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President Joe Biden will skip the bipartisan “March for Israel” rally set for the Mall in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. Biden’s absence appears to show a political calculation to avoid sparking additional backlash among far-left Democrats, who adamantly oppose the administration’s policy positions on Israel’s defensive measures against Hamas. William Daroff, rally organizer and CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told Fox News he invited Biden to attend.

President Joe Biden reportedly has avoided delivering speeches in the Oval Office because it is difficult to keep a teleprompter there. “The White House has largely abandoned using the Oval Office for press events in part because it can’t be permanently equipped with a teleprompter,” a Thursday Politico article admitted.

>>>>The Wisconsin branch of the American Federation of Teachers has lost some 6,000 of its 17,000 members. And membership in the state’s chapter of AFSCME has plummeted from nearly 63,000 to just 29,000 in just one year. It’s not hard to understand why labor sees these reforms as such a threat and why they see the recall as so important. And yet Obama, if he’s wearing comfortable shoes, is doing so everywhere other than Wisconsin.<<<<< _________________________________________________ Barack Obama seems determined to avoid Wisconsin. On Friday, he visited Minneapolis, Minnesota, for a midday speech and three fundraisers. He departed late afternoon...

WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano avoids mention of the terms "terrorism" or "Sept. 11" in remarks prepared for her first congressional testimony since taking office, signaling a sharp change in tone from her predecessors. Napolitano is the first homeland security secretary to drop the term "terror" and "vulnerability" from remarks prepared for delivery to the House Homeland Security Committee, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press. Tom Ridge, who headed the agency when it was launched in 2003, mentioned terrorism 11 times in his prepared statement at his debut before the oversight committee in 2003. And...

A police officer will avoid criminal charges despite admitting he took marijuana from criminal suspects and, with his wife, baked it into brownies. The police department's decision not to pursue a case against former Cpl. Edward Sanchez left a bad taste in the mouth of at least one city official, who vowed to investigate. "If you're a cop and you're arresting people and you're confiscating the marijuana and keeping it yourself, that's bad. That's real bad," said City Councilman Doug Thomas.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin offered couples cash to have more children to halt a dramatic decline in population and called for a stronger army in a key speech on Wednesday in which he shrugged off sharp attacks by Washington. Putin, defying predictions he would focus on foreign policy, zeroed in on Russia's dwindling population -- an issue with huge implications for the economy -- which is falling by 700,000 people every year. In his annual speech to the nation, the president, who in July hosts leaders of the G8 group of rich democracies, responded only obliquely to stinging...

RAHWAY, N.J. (AP) - A year after his life imploded in scandal, former New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey lives in self-imposed exile, avoiding the limelight he spent a lifetime chasing. Separated from the wife he betrayed, McGreevey lives modestly in a one-bedroom apartment. He takes his 3-year-old daughter out for bacon and eggs after Sunday church services, walks to a corner newsstand for coffee and newspapers and stops to chat when passers-by recognize him. It's a long way from the stately governor's mansion and the spotlight that shone on his soul-baring confession. With wife Dina Matos McGreevey at his...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The General Assembly president issued a blueprint to strengthen the United Nations, calling for governments to pay more attention to poverty and human rights but avoiding the contentious issues of Security Council expansion, defining terrorism and guidelines for using force. The document was a first draft for world leaders to consider for adoption at a U.N. summit set for September, which Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called to overhaul the world body. U.N. officials said 174 leaders have accepted his invitation. General Assembly President Jean Ping presented the document Friday to member states and later told a...

Sharon Avoids Charges in Funding Case; Son Indicted 1 hour, 38 minutes ago By Megan Goldin JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's attorney general decided not to file charges against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a campaign funding scandal but indicted his son on Thursday, the Justice Ministry said. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz closed a three-year investigation of Sharon, saying there was insufficient evidence of involvement in setting up shell companies to funnel foreign donations to his 1999 primary campaign. Foreign funding of political campaigns is illegal in Israel. An indictment of Sharon could have jeopardised his "disengagement" plan after parliament on...

WASHINGTON - A military plane carrying Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) came within almost half a mile of a small private plane over Bridgeport, Conn., last month, forcing the pilot to take evasive action, the Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites) said Friday. The plane, which is Air Force II when the vice president is aboard, was flying at about 7,500 feet while en route to Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., when an on-board alert system alarmed, telling the pilot to climb to avoid colliding with the other plane. The FAA (news - web...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Grieving families in San Francisco can expect to pay $700 if they want the medical examiner to cremate a loved one's remains. Nightclub bouncers in San Diego are footing a bill of $152 apiece for new worker's permits. And stores that sell cigarettes in the state capital have started counting an extra $300 into their annual cost of doing business. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may have strong-armed lawmakers into supporting his "no new taxes" pledge, but Californians still will be paying more for government as a result of the budget compromise struck in Sacramento this week. Legally...

El Al Plane Avoids Toronto for 2nd Day Saturday October 25, 2003 1:31 AM TORONTO (AP) - An Israeli flight was diverted from Toronto to Hamilton, Ontario, for a second straight day Friday due to an unspecified security threat, authorities said. An El Al flight from Tel Aviv was sent to Hamilton, 40 miles southwest of Toronto, Thursday because of a phone call that raised security concerns. It reached Los Angeles later that night then made the return trip Friday with a stop in Hamilton instead of Toronto's Pearson Airport before continuing on to Tel Aviv, said police spokesman Todd...

<p>SAN DIEGO (AP) - President Bush, swooping through California to boost his re-election bid, told thousands of Marines Thursday that the wars he led in Afghanistan and Iraq and against terrorism have made America more secure.</p> <p>The president stayed mum -- and planned to stay that way -- on the topic foremost in many minds here: the state's unwieldy gubernatorial free-for-all.</p>

<p>GENEVA (AP) - A resolution presented Wednesday to the top U.N. human rights body does not include a condemnation of Cuba's record, a rare move that immediately drew protests from rights campaigners.</p> <p>The activist groups charged that just last week Cuba arrested scores of dissidents, accusing them of conspiring with American diplomats in Cuba to encourage opposition to the communist government.</p>