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State-run Chinese media say police have arrested 1,434 suspects in the deadly ethnic riots in the western Xinjiang region. Officials released no other details. The White House says it is deeply concerned over the deadly violence in and has called for restraint. Chinese officials say at least 156 people were killed and more than 800 hurt in riots between ethic Uighurs and police in Xinjiang. Monday's fighting grew out of what witnesses say was a peaceful anti-government protest by Uighurs Sunday. No one is sure what led the march to explode into violence. But Chinese officials accuse exiled Uighur groups...

The world frets about the rise in fuel prices and the environmental damage caused by motor pollution. An inventor in Kiryat Gat says he has the solution. Hugo Tour, a retired Israel Air Force officer, claims the engine he's been working on for three years is the biggest breakthrough in motor technology since the invention of the internal combustion engine by Nikolaus Otto in 1876. At his home laboratory in Kiryat Gat, Tour has built a working bench-prototype of a split cycle engine, which he predicts will improve engine efficiency by up to 100 percent and reduce carbon emissions by...

The hospital in Hawaii where Barack Obama claims he was born refuses to produce any documentation without permission of the president himself. The Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu has posted on its website a letter on White House stationary dated Jan. 24 in which Obama wrote, "As a beneficiary of the excellence of Kapi'olani Medical Center – the place of my birth – I am pleased to add my voice to your chorus of supporters." Kristy Watanabe, the public relations specialist for the hospital refused to confirm or deny the veracity of Obama's letter claiming he...

Hilda L. Solis often recalls some advice her high school guidance counselor gave her mother: “Your daughter is not college material. Maybe she should follow the career of her older sister and become a secretary.” Telling that story recently at the Hunter College commencement in Manhattan, Ms. Solis roared into the microphone that she, the daughter of immigrants, did become a secretary — the nation’s labor secretary. The crowd thundered with applause. ... Like President Obama and Judge Sonia Sotomayor, whose confirmation to the Supreme Court would make her the first Hispanic justice, Ms. Solis, 51, pulled herself up through...

Nation's Hospitals Agree to Forgo $155B in Revenue The nation's hospitals have agreed to give up $155 billion in expected revenue over the next 10 years, money that will bring the White House closer to its goal of paying for broader health coverage, an industry source said tonight. The agreement is between the White House, the Senate Finance Committee and the three major hospital groups: the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals and the Catholic Health Association. The hospital groups have agreed to reductions in Medicare payments, and the money they receive for providing uncompensated care will start...

Since Palin's stunning announcement that she is resigning her Alaskan governorship, Benway has been glued to her computer, reading everything she can about the former Republican vice presidential candidate. Yesterday afternoon, the 63-year-old retired court reporter was among the throng of online-enabled, Facebook-connected supporters who posted a comment on Palin's official fan page.

Number of layoffs since Nov. 1, 2008, at America's 500 largest public companies.

The state will pay $335,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a woman former state Sen. Carole Migden rear-ended after a wild 30-mile drive in Solano County, attorneys in the case said Monday. Several motorists called 911 after seeing the San Francisco Democrat weaving in and out of traffic on Interstate 80 and Highway 12 on May 18, 2007, in her state-issued Toyota Highlander hybrid sport utility vehicle. At one point, Migden sideswiped a guardrail on I-80 near American Canyon Road. "She's been on the phone and reading a book, doing about 80 miles per hour," one driver said in...

The debate over the F-22 has shown that some have no limit to the amount of ignorance they can acquire. Since there are a large amount of people that can’t explain why they want to cancel it or keep it going, finding true clarity is a challenge. Many people that want to cancel the F-22 are honest in their belief. It is a cold war jet. It is wildly expensive. It is a poster child for a defense establishment that is out of control. Some of these people are even thankful that Secretary of Defense Gates is at the helm...

Note: The following text SNIPPET is a quote: News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, July 6, 2009 Secretary Sebelius Announces Availability of $40 Million in Grants to Help Insure More Children HHS Secretary, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Encourage Community Organizations, State and Local Governments to Apply HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced the availability of up to $40 million in grants to help reach families whose children qualify but are not yet enrolled in state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP). Sebelius was joined for the announcement by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. Colorado has been a leader in the...

North Korea has tested still more missiles, apparently moving from intermittent to constant provocation. The only nation with real influence in Pyongyang is China. U.S. diplomacy should focus on encouraging Beijing to do its utmost to "solve" the problem of the North's criminal regime. The challenge posed by the so-called Democratic People's Republic of Korea is obvious. Eliminating his regime would be an obvious humanitarian and security plus. Unfortunately, no easy solution presents itself. Kim Jong-il's latest confrontational tactics do not prevent a negotiated settlement, but the likelihood of diplomacy resulting in a demilitarized peninsula grows smaller. Tighter sanctions also...

From TimesOnlineThe New Green Shirts are coming to the UK! Keep and eye out over here! "The boys in green are coming as the Environment Agency sets up a squad to police companies generating excessive CO2 emissions." "The agency is creating a unit of about 50 auditors and inspectors, complete with warrant cards and the power to search company premises to enforce the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), which comes into effect next year."

Gov. Sarah Palin hasn't said what she'll do next, but the offers are pouring in. The Alaska governor is fielding proposals for everything from hosting a TV or radio show to appearing for various speaking engagements, ABC News has confirmed. Alaska governor's decision to step down has many people puzzled. More PhotosThough early indications suggested Palin was being offered an opportunity from Fox News Channel, today Fox News' Richard White told ABC News, "Fox News Channel has had no discussions with Gov. Sarah Palin." Palin is being represented by Washington, D.C., lawyer and agent Bob Barnett, who has made millions...

In his novel "The Plot Against America," Philip Roth imagined that Charles Lindbergh, an isolationist and an anti-Semite (but a hell of a flier), ran for president in 1940 and beat Franklin Roosevelt. In his novel "Fatherland," Robert Harris imagined a Britain that had succumbed to the Nazis. These works are categorized as "alternate history." Here is my contribution to the genre: Sarah Palin becomes president of the United States. Far-fetched? Not really. After all, Palin really was on the Republican ticket, and the Democratic candidate was both untested nationally and the first African-American to claim the nomination. A significant...

Heroic Hollywood: Thinking Inside the Box by Russ Dvonch In this post, I want to give some advice to beginning screenwriters who are having difficulty finishing — or even starting — their first screenplay. I’ve been mulling over what to say for several weeks now, trying to come up with some inspirational words of advice to motivate you into achieving your goal. After much thought and deep-dish contemplation, I’ve boiled my advice down to this: If you want to write for Hollywood, think like a hack writer and stick to the Hollywood Formula. How’s that for inspiring rhetoric? Now, most...

Doug Black has found himself in a tight squeeze more times than he cares to remember. One day, he got caught in the rain without an umbrella and was unable to run. When his colleagues sat in a circle, the 23-year-old English teacher from Portland, Ore., couldn't cross his legs. And when he tried to jaywalk, while in Beijing for work, he couldn't hop the median divider with his friends. "I had to walk half a mile down the street on my own to use the crosswalk," he says. His jeans were too tight. But he has no plans to...

Tiny fragments of a device of apparent extraterrestrial origin may hold an invaluable secret to advancing health care in the US, but open discussion of that fact may be subjected to information policing by the Obama administration. The sad irony of the situation is that a president who campaigned and won on a platform of truth and openness and who has just presented a comprehensive plan on ABC in prime time to reform the nation's medical care may unwittingly be preventing discussion that could lead to a breakthrough which would revolutionize health care. Complex miniature devices of unknown and apparent...

Kournikova trades tennis racket for diamond ring The Associated Press Jul. 6, 2009 KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. -- Anna Kournikova was sparkling brighter than usual. Kournikova, who has long been linked to singer Enrique Iglesias, showed up for Monday night's World Team Tennis match with a huge diamond ring on her left ring finger - the finger normally reserved for engagement rings. When asked the significance of the ring by The Associated Press, Kournikova replied, "I thought you were the good press." The former Grand Slam doubles champion put her hand behind her back and did not elaborate. Kournikova was...

Using just a person's birth date and birth state, two Carnegie Mellon University researchers say they've found a way to figure out people's Social Security numbers, potentially opening a new front in the battle against identity theft. Alessandro Acquisti and Ralph Gross said they hope their findings, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

President Obama's Porkulus plan will direct $1.4 billion into job retraining and other services for people who have lost their jobs. Given the ever growing number of people who now fit that description, some might be inclined to question whether even that huge amount of money is enough. But it turns out the question is moot, since available evidence indicates that job retraining, much like the President's "stimulus" plan as a whole, doesn't actually work. -- In Michigan, where the unemployment rate in May was 14.1 percent, the nation’s highest, 78,000 people are enrolled in the state’s No Worker Left...