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US economic, military and political dominance is likely to decline over the next two decades, according to American intelligence agencies. US clout will weaken as China and India grow more powerful, the National Intelligence Council (NIC) predicts in its latest report on global trends. The US dollar will no longer be the world's major currency and food and water scarcities will fuel conflict. The NIC report comes as President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office. It will make sombre reading for Mr Obama, says the BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington, as it paints a bleak picture of the future of...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Remember $4 gas? Soon it will be $2 gas. As the nation's economy worsens, the demand for oil and gas wanes. As a result, prices drop. And drop. And drop. The price of gas fell overnight Sunday for the 60th consecutive day. The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell 2 cents to $2.105 a gallon, according to a survey released Sunday by the American Automobile Association. A gallon of gas has dropped nearly in half since hitting an all-time high of $4.114 on July 17. It's been nearly two years since prices...

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Japan -- the world's second-largest economy -- is in a recession, government officials announced Monday. Japan's Cabinet Office confirmed that its economy fell another 0.1 percent in its third quarter, following a 0.3 percent drop in the second quarter. The country's Gross Domestic Product -- second to the United States -- has fallen by 0.4 percent this year. Major indexes around the globe have plummeted over the last two months. The Russian stock market has lost 65.5 percent of its value since the start of the year. Stocks in Japan and the United States have been...

I really have a great amount of pity for those millions of poor souls who have such undying faith in the promises made by any politician, particularly those who hold nationaloffices. Those who swallow this “Alice in Wonderland” rhetoric will suffer the deepest cuts of all when they step back through the looking glass and view reality for the first time. Perhaps the best available example of the “Promises Made-Promises Kept” lie can be found when viewing the health care provided for career military retirees. Those who enlisted in the armed forces from World War II through the Korean War...

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president, calling him a "once-in-a- lifetime leader" who can unite the nation and restore America's international leadership. Richardson, who dropped out of the Democratic race in January, is to appear with Obama on Friday at a campaign event in Portland, Ore., The Associated Press has learned. The governor's endorsement comes as Obama leads among delegates selected at primaries and caucuses but with national public opinion polling showing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton pulling ahead of him amid controversy over statements by his former pastor. Richardson...

Here's the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOT05DsbrAU

Romney puffs up his record. Summary Mitt Romney casts himself as tough on illegal immigration in a new ad in which he says that, as Massachusetts governor, "I authorized the State Police to enforce immigration laws." He doesn't mention that his order never took effect. It came in the closing days of his administration and was rescinded by his successor, as we wrote back in August. He also promises, "As president, I'll . . . cut funding for sanctuary cities." Maybe so, but as governor he took no action against several such towns in his state. We find Romney misleading...

The case appeared to be open and shut. The county sheriff had been caught selling an illegal whiskey still from the back of the county jail. The buyers were a federal informant and an undercover federal investigator. The sheriff, to elude honest police, had even escorted the illegal still out of town. But for Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Thompson, few cases would prove easy. Today, as a Republican candidate for president, Thompson is cultivating an image as a tough prosecutor who, like the character he played on TV's "Law & Order," battled powerful criminals during his three-year stint as a...

CELEBRATION, Fla., Oct. 25, 2007 — At Water Tower Florists in Celebration, Fla., former Tennessee Sen. Fred Dalton Thompson has come to woo women voters. Thompson needs to win the support of Florida Republican women in order to win this Southern state that is key to his strategy. The setting conjures memories of his nearly 20-year bachelorhood between his two marriages when he had a reputation as a ladies man. His smooth ways were on display at Water Tower Florists  the dapper dress, the low, reassuring slow-jams voice full of homespun common sense. In contrast to some of his...

Senator Fred Thompson has begun clubbing Rudy Giuliani over his illegal immigration record. Thompson's website has featured comments from both Rudy Giuliani and others making public statements about Giuliani's past illegal immigration record. Thompson’s website has a series of damaging quotes from Giuliani and others regarding Giuliani, included this quote from Giuliani accusing the former mayor of teaming up with Moveon.org supporter George Soros to oppose ‘anti immigration forces’: "Today I am also announcing that my office will be working with a coalition of well-known individuals and organizations who oppose the anti-immigration forces now being seen in Washington and elsewhere....

Pundits and Democrats are making the same mistake with Fred Thompson that they did with Ronald Reagan and Dwight Eisenhower: underestimating him because he's not a workaholic. Mr. Reagan liked to joke that "They say hard work never killed anyone, but I figure, why take the chance?" Reagan also once observed of himself, "I've really been burning the midday oil." The same could be said of Mr. Thompson. To detractors, this is clear evidence of his limitations. It isn't. Any wise manager knows that long hours are not synonymous with added productivity. It could be the other way around. Working...

WASHINGTON (CNN) — New York Rep. Charlie Rangel, a prominent supporter of Hillary Clinton, sharply criticized Republican presidential frontrunner Rudy Giuliani's personal life Monday, highlighting the fact that the former New York City mayor and his wife have each been married three times. "Two people, six spouses. It's a little complicated if you're not religious, especially if you're running against a Mormon," Rangel told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in a reference to Giuliani's chief rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. For the record, Romney has only been married once. "I think America has to look at all these things, and there...

In a speech to 2,000 conservative evangelicals at the Family Research Council's "Values Voters Summit" in Washington, Republican Fred Thompson made some headway with conservative Christians who've been left uninspired during the desultory days of his first month on the presidential campaign trail. Thompson used personal experience to court them, with references to his own plan to pray and to what he characterized as the life-changing experience of seeing a sonogram of his unborn daughter. Late in his speech, Thompson said he's been asked what he'd do in his first 100 days as president. His answer, he said, is "I...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution After the noon event in Kennesaw, Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson held a fund-raising luncheon with state lawmakers in downtown Atlanta. Afterwards, in the 36th floor offices of Tom Bell, CEO of Cousins Properties, Thompson had time for a 10-minute, two-topic interview. The subjects were illegal immigration, and concerns of evangelical voters. Here’s the transcript that served as a basis for Friday’s AJC story. The first question was about immigration, and its impact on the South. Said Thompson: “Illegal immigration is a problem all over this country. I don’t think it’s limited to just Southern states. People...

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson brandished his conservative credentials in Cobb County on Thursday, accusing GOP rival Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, of promoting the city's "sanctuary" status as place where illegal immigrants could work and live without harassment from local authorities. "I voted to do away with sanctuary cities," said Thompson, who is was in town for two fundraisers. "I don't know where he stands today on that. I know where he stood then." About 60 supporters gathered to greet Thompson in a hanger at McCollum Airport. One member of the audience asked Thompson if he...

A prominent social conservative said Wednesday he finds Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson acceptable as a party nominee but warned many Christian voters would desert the Republican ticket if Rudy Giuliani is the 2008 nominee. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said that, in his view, former U.S. Sen. Thompson "has a record that shows he is conservative socially. I think he has a record that shows he is a fiscal conservative as well as being strong in the area of foreign policy and national defense." He said former New York City Mayor Giuliani is the only candidate running among...

Oct. 9, 2007 - Fred Thompson stood a head taller than his fellow Republicans but he seemed in over his head as the CNBC debate began here. He wore the pained look of a man in need of a powerful digestive pill. But by the time the two-hour marathon ended, the new guy on the trail had gained just barely enough confidence, composure and credibility to make it to the next round of the GOP food fight. “Fred didn’t die today,” said Ron Kaufman, one of Mitt Romney’s top spin doctors. Rudy Giuliani, trained for combat by the toughest press...

In an unusual political season that seems to offer up a presidential debate every week or so, the Republican debate tomorrow is expected to offer something new: Fred D. Thompson. Untested in debate against his opponents until now, Mr. Thompson, a late entrant to the race, chose to skip the last contest in favor of announcing his candidacy on “The Tonight Show” early last month — a decision for which he was roundly criticized. Many have been wondering how Mr. Thompson, a former senator from Tennessee, will do. By his own admission he is “a bit rusty” when it comes...

Mitt Romney once said financing his own campaign would be a "nightmare." Writing checks, he said this week, is "painful." It doesn't seem to be stopping him. Romney is his presidential campaign's most generous supporter, lending $17.5 million from his personal fortune so far. His Republican rivals are bracing themselves for him to do it again. And again. Romney is hardly the first presidential candidate to cut himself a check — Steve Forbes and Ross Perot spent far more than he has. But the businessman-turned-politician, who can raise money AND open his wallet, may have the best chance to win...

In his autobiography, Alfonse M. D’Amato, the former senator from New York, wrote with what may have been unintended irony that the day two decades ago on which he and Rudolph W. Giuliani donned undercover disguises to expose drug dealing was “the high point of our alliance.” Now, the on-again, off-again, on-again relationship of Mr. D’Amato and Mr. Giuliani has taken another twist. Not only has Mr. D’Amato been prepping Fred D. Thompson, the former television actor and senator from Tennessee, for next Tuesday’s Republican presidential debate, in mock encounters he has also been playing the role of Mr. Giuliani.