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Miguel Grima was not a well-liked man. As mayor of a tiny hamlet in the foothills of the Pyrenees in northern Spain he had ruffled a few feathers. The farmers turned against him when he put a stop to the centuries-old custom of herding livestock through village. The hunters got annoyed when he refused to issue them with shooting licences and the local drinkers revolted after he prevented the settlement's only bar from setting out tables on the terrace in summer. He had repeatedly received anonymous threatening letters and reportedly told friends recently that he feared for his life and...

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“We’ve never had a mother who ever ran or was elected president…” That was Hillary Clinton speaking earlier this week, when she appeared on the television show The View. Don’t think for a minute that she was just making an interesting historical observation. No, Hillary doesn’t work that way. She never says or does anything that hasn’t been perfectly scripted and endlessly polled beforehand. She had a message, a new strategy to try out. So look for the new “Mom Strategy” to be the anchor of her presidential run. Forget Soccer Moms and Security Moms; now it’s going to be...

Someone should let Meredith Vieira know: when trying to ingratiate oneself with Hillary Clinton, it's best to avoid words bringing "imperious" to mind. But if the execution was flawed, no one can deny the fervor with which Vieira endorsed Hillary's paean to big-government, 'It Takes A Village'. Here's how Vieira opened her interview with Hillary on this morning's Today:"I'll get to Hillary '08, but first I want to start with 'It Takes a Village' '07 because this book came out ten years ago, and a lot has happened in the past ten years that makes it I think even more...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ten years later, it still takes a village. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is polishing up her most famous phrase as she edges closer to a presidential run. She writes in a new introduction to her book ``It Takes a Village'' that Sept. 11 and the Internet make her tome on child-rearing even more relevant today. The 10th anniversary edition of the book goes on sale Dec. 12. An early copy was obtained by The Associated Press. The new version of the book features a smiling Clinton surrounded by children. The New York senator did not appear on...

A Democrat community leader who would "offer a homily during worship services" and facilitated his congregation's "opening our doors to all people regardless of sexual orientation" has been given a slap on the hand after pleading guilty to extensive child pornography offenses involving children as young as six. Authorities say Andrew Douglas Reed, 53, who reported for an abbreviated jail term just a few weeks ago, had pleaded guilty to a page-long list of counts of 2nd-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. Court records in the Asheville, N.C., case said he admitted that he would "record, develop and duplicate material...

“We want to find out the benefit of the adoption to this family. We have seen other parents who have had their children adopted still living in poverty. They have not seen their children, all they see is pictures. We don’t want that to happen to this family. THE African family of Madonna’s newly adopted child has demanded an invitation to her multi-million-pound mansions to check on his welfare and living conditions, write Steven Swinford and Christopher Thompson.

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - Three missing children have been found dead, days after their mother's body was discovered with the fetus cut from her womb, authorities announced late Saturday...

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The leaders of a village in the Indian state of Rajasthan ordered 150 men to dip their hands into boiling oil to prove their innocence after food was stolen from a local school, a newspaper reported Sunday. In late August the school's principal informed police that rice and wheat had disappeared but no action was taken, the Sunday Express said. The council, or panchayat, of Ranpur village, 340 km (210 miles) south of state capital Jaipur, then decided to take the law into its own hands. After 10 days spent trying to identify those responsible, it...

A bipartisan group of Michigan lawmakers wants all sixth-grade girls to be vaccinated against cervical cancer. A Republican state senator who is the lead sponsor said it's the first legislation of its kind in the U.S. The vaccine was approved by federal regulators this summer and hailed as a breakthrough in cancer prevention. The shots prevent infections from strains of a sexually transmitted virus -- human papilloma virus, or HPV -- that can cause cervical cancer and genital warts. At the time, conservatives expressed concern that schools would require the vaccine for enrollment. They argue that such mandates infringe on...

According to reports, a trendy Chicago suburb voted “the sexiest suburb in America” may be on the verge of banishing from its venues of commerce those not conforming to arbitrarily contrived body aesthetics. Lane Bryant, a retailer known for marketing clothing to full-sized women, has been denied the opportunity to open a store in a development called “The Village Of Oak Park”. Before the hypercapitalists decide to slit my throat as they are wont to do whenever anyone dares to question a decision made by big business, it must be noted that the decision to deny Lane Bryant the retail...

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has all the hallmarks of a clearcut favorite to win the Democratic nomination for president in 2008. She enjoys nearly universal name recognition, focuses on high-profile issues and, perhaps most importantly, has the ability to raise a lot of cash. But there is a massive amount of ground to cover before she can allow visions of settling back into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to dance in her head. First up is her Senate reelection campaign. In a development that could spice up the 2006 race, two antiwar candidates have announced they will challenge Clinton for the Democratic...

WASHINGTON -- The House voted Wednesday to scold a San Francisco-based federal appeals court for dismissing a lawsuit by parents outraged that a school district surveyed their young children about sex. Over objections from some Democrats who complained Republicans were seeking the kind of judicial activism the GOP normally denounces, lawmakers voted 320 to 91 for a resolution that said the decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals "deplorably infringed on parental rights." The resolution says the 9th Circuit should rehear Fields v. Palmdale School District. The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel earlier this month said that...

Full-Time Motherhood? How Selfish November 5, 2005 BY JULIE SHILLER Across the nation, privileged young women are seeking to be competitive candidates to gain admittance to prestigious universities. Impressive SAT scores, awards, grades and extracurricular activities are of the utmost importance for college-bound high school students and their families. The priorities of many of today's elite young women, however, are surprisingly conventional, according to one survey. The most fortunate and educated women say they will conform to traditional gender roles after completing their Ivy League degrees. They are choosing careers as full-time mothers and expect to be supported financially by...

As taxpayers, parents and educators debate the value of public preschool for every child, a new study by UC Berkeley and Stanford researchers finds for the first time that middle-class children -- not just kids from the poorest families -- receive a boost in language and math skills from preschool. But its darker findings bolster earlier, more controversial conclusions that preschool can hinder social development. The study, "How much is too much? The Influence of Preschool Centers on Children's Development Nationwide," was released today and comes as Hollywood movie director Rob Reiner leads a group of universal preschool advocates pushing...

Four Central Florida middle school students were arrested Monday for allegedly ripping off the clothes off classmates and then snapping photos with their cell phones, according to a Local 6 News report. Investigators said the boys, ages 12, 13 and 14 years old, attacked the girls Friday at Tavares Middle School in Lake County, Fla., in the back of a school bus. The boys then allegedly groped the girls and took pictures of them. Cell phone video allegedly showed one of the girls screaming for help while the boys touch her breasts, according to the report. Police said the attack...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - An 11-year old girl faces felony assault charges after seeking emergency help for a boy whom she says she accidentally injured after he bullied her with water balloons. Maribel Cuevas was arrested, handcuffed and taken by police to juvenile hall, where she spent five days with only minimal contact with her parents. Her family says Maribel meant no harm when she accidentally hit the Elijah Vang, the 9-year-old neighborhood boy, in the forehead with a rock. They say she was simply defending herself after Vang and several other boys pummeled her with water balloons outside her...

What is Hillary going to do? Hillary tried with her renowned national health care program, womb-to-the-tomb health care, that bombed out so she needs a new program, while Clinton is out there fighting childhood obesity. I found a story in the New York Times, right up Hillary's alley, she could fight childhood ugliness. The headline in the New York Times: Ugly Children May Get Parental Short Shrift. Well, this is made to order for Hillary because if you're going to go out there and fight childhood obesity, you've got to actually blame the parents and you've got to get on...

The Illinois Family Institute (IFI) received a troubling report yesterday of a grade (and middle) school in Carrier Mills that held an “Opposite Sex” Day in which students were encouraged to come to schools dressed as members of the opposite sex. At least one outraged mother pulled her children out of Carrier Mills-Stonefort Elementary School (kindergarten through 8th grade) after being informed about the cross-dressing day. Carrier Mills is about 45 minutes east of Carbondale. One school staffer reached by IFI said the school had no radical agenda but was just looking for “something silly for the kids to do.”...

A 48-year-old teacher in Seminole County, Fla., is accused of torturing her autistic students, including allegedly rubbing a child's face in vomit and slamming another child's head so hard that he lost his front teeth, according to Local 6 News. Garrett, who weighs 300 pounds, also reportedly pinned a special needs student facedown on his desk until he choked before two assistants reportedly jumped in to save the child, according to an arrest report. Witnesses also said that Garrett rubbed her body against a child and repeatedly told him to "cry for mama." Authorities said all of the victims have...