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Republicans question info on city absentee forms PLATTSBURGH — Republican candidates for local office have heard firsthand from voters who say they may have been misled into casting absentee ballots this election. “I am absolutely convinced that this is happening,” Mark Dame, a Republican incumbent candidate for the Clinton County Legislature Area 8 seat, said after meeting with several voters in recent days. “It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure it out.” SIX REASONS ALLOWED Republicans cite an alleged effort on behalf of the Working Families and Democratic candidates to target voters who live in public housing or are...

Australia: AN unholy headache is developing for major churches, with questions raised over whether sacramental wine passes hygiene standards. Former Warrnambool mayor Frank McCarthy, a devout Catholic, is calling for the time-honoured tradition of drinking from a shared goblet during services to be scrapped. Mr McCarthy said wholesale consumption of wine from the same chalice would not be allowed in any pub or restaurant and queried why churches were given an exemption. The former businessman said the risk of spreading disease was heightened with a shared cup. “The rules and regulations surrounding beverages are pretty clear and no pub or...

We’ve told you before about how GOP House Whip Kevin McCarthy is in a weird place on immigration reform. He’s gotta play the loyal No. 3 guy in charge and not rock the “no pathway to citizenship” boat that Speaker John Boehner is helming. Yes, even though McCarthy’s Bakersfield district is 35 percent Latino and even the local farmers want reform. A new poll to be released Thursday by America’s Voice that we got our hands on early has a message for McCarthy: It’s OK to support a pathway to citizenship. Your constituents will still love you. The poll’s message...

When a course is entitled “History of the U. S. for Policymakers, Activists, and Citizens,” you can bet that the target audience is the second group of constituents. According to the Kennedy School at Harvard, “This is a course intended for policy students, both from the U.S. and from abroad, who would like to enlarge or shore up their knowledge of U.S. history. The course will deal with the major themes, issues, and turning points in the evolution of the modern U.S. (largely post-1900) with an eye towards developments that are likely to be relevant to understanding current and future...

Congressman Darrell Issa sees a way to boost economic prosperity in the San Diego region which he calls home and also, finally, dealing with a broken immigration system. While many elected leaders to the House of Representatives question the offer of citizenship to people who have broken U.S. immigration laws, Issa appears to take a more reasoned approach to a situation which seems to have been exacerbated by the federal government's lackluster efforts over the years at enforcing or reforming its own laws on the books, as well as previous offers of amnesty. A story carried by the DallasNews states...

New Jersey school bans religious Christmas music By Todd Starnes Todd's American Dispatch Published November 01, 2013 FoxNews.com The angels will not be allowed to hark their herald nor will the little Lord Jesus sleep on the hay after a New Jersey school district announced a ban on all religious Christmas music. Constance Bauer, the superintendent of the Bordentown Regional School District, posted a message online stating someone had been questioning recent musical selections for the elementary school Christmas concerts. Pardon me, the school district calls them “winter” concerts. My guess is that a perpetually offended left-winger became unglued when...

Things could look brighter for Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s attorney general and Republican gubernatorial nominee. You don’t have to be Nate Silver to figure out that the last few months’ polls have largely been bad news for him, ranging from not-optimal (not trailing as badly as he had been!) to apocalyptic. But Virginia Republicans are holding out hope, and conversations with a range of the Commonwealth’s political insiders show a broad consensus about the AG’s prospects: His chances of victory, while bleak, aren’t nonexistent. Here’s a potential path, as laid out by onlookers: First, insiders who spoke with National Review Online...

I've heard people ask if you do not participate in this new Obama Care Program, and you owe the fine and do not pay it, you are considered a felon and therefore, your gun rights would be taken away as a result. Your thoughts?

Ken Cuccinelli GOTV Rally Congressman Ron Paul- Eventbrite

President Obama on Friday demanded “new strategies” to boost the nation’s resilience to powerful storms, drought, heat waves and other dangerous weather linked to climate change. Obama issued a wide-ranging executive order designed to support “climate resilient” infrastructure investment in states and communities. It also calls on federal agencies to change their policies and rules “to make the Nation's watersheds, natural resources, and ecosystems, and the communities and economies that depend on them, more resilient in the face of a changing climate.” The executive order, echoing Obama’s second-term climate agenda released in June, recognizes that climate change is inevitable even...

...[T]he striking thing is, there seem to be no anecdotes out there at all of people who have had their plans cancelled but will pay less through Obamacare for better insurance...There also don’t seem to be many stories (I haven’t seen any with screen captures or vetted by a reliable journalist) of people finding they’ll pay a bit more on the Obamacare exchanges but at least get a lower deductible in return. Instead, one finds story after story after story of people who will or would have to pay much more for plans with even higher deductibles and out-of-pocket limits...

Washington (CNN) - White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on Friday continued to defend the rule in the national health care law that may end up forcing millions of Americans from their health insurance. Carney's defense of the law comes amid revelations that a grand total of six Americans signed up for Obamacare coverage on the first day the online exchanges went live October 1, according to internal notes provided to the Republican-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

It’s about time. Tea time. Who makes our founding fathers smile in heaven? The Tea Party representatives who are standing up, standing tall, and demanding common-sense actions. John Adams would be proud of the Tea Party’s elected officials. John Adams was the thorn in the side of the Second Continental Congress. Everybody hated him. He was “obnoxious and disliked.” He didn’t care. He was a visionary. He was brave. He acted on his educated intuition and inherent truths. His poll numbers wouldn’t have been good either. He only had approximately 33% of the support of the colonies and marginally less...

Like some cheesy infomercial that tries to convince you of how great its product is, the Obama administration continues to tell us about the wonders of Obamacare. But a critical difference between Obamacare and the “as seen on TV” product is that the sales number and website for the latter always works, (even if the product doesn’t). That’s the first insult of the government’s healthcare site: it can’t competently sell you what you’re being forced to buy. So, how did we get here? Because Obama and other Democrats made political promises that were necessary in order for the bill to...

Starting Friday, Joyce Lewis and her family will lose $44 from their monthly food stamp benefits. The food stamps buy a lot of economical rice-based meals for the family -- four adults and a grandson who live with Lewis in Spring Hill, Florida. Occasionally, when her grocery store is running a deal, Lewis indulges the family with spare ribs or chicken. The benefit -- totaling $800 for four adults -- never lasts Lewis and her family a full month. "When I get to the end, we always run out. I try to go to all the food pantries," Lewis said....

The two-week partial shutdown of the U.S. government, affecting 800,000 federal employees, has experts uncertain about how automotive sales will be affected. Ford, GM and Ram all seem to be expecting strong sales numbers for October, especially in the booming pickup truck segment, but none seem certain how the shutdown could impact consumers' future big-ticket spending decisions. That's because the shutdown increased consumer anxiety about the overall U.S. economy, according to a story by Consumer Affairs Editor Kelsey Mays at Cars.com, and consumer confidence has not increased much since the shutdown ceased. Apparently there's no shortage of opinions about how...

Taxpayers shell out $52,000 a year to maintain the home of Black History Month founder Carter Woodson. Yet the tiny, dilapidated row house in northwest Washington D.C., with a "No Trespassing" sign and iron bars blocking the front door and windows hasn’t seen a visitor in the seven years since the National Park Service bought it for $2.1 million and designated it a National Historic Site. Senator Tom Coburn, R-Okla.,points to the house as one tiny symbol in a sea of dysfunction in the National Park Service. The Service, with its comparatively small budget, is, he says, a microcosm for...

(CNSNews.com) – Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Thursday announced a “mitigation strategy” for development projects, including natural gas and oil production, on public lands. It was her first formal “secretarial order” since taking the job. “Today we have an unprecedented opportunity – using science and technology to create a better understanding of landscapes than ever before – to advance important conservation goals and achieve our development objectives together,” Jewell said in a speech at the National Press Club. She said it’s a question of striking the “right balance” between development and conservation and helping businesses to be “good partners and...

The joke in question came from the Bluff the Listener segment of the show Saturday, in which an audience member was asked to identify which of three stories about an old joke coming true had been taken from that week's headlines. Peter Grosz, an actor and TV writer who has appeared as a panelist and guest host on "Wait Wait," offered a supposed news item referencing a joke asking how many Poles it takes to screw in a light bulb.

What Is All Souls Day (Commemoration of the Faithful Departed)? All Souls Day History, Information, Prayers, Meaning, Traditions, & More All Souls Day Definition and Meaning What is All Souls Day? It is when the Church commemorates and prays for the souls in Purgatory, who are undergoing purification before entering heaven. All Souls Day is November 2nd, the day after All Saints Day. Prayers: All Souls Day PrayersBasic Facts About All Souls Day Liturgical Color(s): Black, White, or VioletType of Holiday: A Special Class; Ranked With Solemnities because it takes precedence over a SundayTime of Year: November 2 (West),...