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Obama adamantly insists his plan would in no way benefit illegal immigrants, but it's hard to see how one of his central claims can be accurate so long as he ignores the large populace of illegals in this state, variously estimated at between 1.8 million and 2.5 million persons. "Right now," says the White House position paper on how the Obama reforms would help Californians, "providers lose over $5.1 billion in bad debt which often gets passed to families in the form of a hidden premium 'tax.' Health insurance reform will tackle this financial burden by "... covering the uninsured,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2009 – Iraqi forces, with U.S. forces advisors, arrested 10 terrorism suspects in recent days, military officials reported. The operations took place in northern Iraq, Baghdad and in Iraq’s Babil province. In northern Iraq, Iraqi forces arrested four suspected terrorists under the authority of various warrants Aug. 29. A Beiji special weapons and tactics team arrested a suspected terrorist in Salahuddin province with a warrant issued by the Beiji Investigative Court for suspicion of trafficking illegal weapons throughout the country. In Diyala province, Iraqi commandos arrested three suspected terrorists with warrants issued by a court in Khark....

A weapons plank in a raft of G-20 Summit legislation moving through Pittsburgh City Council drew fire from gun rights advocates yesterday, prompting the National Rifle Association to consider yanking its 2011 annual meeting from the city. The proposed ordinance would allow police to cite people for carrying a variety of items, from rotten eggs to 37 types of guns, if police perceive an intent to defy their orders. "This is the inevitable encroachment of government in areas where they've been proscribed from doing that," said Kim Stolfer, legislative committee chairman for the Allegheny County Sportsmen's League. His group will...

An Israeli Arab man has been indicted for allegedly working on behalf of Hezbollah in a plot to assassinate Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, a gag order lifted on Monday revealed. Tira resident Rawi Fuad Sultani, 23, was arrested by Shin Bet and Israel Police forces earlier this month and indicted at the Haifa District Court. According to the charge sheet, Sultani first made contact with Hezbollah agents at a multi-national Arab summer camp in Morocco organized by the Israeli Arab political party Balad. Lebanese Hezbollah agent Salman Harev, who also took part in the camp, spent...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2009 – Military working dogs have come a long way since the days of ancient Persia and Assyria, where they donned armor, spiked collars and warned of impending attack or charged on the enemy's cavalry. But they are as important as ever, and U.S. military leaders are making sure they are rewarded with a happy retirement. Air Force Staff Sgt. Christa Quam holds her puppy, which will enter the military working dog program in a year at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. The dogs are enrolled in a 60- to 90-day training program, where they are trained...

The more liberals hate her, the more money she makes. I'm cool with it.

Note: The following SNIPPET is a quote: Head of English Language School Sentenced to Federal Prison for Immigration Fraud Conspiracy Songwoo Shim Obtained Fraudulent Certification for School and Used School as Front to Issue Fraudulent Immigration Documents to Illegal Aliens ATLANTA, GA—SONGWOO SHIM, 48, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr. to serve three years, 10 months in federal prison for conspiring to encourage and induce aliens to reside unlawfully in the United States and for manufacturing fraudulent visa documents. Acting United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “This defendant obtained approval...

HORSERACE Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, is holding a conference call, discussing the Post's A1 story on his thesis, and other topics: "I never thought many people would ever read or care about my thesis. I think that until recently, only five people had read it, two of which were myself and my wife. I haven't thought about it in several decades." "I am disappointed but not surprised that my opponent wnats to make this a central issue in the campaign; he continues to backtrack from his pledge at first deabte that the focus of thecampaign...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Aug. 31, 2009 – Fostering good working relationships with Iraqi counterparts is an integral part of mission success here. Just as soldiers no longer go into the cities without Iraqi security forces partners, Contingency Operating Base Adder no longer can function efficiently without engaging local sheiks and key leaders. Army Lt. Col. Alan J. Shumate, Sheik Tayseer al-Manshed al-Ghezi, and his interpreter Ayad, visit and look at photographs in Shumate’s office on Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq, Aug. 18, 2009. U.S. Army photo by 2nd Lt. Sophia Volz  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. This...

A mosque in Elizabeth, Dar-ul-Islam, is spearheading a national prayer gathering next month in Washington, D.C., that organizers are billing as the first event of its kind -- organized prayer for tens of thousands of Muslims outside the U.S. Capitol building. The event will not include political speeches or placards, just prayer, said Hassen Abdellah, president of Dar-ul-Islam and a main organizer of the event, which is scheduled for Sept. 25.

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Aug. 31, 2009 – As U.S. forces take extra precautions to protect civilian lives in southern Afghanistan, an Army reservist used his civilian skills to preserve the life of a local truck driver. Army Master Sgt. Joseph Oswald received an Army Achievement Medal for helping to save an Afghan man whose cement truck rolled over and into a ditch Aug. 21, 2009, on Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. U.S. Army photo by Maj. Sheldon Smith  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Master Sgt. Joseph Oswald, a Joint Sustainment Command Afghanistan civil-military operations noncommissioned officer from Cincinnati, was returning...

OTTAWA -- To lift a quip from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Arctic sovereignty policy and apply it to the American view of Alberta’s oilsands: use it or lose it. The Chinese government pushed its shovel deep into Canada’s energy motherlode on Monday when it announced a $2-billion stake in a five-billion-barrel reserve of “dirty oil” that Americans increasingly find unworthy of fuelling their vehicles. The 60% claim by PetroChina in two projects owned by Athabasca Oil Sands Corp., while small compared to the great gobs of capital pouring into oilsands expansion and extraction, are the global giant’s largest investment in...

See the previous parts in this series:Beck to the Future: Glen Beck Exposes Dangerous Link Between Nazi Eugenics and ObamaCare Reform Experts  Beck to the Future II: Three Scary ObamaCare "Czars"WASHINGTON, D.C., August 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Glen Beck says that Germany went terribly wrong from two things: the nation "ran out of money" and it had "crazy people" - the National Socialists - running a centralized bureaucracy that extended its reach into all corners of German society, and particularly in the nation's universal health-care system.For Beck, the list of Obama advisors behind health-care reform certainly seems to fit the...

Note: The following text is a quote: Bryan Resident Sentenced to Prison for Bank Fraud HOUSTON—Mohammad Ghafrullah Choudhry, aka Muhammad Ullah, a Pakistani national and resident of Bryan, Texas, was sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment for bank fraud, United States Attorney Tim Johnson and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard C. Powers announced today. Convicted in June 2009 after pleading guilty to bank fraud, Choudhry, 46, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon. In June, Choudhry admitted to using the name Muhammad Ullah and a fraudulently acquired Social Security number to open credit card accounts with five banks—JP...

A plan to create what could become the first recreation center in the country designed to comply with Muslim religious beliefs is gaining steam in the Twin Cities. The proposal for a $48 million Muslim Youth and Recreation Center comes from Somali Youth Action of Minnesota, a new nonprofit organization working to reduce youth violence. Early sketches of the project reveal separate swimming pools for men and women, separate exercise rooms, an indoor soccer field and a large multi-purpose room for weddings and other events. The group hasn't purchased land for the proposed center and is just starting to form...

Responding to criticism from former Vice President Cheney that President Obama is making the nation more vulnerable to terrorism, the president’s National Security Adviser, Gen. Jim Jones (Ret.), told ABC News in an exclusive interview that actually the reverse is true: President Obama’s greater success with international relations has meant more terrorists put out of commission. “This type of radical fundamentalism or terrorism is a threat not only to the United States but to the global community,” Jones said. “The world is coming together on this matter now that President Obama has taken the leadership on it and is approaching...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2009 – When reserve-component troops are called away for military duties, their civilian employers work hard to pick up the slack in their absence. That is especially true for the Mid American Kidney Stone Association, a research group of only 10 staff members in Kansas City, Mo. However, the small association gladly makes do and continues to support its part-time troops despite the heavy workload and small team, said Army Reserve Col. Harold DeLaughder, a citizen-soldier and Mid American nurse. “When one of its employees has to perform military duties away from their civilian job, it is...

Vice President Joseph Biden listens as Sr. Carol Keehan announces an agreement to help finance health reform. Credit: CHA Washington D.C., Aug 31, 2009 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- In a statement released last Friday, the Catholic Health Association (CHA) clarified that it has not thrown its institutional support behind the current health care bill, while also reiterating its commitment to protect life from conception to natural death.The Catholic Health Association “has long been committed to a goal of health coverage for all people in the United States. CHA has not, however, endorsed any of the bills currently under consideration,”...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release August 31, 2009 TO ADJUST THE RULES OF ORIGIN UNDER THE NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES - - - - - - - BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION 1. In Presidential Proclamation 8097 of December 29, 2006, pursuant to the authority provided in section 1206(a) of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (19 U.S.C. 3006(a)) (the "1988 Act"), the President modified the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on last night’s edition of Penn & Teller’s show. The program aired on Showtime which is owned by CBS: The Nazis couldn’t have done better. Having been in this job for over 16 years, I have never seen a more defamatory, obscene and vicious show on TV. And I mean about any religious or demographic group—not just Catholics. The lies about the Catholic Church, to say nothing of the vile language used by Penn Jillette, were positively astounding. Moreover, it never attempted to be comedic—from the very beginning it advertised the show as payback...