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*SNIP* Years later in his 1995 memoir, he mentioned smoking “reefer” in “the dorm room of some brother” and talked about “getting high.” Before Occidental, he indulged in marijuana, alcohol and sometimes cocaine as a high school student in Hawaii, according to the book. He made “some bad decisions” as a teenager involving drugs and drinking, Senator Obama, now a presidential candidate, told high school students in New Hampshire last November. *SNIP*

A cold, abrupt end to a honeymoon By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer Encinitas couple that fled Witch Creek fire returns home after cruise ship sinks off Antarctica ENCINITAS -- Three times since marrying June 11 in a beachside ceremony at La Jolla Cove, Trevor Takayama and Torrey Trust have dodged disaster. In August, the Encinitas couple fled an approaching hurricane while camping in a Costa Rican rain forest, on a summerlong honeymoon tour of Central and South America. In October, the Witch Creek fire forced the newlyweds to evacuate the hilltop three-bedroom home she grew up in, near Manchester...

George Washington University President Steven Knapp has no plans to take disciplinary action against a group of students involved in an anti-Muslim flier hoax, a university spokeswoman said yesterday. "We have established judicial policies and procedures," university spokeswoman Tracy Schario said. "I am confident that President Knapp will let them take their course." However, Mr. Knapp "reserves the right to intervene" in the university's student-judicial process, she said. Graduate student Adam Kokesh and senior Brian Tierney with five other students took responsibility Tuesday for the fliers, which contained the phrase "Hate Muslims? So Do We!" The students said the posters...

Check this Perata comment to reporters after a July 12 negotiating session with GOP leaders: "They want us to cut in places that Democrats just didn't get elected to come up here and cut. So for any program that involves the elderly, people who are disabled, people who are mentally ill, our mantra is kind of, we're here to protect those who can't protect themselves." ADVERTISEMENT Click here to find out more! Nuñez was even more adamant: "We're not going to take the canes away from the blind. We're not going to kick people out of their wheelchairs … kick...

Don't turn Canadian soldiers into victims The press has re-evaluated the mission 66 times - and still asks 'what happened?' By CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD Toronto Globe and Mail Saturday, July 7, 2007 – Page A15 The official news came only this week, and only from one half of the investigative whole, the American one. A report released to the Associated Press formally announced that Private Rob Costall, whose gorgeous face is by now familiar to many Canadians, was killed by friendly fire. It was hardly news to the soldiers, Canadian, American and Afghan, who were on the ground on the...

BOARDMAN — Ohio’s chief law enforcer was caught on tape cursing a reporter outside a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama because of an article about a woman Dann raised as his daughter landing a state job. Attorney General Marc Dann, a Youngstown Democrat, was headed into the fundraiser Wednesday when he spotted Warren Tribune Chronicle reporter Steve Oravecz and shouted, “Hey Steve, write this down: Go (expletive) yourself!” Jennifer Brindisi, a spokeswoman for Dann, said the attorney general believed the article naming Mavilya Chubarova, 22, whom he raised as his daughter, was unfair. “In talking to him, he’s...

Democrat John Edwards has eloquently established his credentials as an advocate for the poor with a presidential campaign focused on the devastating effects of poverty in America. But the former North Carolina senator's populist drive has hit a series of troubling land mines: a pair of $400 haircuts, a $500,000 paycheck from a hedge fund, and now a $55,000 payday for a speech on poverty to students at UC Davis. The problem now facing the Democratic presidential candidate is whether the pileup of headlines, including the latest regarding hefty fees from university speeches reported Monday by The Chronicle, threatens to...

Carole Migden is one of the most powerful people in California, and she knows it. The lesbian activist (author of the state's original domestic partners act, "married" in a faux ceremony conducted by SF mayor Gavin Newsom) is chair of the majority Democrat caucus in the State Senate, and has held a series of extremely powerful posts in a state government that spends $100 billion a year with little press scrutiny. Last Friday, while driving her state-leased (members of the legislature get ample allowances for the vehicle of their choice on the state's dime) Toyota Highlander hybrid SUV, she was...

When it was reported last week that House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) is now frequenting the Democratic National Club over on Ivy Street (which is, as it turns out, one of the very few places in the new Washington where the inveterate smoker can light up), I took notice because, well, sometimes little things can tell you a lot about people and the way they look at the world. As everyone who lives, works or spends much time in the District knows, a citywide anti-smoking ordinance passed the D.C. City Council last year and went into effect on Jan....

Intolerance is where you find it Lorrie Goldstein Toronto Sun Thursday, March 29, 2007 If Mario Dumont wants to know what his Action democratique du Quebec party is in for from the national media, he should read John Ibbitson's column in Tuesday's Globe. Typically, Ibbitson is my second read out of Ottawa after Sun Media's Greg Weston, because he's usually a thoughtful indicator of the "small-l" liberal view of Canada, with gusts up to "Big-L," that dominates the thinking of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. But on Tuesday, Ibbitson seemed beside himself over the very idea that rural, francophone Quebecers...

One reason I wish columnist Ann Coulter hadn't used the F-word in a recent speech -- the one that is a derogatory term for homosexual -- is because it gave liberals yet another excuse to label all conservatives as homophobic, racist and sexist, which writer Rick Perlstein did last week in the New Republic. As Mr. Perlstein wrote, Miss Coulter's poor choice of words "fits into a running conservative pattern." He went on to suggest radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh was sending coded messages to his listeners about former Secretary of State James A. Baker's sexual orientation by referring...

You see, although we in Hollywood are personally opposed to firearms, and passionately support gun control, we have to be realistic about Bush’s America and protect our families and, more important, our possessions from burglars, stalkers, muggers, street people, the homeless, immigrants, the Christian Right, and tourists from Kansas City. That’s why we were all so taken aback by the recent D.C. circuit-court ruling, which found that the residents of Washington are constitutionally entitled, as individuals, to possess firearms. It’s bad enough that every criminal in L.A. County has unlimited access to guns — now they want to give them...

Dion calls Harper's comments 'outrageous' PM accused Liberals of having more sympathy for Taliban than soldiers Edmonton Sun Thursday, March 22, 2007 TORONTO — (CP) Liberal Leader Stephane Dion says accusations made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper that the Liberals are more supportive of Taliban prisoners than Canadian soldiers are “outrageous.” Dion says the remarks and previous accusations that he is against the police are representative of a pattern of bullying by Harper. The Opposition leader says Harper is tarnishing Canada’s reputation in considering the issue of protecting detainees as “trivial,” and says he’s concerned about the prime minister’s...

Fighting Taliban protects Canada By Rory Leishman London Free Press Tuesday, January 2, 2007 On Christmas Day, Gen. Rick Hillier, chief of defence staff, told Canadian troops serving in the combat zone of southern Afghanistan, "There are millions of wishes passed on from Canada. . . . You've got incredible support back in Canada for what you do -- absolutely incredible support." Indeed, millions of Canadians are profoundly grateful for the courage and tenacity of our troops in combating the Taliban. But alas, there are also many Canadians who oppose any combat role for Canadian troops in Afghanistan. NDP...

What happened to crime and punishment? Judicial system is too lenient, but then again crime is not out of control in Canada The Edmonton Journal Fri 29 Dec 2006, Page: A16 Section: Opinion, Byline: Lorne Gunter In the debate over what to do about crime in Canada, I side with the law-and-order types (not surprisingly), but not on every issue. The get-tough-on-crime forces overstate the amount of crime in Canada. Some even play on public fear needlessly. Meanwhile, the lenient every-boy-a-good-boy camp ignores the true extent of crime in Canada, and overplays the amount of crime elsewhere (notably the...

Recently, the New York Times went to the United States Supreme Court, asking them to prevent investigators from looking at certain reporters’ phone records. The records are being sought in connection with a leak of government plans – in 2001 – to freeze the assets of two Islamic charities on the grounds that they were supporting terrorist organizations. Pondering on the many absurdities and ironies in this case has provided much food for thought. First of all, consider the timing. This was *before* the NSA intercept program was made public—unless of course that was leaked to the Times along with...

Don’t take the wrong lesson from Ted Haggard’s fall.The meaning of evangelical leader Ted Haggard’s downfall needs to be well understood by religious conservatives, lest the tragedy be compounded. The pain that has befallen the man — now resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals — along with his family and church is the consequence of his poor decisions. What would be worse than his personal destruction, however, is if the side of the culture war that Haggard ably fought against in his public life were allowed to define his sins as a final proof that religious conservatism...

As President Bush more robustly promotes his Iraq policy, he should confront directly those who dismiss Saddam Hussein's ties to terrorism and, thus, belittle a key rationale for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bush's critics employ a flimsy argument that nonetheless enjoys growing appeal among a largely hostile press corps. Since Hussein did not order the September 11 attacks — the fuzzy logic goes — he has no ties to terrorists, especially al Qaeda. Therefore, the Iraq war was bogus, and Bush should be defeated. snip.... Bush and his national-security team should repeatedly devote entire speeches and publications — complete with documents,...

ABC 9/11 Docudrama's Right-Wing Roots Max Blumenthal Mon Sep 11, 6:28 PM ET The Nation -- On Friday, September 8, just forty-eight hours before ABC planned to air its so-called "docudrama," The Path to 9/11, Robert Iger, CEO of ABC's corporate parent, the Walt Disney Company, was presented with incontrovertible evidence outlining the involvement of that film's screenwriter and director in a concerted right-wing effort to blame former President Bill Clinton for allowing the 9/11 attacks to take place. Iger told a source close to ABC that he was "deeply troubled" by the information and claimed he had no previous...

Illinois Senator Barack Obama warns citizens at his 50th Town Hall meeting about gas guzzling, WPSD-TV reports. It was among many points made to the standing room only audience at the Metropolis Community Center. Obama spoke on everything from DC politics to global warming. He says part of the blame for the world's higher temperatures rests on gas guzzling vehicles. Obama says consumers can make the difference by switching to higher mileage hybrids. Today the Senator said, "It would save more energy, do more for the environment and create better world security than all the drilling we could do in...

Church and state face similar issueshttp://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/wb/xp-76903 Sunday, August 06, 2006 Donald Nuechterlein Early in 2003, before the Pentagon launched the invasion of Iraq, American liberals chastised the Bush administration for ignoring the United Nations and world opinion by pursuing a unilateralist foreign policy on Iraq. When key allies -- France, Germany, Belgium, Canada and Turkey -- refused to join the U.S.-led intervention to oust Saddam Hussein's regime, the NATO alliance was seriously split on a major international issue. In the same year, the U.S. Episcopal Church incurred the wrath of its conservative members and opposition from the worldwide Anglican Communion...

By now the whole world knows that the L.A. County Sheriff's Department reports that after being stopped for drunk driving early Friday morning, Mel Gibson, began yelling about the "blanking" Jews who start all the wars in the world. Within a few hours Gibson publicly admitted that he had "...said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said, and I apologize to anyone who I have offended." Immediately thereafter, one of the self-anointed Jewish "leaders" proclaimed with breathtaking chutzpah, that Mel Gibson's apology is unremorseful and insufficient....

Decades of files that the Boy Scouts of America compiled on sexual abuse allegations can be used in a lawsuit claiming the organization was ineffective at preventing abuse, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. About 1,000 files, with names redacted, have been given to the lawyers for three men who say their scoutmaster abused them from 1971 to 1983 when they were Boy Scouts. The files are sealed by court order for now but could be made public at trial, plaintiff's attorney Tim Kosnoff said. The files include court records and news accounts, as well as rumors and tips from...

OK, how come Liberals are against outsourcing yet for Illegal Immigration to take the jobs Americans won't do, yet are against ANWR even if the Unions want to drill there. How come Hollywood actors and actresses wear gowns that cost milliona and millions of dollars for one day, yet complain about Conservatives and charity? How come Liberals wear Che T-shirts, yet no Conservative wears an Augusto Pinochet T-shirt? How come Liberals even support somewhat a policy system that has led to the worst environmental, mass murder, dissent crushing and working records yet pledge to stand behind it? How come Liberals...

Just six months after quitting the all-male social club to which he belonged for 50 years, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is questioning one of President Bush's nominees to the federal bench about his membership in an all-male dining club. "What is your reason for failing to resign from the club any earlier than February 2, 2006?" Mr. Kennedy demanded in writing of Oklahoma lawyer Jerome A. Holmes, nominated to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Documents provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee and obtained by The Washington Times show that Mr. Holmes belonged to the Men's Dinner Club of...

by Mark Finkelstein June 28, 2006 As a veteran Couric watcher, I've recently come to follow [without actually watching] doings at The View, since Katie's replacement Meredith Vieira was for years a member of the show's cast. For those unfamiliar with it, The View is an all-female televised coffee klatsch and gabfest of which Barbara Walters is the creator, partial owner and a co-host. The View has a distinct liberal tint to its patter. And as we know, one of the tenets of feminist theology is that women have a right to whatever kind of body size they want, free...

Influential website the Huffington Post tried to ban one of its bloggers after he discovered an anonymous heckler on his blog was actually the Post's technology manager. In his Huffington Post blog, Peter Rost exposed the identity of the heckler - known as a "troll" in blogging parlance - which prompted the Post to temporarily block his access.

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., has a new ally in his effort to torpedo an environmentally friendly "wind farm” off the coast from the Kennedy compound in Hyannis – the Pentagon. The Defense Department has begun a study to find out if wind turbine projects designed to produce energy could interfere with military radar – even though wind farms are already operating in military radar areas. The study is threatening not only the Cape Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts, but other wind farm projects around the country as well. The study was inserted in the 2006 Defense Authorization Act...

See for example this thread first. In Massachusetts, a new trend which you'd think would be hard to defend These folks live their lives as group "husbands and wives" --but to Mormons they'd still condescend ;-)

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Rush Limbaugh must pass random drug tests for the next 18 months to satisfy an agreement filed Monday that will lead to dismissal of a prescription fraud charge if he stays out of trouble. The conservative commentator also must continue treatment for his addiction and cannot own a gun, according to details of the deal made public Monday. And the agreement says he "will refrain from any violation of any law." ~snip Black urged reporters not to call it an arrest since Limbaugh surrendered and was never handcuffed, but a sheriff's spokesman said technically he was...

The great thing about the American left is how reasonable, civilized and open to dialogue it is.  Take these people: Officials at the Ohio State University are investigating an OSU Mansfield librarian for “sexual harassment” after he recommended four conservative books for a freshman reading program. ADF has demanded that OSU cease its frivolous investigation, yet the university is pressing forward, claiming that it takes the charges “seriously.” “Universities are one of the most hostile places for Christians and conservatives in America,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David French, who heads ADF’s Center for Academic Freedom. “It is shameful that OSU...

Adult topics, again. Someday I'll find a way to make this scroll down from the preview... See for example this thread first. An anchor-ette (ABC News) Has shown us that she is a flooz She was caught in the nude Doing something lewd "She stoops to conquer," the phrase I would use!

Kanye West's charge last year that "George Bush doesn't care about black people" got a lot of attention. Liberals loved it and used Mr. West's words to slam the president for his failure to respond effectively to the flooding that killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of (mostly black) people in the Gulf Coast. If you read liberal opinion magazines and Web sites that touch on the full range of political and social issues, however, one can amend Mr. West's statement to read: "White liberals don't care about black opinionators."

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis compared the way Republicans run Florida to the way Fidel Castro runs Cuba as the state party rallied supporters Tuesday for the upcoming election. State workers are afraid of retribution if they say what they really think about how the state is run, said Davis, a congressman from Tampa. "I had a state worker put his arm around my shoulder, he looked around the room to make sure nobody was looking at him, and said 'Jim, I'm for you.' What kind of country is that? I've had the same conversations with other...

When future historians do their postmortem on the West, what will they cite as the cause of death? Caesarism? Suicide? Nuclear incineration? It may be nothing so dramatic, but just a general failure to thrive. You can sense it in the latest retreat from principle. Note the West's response, or lack of it, to the violent scenes in the Arab world and beyond as ambassadors are called home, boycotts declared, embassies burned, flags stomped et (usual) cetera -- all in response to some less-than-respectful depictions in a Danish newspaper of the Prophet, the blessings of Allah be upon him and...

When the Ayatollah called for the execution of Salman Rushdie upon publication of The Satanic Verses, only a few commentators - most notably John le Carré - said Rushdie brought the whole thing on himself by creating a work of art which he should have known would offend Muslims. This time around, a disturbing number of people who should know better are siding with the rampaging mob, like Simon Jenkins in The Times (column title: "These cartoons don't defend free speech, they threaten it"). Nobody has an absolute right to freedom. Civilisation is the story of humans sacrificing freedom so...

GOOGLE gives life to the Eric Hoffer observation, "People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them." Google painted itself as heroic in refusing to help the U.S. Department of Justice's efforts to reinstate a 1998 federal law on online child pornography, then revealed that it was going to help the Chinese government suppress free speech. That sort of goes against the company's informal corporate motto: "Don't be evil." I realize how eager those in the Bay Area are to believe that the evil Bush administration wants to double as Big Brother and eavesdrop...

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- For nearly 40 years, this quaint city overlooking the Pacific has united around its annual Patriots' Day Parade, a celebration of school marching bands, charities, civic groups and military personnel. The small-town tradition, though, has become an unlikely battlefield in the national debate over illegal immigration. The nonprofit group that runs the parade recently rejected a float sponsored by the Minuteman Project, a self-styled border patrol run by illegal immigration opponent Jim Gilchrist. Now, his group is threatening legal action on free-speech and discrimination grounds and has gone to the airwaves to criticize the city...

<p>A sign posted tonight at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. by the parents of a U.S. Marine asking antiwar protesters to not protest at the hospital was taken down and stolen by members of Code Pink and Kevin McCarron, of Veterans for Peace.</p>

According to a Dec. 25 report in the Boston Globe, the Democratic Party is joining forces with the activist group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) to place initiatives on state ballots this fall to raise the minimum wage. The idea is to energize the poor to vote for Democratic candidates, as well as the initiative.ACORN's involvement in this campaign is amusing because a few years ago the group sued the state of California in order to be exempted from its minimum wage requirement, which was higher than the federal government's. In its appellate brief, ACORN acknowledged that...

Nick Inzunza, mayor of National City and candidate for state Assembly, passionately talks about how hard he works to improve the lives of poor people by giving voice to their struggles. He has publicly taken credit for investing the millions he has made in real estate "to create affordable housing in the inner city." Nick Inzunza purchased this Barrio Logan duplex in 1995 and transferred one of the properties to his wife Tuesday. Inzunza and his wife own mostly duplexes, many on dead-end streets overlooking freeways. None shows outward signs of renovation or improvements. What Inzunza never mentions, though, is...

Wind-farm backers call on Kennedy, Romney Conservation group wants state leaders to rethink their opposition to project in light of favorable report. By DAVID KIBBEOttaway News ServiceBOSTON - The Conservation Law Foundation has called on Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. Edward Kennedy to reconsider their opposition to the Cape Wind project in light of favorable findings in a draft environmental impact statement released yesterday. Romney and Kennedy have spoken out against the proposal to put 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound. But Conservation Law Foundation president Philip Warburg said wind energy would help Romney's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions...

In the News | 2003 Releases | 2002 Releases | 2001 Releases | 2000 Releases1999 Releases | 2000 Press Photos | 1999 Press Photos | Speeches   Press Release   NOVEMBER 17, 2005   SCHAKOWSKY COMMENDS CONGRESSMAN MURTHA FOR HIS CALL TO WITHDRAW AMERICAN TROOPS FROM IRAQ WASHINGTON, DC -  U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, a founding member of the Out-of-Iraq Caucus, today released a statement commending Congressman John Murtha’s call for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Representative Schakowsky’s full statement is below: “Today, Congressman John Murtha, a decorated war veteran and national leader on defense, called for...

One Reporter's Opinion – Liberal Hypocrisy George Putnam It is this reporter's opinion that a new book by Peter Schweizer, "Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy," does a brilliant job of exposing the blatant hypocrisy of liberals who loudly espouse principals they disregard in their own personal lives. Schweizer writes in the November issue of NewsMax magazine: "Hypocrisy has proved to be a wonderful weapon for the liberals in their war against conservatives. Yet for all the talk about conservative hypocrisy, there has been very little investigation into the prevalence of hypocrisy on the...

How can I contact (preferably by email) author Peter Schweizer? I have found a minor mistake in his latest book which I want to let him know about. I have done a google search in trying to find out how to contact him, but I couldnt find so much as an email address. If anyone knows how, please just freepmail me the details.

"Our country has been shaken by strife, but only a few people were held accountable for that in our lifetime," said Georgi Poltavchenko, the Russian president's aide. "I do not think it is fair that those who initiated the strife remain in the center of our state near the Kremlin." Khrushchev in 1962 ordered Stalin's remains removed from Lenin's Tomb, implying Lenin's remains were still sacred. But if Leninism had lost its importance in Russian political thought at the highest levels, if Russian public opinion abominated Lenin's memory, the founder of the Soviet Union would have been reburied in some...

Columnist charged with domestic battery October 1, 2005 BY SHAMUS TOOMEY Staff Reporter Chicago Sun-Times columnist and editorial board member Neil Steinberg was arrested at his home late Wednesday and charged with striking his wife during an argument. Steinberg was charged with domestic battery and interfering with the reporting of domestic battery, both misdemeanors, Northbrook Police Sgt. Tony Matheny said. The second charge stemmed from Steinberg taking the phone away from his wife to prevent her from calling police, Matheny said. Steinberg appeared in court Thursday morning and was released on a recognizance bond. "I'm deeply humiliated to have brought...

"The law, in its majestic equality" wrote Anatole France, "forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread." But apparently not environmentalism. On that score there's one rule for the rich and one rule for the rest. Witness the current fight in Cape Cod over an effort to build wind farms just offshore. It features sanctimonious environmentalists, super-rich property owners, and super-rich, property-owning, sanctimonious environmentalists feeding on each other like big hungry sharks in a small tank. The basic situation is that some environmentalists and a company called...

Last month a group of protesters demonstrated in front of the Green Bay office of Wisconsin Congressman Mark Green. It seems that their big beef was that a supposedly new memo fingers Bush for plotting Iraq strategy with the British, with full knowledge that Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction. All this apparently went on months before the actual invasion of Iraq, or before Bush took his case to the U.N. and the general public. The protesters wanted a pledge from Green to vote for serving up Bush's head on a platter. In a public statement that was aired...

WASHINGTON - For the better part of two years, the word coming out of the Bush White House was that presidential adviser Karl Rove had nothing to do with the leak of a female CIA officer's identity and that whoever did would be fired. But Bush spokesman Scott McClellan wouldn't repeat those claims Monday in the face of Rove's own lawyer, Robert Luskin, acknowledging the political operative spoke to Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, one of the reporters who disclosed Valerie Plame's name. McClellan repeatedly said he couldn't comment because the matter is under investigation. When it was pointed out...