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Florida retailers are entering the holiday season with more cheer than last year, but tempered a little by worries that people recovering from hurricanes may not have as much to spend on Christmas gifts. About 82 percent of retailers surveyed by the Florida Retail Federation said they expect Christmas sales this year to be the same or better than last year, a report released Monday by the industry group said. Larger retailers tended to be more optimistic than smaller ones, the report said. The federation's quarterly index of retailer optimism shows it's higher now than in the final quarter of...

Please place your predictions, traditions, comments, jabs, and jokes on this thread for the 2004 Auburn/Alabama game...This is the thread...

California students certainly won't find it in their civics textbooks. Nor will the subject surface in most conversations about the way legislation is enacted. That's because political insiders in Sacramento would just as soon keep quiet about the disturbingly common practice of gutting and amending a bill in order to slip it through at the very end of a legislative session. It works like this: A lawmaker or a special-interest group wants to pass a controversial measure but the deadline has passed for the introduction of new bills. So, supporters grab a dead or dormant proposal, strip the original language,...

The Washington Dispatch Commentary by Paul M. Weyrich July 28, 2004 Every now and then I have loosely related matters I think would be useful to tell you, but independently do not warrant an entire commentary. So here are the items for your consideration: A number of important Members of Congress believe that former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger leaked the problem he had about stolen documents on himself. The theory is that he knew he had been caught red handed. It is presumed that he knew the matter was coming to a head and would likely be made public....

To secure the continuing existence of the United States democracy against intractable religious fanaticism, whose goal is nothing less than a Muslim theocracy for all of planet Earth, it is inevitable that military conscription will again be implemented during the months following the 2004 Presidential Election. The nature of this struggle renders irrelevant the person or party who wins the election. With very rare exceptions, every male residing in the United States 18 to 26 years of age is required by the Military Selective Service Act to register with the Selective Service System, and thereby subject himself to the possibility...

The American author Ray Bradbury has demanded that Michael Moore return the title of his classic novel Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury, whose science-fiction tome Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953, blasted Moore, whose politically explosive film Fahrenheit 9/11 opened in North America this weekend, for using the title without permission and asked for an apology and for the film's name to be changed. "It's not a nice thing he has done," Bradbury, 83, said. "My book is known all over the world and that title is my title." Bradbury said he wanted a public apology from director and author, who published...

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- It's the NBA Finals, and that means Phil Jackson digs into his personal jewelry box for a championship ring to inspire his players. Jackson sported the 2001 ring won by the Los Angeles Lakers on his right pinkie Thursday. A bit gaudy perhaps, but the 58-year-old coach with nine titles to his credit is following a personal tradition. "The stuff has just snowballed. I can't stop to absorb it all," he said of the staggering success he's experienced as an NBA coach. Jackson has been called lucky to have coached the likes of Michael Jordan and...

CHICAGO (Jan. 1) - Despite a sharp drop in homicides, Chicago has regained a title it didn't want: America's murder capital The city finished 2003 with 599 homicides, police said Thursday. That was down from 648 a year earlier and the first time since 1967 that the total dipped below 600. Still, the nation's third-largest city outpaced all others for the second time in three years. New York, with about three times the population, ended the year with 596 homicides. Los Angeles, which had the most murders in 2002 at 658, wound up 2003 with an estimated total just under...

Can the North’s ‘Walking Computer’ Remember His 1,200 Names? by Kim In (ginko@chosun.com) Since February 1974, when current North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, was unofficially chosen as the successor to his father, Kim Il-sung, North Korean newspapers and broadcasters have used more than 1,200 terms of endearment to refer to the son, according to the North's state-run Korea Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS). Before Kim Jong-il officially emerged as new North Korean leader, at the sixth convention of the Labor Party in October 1980, he was referred to only as the “party center” on newspapers and TV. Later, the title of...

The Bush Administration has just re-affirmed the Clintonian feminists' Title IX outrages, which impose a gender quota-like system on college sports. The feminists are squealing with joy, but Bush is dreaming if he thinks they will ever reward him with their votes. At least 56 percent of college students are women, yet only a fraction seek to compete in intercollegiate sports. The Clintonian feminists' "proportionality" test laid down the absurd rule that fewer than 56 percent of women on athletic teams would be judged unlawful sex discrimination. To protect against lawsuits, colleges have been disbanding men's teams, a practice that...

Everyone who has ever bought a house can enjoy this - it's too good not to share! A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the Lawyer three months to track down. After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply (actual letter): "Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan application, we note that the request is supported...

When testifying before a grand jury investigation into shady actitivies at the Rose Law firm in Arkansas, Mrs. Clinton, who specialized in real estate development and cattle futures law at that firm, and who is the smartest women on Earth, could not remember anything that ever happened there, or anywhere else. We do not know the final count of the times she said, “I can’t recall.” Thirty times? Fifty? We just can’t recall. A few years later, she once more danced around the rules by accepting a multi-million dollar advance for her autobiography before she took office as a U.S....

DORSET, Vt.Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs receiving federal assistance, may be in for an overhaul. This week a committee appointed by the Bush administration will hold its final meetings before submitting its recommendations for changing the law to Secretary of Education Rod Paige. Since Title IX was enacted in 1972, it has been the subject of debate — much of it misguided — about its application to college athletics. At issue now is how to alter the law — or not — so that, as Secretary Paige has put it, we can find...

Ray Hickman of Joseph proved himself to be the strongest man in the world in his weight class last weekend in Reno, Nev. “I’m still in shock,” admitted Hickman, 31, an electrician by trade, who bench pressed 429.9 pounds on his way to a world championship in the 165-lb. division at the Thermalink World Bench Press and Deadlift Championships. The event is put on by the World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters...(snip) For Complete Article, Please Click Here.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Tony Stewart dodged disaster on two restarts with less than 40 laps remaining and clinched his first Winston Cup championship by finishing 18th Sunday in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.   Tony Stewart was all smiles before the green flag on Sunday. Credit: Autostock Neither Stewart nor Mark Martin, who came into the race 89 points behind in second, managed to lead a lap in the 267-lap event on the flat, 1.5-mile oval. But Martin was only able to finish fourth, gaining less than 40 points. He was falling backwards at the finish, while Stewart,...