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I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books on history that have been published in six languages, and I have studied history all my life. I have come to think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is simply a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus. Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what...

After months of collaboration on President Obama's attempt to overhaul the nation's health-care system, the insurance industry plans to strike out against the effort on Monday with a report warning that the typical family premium in 2019 could cost $4,000 more than projected. The critique, coming one day before a critical Senate committee vote on the legislation, sparked a sharp response from the Obama administration. It also signaled an end to the fragile detente between two central players in this year's health-care reform drama. Industry officials said they intend to circulate the report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers on Capitol Hill and...

The goal was to build a reporting system that allows the public to follow the zigzagging paths of dollars awarded under the $787 billion federal stimulus package. A financial GPS of sorts. But despite federal lawmakers' pledge of transparency, the final stages of most money trails, along with key information about job impacts, will remain invisible to users of the Recovery.org website when it debuts next month. Only details of a stimulus grant's passage through its first two stops after it leaves the federal government must be reported, according to guidance memos from the White House Office of Management and...

The Obama administration has decided not to seek legislation to establish a new system of preventive detention to hold terrorism suspects and will instead rely on a 2001 congressional resolution authorizing military force against al-Qaeda and the Taliban to continue to detain people indefinitely and without charge, according to administration officials. Leading congressional Democrats and members of the civil rights community had signaled opposition to any new indefinite-detention regime, fearing that it would expand government powers and undermine the rule of law and U.S. legal traditions.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Riki Ellison, Chairman and President of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA) www.missiledefenseadvocacyalliance.org has developed a White Paper that analyzes the recent missile defense decision by President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. The White Paper states that the protection of our homeland population is a risk we are facing with the new missile defense plan. Ellison has shared the White Paper with members of Congress, and it is detailed below:

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel defied U.S. pressure to halt construction in its West Bank settlements Sunday, with key leaders speaking out in support of the contentious enclaves and preparing to sign orders to allow building of hundreds of new housing units there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are expected to approve orders for about 500 new apartments Monday, said Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plans have not been finalized.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday urged the government to impose stricter controls on emergency helicopter operators, including requiring the use of autopilots, night-vision systems and flight data recorders in an industry that suffered a record number of fatalities last year. The NTSB recommendations for training and safety equipment to the Federal Aviation Administration are in addition to others made in 2006, such as requiring installation of terrain awareness monitoring to help pilots navigate when weather conditions are poor. The safety board, which cannot require such changes, also wants the Health and Human Services Department to...

CYPRESS, Texas, Aug. 31, 2009 – Hundreds of people arrived today at the home of retired Marine Capt. Dan Moran, a warrior severely wounded in Iraq, to see Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates present him the keys to his new home on behalf of the Helping a Hero organization. They came to see Moran lauded as a hero by a host of luminaries: Astros legend Craig Biggio, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurt, U.S. Rep Todd Tiahrt from Kansas , and hundreds of others from the community. What most didn’t expect is that Moran would steal their hearts in the process,...

For too long conservatives (those who respect religion, patriotism, and freedom) have had to satisfy themselves with meager success. Conservatives may win an election or pass a bill, but we are starving for real victory. To win real victory we must colonize the left. We must create a conservative socialist party. The only selling point for the left is socialism, so we must detach socialism from the main body of leftist dogma. When a conservative right battles a conservative left we can achieve real, lasting victory. Both sides would espouse our core principles. I support a conservative socialist or populist...

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Aug. 25, 2009 – An airman assigned here witnessed the birth of his third child, and he did so without leaving his post. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Rafael Garcia talks via webcam with his wife, Monica, and daughter, Carmella Fe, Aug. 18, 2009. Garcia experienced the birth of his daughter via webcam from Southwest Asia. He is deployed from Ramstein Air Base, Germany. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason W. Edwards  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Instead, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Rafael Garcia of the 379th Expeditionary Mission Support Group saw the birth live via...

DUBLIN -- The Irish government plans to bring into force a new law in October that critics say is a return to medieval justice. The legislation, aimed at providing judges with clear direction on the 1937 Constitution's blasphemy prohibition, imposes a fine of up to 25,000 euros -- about $39,000 -- for anyone who "publishes or utters matter that is [intentionally meant to be] grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion."

We already have a structural trade deficit with most countries of the world and we are spending money outside the U.S. at an alarming rate on two active wars and countless military installations worldwide as well as an expanding foreign aid program. All of this while we and other countries like Spain are in a jobs depression. We are still losing more than 300,000 jobs a month, and Challenger/Grey said recently that layoffs would get worse in the months ahead going into year-end.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Tighter limits on the amount of lead the government allows in children's products and a requirement for new tracking labels are stirring fear among small business owners, already hurting in a tough economy. Starting Friday, the new limits and labels are required as part of a consumer product safety law passed by Congress last summer in the wake of dozens of recalls of lead-tainted toys. Consumer advocates hailed the measures. But some small businesses, like American Educational Products in Fort Collins, Colo.—it sells classroom teaching aids like flash cards, animal models, globes and relief maps—say the testing...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is preparing a set of about 50 benchmarks for Afghanistan, senior officials said Monday, redefining how to measure success in a war now widely assessed as a stalemate. The benchmarks will test how well the U.S. military and civilian "surges" ordered by President Barack Obama are working. The new measures, ordered by Congress, are due Sept. 24 amid creeping skepticism among many Democrats about the war's prognosis and costs.

NeW Kind of Women by: Brittany Fortier, July 13, 2009 Young conservative women have an organization to call their own. The Network of Enlightened Women (NeW) held its fourth annual conference at the Heritage Foundation on June 26, 2009. Karin Agness, a University of Virginia law school graduate and the founder of NeW, said that the organization serves a two-fold purpose: first, as a book club, which provides a “structural and educational component,” and second, as a network to “cultivate a community of conservative women.” Agness says that NeW women are different from their liberal counterparts because they believe...

In the process of searching for a used car for my children to use to go to school and get to work (summer jobs), I have made a couple of significant discoveries. Many used cars are selling for way below book value because there is no book value due to the incentives for buying new cars and economic conditions. Few banks will give loans on a used car at this time. Many, many used cars are for sale and remain for sale for quite some time. Cars that should have elevated used values are selling for well below "usual" values....

WASHINGTON -- Moving to broaden the scope of the health care overhaul, President Barack Obama threw his support Tuesday behind creation of a program to help families struggling with burdensome costs of long-term care. The voluntary insurance program - sponsored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. - would pay a modest daily cash benefit of at least $50 that people could use for a range of in-home services or nursing home expenses.

Dear AMERICA,This Friday the film "The Stoning of Soraya" will open in selected cities around the country. Given the current events in Iran this film is not only timely but we understand very moving and compelling. We wanted to make sure our members in selected states were aware of the film and, if there is a showing anywhere near you, we urge you to take it in this weekend. (Click here to open a PDF image with a list of the cities and theaters). THE STONING OF SORAYA M. Release Date: NY/LA - June 26, 2009 Distributor: Roadside Attractions and...

Dusty Rhodes, a light-hitting, hard-drinking outfielder who was at his best on baseball's biggest stage, died of cardiopulmonary arrest Wednesday at a Las Vegas hospital. He was 82. Rhodes, whose left-handed swing was tailor-made for the short right-field porch at the New York Giants' home in the Polo Grounds, never batted more than 244 times in seven big-league seasons and had a career average of just .253. But in his only World Series, in 1954, he delivered a game-winning pinch-hit home run in the 10th inning of Game 1, a game-tying pinch-hit single in Game 2 and a two-run pinch...

WASHINGTON (AP) - An Obama administration official says the Treasury will propose the creation of a regulatory agency to protect consumers in their credit, savings and other banking transactions. The new agency is one of the central elements of President Barack Obama's overhaul of the financial regulatory system. The president is set to announce his broad plan on Wednesday.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Let's go back to me, myself, on this show March 30th, I said this. RUSH ARCHIVE: He doesn't know anything about the automobile business. He doesn't know how to change a tire. The automobile business needs car guys, people that love grease, get in there, manufacture these engines and cars, great designs, lines, make people want to go out and buy these cars. Car companies have to be run by financial people today because they're basically health care and retirement funds.

a new, not yet aired, next episode of 'Kings', will be broadcast on NBC on Saturday June 13, at 8pm ET.

New approach offers more pleasant light of traditional bulbs without the energy guilt Thanks to a bit of ingenuity, Chunlei Guo, associate professor of optics at the University of Rochester, and his assistant Anatoliy Vorobyev have been able to squeeze out fluorescent-like energy performance from an incandescent light bulb. The breakthrough boils down to a laser treatment of the bulb's tungsten filament, a processing step which could one day become a standard in the light bulb industry.

The New Haven firefighter case is one of the most controversial rulings in Sotomayor's record, and one that will no doubt be a prime source of criticism from conservatives. The case, Ricci vs. DeStefano, was brought by Frank Ricci and a group of his firefighting colleagues (all non-black including one Hispanic man). The men were denied promotion after an examination to determine their eligibility to move up yielded no successful black candidates. As a result, the New Haven authority decided to discard the exam results and grant no promotions. Ricci and his colleagues argued they'd been discriminated against, but their...

The New York Times: First to be Nationalized or sold for Scrap? The Wall Street Journal just featured a column speculating that control of the troubled New York Times may be acquired within the next couple of years. That’s it! Abuse your shareholders by running those assets into the ground then sell off what’s left for scrap. Like most of the major media companies, they ran the company not to increase shareholder equity but rather to increase DNC equity. The New York Times is more of a 527 organization than a news organization. The scoundrels running the NY Times should...

Iran and Syria seem to be covertly supporting a new terrorist offensive against U.S. allies in the Middle East and the Caucasus. While they have sponsored terrorists in these regions before, recent disruptions of terrorist cells indicate that they are increasing the tempo and may be preparing for a confrontation in the near future. Mohammad al-Oufi, the commander of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has been in Saudi custody since turning himself in. Al-Oufi revealed that Iran was working with Al-Qaeda in the region and that foreign intelligence services were working with the group to disrupt the flow of Saudi...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new type of swine flu has infected at least two children in California and while both have recovered, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday they were looking for more cases. They say it is possible the children were infected by other people and not by pigs, and said they have consulted with officials in Canada, Mexico and at the World Health Organization although there is no evidence that the new virus is circulating widely. In a special alert, the CDC asked doctors in California's San Diego and Imperial counties, on the border with Mexico, to test...

I admire Congressman Peter King---he just doesn't give a rat's ass who he angers, he is going to suggest what's right whether it makes him popular or not. He created a fire storm suggesting its time for the US government to more closely monitor Mosques in the US. He fought the Democrats in congress to provide whistle blowers with “immunity for reporting suspicious activities and mitigating terrorist threats relating to transportation security,” He also was a fighter for the cause of "Libel tourism," and he told the truth about Gitmo Prison. Now he is being attacked by the Terrorist enabling...

Many U.S. communities are creating their own currencies now. They try to help consumers and companies to fight the global financial crisis and the recession. The idea, borrowed from the Depression era when the currencies were known as "scrip", is designed to boost local spending and keep money circulating within the community. Typically, a group of businesses print a new currency which shoppers can then buy at a discount – typically one dollar will cost 90 to 95 cents – and spend at full value with participating companies. Some of the currencies have been around for years but the recent...

There is no question that George W. Bush was and is a Globalist what that means is that in spite of the fact that Mr. Bush swore to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America at many times in his presidency president Bush was awkwardly at odds with his pledge.

(IsraelNN.com) President Obama, before he took office, pressured outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to put a quick end to the Cast Lead counterterrorist operation against Hamas, according to New Yorker journalist Seymour Hersh. Hersh, who previously has divulged conversations with leaders promoting pro-Arab positions vis-à-vis Israel, reported in the current edition that President Obama approved of recent talks between American officials and Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Word is that this evening, the great Evan Sayet will be doing a test run of his upcoming talk show (that will be 5x a week starting April 6). I hear it is at 6pm Pacific Time, no idea how long the show will be (my guess is 2 hours). Wait and see, and tune in!

NEW YORK - A Black September terrorist who served about one-half his 30-year sentence for planting three car bombs in New York City in 1973 was deported Thursday, a law-enforcement official said. It was unclear which country had agreed to accept 63-year-old Khalid Al-Jawary. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the deportation, didn't immediately know where Al-Jawary was going. Al-Jawary was convicted in federal court of placing the bombs in 1973 that could have killed and injured hundreds if they had detonated. They were timed to coincide with the arrival of the late...

New World Order In recent weeks, the world has been politely standing by and watching how things play out with the fiscal stimulus and latest bank-bailout plans in Washington. Yes, there's been some grumbling overseas about "buy American" provisions in the stimulus bill, but for the most part, officials elsewhere don't want to step on the toes of a new President to whom they are favorably disposed. They also don't want to endanger legislation that they hope will help jump-start the global economy. •Davos cross-post: Values, schmalues, says Bill Gates. This crisis was about overspending Just wait a couple of...

New World Order In recent weeks, the world has been politely standing by and watching how things play out with the fiscal stimulus and latest bank-bailout plans in Washington. Yes, there's been some grumbling overseas about "buy American" provisions in the stimulus bill, but for the most part, officials elsewhere don't want to step on the toes of a new President to whom they are favorably disposed. They also don't want to endanger legislation that they hope will help jump-start the global economy. Just wait a couple of months, though. Politicians from Beijing to Berlin to Brasília see the current...

On the heels of its attention-grabbing trip to North Korea last February, the New York Philharmonic is planning another high-profile visit for next season: to Vietnam. The stop, part of an Asian tour in October, will be a splashy opening to Alan Gilbert’s tenure as the orchestra’s new music director. (snip) In Communist Vietnam, a freewheeling utopia of commerce compared with the hermetic, impoverished and tightly controlled North Korea, the orchestra will play at the Hanoi Opera House. Completed in 1911 during French colonial rule and modeled after the Paris Opera, it has about 600 seats, according to its Web...

The Heaviest Element Known to Science Lawrence Livermore Laboratories has discovered the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.z Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would...

A revolutionary invention that has its origins in research carried out by NHS Lothian over 20 years ago, has been named as one of TIME Magazine's best inventions of 2008. The world's first commercially available bionic hand, the i-LIMB Hand, invented by David Gow, NHS Lothian, and developed by Livingston-based Touch Bionics, is rated 14 overall in TIME's best inventions of 2008. The world's first bionic hand took many years to develop, beginning with a programme of research work at NHS Lothian's bio engineering centre in Edinburgh. The key innovation is that it is multi-articulating, meaning each finger has its...

(IsraelNN.com) President Shimon Peres dissolved the Knesset Monday evening, a necessary step before holding new national elections. The announcement came at the beginning of the Knesset's winter session. The possibility of early elections arose when acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stepped down as head of the Kadima party and was replaced by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Livni then became Prime Minister-designate, and was charged with creating a coalition. Livni failed to create a coalition, and on Saturday night announced that she would recommend to President Peres to call for new national elections instead of attempting to create a government. On...

Lend America, recently ranked as the 13th largest direct-to-consumer FHA lender in the nation, announced today it has launched a specialized Hope for Homeowners (H4H) Outreach Program to enable institutional investors, such as Wall Street banks and hedge funds, as well as other first lien holders to quickly recapture principal from their non-performing residential mortgage portfolios while helping homeowners avoid foreclosure on sustainable and affordable terms. The key value propositions supporting Lend America's H4H Outreach Program is the Company's centralized originations platform that is comprised of over 300 highly trained mortgage specialists in FHA lending that utilize a high touch...

Yet another heavy sniper rifle is generating a lot of buzz. This one is the CheyTac LRRS (Long Range Rifle System). It looks like a .50 caliber (12.7mm) rifle, but is actually .408 (10.3mm). The .408 round resembles a scaled down .50 caliber, and this bullet is mainly for anti-personnel use (rather than the oft-quoted, but little used, "anti-material" use of the .50 caliber sniper rifles.) The .408 was developed in 2001, and is actually based on the older . 505 Gibbs and the .400 Taylor Magnum elephant guns. The .408 bullet is a new streamlined design that leaves it...

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he intends to sue Arbitron Inc. over the planned rollout of a new electronic radio-ratings system in New York, saying it may drastically reduce advertising revenue at minority radio stations.

Much coolness to behold!Trailer 2, Quantum Solace

This is a brand new original song tribute written and recorded to honor Sarah Palin.

September 17, 2008 The tenth and final nuclear-powered Nimitz-class supercarrier, George H. W. Bush, enters service in 2009, but the next-generation is on its way. The Gerald R. Ford CVN 78 is the first ship in the first new carrier class in over 40 years. Northrop Grumman has received a $5.1 billion, seven-year contract for construction of the CVN 78, which is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2015. Northrop Grumman began advance construction of the Gerald R Ford in 2005, under a separate $2.7 billion contract. Roughly one third of the ship’s 1,200 structural units are currently...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5, 2008 – Though U.S., coalition and Afghan troops are making steady progress against increasingly active insurgent forces in Afghanistan, it’s time to turn up the heat, a senior U.S. military officer said today. “I believe that more forces are required. And I think that over the next several months we can put them, certainly, to good use,” Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 101 and 101st Airborne Division, told Pentagon reporters during a satellite-carried news conference. Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan have increased 20 to 30 percent from 2007 to now, said...

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Currently, the United States meets the majority of its energy needs by burning fossil fuels. Alternative energy sources are not a new technology, but with the rising cost of fuel, more research is being funded to develop cleaner, cheaper versions of existing alternative energy. Solar power has long been a rather inefficient source of power yielding only 5-15% electrical generation from the rays that hit the solar panel. Recent developments by Alvin M. Marks may turn that efficiency into 70-80%. Marks believes he has developed the technology needed to boost the amount of power we can receive from a particular...

With pressure mounting to transition away from fossil fuels, fuel cell research has grown significantly in the last several years. In the simplest sense, fuel cells are a battery that you refuel slowly, regulating a chemical reaction and harvesting that energy in the form of usable electrical current. Current solutions use exotic materials to regulate the reactions and often require fossil fuels to generate the chemicals, defeating the purpose of the exercise. Today's release from Science includes three articles that detail methods that may help us overcome the problems with current-generation fuel cells. Cheap catalyst splits water Widespread use of...

PORTLAND, Ore. - Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have combined a liquid catalyst with photovoltaic cells to achieve what they claim is a solar energy system that could generate electricity around the clock. A liquid catalyst was added to water before electrolysis to achieve what the researchers claim is almost 100-percent efficiency. When combined with photovoltaic cells to store energy chemically, the resulting solar energy systems could generate electricity around the clock, the MIT team said. "The hard part of getting water to split is not the hydrogen -- platinum as a catalyst works fine for the hydrogen....