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WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- Chinese ships were harassing a U.S. surveillance ship on routine patrol in the South China Sea, the Pentagon said Monday. In a statement, the Defense Department said five Chinese vessels "shadowed and aggressively maneuvered in dangerously close proximity" to the Impeccable to bother the surveillance vessel while conducting routine operations in international waters, CNN reported. Crew members aboard the Chinese vessels, two of which were within 50 feet, waved Chinese flags and told the U.S. ship to leave the area, the statement said. "Because the vessels' intentions were not known, Impeccable sprayed its fire hoses...

Freeper Patriotgal's Surfin' Safari column at WND makes top three headlines LINK to Surfin' Safari weekly column here

Presidential autographs may go for $6K By: Carol E. Lee January 18, 2009 06:15 PM EST When Barack Obama stepped into the Oval Office with his presidential brethren recently, he had already agreed to take part in one of this exclusive fraternity’s secret traditions: autographing a limited number of copies of the photograph that captured the moment. The former, current and future presidents’ pact — to create only 250 copies of the photograph with all of their signatures — upped the ante on an image that was a keepsake before it was even taken. Early estimates value the signed pictures...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has suffered a setback in regional elections, losing several key votes. While Mr Chavez's broad coalition managed to hold on to most of the regional governors' positions, he did lose the most critical votes including the mayor of Caracas and the governorships of the country's two most populous states. The mayor's job is often referred to as the second most important position in Venezuela. While Mr Chavez's popularity remains high, he has never recovered from the surprising loss last year of his sweeping constitutional reforms. He maintains he still wants to amend the country's constitution in...

ZOGBY SATURDAY: Republican John McCain has pulled back within the margin of error... The three-day average holds steady, but McCain outpolled Obama 48% to 47% in Friday, one day, polling. He is beginning to cut into Obama's lead among independents, is now leading among blue collar voters, has strengthened his lead among investors and among men, and is walloping Obama among NASCAR voters. Joe the Plumber may get his license after all...

This is an AP story in the NYT, so I'll just post the link to NYT.

PARIS (Fortune) -- First you mess up the world's financial system. Then you blow the rescue of it. Now let's show you how to do it properly. That, in a nutshell, is the less-than-flattering message European governments are sending to the U.S. as they mount their own gigantic bank bailout. The plans, announced Monday after two weeks of dithering, involve Britain, Germany, France and some others recapitalizing national banks that require help, and providing state guarantees and other measures to kick-start the stalled credit market. The details are strikingly different from the U.S. approach adopted by U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank...

Hope I do this right! Thank you guys so much, and God bless ya'll for holdin' a spot for me. That bein' said, I'm ready to take an a** kickin' when I deserve it, (just don't kick my a** off!) Here's to party unity!

“No coal plants here in America!” Biden pledges, despite Obama-Biden's stated support for clean coal. This is what the Obama-Biden platform says: Create Millions of New Green Jobs • Ensure 10 percent of Our Electricity Comes from Renewable Sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025. • Deploy the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Energy Source – Energy Efficiency. • Weatherize One Million Homes Annually. • Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology. • Prioritize the Construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline. This is what Senator Biden told a questioner at a rally in Ohio “We're not supporting clean coal,” Biden said....

Just breaking now.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama prepared to name his running mate, perhaps as early as Friday, from a small field o0f candidates that included at least one dark horse.

Two McCain offices evacuated after letter threat Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:45pm EDT By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - Two offices of John McCain's U.S. presidential campaign, in Colorado and New Hampshire, were evacuated on Thursday, and several staffers were hospitalized, after threatening or suspicious envelopes arrived in the mail, one with an unidentified white powder. The first parcel, described as containing an unspecified threat and a powdery white substance, was opened by a staff member at the campaign's Centennial, Colorado, office, near Denver, at about 3 p.m. local time, U.S. Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley said.

New video feature will zero in on the issues and events - an online video series to keep you up to date on the election. Host Stuart Shepard gets insights on the presidential race from Tom Minnery, senior vice president of government and public policy at Focus Action. Family advocates from across the nation will appear in upcoming episodes. "This is a challenging year for Christian conservatives to sort through where the leading candidates stand on pro-family issues," Shepard said. "We'll cut through the hype and the campaign ads and shine a light on how they view the sanctity of...

President Bush has directed the U.S. military to lead a humanitarian mission to Georgia where tens of thousands have been forced out of their homes following a Russian invasion last week that has been described by Georgia's president as an "ethnic cleansing." A U.S. C-17 aircraft with humanitarian supplies already has arrived in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and another C-17 will arrive there Thursday with additional medical and humanitarian aid, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said after the president's announcement. Speaking from the White House Rose Garden with Defense Secretary Bob Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Bush...

ohn Edwards repeatedly lied during his Presidential campaign about an extra-marital affair with a novice film-maker, the former Senator admitted to ABC News today.

The NATIONAL ENQUIRER is releasing the photograph that the world has been waiting for – the first-ever picture of John Edwards and his love child! The stunning “spy photo” shows the former presidential contender holding his infant daughter Frances Quinn Hunter at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles – where the ENQUIRER caught him visiting the baby’s mother, his mistress Rielle Hunter.

Forensics specialist Techdude, who has been chipping away at the Obama Birth Certificate mystery for some time, has confirmed that the name on the original Certificate of Live Birth (COLB) which was used to forge the document presented by Barack Obama as his valid Birth Certificate IS: Maya Kassandra Soetoro. His sister. The document presented by Obama as the “truth about his birth certificate” can be seen on his official campaign web page, “FightTheSmears,” here. In an exclusive TexasDarlin report on Sunday, Techdude revealed that he had discovered the true identity of the person on the original COLB, but that...

Friday, August 1st, Barack Obama announced that he intended on seizing “excess” profits from oil companies to give families in the form of $1000 checks per family. Granted, the oil companies did make a tremendous profit this year. Obama, who has never held a job in the private sector, probably thinks that profits from oil corporations are stuffed into pillow cases and squeezed into the closets filled with other ill-gotten gain by evil Texas oil tycoons. He pictures them snickering, as they stuff it all in, reaching for more pillowcases, being careful not to inadvertently grab their Ku Klux Klan...

The birth certificate of a child who a tabloid newspaper claims is linked to former Sen. John Edwards doesn't identify a father. The certificate, obtained by The Charlotte Observer today, shows Frances Quinn Hunter was born Feb. 27, more than two months after an Edwards aide claimed to be the father. Andrew Young, a former Edwards campaign finance director, claimed paternity in a statement from his lawyer posted at the political blog mydd.com. The girl was born at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, Calif., to Rielle Jaya James Druck, also known as Rielle Hunter. Hunter, 44, was a videographer on...