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The Los Angeles Times has a copy of the tape, but won't release it because they said the source--whom I believe is Arab American Action Network (AAAN) founder and anti-Israel Palestinian activist Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada--required it not be released as a condition of sharing it. That's because it likely shows Obama applauding an anti-Semitic, anti-Israel poem that was read at the dinner.

A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to release 17 detainees at Guantánamo by the end of the week, the first such ruling in nearly seven years of legal disputes over the administration's detention policies. The judge, Ricardo Urbina of U.S. District Court, ordered Tuesday that the 17 men be brought to his courtroom Friday from Guantánamo, where they have been held since 2002. He indicated that he would release the men, members of the restive Uighur Muslim minority of western China, into the care of supporters in the United States, initially in the Washington area. "I think the...

WASHINGTON - Embattled Rep. Charles Rangel's Mercedes-Benz was towed yesterday from the House of Representatives parking space he had been using for years in violation of congressional rules. As a tow truck pulled away the 1972 silver sedan under the watchful eyes of five Capitol police officers, House Republicans voted almost unanimously to oust the Harlem Democrat from his chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee in the midst of several ethics scandals. The measure, however, failed. Rangel refused to answer questions about the car, whose registration expired in 2004 and which has sat in the House garage, covered...

When it comes to Hillary's baby bond scheme, she failed to mention that it would cost taxpayers $20 billion annually. But that's besides the point … A Rasmussen telephone poll found that 60% of likely voters oppose Hillary's plan to give every new born baby a $5,000 savings bond. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/voters_reject_clinton_baby_bond_proposal_by_2_to_1_margin Curiously, 65% of whites opposed the baby bond idea. 52% of minorities favored the baby bond idea. Well --- maybe that's not so curious – but I don't want to step on any ethnic toes here, do I? Now that this poll is out there, let's see if Hillary Rodham...

WASHINGTON — Airport security officers around the nation have been alerted by federal officials to look out for terrorists practicing to carry explosive components onto aircraft, based on four curious seizures at airports since last September. The unclassified alert was distributed on July 20... The seizures at airports in San Diego, Milwaukee, Houston and Baltimore included "wires, switches, pipes or tubes, cell phone components and dense clay-like substances," including block cheese, the bulletin said. "The unusual nature and increase in number of these improvised items raise concern." Security officers were urged to keep an eye out for "ordinary items that...

WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled House shrugged off another veto threat from President Bush in approving a measure requiring the withdraw U.S. troops by spring. Earlier, Bush ruled out any change in war policy before September. Democratic leaders engineered a 223-201passage of legislation requiring the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops to begin within 120 days, and to be completed by April 1, 2008. The measure envisions a limited residual force to train Iraqis, protect U.S. assets and fight Al Qaeda and other terrorists. The vote generally followed party lines: 219 Democrats and four Republicans in favor, and 191 Republicans and 10...

A leading pro-family activist in a key primary state is urging Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to distance himself from a corporation that is one of the largest distributors of pornographic videos and that has contributed thousands of dollars to his campaign. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has come under fire of late from pro-family conservatives for not doing enough to stop Marriott's sale of pornographic videos while he served on the hotel chain's board of directors. Romney has said he did not recall pornography coming up for discussion while he was on the Marriott board from 1992 to 2001....

   Prisoner ... Curtis Allgier     Prison break Neo-Nazi captured By LUCY WATERLOWJune 26, 2007 THIS white supremacist prisoner killed a correction officer by wrestling a gun from him and shooting him in the head.  Heavily tattooed Curtis Allgier, whose body looks like that of Prison Break character Michael Schofield, then made his own escape bid.He led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen sport utility vehicle before his capture at a fast-food restaurant when a heroic customer grabbed his gun.Allgier, 27, whose many tattoos include a swastika and the words "skin head" on his face, was taken to jail to await charges and could face the death...

WASHINGTON - Former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle predicted on Monday that Democrats will pick up seven U.S. Senate seats this year and said his party needs to "restore the confidence that has been lost about Congress." Daschle, who was Senate Democratic Leader when he lost to Republican John Thune in 2004, also predicted his party would pick up around 25 seats in the U.S. House. "It looks awfully good," Daschle said on C-SPAN's Washington Journal. Daschle said he hopes South Dakota voters will defeat a state ballot measure that would ban most abortions. "I think it is too extreme,"...

When I wrote about Jimmy Carter's antics recently, some suggested I should quit wasting my time discussing someone so irrelevant. Well, I'd be happy to comply, except that their assumption is incorrect. What this misguided and increasingly bitter man says, especially on foreign soil, does matter. Don't forget that the Democratic Party leadership embraces Carter, as witnessed by his prominent role in the party's national convention, where he called President Bush -- in no uncertain terms -- a liar. Remember that when you're tempted to think of Carter as just a benign senior statesman. I'll concede Carter has done some...

Sheehan treated at Waco hospital 10:26 PM CDT on Friday, August 11, 2006 Associated Press WACO – Anti-war demonstrator Cindy Sheehan was hospitalized Friday evening for dehydration and exhaustion after fasting for more than a month and protesting earlier this week in 100-degree weather, friends and relatives said. Sheehan was listed in stable condition at Providence Health Center in Waco. Brenda Mauk, a nursing supervisor, declined to say what Sheehan was being treated for and declined to release additional information. Sheehan was taken to the Waco hospital after friends picked her up Friday afternoon at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport,...

Curbing tobacco use and taking other steps to eliminate some of the most common risk factors for cancer could save millions of lives over the next few decades, health officials said Monday. Tobacco alone is predicted to kill a billion people this century, 10 times the toll it took in the 20th century, if current trends hold. "In all of world history, this is the largest train wreck not waiting to happen," said John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society. Reducing tobacco use would have the single largest effect on global cancer rates, Seffrin and other health...

The FBI arrested two men who did computer work for a powerful state senator Wednesday on charges that they permanently deleted e-mails to thwart a federal investigation. Leonard P. Luchko and Mark Eister performed electronic "wipes" of computers at Sen. Vincent J. Fumo's Senate offices, his home at the New Jersey shore and at a nonprofit with deep ties to Fumo, authorities allege. "This was a deliberate, systematic and ultimately successful effort to interfere with a federal investigation," U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan said. "We have to assume that valuable information is lost forever."

Athorities say two Saudi men who boarded a school bus full of children and gave conflicting reasons why they were there were arrested and held without bail. Mana Saleh Almanajam, 23, and Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, 20, were charged with misdemeanor trespassing and were jailed after a judge said Saturday she wanted more background information on them. A hearing was scheduled Tuesday. The two men arrived in the country six months ago on student visas and are enrolled at the English Language Institute at the University of South Florida. Investigators said they boarded the school bus Friday, sat down and began...

In another in a series of notable pronouncements, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson says God told him storms and possibly a tsunami will hit America's coastline this year. Robertson has made the predictions at least four times in the past two weeks on his news-and-talk television show "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network, which he founded. Robertson said the revelations about this year's weather came to him during his annual personal prayer retreat in January. "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms," Robertson said May 8. On Wednesday, he...

Verizon, the country's second-largest phone company, said yesterday that it had not provided local phone records to the National Security Agency as part of efforts to compile a database of calling records to track terrorist activities. The announcement, a day after BellSouth issued a similar statement, came in response to a report in USA Today last Thursday that the three biggest Bell companies had handed over their customer calling records to the security agency, including data on local calls, without warrants. But the statement by Verizon left open the possibility that MCI, the long-distance carrier it bought in January, did...

WASHINGTON - Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., of Charlotte and six other members of the Congressional Black Caucus were arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy on Tuesday while protesting the killing and starvation that continues in that African country's Darfur region. "We will not tolerate genocide," said caucus chairman Watt. "We are saying to Sudan: `This has to stop.' " The protesters' plan was to get arrested, Watt told the Observer, and they alerted Capitol Police beforehand that they would block the embassy entrance. Watt said the group was advised to stay off the sidewalk -- the jurisdiction of the District of...

(CBS News) WASHINGTON A public sanitation worker in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday found a thick stack of papers with nearly every detail of President Bush's trip to Florida on the floor next to a big trash truck. The documents offer the exact arrival and departure time for Air Force One, Marine One and the back up choppers, Nighthawk 2 and 3, as Washington CBS affiliate WUSA-TV first reported. The documents also list every passenger on board each aircraft, from President Bush to the military attaché with the nuclear football. A spokesman traveling with Mr. Bush in Florida confirms the report...

Facing transfer to the nation's toughest federal prison, Zacarias Moussaoui served up what may be his final legal surprise yesterday: The al-Qaeda conspirator said he was not involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror plot after all and wants a new trial to prove it. His efforts were immediately rejected by a federal judge. In a motion in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Moussaoui sought to withdraw his guilty plea and be granted a new trial "to prove my innocence of the Sept. 11 plot.'' The filing came four days after he was sentenced to life in prison, a punishment...

To: Assignment Desk, Political Reporter, Daybook Editor Contact: Elliott Jacobson, 202-558-6394 or 202-460-8340 (cell) for Gravel for President 2008News Advisory: Former United States senator Mike Gravel (D-Alaska, 1969-1980) will announce his candidacy for the Democratic Nomination for President of the United States. WHEN: Monday, April 17, 10 a.m. EDTWHERE: The National Press Club, Zenger Room, 13th Floor, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20045Paid for by Mike Gravel for President 2008 http://www.usnewswire.com/-0-/© 2006 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/