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Apart from being a clear-cut example of how migration, or rather population dumping by Third World countries, has become a tool for blackmail in the 21st century, this is a throwback to the age when Tripoli could extract payments from Europe. Sadly, Americans seem to have forgotten the lessons from this proud chapter in their history, when they refused to pay ransom to Muslims like the Europeans did and instead sent warships to the Mediterranean under the slogan "Millions for defense, not one penny for tribute!" Since WW2, we've had three major conflicts in the Balkans: In Cyprus, in Bosnia...

Graves of Ancient Russian Rulers Discovered at Altai 30.08.2007 Rurik, legendary Russian rulerArcheologsts have recently discovered graves of ancient Russian family of Ruriks (“Rurik” means “famous ruler”) in the town of Zmeinogorsk, reports famous Russian historian. The discovery was totally unexpected – fellows of local historical centre have taken children from historical society to perform diggings on the city’s cemetery, and among other pre-revolutionary burials they found graves of Ruriks. Now scientists start enormous research – they are going to identify the graves and bodies in them.

According to John Lane of PETH: People for the Ethical Treatment of Hops, hop plants form communities and emotional attachments, so harvesting living hops is an act of cruelty. I'd like to think this is a joke, but if green nutjobs think animals have rights, is thinking the same about plants too much of a stretch? Put down that beer... the plant police are coming! Expect a "protected" species bill from Barbara Bonkers any day now... and millions of starving greenies around the world as they exercise their "compassion."

54% Say Dems Likely to Nominate White Male rasmussenreports.com 36 minutes ago New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama have been one-two in polls for the Democratic Presidential nomination since the campaign season begin. Together, they routinely attract support from more than half of all Likely Democratic Primary Voters. But, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 54% of the nation's voters say it's at least Somewhat Likely that the Democrats will end up nominating a White Male. Twenty-four percent (24%) of all voters say a White Male candidate is Very Likely. Thirty-four percent (34%)...

Hillary Answers Hsu Questions, Spitzer Helps by Jason Horowitz Published: August 30, 2007 Tags: Politics Sen Hillary Clinton said today that she was "surprised" to learn that one of her bundlers, Norman Hsu, had a warrant out for his arrest related to a California fraud case. "Obviously we were all surprised by this news and we have a procedure that we follow and upon verifying it we returned his money and continue to analyze all contributions and take action if that's warranted," she said. Clinton, answering questions after a press conference about children's health insurance with Eliot Spitzer at the...

My Exclusive Interview With Senator Craig Boise, Idaho - Since reports of Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) arrest and guilty plea in connection with a gay sex sting, he has been in seclusion. Now Sen. Craig has agreed to discuss the incident exclusively with Scooter's Report: SR: Thank you for taking time out of your formally busy schedule to talk with us, Senator. Craig: You're welcome Scooter, it's my pleasure to set this story straight with the American public. SR: Okay, let's discuss what happened at the Minneapolis airport last June 11. Craig: Well, I was traveling and had the sudden...

TEL AVIV – One-hundred-seventy-four people from a group of thousands in India that believes it is one of the 10 "lost tribes" of Israel landed here this week, fulfilling for many a life-long dream of returning to what they consider their homeland. Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based organization led by American Michael Freund, hopes to bring to the Jewish state the remaining 7,000 Indian citizens who believe they are the Bnei Menashe, the descendants of Manasseh, one of biblical patriarch Joseph's two sons and a grandson of Jacob. The tribe lives in the two Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, to...

Last year, among the nation’s 10 largest cities, Philadelphia had the highest murder rate, with 406 victims. This year could easily top last year’s, with 240 murders so far. Other cities such as Baltimore, Detroit and Washington, D.C., with large black populations, experience the nation’s highest rates of murder and violent crime. This high murder rate is, and has been, predominantly a black problem. According to Bureau of Justice statistics, between 1976 and 2005, blacks, although 13 percent of the population, committed more than 52 percent of the nation’s homicides and were 46 percent of the homicide victims. Ninety-four percent...

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., left, smiles as she stands with New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer at a news conference on children's health care in New York, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) Democratic presidential hopeful New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton talks with research scientist Laura Higgins while touring the Pioneer Hi-Bred International Facility Research Greenhouses in Johnston, Iowa in this March 5, 2007 file photo. At a time when demand for the corn-based fuel is soaring, support for ethanol among candidates is nearly unanimous and has largely crowded out talk of other agriculture-related issues.

Mobile phones can take as little as ten minutes to trigger changes in the brain associated with cancer, scientists claimed yesterday. They found even low levels of radiation from handsets interfere with the way brain cells divide. Cell division encourages the growth of tumours. Although the researchers did not come up with evidence that mobile phone signals are harmful, the findings suggest they could be. Several major studies have also found no link between mobile use and brain tumours, nor a dramatic rise in cancer rates. But campaigners insist the discovery undermines official advice that the devices are safe. The...

The day of rest is causing some unrest at Century Village East in Deerfield Beach. Most of the 56 owners in Berkshire E are Orthodox Jews barred for religious reasons from pushing the buttons on their elevator during the Sabbath, which runs from Friday evening to Saturday evening.

<p>Ron Paul's enthusiastic volunteers have pushed the Texas congressman's numbers up as well. Paul was backed by a larger percent of those surveyed....Interestingly, neither Tancredo or Duncan Hunter managed to impress anyone.....</p> <p>Manchester – The latest in a series of monthly New Hampshire presidential preference polls shows Barack Obama well behind Hillary Clinton, while Mitt Romney holds a narrow lead over Rudy Giuliani.</p>

An armed robber is holed up inside a bank on the Far North Side, Chicago Police said this morning. Several employees of First Commercial Bank were believed to be inside the building, located in the 6900 block of North Clark, police said.

LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- The credit markets will face a critical test next month as bankers attempt to ramp up issuance of risky debt offerings. The market for high-yield debt and loans has been locked up this summer as investors have balked at risk. But as droves of Wall Streeters head back to work after Labor Day, they're expected to roll up their sleeves and start to try getting deals done. "Right now everyone is just waiting. The expectation is for the primary market to open up again post-Labor Day," said Peter Acciavatti, a high-yield strategist at JPMorgan Chase in New...

For the first time in the history of Canterbury Cathedral, the Holy Fools UK will be holding a special service to cerebrate their 25th Silver Anniversary. The Service will take place on Saturday, 15 September at 6pm and will have up to 30 Christian clowns (Holy Fools) in the service, all colourfully made up and in costume ready to present this special service with all the energy and fun that clowns give. The public is warmly invited to the service to join them in this special celebration The Holy Fools is a national Christian organization with members throughout the UK....

BOISE, IDAHO -- So what are people in one of the nation's most conservative states saying about the gay-sex scandal surrounding their much-revered, oft-elected Sen. Larry E. Craig? Family-values organizations, powerful in Idaho, want his head. Politicians, most of them Republicans like Craig, want more facts. Gays, a seemingly small group here, are embarrassed and yet strangely appeased by the spotlight on a politician who consistently has voted against gay-rights legislation.The state's entire congressional delegation is Republican, and the party holds overwhelming majorities in both houses of the Legislature. Idahoans sided staunchly with the GOP in at least the last...

Consider the bathroom stall, that utilitarian public enclosure of cold steel and drab hue. It can be a world of untold secrets, codes and signals as invitations to partake. Like foot-tapping: Who knew? Let us peer in, shall we? Let us peer into the stall as intently as Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) allegedly did in a bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in June, when his searching blue eyes were visible to an undercover cop, who would later title his police report on Craig's arrest "Lewd Conduct" and write that police had made "numerous arrests regarding sexual activity in...

Network aims to offer more Big Ten programming than ever before CHICAGO – The much-anticipated launch of the Big Ten Network is here, with the network going on the air at 8 p.m. ET with a special edition of Big Ten Tonight. "We're tremendously excited to make television history with the launch of the Big Ten Network on Thursday night," Network President Mark Silverman said. "Fans will enjoy more Big Ten programming than ever before. I think fans will look back years from now and wonder how they ever followed their teams without the Big Ten Network." The network's launch...

OMAHA, Nebraska, August 29, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Sunday, August 26 the Catholic blog Defend Us In Battle.org publicized the fact that Creighton University of Omaha, Nebraska, a Catholic institution, had scheduled abortion and euthanasia activist Ann Lamott to give the keynote address at a 2007 Center for Health Policy & Ethics lecture for women on September 19th.  Lamott is nationally known as an author and speaker who promotes her own self-proclaimed perspective as a "Jesusy" individual who is a "Christian and feminist."  The blog, authored by Omaha resident Jeff Baker, encouraged readers to contact the Director of the Creighton...

Sen. Larry E. Craig said he had retained a lawyer to examine his case, suggesting that he may attempt to withdraw his guilty plea. That may be possible in some circumstances, legal experts say, but he would risk having more serious charges reinstated and the public exposure of other details of the restroom incident that has imperiled his congressional career. Ordinarily, Minnesota law allows defendants to withdraw plea agreements in limited situations where there has been "manifest injustice." Courts have interpreted that narrowly -- where prosecutors have not upheld their end of a plea bargain, for example, or where a...