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Donor countries have pledged more than $1.5 billion for Syrians displaced by nearly two years of fighting, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, after a donor conference in Kuwait. Ban told the final session of the one-day conference that the meeting has "reached its target" of $1 billion of aid for Syria's neighbours hosting refugees and another $500 million to fund humanitarian work for 4 million Syrians afflicted by the civil war inside the country. But the funds are only expected to cover the coming months, highlighting the massive burden to cope with needs from Syria's civil war and its...

Paedophile MP Cyril Smith was in league with another appalling child sex abuser who set up satanic rituals and raped children as young as TWO, the Sunday People has discovered. Victim Michael Roberts, 40, today bravely puts aside his right to ­anonymity to tell for the first time how he was only six when he was sexually abused by 29-stone politician Smith. And shockingly he has revealed his devil-worshipping stepdad Michael Horgan organised the horrendous ordeal. Horgan made a deal with the man who went on to be knighted after years as a ­respected Member of Parliament...

CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST: Spending Cuts Are Pushing Us Towards A Recession Brett LoGiuratoJanuary 30, 2013 Washington Post conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin has joined the voice of many conservatives lamenting the surprising drop in GDP last quarter. In her post, Rubin argues that spending cuts and Obama's regulations are pushing us toward a recession. The big reason for the surprise drop in fourth-quarter GDP was because of a drop in government spending, particularly a stunning fall in defense and military spending. Rubin writes: "I don’t know why they say the drop is unexpected. We are preparing to decimate national security, at a...

Vote. Do You Support a Path to Citizenship for Illegal Immigrants? http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/

If you like what you've seen so far from RIM BlackBerry's big launch event today, then you might want to know when you can get it? Those in the US might have hoped the rumors weren't true, but indeed, you will have to wait until March before you can get your hands on BlackBerry 10. Though when it does land, customers of AT&T, Verizon, Sprint (only Q10 confirmed) and T-Mobile (Z10 confirmed) will all be able to get onboard. BlackBerry's giving its home turf a little bit of a head start with a February 5th release date and Bell,...

As a public finance economist, I normally focus on big-picture arguments against excessive government. If the public sector is too large, for instance, that undermines economic growth by diverting resources from the productive sector of the economy. The damage is then compounded by a needlessly destructive and punitive tax system. But I’ve also discovered that it helps to personalize the analysis by pointing out examples of ridiculous and wasteful behavior by government. From England: The world’s most useless sign That’s one of the reasons I share horror stories as part of the U.S. vs U.K. government stupidity contest. Some actions...

News Alert: Economy Shrinks in the Fourth Quarter, 2012 – unexpectedly, of course. Big Guy, Te’oing the Recovery What? I thought we would be in the middle of a massive Keynesian recovery by now; that’s what swept Big Guy to reelection, right? I guess the the economy in retrograde is good news for Senator Mary “I am not going to keep cutting the discretionary budget, which by the way is not out of control, despite what you hear on Fox News”  Landrieu, however. Although it looks like we may have a bigger problem than Fox News, this latest economic report...

Should the Boy Scouts of America end its policy against allowing openly gay members?

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has selected his former chief-of-staff William "Mo" Cowan to serve as interim U.S. senator until a special election to fill the seat left vacant by Secretary of State designate John Kerry.

In the five year case against T-Mobile, on January 16 the judge suddenly declared a summary judgment of non-infringement against Calypso Wireless, declaring that 'the evidence is so confusing that no reasonable juror could find for Calypso.' I'm sorry, but I thought that the purpose of a jury trial WAS to make just such a determination in a disputed case. Calypso holds the "923" patent governing all seamless switching among cell phones, Hot Spots, and WiFi. TM, in 2006, signed an agreement with Calypso to see the technology demonstrated but not to market it themselves. Subsequently, the evidence shows that...

Playing the role of political pundit Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) predicted that his sky-high approval rating would dip in light of his successful effort to make New York the first state to pass new gun laws following last month’s shooting in Newtown, Conn. A poll released Wednesday proved that he was right. According to the latest findings from Quinnipiac University, the first-term governor’s approval rating stands at 59 percent—still a strong number, to be sure, but a huge decline since last month’s poll. In the December survey from Quinnipiac, 74 percent of New York voters said they approved of...

Chief, I was down at the station working out this morning, running on the tread mill. While I was running I was watching you testifying to the committee regarding gun control. I got so angry I decided to write you a letter. Since I couldn't find an e-mail address for you I decided to vent a little frustration here in hopes my thoughts will be viewed by someone who can forward them to you. As I watched your admiring glances and fawning praise of Sen. Feinstein, I couldn't help but immediately notice how much you two resemble one another. If...

The Vatican announced this morning that Bishop Alexander Sample of Marquette, Michigan will be the new archbishop of Portland, Oregon, succeeding Archbishop John Vlazny. From the Vatican’s statement on the new appointment: Bishop Sample, previously bishop of Marquette, Michigan, USA, was born in Kalispell, Montana, USA, in 1960, was ordained to the priesthood in 1990, and received episcopal ordination in 2006. In the national bishops’ conference he currently serves on the Subcommittees on Native American Catholics and on the Catechism. He is also vice-postulator for the cause for canonisation of Venerable Frederic Baraga, first bishop of the Diocese of Marquette....

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The preservationists of Timbuktu’s centuries-old artifacts have been holding their breath for weeks, waiting for the moment when the French military would seize back Mali’s ancient northern capital from the Islamic militants who have occupied it for 10 months. At stake were the city’s most precious treasures: tens of thousands of centuries-old, priceless calligraphed manuscripts, whose fate under the jihadists’ rule was deeply uncertain. In interviews with TIME on Monday, preservationists said that in a large-scale rescue operation early last year, shortly before the militants seized control of Timbuktu, thousands of manuscripts were hauled out of the Ahmed Baba Institute...

FBI agents late Tuesday night raided the West Palm Beach business of an eye doctor suspected of providing free trips and even underage Dominican Republic prostitutes to U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. — who has denied what he calls the “fallacious allegations.” Agents gathered at the medical-office complex of Dr. Salomon Melgen, a contributor to Menendez and other prominent politicians, to start hauling away potential evidence in several vans. The investigation is believed to be focusing on Melgen’s finances and the allegations about Menendez’s trips and contact with prostitutes. A spokesman for Menendez could not be reached for comment, nor...

Obama and his socialist-fascist regime now wants to take our guns. Like hell you say. America answers by buying guns in record numbers. Americans will never allow themselves to be disarmed. The founding fathers intended American citizens to be armed to defend themselves from just such runaway tyrannical government. America's response to Obama's attempted gun grab: FUBO!! You want my gun? Come and take it!! Never surrender!! Never retreat!! Never give up your guns!! Free Republic stands for God and country!! We defend Life, Family, Constitution, Liberty!! And we defend our God-given, constitutionally guaranteed right to keep and bear arms!!...

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard stunned constituents on Wednesday by announcing that national elections will be held on September 14. Gillard, who holds power by a narrow margin and is trailing in the polls behind the conservative opposition, broke from the country’s tradition of revealing election dates only a few weeks in advance. While Gillard’s surprising announcement aimed at ending political uncertainty surrounding her struggling minority government, she sparked outrage within the Jewish community, as September 14 falls out on Yom Kippur—the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

(CNN) -- A gunman boarded a school bus in Alabama, took a 6-year-old boy hostage and killed the driver who tried to save him, police said Wednesday. The incident occurred Tuesday and continued into Wednesday morning, with authorities still desperately trying to free the young child, who was being held by the gunman in an underground bunker. "We will continue to work diligently through the night in an effort to bring closure to this incident as quickly as possible," the Dale County Sheriff's Department said late Tuesday. Authorities identified the slain bus driver as 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland Jr. Late...

Russia is terminating the agreement on cooperation with the United States in the fields of law and drug enforcement, the Russian government said Wednesday, Jan 30, according to RIA Novosti. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a relevant order to terminate the deal, the government said in a statement on its website. “The order was initiated by the Russian Foreign Ministry, as the above agreement is out of line with today’s realities and has exhausted its potential,” the statement said. The agreement was signed on September 25, 2002. As part of the deal, the United States provided financial assistance to...