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CNN) -- More than 10,000 homes have been destroyed from an earthquake that struck southwest China, state media reported. The quake hit Yunnan province in southwest China Thursday evening, leaving more than 300 people injured, the Xinhua news service reported. Xinhua reported the quake as having a 6.0-magnitude, while the U.S. Geological Survey gave a figure of 5.7. The quake happened at 7:19 p.m. (11:19 a.m. GMT) Thursday, at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), Xinhua reported. Thirty people suffered severe injuries, and another 305 were slightly injured as of 1 a.m., relief officials in Yao'an County said.

Americans adore irresponsible, flashy celebrities. But they do not vote for them. Michael Jackson’s funeral crashed the Internet. Had he ever tried to run for dog-catcher, it would have been a very different story. Sarah Palin is about to experience the weight of this rule. Between her speeches and her book deal, she can reasonably hope to earn $10 million over the next two years. She’ll fly in private jets, sleep in sumptuous hotel suites, receive rhapsodic applause. Yet there will be no escaping another story line. Faced with exasperating criticism and the accumulating cares of public office—she quit to...

Link only - ICE won't detain non-U.S. drivers in Nashville

Green Left, an eco-socialist current within the Green Party of England and Wales, held its annual general meeting on June 20 in London. It discussed the work of the network over the past year in struggles against war, racism and environmental decay and in winning support for eco-socialism as a solution to the economic and climate crises.

Hello freedom fighters, Attend the Fairfax County Board meeting on Monday, July 13th to have your voice heard! If we don’t want to live with Muslim intimidation then we have to go on the offensive, and let them know we mean business. It was nerve wracking before I spoke at the planning commission hearing in March because there were a lot of Muslims there making their presence known. But once I spoke I realized that there is power in standing up and saying, no, we will not let you get away with this. Listening to these people lie to get...

Just to give full disclosure, many of you may remember that I was recently banned from Little Green Footballs for refusing to give up my friendship with Pamela Geller (Atlas Shrugs) and Robert Spencer (Jihad Watch). Today Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs struck a new low. No he didn't ban his mother (although she did once see Robert Spencer on Fox News so she better watch out). Charles became the tool of CAIR the Council on American-Islamic Relations. You see Robert Spencer is an expert on Jihad and Islam.He is the author of eight books on Islam and jihad,...

The Truth About Sarah Palin’s Resignation by John Ziegler

With Obama's approval ratings dropping almost as fast as his disapproval ratings are rising, is it time to start asking whether America is waking up?

The photo: http://d.yimg.com/a/p/rids/20090709/i/r3356552547.jpg?x=400&y=340&q=85&sig=_dbUibuGcHSmlg8QoaQV7A-- Drudge has been running it. http://www.drudgereport.com/ Seems like a evocative image, come next election...

A friend at work had her wallet stolen out of her purse from a desk drawer the other day, sometime during work hours. And another friend's daughter, a stewardess, had her wallet stolen last week while serving passengers on a flight to Trinidad. I told them that they should not think of these people as thieves, but Obama's foot soldiers, volunteers in his army to spread the wealth. So be of good cheer. We are serving the President's vision, and soon the wealth will be evenly spread.

Maybe you remember this one, when Obama signed a bill last month, which, if I remember my Schoolhouse Rock correctly, makes it a law, he said he would simply ignore the parts he didn't like. This is something a dictator in a banana republic might say. After all, everybody knows that Legislatures can be a real pain in the arse when it comes to taking over the country. Well, the House has this crazy notion that President Obama is not above the law.

For the 12th time this meteorological summer (since June 1), daytime highs failed to reach 70 degrees Wednesday. Only one other year in the past half century has hosted so many sub-70-degree days up to this point in a summer season -- 1969, when 14 such days occurred. Wednesday's paltry 65-degree high at O'Hare International Airport (an early-May-level temperature and a reading 18 degrees below normal) was also the city's coolest July 8 high in 118 years -- since a 61-degree high on the date in 1891.

South Korea's state intelligence organization said Friday it has discovered that a wave of cyber attacks carried out earlier this week into key government and private websites in South Korea and the United States was launched from computers in 16 countries, Yonhap News Agency reported. The National Intelligence Service made the report to a closed-door meeting with members of a parliamentary intelligence committee, Yonhap quoted committee members as saying. North Korea was not among the 16 countries, which include South Korea, the United States, Japan, and Guatemala, Yonhap said. The cyber attacks have been traced to 86 Internet Protocol addresses...

Something explosive is about to hit the British political arena, a book with ideas so shocking it will change the debate on the most important issue in European politics. For years, the European political class have told their peoples that mass immigration was beneficial, inevitable and historically precedented. It enriched our lives, it boosted our economy, it made us better people morally and it was a continuation of our countries’ histories of immigration, and anyone who disagrees is a racist bigot. The ruling class kitted the emperor out in his fancy new clothes and if people could not see them...

LAWRENCEVILLE - Betty Macaluso doesn't need an alarm clock; she has cats. The Lawrenceville woman is awakened each morning by Tom 2, a wide-eyed orange and white cat, who gently paws at her arm about 6 a.m. wanting his breakfast. If Tom 2 happens to sleep through his job or gets distracted, Tiger, a heavier gray and black tabby, steps in. Since Macaluso can't hear the ringing of an alarm clock - she has been deaf all her life - her cats serve as her ears. She adopted Tom 2 and Tiger, both now about a year old, from PetSmart...

Obama's breaking promises to his voters on a daily basis - infuriating conservatives and disaffecting the moderates who voted for him- but making the far left ecstatic... after all, they knew he was lying the whole time, anyway.

12:35 PM PDT, July 9, 2009 RIVERSIDE -- A San Jacinto man is accused of "slam-dunking" a Chihuahua to the ground, forcing it to be euthanized, according to police. Riverside County sheriff's deputies arrested 44-year-old Javier Rodriguez Garza Tuesday after he failed to show up for a mandated court appearance related to the felony animal-cruelty case, according to a Department of Animal Services press release. Garza is accused of slamming his three-pound, 10-week-old Chihuahua, called "Chipy", to the ground on April 13 after an argument with a woman. Animal Services Officer Jennifer Sinclair observed the dog on the night of...

What was once a grocery shop is now a blackened mess. Two boys in shorts and singlets play in the rubble but the usual occupants are absent. Five days ago a Han Chinese family was butchered in this small shop — victims of the Uighurs who rampaged through Urumqi. Yu Dongzhi described how he clawed through the smoking ruins of the store to search for the family who lived there. He hoped to find his sister, Yu Xinli; her husband, Zhang Mingying; their 13-year-old son; her elderly mother-in-law; and a nephew aged 27. The police helped him to dig among...

El Nino bad news for winter sports outlookStory Published: Jul 9, 2009 at 3:35 PM PDT By Scott Sistek It's official. El Nino is here. Pardon us while we blow our party horn. Toot. It's news snow fans and skiers probably do not want to hear -- climate forecasters say El Nino conditions have developed in the Pacific Ocean. El Nino is a warming of ocean temperatures in the tropical region of the Pacific -- part of a typical 3-5 year cycle where the temperatures drift from warm (El Nino) to normal (neutral) to cold (La Nina) then back again....