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The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that it has busted a global spam network responsible for sending billions of illegal messages encouraging consumers to buy unsafe male-enhancement and weight loss pills. The FTC, which handles the civil aspect of illegal spam cases, asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to issue a temporary injunction against two men in New Zealand and Texas, prohibiting them from sending spam and making false product claims. The court also froze their assets, which may eventually be returned to consumers who bought the drugs. Authorities in New Zealand are pressing their...

BEIJING (AP)—The United States said Sunday it was disappointed the Olympics had not brought more “openness and tolerance” in China and pressed for the immediate release of eight American protesters as the games ended.

Washington – With the recent publication of the GOP Convention lineup, the Club for Growth was disappointed to see the absence of the party’s most steadfast elected economic conservatives. With the Republican Party’s brand in shambles, it is important for the Party to showcase those leaders who are currently in office fighting to preserve the limited-government, free-market principles the GOP used to stand for. In the Senate, Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint have waged a two-man war on wasteful spending. In the House of Representatives, conservative leaders like Jeff Flake (AZ-06), John Shadegg (AZ-03), Jeb Hensarling (TX-05), Mike Pence (IN-06),...

Along the Mexican border in Brownsville, Texas, Esmeralda Gavino echoed the disappointment of many illegal immigrants like her when she said that the immigration reform bill torpedoed on Capitol Hill was not perfect, but it was at least something. "It's sad that the senators can say, `OK, let's just roll up the carpet. We have more important things,'" said the 35-year-old woman, who cleans houses for a living and was with her two young daughters at a parish community center. "They don't have enough time for discussions, but they have time to build a wall. It wasn't a very good...

When is a loss really a win? It's a common practice, trying to spin a political defeat into a victory. But in the case of the race to fill Randy "Duke" Cunningham's seat in the House of Representatives, the silver lining might not be that hard to find. snip NOW PAC organizers worked on the Busby campaign, reaching out to voters across the county. The NOW PAC put Hays in San Diego prior to the April 11 Special Election, and sent her and another organizer Monely Soltani there again in late May to work on the run-off vote, held concurrently...

Commission Votes to Save Ellsworth Base By LIZ SIDOTI Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The base closing commission voted Friday to keep open Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota - rejecting the Pentagon's plan to close it - as the panel labored toward conclusion of a politically delicate task that has brought alternating sighs of relief and exasperation in communities across America. The surprise decision was a setback for Pentagon leaders, a blessing for South Dakotans who feared losing some 4,000 jobs, and a victory for Sen. John Thune and the state's other politicians who lobbied vigorously to...

WASHINGTON - Sen. Sam Brownback expressed disappointment Friday in the surprise decision by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to endorse research on human embryonic stem cells, but said he looks forward to debating the issue on the Senate floor. Opposition to embryonic stem cell research has been a signature issue for Brownback as he courts Christian conservatives in weighing a possible bid for the presidency in 2008. The Kansas Republican has hinted that he might even filibuster a bill allowing the research if alternatives are not considered at the same time. But Brownback said Friday he would be satisfied if...

Disappointed South Africans shun life in gloomy Britain By Tim Butcher in Johannesburg (Filed: 31/01/2004) They called it the "Chicken Run", the exodus in the mid-1990s of thousands of white South Africans fearful of the spiralling crime, political violence and job insecurity that accompanied black government at the end of apartheid. But now, slowly and almost without a sound, a group of pathfinders are making their way back, grumbling about the low standard of living they found in Britain, Australia and elsewhere, and keen to restart a new life back in what they now see as a more stable South...

TEHRAN, April 28 (AFP) - More than half of Iran's youth are disappointed over the political performance of reformist President Mohammed Khatami, even though his personal approval rating remains high, according to a poll released Monday. The statistics released by the National Iranian Youth Organisation, a body affiliated to the president's office, also showed young people have limited esteem for the performance of parliament, the judiciary and the police. Citing the results of a questionnaire completed by 75,000 14 to 29-year-olds over the past year, the group said "54 percent do not approve of the plans and performance of the...

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld apologized to the celebrity community for the outcome of the war yesterday at his daily press briefing. "In spite of the joy we feel at what happened in Baghdad this week, it is tinged with sadness as we know that we have embarrassed and disappointed the many members of the celebrity community who wanted us to fail." Rumsfeld went on to say that "it is always difficult" to go against celebrity foreign policy analysts and added that he hoped "Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Michael Moore, Edward Norton and the Dixie Chicks will not feel too...

What's the meaning of the odd, even ironic, look on Daschle's face while Leahy is speaking? It also looks like Biden may be about to whisper in Daschle's ear.Yahoo Caption: Senate minority leader Tom Daschle, D-SD, center, listens as Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, left, speaks during the introduction of the Africa Famine Relief Act in Washington Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003. The bill authorizes $900 million for emergency humanitarian assistance to sub-Saharan Africa. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., looks on at right. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Is George W. Bush a man of his word?It seems a strange question to ask of the plain-speaking Texan who has just blown the whistle on the "axis of evil." But the answer, at least when it comes to campaign-finance reform, may be a disturbing one. If Bush signs something close to the current version of Shays-Meehan he will be committing his first bona fide, no-doubt-about-it, can't-be-spun flip-flop and broken campaign promise. Asked point-blank on ABC News's This Week on January 23, 2000 whether he would veto McCain-Feingold or Shays-Meehan Bush said he would.Here's part of the exchange from the...