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A giant crop circle resembling an owl has appeared in a field in Wiltshire, amid a theory that it is a tribute to Harry Potter's pet Hedwig. The 400ft pattern, the latest in a string of bird-themed designs seen this summer, appeared overnight in a field in Woodborough Hill. But while crop circle specialists are searching for a meaning, and some are convinced it is a tribute to the teenage wizard. Steve Killick, a Harry Potter fan, said: "It is very exciting to think that there are fans of Harry from other galaxies

Abercrombie's response: "Of course I'm playing to working people. The building trades and working people have been the foundation of my political career for 36 years," he said. "If I didn't do this, people would say, 'What's wrong with him?'"

The key point about the Van Jones affair is what it tells us about Barack Obama. Jones isn't someone who slipped through the cracks of the vetting process. We know this because, as Scott pointed out earlier today, top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett has said, "So, Van Jones, we were so delighted to be able to recruit him into the White House; we were watching him. . .for as long as he's been active out in Oakland." Having watched the rise of Van Jones, why did Team Obama nonetheless "recruit" him into the White house? Because what Jones says and...

The president’s strategy on January 20 was to hurl all the vast transformative spaghetti at the wall — stimulus, auto nationalization, cap’n’trade, health care — and make it stick through the sheer charisma of his personality. Unfortunately, the American people aren’t finding it quite so charismatic, and they’re beginning to spot the yawning gulf between the post-partisan hopeychangey rhetoric and the budget-busting prosperity-throttling future-beggaring big-government policies. Mark Steyn Mention Sarah Palin’s name in polite company and you’re sure to ellicit a firestorm of indignation from all sides of the political spectrum. And even though it’s a foregone conclusion that her...

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison plans to restructure the Texas Department of Transportation, she told a crowd of about 30 people Thursday. Challenging incumbent Rick Perry for the Republican nomination for governor, Hutchison made a campaign stop at the East Texas Regional Airport before flying to Tyler for another event. "I want a Texas Department of Transportation that doesn't dictate from the top down," Hutchison said to applause. She said local leaders should have more say in transportation decisions in their areas. Hutchison said she would like to divide the state into regional transportation areas led by councils of city...

Here is video of pollster and political analyst Charlie Cook telling MSNBC's Chris Matthews that things are not looking good for Democrats. He pointed to new polling that shows on "Party Identification," Democrats now have only a 5-point advantage over Republicans, 45%-40%. That's down from a 17-point margin in January, 52%-45%. Cook said Party ID is always a "lagging indicator," meaning things have really gone sour for Obama. He also warned that Democrats face a real problem in next year's mid-term election because mid-terms are almost always dominated by older voters, whom Cook said Obama is weakest with. Matthews and...

http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/PresidentialActions/ PROCLAMATIONS 9/4/2009 Presidential Proclamation National Days of Prayer and Remembrance, 2009 ### Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release September 3, 2009 NATIONAL DAYS OF PRAYER AND REMEMBRANCE, 2009 - - - - - - - BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION They were daughters and sons, sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, spouses and partners, family and friends, colleagues and strangers. They hailed from cities and towns across our Nation and world. On September 11, 2001, thousands of...

It's now just past 4PM Central time and as of last check, Van Jones is still President Obama's green jobs' czar. It's been more than two days since it was revealed that Mr. Jones signed onto a petition that accused the government of George Bush of attacking its own people on 9/11. It's been nearly a week since Glenn Beck started his full frontal assault on exposing the radicalism of Jones. The latest revelation is this video.

Gubernatorial candidate U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, stopped in Longview to gather support from local business and civic leaders during her second East Texas tour within a month. The self-proclaimed "East Texas girl," who stopped in Tyler and other regional towns in mid-August, continued her campaign to dethrone the longest-serving governor in Texas history, Rick Perry. Sen. Hutchison said, "we are treading water better than any state that is moving ahead, but that is not good enough." The senator assured attendees that she is no stranger to the region and its needs. "I have been here many times, and...

Illegal immigration is depleting California's human capital and ravaging its economy. California's financial unraveling has prompted a long overdue debate about taxes, regulation, and government spending. But what the state continues to ignore is the IRREPARABLE damage that nearly 30 years of uncontrolled illegal immigration has achieved. The influx has been composed of the poorly educated, the unskilled, and the illiterate. Such immigrants will soon dominate the state's overall population and politics. In 2005, the California K-12 school system was 48.5 percent Hispanic and 31 percent white. By now it's above 50 percent Hispanic. UC Santa Barbara estimates high school...

Two former Texas Tech University System regents said Friday that allies of Gov. Rick Perry's pressured them to resign after their support for Perry's political rival — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison — became public. One of the former regents, Windy Sitton, said that Scott Dueser, then chairman of the board, told her last year that the governor's office had said for Sitton "to cease and desist supporting Kay Bailey immediately or resign from the board." She said that she did neither. Perry replaced her this year after her term expired. Mark Griffin, a Lubbock businessman whom Perry appointed to...

As the Sept. 8th President's Speech draws closer, to be heard by many public school classrooms, I would highly recommend that all freedom loving residents write/email to their school superintendents their opinions about students' classroom time being used for this purpose. See Michael Medved's excellent article about this concern: Dear Mr. Superintendent, I am a teacher/parent/grand-parent/guardian of students in your school districts and am deeply concerned that the XXXXXX County schools will be broadcasting an address from the President of the United States during students' class time on September 8th. I have no idea what the content of this address...

2010 Preview: The Hottest Races in the Senate for DemocratsHolly Bailey Election Day 2010 is still more than a year away—423 days to be exact. But it’s never too early to begin looking at what will be the hottest races to watch. Over the next two days, your Gagglers will look at a handful of must-watch Senate races, a list that will no doubt evolve over the next year as the battle for Congress begins. **SNIP** California: Is Barbara Boxer seriously in trouble? One of the more outspoken liberal members of the Senate, Boxer seemed like a shoo-in for a...

I just saw this advertised on Nickelodeon. Evidently, Obama is going after the kids he misses during his fascist school time talk: Tune into Get Schooled: You Have the Right on Nick at Nite, NickToons, The N, all other MTV & BET Networks U.S. channels. Airdate: Tuesday, September 8 [8:00 PM EST] Get Schooled: You Have the Right is a 30-minute special that highlights the education challenges and breakthroughs of well-know personalities The President of the United States Barack Obama, pop superstar Kelly Clarkson and 2009 NBA MVP LeBron James. This unprecedented education special tells the stories of three professionals...

When the Obama administration launched its United We Serve volunteerism program earlier this summer, it was all about building playgrounds, caring for wounded veterans and reading to homeless children. Weeks later, the Obama White House, the National Endowment for the Arts and United We Serve have revealed the actual agenda -- backing the administration's political priorities with coordinated propaganda, perhaps boosted by millions in stimulus cash.

Brian Baird Town Hall meeting Sept 2, 2009 this video is an exchange between a young conservative man and Rep. Baird became a little incensed at the way the young man personalized one key part of his statement. Brian Baird’s rebuttal was interesting in the sense he started to go to half-truths and painted an illusion that the Republican Party was the problem with debt. Because of the spin there is 2-minute segment that address the half-truths and bring some reality back to the issue. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYp0BetIZAE

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2009 AT 2:56 PM Ethics Update Posted by Norm Eisen We have previously reported six limited waivers that have been granted by the White House pursuant to the President’s Executive Order on Ethics for Executive Branch personnel – the strongest ethics standards in U.S. government history. Three of these waivers involved lobbying-related issues and three did not. We blogged about them here, here, and here. Several months ago, the public interest community suggested that we also make available in a central place limited waivers...

An opponent of government healthcare programs had part of a finger bit off during a fight at a pro-healthcare-reform rally this week in Thousand Oaks. William Rice, 65, of Newbury Park was with a small group of counter-protesters at a vigil Wednesday night organized by Moveon.org when a man bit off part of his left pinky finger during a scuffle, authorities said. Doctors were unable to reattach Rice’s finger. Sheriff’s detectives Thursday were still looking for the man who bit Rice. Investigators also were sifting through conflicting accounts of the incident, but Rice acknowledged that he threw the first punch....

Gov. Rick Perry says he can understand why some parent are upset that President Obama plans to talk to school children next Tuesday via a webcast. The event is touted as a way for the president to talk to students about the importance of education and taking responsibility for learning. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush made similiar pitches to school kids way back when, in a different time, in a different political atmosphere. In an interview with AP, Perry said he disagreed with some conservative groups calling on parents to pull their children out of school, saying, he's...

Selling off a range of public bodies would be a "get out of jail card" as the Tories desperately try to balance the books, according to tax lawyer Charlie Elphicke, who has advised the party's economic team. John Redwood, chair of the Conservatives' economic competitiveness commission, has published proposals on his blog for the sale of Britain's motorway network while Ed Vaizey, the shadow arts minister, last week suggested selling off Radio 1.