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Barack Obama appears to be a narcissist. Granted, only a qualified mental health diagnostician (which I am not) can determine whether someone suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and this, following lengthy tests and personal interviews. But, in the absence of access to Barack Obama, one has to rely on his overt performance and on testimonies by his closest, nearest and dearest. ... The "small people", the "rank and file", the "loyal soldiers" of the narcissist - his flock, his nation, his employees - they pay the price. The disillusionment and disenchantment are agonizing. The process of reconstruction, of rising...

Blah, blah, blah Fourth, and absolutely critically, incentives for small businesses to expand. You know, if you look, there's a great recession everywhere. There's a quiet depression in small business and in some parts of this country, and we've got to make special efforts for them. That's what the president's proposed in terms of providing credit. Blah, blah, blah

In a stark reminder of how some battered financial firms remain dependent on government lifelines, GMAC Financial Services Inc. and the Treasury Department are in advanced talks to prop up the lender with its third helping of taxpayer money, people familiar with the matter said. The U.S. government is likely to inject $2.8 billion to $5.6 billion of capital into the Detroit company, on top of the $12.5 billion that GMAC has received since December 2008, these people said. The latest infusion would come in the form of preferred stock. The government's 34% stake in the company could increase if...

Since first invading Afghanistan nearly a decade ago, America set one primary goal: Eliminate al Qaeda's safe haven. Today, intelligence and military officials say they've severely constrained al Qaeda's ability to operate there and in Pakistan -- and that's reshaping the debate over U.S. strategy in the region. *** A key point of contention in President Barack Obama's review of war strategy is the ability of al Qaeda to reconstitute in Afghanistan.

Snipets: Colleagues of an abortion doctor killed over the weekend promised Monday to reopen his clinic ... Mr. Roeder, 51 years old, has a criminal record and allegedly agreed with extremist anti-abortion protesters who believe killing abortion doctors is justified ... Mr. Roeder was convicted in 1996 of criminal use of explosives ... In court appearances following his 1996 arrest, Mr. Roeder espoused anti-government views and questioned whether he should be subject to taxation ... Morris Wilson said he knew Mr. Roeder over the past decade as a fellow member of the Kansas Unorganized Citizens Militia ...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and then-Treasury Department chief Henry Paulson pressured Bank of America Corp. to not discuss its increasingly troubled plan to buy Merrill Lynch & Co. -- a deal that later triggered a government bailout of BofA -- according to testimony by Kenneth Lewis, the bank's chief executive.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barack Obama has opened up a double-digit lead in the presidential race, with a growing number of voters saying they're now comfortable with the Democratic nominee's values, background and ability to serve as commander in chief, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Communist Party Status Is Revoked for 500 People; Social-Inequality Concerns By NICHOLAS ZAMISKA WSJ, January 8, 2008; Page A14 HONG KONG -- Chinese officials have revoked Communist Party membership for 500 people in the country's central Hubei province as punishment for violating the country's one-child rule. ***** The one-child policy is simultaneously criticized for its harshness and intrusiveness and revered for its pragmatic approach to reining in a surging population, which now tops 1.3 billion people, or roughly a fifth of the world's population. ***** Prof. Zhou found through her research that for those who can't afford the fines, the...

Foreign-policy debates are usually easy to follow: Liberals battle conservatives, realists feud with idealists, doves vie with hawks. But well into the second Bush term, traditional categories are in a state of collapse. ***** Snip There are five major schools of thought on this question, beginning with the "1942ists," who believe that we stand in Iraq today where the U.S. stood shortly after Pearl Harbor: bogged down against a fascist enemy and duty-bound to carry on the fight to victory. ***** Snip Over the last year, though, many conservatives have been peeling away from '42ism, joining the "1938ists" instead, for...

Malaysian leader warns of 'chasm' between Muslims and the West 10/02/2006 - 11:10:52 Malaysia’s leader today warned of a “huge chasm” between Muslims and the West, as thousands of people took to the streets in Asia for the largest demonstrations yet in the Prophet Mohammed cartoons row. Thousands of Muslims rallied in Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh and India, while smaller demonstrations were held in Indonesia and the Philippines. Protesters shouted anti-American and other slogans and burned Danish flags, but there were no immediate reports of violence. The demonstrations grew out of traditional Friday prayers. Some were held outside mosques in some...

Tensions color Bush, Blanco meeting Gov. Kathleen Blanco canceled a scheduled trip Monday to visit Louisiana evacuees in Houston shelters to stay in Baton Rouge to meet with President Bush. Blanco Communications Director Bob Mann said the governor did not learn about the Bush visit until early Monday morning. “We had no idea the president was coming,” Mann said. Tension between the Blanco and Bush administrations has surfaced in recent days as state and federal officials try to coordinate recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Blanco administration clearly wanted to express their irritation with the communication about...

FRAUD by Stefan Sharkansky Put away the John Grisham. This week's best beach thriller is the 436-page transcript of King County Elections Director Dean Logan's deposition in the election contest lawsuit. Logan's testimony one-upped the predictions I made in my last Sound Bite column [April 14]. I was about to get county records that I expected would prove that more ballots were counted in November than were cast by voters. But instead of a precise accounting showing more ballots than voters, the accounting was revealed to be such a mess that there was effectively no accounting at all. Logan confirmed...

More mistakes revealed in ballot counting By David Postman and Keith Ervin Seattle Times staff reporters In his first questioning under oath about the governor's election, King County Elections Director Dean Logan revealed additional errors in the handling of ballots and acknowledged that the county did not follow recommendations by its elections-oversight committee that were designed to avoid some of those very mistakes. Logan revealed the mishandling of 125 provisional ballots in addition to 660 disclosed earlier. He also said three absentee ballots had been found in counting machines in a discovery never made public. And he detailed more than...

This is a pay for view site, exerpts follow. BERLIN -- German law may prevent police from enforcing a cancellation of an extremist Islamic conference, according German police representatives. Fliers for the First Arab Islamic Congress in Europe, scheduled to begin Oct. 1 here, call for support for the Intifada in Palestine and resistance against the U.S. policies in Iraq. Konrad Freiberg, chairman of the German Police Union, says the event presents a challenge as the conference flier published on the Internet encourages intolerance, but doesn't violate German law by openly calling for violence. "We want to ban the conference,"...

Kerry Weighs Campaign Shake-Up As Bush Gains Upper Hand in Race August 31, 2004 10:31 a.m. As the Bush campaign commands an exquisitely directed convention, the faltering Kerry campaign might be on the verge of a major shake-up. Ever since the Boston convention, the Bush campaign has dominated the agenda, putting the Democratic nominee on the defensive. While polls still show a close race, everything is tilting in the GOP direction, a movement that almost surely will be enhanced by a successful New York convention. *** SNIP *** The Democrats' picture is strikingly similar to the situation the party faced...

<p>Eastman Kodak Co.'s recent firing of an employee who criticized a company initiative on behalf of gay workers has touched off a rancorous debate between proponents of corporate diversity and free expression.</p> <p>The dispute echoes recent ones at companies including AT&T Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. in which workers alleging they were disciplined for opposing policies advocating gay acceptance have sued, claiming violations of their rights to religious expression.</p>

WASHINGTON -- The name of the Department of Homeland Security is meant to evoke images of safety -- even family, hearth, comfort. It gives some people a knot in the stomach. An uncommon word to begin with, "homeland" became an everyday word after the Sept. 11 attacks and was institutionalized when President Bush created the Office of Homeland Security. Jeff Neberman, who teaches European history at Boise State University, says it's "right out of Nazi Germany." The German word "heimat" means "homeland" and was used by the Nazis. Others dispute a direct Nazi link and note various cultures have used...

It appears that neither the Sept. 11 attacks nor the Bush administration's public diplomacy have dented anti-American sentiments in Muslim countries. A majority of Muslims still harbor deep resentment toward the United States and its foreign policies, according to a recent Gallup Poll conducted in December and January in nine Muslim countries — Indonesia, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan and Kuwait. Despite Washington's effort to make the case for its war in Afghanistan, 77 percent of all respondents believe that the U.S. military action is not morally justified; 53 percent view the United States "very" unfavorably. More...