into a spending scandal makes its report in December, Harper said: "The real question I think is, do Canadians want a corrupt party to stay in power during this inquiry, and I think it's impossible. "It's impossible for the affairs of state to be run by a government under investigation, a...

Hello again...& Welcome to ATRW for Tues., Apr. 19!As the week continues....John Bolton's name is set to be sent to the Senate Floor for confirmation as UN Ambassador...Longtime Republican Cong. from Illinois, Henry Hyde announced his retirement at term's end.For the first time in 4 weeks, gasoline prices at the pump have dropped...a few cents.An Iraqi Maj. General and his son were assassinated late Monday returning to Baghdad from Madain.And the Cardinals met for the first day of their deliberations with no new Pope selected.We Will Not Tire, We Will Not Falter, and We Will not Fail!

World Grits Festival dishes out heaping helpings of family fun BY DENESHIA GRAHAM ST. GEORGE--Someone by the name of George got dibs on this small, Dorchester County town before grits could. Regardless of where it got its name, the town's heart belongs to the distinctly Southern staple. The love affair has been celebrated for two decades. Day two of the World Grits Festival took place Saturday. Thousands of grits-goers from near and far, some armed with flimsy paper plates of fried food, filed past one another, each heading to a variety of events. Commencing at 7 a.m., activities included a...

WASHINGTON - Environmentalists sued the Bush administration on Thursday over new rules for managing the 192 million acres of national forests. The rules issued in December give managers of the 155 national forests more discretion to approve logging and other commercial projects without lengthy environmental reviews. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, claims the rules water down protection of wildlife and the environment "to the point where they are virtually meaningless." The suit filed by San Francisco-based Earthjustice on behalf of a coalition of conservation groups said the rules fail to include important environmental protection measures...

It's Thanksgiving. If your family is anything like mine, a few people are loosening their belts or unbuttoning their pants to breathe easier while eating an unnatural amount of food in one sitting. The most self-aware eaters just admit their gluttony and wear sweat pants with elastic waists to the feast. Everyone clamors to heap the prized dish, the family favorite you look forward to all year, onto already full plates. It's that special recipe passed down through generations - a creamy vegetable casserole, fluffy pumpkin bread, homemade applesauce. Or baked cheese grits. Yes, you heard that right. In my...

<p>COLUMBIA — If you have any spare bacon lying around the kitchen, Gov. Mark Sanford could use it at the Governor's Mansion. It would go nicely with the grits Sanford received on Wednesday from a Columbia milling company. Sanford said earlier this week he may temporarily close the mansion due to a lack of money.</p>

ST. GEORGE S.C. - Simmerize world peace? Granny Grits thinks so. The World Grits Festival takes place Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a globally touted nod to the down-home Southern staple corn dish. It's a ladling of grits breakfasts and dinners, grits wallowing, grits-eating contests, grits grinding, corn shelling and tossing, along with a carnival, music, arts and crafts and grit-ty souvenirs. Some 30,000 people are expected to attend. Nell "Granny Grits" Bennett wishes the world would. The esteemed festival organizer says there's just something peaceful about a steaming plate of homeground hominy. "If there were big ol' pots of grits...