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. Three weeks ago, John Kerry came, saw, and launched a blitz-diplomatic campaign which promptly resulted in, well, Russia annexing Crimea. Now it is the turn of that other foreign policy titan, neo-con John McCain, to complete Kerry's job and finally launch the GDP-boosting World War III. He may have the chance to do that as soon as Thursday, when he, along with other senators, is slated to travel to Ukraine to "show support for the government there." Or, said otherwise, to show support for the government that is in power thanks to an illegitimate and deadly coup that took...

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — An Italian gay-rights activist says she was detained by police in the Olympic host city after being stopped while carrying a rainbow flag saying "Gay is OK" in Russian. Vladimir Luxuria, a former Communist lawmaker in the Italian parliament who has become a prominent transgender rights crusader, said on her website and Twitter feed that she was held for several hours Sunday before being released. It was not known if she was charged with any offense. Her website published a photograph of her after her release. Before her arrest, she tweeted: "I'm in Sochi. Greetings in...

Brother and I will be moving into our house at the end of the month and have a washer question. We've heard that front loaders have issues with smell and continual cleaning, so we're looking at top loaders. Anyone have opinions on the new HE washers versus the older agitator models? Thanks up front.

Unto the jungle gods of politics we commit the bodies of our Republican brethren; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of these ignoramuses’ political extinction… Well, now, isn’t that the media narrative as to the hooting and hollering in Washington, D.C. over debt ceilings, government shutdowns, and so on and so on? Is there anything to such talk? I suggest that before moving that discussion forward we acknowledge and bewail the barren naïveté of those Republicans — are you listening, Sen. Cruz ?— who thought all they had to do to make...

Sharpton's "The Rejected Stone" is scheduled for release Oct. 8. The book will be published by Cash Money Content and Massenburg Media, in partnership with the Simon & Schuster imprint Atria. The book will track Sharpton's "personal evolution" from New York street activist to political candidate and civil rights spokesman.

President Barack Obama, speaking in Mexico City on Friday, said the United States is responsible for much of the crime and violence in Mexico because of the demand for drugs and the illegal smuggling of guns across the southern border. … Obama acknowledged the illegal smuggling of guns into Mexico by American criminals, but did not mention the Justice Department’s Operation Fast and Furious that allowed the flow of about 2,000 U.S. guns to Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Fast and Furious began in the fall of 2009 and was halted in December 2010 after two of the weapons from the...

As most of you have read or seen by now, a journalist and NBC/MSNBC media consultant named William “Bill” Arkin has created quite a stir by viciously insulting American soldiers in Iraq. He wrote at his Washington Post blog, “Early Warning: William M. Arkin on National and Homeland Security” column (1/30/07), that “… this NBC (Nightly News) report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer force that thinks it is doing the dirty work” re Iraq. The “report,” according to Arkin, featured “a number of soldiers (who) expressed frustration with...

JERUSALEM — Nine years after their daughter was crushed by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip, the parents of American activist Rachel Corrie lost their legal bid Tuesday to hold Israel responsible for her death and force authorities to reopen the investigation. A Haifa judge rejected the parent's negligence lawsuit, calling Corrie's death an accident that she brought upon herself by refusing to leave what had been declared a closed military zone. "It was a very regrettable accident and not a deliberate act," said Judge Oded Gershon.

LifeNews Note: Reprinted with permission from Ethika Politika, the blog of the Center for Morality in Public Life.Remember the Georgetown Law student, Sandra Fluke, who was forced to suffer through $3,000-worth of protected sex during her stint at law school? Turns out, thereÂ’s a bit more to the story.According to some sources, Fluke might just have been a well-placed fake. Not exactly the young-and-helpless female law student most took her for, FlukeÂ’s LinkedIn profile speaks for itself:With a six year hiatus between her undergraduate time and GT Law, Fluke is probably closer to 30. And sheÂ’s had plenty of involvement...

NEW YORK — Donald Trump's offer to buy an investor's stake where a mosque is planned near ground zero is falling flat.

She was FORCED out for financial reasons. If anyone tells you she quit let them know otherwise. Her legal fee had accumulated higher than 500K. Her personal income was JUST OVER 100K a year. Financially her family was going under quickly. And they were filing another ethics complaint everytime she left the state. She was afraid to give interviews in the governors office. She was afraid to allow anyone other than staff in the Governors office after the TaserGate ordeal. They were destroying her. So, what were her options ? She tried to set up a legal defense fund. At...

On MSNBC’s Morning Joe program, Maxine Waters claimed that the Tea Partiers were vulgar and out of control. She would know a thing or two about vulgar rallies… [VIDEO on site] WARNING: Adult language! I’ve been to every Atlanta-area Tea Party event since the first one back in February of 2009. I have yet to hear chants like the one expressed in this video. I also haven’t seen too many Barack Obama masks, blindfolded or otherwise. But she is right about conservatives waving flags, laughing, and having a great time. I’ve enjoyed every single event I’ve attended. There’s something cathartic...

During the sparring session last night between Rev. Al Sharpton and Bill O’Reilly on “The Factor,” Sharpton claimed that he saw the much bally-hooed tape of Tea Party protesters outside the Capitol building hurling the “n” word at black congressmen. The only problem is that such a tape most likely does not exist. Nor are there any credible witnesses whom have come forward to substantiate the charge. When confronted by O’Reilly, Sharpton started to back away from his claim that he actually saw a tape of the alleged incident. Reminiscent perhaps of Sharpton’s trumpeting of the infamous Tawana Brawley rape...

Meghan McCain spoke to students at the George Washington University on Thursday as Young America’s Foundation protesters criticized her stance on gay marriage and counter-protesters showed their support for the daughter of Arizona Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain. Meghan McCain, who calls herself a “progressive Republican,” implored Republicans to “stop being so stubborn and closed-minded.” Throughout the night, McCain was critical of right-wing pundits, telling the audience, “I’m not Ann Coulter, I’m not Glenn Beck … I’m not trying to get my own show on Fox … I’m adamantly against hate-mongering.”There is “no place for the nasty Laura...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Activists gathered outside a downtown strip club Monday to denounce as racist a banner depicting President Obama as the Joker from Batman. "Not only is it an attack on the president, but also on all men and people of African descent," King Salim Khalfani, president of the Virginia NAACP, said of what he called "the abomination that's on the wall" outside Club Velvet. The banner, unfurled within the past few days, depicts Obama as Heath Ledger's grotesque Joker character from "The Dark Knight." The president is shown with smeared red lipstick, a white face and darkened...

Wow. I find it utterly astounding that people wasted their effort criticizing somebody for simply posting up lyrics to a song. You guys are truly leading the revolution! Right from your lap tops. Haha. I wonder if you would have the guts for any real activism. Doubt it highly. Have fun continuing to be a part of the millions of Americans, who believe that they are informed about world affairs from what CNN gives you. Count me out. And by the way... I do work. I dont do any kind of drug. But hey. What do I care if you...

The main problem with President Obama’s nationally televised comment about Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley had less to do with race and justice than it did with the unwise, immature application of presidential power. Given his own background and friendship with Harvard professor Skip Gates, Obama’s immediate reaction to Gates’s arrest was understandable – he sided with a friend who felt victimized by petty authority. The facts surrounding the arrest, of course, are more complicated than that. While it is still not easy to be a black man in America, it is also, apparently, not easy for a police officer...

"The next tip is to be absolutely ruthless," Jocelyn Woodards tells the campers. "We want you to be determined, ambitious, take a risk." No toasted marshmallows here. This is the second day of Camp Obama, a two-day (sometimes four-day) intensive training course in becoming an activist to help get Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) elected president. "It's not enough for you to be a supporter of Barack. You have to go out and build an organization that will deliver votes for Barack Obama," Woodards tells the 40 campers -- most in their 20s -- from around the country gathered at the...

Bill Ayers arriving at a meeting in Manhattan Sunday wearing a shirt reading, 'This is Ridiculous.'

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Rev. Edward Pinkney's congressional campaign has many obstacles to overcome, not the least of which is that he's currently behind bars. Pinkney, who turns 60 on Monday, is the Green Party candidate for Michigan's 6th Congressional District. Among his opponents is 55-year-old incumbent Fred Upton, a Republican who has occupied the seat since 1987. Besides battling for a spot in the U.S. House of Representatives, Pinkney also is fighting what he considers to be a corrupt legal system that has imprisoned an innocent man. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is working to overturn...