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The U.S. Export-Import Bank, an independent federal agency, loaned more than $1 billion to the Mexican state oil company PEMEX in 2009 to support the company’s oil drilling in the southern Gulf of Mexico. The bank has another $1 billion in loans in the pipeline for 2010, unless Congress objects. On May 27, after the British Petroleum oil spill, President Obama imposed a moratorium on U.S. deepwater drilling in the Gulf, effecting 33 deepwater drilling rigs in the region. PEMEX was the Export-Import Bank’s largest borrower in 2009 and has borrowed $8.3 billion from the U.S. federal government since 1998....

The good-will tour of the Middle East by the imam behind the proposed mosque near ground zero is just part of the U.S. government's efforts to reach out to the Muslim world. This year, the Obama administration will spend nearly $6 million to restore 63 historic and cultural sites, including mosques and minarets, in 55 nations.

For the past six months, I've had a friendly online debate with some blogger friends in Minnesota: Would the Twins get snowed out when they opened their new outdoor stadium? I lost that one. The Twins opened Target Field to rave reviews on April 2 in an exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Although it rained much of the morning, the baseball gods smiled down on Twins fans and parted the clouds (although the Twins lost, 8-4). As to the more fundamental question of whether it was wise to build an outdoor stadium in a place where April snowstorms...

A major national union supporting Democrat Martha Coakley is taking out a massive TV ad buy that slams her Republican rival, Scott Brown, for his positions on abortion and climate change. The ad taken out by the Service Employees International Union, will begin airing statewide tomorrow. The buy size is $685,000, one of the largest of the election.

Senator Sherrod Brown took a private, taxpayer-funded plane from Cleveland to Washington and back so he could vote on the stimulus bill and get back to his mother's funeral the next day. Will he have to appear before Congress and be excoriated for flying on a private jet?

BOSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. civil liberties group sued the federal government Monday, charging it violated the Constitution by contracting a Roman Catholic entity to help victims of human trafficking. The American Civil Liberties Union said the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was imposing its beliefs on victims of human trafficking by not allowing federal grant money to be used for contraception or abortion.

As some of you may know, a man named Jim David Adkisson, an unemployed truck driver went berserk and shot up a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville Tennessee. He murdered 2 people and injured about 5 others while they were performing a musical called Little orphan Annie. Adkisson claimed he did it because he was angered by liberalism and in particular, homosexuality. According to a sworn affidavit by one of the officers; "During the interview Adkisson stated that he had targeted the church because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were...

http://www.rc.net/sacramento/cfl/protest.htmPlease pass on this message to others.Protest immodest blasphemy against the Blessed Virgin Mary. Please submit a short, to the point communication (such as "Remove the immodest statue portraying the Blessed Virgin Mary in a translucent gown from Church of the Resurrection parish in Solon, Ohio"). E-mail, call, fax or write: Bishop Anthony Pilla Diocese of Cleveland 1027 Superior Ave. Cleveland, Ohio 44114 Phone (216) 696-6525 / (800) 869-6525 FAX (216) 696-6547 "Bishop Anthony Pilla" <info@dioceseofcleveland.org> To see a sample letter, eitherclick here, orright click here. and "Save Target As …" a file you can find. Open in Word, WordPerfect,...

ANNAPOLIS -- The Ehrlich administration is ready to release state funds that will be used to reduce malpractice-insurance premiums for many physicians and surgeons, nearly five months after the General Assembly enacted legislation to reduce premiums for doctors in high-risk specialties. Budget Secretary James "Chip" DiPaula Jr. said yesterday he and Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican, were prepared to sign off on a request for funding from State Insurance Commissioner Alfred W. Redmer Jr.

Under the Hammer-May 5, 2005 By John Hammer This news is so shocking that it made the front page of The New York Times. The Public Broadcasting System has a liberal bias. It’s hard to believe, but according to the new Republican chairman of the board of the Public Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio and Television have a decidedly liberal point of view. It has shocked the employees at the national broadcasting system that a Republican would accuse them of not being nice to Republicans. According to a rumor, one senior producer even said he had invited a Republican over...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Eat your way to the bottom of almost any bag of popcorn and there they are: the rock-hard, jaw-rattling unpopped kernels known as old maids. The nuisance kernels have kept many a dentist busy, but their days could be numbered: Scientists say they now know why some popcorn kernels resist popping into puffy white globes. It's long been known that popcorn kernels must have a precise moisture level in their starchy center -- about 15 percent -- to explode. But Purdue University researchers found the key to a kernel's explosive success lies in the composition of its hull....

Frustrated Democrats Find a Voice Lawmakers Use Policy Committee to Investigate Issues They Say GOP Ignores By Dana Milbank Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page A03 C-SPAN viewers tuning in yesterday morning might have thought they misread the results of November's elections. There was Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (N.D.) -- a Democrat -- wielding a gavel and calling to order a hearing on Iraq contracts. Dorgan presided over a wood-paneled Senate hearing room, complete with water pitchers on the witness table, nameplates for the committee members, and C-SPAN 1 -- live! But, paying closer attention, the viewers...

Thursday 11th November, 2004 'Sesame Street' turns 35    Big News Network.com     Thursday 11th November, 2004   Sesame Street, the PBS children's series that debuted Nov. 10, 1969, celebrates its 35th birthday with a cast of familiar characters and some new friends. The series -- with original cast members Bert, Ernie and Oscar the Grouch, and the relatively new regular, Elmo -- reached the milestone Wednesday, MSNBC reported. When the show first aired, Sesame Street was one of very few quality children's programs on TV. But Sesame Street now competes with scores of children's shows from 500 cable networks, as well...

Shelley's office was told of partisan activity Consultants paid with federal voter funds provided advance notice of their plans Sacramento -- In weekly reports filed to top officials working for Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, consultants hired to do nonpartisan voter education gave advance notice that they would attend Democratic events on Shelley's behalf and attempt to boost his public image, according to documents obtained by The Chronicle. The activities included a "Democratic Club'' luncheon and efforts to "get exposure for KS (Kevin Shelley) in Southern California,'' according to the reports describing activities in January and February. As Shelley has...

NEA to target Republicans in 2004 Posted: August 20, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Back in 1984, when I wrote "NEA: Trojan Horse in American Education," my goal was to awaken conservatives and Republicans to the fact that the National Education Association had become a radical, leftist political organization using the Democrat Party to achieve its goals. For years, they had been using their extensive local influence to elect liberals and leftists to school boards, municipal governments, state legislatures, and the U.S. Congress. Back in 1967, five years after the NEA had become a labor union, the NEA's...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides over $600,000 annually in federal funds to the Stop AIDS Project of San Francisco to pay for HIV "prevention" workshops including the flirting classes scheduled for tonight: Title: Flirt, Date, Score Program: STOP AIDS Description: Want to flirt with greater finesse and date with more confidence? Who doesn't? Share your expertise and hear how others are successful in meeting guys and staying safe today. Date: 8/13/2003 Start Time: 7pm End time: 9pm Location: STOP AIDS Main Office Address: 2128 - 15th Street Directions: The STOP AIDS Project Main Office is located on...

ug. 4, 2003, 11:56PM Planned Parenthood's doors to remain open Injunction puts brakes on new funding By POLLY ROSS HUGHES Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau AUSTIN -- Planned Parenthood clinics serving 115,000 Texas women will remain open at least one more year after winning a reprieve Monday from a new state law aimed at stopping abortions. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks granted Planned Parenthood a temporary injunction halting state enforcement of a law that would deny funding to clinics that provide abortions paid for with private donations. That law was set to go into effect Sept. 1 but now...

FRANKFURT - China is not going to build a train line between Beijing and Shanghai for the Transrapid magnetic levitation train, developed by a consortium of German industrial groups ThyssenKrupp and Siemens, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Friday. A management board member of Siemens’ transportation systems unit, Hans-Dieter Bott, told the German daily: "We have clear signals that the decision will be taken in favour of the traditional train technology". The paper said that Chinese authorities were leaning instead towards the high-speed, Japanese-developed Shinkansen train for the 1,300km line. Only last week the central German state of North Rhine-Westphalia...

The roof of Minute Maid Park is growing like a Chia Pet. In the three years since the stadium opened, an unidentified organism has overtaken its white plastic roof like an out-of-control biology experiment, turning the top of the $250 million ballpark into what may be the world's largest petri dish. The growth -- which could be anything from mold to bacteria to algae, experts say -- has prompted the Houston Astros to file a warranty claim with the manufacturer, GenFlex Roofing Systems of Maumee, Ohio. "We noticed the discoloration last year," said Rob Matwick, senior vice president of operations...

DNC Chairman McAuliffe Statement on President Bush's Taxpayer-Funded Photo Opportunity Washington, D.C. -- Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Terry McAuliffe issued the following statement: "The 341,000 Americans who became unemployed in April had the honor of watching the president land on an aircraft carrier yesterday afternoon, no doubt wondering how the costs of this extravagant photo-op would affect their pocketbooks. Instead of watching his dramatic sea landing, I am sure they would rather have been at work. "The president seems to want to focus all of his attention on military success rather than his complete lack of success on the...