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Looks like even “Hardball” host Chris Mathews is at last waking up to reality that the gentleman who is now President of the United States, Barak H. Obama has lost the luster that came when he first not only burst unto the scene, but ever since having become President. But also it is like Mr. Mathews is trying to make President Obama to look like the “great communicator”, Ronald Reagan, who he is NOT. Mr. Mathews, it is now time to do let’s say, a REALITY CHECK for a change.

A U.S. space telescope set for launch in 2014 could reveal the presence of oceans on planets outside the solar system, scientists say. Detecting water on Earth-like planets would offer the tantalizing prospect they could sustain life, and scientists hope the reflection of light, or "glint", from mirror-like ocean surfaces could be picked up by the upcoming generation of space telescopes, the BBC reported Thursday.

Just finished the general election numbers in Delaware and New Hampshire. Not going to release them until Wednesday when we have nominees but in one case the conventional wisdom about who's more electable was confirmed and in the other it was not: -In Delaware Chris Coons polls 26 points better against Christine O'Donnell than Mike Castle. Castle's net favorability is 25 points higher than O'Donnell's. That electability gap is even wider than what we saw a month ago when Castle did 20 points better against Coons than O'Donnell.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) began his day Monday with more energy than an 80-year-old congressman under an ethics cloud should have.

 Outside a Harlem subway stop about 7:30 a.m., the back door of a gray Cadillac swung open, revealing a buoyant Rangel. Co-opting a campaign rallying cry from President Obama, he bellowed, “Fired up?” “Ready to vote,” responded Rangel’s entourage of campaign staff and volunteers, who had already assembled outside the 168th Street stop on the No. 3 line. Rangel was clearly upbeat a day ahead of the first real primary challenge he has faced in nearly 20 years, even...

WASHINGTON: As "Taliban's primary sponsor" Pakistan protected and promoted its client every inch of the way in the immediate days after 9/11 resulting in undermining the US war on terror, newly declassified documents detailing exchanges at that time between Washington and Islamabad reveal. As current US strategy increasingly pursues policies to reconcile or "flip" the Taliban, the document collection released on Monday show Washington's refusal to negotiate with Taliban leadership directly after 9/11 and Pakistan's insistence of the relevance of group it nurtured in order to push for strategic depth in Afghanistan and thwart Indian influence. According to the documents,...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, North Carolina United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) is a component command of the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) that comprises the Marine Corps' contribution to SOCOM. Its core capabilities are direct action, special reconnaissance and foreign internal defense. MARSOC has also been directed to conduct counter-terrorism, information operations, and unconventional warfare.It's creation was announced on November 1, 2005 by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, following a meeting between him, the USSOCOM commander General Bryan D. Brown, and the Marine...

Nearly a year after Pittsburgh hosted the G-20 economic summit, local officials will travel to Asia to talk up the city's transformation from a smoky steel town to a city known for its educational institutions and medical facilities. Pittsburgh's contingent, which includes Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Chief of Staff Yarone Zober, Allegheny Conference on Community Development CEO Dennis Yablonsky and officials from the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, will visit Shanghai, China and Seoul Korea from Oct. 6-15.

. NEVER FORGET . Help support VAN TRAN— he’s running to replace Congresswoman LORETTA SANCHEZ for Southern California's 47th Congressional District. The Democrats are doing everything they can to keep her in this seat—the only Democrat congressional seat in Orange County. She’s been a loyal supporter of the Democrat agenda—Obamacare, the stimulus, the auto bailout, the unions, and more. VAN has a record of supporting pro-business legislation and fighting against big government in Sacramento. Assemblyman VAN TRAN can stand up to SANCHEZ and defeat her in the this election. He’s 2 points behind in the latest polls and has nationwide...

Faiz Khan, a physician who claims to have been a first responder after the September 11 attacks, is a founding member of the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth and is on the advisory board of the Muslims for 9/11 Truth. In an essay on the Alliance’s website, he argued that “the prime factor for the success of the criminal mission known as 9/11 did not come from the quarter known as ‘militant Islam’ although the phenomenon known as ‘militant Islamic networks’ may have played a partial role, or even a less than partial role – perhaps the role of patsy...

A founding member of an organization run by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the driving force behind the planned mosque near Ground Zero, claims that the 9/11 attacks were an "inside job" and that Muslims have been made scapegoats, The Post has learned.

There is a glint of John Brown in the eyes of the Rev. Terry Jones, a bit of theatrical madness and a Gingrichian lust for the spotlight. His plan to burn the Quran was canceled, or, given the way these things often go, maybe merely postponed. For CNN will call again or the "Today" show will run out of missing white girls and Jones will again feel compelled to burn someone else's holy book, striking a match to illuminate his own bigotry and, while he's at it, forcing us to take sides. I stand with Jones. I hope I don't...

Quotes from On ‘Demand Side’ Economics The average person works and accumulates savings over 40 years in order to retire. From the time they start to the time they finish, assuming only 2% inflation per year, prices will have risen by 221%. Keynes gets the problem of economics completely backwards. The problem of economics is unlimited demand with limited supply. The implicit argument of Keynes is that the problem of economics is limited demand with unlimited supply. Politicians want to have their money and spend it too. Of course, it makes sense for the Federal Reserve to define their purpose...

Chicopee man died at Gillette Stadium before Sunday's game, officials say E-mail|Link September 13, 2010 01:53 PM By L. Finch, Globe Correspondent A 40-year-old Chicopee man died Sunday after suffering a massive heart attack in the stands of Gillette Stadium in Foxborough before the game between the New England Patriots and the Cincinnati Bengals, fire officials said today. The man was attending the game, the first of the Patriots 2010 season, with his 6-year-old son, and was sitting near the south end zone close to the field, Foxborough Fire Chief Roger Hatfield said.

Adam Serwer claps back at Dinesh D'Souza laughable contention that Obama exhibits "Kenyan anti-colonial behavior." Adam leads by noting that racism is often just another form of intellectual laziness. Indeed. And all the other times it's just intellectual dishonesty. I once had an editor who people used to say would hear a good headline and then tell reporters to go find a story to match it. Likewise, D'Souza's work is the product of a debate culture that markets provocative rhetoric as substantive argument. So for D'Souza the question isn't, "How does Obama think?" as his piece supposes, it's "How do...

SNIPPPET: "Three men who were on-board Delta flight 259 from Amsterdam were met by FBI agents Monday afternoon at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, the FBI confirms. The FBI and other agencies responded to reports of suspicious activity." SNIPPET: "After interviewing the flight crew and passengers, the FBI did not find any indications of terrorism or criminal activity."

Socialism: Dictator Fidel Castro's frantic bid to walk back his statement about the failure of communism in Cuba was laughable, given the state of his worker's para dise. What will show it best now are the big layoffs ahead. In a remark that stunned everyone, Cuba's aging despot last week admitted to a writer from the Atlantic that "The Cuban model doesn't even work for Cuba anymore." Such words would be unimaginable from an authentic leader, such as Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore or Alvaro Uribe of Colombia, who really did transform their countries for the better. But for Castro,...

Last week, the member of the Senate Finance Committee told the Boston Globe, "Under no circumstances do I believe we should give a blanket extension to the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans -- it won't fix our economy and it will add billions to the long-term structural deficit." But in a late July committee meeting, Kerry said he would support a one- to two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts for the rich, if it was part of a bill that also extended middle-class cuts for a longer period, according to person familiar with the situation.

The Florida pastor of a small Christian church in Gainesville, FL found himself at the center of an international firestorm last week. Even the staunchest of conservatives advised him against burning Qur’ans in protest of Islam. U.S. Commander in Afghanistan David Petraeus said it would endanger our troops. However alienated and marginalized Pastor Terry Jones may be as a result, an unintended consequence of his plan is the exposure of a new low water mark for egregious and blatant double standards.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady [stats] sent flowers to the hospitalized 49-year-old Fall River dad who was injured in last week’s car crash - and may now require back surgery, the man’s attorney said today

Attorney General Holder should badger Wisconsin for full compliance The U.S. Justice Department's Voting Rights Section has reached an agreement with the state of Wisconsin that is too weak to adequately protect military voters stationed overseas. The department should not get away with letting other states give short shrift to the voting rights of our armed forces.In 2008, a disturbing 38 percent - 2,125 out of 5,562 - of ballots requested by Wisconsin's overseas military personnel were either not returned on time, returned as undeliverable or rejected for reasons such as a lack of proper witness signature. It's possible that...