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Edwards' wife talks of Clinton 'hatred' By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, says "hatred" of his rival Hillary Rodham Clinton would motivate Republicans to vote against her in the general election. "I want to be perfectly clear: I do not think the hatred against Hillary Clinton is justified," Elizabeth Edwards said in an interview with Time magazine out this week. "I don't know where it comes from. I don't begin to understand it. But you can't pretend it doesn't exist, and it will energize the Republican base. Their...

The seven remaining South Korean hostages taken captive last July by the Taliban have been released, and insurgents have vowed they will abduct more foreigners. "We will do the same thing with the other allies in Afghanistan, because we found this way to be successful," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told The Associated Press by phone on Thursday. Twenty-three 23 South Koreans, all volunteers from a church group, were kidnapped by Taliban militants on July 19. Two of the male captives were later executed by gunfire. The group had come to Afghanistan to volunteer at hospitals, and were travelling from...

Heavy summer rains along the Texas-Mexico border always raise concerns over dengue fever, a mosquito-borne illness that is also called break-bone fever because of the severe body aches it causes. The border region has seen periodic outbreaks of the tropical virus, which is carried by a mosquito that thrives in much of Texas. And public health officials worry that the more severe form of the disease, which can cause internal bleeding and death, appears to be on the rise. Current flu vaccines and antiviral drugs don't work on dengue, but research into better treatments has been slow. Humans are the...

From FOX News: Washington Post, Other Newspapers Won't Run 'Opus' Cartoon Mocking Radical Islam. A popular comic strip that poked fun at the Rev. Jerry Falwell without incident one week ago was deemed too controversial to run over the weekend because this time it took a humorous swipe at Muslim fundamentalists. The Washington Post and several other newspapers around the country did not run Sunday's installment of Berkeley Breathed's "Opus," in which the spiritual fad-seeking character Lola Granola appears in a headscarf and explains to her boyfriend, Steve, why she wants to become a radical Islamist. The installment did...

Viacom's copyright battle with YouTube took an interesting turn this week, as the company has found itself in the embarrassing position of having highlighted the possibly that it committed a little "for-profit" copyright infringement of its own (some would call it "piracy"). Viacom effectively pointed the finger at itself when the company tried to get a Web Junk 2.0 clip removed from YouTube, only to end up exposing the fact that Viacom's VH1 unit had not obtained permission to use the source video that is featured in the clip. Dizzy yet? Let's backtrack for a second. North Carolina political candidate...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Nearly half of those asked in a UPI-Zogby International poll said U.S. military action on Iran's nuclear projects is more likely because of the war in Iraq. Some 46.7 percent of poll participants said they believed the war in Iraq has made it more likely that the United States will use military force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Another 19.6 percent said such a course of events was less likely and 22.7 percent said the war made no difference in the policy. There was a nearly even split among the 6,711 U.S. residents...

Republican lawmakers are urging the Justice Department not to participate in a convention held by the Islamic Society of North America — a group named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an ongoing terrorism-financing case. In a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, Reps. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Sue Myrick of North Carolina called the Justice Department's involvement a "grave mistake." "In light of the threat that our nation ... is currently facing from radical jihadists, and because of the president's commitment to fighting the war on terror on...

Greatness forged from war Posted: August 31, 2007 This is a story of two stars that burn brightly, one gold and one blue, both bathed in the light of a mother's love. Marc Alan Lee was 28 years old when he gave his own life to save the lives of others who were trapped in a building that was taking heavy fire. He was the first Navy Seal to die in Iraq. As reported by the Blackfive.net military web log, "U.S. Navy officers told his mother, Debbie Lee, that her son died minutes after he single-handedly held off enemy fighters...

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — A top Democratic fundraiser wanted as a fugitive in California turned himself in Friday to face a grand theft charge. A judge in San Mateo County Superior Court ordered Norman Hsu handcuffed and held on $2 million bond. A bail hearing was scheduled for Sept. 5, at which the judge will consider reducing his bail to $1 million. Hsu appeared in court here Friday following reports that he had skipped his sentencing on a 1991 grand theft charge. In the ensuing years, he became a top donor to numerous Democratic candidates, including presidential contenders Hillary Rodham...

<p>McKeel Hagerty began noticing the trend a few years ago. As chief executive of Hagerty Insurance, the largest provider of insurance to classic-car collectors, Hagerty could see that the so-called "nerd cars"—the ugliest of automotive beasts—were nonetheless increasing in value. Ford Motor's Pinto and American Motors' Pacer and Gremlin—cars that were punch lines from the decade of disco—suddenly seemed hot. They weren't increasing by much, Hagerty admits, from maybe $500 to a few thousand dollars. But still, money is money.</p>

Tackling a dilemma right out of a science fiction novel, the state Senate passed legislation Thursday that would bar employers from requiring workers to have identification devices implanted under their skin. State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) proposed the measure after at least one company began marketing radio frequency identification devices for use in humans. The devices, as small as a grain of rice, can be used by employers to identify workers. A scanner passing over a body part implanted with one can instantly identify the person. "RFID is a minor miracle, with all sorts of good uses," Simitian said....

Diploma withheld until she apologized for declaring Christian faith A high school valedictorian is suing a Colorado school district because she was forced to publicly apologize for declaring her Christian faith and inviting students to respond to the Gospel in a speech at her graduation ceremony. Erica Corder, who graduated from Lewis-Palmer High School near Colorado Springs in 2006, alleges in a First Amendment lawsuit filed by Liberty Counsel that the school violated her civil rights. Corder says officials withheld her diploma until she issued an apology, and the school "continues to portray her as a student who engaged in...

Jerry Parks, the Clinton security aide in Arkansas, known to have been keeping a dossier on Clinton, is gunned down two months after Foster’s death in his car outside of Little Rock. Parks is shot through the rear window of his car and shot three more times, thru the side window, with a 9mm pistol.Read the story here

Sweden and Norway’s military chiefs have called for stronger cooperation between the two Nordic countries, arguing that it will reduce overall expenditure. In an article published in the daily ”Dagens Nyhter”, Sweden and Norway’s top military leaders are proposing closer military ties including cooperation in the purchase of submarines and tanks and other military equipment. They’d also like to see joint training and education initiatives. Sweden’s Håkan Syren and Norway’s Sverre Diesen are presenting the proposals to their respective Defence Ministries. Swedish Minister of Defence Mikael Odenberg told the newspaper ”Svenska Dagbladet” that he is positive about the idea. The...

More info: HSU'S "SHADOWY BUSINESSES" AND "UNSAVORY EPISODES": Money has brought both trappings and trouble for Norman Hsu. Major contributions to the campaigns of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and other candidates have made the apparel executive an insider in elite political circles. He shows up in cozy pictures with politicians, at lavish fundraising events, and on the boards of prestigious organizations. But Hsu's history includes more unsavory episodes and associations. In 1990, he allegedly was kidnapped by Chinese gang members in San Francisco as part of an apparent effort to collect a debt. A year and a half later, he...

BELGRADE, Serbia: Serbia warned Friday that it would retaliate if Kosovo declares independence and if other nations recognize the breakaway province as a separate state. Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic did not specify how Serbia would respond if Kosovo's separatist ethnic Albanian officials carry out their threat to declare independence if a final push for a diplomatic settlement between now and Dec. 10 does not result in Kosovo's statehood. "Serbia will have no choice but to respond to acts that would jeopardize its sovereignty and territorial integrity," Jeremic said. "The unilateral declaration of independence would bring protracted instability to the region."...

A front-page story in Wednesday's Free Press said "[Bob] Nardelli, Chrysler's new chief executive office and chairman, addressed more than 300 senior executives at an all-day meeting Tuesday at Hyatt Regency Dearborn." Actually, Nardelli was sick on Tuesday and didn't deliver the speech -- until Wednesday. Corrections in the print edition and online story don't explain to readers how the mistake was made.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Authorities said they removed nearly 80,000 rounds of ammunition from the home of a South Bend man who warned that the world was going to end. South Bend police and federal agents blocked off streets around Kevin Rieder's home for six hours Wednesday while they removed the ammunition. Rieder, 38, was arrested Wednesday and charged with illegal possession of ammunition while subject to a restraining order, Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Schmidt said. The restraining order had been taken out by an ex-girlfriend, Schmidt said. Rieder told employees at a gun shop where he bought 18,000 rounds...

Student, prof build budget supercomputer August 30 , 2007 When Tim Brom 07’ set out to build a budget supercomputer with Calvin computer science professor Joel Adams, he didn’t know the product of his efforts might end up in his checked baggage headed for England. Brom, now a graduate student at the University of Kentucky continuing his studies in computer science, worked with Adams to build Microwulf, a machine that is among the smallest and least expensive supercomputers on the planet. “It’s small enough to check on an airplane or fit next to a desk,” said Brom. This may prove...

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