http://www.breitbart.com/ar...

 

Oldest DNA ever recovered shows warmer planet: report Jul 5 03:14 PM US/Eastern Scientists who probed two kilometers (1.2 miles) through a Greenland glacier to recover the oldest plant DNA on record said Thursday the planet was far warmer hundreds of thousands of years ago than is generally believed. DNA of trees, plants and insects including butterflies and spiders from beneath the southern Greenland glacier was estimated to date to 450,000 to 900,000 years ago, according to the remnants retrieved from this long-vanished boreal forest. That contrasts sharply with the prevailing view that a lush forest of this kind could only have existed in Greenland as recently as 2.4 million years ago, according to a summary of the study, which is published Thursday in the journal Science. The samples suggest the temperature probably reached 10 degrees C (50 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer and -17 C (1 F) in the winter. They also indicated that during the last period between ice ages, 116,000-130,000 years ago, when temperatures were on average 5 C (9 F) higher than now, the glaciers on Greenland did not completely melt away. "These findings allow us to make a more accurate environmental reconstruction of the time period from which these samples were taken," said Martin Sharp, a glaciologist at the University of Alberta, Canada, and a co-author of the paper.   "What we've learned is that this part of the world was significantly warmer than most people thought." In a separate paper, also published in Science, European experts said they had analysed the world's deepest ice core, enabling them to reconstruct patterns of warming and glaciation over the past 800,000 years. The 3,260-metre (10,595-feet) core was drilled into the East Antarctica icesheet at the Franco-Italian base, Dome C. The drillers, gathered in a venture called the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) stopped just 15 metres (48.75 feet) short of the bedrock. Using traces of the hydrogen isotope deuterium in air bubbles trapped in the ice layers, the scientists built a record of greenhouse-gas concentrations over the aeons, which in turn provides a record of temperature. They found the temperature varied widely, by as much as 15 C (27 F) over the 800,000 years. In the last Ice Age, which ended around 11,000 years ago, the temperature was 10 C (18 F) lower than today. The EPICA team had previously analysed the Dome C core to a depth equivalent to 650,000 years ago.

I know that you Dems are not going to like the fact that your Dem God has stated over and over that Saddam had WMD's and blames Bush #1 for doing nothing about it.  But what I don't understand...if Gore knew about all this in 1992, why didn't he and Clintongue do something about it? hmmmm - oh that is right, it was an election year and they had to sound tough.

LET THE EXCUSES BEGIN!

Friday, June 1, 2007

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CRIMENETDAILY
Former ACLU chief admits guilt
Sentenced to 8 years for having 'graphic and violent' child porn

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Posted: June 1, 2007
5:55 p.m. Eastern

 

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© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

 

A former executive for the http://www.acluva.org/pages...>American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has been sentenced to eight years in prison after he admitted having "graphic and violent" child pornography.

The guilty plea was entered in court in Virginia by Charles Rust-Tierney, where he was immediately sentenced, according to http://www.wjla.com/news/st...>a report today from WJLA television.

Rust-Tierney previously had served as the president of the Virginia chapter of the ACLU, and admitted his guilt under a plea bargain. He had been in jail since his arrest earlier this year, because two separate judges in pretrial hearings had rejected his request for freedom, describing the pornography as some of the most sickening they ever had encountered.

(Story continues below)

It was Rust-Tierney who, nearly 10 years ago, had argued before the Loudoun County Library Board against any Internet filters on the computers at the public facility.

The library, which had been using filters on its computers, was ordered to change its policy by a federal court.

"The ACLU of Virginia urges the board to carefully consider a new Internet Use Policy that allows for maximum Internet access…," he said at the time.

He encouraged the library board to recognize "that individuals will continue to behave responsibly and appropriately while in the library," so therefore "the default should be maximum, unrestricted access to ... the Internet."

Prosecutors said Rust-Tierney, who also served as a youth league sports coach in the area, actually downloaded the materials on a computer in his son's bedroom at home.

As WND reported, the 51-year-old was arrested in February and was indicted in May on charges of having what a U.S. magistrate described as "the most perverted and nauseating and sickening type of child pornography" she ever had seen.

He was the Virginia ACLU president until 2005 and served on the group's board until the day he was arrested.

Authorities said he used his own credit card and his own e-mail address to access and purchase an estimated $1,000 in graphic and violent child pornography during 2005 and 2006, according to Virginia's North Country Gazette.

Magistrate Theresa Buchanan said the material included an extended video featuring the sexual torture of children, accompanied by a song by the band called Nine Inch Nails.

He faced a maximum sentence of 11 to 14 years on each of two counts, had he not reached a plea agreement.

Court records indicate Rust-Tierney had subscribed to several websites featuring child pornography over a period of years.

The federal indictment alleged he "knowingly received multiple computer files that contained photo and video depictions of minor teenage and prepubescent children engaging in sexually explicit conduct."

An anonymous chat room participant on the cannablog was distressed by the low profile in the national media over the case. When Rust-Tierney's arrest first was announced, authorities didn't even mention either his ACLU or youth league coaching connections.

"This man was the PRESIDENT of the Virginia ACLU and while he was president, he lobbied to keep the Internet available to child pornographers via any port available, and WHILE he was president he was engaged in purchasing and subscribing to child (infant and toddler torture) pornography for his personal and sexual gratification. The ACLU. Pouring money into a machine that victimizes children. For years. And that the media is keeping this out of sight is okay with you? Wow," he said.

Fox News' Bill O'Reilly called it a "horrifying" case. And he noted that the two "biggest left-wing outfits in the country – the New York Times and NBC News – ignored the story entirely." CBS News, CNN and most of the big city liberal newspapers also failed to cover the Rust-Tierney arrest, Fox said.

Several area broadcast stations and newspapers actually started covering the case as it headed towards a conclusion.

"That Mr. Rust-Tierney, a leading proponent of unrestricted access to the Internet, has now been arrested for receiving and possessing graphic child pornography should serve as testimony to the injudicious and baleful outgrowth of the legal challenges launched by the ACLU questioning the constitutionality of important legislation that protects children from Internet exploitation and content harmful to minors," said a statement released by spokeswoman Cris Clapp of Enough is Enough, an organization dedicated to protecting children from the dangers on the Internet.

"When Mr. Rust-Tierney argued before the Loudoun County Library Board that unrestricted access to the resources of the Internet was essential for our children's ability to learn and communicate, and when groups like the ACLU contend that acceptable use policies alone are capable of protecting children online, they fail to acknowledge the tragic and devastating effects to children and families of both intentional and unintentional access to online pornography," the statement said.

The investigation that resulted in Rust-Tierney's arrest was conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, as well as Arlington County police as part of the Northern Virginia and District of Columbia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

http://www.worldnetdaily.co...

Abuse and incompetence in fight against global warming

Up to 20% of carbon savings in doubt as monitoring firms criticised by UN body

Nick Davies
Saturday June 2, 2007

Guardian

A Guardian investigation has found evidence of serious irregularities at the heart of the process the world is relying on to control global warming.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which is supposed to offset greenhouse gases emitted in the developed world by selling carbon credits from elsewhere, has been contaminated by gross incompetence, rule-breaking and possible fraud by companies in the developing world, according to UN paperwork, an unpublished expert report and alarming feedback from projects on the ground.

One senior figure suggested there may be faults with up to 20% of the carbon credits - known as certified emissions reductions - already sold. Since these are used by European governments and corporations to justify increases in emissions, the effect is that in some cases malpractice at the CDM has added to the net amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

The problems focus on the specialist companies that validate and verify the projects in the developing world which produce the certified emission reductions. Three of those companies have failed spot checks, which revealed a catalogue of weakness.

Separately, one of the CDM's experts calculates that as many as one third of the projects registered in India are commercial ventures which do not produce any additional cut in greenhouse gases and were wrongly approved.

There are only 17 of these validating and verifying companies. Most of them have a clean track record and will have approved reliable emissions reductions, but three of them have been performing so poorly that the CDM's executive board ordered spot checks - and all three companies failed on multiple grounds. The findings on one company, which is believed to have validated dozens of projects and verified millions of tonnes of carbon reductions, were so bad that the board considered suspending its right to work.

The chairman of the CDM board, Danish energy consultant Hans Jürgen Stehr, insisted that in the end the problem was not bad enough to require any of the companies to be suspended. However, he said: "This has been serious. We are talking about competence and the ability of the company to do a proper job." He ruled that none of the three companies be named.

In the formal language of the UN, the minutes record findings for each of the three companies variously of "non-conformities regarding...its competencies to perform validation and verification functions, its quality assurance and quality control mechanisms and compliance with the CDM requirements...procedural and operational requirements, such as its management and operational structure, contract control...and compliance with its own stipulated procedures." The board has called for a new regime of surveillance of their work.

One source who has been working closely with the CDM board had seen some companies filing reports with "all kinds of basic errors which make you wonder if they have any idea what they're doing". They included an entire report in a foreign language when basic rules require it to be in English; submitting a report containing remarks such as "we must check this before we submit the report".

Other errors are said to be more serious, including conjuring up numbers when projects on the ground failed to provide them; giving a green light to commercial projects which make no contribution to reducing greenhouse gases; and approving existing projects which cannot claim to be part of the drive to cut emissions.

Most of the concern is around the crucial CDM test of "additionality" - proof that a project is delivering cuts in greenhouse gases that would not otherwise have happened. In an unpublished report, one of the CDM board's expert advisers, Axel Michaelowa, examined all 52 Indian projects which had been registered up to May 2006 and found that a third of them failed this additionality test.

Mr Michaelowa found evidence of projects supplying false information which was then accepted by the companies who were supposed to check it. In one case cited in the report, he accuses an Indian company of making statements which were "blatantly false". Despite his protests, that scheme was approved.

http://environment.guardian...

Gaza: 'Immodest' women to be beheaded

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Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST

Jun. 2, 2007

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A Muslim extremist group threatened to behead female TV broadcasters if they don't don strict Islamic dress, leaving the women terrified and marking a further downward spiral in Gaza's anarchy.

The threat to "cut throats from vein to vein" was delivered by the Swords of Truth, a fanatical group that has previously claimed responsibility for bombing Internet cafes and music shops. The new threat was the first time the organization targeted a specific group of people, and adds to a growing climate of extremism, fear and suspicion in Gaza.

In many parts of the Muslim world, religious conservative policies keep women out of TV anchoring positions or only let them take the jobs if they wear headscarves. But in some countries scarves are uncommon, like Lebanon and Jordan, and Egypt even keeps newscasters who wear them off its TV stations.

Most of the 15 women broadcasters on government-run Palestine TV wear headscarves. But they also wear makeup and Western clothing, which is not considered strictly observant by the extremists.
The Swords of Truth issued the statement Friday in an e-mail sent to news organizations.

"We will cut throats, and from vein to vein, if needed to protect the spirit and moral of this nation." The group accused the women broadcasters of being "without any ... shame or morals."

The group said it knew where to find the women. Prior to the statement, some women broadcasters said they received personal threats through their mobile phones. It was not clear if those threats were from the same group.

One anchorwoman who does not wear a headscarf said she was too frightened by the threat to go to work on Saturday.

"It's a dangerous precedent in our society. It will target all working women," said the broadcaster, who declined to give her name out of fear. "The statement frightened us."

Another presenter who wears a headscarf, on Palestine TV, said she couldn't understand why they were targeted.

"I hope they take it back. I hope not a bullet will be fired at us," she said.

Basem Abu Sumaya, head of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, which runs Palestine TV, said that the PBC already had security measures in place, but could not protect people on the way to work.

The PBC is bankrolled by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, of Fatah, and is accused of openly exhibiting support for the movement, which is a bitter rival of Hamas.

A senior security official, who requested anonymity owing to the issue's sensitivity, said The Swords of Truth had less than 100 members, and was formed last year.

The group claimed responsibility for the bombings since October of about three dozen Internet cafes, music shops and pool halls, which are considered places of vice by some in deeply conservative Gaza. Assailants detonated small bombs outside businesses at night, causing damage but no injuries.

The security official said his forces were taking the threat seriously. He said Hamas members funded the group, wanting to impose a hard-line version of Islam in Gaza. Hamas won parliamentary elections last year and has a unity government with Fatah.

Hamas spokesman Ismail Ridwan said his faction had "no relation" to the group.

Other hard-line groups have grown in Gaza, plagued by the rise of Islamic extremism, alongside Hamas-Fatah fighting, anarchy and grueling poverty.

http://www.jpost.com/servle...

NEW YORK - Three people were arrested and one other was being sought in connection to a plan to set off explosives in a fuel line that feeds John F. Kennedy International Airport and runs through residential neighborhoods, officials close to the investigation said.

Details were to be given out at a 1 p.m. news conference.

The plot, which never got past the planning stages, did not involve airplanes or passenger terminals, according to the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the arrests had not yet been announced.

Instead, it focused on a pipeline that takes fuel from a facility in Linden, N.J., to the airport. Other lines service LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, according to WNBC-TV NewsChannel4’s Jonathan Dienst, who first reported the story.

A third law enforcement official said the suspects include a Guyanese man who used to work at JFK and who was arrested in New York City on Friday night. Two other suspects were apprehended in Trinidad. Investigators are seeking a fourth suspect in Trinidad.

The official said the plotters had conducted surveillance on giant jet fuel tanks at JFK and the Buckeye pipeline that runs from New Jersey to the airport. They had taken surveillance video of the targets and took it to Trinidad to review the tape, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the arrests were not yet announced.

The official said investigators first found out about the plot in January 2006. After that, an informant infiltrated the group.

“This was the ultimate hand-and-glove operation between NYPD and FBI,” said Rep. Peter King, a Republican from Long Island.

 

The arrests mark the latest in a series of homegrown terrorism plots that targeted high-profile American landmarks.

A year ago, seven men were arrested in what officials called the early stages of a plot to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and destroy FBI offices and other buildings. A month later, authorities broke up a plot to bomb underwater New York City train tunnels to flood lower Manhattan.

And six people were arrested a month ago in a plot to unleash a bloody rampage on Fort Dix in New Jersey.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id...

Hindu parents of a UC Irvine student disliked her boyfriend being Muslim. The parents and another daughter were brutally attacked.

By Ashley Powers and Dave McKibben
Times Staff Writers

May 31, 2007

She was a college freshman whose Hindu family didn't believe in dating before marriage. He was a Muslim, which troubled her parents, and they convinced her that he wasn't the one.

Their breakup, investigators said, might have played a role in a string of vicious crimes that unfolded in Orange County last week: Her Anaheim Hills home was set ablaze, her mother savagely beaten and her father and sister killed. The victims had been strangled, bludgeoned, burned and stabbed, according to court records.

The young man, Iftekhar Murtaza, 22, of Van Nuys, was arrested last weekend at the Phoenix airport in connection with the slayings. He had left Southern California after investigators questioned him and was carrying a one-way ticket to Bangladesh.

Phone records indicated that Murtaza's cellphone had been used less than two miles from one of the crime scenes an hour or so before the killings. He told authorities he was not in Anaheim that day, court documents said.

Even with the arrest, much about the sequence of the brutal acts — with two crime scenes, three victims and varying witness accounts of what happened over a five-hour span — remains a mystery.

Murtaza, described by authorities as a "person of interest" and considered a flight risk, is being held in Phoenix, with an extradition hearing to return him to California scheduled for this morning. No charges have been filed against him, and police said they are looking for multiple suspects. His attorney did not return phone calls seeking comment.

A few weeks before the slayings, Murtaza and his girlfriend, Shayona Dhanak, an 18-year-old UC Irvine student, had broken up after three years. It was unclear how the pair met and how they had dated for so long despite her family's disapproval.

Murtaza had stayed off and on at a condominium on Langdon Avenue in North Hills, where his parents most recently lived. He worked at a loan company, said a woman affiliated with the Langdon Village homeowners association.

His penchant for blowing through stop signs in flashy cars — first a Mustang convertible, lately a Range Rover — annoyed neighbors, said the woman, who declined to give her name. Murtaza has been ticketed for speeding in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Murtaza's family sold the condo about a month ago and had purchased real estate in Gilbert, Ariz., property records show. His father, however, still works at a convenience store in Van Nuys called Discount Cigarette. He declined to comment Wednesday.

"I strongly believe that he has no part in it," said Ishtiak Murtaza, one of Iftekhar Murtaza's older brothers, according to the Associated Press.

Shayona Dhanak, said several friends, often brought Murtaza to movies, the mall and miniature golf with her girlfriends. He "was a goofy guy. He was a happy-type person," said one 20-year-old UC Irvine student who asked not to be identified.

He "was a caring guy and a good friend," said another young woman. "I never saw any tension of any kind. He was really friendly. We would all just hang out. I never could have imagined anything like this."

The Dhanaks and their elder daughter, Karishma, an Orange Coast College student who dreamed of becoming a makeup artist, apparently pushed for Shayona Dhanak to end the relationship "due to different religious backgrounds, Hindu and Muslim," court documents said.

Leela Dhanak, 53, and her husband, Jayprakash, 56, had emigrated from India to California, where the couple worked their way up from low-level mail sorting jobs, said neighbors and their former attorneys. They had lived in a two-story Anaheim Hills home for about a decade.

Neighbors described them as polite and unobtrusive, though Jayprakash "Jay" Dhanak had a criminal record. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to bilking the U.S. Postal Service as the operations manager for a direct-mail company and was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison.

The case represented about $7.9 million in losses, postal inspectors said. Charges against Leela Dhanak were dropped.

Investigators are continuing to look into whether Jay Dhanak's past is linked to the slayings.

Leela and Jay Dhanak were active in their Whittier temple, where she taught religion classes and which they represented at Hindu conventions. The temple advocated a rigorous style of Hinduism "as a way of preserving culture and protecting their children from what they perceive to be the evils of Western society," according to a Times article about the temple.

Strict adherents forgo television, drugs, meat, alcohol and dating before marriage. Men and women are separated during worship.

Women may not hold leadership positions or speak to the saints or the swami, tenets uncommon to other Hindu sects, the article said.

The temple "was saddened to learn of the tragic events surrounding the Dhanak family…. However, with the strength of our collective faith and the blessings of God, we are sure that we will overcome this period," read a spokesman's statement after the crimes were publicized.

Authorities arriving at a late-night blaze at the Dhanaks' home on May 21 discovered Leela Dhanak bludgeoned and unconscious on a neighbor's lawn. Neighbors reported seeing a young, slender man dragging Leela Dhanak out of her home just before smoke started pouring from the back of the house and a vehicle sped away.

Just after 4 a.m. May 22, Irvine authorities responded to reports of smoke coming from William R. Mason Regional Park, near Concordia University and UC Irvine, about 20 miles from the home.

At the origin of a quickly doused brush fire were the badly burned bodies of Jay and Karishma Dhanak. She was identified through fingerprints that day and her father through dental records later that week.

Leela Dhanak, and her daughter — who did not live with her family and was unharmed — were placed under police protection.

Authorities interviewed Murtaza last week, and shortly afterward he left for Arizona, said a source close to the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. Court records indicated that a victim had alerted officers to Murtaza's possible involvement.

Over the weekend, authorities filed an arrest warrant in Orange County, which has been sealed, the source said. Anaheim police told U.S. marshals Friday that Murtaza was flying into Sky Harbor International Airport from LAX on the first leg of a trip to Bangladesh, said Arizona District U.S. Marshal David Gonzalez.

Four deputy U.S. marshals stopped Murtaza in a terminal that night and confirmed his identity with his passport and ID. "It was very uneventful," Gonzalez said.
http://www.latimes.com/news...

Man gets death for blasphemy after video trial

* Defence counsel says he will appeal against decision

Staff Report

LAHORE: An additional district and sessions judge on Wednesday sentenced a blasphemy accused, Younis Masih, to death after a video jail trial. The court also fined him Rs 100,000.

Factory Area police had registered a blasphemy case under Section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against Masih on September 10, 2005, after he had allegedly made derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) at a Qawali function on September 9, 2005.

The accused challenged the whole legal process in his case and said that the investigation against him was illegal. He said that according to the law, a police officer below the rank of superintendent of police (SP) could not conduct investigation in a blasphemy case, but a sub-inspector (SI) had conducted the investigation in This case, which made the whole process illegal. He requested that the case against him be quashed.

During the proceedings, the accused was sitting in a special room at Kot Lakhpat Jail and the judge sat in a room at the Sessions Court where he recorded the evidence. The accused was seen in the court on a screen. This was the first video trial in a blasphemy case in the country.

Defence counsel Pervez Aslam Chaudhry said the trial had been arranged at the jail due to security issues, adding that all evidence in the case were also recorded through video.

The lawyer of the accused said that Christians had arranged a spiritual gathering at Chungi Ammarsidhu in September 9, 2005, at which a neighbour, Abdul Aziz, also a complainant in the case, had objected and demanded that they perform Islamic rituals instead of Christian rites. The argument turned hot during which, the complainant alleged that the accused had used the derogatory remarks.

The lawyer said that the case had not been investigated at the proper forum. He contended that the offence required investigation by an officer not below the rank of SP under section 156-A of the Criminal Procedure Code. Chaudhry said he would appeal against the decision.

The court also directed the police to provide security to the lawyer because he had been receiving threats during the trial.

http://www.dailytimes.com.p...

http://www.mrc.org/press/20...

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAY 31, 2007

CONTACT: TIM SCHEIDERER OR COLLEEN O’BOYLE AT 703.683.5004

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NINE DAYS AFTER PHOTOS RELEASED, NETS AND TOP
PAPERS SILENT OVER AL-QAEDA TORTURE HOUSE

Yet Top Media Ran More Than 6,000 Stories on Abu Ghraib Abuses
 

http://www.referralblast.co... + location.href,'medWnd','width=285,height=460,scro llbars=yes,menubar=no,resizable=yes'); return false;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;" href="http://www.referralblast.com/cs/med/med1.as p" target="_blank">

ALEXANDRIA, VA—The U.S. Defense Department released photos last week of an al-Qaeda torture chamber in Iraq, which showed various torture tools—blow torches, meat cleavers, hammers, drills, metal files—drawings of torture methods, and photos of actual victims found in another house in Karmah who had been burned, mutilated, and tortured in myriad ways.

To their credit, CNN and Fox News Channel ran stories on the declassified material. Yet nine days since the material was released, neither ABC, CBS, NBC, The New York Times nor The Washington Post has run a story with the photos of this shocking evidence of al-Qaeda’s barbarism.

Concerning the top media’s silence on the al-Qaeda torture chamber in Iraq, MRC President Brent Bozell issued the following statement:

“The elite media’s liberal bias is abundantly clear in this case. U.S. soldiers raided several al-Qaeda safe houses in Iraq and discovered stacks of evidence about how al-Qaeda tortures its victims. The tools, the drawings, and the photos are gruesome and clearly show what type of enemy the U.S. is facing.

“Yet most of the liberal media are deliberately silent. This is the same self-righteous liberal media that ran more than 6,000 stories and countless photos of Abu Ghraib and the abuse of prisoners there by several U.S. soldiers. Where are they now? Why will they not show the American people what al-Qaeda is actually doing in Iraq right now? Whose side are they on?

“Al-Qaeda’s crimes are a thousand-fold more brutal than anything done by any derelict U.S. soldier. Yet it’s obvious now that the liberal media want to focus on U.S. misdeeds, and alleged misdeeds, and theoretical misdeeds instead of giving the truth to the American people.”

To view the photographs and drawings declassified by the U.S. Defense Department, visit this site, http://www.thesmokinggun.co...

Libs please don't watch the video!!!!  Only American Patriots should watch it.

Venezuelan Opposition Leader Demands Hugo Chavez Free Jailed Protesters

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

CARACAS, Venezuela  — 

A top opponent of President Hugo Chavez demanded the release of jailed protesters Wednesday as university students poured into the streets for a third day to protest the removal of a leading opposition TV station from the air.

 

Former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales said protests over the government's move to halt the broadcasts of Radio Caracas Television show that "freedom cannot be negotiated nor bargained."

Protesters have filled the capital's plazas and streets since the opposition-aligned channel went off the air at midnight Sunday. Chavez refused to renew its broadcast license, and police have clashed with angry crowds hurling rocks and bottles.

• Reporter's Notebook: Venezuelan Youth Protest in Support of Banned TV Channel

A total of 182 people — mostly university students and minors — have been detained in nearly 100 protests since Sunday, Justice Minister Pedro Carreno said late Tuesday. At least 30 were charged with violent acts, prosecutors said, but it was unclear how many remained behind bars.

"Freedom for those young men and women, immediately. They should not be treated like criminals," said Rosales, the governor of western Zulia state who was handily defeated by Chavez in December elections.

"I know that Radio Caracas will return to the air," Rosales said. He said protesters are demanding not only free speech but also the right to protest "peacefully and democratically."

As he spoke, roughly 8,000 student protesters chanting "freedom!" marched toward the offices of the People's Defender, a government official in charge of monitoring human rights. Marchers stopped at a police barricade, while several leaders delivered a protest letter to authorities at the office.

"The students are taking a stand, but not to oust the government or cause chaos as some allege," student leader John Goicochea said.

Although the march was generally peaceful, there were several small scuffles between students and "Chavistas" who approached the demonstrators, jeering and shouting insults.

Some office workers in the business district tossed confetti out of their windows in support.

Chavez accused RCTV of helping incite a failed coup in 2002, violating broadcast laws and "poisoning" Venezuelans with soap operas and game shows that promoted capitalism. He said his decision to replace it Monday with a new state-funded public channel, TVES, is a step toward "democratizing" the airwaves.

Thousands of Chavez supporters marched Tuesday, saying they reject an opposition attempt to stir up a "guarimba" — a term for protesters' makeshift barriers of trash and debris that refers to creating unrest aimed at overthrowing the government.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/stor...

Just 16% Believe Senate Bill Will Reduce

Illegal Immigration

There’s a simple reason the immigration bill being debated by the U.S. Senate is unpopular

with voters—the general public doesn’t believe it will reduce illegal immigration. And, in the

minds of most voters, that’s what immigration reform is all about.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 16% of American voters

believe illegal immigration will decline if the Senate bill is passed. Seventy-four percent (74%)

disagree. That figure includes 41% who believe the Senate bill will actually lead to an

increase

If voters had a chance to improve the legislation, 75% would â€oemake changes to increase

border security measures and reduce illegal immigration.― Just 29% would― make it easier

for illegal immigrants to stay in the country and eventually become citizens.―

Voters who believe that the current bill will succeed in reducing illegal immigration favor its

passage by a 51% to 31% margin. Those who believe the bill will lead to even more illegal

immigration oppose its passage by a 70% to 12% margin.

Overall, despite a major push by the President and others over the past week, support for the

Senate bill has not increased at all. In polling conducted last night (Tuesday, May 29), 26% of

voters favor passage of the bill. That’s unchanged from the 26% support found in polling

conducted the previous Monday and Tuesday. Forty-eight percent (48%) of voters remain

opposed.

Eighty-one percent (81%) of American voters are closely following news stories about the issue,

including 37% who are following it Very Closely. Those with the highest interest in the issue

oppose the legislation by a 3-to-1 margin (69% to 23%). By a 55% to 15% margin, those following

the story Very Closely believe the bill will lead to increased levels of illegal immigration.

Unaffiliated voters are now more opposed to the bill than either Republicans or Democrats.

Among those who don’t identify with either of the major parties, 22% support the Senate bill

while 57% are opposed.

Just 16% Believe Senate Bill Will Reduce Illegal Immigration 1 of 3

Some supporters of the bill have tried to suggest it is politically popular by citing polling data for

selected features of the bill. However, President Bush yesterday implicitly acknowledged the

strong public opposition to the bill by stating that elected officials will need political

â€oecourage― to pass the measure. Senator Jon Kyl (R), a major supporter of the legislation,

acknowledged in interviews that the lack of support measured by Rasmussen Reports is an

accurate reflection of the public mood.

Rasmussen Reports polling, like that of other firms, has found that Americans may be willing to

accept a compromise proposal that includes legalizing the status of the 12 million illegal aliens

already living in the United States.

compromise

However, arguing about the nuances of amnesty, guest-worker programs and other provisions

will do nothing to build popular support without proof that the government is serious about

controlling the border.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of voters believe it is

improve its enforcement of the borders

Many times, voters doubt that reasonable alternatives exist. But,

possible to reduce illegal immigration

in illegal immigration.Sixty-five percent (65%) said they would accept such aprovided that it accomplished the primary goal of reducing illegal immigration.Very Important for â€oethe government toand reduce illegal immigration.―68% of Americans believe it iswhile just 20% disagree. A

New York Times/CBS News

do more

The belief that the issue

poll found a similar result--82% believe the federal government couldto reduce illegal immigration.

could

(66%) believe it doesn't make sense to debate new

borders and enforce existing laws.

Other recent surveys have found that

bill, has slipped to third place

immigration debate began dominating the news.

Rasmussen Reports also provides continuously updated favorability ratings, ideological

perceptions, and general election match-ups for all

Results for the

Approval

Just 16% Believe Senate Bill Will Reduce Illegal Immigration 2 of 3

Rasmussen Reports regularly tracks public attitudes towards

other topics. Rasmussen Reports also continuously updates favorability ratings and general

election match-ups for all

for

be addressed adds to the frustration of those who oppose the Senate bill. Sixty-six percentimmigration laws until we can first control ourSenator John McCain (R), a strong proponent of the Senatein the race for the Republican Presidential nomination. Bush’s Job Approval ratings have fallen to the lowest levels of his Administration since theRepublican and Democratic candidates.Generic Congressional Ballot are updated monthly. The President’s Jobratings, which recently fell to all-time lows, are updated daily.Congress, the War on Terror , andDemocratic and Republican Presidential candidates along with ratingsMembers of Congress , Other Political Figures and Journalists .

Crosstabs

Just 16% Believe Senate Bill Will Reduce Illegal Immigration

 

http://www.rasmussenreports...

are available to Premium Members only.

REAGAN TOPS GORE IN SQUEAKER
WED MAY 30 2007 10:19:28 ET

**EXCLUSIVE**

'THE REAGAN DIARIES' OUTSOLD AL GORE'S 'ASSAULT ON REASON' IN OPENING WEEK ACTION, BOOKSCAN WILL REPORT.

REAGAN WON THE RACE BY SELLING JUST 5 MORE BOOKS THAN GORE! [RECOUNT! RECOUNT!]

'DIARIES' MOVED 49,626 COPIES TO GORE'S 49,621, INDUSTRY SOURCES TELL THE DRUDGE REPORT.

ISAACSON 'EINSTEIN' BAGGED 21,007 FOR THE WEEK [208,939 SINCE RELEASE]... HITCHENS 'GOD IS NOT GREAT' EXCHANGED 17,876 [58,490].

http://www.breitbart.com/ar...

If you want to read the article the link is above.

DEMS don't want to read this:

If another attack on our soil happens by the hands of these Muslims, we as Americans have no choice but to take actions in our own hands.  We must stand up TOGETHER and not cry to our government, but unite to defend our freedom, as we know it,  but ridding our country of this menise.  See they feel we are week, not just Bush, but all of you....they don't want to negotiate with you and be friends with you they want to kill you and everything you as Americans live and stand for.  They have become like roaches infesting the walls of our homes and it is time to exterminate the house.

Americans need to stop catering to the likes of our "Hollywood" elites - you see what happens to them in the end.  It is time for a GUT CHECK.  Rome didn't fall in a day - it took years - let's stop that repeat of history.

 

Veteran: Washington State Flag Desecration Is No Prank

Tuesday , May 29, 2007

By Sara Bonisteel

The vandals who desecrated the graves of U.S. veterans over the Memorial Day weekend were professionals, says a Vietnam vet who kept night watch at the cemetery in Washington State.

"We thought at first it was just a prank-type deal at first. We were very upset about it and so forth, but now we know that this is a real deal," said David Resch, a past commander of American Legion Post 93 in Eastsound, Wash. "This is a Nazi act, not just somebody going out there and desecrating things for the fun of it."

No one has taken responsibility for back-to-back flag desecrations at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Orcas Island, Wash., according to San Juan County Sheriff Bill Cumming.

"It's speculative at this point to assign it to an organized group or juveniles that for some reason wanted to shock the community," Cumming said.

On Sunday morning, members of the Boyle B. Martin American Legion post found desecrated the flags of 97 veterans. Of those, 46 flag standards were empty, 33 contained burned flags and 14 had been replaced with handmade swastika flags, authorities said.

Resch kept watch early Monday after legionnaires replaced the flags, but the vandals struck again under the cover of darkness.

"I didn't see anybody," said Resch, who told FOXNews.com that he kept watch from 12:30 a.m. to 4:40 a.m. "They're very professional."

Thirty-three flags had been replaced with hand-drawn swastika flags, according to the San Juan County Sheriff's Office in Friday Harbor, Wash.

"The scale and the tenacity and the timing, I don't think this is the work of one person," Cumming said. "We think it's more than one."

Officials are trying to get physical evidence, such as fingerprints, from the paper and duct tape left behind.

The crimes have stunned this small community of approximately 5,000 people.

"It's a small island, and I think if it's local folks that did it, everybody kind of talks to everybody about certain things, you know," said Pierrette Guimond, district commissioner for San Juan Cemetery District No. 3, which includes Woodlawn.

It's the first act of vandalism to take place in the cemetery, she said.

"If people want to protest something this is not the place to do it," Guimond said. "People go there to think about the people that went to war for their country and stuff like that. It's a really sacred place."

The vandalism is considered a hate crime under Washington state law, Cumming said.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Veterans Affairs said the federal government does not have jurisdiction in the case.

"We don't have jurisdiction over issues of vandalism because it's a veterans' grave in a private, community cemetery," said Jo Schuda, a VA spokeswoman. "If it was in a federal cemetery, it would be a federal crime subject to potential charges brought in federal court."

Despite the vandalism, Post 93 performed its Memorial Day tributes Monday afternoon, including playing "Taps" at the cemetery. Around 75 people turned out for the ceremony.

We Are All in It Together, Clinton Says
Tuesday May 29, 4:41 pm ET
By Holly Ramer, Associated Press Writer Clinton: Shared Prosperity Should Replace 'On Your Own' Society

 

 The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com

---

Pentagon details China's new military strategies

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published May 25, 2007

---

The Pentagon's forthcoming annual report on Chinese military power will reveal a growing threat from Beijing's new forms of power projection, including anti-satellite weapons and computer network attack forces.
    Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday that the report, scheduled for release today, shows how China "has steadily devoted increasing resources to their military."
    According to defense officials familiar with the report, it also highlights new strategic missile developments, including China's five new Jin-class submarines, and states that Beijing continues to hide the true level of its military spending.
    The officials also said that the report will detail how China is developing two new types of strategic forces that go beyond what nations have done traditionally using air, sea and land forces by aiming to knock out modern communications methods on which the U.S. military relies for advanced warfighting techniques.
    First, U.S. intelligence officials estimate that by 2010 China's ASAT missiles will be capable of delivering a knockout blow to many U.S. military satellites. Second, China also is training large numbers of military computer hackers to deliver crippling electronic attacks on U.S. military and civilian computer networks.
    Mr. Gates described this year's report as an honest assessment devoid of "arm-waving" and said, "I don't think it does any exaggeration of the threat."
    "But it paints a picture of a country that is devoting substantial resources to the military and developing ... some very sophisticated capabilities."
    Still, the Pentagon chief said keeping threats in perspective is made harder by China's lack of openness and Beijing's communist leaders refusing to talk enough about "what their intentions are, what their strategies are."
    "It would be nice to hear firsthand from the Chinese how they view some of these things," he said.
    Asked about China's double-digit percent increases in defense spending for more than a decade and advancing weapon technology, Mr. Gates said: "I think some of the capabilities that are being developed are of concern, sure."
    China's buildup also appears directed at deploying forces that can be used beyond a regional conflict over Taiwan, which in the past was thought by U.S. officials to be the main objective of China's military modernization.
    For example, the report identifies the five new missile submarines, known as the Jin-class, that will each be outfitted with 12 5,000-mile-range JL-2 missiles, vastly improving China's nuclear missile strike capabilities. The new submarines are considered a significant new power projection capability that China did not have from its lone earlier ballistic missile submarine, which stayed in port and did not sail to open ocean.
    Officials familiar with the report said that the annual assessment, which is required under congressional legislation, was modified during reviews by officials in the White House National Security Council, the State Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence who sought to play down the Chinese military developments.
    The report also does not fully explain the strategic significance of China's Jan. 11 anti-satellite test, which demonstrated Beijing's capability of shooting down an orbiting satellite with ground-launched missiles.
    Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley stated recently that the ASAT test, which involved a missile ramming into a Chinese weather satellite some 500 miles in space, was as significant as the 1957 Soviet launch of the satellite Sputnik, which launched the space race.
    The Pentagon report also bolsters the findings of a congressional commission report produced in February by Pentagon consultant Michael Pillsbury who stated that Chinese military "space hawks" advocate using ASAT weapons in a crisis with the U.S. The Pentagon report suggests that these "space hawks" represent the Chinese military's strategic intentions and are not fringe authors, as some pro-China officials claim.
    Officials said the release of the report, which was due to Congress in March, also was held up to avoid upsetting the Chinese in the recent Strategic Economic Dialogue, which ended Wednesday. Additionally, they said, the report will be released before a holiday weekend in an effort to minimize press coverage.
    Mr. Gates has not revealed in a formal setting his views on China and its military buildup, unlike his predecessor, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who highlighted his concerns over China's military buildup in a 2005 speech in Singapore. Mr. Gates is set to deliver a speech in Singapore next week that officials say likely will reflect his views on Asian security and China.
    The China military power report has been a subject of political fighting every year as part of pro-China officials' efforts to promote the Bush administration's pro-business agenda with Beijing. As part of those policies, the Pentagon and U.S. military recently stepped up military exchanges with China, but in ways that critics say disproportionately benefit Beijing.

http://www.washtimes.com/fu...

How to End 'Islamophobia'
The latest survey of American Muslims won't reassure their fellow citizens.

BY TAWFIK HAMID
Friday, May 25, 2007 12:01 a.m.

Islamic organizations regularly accuse non-Muslims of "Islamophobia," a fear and disdain for everything Islamic. On May 17, this accusation bubbled up again as foreign ministers from the Organization of the Islamic Conference called Islamophobia "the worst form of terrorism." These ministers also warned, according to the Arab News, that this form of discrimination would cause millions of Muslims in Western countries, "many of whom were already underprivileged," to be "further alienated."

In America, perhaps the most conspicuous organization to persistently accuse opponents of Islamophobia is the Council of American Islamic Relations. CAIR has taken up the legal case of the "Flying Imams," the six individuals who were pulled from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis this past November after engaging in suspicious behavior before takeoff. Not long ago, CAIR filed a "John Doe" lawsuit that would have made passengers liable for "malicious" complaints about suspicious Muslim passengers.

In an interview at the time, CAIR spokesman Nihad Awad accused Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.) of being an "extremist" who "encourages Islamophobia" for pointing out what most people would think is obvious, that such a lawsuit would have a chilling effect on passengers who witnessed alarming activity and wished to report it. We can only assume that Mr. Awad believes flyers should passively remain in a state of fear as they travel and submissively risk their lives. In this case, Congress is acting appropriately and considering passing a law sponsored by Mr. King that would grant passengers immunity from such lawsuits.

It may seem bizarre, but Islamic reformers are not immune to the charge of "Islamophobia" either. For 20 years, I have preached a reformed interpretation of Islam that teaches peace and respects human rights. I have consistently spoken out--with dozens of other Muslim and Arab reformers--against the mistreatment of women, gays and religious minorities in the Islamic world. We have pointed out the violent teachings of Salafism and the imperative of Westerners to protect themselves against it.

Yet according to CAIR's Michigan spokeswoman, Zeinab Chami, I am "the latest weapon in the Islamophobe arsenal." If standing against the violent edicts of Shariah law is "Islamophobic," then I will treat her accusation as a badge of honor.

 

 

Muslims must ask what prompts this "phobia" in the first place. When we in the West examine the worldwide atrocities perpetrated daily in the name of Islam, it is vital to question if we--Muslims--should lay the blame on others for Islamophobia or if we should first look hard at ourselves.

According to a recent Pew Global Attitudes survey, "younger Muslims in the U.S. are much more likely than older Muslim Americans to say that suicide bombing in the defense of Islam can be at least sometimes justified." About one out of every four American Muslims under 30 think suicide bombing in defense of Islam is justified in at least some circumstances. Twenty-eight percent believe that Muslims did not carry out the 9/11 attacks and 32% declined to answer that question.

While the survey has been represented in the media as proof of moderation among American Muslims, the actual results should yield the opposite conclusion. If, as the Pew study estimates, there are 2.35 million Muslims in America, that means there are a substantial number of people in the U.S. who think suicide bombing is sometimes justified. Similarly, if 5% of American Muslims support al Qaeda, that's more than 100,000 people.

To bring an end to Islamophobia, we must employ a holistic approach that treats the core of the disease. It will not suffice to merely suppress the symptoms. It is imperative to adopt new Islamic teachings that do not allow killing apostates (Redda Law). Islamic authorities must provide mainstream Islamic books that forbid polygamy and beating women. Accepted Islamic doctrine should take a strong stand against slavery and the raping of female war prisoners, as happens in Darfur under the explicit canons of Shariah ("Ma Malakat Aimanikum"). Muslims should teach, everywhere and universally, that a woman's testimony in court counts as much as a man's, that women should not be punished if they marry whom they please or dress as they wish.

 

 

We Muslims should publicly show our strong disapproval for the growing number of attacks by Muslims against other faiths and against other Muslims. Let us not even dwell on 9/11, Madrid, London, Bali and countless other scenes of carnage. It has been estimated that of the two million refugees fleeing Islamic terror in Iraq, 40% are Christian, and many of them seek a haven in Lebanon, where the Christian population itself has declined by 60%. Even in Turkey, Islamists recently found it necessary to slit the throats of three Christians for publishing Bibles.

Of course, Islamist attacks are not limited to Christians and Jews. Why do we hear no Muslim condemnation of the ongoing slaughter of Buddhists in Thailand by Islamic groups? Why was there silence over the Mumbai train bombings which took the lives of over 200 Hindus in 2006? We must not forget that innocent Muslims, too, are suffering. Indeed, the most common murderers of Muslims are, and have always been, other Muslims. Where is the Muslim outcry over the Sunni-Shiite violence in Iraq?

Islamophobia could end when masses of Muslims demonstrate in the streets against videos displaying innocent people being beheaded with the same vigor we employ against airlines, Israel and cartoons of Muhammad. It might cease when Muslims unambiguously and publicly insist that Shariah law should have no binding legal status in free, democratic societies.

It is well past time that Muslims cease using the charge of "Islamophobia" as a tool to intimidate and blackmail those who speak up against suspicious passengers and against those who rightly criticize current Islamic practices and preachings. Instead, Muslims must engage in honest and humble introspection. Muslims should--must--develop strategies to rescue our religion by combating the tyranny of Salafi Islam and its dreadful consequences. Among more important outcomes, this will also put an end to so-called Islamophobia.

Dr. Hamid, a onetime member of Jemaah Islamiya, an Islamist terrorist group, is a medical doctor and Muslim reformer living in the West.

 

http://www.opinionjournal.c...

May 24, 2007

Edwards backs gay immigration rights

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Edwards meets with plaintiffs in the California same-sex marriage case, Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis. Photo courtesy of Marriage Equality.)

John Edwards, facing criticism from some gay rights activists today, has come out in favor of a key plank in the gay rights platform: Legislation that would allow gays and lesbians to bring their foreign partners into the United States just as opposite-sex couples can.

Though a relatively obscure issue on the national scene, the issue of gay immigration is an important one within the gay rights movement, partly because — unlike more symbolic issues around the word "marriage" — it has a direct, disruptive impact on the lives of some gays and lesbians. Some American citizens have actually emigrated to countries with pro-gay immigration laws.

Edwards is taking criticism today for the recollection by Democratic consultant Bob Shrum, basically uncontested by his own aides*, that he was uncomfortable with gays as recently as the last presidential campaign 1998.

But an Edwards supporter said his support of immigration and other gay rights, which appears in his response to a questionnaire from Human Rights Campaign obtained by The Politico, will put him ahead of his Democratic rivals in gay rights.

"The central point is that they have all evolved," said an Edwards supporter. "Hillary has evolved on Don't Ask, Don't Tell [which she now opposes]. And Edwards has come particularly far."

Among the Democratic candidates, Chris Dodd is the only other on the record supporting the immigration legislation, a spokesman for the group Immigration Equality said.

*Basically uncontested? That's my read on this quote from Harrison Hickman: "[Shrum] is sensationalizing and taking out of context what was an honest discussion about [Edwards's] lack of exposure to these issues and openly gay people. I don't remember anything that expressed any kind of venom or judgment about gay people."

UPDATE II: Hickman emails that he does contest the substance, not just the tone, of Shrum's recollection: "John Edwards did not say the words that Bob Shrum purportedly quotes him as saying. I know because I was there." ("Purportedly" because Hickman hasn't seen the book.)

 

http://www.politico.com/blo...

North Carolina Judge: Court Witnesses Can Take Oath With Koran

Thursday , May 24, 2007

RALEIGH, N.C. — 

A Wake County judge ruled Thursday that any religious text can be used to swear in a witness or juror in the state's courtrooms, not just the Bible.

 

The American Civil Liberties Union argued a law that some judges said required the state's courts to use the Bible alone is unconstitutional because it favors Christianity over other religions.

The ACLU sought a court order clarifying that the law is broad enough to allow the use of multiple religious texts, or else declare the statute unconstitutional.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway ruled that a witness or juror can take a court oath using a text "most sacred and obligatory upon their conscience," citing common law and precedent of the state Supreme Court.

The judge didn't declare the law unconstitutional or rule on whether the term "Holy Scriptures" could be reasonably interpreted to mean any sacred text other than the Bible. But the ACLU still considered the ruling favorable.

"As of today all people can use the holy text of their choice," said Seth Cohen, an ACLU attorney who argued the case. "We think it's a great victory."

State law allows witnesses preparing to testify in court to take their oath in three ways: by laying a hand over "the Holy Scriptures," by saying "so help me God" without the use of a religious book, or by an affirmation using no religious symbols.

A trial court judge initially dismissed the ACLU's lawsuit in December 2005, ruling it was moot because there was no actual controversy at that time warranting litigation.

In January, the ruling was reversed by an unanimous three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals, after the ACLU had added Syidah Mateen as a plaintiff. In its decision, the appeals court cited Mateen's claim that her request to place her hand on the Koran as a witness in a domestic violence case in Guilford County was denied in 2003.

Before the ACLU filed its lawsuit, the group and the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations had asked the state's court system to allow use of the Koran and other religious texts in courtrooms. The director of the state court system refused, saying the General Assembly or the courts needed to settle the issue.

During a court hearing earlier this month, the state Attorney General's Office asked Ridgeway to dismiss the case because the complaint was political.

But the ACLU argued that an 1856 state Supreme Court decision set a clear precedent for oaths with religious texts and noted a change to the law made in 1985.

Before that time, the law was called "Administration of oath upon the Gospels" and stated that someone to be sworn was to lay a hand on "the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God." Legislators took out "the Gospels" in the title and changed the language to simply read "Holy Scriptures" in 1985.

The court decision Thursday noted that North Carolina's oath-taking statutes were written for Christians but do not limit others from swearing in the way they deem most sacred.

The state has 30 days to appeal the ruling.

Memorial Day showdown between presidential camps

Contributed by Klaus Marre

May 25, 2007

The Iraq funding bill has triggered an all-out battle of words between presidential candidates from both parties after Sen.

John McCain (R-Ariz.) compared the "no" votes of Democratic frontrunners Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and

Barack Obama (Ill.) with surrendering to al Qaeda. Clinton and Obama were among the 14 senators who opposed the

funding bill, which Congress sent to President Bush late Thursday. "This vote may win favor with MoveOn and liberal

primary voters, but it's the equivalent of waving a white flag to al Qaeda," McCain said, regarding the vote of his

Democratic opponents. Obama returned fire, saying that it is clear a new direction in Iraq is needed. "And if there ever

was a reflection of that it's the fact that Senator McCain required a flack jacket, 10 armored Humvees, two Apache attack

helicopters, and 100 soldiers with rifles by his side to stroll through a market in Baghdad just a few weeks ago," Obama

said in a statement. McCain responded immediately, mocking Obama's lack of experience. "While Senator Obama's

two years in the U.S. Senate certainly entitle him to vote against funding our troops, my service and experience

combined with conversations with military leaders on the ground in Iraq lead me to believe that we must give this new

strategy a chance to succeed because the consequences of failure would be catastrophic to our nation's security,"

McCain said. The former Navy pilot and prisoner of war then took a shot at Obama for making a mistake in his

statement. "By the way, Senator Obama, it's a ‘flak' jacket, not a ‘flack' jacket," McCain said.

'Roe' Endorses Abortion Opponent

May 24, 2007 3:14 PM

ABC News' Julia Bain Reports:  Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback, R-Kan., announced Thursday he has received the endorsement of Norma McCorvey aka "Jane Roe" in the landmark 1973 abortion case Roe v. Wade. 

Since the case, McCorvey has reversed her stance on abortion and, in a statement released by the campaign, the former abortion rights plaintiff cites Brownback's long record on the controversial issue as the basis for her support.

Brownback, who describes himself as a "pro-life, whole-life" candidate is seeking to cast himself as the one true conservative in the Republican primary. 

In her endorsement, McCorvey questions the motives of the other Republican presidential candidates such as former Governor Mitt Romney, R-Mass., who have only recently embraced anti-abortion rights positions.

"I can appreciate as much as anyone the importance of the pro-life movement accepting converts," McCorvey said in a statement, "However, it should give us great concern when certain politicians join the pro-life movement just prior to announcing a run for president in the Republican primary.  Conversions are critical, but so is sincerity."

Romney, who embraced abortion rights when campaigning for a Senate seat against incumbent Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., in 1994, insists he has always personally opposed.

Another Brownback rival, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, R-N.Y., has said he also personally opposes abortion but, unlike Romney, has also stated his public support for abortion rights.

Abortion is an important issue for the Kansas Senator who has said that the repeal of Roe v. Wade would "be a glorious day of human liberty and freedom."