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Saving the Jews of Nazi France As Jews in France tried to flee the Nazi occupation, Harry Bingham, an American diplomat, sped them to safety By Peter Eisner Smithsonian magazine, March 2009 An internationally known german novelist, Lion Feuchtwanger had been a harsh critic of Adolf Hitler since the 1920s. One of his novels, The Oppermanns, was a thinly veiled exposé of Nazi brutality. He called the Führer's Mein Kampf a 140,000-word book with 140,000 mistakes. "The Nazis had denounced me as Enemy Number One," he once said. They also stripped him of his German citizenship and publicly burned his...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin went Glenn Beck one better after he asked viewers to invite a friend to watch his popular show on Fox cable TV: She posted a Facebook message urging all of her friends to tune in. Glenn returned to his show Monday after a week's absence, earning this plaudit on Palin's Facebook page Wednesday: "FOX News' Glenn Beck is doing an extraordinary job this week walking America behind the scenes of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and outlining who is actually running the White House.

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal. Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards. The letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely criticised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release. The correspondence makes it plain that the key...

The editor of The New York Times Book Review and the paper's "Week in Review" section, Sam Tanenhaus is the biographer of Whittaker Chambers and is at work on the life of William F. Buckley Jr. In a new, short book, The Death of Conservatism, he argues that the right needs to find its footing for the good of the country. In an e-mail exchange with Jon Meacham, Tanenhaus reflected on the book's themes. Excerpts:

In the coming disaster movie "2012," tragedy strikes Randy's Donuts in Inglewood when its giant rooftop donut becomes unhinged and is last seen bouncing down the street in the direction of star John Cusack's limo. The incident is just digital magic, of course. In real life, Randy's -- once a member of the now-defunct Big Donut chain -- is very much intact, as 405 Freeway drivers know well.

Although Glenn Beck's hit Fox News show doesn't even air during prime time, he is generating huge prime-time-like numbers at 5 p.m. TVbytheNumbers.com reports that, despite a liberal group's "boycott" of "The Glenn Beck Program," Beck is striking "pure ratings gold."

Obama Health Care leads to forced indenture. Can’t any one see where Obama Health Care is headed? The monetary costs are trivial compared to FORCED INDENTURE. Forced indenture will follow single payer healthcare, as night follows day. Do those who demand health care for all know what they are asking for? No, they don’t. If they did, they would be embarrassed. Read all

THE Royal Society is backing research into simulated volcanic eruptions, spraying millions of tons of dust into the air, in an attempt to stave off climate change. The society will this week call for a global programme of studies into geo-engineering — the manipulation of the Earth’s climate to counteract global warming — as the world struggles to cut greenhouse gas emissions. It will suggest in a report that pouring sulphur-based particles into the upper atmosphere could be one of the few options available to humanity to keep the world cool. The intervention by the Royal Society comes amid tension...

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The beer bike will ride on in Amsterdam. The outsized bikes, seating groups of people around a central bar, are something of a fixture in the city's center. .. ... They will, however, need permits from the various city boroughs, and those permits are likely to come with restrictions on hours of operation and requirements for a sober driver. While non-drinkers already typically steer the bikes, their size has also been an issue .. One of the better-known operators, PartyFiets.nl, offers two-hour tours on bikes that seat up to 22 people and carry 30 litres (7.9 gallons)...

A lame rally from a bunch of Obama robots pretending to be grassroots, pictures show it's from the Obama campaign for Health Care, (big surprise) and they say we are astroturfing....

One of the nice things about internet bulletin boards is the anonymity of each poster. Of course it isn’t perfect since the board owner has enough information to positively identify everyone and TPTB can (and probably will) demand that data whenever they choose. In the meantime there is one way our paranoia can be used against us. We all swear that our “line in the sand” is the confiscation of our guns. We say that if and when it happens we will get the word out on the internet and thus mobilize thousands of patriots. Good idea. But what if...

Hello again, I want to say thanks to all of you who prayed for me this past Friday for my brief interview on the Fox News Channel about Rifqa Bary’s situation. It was a much shorter interview than I was expecting, but the Lord is the one who even made the interview possible in the first place, so praise God! Anyway, I am writing you again because they have asked me to come back on tomorrow, (Sunday August 30) @ 7:20am Eastern & 6:20am Central time for another interview. PRAISE GOD! I have an overwhelming desire to get Rifqa’s testimony...

This much is still certain: Hundreds of political donors to Bill Richardson have received government jobs, contracts and other favorable treatment during his 6 1/2 years as governor. Some of those campaign contributors have been enriched by millions of dollars. Those facts are unchanged by the Justice Department's decision not to pursue criminal charges against Richardson or his aides in the case of one government contractor that made political donations. Acting U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt said that pressure from the Governor's Office "resulted in the corruption of the procurement process" and that nonprosecution "should not be interpreted as exoneration of...

TOKYO, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Japanese voters are expected Sunday to vote the country’s Liberal Democratic Party out of office for the first time in 55 years. The latest Kyodo news poll indicates 35.9 percent of voters are planning to back the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, an increase of 3.3 percent over last week, The Daily Telegraph of London reported Friday. Prime Minister Taro Aso has been portraying his opponent, Yukio Hatoyama, as inexperienced and says he is trying to win over voters with promises that are impossible to keep.

Gee you go on vacation for a few days and weird things start happening. The New York Times reported that public health officials in the Center For Disease Congto (CDC) are considering promoting routine circumcision for all baby boys born in the United States to reduce the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The topic is a delicate one that has already generated controversy, even though a formal draft of the proposed recommendations, due out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the end of the year, has yet to be released. Experts are also considering...

Charles Hurt of the New York Post reports today: Rep. Charles Rangel claimed on mortgage papers that a Harlem brownstone was his principal residence -- even though he was living elsewhere at the time, The Post has learned. When the Democrat -- who is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee -- took out the mortgage in 1990, he said the property on West 132nd Street was his "principal residence," records show. By our count, Rangel simultaneously claimed three “primary residences.” The first is where he really lives, in three rent-stabilized Harlem apartments, for which he does not qualify, based...

Not sure but just watched Keery go over and bend over to shake hands with dwindleing Byrd and it sure looked like the but of an Auto siloetted under that suit jacket....Any one else pick up on that.....

Massachusetts would be well-served if the law is changed to allow the governor to appoint an interim senator while the election of a successor proceeds and thus the state will not lose a voice as critical legislation comes before Congress. There would be no better and deserving choice for the interim position than former Gov. Mike Dukakis. - Richard Rust, Boston

As Argentina deals with its latest economic crisis, [Candace Piette admires the tango industry's ability to survive through good times and bad.] Tango is about national identity and every note of its music, every gesture of the dance, contains within it their history All correspondents who come to Buenos Aires have to do a story about tango and this was going to be mine. The reason for doing this one was the huge drop in income the tango business was experiencing, because of the global economic downturn. Fewer tourists were coming to the city, and many of the tango shows...

ISLAMABAD – Helicopter gunships destroyed a training camp for suicide bombers in Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley, killing six Taliban fighters in an area the government had already declared clear of militants, an official said Saturday. The camp's trainees — including teenagers — were responsible for at least three attacks in recent weeks, an army spokesman said. Pakistan's army says it is restoring security in Swat and surrounding areas after a three-month offensive wrested the valley back from Taliban control, but suicide attacks and skirmishes continue, with reports Saturday of scattered violence killing at least 12 more suspected militants.