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TEHRAN, Iran – The American woman released by Iran on Tuesday after more than a year in prison said she was humbled and grateful to Iran's president for her freedom shortly before she boarded a flight to the nearby Gulf sultanate of Oman where her mother was awaiting her. Iran freed Sarah Shourd, 32, after a $500,000 bail was paid to win her freedom.

LEAVENWORTH, Wash. (AP) - A Washington state bear specialist says his agency is still trying to find homes for two bear cubs orphaned last week when a Leavenworth-area man shot and killed their mother. Rich Beausoleil of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said two rehab facilities in Washington state are full. He said Monday his agency has put out feelers to place the cubs in facilities in other states, but hasn't yet heard back.

The tiny state of Delaware, where Washingtonians escape to the beach and for a bit of tax-free shopping, is an unlikely place for a political revolution. Reliably Democratic, for more than three decades Delaware dutifully returned Joe Biden to the Senate. In the battle for Biden’s old seat, it seemed that the only twist might be that Republican former governor and long-time congressman Mike Castle might manage to wrest it from Democratic control. A liberal republican, Castle seemed to the ideal candidate – acceptable to Democratic-leaning Delaware but a Republican in a year when all the energy promised to be...

The stories of Greek unrest that came to a head this past summer shocked the world. There, people had become so dependent upon government programs that when parliament tried to dismantle the welfare state, left-wing terrorist and anarchist groups lashed out. One “radical leftist group” called Revolutionary Struggle is accused of shooting an Athens police officer during riots in 2009, toward the beginning of the Greek financial crisis. This past May, three were killed during protests outside the Greek Parliament when those “whom the police … identified broadly as anarchists,” hurled gas bombs that engulfed a bank. Such attacks are...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. Four Naval Academy midshipmen and a professor, along with Navy scientists, head to the North Sea on Wednesday to search for the remains of Capt. John Paul Jones' ship, Bonhomme Richard. This search for one of the most famous ships of the American Revolution will combine oceanography, historical analysis and naval engineering and employ cutting-edge technology. A multibeam sonar, for example, will give researchers three-dimensional pictures of objects on the ocean floor, and a gradiometer, a mine-sweeping tool, can detect objects buried under sediment. If the researchers on this two-week expedition find the remains of Jones' ship, which...

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In today's mail, this post by El Marco, the photographer who took the stunning photos of the Ground Zero Mosque protest rally held in New York City last Saturday, 9-11.  As his photos will attest, some 30 to 40,000 came to voice their objection to the imposition of yet another symbol of Islam's stated desire to spread its totalitarian system (caliphate) in the USA:  planting an Islamic building at Ground Zero in the heart of Manhattan.  In an email accompanying his post, El Marco writes about the heavy security necessary to protect those who speak boldly and publicly against the...

   Cross (Alpha & Omega) This Latin cross combined with the alpha and omega remind us that though Christ died on the cross for our sins, he now reigns in glory forever. Season: The Sundays after Pentecost, also Ascension Sunday and Christ the King Sunday Cross (Anchor) The anchor ymbolizes the Christian's hope in Christ. This cross was also the emblem of St. Clement, Bishop of Rome, who according to tradition was tied to an anchor and tossed into the sea by the emperor Trajan. Hebr. 6:17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear...

Barack Obama is to go ahead with plans to sell Saudi Arabia advanced aircraft and other weapons worth up to $60bn (£39bn), the biggest arms deal in US history, in a strategy of shoring up Gulf Arab allies to face any military threat from Iran. According to the Wall Street Journal, the administration is also in talks with the Saudis about possible naval and missile-defence upgrades that could be worth tens of billions of dollars more over five to 10 years. Plans to go ahead with the package, which has been under secret negotiation since 2007, have been known for...

PARIS – The French Senate has voted overwhelmingly for a bill banning the burqa-style Islamic veil everywhere from post offices to streets, in a final step toward a making it law. The Senate voted 246 to 1 Tuesday in favor of the bill, which has already passed in the lower chamber, the National Assembly. Any dissenters have 10 days to challenge the measure in the Constitutional Council watchdog, but that is considered unlikely.

Top 10: 1: 'Bama2: UT3: THE Ohio State University4: OU5: UF6: Boise State7: Oregon8: TCU9: Iowa10: Nebraska

Hawker Beechcraft proposes F-35 cannon for AT-6 By Stephen Trimble Hawker Beechcraft has revealed new details about its plans for the AT-6 light attack and armed reconnaissance (LAAR) fighter, including the possibility of integrating a 25mm cannon. A derivative of the General Dynamics GAU-12 Equalizer, a five-barrel cannon developed for the Lockheed Martin F-35, is among the weapons in consideration for the turboprop-powered aircraft, says Derek Hess, Hawker Beechcraft's director of AT-6 development programmes. A French 20mm gun is another option under review to either replace or augment the .50cal gun pod that is integrated on the twin-seat fighter, Hess...

“If the price ratio between [gold and silver] were to revert back to it’s historical average, then silver prices would outperform gold by more than 2 to 1. In fact, the physical ratio of silver to gold in the earth’s crust is 16 to 1. During the inflationary 1970’s, the ratio between gold and silver prices was at exactly 16:1…mirroring the proportions in which the two metals occur in nature.” –The Little Book of Commodity Investing, by John Stephenson (Wiley) With gold currently trading around $1250 per ounce, and silver just above $19, the current ratio of gold’s price to...

Voters are angry, and for good reason. Jobs are gone; poverty is up; one in four homes, the leading source of savings for Americans, is underwater, worth less than the mortgage. Many who voted for Obama are discouraged; some argue there isn't a whit of difference between the parties. An increasing percentage say they will vote against the incumbents simply to protest what is going on. But there is a great difference between the two parties. It's personified by the contrast between the positions of President Obama and House Minority Leader John Boehner. On taking office, faced with an economy...

Marines Could Fly CTOL JSF (Updated) Posted by Bill Sweetman at 9/14/2010 5:48 AM CDT The US Marine Corps could make greater use of (see update for wording change) the Air Force's F-35A variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, as delays and a major review cast more doubt on the feasibility of meeting a late-2012 IOC date with the F-35B short take-off, vertical landing variant. The change is one of the options emerging from an in-depth review of the JSF program, covering the path from now until initial operating capability and full production, Lockheed Martin F-35 general manager Tom Burbage...

(Reuters) - Gold could rally above $1,300 an ounce this year, setting successive all-time highs, as uncertainty about economic recovery and a sovereign debt crisis stoke investment interest, according to a closely watched industry report released Tuesday. Investment demand in gold should benefit from the threat of inflation as central banks cut interest rates to the bone to battle double-dip recession and high unemployment, respected metals consultancy GFMS Ltd said in its Gold Survey 2010 Update. "I think we could easily see gold spike comfortably above $1,300 before the year's out ... further gains in 2011 are far from out...

The Puertorican convert to Islam, turned "Imam" Wilfredo Amir Ruiz was interviewd on Saturday (9/11/2010) by the program "Rojo Vivo" of Telemundo. He blamed the TeaParty for Islamophobia. (Important to note that: BC and Telemundo are owned by General Electric Co. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks. TeleFutura is a division of Univision) He was also on WLRN PBS in Spanish (9/12/2010) Sunday (Foro 17, Dade county FL), stating that the Quran is about "virgin Mary" and Jesus, that "this is what pastor Jones wanted to burn..." He spinned 360 degrees on a question of women's rights in...

SNIPPET: “Tell me that the comprehensive plan is not about control,” she said. She reiterated concerns she has expressed during city meetings regarding the exclusion of the public from the process. “See, the majority of us were not invited,” Taylor-Restine said. A 21-member steering committee appointed by the City Commission drafted the plan, with the help of a consulting firm. It contains ideas and identifies priorities established during a 14-month process of meetings and hearings that by state law had to be open to the public. Any regulations initiated as a result of the comprehensive plan will have to go...

Philadelphia newspapers sale collapses 12:59pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The sale of Philadelphia's two largest newspapers collapsed on Tuesday, forcing the publisher to find a new way to sell itself through the bankruptcy process. The sellers had faced a noon EDT (1600 GMT) deadline to sell the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News to its lenders for $139 million, which required that it resolve disputes with various unions. "The transaction has not closed," said Lawrence McMichael, a partner at Dilworth Paxson LLP representing Philadelphia Newspapers LLC. "The asset purchase agreement has expired. We are working with all parties on...

If a RINO is a Republican In Name Only, let's coin a new acronym for David Brooks: RINYTO: Republican In New York Times Only. For only in the Gray Lady's bailiwick could Brooks be considered much of a Republican. Take his current column in the Times. Brooks warns Republicans on the verge of regaining power that it would be nothing short of a "tragedy" if they were to oppose . . . more government and higher taxes.