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With Afghanistan hearings Tuesday and the annual Pentagon budget bill due on the House floor this week, a familiar face may be missing. Rep. John Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations defense panel, was hospitalized Sunday night because of abdominal pains. The 77-year old Pennsylvania Democrat had been feeling ill with what he thought last week was swine flu but the hospitalization appears related to his gall bladder. “He’s currently resting and doing well,” his office said.

As the U.S. Senate debates health care reform this week, the state's senators are pursuing amendments to bolster children's health insurance and toughen the Medicare fraud law. Sen. Bob Casey's amendment would ensure the future of the Children's Health Insurance Program by keeping it separate from a national health insurance exchange proposed under the Senate's reform bill. "No matter what anyone says, we've got to figure out a way to do this," he said. "And if it costs more money, then it costs more money. I think it's essential that we have all of the protections that we can in...

With President Barack Obama still mulling his Afghanistan strategy several weeks ago, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey wanted an update on the region. His staff called Richard C. Holbrooke, the president's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. "I was thinking it might be the ambassador and maybe one of his staff or two of his staff," Mr. Casey said. "And we got there and it was a roomful of, gosh, it must have been 25 people ... having a briefing for one United States senator about what's happening in Pakistan and Afghanistan." The briefing included intelligence officials, State Department officials, Department...

On Thursday, President Barack Obama received a prize for peace — the most famous such distinction — the Nobel Peace Prize. In his acceptance speech in Oslo, Mr. Obama refuted the antiwar crowd. Whether he did so intentionally or not, he provided those who went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan — and those who ordered those wars — the intellectual and moral ammunition against those who opposed the war. He told the truth about war and ...

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - A northeastern Pennsylvania restaurant co-owned by a state legislator has made just one partial payment in the last three years on a decade-old state loan. State Rep. Ken Smith is the co-owner of Smith's Restaurant in Scranton. Records show the business has not a made a full monthly payment on the loan since July 2006. That's two months after Smith won the Democratic nomination in the 112th District. Smith says the restaurant is a victim of the economic downturn. The $125,000 loan at 5 percent interest was made in 1998. The last partial payment was $1,000...

There’s good news all around for Republican Pat Toomey in a new poll released Thursday from Rasmussen, which shows him leading both of his potential Democratic rivals. The telephone survey of 1,200 likely Pennsylvania voters finds Toomey leading incumbent Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter 46 percent to 42 percent in a prospective general election Senate matchup next year. Four percent said they would vote for another candidate, while 8 percent were unsure.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, frustrated by the Justice Department's failure to explain the dismissal of charges against New Black Panther Party members who disrupted a Philadelphia polling place during last year's elections, has subpoenaed the department demanding records showing how the case was handled. David P. Blackwood, the commission's general counsel, said Tuesday in a letter to the Justice Department that efforts since June to obtain an explanation had proceeded "without any success" and the "dearth of cooperation" had prompted the commission to issue subpoenas. "We are both mindful of the sensitivity of the subject matter involved and...

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta has announced a third run for the 11th Congressional District seat held by Democrat Paul Kanjorski. The announcement came in a five-minute video on his Web site which attributed Barletta's narrow 2008 loss to the “coattails” of Barack Obama's presidential election. The video quoted political pundits who called Kanjorski “ethically challenged.” Barletta himself pointed to government bank bailouts “to little effect” and politicians “who show no accountability and no respect” for tax dollars. “Businesses of all sizes have fallen into bankruptcy,” he said in the recorded message. Barletta also criticized Congressional health care reform legislation for...

LANCASTER - Police in central Pennsylvania say they arrested an Amish man on drunk driving charges over the weekend after he was found asleep in his moving buggy. East Lampeter Township Police say 22-year-old Elmer Stoltzfoos Fisher, of Paradise, was slumped over and asleep in a slow-moving buggy on Sunday night. An off-duty officer from nearby Quarryville reported seeing the horse pulling the buggy at a walking pace as it straddled the center line. Police say a breathalyzer test snowed Fisher's blood-alcohol content was 0.18, more than twice the 0.08 legal limit for drivers.

The good news is that public schools in Philadelphia seem to be doing better than those in Detroit. And Fresno, too. Philly was one of 18 cities to voluntarily participate in the Trial Urban District Assessment, a special administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test.

Abortion opponents are urging local Catholic bishops to use the power of Communion to influence the national health care debate by withholding the sacrament from politicians who favor federal dollars for abortion. Randall Terry led five protesters Friday in front of Sen. Robert Casey's office, Downtown, and St. Paul's Cathedral in Oakland. He is founder of Insurrecta Nex, Latin for "revolt against killing," a Washington group opposed to abortion. Casey is a Catholic. "Part of what we're doing on this tour is calling on the bishops to obey the teachings of the church and to enforce them," Terry said. "This...

I just received this email today and would love to see Patriots and pro-lifers to step up to the cause. Please join and let your voice be heard. Please tell everyone about this.Thanks OverturnRoe.com - Randall Terry - ProLifeWarrior.com "If a wound when necessary is not cauterized or cut out with steel, but simply covered with ointment, not only does it fail to heal, but it infects everything, and many a time death follows from it...Why does that shepherd go on using so much ointment? Such a man is a right hireling shepherd, for, far from dragging his sheep from...

Liberal Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts endorsed Rep. Joe Sestak's primary challenge to Sen. Arlen Specter yesterday, becoming the first member of Congress to back the insurgent Pennsylvania candidate. Specter, a 28-year senator who became a Democrat in April, has the support of President Obama, Gov. Rendell, and national and state party leaders in his bid for a sixth term. Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, called Sestak a "true Democrat" and said he valued Sestak's leadership on economic and military issues. Frank, who is openly gay, also said he admired Sestak's commitment to ending the military's...

The Obama administration today proposed legislation giving the federal government the power to impose safety regulations on local rail transit systems Read more: http://www.pittsburghpostgazette.com/pg/09342/1019275-455.stm#ixzz0Z7lULLYz

Local Colleges Give Poor Grades to Proposal by Mayor Ravenstahl That Aims to Raise Money to Alleviate City's Pension Woes. BY KRIS MAHER PITTSBURGH -- Facing big unfunded pension liabilities for city workers, Pittsburgh is proposing what appears to be a one-of-a-kind 1% tuition tax on local university and college students, who claim the tax is illegal and unfair. More than 100 students filled Pittsburgh City Council chambers Monday morning, many bearing signs like "No Taxation Without Representation" to protest the tax, which, if passed this week, could become effective next year. "This is going to be a double taxation...

President Obama traveled to the economically hard hit Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania to say, "I know times are tough." To illustrate his message of commiseration, he suggested that joblessness hits close to home. He told a community college audience in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, "Michelle and I were talking the other day. There are members of our families that are out of work." A White House official declined to identify any unemployed relatives of the Obamas except to say, "I don't think they are close close" family members.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) said Monday that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would have “some explaining” to do if she seeks the White House. “She's done a lot to draw attention to herself that's positive,” Santorum during an interview on ABC’s “Top Line,” adding that the former Republican vice presidential nominee has “done some things that, you know, certainly are going to cause her to have to do some explaining if she runs for president.” “But right now I think she's on a roll, she's having a good time, she's having an impact,” he continued. “If you're sitting here...

We converged on the House of Representatives in November with our Congressional House Calls – both in Washington, D.C. and their home districts – to let them know we don’t want this brand of health reform. We want reform that puts patients first. That bill passed by an extremely narrow margin, showing Congress is divided on this issue. Now the fight has turned to the Senate, and it’s down to the wire. We face hundreds of billions in escalating costs, new taxes, and government-forced health insurance backed by penalties of fines and jail time. We face the possibility of spending...

In one week, President Barack Obama will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark for the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference. It is almost certain the President will commit the United States to an energy rationing scheme that makes us accountable to U.N. bureaucrats, kills jobs here, dramatically raises the price of gasoline and electricity, and infringes on our personal and national freedoms -- all in the name of an unproven radical global warming ideology. As part of Americans for Prosperity’s ongoing Hot Air Tour, we will be hosting a viewing party in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania at the Radisson Hotel Valley...

Franklin D. Roosevelt understood what it meant to be a core Democrat and maintaining his party’s ranks. He built winning coalitions around his policies by empowering previously suppressed groups, such as labor unions and urban ethnics. In the process, he created a 40-year dynasty for Democrats. Today’s bunch? Not so much. The problem for FDR’s party is that it hasn’t adapted swiftly enough to two realities – that jobs are the most important issue to the nation, and that the middle class (which Democrats claim to champion) is dissolving under its watch. It seemed that Democrats may be starting to...

Clutching signs, banners and flags, a group of 15 stood along Baltimore Pike near Route 252 Saturday afternoon despite a chilly mix of snow and rain to oppose governmental intrusion and spending. It all began in balmier times as Debbie Hughes of Media started a two-person campaign in front of the Media office of U.S. Rep. Joseph Sestak, D-7, of Edgmont, back in August. “We’re really hoping to make a difference and really wake up the area,” she said this weekend, grasping a cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. “People are just tired of all the special interests taking over the...

Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) is expected to endorse Joe "In The Navy" Sestak, Monday, in his bid to unseat fellow Democrat Arlen Specter as senator from Pennsylvania, according to The Hill.

This CBS3.Com story describing how Asian kids are the subject of race-based attacks at South Philadelphia High School -- the alma mater of Mario Lanza, Al Martino and Larry Fine -- is going around the word via a link to the Drudge Report and what is glaringly unclear in it? No where does is it spelled out who exactly are the racist anti-Asian attackers. The story quotes one unidentified student as saying "It was blacks and whites and they saw the Asians at the school, it all started with an argument." Well, that certainly explains it.

During President Obama's speech in Allentown, PA today he scratched his head with his extended middle finger as he named the mayor of Bethlehem, PA. John Callahan supported Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary.

"LAMBERTVILLE: Restaurant owner jailed on attempted homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and other charges" 14 May 2009 | Uncategorized LAMBERTVILLE — SNIPPET: "Khalid Altawarh, 36, who also goes by the name David Shookby, took the woman’s Jeep Wrangler and fled the scene when she escaped into the arms of a friend who had stopped by to see if she was all right. She had failed to show up for work that morning, May 8, police said. Plumstead Township, Pa., police Chief Duane E. Hasenauer said Mr. Altawarh has been charged with attempted homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and other related...

State Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-15) warned Penn State University President Graham Spanier in a Dec. 3 letter that constituents are demanding the tax dollars be cut to the school unless it addresses its role in the global warming scandal. Professor Michael Mann, who directs the Penn State's Earth System Science Center, is at the heart of the scam.

DALLAS (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department made the right call in dismissing a voter intimidation lawsuit against the New Black Panther Party and recent questions about that ruling are a "political witch hunt" to discredit Attorney General Eric Holder, the party's leader said this week. Malik Zulu Shabazz, national chairman of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, told The Associated Press the civil lawsuit filed by the federal government had "no merit" because the party doesn't condone voter intimidation. Shabazz said he was speaking publicly about the issue for the first time because he wanted to set the...

gyp Slang vb gyps, gypping, gypped, gips gipping, gipped (tr) to swindle, cheat, or defraud n 1. an act of cheating 2. a person who gyps [back formation from Gypsy] Someone call the PC police. At a town hall in Allentown, PA today, Pres. Obama said he is seeking to regulate health insurance companies to make sure that people don't get "gypped." Perhaps PBO thought the term would appeal to the crowd. This was Pennsylvania, after all, the state PBO imagines to be filled with bitter people clinging to "antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment." View...

LINK ONLY http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09338/1018440-100.stm

WILKES-BARRE – In a courthouse still struggling with the fallout from the juvenile justice scandal that cast doubt on thousands of rulings by ex-judge Mark Ciavarella, the fact that Judge Michael Toole continued adjudicating for weeks after signing a plea agreement on corruption charges sits like a ticking time bomb with a potential no one can predict. “I just can’t really comment,” Luzerne County Chief Public Defender Basil Russin said Thursday, “We’ve got to figure out what happens next. It may be nothing, it may be something vital.” “Certainly, any defense attorney can make any motion they like,” District Attorney...

When President Barack Obama launches a multicity tour Friday to take Main Street's temperature, he will likely get a cool reception from business leaders and workers here who say he hasn't delivered. Swing voters in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley helped Mr. Obama win this pivotal, populous state. But the region's jobless rate inched up another half percentage point in October to 9.8%. About 41,000 people are out of work, the highest number since 1984. Small businesses that power the economy here are starved for credit and laying people off. Stimulus dollars for roads, bridges, schools and social services are mired in...

Zhihua Tian traveled thousands of miles from his native China earlier this year to profit from the treasures of the American education system. Unfortunately, he landed at South Philadelphia High School, where the number of violent incidents often overshadow student achievements. Tian, 19, of South Philly, and five other students who are recent immigrants are staying home today because they were among 26 Asian students who were attacked by a gang of other students throughout the day yesterday, said Xu Lin, of the Chinatown Development Corporation, who works with victimized students.

I think the political environment in Pennsylvania has dramatically changed since last year, and now the Republicans are looking increasingly competitive," said Terry Madonna, a political scientist and pollster at Franklin & Marshall College In Lancaster, Pa. Obama was the fifth consecutive Democratic presidential candidate to carry Pennsylvania, and winning the 21 electoral votes from the Keystone State helped him clinch the presidency. But just below the national political radar, Pennsylvania last month held statewide judicial races in which six of the seven contests on the ballot were won by Republicans. Sen. Arlen Specter, a Democrat who switched parties earlier...

Members of the Southampton Railroad Station Society plan to mark the 1921 crash of two trains near Bryn Athyn, which killed 27. For many area residents the train track on Creek Road in Upper Moreland is just that - a train track. But to some railroad historians like Charles Liberto, Frank Baldwin and Richard Mansley and a few area families, the single lane track means history. A painful history. Saturday will mark the 88th anniversary of a deadly Upper Moreland train wreck that claimed 27 lives and injured 70 people. The crash and the high number of casualties, many of...

Answering critics questioning the integrity of his research he says shows planetary temperatures are rising, Penn State University's Michael Mann said Wednesday he never manipulated data. "Any attempt to accuse me of this is false and a deliberate smear," said Mann, a meteorology professor and director of the university's Earth System Science Center. He was a co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize -- with several hundred scientists -- for work on the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Critics last month began attacking Mann for e-mails he received and wrote during at least a 10-year period with Phil...

The following is the anticipated schedule for President Obama tomorrow (12/4). It is important to remember that the only firm time and location that we have is for his speech at LCCC in Schnecksville. While we have this information from several good sources, it may either change or be slightly different. The President will most likely do everything is his power to avoid us. 10:20 AM-Air Force One lands at ABE (LVIA). Remember that there are two exits from the airport-the main one on Airport Rd and athe one off Postal Rd. He will most likely exit onto Airport Rd....

WILKES-BARRE – Months of speculation regarding the fate of Luzerne County Judge Michael Toole ended Wednesday when federal prosecutors announced the jurist has agreed to plead guilty to honest services fraud for improperly influencing a court case, and to tax evasion for an unrelated matter. A complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office says Toole secretly communicated with a plaintiff’s attorney to appoint a person that attorney had sought as a neutral arbitrator in an uninsured motorist case. The neutral arbitrator is part of a three-person panel and is a key vote in deciding how much money to award or...

RIDLEY TWP., Pa. - December 1, 2009 (WPVI) -- Ridley Township police are looking for a woman in connection with a violent home invasion Monday night that easily could have been deadly. Related Content More: Send a Breaking News alert More: Report a typo More: Action News Desktop Alert More: SLIDESHOW: Viewer photos "She knocked on my door and I opened it. And she said she was broke down and could she use my phone." 84-year-old Donald Kaighn let the woman who claimed she had a car breakdown into his house. Within moments she was spraying him with lighter fluid...

Penn State Altoona's chapter of Kappa Delta Pi will present Dr. William Ayers, Thursday, December 10, 2009 in the TV Lounge of the Slep Student Center. Ayers will deliver "Democracy and Public Schools" from 4 - 5:30 p.m. Ayers is a progressive education theorist who works with education reform, curriculum, and instruction. He is a professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois - Chicago, holding the titles of distinguished professor of education and senior university scholar. Ayers has written extensively about social justice, democracy and education, the cultural contexts of schooling, and teaching as an essentially...

If you are fed up with Barack Obama and Eric Holder’s constant attacks on what is good and right about America come to New York City’s Foley Square Federal Courthouse on this Saturday December 5, 2009 at 12 noon and let your voice be heard. The “Stop The Terror Trial in NYC Rally” is being sponsored by TEA Party 365 and the 9/11 Never Forget Coalition. Those on hand beside the 9/11 Families will be brother and sister New York City Firefighters and Police Officers representing the 343 Firefighters and 40 Police Officers who died that day. Moreover there will...

The Paoli Local, now known prosaically as the R5, passes through some of the region's wealthiest suburbs - the storied Main Line, with train stations in towns whose names resonate with privilege: Merion, Radnor, Wayne, Bryn Mawr, Devon --snip-- Along the Main Line, by contrast, the number of continuing claims rose as much as 730 percent in places such as Strafford, Wayne, St. Davids, Radnor, Haverford, and Wynnewood. Marginally better off are Ardmore, Bryn Mawr, Merion, Rosemont, Devon, Paoli, and Berwyn. In those towns, the number of claims rose 101 to 150 percent over the two years. On the whole,...

Recruit's tattoo on saluting arm becomes a problem Wednesday, December 02, 2009 By Sadie Gurman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A tattoo that passed muster when Kayla Bresnan was sworn into the U.S. Air Force in April might now keep her from service thanks to a rule quietly implemented last week. On Monday, the day before she was to ship out to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio for basic training, she was told by an Air Force official that the 3-inch-by-3-inch theatrical mask on her "saluting arm" is no longer acceptable. He called a cab and sent her back to her...

EBENSBURG — Gamesa USA’s decision to furlough more than half its employees at the local turbine blade plant came as a surprise to many. But Gov. Ed Rendell remains optimistic the action is a bump in the renewable energy journey, a spokesman said Friday. “The company is still committed to its employees and its Ebensburg plant,” Rendell spokesman Michael Smith said, echoing a company statement. ...The Gamesa plant in Ebensburg was made possible through $9.3 million in state assistance.

YORK, Pa. -- Salvation Army bell ringers in York have collected the first gold coin of this year's kettle campaign. [The South African gold krugerrand is valued at nearly $1,200.] The South African gold krugerrand is valued at nearly $1,200. The coin was dropped in a Salvation Army kettle on Friday outside a Kmart on Haines Road. The South African gold krugerrand is valued at nearly $1,200. It was wrapped in a $1 bill. "As soon as the staff person saw it in the kettle, they called me and called George. They were so excited. They wanted us to come...

Dear Pro-life Friend: The next week will be a grueling and, we pray, critical effort in this life and death struggle. It is late Saturday night; I am here in Southwest Nebraska. I spoke for a few moments at a vigil Mass here, begging people to contact their Senators. I speak 3 times in the morning. Then, we leave late Sunday for an eight-city, fourteen-event effort to mobilize people against this damnable "health care" legislation. I beg you for your prayers with all my heart. If you are ANYWHERE NEAR where we will be, please join us! If you know...

Two years after the disclosure that Luzerne County officials spent thousands of dollars on overnight trips to New York City, Commissioner Greg Skrepenak still defends the trips he says were supposed to bring New York-style crime fighting to Luzerne County. Skrepenak also denies knowledge that two retired New York City police detectives involved with those trips had business ties to county contracts now being investigated by the FBI and the county solicitor. William Maguire - a retired Wilkes-Barre police captain who has agreed to cooperate with federal investigators and pleaded guilty to taking a bribe - organized the New York...

The concourse is pretty quiet most days at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, but on a spring night in 2006 about 900 people were milling about at a black-tie affair dining on hors d'oeuvres as they took in a $30,000 laser light and music show. Few knew the lavish, invitation-only party cost $176,000, and even if they did, they probably never would have guessed that the tab was picked up, for the most part, by companies that received public contracts for the $80 million airport renovation. The construction contracts and the big party - a night that cost more than an...

Medical identity theft is on the rise and expected to worsen. The problem has grown during the recession as more uninsured people use the coverage of a friend, relative or even a stranger to get care. Of particular concern is the fact that most of the fraud is committed by people who pay medical workers for patients' information. In one case, a front-desk clerk at a medical clinic in Weston, Fla., downloaded the personal information of more than 1,100 Medicare patients and gave it to a cousin, who made $2.8 million in false Medicare claims.

Note: The following text is a quote: Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMonday, November 23, 2009 Arrests Made in Case Involving Conspiracy to Procure Weapons, Including Anti-Aircraft Missiles Arrests were made today in a case involving a conspiracy to procure weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles. A criminal complaint, unsealed today, charged Dani Nemr Tarraf with conspiring to acquire anti-aircraft missiles (FIM-92 Stingers) and conspiring to possess machine guns (approximately 10,000 Colt M4 Carbines). In addition, Tarraf and other defendants — including Douri Nemr Tarraf, Hassan Mohamad Komeiha, and Hussein Ali Asfour — were charged with conspiring to...

Hauling brush and old tires out of the woods in Allentown early Friday, members of the Service Employees International Union learned an Eagle-Scout-to-be is just as forgiving as he is trustworthy, loyal and helpful. The Eagle Scout service project of Kevin Anderson, 17, of Upper Saucon Township was caught up in a national media firestorm after Nick Balzano, an Allentown union official, threatened to file a grievance over Kevin's work clearing a trail in Kimmets Lock Park. Conservative pundits seized on the remark as evidence of the SEIU's ''thuggery,'' and Balzano later resigned. To show there were no hard feelings,...