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Washington (CNN) -- President Obama will announce Tuesday he'll deploy 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan "at the fastest pace possible" with a goal of starting to withdraw forces from the country in July 2011. "The 30,000 additional troops that I am announcing tonight will deploy in the first part of 2010 ... so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centers," Obama will say, according to excerpts from his speech at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. Obama will say that the additional U.S. forces "will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility...

As the Tiger Woods alleged affair and accident scandal continues to gain steam, it now appears that the alleged 'other woman', Rachel Uchitel, is so steadfastly denying the affair that she is hiring a lawyer to potentially attack those who claim she did. TMZ reports this afternoon that Rachel Uchitel has retained the services of famed celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred in what many are speculating is the first step towards launching a massive lawsuit against the magazine. Gloria Allred is a relatively well known attorney representing quasi-celebrities, having worked Paul Jones in her case against Bill Clinton and also for...

(Vancouver, WA) Over 10 years in Congress, U.S. Rep. Brian Baird has stayed tethered to his district, flying back to Southwest Washington for more than 300 sometimes-bruising town hall meetings during Congressional recesses. But this year, he's literally decided to phone it in. Instead of appearing in person, where "extremists" would have "the chance to shout and make YouTube videos," Baird said Wednesday, he's holding what he calls "telephone town halls" instead. Baird said he's using the new system because he fears his political opponents may be planning "an ambush" to disrupt his meetings, using methods Baird compared to Nazism....

The only thing worse than bad winners are sore losers, and we’ve had enough of them for the past eight years. So with that in mind, in the wake of today’s historic inauguration, here’s my Handbook For The Loyal Opposition, 2009 edition - a “To Don’t List,” if you will. Or even if you won’t.

WASHINGTON, June 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his Republican rival John McCain failed in reaching an agreement on Friday to hold ten "town hall"-style meetings where they are supposed to answer questions directly from a small audiences. According to McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis, Obama's team only agreed to participate one town hall meeting before the Democratic national convention in late August. The Arizona Senator suggested shortly after Obama clinched nomination last week to hold 10 joint town hall meetings with Obama at locations that both teams agree to, starting with the one in...

Here is one of the funniest exchanges in Sunday's Democratic presidential debate; Wolf Blitzer: What is a "rich person," Senator Edwards? The Lovely and Talented John Edwards: I don't know if I know what a rich person is. Reader Bart Harmon offers Edwards a little help: You might be rich person if . . . * You pay 400 bucks for a haircut, and that's with the ladies' day discount. * Your house has more square footage than most Central American counties. * You leave a larger carbon footprint than the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. * Your last three jobs...

In an age when childhood innocence is under threat from every direction, the traditional game of tag would seem an unlikely offender. But headmistress Susan Tuck doesn't think so. She has banned it – along with all other games which involve physical contact – as "inappropriate behaviour". • Health and safety killjoys ban playgroup mums from tea making • Parents' anger after pupils sent home for breaking snowball ban Youngsters aged five to 11 at Bracebridge Heath Primary School near Lincoln have been told there will be no kiss-chase, and even linking arms with each other will not be allowed.

LEXINGTON, Kentucky (AP) -- A soldier who fled to Canada two years ago after serving in Iraq said he would return home to face consequences from the U.S. Army.

Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy is charging back at the vice president for his remarks on the Connecticut Senate race. Vice President Dick Cheney claimed last week that Ned Lamont’s upset victory in the Democratic primary could embolden terrorists. He suggested Lamont’s victory might encourage "the al-Qaida types” who want to break the will of the American people. In an opinion piece in the Hartford Courant’s Sunday edition, Kennedy said Cheney went "too far” in his swipe against Lamont. He said the vice president’s words were ugly and frightening. Lamont said in an interview with the Associated Press that he was...

SEATTLE (AP) -- An Army lieutenant in Washington state is expected to go public Wednesday with his refusal to deploy to Iraq. Attorney Eric Seitz tells Seattle's K-O-M-O Radio that Lieutenant Ehren Watada (wah-TAH'-dah) opposes the war and first asked to be re-assigned and also asked to be allowed to resign his commission. Seitz says after both requests were denied, Watada told his superiors he wouldn't go to Iraq. Two anti-war groups say the soldier will announce his refusal at a news conference in Tacoma. A Fort Lewis spokeswoman had no comment.

1st Lt. Ehren K. Watada of Honolulu is expected to announce Wednesday that he will not be going to Iraq with his Fort Lewis Stryker brigade. Watada’s father, former Hawaii campaign spending commission executive director Bob Watada, made the announcement. Local anti-war groups working with the younger Watada previously would not release the man’s name to The Olympian. “My son has a great deal of courage, and clearly understands what is right, and what is wrong,” Bob Watada told the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper. “He’s choosing to do the right thing, which is a hard course.” Ehren Watada, 28, is not...

It seems as if single men are discovering what single women have known since ancient Egyptian times: Cats are worthy of worship. At least unmarried British men say so, in a recent survey conducted by Cats Protection, a leading animal welfare society in the United Kingdom. And judging by the delirious worship that single men I know lavish on their kitties, I'd like to think American men -- those brave enough to stand up and be counted -- feel the same way.

I'm planning on adopting a cat from our local shelter.I haven't had a cat since I was young so I'd appreciate some input on which of these cats that you'd think would be the best to adopt :)I Know that there are a lot of cat lovers in the freeper community. Many Thanks Nashua Humane SocietyPersonally I'm leaning towards Jamie or Whitney.