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Patrick Swayze checked himself into the hospital this morning suffering from a bout of pneumonia, which is said to be a complication of chemotherapy treatments for his pancreatic cancer. Swayze appeared on television this week, giving an exclusive interview with Barbara Walters about his battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Swayze was scheduled to join his fellow co-star and producers in presenting A&E's new drama The Beast to critics, which he stars in. After realizing he would be too ill to make it, according to A&E reps, Patrick asked that the show go on and that they pass along a...

<p>BETHESDA, Md. - The first hints of trouble came with vague warnings from the outer reaches of the bureaucracy.</p> <p>She was “pushing too hard.”</p> <p>She was “alarmist.”</p> <p>But it was something else — a clumsy bid to call her off the scent of the dangerous veterinary drug she was tracking — that really galled her. Maybe that was her last possible moment to keep soundless and safe.</p>

The Food and Drug Administration has opened a criminal investigation in the widening pet food contamination scandal, officials said yesterday, as it was confirmed that tainted pork might have made its way onto human dinner plates in California. More than 100 hogs that ate contaminated food at a custom slaughterhouse in California's Central Valley more.....

WASHINGTON // Federal investigators are probing whether Chinese producers laced a key ingredient in pet food with an industrial chemical in order to boost the price of their shipments snip Referring to the contamination that has prompted the recall of more than 100 brands of pet food, investigators are trying to determine whether Chinese producers purposely added melamine to their wheat gluten shipments to Menu Foods. more.....

WASHINGTON - Pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical may have sickened or killed 39,000 cats and dogs nationwide, based on an extrapolation from data released Monday by one of the nation’s largest chains of veterinary hospitals.

The March 16 recall of 91 pet food products manufactured by Menu Foods wasn't big news at first. Early coverage reported only 10-15 cats and dogs dying after eating canned and pouched foods manufactured by Menu. The foods were recalled -- among them some of the country's best-known and biggest-selling brands -- and while it was certainly a sad story, and maybe even a bit of a wake-up call about some aspects of pet food manufacturing, that was about it. At first, that was it for me, too. But I'm a contributing editor for a nationally syndicated pet feature, Universal...

"It looked like Somalia, not the United States of America… There were dead bodies next to the baggage claim. There were guys with machetes trying to protect their families. One guy had an AR-15… People were urinating in buckets… It was like the end of the world. Federal Air Marshals are supposed to be pretty tough, but some of us were breaking down." Those are the haunting words of a Federal Air Marshal (FAM) with whom I recently spoke, a man just back from a five-day tour of duty as part of a team evacuating victims of Hurricane Katrina out...

Vitamin supplements used by thousands of Britons, from pregnant women to people warding off winter colds, are to be swept from shop shelves from the new year under controversial European Union safety regulations

HARTVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- When Robert Floyd went to visit his parents at the nursing home where they reside in northeast Ohio, he was surprised that both were wearing ``I voted today'' stickers. His mother suffers from Alzheimer's. His father, ailing with lung cancer, is under hospice care. He said they are not capable of voting. he says both are 81, and their minds are failing them.

Current and former officials, anti-drug activists, and other concerned Americans will come together in Washington, D.C. on October 28, Thursday, to expose and oppose the George Soros “retreat and defeat” agenda in the war on drugs. Through a loophole in the campaign finance law, Soros is spending tens of millions of dollars to defeat President Bush, who opposes drug legalization. The event, to be held at the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2203, 10:00 a.m., kicks off an all-day summit on the drug problem. It is designed to draw attention to how Soros intends to subvert our nation’s anti-drug policy...

LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. A little after 10 am Thursday morning police were called to the Republican Party headquarters in Lake Havasu in response to a bomb threat phoned. Volunteer coordinator Patti Silvestri took the call from a person she described as a male voice of indeterminate age. “I answered ‘good-morning Republican Headquarters this is Patti may I help you,’ and he said I just want you to know that place will be blown-up,” said Silvestri. According to District 3 party chairman Noreen Thomas the threat will not deter her or her staff and volunteers from doing their work. “I...

WASHINGTON -- RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie made the following statement today regarding a Democrat Party manual showing illegal coordination between the Kerry Campaign, the Florida Democrat Party and Democrat 527 shadow groups. Click here to read the manual. "Most people would be shocked to learn that the Florida Democrat Party has spent almost no dollars on federal election activity in the important battleground state of Florida.

Hans Thysebaard, a 34-year-old Dutch firefighter, spends his days cutting people loose from crashed cars, spraying down burning buildings and diving into frigid canals when cars veer off the road. The work is physically demanding - broken knees and ankles are common, he said - and emotionally trying. He can't forget the day last March when a 21-year-old victim of a car accident died in his arms. "That's mentally very tough," he said. Now, Thysebaard has joined the ranks of the angry in a country better known for its even-temperedness. With a yellow badge proclaiming "The Netherlands can do better"...

Today: September 16, 2004 at 11:04:13 PDT Kerry seeks to sway veterans in LV speech By Kirsten Searer LAS VEGAS SUN With polls showing veterans overwhelmingly supporting President Bush, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry today is expected to make a strong pitch for the veteran vote. Kerry, a former Navy officer, has been increasing his criticism of Bush's handling of the war in Iraq over the last few days and will speak in Las Vegas today to the National Guard Association. He is expected to outline his foreign policy goals and plans for veterans benefits. He'll speak to a crowd...

I received an email this morning. Love him or hate him Zogby is taking a new online poll. This needs to be "Freeped."

Editor’s Note: Last year, Students for Academic Freedom defended the Metropolitan State College of Denver College Republicans when Professor Oneida Meranto, the faculty advisor for the Political Science Association, told the College Republican that they “need to withdraw from the Political Science Association,” accusing them of conspiring with a conservative think tank to have her fired. Dr. Meranto offered no evidence for this preposterous assertion. Metro State College Republican Chairman George Culpepper reported Dr. Meranto’s comments in testimony before a state senate hearing which was called to determine if an Academic Bill of Rights should be adopted for Colorado students....

Leftist protestors and Democratic Party supporters have promised to hit New York City in force during next week's Republican National Convention -- and many of them are openly advocating violence. The “RNC Not Welcome” website advises its protestors, “The only time it's okay to speak about illegal actions is when you are planning them with the small group of trusted people who will be doing the action with you.” This website is far from alone in its open calls to perpetrate violence in the streets to a degree not seen since 9/11. Yet New York City authorities -- Republican authorities,...

Kerry, D-Mass., voted against the project in 2000 and 2002 but Republicans accused him last week of being disingenuous about his voting record on the matter because he's also voted for Yucca Mountain. Ensign issued a list of seven "pro-Yucca" votes that he said Kerry has taken since 1987, including one on a bill with the infamous "Screw Nevada" provision limiting studies for a potential dump site to Yucca Mountain.

No one else seems to have posted so heads up George and Laura are both on Larry King, August 12, 2004. They are supposed to be on for the entire hour.

A train conductor and candidate for Congress who suggested to his passengers they might want to vote against Sen. John Kerry for president has been suspended without pay