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DALLAS — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday that politics did not influence the decision to spend millions of dollars in stimulus money on little-used border checkpoints while passing over higher-priority projects. Members of Congress have asked for answers after The Associated Press showed that the Obama administration did not follow its internal priority list when handing out money to repair border stations nationwide.

For the first time since President Obama entered the Oval Office, a majority of voters disapprove of the president's job performance in a Rasmussen tracking poll - a downturn that has the potential to sap the White House's clout as it begins the heavy lifting required for health care reform. Political strategists and pollsters said Mr. Obama is likely sacrificing his popularity by pursuing an ambitious agenda that engenders opposition. "As the president attempts to rebuild the economy and improve the health and welfare of an entire nation, he must use his political capital," said Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile....

A Muslim woman was pulled out of line and subjected to a pat-down search at an Ohio airport because she was wearing traditional dress, an advocacy group said. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said Wednesday it has complained to the federal Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security, the Dayton Daily News reported.

<p>WLS just broke in to say Roland Burris, a former Illinois Comptroller, has been named to the Senate by Rod.</p>

Pro-Huckabee Push-Poll Calls in South Carolina I'm getting multiple reports from Campaign Spot readers in South Carolina of push polls favoring Huckabee. Here's one account: My wife just answered a call that appears to be an automated push poll for the Huckster. It started out naming the Republican candidates starting with Huckabee and then asking if she intended to vote in the presidential preference primary. It then went through the candidates, one by one, asking if she would vote for that candidate. When she said "Yes" to Fred, she was asked if she knew that Fred was for this and...

Video: Anti-Fred Thompson Push Poll Call Posted on January 16th, 2008 By Sean Hackbarth in Video http://fredfile.fred08.com/blog/2008/video-anti-fred-thompson-push-poll-call/

California air quality chief Mary Nichols and state Energy Commissioner James Boyd have joined environmental groups in touting a new report that holds California up as a national leader in clean energy policy. They're calling on California's congressional delegation to follow the state's lead in pushing similar energy-saving initiatives as Congress is poised to vote on a federal energy bill. "The next step is for federal policy to match what states are doing," said Nichols, the California Air Resources Board chairwoman appointed by .. Schwarzenegger. The report by clean energy advocacy group Environment America lauds the Golden State for mandating...

Zimbabwe's last white farmers face final push By Peta Thornycroft in Harare Last Updated: 2:05am BST 01/10/2007 Farmer Charles Lock is determined to fight for his land in the courts Ringed by a clutch of Zimbabwean soldiers clicking automatic weapons, Charles Lock handed over the keys to his farm and drove off his land for the last time. Scores of white farmers, the last survivors of President Robert Mugabe's land grab, and thousands of their black workers are going through similar agonies. They now face the final deadline. As from today, any white farmer still on his land will be...

PUSH P-----pray U----until S----something H----happens I need this back... If you'll do this for me... I'll do it for you... When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the person who sent you this. Father, God bless all my friends in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day! And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity and power as h e/ she seeks...

U.S. activist Rev. Jesse Jackson on Tuesday said his organization will target top energy companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips in a push to create more jobs for women and minorities in the industry. Jackson said members of his Rainbow PUSH Coalition plan to buy stock in 20 of the world's largest energy companies. As investors, the group will seek change by attending annual meetings, calling for talks with the companies' chief executives and pressing for fairness hearings at the state level. "We intend to inject ourselves into the struggle for fair access to energy," Jackson told a news...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ECHO, Iraq, April 11, 2007 — With coalition forces focusing much of their efforts on Baghdad, many anti-Iraqi forces have fled the capital city and moved their operations to smaller towns around Iraq. Diwaniyah, located in southern Iraq, is one of these towns that has seen a spike in violence and anti-Iraqi force activity, and coalition forces have recently turned their attention toward restoring peace in the area. "My troop was able to secure the route and that let everyone flow in, so we accomplished the mission there. The other troop and company seized their objective.” U.S....

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is a pretty good working definition of insanity. But that is the state of America's failed policy for poor children. For the last 25 years, we've basically been following the punitive ideas coming from the right side of our politics. We've chosen to invest in punishment on the back side rather than hope on the front side. And the results are now in: Poverty is up; prison populations are up; costs are up. It doesn't work. Consider Alabama, four decades after the march from Selma to Montgomery....

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2006 – America will remain on the offensive against al Qaeda and nations that support terror groups, President Bush said here today. Bush met with Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace and other members of his national security team at the Pentagon and the State Department. The group discussed progress in the global war on terror and national security transformation during the series of meetings. During a news conference at the State Department following the meetings, Bush said...

WASHINGTON - The largest union in the AFL-CIO — representing state and local government workers — is beginning a multimillion-dollar effort to mobilize its members to vote, work for improved health care and organize more workers. The effort will be paid for by increases in the dues paid by workers and the fees paid by local unions. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, with 1.4 million members, voted this week in Chicago to increase the "per capita tax" it charges affiliate unions, union President Gerald McEntee said Thursday. McEntee said the union will raise $60 million from...

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK With its soaring granite walls and spouting waterfalls, Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy Valley was described by conservationist John Muir as "a grand landscape garden, one of Nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples." Much of the glacially carved valley now lies under 300 feet of water. It was dammed and flooded more than 80 years ago to supply drinking water and hydropower to the San Francisco Bay area. For years, environmentalists have advocated draining the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and returning the valley to its original splendor, while opponents say that would cost a bundle at a time when...

Pressure on Blair to push for ceasefire in Lebanon By George Jones, Political Editor, Malcolm Moore in Rome, and Patrick Bishop (Filed: 27/07/2006) America used yesterday's peace summit in Rome to block hopes of an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, as a YouGov poll suggested that public disquiet was growing at Tony Blair's approach to the crisis. Hizbollah fighters continued to put up determined resistance to Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, killing eight soldiers, the biggest loss since the conflict began 16 days ago. Maj Gen Udi Adam, the chief of Israel's Northern Command, said: "The fighting will continue for several...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israeli troops punched into south Lebanon on Wednesday as warplanes flattened buildings including one thought to hold Hezbollah's top leaders, intensifying an offensive despite mounting international pressure and a Lebanese appeal to spare the country further death and devastation. Hezbollah denied that any of its "leaders or members" died in the strike in the Bourj al-Barajneh district of south Beirut. The explosives did not blast a leadership bunker, but a mosque under construction, the group said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press. The strike was the most dramatic action on a day that saw Israelis...

Islamists in fresh Mogadishu push The Islamists made rapid advances in June Heavy fighting has broken out in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The Islamic Courts militia, which controls most of the city, is attempting to take a southern area held by warlord Abdi Qeybdid. At least seven people were killed and 16 wounded as fighters exchanged mortar, rocket and machine-gun fire. The militia ousted most warlords from the capital in June, in an effort to restore order. It has been accused of al-Qaeda links - which it denies. BBC regional analyst Martin Plaut says the battle under way in Mogadishu...

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces pushed into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after threatening a major offensive to try to bring home a soldier captured by Palestinian militants, the army said. Tanks and armored vehicles entered the territory near the southern town of Rafah less than a year after Israel pulled thousands of soldiers and settlers from the territory following 38 years of occupation. An army spokeswoman confirmed the troops had moved into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Meanwhile, aircraft struck at three bridges on key roads in what the army said was an attempt to stop militants moving...

MINORITY REPORT Jesse Jackson 'exposed' in reportTrial uncovers new details of leader's 'shakedown' tactics Posted: June 24, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Jesse Jackson Government watchdog Judicial Watch has released a report it says reveals new details about the intimidation and shakedown tactics of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Push Coalition. The report, "Jesse Jackson Exposed," claims Jackson is "an extortionist who uses his influence as a civil rights leader to essentially blackmail wealthy corporations with absurd discrimination threats." Judicial Watch says that while some of Jackson's tactics have been published, this report offers new information gathered during the discovery...

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said he is no stranger to the nation's immigration issue. The nation's only Hispanic governor, whose state is 50 percent Latino, wants help from leading black and Latino leaders to form an alliance that would protect the interests of undocumented immigrants living in the United States. Richardson said documented immigrants in his state have been an asset, but more should be done by the government to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexican border and piggy-backing off immigrants who have tried to live and work in the country legally. "Some have brought violence, drugs and...

RAMADI, Iraq - Hundreds of American and Iraqi troops backed by a U.S. gunship pushed into an insurgent-infested section of eastern Ramadi, expanding their campaign to bolster their presence in one of Iraq's most violent cities. No U.S. casualties were reported, but six insurgents were thought to have been killed by fire from the AC-130 Spectre gunship in the initial hours of the operation, U.S. commanders on the ground said. Sporadic gunfire between U.S. troops and insurgent snipers echoed throughout the neighborhood. The troops were trying to establish a new outpost in Ramadi's eastern Mulaab neighborhood that would allow U.S....

A shareholder group is gaining momentum in its efforts to pressure companies to disclose charitable giving -- with donations linked to the Rev. Jesse Jackson... The National Legal and Policy Center has stepped up efforts to require corporations to disclose more details about their donations... The Rainbow/PUSH Citizen Education Fund, which in 2001 provided payments to Jackson's former mistress. The Church Falls, Va.-based non-profit group hit two shareholders meetings this week -- Boeing on Monday and PepsiCo Inc. on Wednesday. "Many shareholders would certainly object to their money going to a controversial and divisive figure like Jesse Jackson," said Peter...

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2006 – With a stroke of Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson's pen here today, all 15 U.S. Cabinet secretaries have now signed a joint statement in support of the Defense Department's Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve organization. Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson (right) became the last of the 15 U.S. Cabinet secretaries to sign a joint Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve statement of support. Thomas F. Hall (left), assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, delivered remarks during the April 14 ceremony. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution...

Diplomatic push is planned to curb Iran's nuclear ambition By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 28/03/2006) The world's key powers will seek this week to reach agreement on a strategy that will build up pressure on Iran. This could lead to sanctions being imposed by the summer unless Teheran halts the most dangerous parts of its nuclear programme. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, along with foreign ministers from the United States, France, Germany, Russia, and China will meet in Berlin on Thursday at a gathering designed to finalise a United Nations call on Iran to comply with international demands,...

Britain, US and France push for timetable to make Iran reveal atom secrets By Anton La Guardia in Vienna (Filed: 11/03/2006) Britain, America and France were pushing last night for Iran to be given a quick timetable to come clean about its nuclear programme or face "targeted" United Nations sanctions. Western countries have long sought to reassure sceptics that they only want a "gradual" process of building up pressure on Teheran to co-operate fully with nuclear inspectors. But at a meeting last night with Russia and China, the three western members of the UN Security Council were pushing for Iran...

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2006 – Retired Marine Gunnery Sgt. R. Lee Ermey, famous for his role as a drill instructor in the movie "Full Metal Jacket," has joined forces with a Midwest Junior ROTC unit to help support troops and their families. Retired U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. R. Lee Ermey signs autographs for students from Wentworth Military Academy at the "Unmet Needs" benefit concert in Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 25, 2005. The concert, featuring Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band, kicked off Unmet Needs, a VFW program offering financial aid to military families in need. Photo by Phil...

Week of March 4, 2006; Vol. 169, No. 9 , p. 132 Ancient Andean Maize Makers: Finds push back farming, trade in highland Peru Bruce Bower Nearly 4,000 years ago, large societies emerged in the Andes Mountains of southern Peru that would culminate 1,500 years later in the rise of the Inca civilization. Now, scientists have the first evidence that these Inca predecessors cultivated maize and imported plant foods from lowland tropical forests located 180 miles to the east. HIGH TIMES. Researchers excavate Waynuna, a site in Peru's Andes Mountains that has yielded evidence of early agriculture and food...

Coretta Scott King will be sorely missed. For the 51 years since the Montgomery Bus Boycott, she has shown amazing endurance, strength and resilience. She walked with her husband during the bus boycott. Their home was bombed. She endured the threats and the slanders. When Dr. Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis, I called her to inform her that he had been shot. She organized his funeral. And she came to Memphis to lead the march he was to lead. She shared his sense of commitment. President Bush has announced that he will attend her funeral to honor her....

Dems' bill would enforce video-game age controls By KRISTINA HERRNDOBLER Copyright 2005 Hearst News Service Dec. 16, 2005, 9:05PM U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington to introduce federal legislation to protect children from inappropriate video games, December 16, 2005. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas WASHINGTON - A trio of Democratic senators unveiled a proposal Friday to impose fines on retail outlets selling or renting violent and sexually explicit video games to children younger than 17. In introducing the legislation, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and Evan Bayh, D-Ind., said it would...

U.S., Europe Won't Push for Move on Iran Tuesday November 22, 2005 12:46 AM By GEORGE JAHN Associated Press Writer VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Washington and its European allies will forgo pushing for Iran's referral to the U.N. Security Council later this week, giving Russia more time in persuading Tehran to give up technology that could make nuclear arms, diplomats and officials told The Associated Press on Monday. For the Americans and the European Union, the plan holds the promise of success even if Iran continues to reject the proposal that would move its uranium enrichment program to Russia. The...

TORONTO, October 31, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On November 10, 2005, Toronto's St. Michael's Cathedral will be holding a fundraiser for an event sponsored by St. Michael's Catholic Hospital to provide "'Life with Dignity' to people affected by HIV/AIDS in the developing world." However, Catholics and pro-family groups are concerned that the St. Michael's Hospital fundraising project, called "Angels in Africa", contravenes the teaching of the Catholic Church and the best health options for people threatened with AIDS by promoting condom usage.

INDICTMENT THE HISTORY: ANALYSIS Backstory: The push for war Faulty intelligence in the run-up to invation BY CRAIG GORDON WASHINGTON BUREAU October 29, 2005 WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's administration did all it could Friday to close the book on I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Don't have any contact with Libby about his indictment, staffers were warned. His security clearance - gone. And no goodbye meeting with the president. Libby "has left the White House, and I do not expect him to return," spokesman Scott McClellan said. If only it were that easy. Far from a clean end to the...

WASHINGTON - In an aggressive push by the Bush administration to open more public land to oil and gas production, the Interior Department has quit conducting environmental reviews and seeking comments from local residents every time drilling companies propose new wells. Field officials have been told to begin looking at issuing permits based on past studies of an entire project, even though some of those assessments may be outdated. The instructions are in a directive from the department's Bureau of Land Management expected to cover hundreds of anticipated new drilling applications. President Bush and Congress authorized the streamlining as part...

IT'S THE apology, stupid. NAACP board Chairman Julian Bond took to the podium Sunday to address the organization's 96th convention in Milwaukee. Once again, Bond pretended to bemoan President George W. Bush's decision not to address the convention. ... Bond proceeded to bash Bush, saying "the president likes to talk the talk, but he doesn't walk the walk" on civil rights. That's because Bond's definition of "civil rights" flies in the face of the very language of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law calls for things to be done without regard to race, color or creed. So do...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senators from coastal states will try to block development of liquefied natural gas terminals, like one proposed for Long Beach, Calif., by increasing state authority over the permitting process, lawmakers said Thursday. Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry, both D-Mass., said it will be a tough fight, but they are gathering support for an amendment to the energy bill, which the Senate will begin debating next week. Their amendment, co-sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would require LNG developers to get state approval before they file an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It would...

Mugabe's bulldozers push people back to land By David Blair in Johannesburg (Filed: 06/06/2005) President Robert Mugabe's onslaught against Zimbabwe's cities has escalated to claim new targets, with white-owned factories and family homes being demolished in a campaign that has left 200,000 people homeless. Across the country, Mr Mugabe is destroying large areas of heaving townships and prosperous industrial areas alike. Virtually all the areas demolished voted for the opposition MDC Party in the last elections The aim of this brutal campaign is, says the official media, to depopulate urban areas and force people back to the "rural home". Chris...

POLS PUSH FOR MINT BAN By LINDSAY POWERS Sun May 22, 4:17 AM ET Political momentum is building for safer candy. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told The Post she is raising the issue with the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission early this week. She called the deaths, just two days apart, of Jocelys Santiago, 5, and Ashley Morrison, 4, "completely preventable." City Councilwoman Christine Quinn, who chairs the Health Committee, is introducing legislation this week to ban large, round candy. She also wants a council hearing on the subject before schools let out for summer....

PARIS - U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman called for more international efforts to develop coal as an alternative energy source as ministers met Tuesday to address concerns over the future of the world's energy supplies. Bodman, attending his first major international meeting since he took office in February, also sought to deflect criticism that the United States is not doing enough to improve its own energy efficiency and reduce both consumption and greenhouse emissions. Speaking on the second day of an International Energy Agency meeting of energy ministers in Paris, Bodman said the energy watchdog should be "more proactive" in...

SAN FRANCISCO - When Earth Day dawned in 1970, optimistic environmentalists predicted emerging technologies would help reduce the nation's reliance on coal, oil, insecticides and other pollutants. But 35 years later, a big part of the problem appears to be technology itself. Tons of computers, monitors, televisions and other electronic gizmos that contain hazardous chemicals, or "e-waste," may be poisoning people and ground water. Activists say the nation's biggest environmental problem may be the smallest devices, and this week they're launching campaigns to increase awareness about recycling cell phones, music players, handheld gaming consoles and other electronics. Frequently, smaller portable...

LANSING -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her Democratic colleagues in the state Senate want to ban stores from letting youths under 17 buy or rent violent and sexually explicit video games, some of which the governor called "sickening." During a Friday news conference at the Capitol, the governor and Democratic Detroit Sen. Hansen Clarke showed clips from a game called "The Guy Game" published by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. The game rewards players who correctly answer trivia questions with video footage of topless women, said Don Hazaert, who works for the Senate Democrats. It is rated "M" for mature audiences,...

Jonathan Dean, 12, yanks on the action slide to load the 20-gauge shotgun, then sights down the length of the barrel. "Pull," he calls softly. The 5-2, 104-pound boy barely flinches as the shotgun recoils against his right shoulder. He’s found his mark: The 4-inch clay disc shatters in the darkening sky of the East Valley. Jonathan is smaller and has less experience than many of the 118 boys and girls who attend statesponsored shotgun training at the Red Mountain Trap and Skeet club just north of Mesa. But he’s already thrilled with the experience, and looking forward to a...

Nation of Islam leader Rev. Louis Farrakhan is encouraging women and gay men to participate in the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March.

WASHINGTON - A Senate showdown over an Alaska wildlife refuge is expected within weeks as Republicans plan to use a budget measure to overcome strong opposition to allowing oil drilling in the protected area. It will be first big environmental issue facing the new Congress. Republican leaders indicated Tuesday that they plan to press the issue of drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (news - web sites) as part of a so-called budget reconciliation process, which cannot be subject to a Democratic filibuster — a tactic that has blocked the refuge's development in the past. Given the wider GOP...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Four leading GOP House members and senators announced a joint effort Thursday to rewrite the Endangered Species Act to toughen up habitat and scientific provisions. Environmentalists immediately criticized the plan as the latest attempt to gut the landmark law. The lawmakers said it was the first time members of the House and Senate had banded together at the beginning of a congressional session to amend the 1973 act. Previous attempts to change the law have failed, but they said this time they hoped to produce a single Endangered Species Act reauthorization bill that could be introduced in...

A Justice Department lawyer may have been laying the groundwork for the Iraq invasion long before it was discussed publicly by the White House. Just two weeks after the September 11 attacks, a secret memo to White House counsel Alberto Gonzales’ office concluded that President Bush had the power to deploy military force “preemptively” against any terrorist groups or countries that supported them—regardless of whether they had any connection to the attacks on the World Trade Towers or the Pentagon. The memo, written by Justice Department lawyer John Yoo, argues that there are effectively “no limits” on the president’s...

SACRAMENTO – The solar panels gleam like black fish scales on the roof of Mark Louvier's Santa Ana factory. They save him $2,500 a month as they pour electricity into the machines below that grind out doors and fixtures for tract homes. They also cost $1.2 million to install, way beyond Louvier's budget without the government subsidies and tax breaks he got that brought the bill down to less than $600,000. "Without the credits, I wouldn't have anything to do with it," said Louvier, president of Trimco Finish. It's businessmen like Louvier and homeowners throughout California that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger...

LITITZ, Pa. - President Bush (news - web sites) summoned support from Democrats whose "dreams and goals are not found in the far left wing" of their own party on Wednesday in a late-campaign appeal for crossover votes. Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) said that when it comes to Iraq (news - web sites), the man in the White House "doesn't get it, and he can't fix it." Bush has made a habit of "dodging and bobbing and weaving" when it comes to tons of missing explosives outside Baghdad, added the four-term Massachusetts senator, and Vice President Dick...

Forget Florida. And Ohio. And Pennsylvania. The next President of the United States may well be elected in Michigan. In 2000, Al Gore carried the Wolverine State by more than 200,000 votes. This year's conventional wisdom has conceded it to John Kerry. Two weeks ago, Democratic operatives began telling reporters that Michigan was in the bag. They were wrong. Last Thursday, a poll in the Detroit News put President Bush ahead in Michigan by 4 points. A Knight-Ridder survey showed the race is a virtual tie. This came as a shock to the Kerry camp, which has concentrated its efforts...

PHOENIX (AP) - Activists who say illegal immigrants are draining Arizona's coffers by fraudulently obtaining government services are pushing a ballot measure that could throw state workers in jail for turning a blind eye to such practices. The measure in Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point on the U.S.-Mexico border, is the latest across the nation aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants. Opponents of the measure say it promotes racial profiling, and insist it would do nothing to stop fraud. Supporters maintain Arizona spends hundreds of millions annually to provide food stamps, welfare and other social services to illegal...