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Kathy Griffin brought the D-List to Alaska on Friday night, leaving a raucous concert crowd in stitches with jabs and jibes at their former governor, Sarah Palin. The comedian was escorted on stage by her good buddy, Levi Johnston, the father of Palin's grandchild. According to the AP, Griffin earlier showed up at Palin's home in nearby Wasilla to leave a note inviting the Republican rock star to attend the show. Sensing she didn't take her up on the offer, Griffin asked fans at the show to ID anyone in the crowd doing a pageant wave. Griffin also beamed at...

The Strange World Of Dr. Anthrax Ivins was bondage- and sorority-obsessed cross-dressing Yankee hater MARCH 1--After the Department of Justice last month formally closed its probe of the 2001 anthrax attacks, the FBI released the first batch of documents detailing the years-long investigation that ended with officials concluding that Bruce Ivins, a government scientist who committed suicide in July 2008, was responsible for the mailings that killed five victims. The records, released pursuant to Freedom of Information Act requests, portray Ivins as becoming increasingly unhinged as it became clear that he was the principal target of the FBI's "Amerithrax" probe....

WH: Some Critics 'Serving the Goals of al Qaeda' February 09, 2010 7:16 AM PrintRSSE-mailShare this blog entry with friendsFacebookTwitterRedditStumbleUponMore In an oped in USA Today, John Brennan -- Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism -- responds to critics of the Obama administration's counterterrorism policies by saying "Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda." Brennan writes that, "Terrorists are not 100-feet tall. Nor do they deserve the abject fear they seek to instill." In the oped, titled "'We need no lectures': Administration disrupts terrorists’ plots, takes fight...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told Oprah that she is willing to bury the hatchet with Levi Johnston, baby-daddy to her first grandchild, and says that he is welcome at her Thanksgiving table. Palin told Oprah that she's trying to move past the negative and concentrate on life without drama. Johnston, she says, is part of the family and she's willing to "bring him into the fold" and under her wing. "And he needs that, too, Oprah, I think he needs to know that he is loved and he has the most beautiful child and this can all work out for...

In an interview with CBS's "Early Show," Levi Johnston continued the war against Sarah Palin he has been waging almost daily on his Twitter account. He reiterated negative revelations he made about Palin in a recent Vanity Fair piece, saying that her daughter Bristol played the mom role in her children's lives, and that Palin repeatedly referred to her son Trig as her "retarded baby." CBS's Maggie Gonzalez asked Johnston some tough questions: Why should we believe you? Why does it sound like you're dead set on hurting these people? Johnston explained that he was hurt by the Palins shutting...

STATEN ISLAND -- In a shocking snapshot of life without health insurance, a New Dorp mother and her sick child were turned away from a doctor’s office because she didn’t have the money to cover the visit. Crystal Ramos-Robles grabbed her 10-month-old daughter’s medical records and stormed out of a Dongan Hills pediatrician’s office Monday morning when the doctor refused to see the infant because mom didn’t have $20 to fork over at the front desk.

It's war! A rumble in Washington. Two titanic political forces locked in a bloody battle to the very end. A confrontation between good and evil. A clash of civilizations. Of course, I'm talking about the scuffle between the White House and Fox News. I'm watching this fight as no disinterested observer. For years I was a rare commodity: a liberal commentator on Fox News. I enjoyed working with the bookers and producers at Fox's Washington bureau. But the place often felt like a foreign territory. On air, I was always the visiting team. The routine usually went something like this:...

President Obama went to New Orleans for the first time as president Thursday to visit a charter school and to hold a town hall meeting. While there, he told the people of the city that he is committed to helping them continue to rebuild, more than four years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region. Obama observed that the destruction on the Gulf Coast was caused not just by a natural disaster, but also by the failure of government at every level to prepare for it. "We will not forget about New Orleans, and we are not going to forget about...

OSLO — Three of the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee had objections to the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to US President Barack Obama, the Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang (VG) reported Thursday. "VG has spoken to a number of sources who confirmed the impression that a majority of the Nobel committee, at first, had not decided to give the peace prize to Barack Obama," the newspaper said. In a surprise move last Friday, the Nobel committee attributed the Nobel Peace Prize to Obama less than nine months after he had taken office. The committee, appointed by the Norwegian...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is enlisting Hollywood celebrities including actress Rosario Dawson and musician Will.I.Am to draw attention to his health care overhaul agenda. The performers will act as celebrity judges for a TV commercial contest set up by Organizing for America, the Obama political organization that's part of the Democratic National Committee. Organizing for America last month invited supporters to create and submit 30-second ads in support of remaking health care. The winning one will be aired nationally. In addition to Dawson and Will.I.Am, the panel of judges being announced by Organizing for America Wednesday consists of...

For years, the Bush administration was criticized for not cleaning up enough of the nation's most contaminated waste sites. The Obama administration plans to do even less. Environmental groups and some Democratic lawmakers railed against President George W. Bush's cleanup record.

WASHINGTON — Americans are divided over how they want health care fixed and whom they trust most to do it, refusing to forge a consensus for or against President Barack Obama as he and Congress march toward a historic overhaul. A new McClatchy-Ipsos poll released Wednesday found people torn over several key questions that are likely to dominate debate in Congress in coming weeks, including: — How a federal government insurance plan would affect their own health care and their pocketbooks. — Whether the government should stress cost controls or expanded insurance coverage. — Whom they trust most to expand...

David Beckham is to blame for the war in Iraq, because he didn't use his superstar status to rally against it - according to Scottish rocker John McClure. In a bizarre rant, the Reverend & The Makers singer insists superstars have a responsibility to use their fame for good, and he's convinced the British government would have backed out of the war if the likes of Beckham had rallied public support against conflict. He tells British newspaper the Daily Mirror, "If David Beckham had of spoken out about Iraq it wouldn't have happened, I honestly believe that hand on heart,...

As debate grows about a possible second stimulus package for the flagging American economy, at least one legendary investor is giving the idea his guarded approval. The "Oracle of Omaha" believes a second stimulus may be called for. "I think that a second one may well be called for," Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, told "Good Morning America" today. But, he added, "you hope it doesn't get watered down in many ways." Buffett cautioned that a second stimulus package, like the first, won't be "a panacea," because stimulus packages take time to work. He criticized lawmakers' work on...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – One of the two US reporters jailed in North Korea made a telephone call to her US-based sister, Lisa Ling said in an interview broadcast on Thursday. "It was a tremendous relief to hear Laura's voice last night," Lisa Ling told CNN affiliate KOVR in California. "It was only the first time I have heard her voice in weeks," she said, adding the call was made late Tuesday. "That silence has been just so terrifying and deafening." Border guards detained American TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee on March 17 along the frontier with China while...

BAGHDAD – More than 40 people died in bombings in Iraq on Thursday in the worst violence since U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban areas at the end of last month. Even though attacks are down sharply from past years of war, the carnage was a reminder that insurgents remain intent on destabilizing Iraq as the United States shifts its focus to the war in Afghanistan. Militants have been driven from many strongholds, but they routinely inflict casualties in Baghdad and northern Iraq, a cauldron of ethnic and sectarian tension.

Movie star Alec Baldwin has been given the opportunity to launch his political career in Ohio by a local law firm keen to back a bid to make him the state's next Governor. The Cooler star has often spoken about his political aspirations and now he has gone public with his plans to retire from acting in 2012, a group of leading Ohio businessmen want him to consider running for office there. He tells Playboy magazine, "A law firm in a liberal Democratic bastion in Ohio state politics sent me a binder with a cover letter that read: "Mr. Baldwin,...

BAGHDAD – A car bomb exploded in a crowded outdoor market in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people, police said, a deadly reminder of the challenges facing the Iraqi government even as it celebrated the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from cities. The bombing marred what had otherwise been a festive day as Iraqis commemorated the newly declared National Sovereignty Day with military parades and marching bands. It also came hours after four U.S. soldiers were killed in combat Monday in Baghdad. Although there were no immediate claims of responsibility, the bombing and the...

LOS ANGELES – Harmless comic characters or racist robots? The buzz over the summer blockbuster "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" only grew Wednesday as some said two jive-talking Chevy characters were racial caricatures. Skids and Mudflap, twin robots disguised as compact hatchbacks, constantly brawl and bicker in rap-inspired street slang. They're forced to acknowledge that they can't read. One has a gold tooth. As good guys, they fight alongside the Autobots and are intended to provide comic relief. But their traits raise the specter of stereotypes most notably seen when Jar Jar Binks, the clumsy, broken-English speaking alien from "Star...

WASHINGTON -- With an air of desperation, a hunkered down White House hatched a plan to save Richard Nixon's presidency as the Watergate crisis began to consume it: Demonize the prosecutor in the eyes of lawmakers and the people. The effort fell flat. Hardball rhetoric was the order of the day in the Nixon White House, a collection of memos and tape recordings released Tuesday by the Nixon Presidential Library makes clear. This was so whether the president was willing the downfall of a Democratic "pipsqueak," criticizing his own vice president for playing tennis or pressing South Vietnam to accept...