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President Obama lamented the rancorous, divided state of U.S. politics in a wide-ranging interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson. In the unusual discussion, Obama revealed some of his longstanding frustrations with politics while asking the Iowa author questions about her family, her Christian faith and writings. “How do you reconcile the idea of faith being really important to you and you caring a lot about taking faith seriously with the fact that, at least in our democracy and our civic discourse, it seems as if folks who take religion the most seriously sometimes are also those who are suspicious...

The Orange County Register is reporting that federal authorities have arrested a Burbank-based campaign treasurer for a number of Democratic politicians, including U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Garden Grove.

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks has been arrested in connection with an investigation into phone hacking and bribery. The 43-year-old was arrested by appointment by Operation Weeting police at a London police station. Met Police said she is currently still in custody. This is the 10th arrest made by police investigating hacking allegations by the News of the World newspaper. She was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption allegations. The Operation Weeting team is conducting the current investigation into phone hacking.

INDIAN police are holding a pigeon under armed guard after it was caught on an alleged spying mission for arch rival and neighbour Pakistan. The white-coloured bird was found by a local resident in India's Punjab state, which borders Pakistan, and taken to a police station 40km from the capital Amritsar. The pigeon had a ring around its foot and a Pakistani phone number and address stamped on its body in red ink. Police officer Ramdas Jagjit Singh Chahal told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency that they suspected the pigeon may have landed on Indian soil from...

It’s as old as the Bible, the taking of a census. The ancient Romans did it. Medieval England did it. It’s written into our Constitution that a census be conducted once every 10 years, and yet, every 10 years, the idea of the government counting the population breeds varying levels of controversy, fear and suspicion. Which, in a way, is normal; distrust of intrusive government is encoded in the American DNA. “We’ve been doing this 200-odd years,” says census historian Margo Anderson, “and every decade, there is some issue with the census. Because it’s a fairly rare event, when the...

Wall Street ‘red light’ on Madoff By Henny Sender in New York Published: January 4 2009 23:31 | Last updated: January 4 2009 23:31 Large Wall Street firms privately harboured suspicions about Bernard Madoff’s investment business, in some cases steering clients away from dealing with him, but were reluctant to share their concerns with regulators, according to US bankers. Banks were sceptical that Mr Madoff could deliver the consistently high returns that he reported, and they were also put off by a lack of transparency at his investment firm. For these reasons, big Wall Street firms are notably absent from...

MURIDKE, Pakistan – Pakistan's vow to crack down on militants behind the Mumbai attacks may meet an early test with the Islamist charity accused by the U.S. of being the front group for the prime suspects. Washington and India view Jamaat-ud-Dawa as the successor to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant organization that India says trained the 10 gunmen who killed 171 people in India's commercial capital.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Benazir Bhutto was the target of threats from virtually all of the militant groups who make Pakistan their home — from al-Qaida to homegrown terrorists to tribal insurgents on the Afghan border. Her assassination after a rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi — where the country's military and intelligence services are based — also focused anger and suspicion on the government of President Pervez Musharraf. The former prime minister had blamed al-Qaida, the Taliban and homegrown militants for a suicide bombing that tore through a procession welcoming her back from exile in October. But she accused...

(IsraelNN.com) Hevron activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir have asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to investigate the motives behind President Shimon Peres's decision to reduce the prison sentences of five Arab murderers. Peres announced his decision Tuesday to quantify the sentences of five Israeli-Arabs from the north who brutally murdered 12-year-old Danny Katz of Haifa in 1983. The five were twice convicted of the murders, after then-Chief Justice Aharon Barak ordered a second trial in 1999 - against the opinions of two lower courts, ex-Chief Justice Meir Shamgar, and the police. The murderers were sentenced to life in prison, which...

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Lindsay Lohan was cited for investigation of driving under the influence Saturday and was slightly injured when the troubled actress' convertible struck a curb, police said. Lohan, 20, and two other people were in her 2005 Mercedes SL-65 when it crashed on Sunset Boulevard around 5:30 a.m., Sgt. Mike Foxen said. "She was cited and released because she has been admitted to a local hospital for minor injuries," Foxen said. No one else was hurt and no other cars were involved, Foxen said. He did not have other details. Officers went to the scene after receiving...

China is a nation without true friends Sergei Karpukhin, Reuters President Hu Jintao visited Russia, really only a fair-weather pal, this week. Internal reform, not charm offensives, will make its neighbours less anxious (Mar 31, 2007) Like the emergence of Germany in the 19th century and of United States in the 20th, China's rapid rise to superpower status generates as much fear as admiration. The fears are most acute in its own neighbourhood.Yet from a historical perspective, one of the more remarkable developments of recent years may be China's submission to the tiny threads of international constraint, especially in its...

SAN DIEGO - A man was in custody Saturday on suspicion of trying to smuggle two women across the San Ysidro border crossing concealed in a metal compartment attached to the bottom of an allegedly stolen car, authorities said. Edward Gonzalez Amado, 42, tried to enter the country about 5:30 a.m. Thursday, said Angelica De Cima of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. A check of the license plate on the 1993 Mitsubishi Montero he was driving indicated the car had been reported stolen, she said. Gonzalez Amado, who is an American citizen, was directed to a secondary inspection area...

A traffic stop in Detroit has led to serious suspicion , police said . Detroit police officers pulled over a vehicle near Atkinson and Second streets on a traffic stop. When officers questioned the driver, the man said he was from West Africa. In the trunk of the vehicle, police found license plates from different states, identifications cards and Arabic literature, Local 4 reported. The man was taken in to custody on a traffic violation. Police will not comment on the items found in the vehicle, but did say they are working with federal authorities.

A traffic stop in Detroit has led to serious suspicion , police said . Detroit police officers pulled over a vehicle near Atkinson and Second streets on a traffic stop. When officers questioned the driver, the man said he was from West Africa. In the trunk of the vehicle, police found license plates from different states, identifications cards and Arabic literature, Local 4 reported. The man was taken in to custody on a traffic violation. Police will not comment on the items found in the vehicle, but did say they are working with federal authorities.

BTK Suspect's Arrest Upsets Kan. Church By ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press Writer Sunday, February 27, 2005 (02-27) 17:40 PST Wichita, Kan. (AP) -- They worshipped next to Dennis L. Rader for years, sharing the same pews and singing from the same hymnals. They knew him as a Cub Scout leader, a respected church official, a kind friend. Now, members of Christ Lutheran Church must confront the possibility that 59-year-old Rader is something else: The BTK serial killer, blamed for 10 deaths in the Wichita area from 1974 to 1991. "We feel dismay, anger, devastation, utter shock and disbelief. The very...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

From suspicion to expulsion A terror-struck Italy has expelled eight 'suspect' Islamic immigrants. But some fear scapegoating of Muslims in a climate of fear, writes Sophie Arie Thursday November 20, 2003 Italy buried 19 of its citizens this week killed by a terrorist bomb in Iraq. On the same day, in an effort to expiate the terrorist evil from its own midst, eight suspects were declared "undesirable" and expelled from the country. The eight immigrants had been under surveillance for several years but judges had ruled that there was insufficient evidence of any terrorist related activity. But this week, with...

Handler of world-famous dog is charged with planting evidence OSCODA -- After midnight on an unusually muggy April night, a small-town cop opened his eyes in the dark and blinked up at the ceiling from his bed. Mark David couldn't shut off his brain. If what he suspected were true, it would wreck a 20-year murder investigation -- and cast doubt on countless other murder cases around the country. It would also mean that Sandra Anderson, the world's most famous handler of the world's most famous cadaver-sniffing dog, had betrayed the trust of law enforcement agencies and many others from...

To be honest, it would be hard to attribute any of the self-effacing anti-Americanism that we are experiencing today to President Bush or his administration. Regardless of their stance on Iraq, the economy or any of the other situations that they find themselves dealing with, the pointed hatred delivered by a minority in our country toward our nation and its leaders is initiated and issued devoid of the facts in total and without foresight. Granted, the decision to pursue military action coupled with the benign economic environment, which the Bush Administration was saddled with by the previous administration, most likely...

Topic: White Water Larry Case Free Speech Newsletter 5/17/96 Brian Brazil "Larry Case and The Clinton Cocaine Video" - Brian Brazil, Free Speech Newspaper, May 17, 1996 In early April, Free Speech Newspaper was contacted by Larry E. Case, a retired investigator from Little Rock, Arkansas. Mr. Larry Case advised Free Speech Newspaper staff he desired to place an ad for what amounts to an archive of Bill Clinton related video and audio tapes. Case submitted ad copy for the proposed sale of the tapes. Free Speech Newspaper made a verbal contract to create the ad and put it on...