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LAS CUMARAGUAS, Venezuela - In this dusty town of potholed roads on the Caribbean coast, people are fascinated with the revolutionary changes that President Hugo Chavez talks about constantly on television. But nine years after he was elected, many here say their lives are virtually the same. There are still few jobs. Running water comes only two days a week at best. Paint peels from the walls of the public school, where teachers say they badly need more books. The state is building three dozen concrete homes here, but construction has dragged on while some residents are living in quarters...

TRENTON, N.J. - After a review driven by three brutal slayings, the state attorney general on Wednesday ordered New Jersey law enforcers to notify federal immigration officials whenever someone arrested for an indictable offense or drunken driving is found to be an illegal immigrant. Attorney General Anne Milgram reviewed the state's policy in light of the execution-style killings Aug. 4 of three Newark college students and the wounding of a fourth victim. One of the six suspects was an illegal immigrant who had been granted bail on child rape and aggravated assault charges without immigration officials being alerted to his...

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez called for changes to Venezuela's constitution Wednesday night, delivering a key address pitching reforms that are expected to allow him to be re-elected indefinitely. Chavez, speaking to the National Assembly, said the changes affect "less than 10 percent" of the constitution but would bring Venezuela "new horizons for the new era." Chavez, who is seeking to transform Venezuelan society along socialist lines, denied he wants lifelong power as his opponents allege. "They accuse me of making plans to be in power forever or to concentrate power. We know it isn't like that. It's power...

CAMP TAJI — Like many immigrants before him, Rudy Lirato had a dream for his family-a dream firmly rooted in the ideals of freedom and democracy-when he left his native homeland of Iraq 30 years ago. He is now serving as an interpreter and U.S. contractor who works with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. Lirato left Iraq in 1977 with his wife for the city of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. “I had just gotten married to my sweetheart and knew that I would be drafted into the Iraqi army and that there was no future for me...

WASHINGTON - Under a portrait of George Washington and a sign proclaiming "A New Direction," Democratic lawmakers boasted of their accomplishments their first five months running Congress. Their press release covered two pages. Yet most people might be excused for hardly noticing, except maybe those who are paid the minimum wage or who live in hurricane-ravaged areas. Upon taking control in January, Democrats led efforts to increase the minimum wage for the first time in a decade and to force modest spending increases in hurricane and drought relief, children's health care and a few other areas. Beyond that, the majority...

WASHINGTON, April 22, 2007 – Changes in Iraq’s Anbar province and the failure of the Taliban spring offensive in Afghanistan are good signs, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said during an interview today on his way home from Iraq and Afghanistan. During his flight home, Marine Gen. Peter Pace spoke about his trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. In Iraq he took part in a series of meetings with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates; Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, the commander of U.S. Central Command; Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq; and Army...

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Dr. Robert Moynihan  Other Articles by Dr. Robert MoynihanPrinter Friendly Version   The Battle Over the Mass February 22, 2007 Why is such a battle over the Mass occurring now, 40 years after the Second Vatican Council? Because Benedict XVI wishes to restore what has been lost.Pope Benedict XVI, against the opposition of many, is preparing to issue a "motu proprio," or personal decision, allowing wider celebration of the old Mass. We applaud his decision and urge him to publish it quickly. The time has come for the restoration of the perennial liturgy of the Church. It has been...

Home construction fell to its lowest point in nearly 10 years during January in an unexpectedly large decrease that erased hopeful gains posted in two prior months. A separate report showed wholesale prices fell last month, after two strong months of gains, suggesting that underlying inflationary pressures remain broadly contained. Core prices, however, which exclude volatile food and energy costs, rose. Housing starts plunged by 14.3% to a seasonally adjusted 1.408 million annual rate, the Commerce Department said Friday. Building permits also resumed falling. The government raised its original estimate for December starts. Construction rose by 5.0% to 1.643 million,...

WASHINGTON - When Tori Boyles, of Columbia, Mo., takes a test at school, an adult often reads the questions to her because the 9-year-old has learning disabilities that make reading difficult. That kind of accommodation generally is not allowed for the reading test that public school students take under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Also, skipping the exam is not permitted for Tori, who has spina bifida, a condition often accompanied by learning problems. "Why isn't there an option to opt out of that?" asks her mother, Becky Boyles. "She just has to stare at this piece of...

THE news that 51 percent of all women live without a spouse might be enough to make you invest in cat futures. But consider, too, the flip side: about half of all men find themselves in the same situation. As the number of people marrying has dropped off in the last 45 years, the marriage rate has declined equally for men and for women. The stereotype has been cemented in the popular culture: the hard-charging career girl who gets her comeuppance, either violently or dying a slow death by late-night memo and Chinese takeout... But when it comes to marriage,...

Several days ago, the 'Maria S Merian' returned from her second Arctic expedition with data confirming trends of Arctic warming. "Compared to last summer, the water that flows from the Norwegian Sea to the Arctic has been an average 0.8 degrees Celsius warmer this summer," says expedition leader Dr Ursula Schauer of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. "This is in addition to the last two years already having been warmer than the previous 20 from which we have regular measurements. Over the Yermak Plateau, an oceanic ridge, the oceanographers documented water of more than four degrees...

NEW YORK - ABC aired its miniseries "The Path to 9/11" on Sunday but made editing changes after former Clinton administration officials complained it contained fabricated scenes about their actions prior to the terrorist attacks. ABC's editing of the five-hour movie, airing on two successive nights starting Sunday, was evident from the very beginning. Twice, the network de-emphasized the role of the 9/11 commission's final report as source material for the film. The version that aired Sunday also changed a scene that, in a copy of the movie given to television critics a few weeks ago, indicated President Clinton's preoccupation...

JUST ONE ROAR OF THE LION Meri Burlingame Renewed Hope Counseling Sep 9, 2006 as posted on Pam Clark's list [Qx couldn't find it there] VISION: "JUST ONE ROAR of the LION" by S. Jha (Posted by Lit4Ever.org) I saw this vision on the 22nd of August 2006 I saw a Lion. I walked with Him to a very high Rock. The Lion then Climbed the Rock, and Stood on the very top of this high Rock. I stood below, looking up at Him. He let out a LOUD ROAR. And EVERYTHING in the atmosphere / universe changed. In a...

Shops run out of money as Zimbabwe changes currency By Peta Thornycroft in Harare (Filed: 22/08/2006) Crowds filled Zimbabwe's banks and shops yesterday as they rushed to meet a deadline to acquire new currency after the government cancelled the old one. Three noughts have been struck off the new notes in an effort to reduce the huge volume of cash required for the simplest transaction in a land where annual inflation runs at almost 1,000 per cent. People had to hand in old notes by yesterday's deadline. But the task was complicated by an official regulation banning anyone from possessing...

UNITED NATIONS - The United States and France appeared at odds Wednesday over Arab demands to change a U.N. resolution they are co-sponsoring to call for a complete halt in Israeli-Hezbollah hostilities and withdrawal of Israeli forces, diplomats said. France proposed new language on a total cease-fire and Israeli pullout, but the Americans rejected it out of concern that without a robust international force, a vacuum would be created in southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, the diplomats said. While both countries welcomed Lebanon's announcement Monday that it will deploy 15,000 soldiers to the south when Israel withdraws, the U.S. does...

Dems recommend election calendar changesBy WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago Democratic presidential hopeful, U.S. Sen., Joe Biden, center, gets some advise from state Sen. Sylvia Larson, D-Concord Friday July 22, 2006. Biden is campaigning for the 2008 election. (AP Photo/Jim cole) WASHINGTON - National Democrats recommended Saturday that the party wedge Nevada between the traditional one-two punch of Iowa and New Hampshire in the leadoff nominating contests for president in 2008. South Carolina would move up in the election calendar, too, according to plan that awaits final action next month by the Democrat National Committee. Democrats envision...

SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is seeking changes to a bill that would make California the first state in the nation to cap greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources, a move that could put him in a difficult political position if Democrats object to his amendments. Schwarzenegger has championed policies to combat global warming and has tried to position the state as the first in the nation to limit emissions that are widely blamed for contributing to global warming. But Democrats fear Schwarzenegger's requested changes could undermine the effectiveness of the Assembly bill, which would limit emissions from businesses such as...

Jefferson exit spurs new rulesBy Josephine Hearn Several House Democrats have proposed significant changes to their party’s caucus rules, with at least two of the changes prompted by internal caucus controversy over the recent ouster of a caucus member from the Ways and Means Committee. Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) has written a proposal to handle situations in which leaders may seek to revoke a lawmaker’s committee assignment while he or she faces government investigation. Butterfield and others were upset that Democratic leaders ousted Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) from the committee while he faces a federal corruption probe. The proposal would...

LOS ANGELES - It's been called "the skiddiest of all Skid Rows" — 50 square blocks of abandoned factories, burned-out storefronts, rundown hotels, dingy bars and seedy liquor stores, interspersed among hundreds of makeshift homes, most of them built with abandoned cardboard boxes and stolen shopping carts. Located an easy walk from City Hall, police headquarters and other downtown seats of power, this last stop for the destitute has been a fixture of Los Angeles for nearly a century. But with a burgeoning real estate market bringing luxury apartments and condos to the edge of Skid Row, city leaders are...