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<p>Eight people were taken to area hospitals after a suspicious substance was found Friday morning in an office at the Longworth House Office Building, according to a D.C. fire department spokesman.</p> <p>The spokesman, Timothy Wilson, could not immediately describe the symptoms but said they were minor. He said fire crews evaluated 10 people and took eight to hospitals.</p>

… Ted Cruz, and by acclamation. The moment that convinced these South Carolina voters? Cruz’ riposte to Donald Trump on birther theories, even while Cruz led it off by emphasizing that the debate should focus on more important issues. Looks like Cruz was wrong about that, but the focus group’s reaction to his rebuttal went almost literally off the chart: Frank Luntz Focus Group Picks Their Overwhelming Winner of Fox Business GOP Debate Cruz also scored big when he blasted the Obama administration for the capture of 10 US Navy sailors by Iran, and the images gleefully published by Tehran...

It is doubtful that Cruz supporters know these things about him. Goldman Sachs gave him $69,350. GS is under an FBI investigation that just started in June. It has a long history of dirty dealings and as a Democrat ATM, GS is pro-amnesty. Is this money a “pay it forward” bribe to Cruz to save GS and have a “President Cruz” call the FBI off of his wife’s employer? BTW: GS also gave a fat envelope to Mitch McConnell. The pro-amnesty Club For Growth gave Cruz $705,657. This is a lot of money. It begs the question: Who is Cruz...

The first Republican debate of 2016 on the Fox Business Network averaged 11 million viewers -- the smallest total for any GOP debate this season, according to Nielsen ratings data. The GOP debate this time last month, televised by CNN, averaged 18 million viewers in prime time. Still, Thursday's Fox Business debate ratings are impressive when put into proper historical context. The GOP debate slate -- with Donald Trump front and center -- continues to blow past ratings records from past primary seasons. -snip- The totals are down from Fox Business Network's first GOP debate, held back in November, which...

Ted Cruz said New York values are socially liberal and this latest action by the NY Supreme Court proves he is absolutely right. Not only are they socially liberal, but they violate the very essence of the First Amendment by punishing Christian farm owners who refused to host a gay wedding on their property: WASHINGTON TIMES – A New York appellate court upheld Thursday a $13,000 judgment against the owners of Liberty Ridge Farm for refusing to host a same-sex marriage on their property. Cynthia and Robert Gifford, who own the 100-acre farm in Rensselaer County, violated the state’s Human...

As the auto industry battles to win public confidence after a series of massive recalls, a group of 18 major carmakers announced on Friday they have agreed to a voluntary program with the U.S. government to improve auto safety. The program will focus on better vehicle cybersecurity, early warning data to spot trends and use the aviation industry as a potential model for cooperation in the aftermath of a major government crackdown on car safety failures. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx met with heads of companies like Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and General Motors that in the last two years have...

Afieroma - Dedication or Reminiscence - A Greek Word that Never Made It Into English Afieroma sten Smyrne - Reminiscence of Smyrna - Videos of old Greek-Asia-Minor music Don't pry into things a people don't discuss with outsiders. That said, Greek music is fascinating from Turkish-dominated lands before the Armenian incident. Other Greek music shows a pronounced Arabic sense, why is this? I'm not a musicologist, however, it seems indisputable that a certain vocal tendency in women's singing among the descendants of the former Asia-Minor, Greek lands, centered perhaps around Smyrna, uses a kind of high, warbling, expressive vocal sound,...

It is the most fateful moment in a movie that purports to present a searingly accurate account of the 2012 attacks that left four Americans dead in Benghazi, Libya: a scene in which the highest-ranking CIA operative at a secret agency compound orders his security team to “stand down” rather than rush off to rescue U.S. diplomats under siege less than a mile away. According to the officer in charge of the CIA’s Benghazi base that night, the scene in the movie is entirely untrue. “There never was a stand-down order,” said the base chief known as Bob, speaking publicly...

Dan Haggerty, who fans know as Grizzly Adams, died early Friday morning at the age of 74 from cancer, ABC News has confirmed with the actor's manager Terry Bomar. Haggerty starred as Grizzly Adams in the 1974 film "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams" and the subsequent TV series of the same name, which ran from 1977 to 1978.

(English translation) The GameStop video-game stores in Puerto Rico will close. The United States-based company confirmed the closure as it pointed out that the decision was made due to the government's high taxes which it alleges have affected its operations in the island. It was reported that, unfortunately, over 500 employees will be laid off. According to GameStop's Public Relations Director, they will leave Puerto Rico as early as March.

Clinton's private lawyer got his way when he pushed back after being asked to delete all copies of a classified email-a level of deference an expert calls 'far from the norm.' The State Department put up virtually no resistance when Hillary Clinton's private lawyer requested to keep copies of her emails-even though those emails contained classified information, and even though it was unclear whether the attorney was cleared to see such secrets. Experts on the handling of classified information tell The Daily Beast that the seemingly chummy arrangement between Clinton's lawyer and her former State Department aides was "quite unusual."...

Just as it seemed America was resigned to -- if not applauding -- gay and lesbian marriages, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore has rocked the LGBT boat by ordering his state's probate judges to not honor same-sex marriage licenses. "Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act," Moore wrote in his order that was issued Jan. 6. The phrase "ministerial duty" refers to a July 2015 directive in which Moore argued "public officials are ministers of God assigned the duty of...

Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” is a box-office disaster, and the police officers who boycotted the movie are taking credit for its disappointing ticket sales. The violent Western was released on Christmas Day and has grossed $42.9 million so far. At this rate, it’s set to barely pass its production budget of $50 million — meaning big losses for the Weinstein Co., which spent another $25 million to $35 million on prints and promotion. Police Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch, the first union official to call for a boycott of the film, said, “With nearly 1 million law enforcement...

They are about to become law in Italy, but the pope is discouraging Catholics from raising the barricades. He did the same thing in Argentina. But there's a difference in his politics on immigration, poverty, Islamic radicalism ROME, January 15, 2016 -- Jorge Mario Bergoglio likes his crowds festive and prayerful, never politically aggressive. In Buenos Aires, in 2010, he sent back home the Catholics who had gathered in front of parliament for a prayer vigil against the imminent approval of homosexual marriage. He persuaded them to "avoid the impasse." Of course, in that law Bergoglio saw in action nothing...

Retired 4-Star U.S. Navy Admiral James A. "Ace" Lyons was recently at the National Press Club. And his claims are shocking. It appears that the Obama Regime has been FULLY infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood terrorism front group on every level. And that pro-radical Islam group is also in every level of U.S. security agencies. Lyons went on to say that "the transformation of America has been in full swing ever since 2008." And when Obama campaigned on a platform to "fundamentally transform America," Obama has done exactly that! In addition Lyons made the important point that there is no...

The congressman who infamously said during the Obamacare debate that Republicans wanted sick people to "die quickly" and said Planned Parenthood defunding proponents will shepherd in a wave of deaths said he will sue over Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) eligibility to be president. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) is running for the Senate seat Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is vacating to run for president. Grayson is challenging Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) for the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat. Murphy defeated incumbent Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) in 2012. On the GOP side, Reps. Ron DeSantis and David Jolly are eyeing Rubio's seat....

Not much to say ... Only another few trillion lost from the pension funds, IRA's and 401K invested "for the future" ... So, when will the powers-that-be decide that "money" trumps "their liberal ideology" so the money stops protecting and defending democrat politics?

The Dow plunged 500 points on Friday afternoon, leaving it on track for the worst day since the late August market freakout. The S&P 500 fell 3.3%, while the Nasdaq lost 4%.

Opened at 16,354.33 Down 496.57 Down 3.03%

U.S. stocks traded sharply lower Friday after a slew of disappointing U.S. data, a fresh plunge in oil, taking it below $30 a barrel, and a sell-off in Chinese stocks added to mounting concerns about slowing global growth. The S&P 500 fell below its August low of 1,867, briefly trading 3.5 percent lower in midday trade. The Nasdaq composite lost more than 4 percent in midday trade. "I think it means we can continue to go lower. ... Crude continues to struggle as we continue to get mixed signals from China," said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade.