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The details of Sen. Larry Craig's arrest in a Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport bathroom shocked his colleagues and constituents, but he was not the only person ensnarled in the airport police action against suspected lewd conduct in the restroom. Thirty-nine other men were arrested at the airport in a three-month period this summer. A review of their cases and interviews with four lawyers representing many of the suspects show how Craig - who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct but now says he is not guilty - fits into the larger picture of the sting operation and sheds light on his...

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Coca-Cola has kept the promises it made to boost diversity after a 1999 race discrimination lawsuit, a task force concluded Friday in its final report on the lawsuit settlement. Coke's chief executive said that, even with the case now closed, the beverage giant will keep working toward "color blindness." The task force monitoring Coke's diversity programs issued the last of five reports to a federal court judge overseeing a settlement the company reached six years ago with minority employees who accused the company of discrimination. Coke agreed to a $192.5 million class action settlement before the case ever went to...

We know that we are being lied to. Sometimes we just don't realize how much we are being lied to. The more sordid the Islamic present seems, the more we are told of the glories of the Islamic past. And the most glorious of the glories of Islam, the most enlightened of its enlightenments, are the "Islamic science" and "Islamic philosophy" of the Golden Age. So what does Islamic law say about this science and this philosophy? According to Reliance of the Traveller: The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (d. 1368), they are unlawful,...

Hamza wins go-ahead to appeal over 'unfair' trial By Duncan Gardham (Filed: 29/07/2006) The radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza was given leave to appeal yesterday against his conviction for soliciting to murder on the grounds of the bad publicity he had received before and during the trial. Hamza's lawyers claimed he was unable to get a fair trial because he had become the most notorious person in Britain after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and July 7, 2005. Abu Hamza: ‘adverse publicity’ Edward Fitzgerald, QC, said putting Hamza on trial six years after the last of the speeches was...

WASHINGTON--An estimated 4 million subscribers to Internet phone services like Vonage could see new fees on their bills under a plan approved Wednesday by federal regulators. The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously at its monthly meeting here to require all voice over Internet Protocol services that connect to the public-switched telephone network--as opposed to using peer-to-peer technology, like Skype--to contribute to the Universal Service Fund. The $7.3 billion fund, which has been a feature of U.S. policy for more than 70 years, subsidizes telephone service in rural and low-income areas. It also runs a controversy-plagued program called E-Rate that provides...

WASHINGTON - Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she had been "more than fair" with embattled Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record), rejecting claims to the contrary by black lawmakers and predicting the party rank and file would vote to strip him of his committee seat. "Mr. Jefferson will be dealt with," she said of the Louisiana lawmaker, ensnared in a federal corruption investigation. Democrats met in early evening to consider his fate, at a time they are attempting to make alleged Republican corruption a central theme in their campaign for control of the House. Jefferson spoke at the...

Rep. Jim Marshall votes lockstep with liberals on the Death Tax(Warner Robins, GA) Congressman Mac Collins (Ret. R-GA) has reiterated his call for the permanent repeal of the Death Tax. Collins voted for the repeal of this oppressive tax multiple times during his 12 years as a member of the United States House of Representatives. Collins opponent Democrat Jim Marshall, who has voted three times against repealing the Death Tax, has demonstrated his true partisan nature by voting with the Democrats in Congress rather then the people he represents. Marshall voted in lockstep with his party leader Nancy Pelosi on...

Women with boob jobs may be banned from Virgin's space flights. Bosses fear the implants may expand and burst due to cabin pressure, according to The Sun. More than 157 people have paid £115,000 each to travel into space on the Virgin Galactic space "shuttle". Spokesman Will Whitehorn said: "We've discovered there may well be issues with breast augmentation. "We're not sure whether they could stand the trip - they could well explode." People with heart or circulation problems may also be ruled out. The first trips are due in early 2008 and will have room for only seven...

Unfair Labor Practice On December 22, 2005 NJSCA/FOP 200 Parole Officer State Representative Joseph Martin sent an email to the State Parole Board Chairman John D’Amico regarding three very serious labor related issues. Those issues involved the State Parole Board administration forcing parole officers to become essential status without negotiation, the recent epidemic of involuntary transfers against the negotiated contract, and the grievance procedure (a recent grievance decision in particular). Later that same day, State Parole Board Executive Director Michael Dowling scheduled a meeting with the Parole Officer State Representative for 12/23/05 at 9:00am. The following administration staff were present...

House Majority Leader Signs On To Linder’s Bill Abolishing the IRS Washington, D.C. - Congressman John Linder (R-Georgia) is pleased to announce that he has added more than 20 co-sponsors – including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) – to his innovative tax reform legislation, the FairTax. Linder’s bill, H.R. 25, would abolish all federal income taxes, death taxes, capital gains taxes, and payroll taxes, and replace them with a national retail sales tax. “The momentum behind the FairTax continues to build, and Majority Leader DeLay’s co-sponsorship is just the latest signal that support for the FairTax is growing,” said...

Complaints about the U.S. military's treatment of terrorists at Guantanamo Bay were once again featured on all three broadcast network evening newscasts Wednesday. Full stories on ABC, CBS and NBC cast the military on the defensive at congressional hearings. CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer — who has likened Guantanamo to the "Hanoi Hilton," the infamous North Vietnamese prison camp — grumped that "Congress asked a lot of questions today" about Guantanamo, but "the problem is, they didn't get many answers." ABC followed up its story on yesterday's hearings with a second full report by ABC's Terry Moran, who zeroed...

In recent months, the cause of freedom has made enormous gains in the broader Middle East. Millions of people in Afghanistan and Iraq defied terrorists to cast their ballots in free elections. Palestinians voted for a new president who rejects violence and is working for democratic reform, and the people of Lebanon reclaimed their sovereignty and are now voting for new leadership. Across the Middle East, hopeful change is taking place. People are claiming their liberty. And as a tide of freedom sweeps this region, it will also come eventually to Iran. The Iranian people are heirs to a great...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Ten school districts filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the state, claiming students who are learning to speak English should be tested in their native language as mandated by federal law. The school districts, joined by two bilingual-education advocacy groups, say the 1.6 million students and their schools are penalized because tests given in English do not accurately measure how well English-learners understand academic subjects. The federal No Child Left Behind Act, signed by President Bush in 2002, requires schools to show academic improvement among their students each year, with a goal of having every child proficient in...

Robby Gordon accused Danica Patrick of having an unfair advantage in the Indianapolis 500 and said Saturday he will not compete in the race again unless the field is equalized. Gordon, a former open-wheel driver now in NASCAR, contends that Patrick is at an advantage over the rest of the competitors because she only weighs 100 pounds. Because all the cars weigh the same, Patrick's is lighter on the race track. "The lighter the car, the faster it goes," Gordon said. "Do the math. Put her in the car at her weight, then put me or Tony Stewart in the...

Yes. I am new to this website and was wondering why my account was banned? I posted an article I wrote about how Buddhism not Islam is a threat to America and is the fastest growing religion instead of Islam. I noted how Buddhism denies the existence of God and the divinity of Christ, I also made note of how Buddhists practice an evil satanic ceremony called doku. It is a ritual where Buddhist monks use a doku drum made of the hide of a white christian baby to conjure up demons for human sacrifice. Using three fingers they beat...

To the Editor: Re "Chairman Exerts Pressure on PBS, Alleging Biases" (front page, May 2): The job of the press is to scrutinize government, not praise it. The administration gives its story in the best possible light using taxpayer money. That must be countered by a vigorously critical free press. When have administrations, either Democratic or Republican, presented evenhanded pictures of what they do? The question isn't whether "Now" (formerly "Now With Bill Moyers") is critical of the Bush administration but whether it behaved differently during the Clinton administration. If anything, our press has failed to be critical enough. Charles...

Two months after Sacramento County enacted one of the nation's most aggressive affordable housing policies, the Building Industry Association of Superior California filed Monday to scrap the plan, calling it an unfair and unnecessary tax on developers that would drive up housing prices. During the two years county officials spent drafting a plan to provide housing for the poor, building industry officials resisted the plan and tried to loosen its stringent requirements. Affordability plan for low-income residents is called unfair tax that hurts others. The building industry's suit filed in Sacramento Superior Court reiterates those same arguments. "Is it fair...

NYC: Smokers Who Buy Online Need To Pay Up City Enforcing Cigarette Tax Laws Jan 13, 2005 12:20 pm US/Eastern NEW YORK (CBS) The New York City Finance Department has ordered smokers who bought tax-free cigarettes on the Internet to pay city taxes on their purchases. The demands were made in letters mailed this week. Finance Commissioner Martha Stark says “it's part of a new effort to enforce the cigarette tax laws." The city mailed letters to about 2,300 people whose names were obtained from cigs4cheap.com, which is no longer operating. The letters warned that recipients who failed to pay...

"I want to go to trial on Monday; I've been locked up for nearly eight years," declared Charles Thomas Sell. "The federal court has no evidence, they have no witnesses. I want my trial one week from today. I am not incompetent in any way, shape or form." His statements rang true to bystanders attending his hearing on Nov. 22 in the federal courthouse in St. Louis. Whatever happened to the right of an accused to have a speedy trial? Once a successful dentist in St. Louis County who treated many indigent patients, Sell was accused of Medicaid fraud in...