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WASHINGTON, March 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea may conduct a second nuclear test in the near future to increase its bargaining power in negotiating with the United States, a private think tank said Wednesday. "The new administration and Congress should not be surprised if Pyongyang precipitates a crisis, perhaps in the near term, to elevate its importance in a crowded U.S. foreign policy agenda," the Seattle-based National Bureau of Asian Research said in a report titled "Shock of the New: Congress and Asia in 2009." "Such a crisis could include a second nuclear test or escalation of military tension with...

WASHINGTON — Karl Rove and Harriet E. Miers, top former aides to President George W. Bush, will testify under oath to a House committee investigating the firings of nine United States attorneys in 2007, under an agreement announced Wednesday by the panel. The agreement settled a rancorous dispute that began in mid-2007 when the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Mr. Rove and Ms. Miers, who, according to e-mail messages released by the Justice Department, played a role in the firings.

Pat Grant, 81, wife of legendary Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant and mother of Eden Prairie High School football coach and athletic director Mike Grant, died Wednesday in Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina of complications from Parkinson's disease. She volunteered for 30 years at Fairview Southdale, where she ran errands and delivered supplies. She spent most of her time in the Family Lounge, where she comforted families who had loved ones in the Intensive Care Unit. She logged more than 6,000 hours of volunteer service from October 1973 to May 2003, said Pamela Mills, manager of Volunteer Services. "She was...

Rush is on "en fuego"; slams Obama et al, calls Rahmbo "the ballerina". The Liberal Commun-O-Crats have ushered in a new anti-Rush strategy. This strategy will back-fire on the Socio-Crats and I love it! From Real Clear Politics: Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh asks Obama to come on his show and debate him: "If these guys are so impressed with themselves, and if they are so sure of their correctness, why doesn't President Obama come on my show? We will do a one-on-one debate of ideas and policies. Now, his people in this Politico story, it's on the record....

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Wednesday for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. He is the first sitting head of state the court has ordered arrested. Al-Bashir's government denounced the warrant as part of a Western conspiracy aimed at destabilizing the vast oil-rich nation south of Egypt. The U.N. said Sudan had ordered the expulsion of six to 10 humanitarian groups from Darfur including Oxfam, Solidarities and Mercy Corps, and seized assets.

WASHINGTON — Well, that didn’t take long. Just 44 days into the job, and President Obama is going gray.

There can be little doubt as to who is currently in charge of America's Democratic Party. From behind his desk in the Oval Office, Barack Obama can usually rely on the members of his party to follow his lead. But the divided nature of the American political system means that the party that does not hold the White House does not have a single figure it can look to for leadership. This means that the Republicans - who currently hold neither the White House, nor either House of Congress - find themselves without a leader. A number of high-profile Republicans...

Earlier, Bill Dupray detailed a list of prominent Democrat leaders who may be influenced to vote against President Obama's budget plan: So here is the list of Democrat Senators who may possibly be influenced with calls and emails. Evan Byah (Indiana), Mary Landrieu (Louisiana), Mark Warner (Virginia), Bill Nelson (Florida), Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), Mark Pryor (Arkansas), Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire), Robert P. Casey Jr. (Pennsylvania), and Blanche L. Lincoln (Arkansas), Claire McCaskill (Missouri), Mark Begich (Alaska), as well as Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.). Senator Jon Tester (Montana) is not officially in the group, but the article details his discomfort with...

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said the coming year will be the most difficult the country has faced this century because of the global economic crisis. Addressing parliament, Mr Wen reiterated that there would be a $585bn (£413bn) investment programme to stimulate the Chinese economy. He also declared an annual growth target of 8% and goals to boost consumption and raise consumer demand. His address opens the annual session of the National Peoples' Congress. The premier said he hoped to create nine million new jobs in the cities and increase local government spending budgets by almost 25%. "In China, a...

Obama clearly has a new watch and is fascinated with it, Gordon Brown revealed last night. Following his first meeting with the new president Mr Brown said Britain and the United States must work together to create a new age of global stability where everyone can have a watch as nice as that. The prime minister added: "I was making some very insightful points about Fred Goodwin's pension, but he just kept looking at that watch and I'm thinking, 'gosh, it must be a really good one'.

What the Treasury is trying to do is set up a kind of cap-and-trade system for bad debt. In this case, the "allowances," or the right to pollute, are the government loans helping private players buy up the existing pollution -- the toxic mortgage-backed securities. Obama's budget calls for a cap-and-trade system in which "allowances" are auctioned off, instead of just handed out, as was done semi-disastrously at the outset of Europe's Emissions Trading System several years ago. Here, the right to participate in the program is what is being auctioned off, and the more who participate, the less the...

When the British gained control of India, they got rid of suttee, the Hindu custom of burning a widow alive on her husband’s funeral pyre. This was done to express grief, and also so that the husband’s family would not have to share the inheritance with the widow. The British commander-in-chief in India, General Sir Charles Napier (1782-1853), was informed that suttee was an ancient and accepted custom with a religious basis, and that suppressing it would cause resentment. (Sound familiar?) Unimpressed, Napier replied: "You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a...

The Hitler agenda is barely distinguishable from the current liberal agenda Jonathan Krohn and Liberal Nazis By Joy Tiz Wednesday, March 4, 2009 One of the brightest spots of CPAC 2009 was a brief statement by 14-year-old Jonathan Krohn about conservatism. The well dressed, articulate young man shared his views as set forth in his book: Define Conservatism. Yes, he was home schooled. The crowd was suitably impressed with this gifted young man. I confess: even I didn’t see this one coming. It wasn’t long before the moonbats were comparing this bright, productive young person to Hitler’s Youth all over...

NEW YORK —  An education expert is warning that some American textbooks present a biased view of Islam and offer a sugarcoated picture of Islamic extremism, a trend that has parents worried about what's being taught in public schools.In numerous history textbooks, "key subjects like jihad, Islamic law, the status of women are whitewashed," said Gilbert T. Sewall, director of the American Textbook Council, an independent group that reviews history books and other education materials.Cindy Ross, the mother of a junior high school student in Marin County, Calif., said she couldn't believe her eyes when she read her son's textbook...

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. – Robert Space got into work at the Chubb Insurance company at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, realized the lottery ticket he was holding matched the winning numbers, and fired off a one-line e-mail to his nine co-workers who had pitched in to buy it. "We won the big one," it read. The replies came back instantly: "Hahahaha" wrote one. "GREAT. Where do I pick up the cash?" joked another. Then they saw the ticket for themselves.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- UBS AG now says it had about 47,000 accounts held by Americans who didn't pay U.S. taxes on their assets, but Switzerland's biggest bank is providing the names of only 300 American clients to the U.S. government in a showdown over secrecy.

Barack Obama won the presidency in large measure because he presented himself as a demarcation point. The old politics, he said, was based on "spin," misleading arguments, and an absence of candor. He'd "turn the page" on that style of politics. Last week's presentation of his budget shows that hope was a mirage. For example, Mr. Obama didn't run promising larger deficits -- but now is offering record-setting ones. He'll add $4.9 trillion before his term ends and $7.4 trillion if given a second, doubling the national debt in five years and tripling it in 10. Mr. Obama's deficits will...

Why do we stick with a failed policy? Recall Einstein's definition of insanity. Read the link and then let's discuss your thoughts on the matter.

More evidence that Steele does not belong in his position as RNC chairman.

In case you haven't noticed, the violence and mayhem along the Mexican border is spilling into the United States. Years of lackadaisical enforcement and a booming drug trade has spiraled the murder rate in what used to be a bucolically quiet region. Now south Texas is starting to look more and more like north Mexico... the highway in Brownsville was closed the other day because of a shootout. Senator Cornyn sent this letter to Obama today, asking him to please enforce the borders. Fat chance, really... especially after Bush left it wide open after 9/11. Democrats probably love it... new...