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From Hollywood's perspective, there's a cloud over Barack Obama's inaugural. Now the question is whether the weather that day will simply be overcast or stormy. Obama's selection of Orange County mega-pastor and bestselling author Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his swearing in has hit liberal Hollywood in one of its sorest spots: the passage of Proposition 8, California's ban on gay marriage, which Warren strongly supported. In fact, he has compared same-sex nuptials to approving polygamy and pedophilia.

OSLO – Greenpeace and more than 100 other environmental groups denounced projects for burying industrial greenhouse gases on Monday, exposing splits in the green movement about whether such schemes can slow global warming. Many governments and some environmental organisations such as the WWF want companies to capture heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the exhausts of power plants and factories and then entomb them in porous rocks as one way to curb climate change. But Greenpeace issued a 44-page report about the technology entitled 'False Hope'. 'Carbon capture and storage is a scam. It is the ultimate coal industry pipe dream,' said...

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court justices indicated Monday they are deeply divided over a challenge to the way most states execute prisoners by lethal injection, which critics say creates an avoidable risk of excruciating pain. With executions in the United States halted since late September, the court heard arguments in a case from Kentucky that calls into question the mix of three drugs used in most executions. Justice Antonin Scalia was among several conservatives on the court who suggested he would uphold Kentucky's method of execution and allow capital punishment to resume. States have been careful to adopt procedures that do...

INDIAN WELLS - Gov. Schwarzenegger's clout among diehard Republicans took a hit this weekend, potentially weakening his power in Sacramento with GOP lawmakers already leery of his agenda, activists and legislators said Saturday. Schwarzenegger, who always has been more moderate than the party's rank-and-file members, rankled members when he called for a move to the political center Friday at the California Republican Party convention. The controversial pitch left some Republicans irritated and frustrated with him Saturday, hinting that Schwarzenegger's level of influence in state government may suffer. "I think it was a real eye opener" for party activists, said Jon...

Political fissures divided state Republicans Saturday as they faced questions about the future of a party that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says has lost its way. At a state GOP convention, a committee made only incremental headway trying to craft a new platform while some members angrily complained about being shut out or misled. And a day after Schwarzenegger declared the party had lost the political middle ground and was "dying at the box office," state party Chairman Ron Nehring did respond directly when asked if he agreed with the governor's assessment. "We are a big party," Nehring told reporters, without...

WASHINGTON - The House became the engine of Democratic intentions to redirect the nation. In ending 12 years of Republican control of the lower chamber of Congress, voters ushered in an era of divided government, confrontation and less predictably conservative lawmaking. The shift in power in Tuesday's midterm election foretells certain conflict between President Bush and a Congress that he has counted on to do his bidding since he took office nearly six years ago. House Democrats have pledged to examine the administration's conduct on a variety of fronts, including the war in Iraq, surveillance of terrorist suspects without court...

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton told Iowa's Democratic Party faithful on Saturday that the actions of "an extreme sliver" of the Republican Party have backfired and "profoundly divided" the country. "We've got a big responsibility. Forget about 2008. Forget about the politics. Just go out and find somebody and look them dead in the eye and say 'You know, this is not right'...This is America," Clinton said. "We can do better and this year, it's a job that Democrats have to do alone." More than 3,500 Iowa Democrats paid $100 each to attend the fund-raising banquet...

Give Divided Government a Chance by William A. Niskanen William A. Niskanen is chairman of the Cato Institute and was a former member and acting chairman of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers. For those of you with a partisan bent, I have some bad news. Our federal government may work better (well, less badly) when at least one house of Congress is controlled by the opposing party. Divided government is, curiously, less divisive. It's also cheaper. The basic reason for this is simple: When one party proposes drastic or foolish measures, the other party can obstruct them. The United...

Pakistan is divided over rape law reform By Isambard Wilkinson and Ashraf Ali in Peshawar (Filed: 29/08/2006) Both sides in Pakistan's bitter controversy over its rape laws took to the streets over the weekend, either to accuse President Pervez Musharraf of betraying Islam or commend him as the saviour of women. The issue has inflamed the political scene since Gen Musharraf announced last week that he would amend the existing laws that place an almost impossible burden of proof on women bringing a case of rape. Supporters of the Muthidda Quami Movement at a rally in Karachi, protesting against opposition...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - When Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon six years ago, the Arab world showered Hezbollah with praise. Today, Arabs are deeply divided about the guerrilla group, with many vilifying it for provoking Israel's attack on Lebanon. Backers, however, voice pride in Hezbollah's ability to fight back, landing missiles from its Iranian-supplied arsenal deep inside Israel. The division springs from a reality that did not exist six years ago — the rise to power of Shiites in Iraq and increasing tension between Shiites and Sunnis. In 2000, Hezbollah was held up by fellow Shiites as well as Sunnis and...

Democratic Party Divided on IraqFriday July 7, 4:58 PM Intent on seizing control of Congress, Democrats want to keep the focus on President Bush's missteps in Iraq. Yet the war is fracturing the party in a handful of House and Senate races. Senate primary fights in Connecticut and Washington state as well as a few House contests pit the party's liberal wing _ proponents of candidates who want an immediate end to the conflict _ against moderates favored by Democratic leaders in Washington. Arguably the most high-profile and contentious case is Connecticut, where three-term Sen. Joe Lieberman is under siege...

N.J. Gov. tells lawmakers to end shutdownBy TOM HESTER Jr., Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine speaks to the media at the New Jersey Statehouse Monday, July 3, 2006, in Trenton, N.J. about the state's ongoing budget impasse. Corzine said state lawmakers must report to the Statehouse on the July Fourth holiday and stay there until they adopt a budget.(AP Photo/Mel Evans) TRENTON, N.J. - Gov. Jon S. Corzine hauled lawmakers in to work on the July Fourth holiday, imploring them to end a budget standoff that has shut down many government services, while...

WASHINGTON - The Senate committee delegated to come up with immigration reform legislation proceeded at a glacial pace Wednesday, with senators still far apart on such issues as a guest worker program and a policy toward the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally. "We are quite a ways from having a bill," said Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., as the panel waded through a host of amendments on how to improve border enforcement. Even with farmers and businesses depending on illegal immigrants to fill low-wage jobs and President Bush in support of a temporary worker program, advocates...

Zechariah - Chapter 12 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah [and] against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together...

MK Eitam: Netanyahu Will Allow Jerusalem to be Divided 17:34 Jan 02, '06 / 2 Tevet 5766 By Ezra HaLevi Former NRP chairman and current National Union MK Effie Eitam sharply attacked Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, saying the former prime minister will not stand up against Jerusalem’s division. National Union MKs toured the Maaleh Adumim region Monday. The MKs inspected areas surrounding Jerusalem where Arab construction is being carried out illegally using funds from the Palestinian Authority and Saudi Arabia. “Jerusalem is being divided, with the consent of Sharon and Peres and the illegal construction will leave Jerusalem surrounded by...

Is Lebanon condemned to a balkanized future? After the excitement of the country’s “red and white revolution,” which led to the ouster of its Syrian occupiers (tormentors), things are not looking very rosy – that is, if you measure success by voter turnout in the most recent rounds of parliamentary elections. Hopefully, there is a brighter future for Cedar Land. What a wondrous sight it was when, on March 14, one million Lebanese swamped Beirut to show their support for a country free of Syrian and Hezbollah terrorist control. This show of peaceful strength by far surpassed the pro-Syrian demonstrations...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A deeply divided U.N. General Assembly committee adopted a nonbinding statement on Friday calling on governments to prohibit all forms of human cloning, including techniques used in research on human stem cells. The assembly's legal committee voted 71 to 35 with 43 abstentions in favor of the proposal put forward by Honduras and backed by the George W. Bush administration. The measure now goes to the full 191-nation assembly. Islamic countries said they would abstain because there was no consensus. Opponents of the measure, like Britain, Belgium and Singapore, said the text would have no impact...

A bitter-sounding Sen. John Kerry dismissed the historic Iraqi election on Sunday, warning Americans not to "overhype" the watershed event. "No one in the United States should try to overhype this election," Kerry told NBC's "Meet the Press." The failed presidential candidate questioned the historic referendum's legitimacy, saying, "It's hard to say that something is legitimate when a whole portion of the country can't vote and doesn't vote." Kerry also pooh-poohed reports of a surprisingly high 72 percent turnout by Iraqi voters, insisting instead that the election has "gone as expected." Asked if he thought Iraq was now less of...

Divided Iraq faces all-out civil war By Colin Freeman and Aqeel Hussein in Baghdad (Filed: 16/01/2005) In a land where almost everyone has a horror story to tell, Jassem Aziz's experience of Sunni violence against Shias is particularly grisly. He holds back tears as he talks of how his cousin, Ahmed al-Bahadli, was murdered 10 days ago. Iraqi insurgents in Baghdad A Shia Muslim from the Sadr City slums of Baghdad, Ahmed had joined the new Iraqi National Guard, only to be killed in his patrol car when a bomb planted by insurgents exploded. The next day, as his family...

Why We're A Divided Nation by Walter E. Williams Recent elections pointed to deepening divisions among American people but has anyone given serious thought to just why? I have part of the answer that starts off with a simple example. Different Americans have different and intensive preferences for cars, food, clothing and entertainment. For example, some Americans love opera and hate rock and roll. Others have opposite preferences, loving rock and roll and hating opera. When's the last time you heard of rock and roll lovers in conflict with opera lovers? It seldom if ever happens. Why? Those who love...