the things you believe you're seeing...

Thats where this article was placed in the print edition of the USA Today today...but if a suicide bomber attacked you can be sure it would have been Page 1A; Page 5A U.S. deaths in Iraq lowest since March 2006 General: All Baghdad-area violence falling since June By Jim Michaels USA TODAY The number of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq is headed for the lowest level in more than a year and a half and the fifth consecutive monthly decline. Twenty-seven Americans have been killed in action in October, with one day left in the month, Pentagon records show. That would be the lowest monthly level since March 2006, when 27 servicemembers died in hostile action, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Pentagon reports. The total number of U.S. deaths, including accidents, in October so far is 35, records show. A new strategy, backed up by 30,000 more U.S. servicemembers, has led to a decline in violence and weakened al-Qaeda, commanders say. The U.S. military started building combat outposts and movin...

So she does support drivers licenses to illegal immigrants because she said it "makes a lot sense" or she doesn't support it because she didn't say the words "I support the idea" ??? You tell me...

Someone should Harry Reid know this.... Boy Started California Fire, Officials Say By DAISY NGUYEN, AP SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (Oct. 31) - A prosecutor will be asked to consider the case of a boy accused of starting a massive wildfire by playing with matches. Fueled by ferocious desert winds, the fire quickly spread, burning more than 38,000 acres and destroying 21 homes. The boy, whose name and age were not released, admitted to sparking the fire on Oct. 21, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Diane Hecht said Tuesday. "He admitted to playing with matches and accidentally starting the fire," she said in a statement. The boy was released to his parents, and the case will be presented to the district attorney's office, Hecht said. It was not clear if he had been arrested or cited by detectives.

Harry and Nancy should be so proud of themselves... Bush says he'll veto health bill again By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent 1 hour, 8 minutes ago WASHINGTON - President Bush accused Democratic lawmakers on Friday of wasting time by passing legislation to expand children's health coverage, knowing that he would veto it again. At the same time, he criticized Congress for failing to approve spending bills to keep the government running. Bush said Congress had "set a record they should not be proud of: October 26 is the latest date in 20 years that Congress has failed to get a single annual appropriations bill to the president's desk." He also complained that Congress had failed to pass a permanent extension of a moratorium on state and local taxes on Internet access, and that the Senate had not yet confirmed Michael Mukasey as attorney general. Further, he chided Congress for failing to approve more money for Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate on Thursday night...

The coming media non-firestorm over Joe Biden's comments concerning school performance in Iowa compared to Washington DC; After a lengthy critique of Bush administration education policies, Biden attempted to explain why some schools perform better than others — in Iowa, for instance, compared with the District. “There’s less than 1 percent of the population of Iowa that is African American. There is probably less than 4 or 5 percent that are minorities. What is in Washington? So look, it goes back to what you start off with, what you’re dealing with, ” Biden said. Ok...if this were a Republican he'd already have resigned and been referred to as the 'disgraced former Senator Joe Biden' but since he is a Dem it will be explained by saying that Biden is just such an intelluctual that he has a hard time explaining to us regular people what he really means.

Norman Hsu wants he felony conviction thrown out...read why. Disgraced political donor Norman Hsu wasn't hiding from anyone over the past few years, his lawyers say. If California authorities really wanted to find him, they could have asked Hillary Rodham Clinton or one of the other prominent Democrats he showered with cash donation. Hsu is asking a judge to toss his 15-year-old felony fraud conviction, arguing that his right to a speedy trial was violated because authorities weren't actively pursuing him .

Since you probably won't hear much about this like you did when it happened; University Of Florida Police Cleared In Use Of Taser On Student GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- University of Florida police were justified in using a Taser against a student who refused to stop questioning Sen. John Kerry on campus last month, according to a state investigation released Wednesday. SLIDESHOW: Student Tasered During Press Conference RAW VIDEO: Student Shot With Taser During Press Conference READ: FDLE Report On Tasering Of UF Student (PDF) Some had questioned the use of force in using the stun gun against student Andrew Meyer, leading to the investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. A summary of the agency's report was released Wednesday. (PDF: Read Full Report) "In short, the FDLE determined that our officers acted well within state guidelines," university President Bernie Machen said in a letter to students, faculty and staff. Two officers who were placed on administr...

Interesting article written by a journalist who lives in Jena, LA and has covered the story from the beginning; Media myths about the Jena 6 A local journalist tells the story you haven't heard . By Craig Franklin from the October 24, 2007 edition Jena, La. - By now, almost everyone in America has heard of Jena, La., because they've all heard the story of the "Jena 6." White students hanging nooses barely punished, a schoolyard fight, excessive punishment for the six black attackers, racist local officials, public outrage and protests – the outside media made sure everyone knew the basics. There's just one problem: The media got most of the basics wrong. In fact, I have never before witnessed such a disgrace in professional journalism. Myths replaced facts, and journalists abdicated their solemn duty to investigate every claim because they were seduced by a powerfully appealing but false narrative of racial injustice. I should know. I live in Jena. My wife has ta...

GIRLS SOCCER Norwalk wins first since 2003 to halt 48-game winless streak Published October 24 2007 Norwalk 3, Bridgeport Central 0 - Lindsay Macri, Alyssa Schlegel and Tory Turchick each scored a goal to help Norwalk (1-12) pick up its first win since the 2003 season and snap a 48-game winless streak. The Bears had an 0-42-6 combined record beginning from when they lost their season finale to Cheshire in the 2003 state tournament. They finished 9-10 in 2003. Norwalk goalkeeper Carly Babel made four saves, including a big one when she made a save on the penalty kick when the game was still scoreless in the ninth minute. Ashley Lampman assisted Macri on Norwalk's first goal in the 21st minute. Adaobi Ogbenta had 16 saves for Bridgeport Central (0-10-2). Copyright © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. My daughter has played on the team since her Freshman year in 2005 and this is the first time she has experienced the thrill of victory!

From the USA Today in 2003; FBI: al-Qaeda detainee spoke of fire plot PHOENIX (AP) — The FBI alerted law enforcement agencies last month that an al-Qaeda terrorist now in detention had talked of masterminding a plot to set a series of devastating forest fires around the western United States. Rose Davis, a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, told The Associated Press that officials there took note of the warning but didn't see a need to act further on it. The contents of the June 25 memo from the FBI's Denver office were reported Friday by The Arizona Republic. Davis declined to share a copy of the memo and an FBI spokeswoman in Denver didn't immediately return a telephone call. The Republic reported that the detainee, who was not identified, said the plan involved three or four people setting wildfires using timed devices in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming that would detonate in forests and grasslands after the operatives had left the country...

The Science and Public Policy Institue documents "35 scientific inaccuracies and exaggerations" in Al Gore's movie.. 35 Inconvenient Truths The errors in Al Gore’s movie ImageA spokesman for Al Gore has issued a questionable response to the news that in October 2007 the High Court in London had identified nine “errors” in his movie An Inconvenient Truth. The judge had stated that, if the UK Government had not agreed to send to every secondary school in England a corrected guidance note making clear the mainstream scientific position on these nine “errors”, he would have made a finding that the Government’s distribution of the film and the first draft of the guidance note earlier in 2007 to all English secondary schools had been an unlawful contravention of an Act of Parliament prohibiting the political indoctrination of children. Al Gore’s spokesman and “environment advisor,” Ms. Kalee Kreider, begins by saying that the film presented “thousands and thousands of facts.” ...

On World News Tonight anchor Charlie Gibson said that because there were no roadside bombs or suicide bomber attacks that there was no news to report from Iraq. That statement tells you why we never hear the success stories from Iraq from the MSM. Unless there is death and violence they are not interested. Well here is a bit of interesting news; FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – A 72-year-old man stopped a suspected suicide bomber from detonating himself at a checkpoint in Arab Jabour Oct. 14. The man approached a checkpoint where Mudhehr Fayadh Baresh was standing guard, but did not make it very far. Baresh, a tribal commissioner and member of the Arab Jabour Concerned Citizens program, said he ordered the man to lift his shirt - using training received from Coalition Forces - when he did not recognize him as a local villager. The suspect refused to lift his shirt. Baresh repeated the command again, and the suspect exposed his suicide vest, running toward the checkpoint. Baresh o...

Bravo! N.C. leads in immigrant crackdown Local law enforcement agencies are hastening to join a federal program that lets them check the status of those they jail Kristin Collins, Staff Writer North Carolina is becoming a national leader in rooting out illegal immigrants in its local jails. The state has largely avoided controversial municipal ordinances that crack down on illegal immigrants, their employers and their landlords. But many sheriffs and police chiefs are eager to enforce immigration law, federal officials say. Eighteen law enforcement agencies in North Carolina, more than any other state, have asked to join a program that would allow them to check the immigration status of those they arrest and jail. Sheriff's offices in Wake, Durham and Johnston counties are among those that have applied. Four more sheriff's offices are already enrolled in the program, and their efforts led to the deportation of thousands of immigrants in the past year. The program allows law en...

House in session, 1 minute speeches have started... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, meets with Dara Wilkerson and her daughter Bethany, 2, of Tampa, Fla., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007, Bethany who was born with a serious heart condition and relies on State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for her health coverage. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke) Nancy Pelosi trots out another family that utilizes the SCHIP program, and still will regardless of what happens...Pelosi wants you to think the Bush and the Republicans want to stop the program which is a lie. And isn't that really all Pelosi cares about? But it appears that she will suffer another in a long line of failures during her reign as Queen of the House; President Bush, anticipating that his veto of a $35 billion spending increase for children’s insurance will stand, has assigned three top advisers to try to negotiate a new deal with Congress. Democrats appeared about 15...

I thought this was from The Onion or Scrappleface but no, it is a real story lamenting the fact that cemetary workers in Iraq being hit hard due to the dropping levels of violence. Unbelievable; As violence falls in Iraq, cemetery workers feel the pinch By Jay Price and Qasim Zein, McClatchy Newspapers Tue Oct 16, 2:40 PM ET NAJAF, Iraq — At what's believed to be the world's largest cemetery, where Shiite Muslims aspire to be buried and millions already have been, business isn't good. A drop in violence around Iraq has cut burials in the huge Wadi al Salam cemetery here by at least one-third in the past six months, and that's cut the pay of thousands of workers who make their living digging graves, washing corpses or selling burial shrouds. Few people have a better sense of the death rate in Iraq . "I always think of the increasing and decreasing of the dead," said Sameer Shaaban, 23, one of more than 100 workers who specialize in ceremonially washing the co...

This morning it was reported that Air America personality Randi Rhodes had been mugged and seriously hurt while walking her dog last night in New York. The overnight air personality, some guy named Elliot, claimed it was an attempt by the right-wing to silence liberal radio. Give me a break! And now it turns out....no she wasn't mugged. Read it all here ...

And its on page A01 above the fold in the Washington Post; Al-Qaeda In Iraq Reported Crippled Many Officials, However, Warn Of Its Resilience By Thomas E. Ricks and Karen DeYoung Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, October 15, 2007; Page A01 The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq. But as the White House and its military commanders plan the next phase of the war, other officials have cautioned against taking what they see as a premature step that could create strategic and political difficulties for the United States. Such a declaration could fuel criticism that the Iraq conflict has become a civil war in which U.S. combat forces should not be involved. At the same time, the intelligence community, and some in the military itself, worry abo...

Because the Democrats have been unable to force defeat in Iraq through votes in Congress they have now turned to insulting our allies. Nancy Pelosi is pushing a resolution to condemn the killing of Armenians over 100 years ago by Turks as genocide. The result of this could so outrage Turkey that may end all logistical support for the US use as a major hub for allied military forces in Iraq. The Democratic party says that they support the troops and that we should not question their patriotism. How does this support the troops? How is this patriotic? Turkish General Issues Warning on Bill Oct 14 10:27 PM US/Eastern By C. ONUR ANT Associated Press Writer ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's top general warned that ties with the U.S., already strained by attacks from rebels hiding in Iraq, will be irreversibly damaged if Congress passes a resolution that labels the World War I-era killings of Armenians a genocide. Turkey, which is a major cargo hub for U.S. and allied military forc...

...but they can make the story so small that if you blink you miss it; Iraq Sees Dramatically Low Death Toll Oct 13 03:26 PM US/Eastern BAGHDAD (AP) - The civilian death toll in Iraq fell to its lowest level in recent memory Saturday, with only four people killed or found dead nationwide, according to reports from police, morgue officials and credible witnesses. Saturday marked the beginning of the Eid al-Fitr feast for Shiites, the three-day capstone closing out the Ramadan month of fasting. Sunnis began celebrating the holiday on Sunday. The daily number of civilians killed, not including those on days when there were massive casualties from car bombs, had climbed above 100 at the end of last year and the beginning of 2007. Saturday's decline in deaths was in line with a sharp drop in September of both Iraqi civilian and U.S. military fatalities. The four dead included three death squad victims found in Baghdad and the bodyguard of the Kirkuk police commander who was kille...

Which I suppose was the point ; Turkey recalls envoy after U.S. genocide vote ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey, which is a key supply route to U.S. troops in Iraq , recalled its ambassador to Washington and warned of serious repercussions if the U.S. Congress labels the killing of Armenians by Turks a century ago as genocide. Ordered after a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives endorsed the genocide measure, Thursday's summons of the ambassador for consultations was a further sign of the deteriorating relations between two longtime allies and the potential for new turmoil in an already troubled region. The dems continue to look for creative and transparent ways of securing a US defeat in Iraq. Luckily the US military has other ideas.

Kid Rock on his fight with Tommy Lee at the MTV VMAs; Kid Rock's newest studio album, Rock N Roll Jesus, arrived in stores this week, but he is still being asked about his scuffle with Tommy Lee at the MTV Video Music Awards last month. "What it boils down to is a level of disrespect for a lot of years between me and him — him towards me — and it had nothing to do with Pamela [Anderson]," he told MTV News. Rock wonders if someone made sure that the two rockers crossed paths that night, knowing there was bad blood between them over their ex. "Was it coincidence?," he asked. "Didn't MTV know all three of us [would be] in [the same] room? Obviously, they were looking for something. I don't know if MTV planned it, but somebody knew what they were doing." The Kid says the best thing about the fight is that it gave him plenty of free publicity for Rock N Roll Jesus, which he is very satisfied with. "I hope it fills a void that seems to be miss...

Now if someone can just explain what this has to do with world peace; OSLO, Norway (AP) - Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it. “I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize,” Gore said. “We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity.” UPDATE: I got it. A phony award to a phony guy for a phony cause! Thats the ticket. Now Gore is in the same company as Yassir Arafat. What an honor.

Maybe to complete the insult to America and everyone that lost loved ones on 9-11-01 the ESB public relations staff could invite President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran to come to NY City and throw the switch. New York’s iconic Empire State Building is to be lit up green from Friday in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid, the biggest festival in the Muslim calendar marking the end of Ramadan, officials said. “This is the first time that the Empire State Building will be illuminated for Eid, and the lighting will become an annual event in the same tradition of the yearly lightings for Christmas and Hannukah,” according to a statement. Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month, is expected to be celebrated in New York from Friday, depending on when the new moon is sighted, and the city’s tallest skyscraper will remain green until Sunday. Built in the early 1930s, the 443-meter-tall (1,454-feet-tall) Empire State Building was first lit up with colored lighting in ...

I am going to go out in a huge limb and make the bold prediction that Keith Olberman will not be praising Fred Thompson's debate performance.

After watching my Mets monumental collapse over the last 2 weeks of the baseball season I was left with an uneasy feeling of having to watch the Yankees steam roll through the American League playoffs on their way to another World Series appearance. My spirits have been lifted... It's An Indian Summer and this certainly helps as well... Swept Out Of The Playoffs in the first round

If you're going to use a poor family and their 12 year old son and his sister's need for costly medical care you should make sure that the two kids don't attend a $20,000 a year (thats $40,000 total) private school. See here for the scoop .

He’s back: Sandy Berger now advising Hillary Clinton Oct 8, 2007 3:00 AM (5 hrs ago) by Bill Sammon, The Examiner WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Sandy Berger, who stole highly classified terrorism documents from the National Archives, destroyed them and lied to investigators, is now an adviser to presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. Berger, who was fired from John Kerry’s presidential campaign when the scandal broke in 2004, has assumed a similar role in Clinton’s campaign, even though his security clearance has been suspended until September 2008. This is raising eyebrows even among Clinton’s admirers. “It shows poor judgment and a lack of regard for Berger’s serious misdeeds,” said law professor Jonathan Adler of Case Western Reserve University, who nonetheless called Clinton “by far the most impressive candidate in the Democratic field.” Adler told The Examiner that it is “simply incomprehensible to me that a serious contender for the presidency would rely upon him as a key fore...

The real reason for the raid? From the World Tribune ; “The primary point of the attack was not to destroy that target,” Wheeler said. “It was to shut down Syria's Russian air defense system during the attack. Doing so made the attack an incredible success. Syria is shamed and silent. Iran is freaking out in panic. Defenseless enemies are fun.”

110,000 jobs added to economy last month By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON - Job creation picked up in September but not enough to stop the unemployment rate from rising to 4.7 percent, the highest in just over a year. The new job market snapshot released by the Labor Department on Friday showed that employers boosted payrolls by 110,000, the most in one month since last May. In an encouraging note, the economy actually added 89,000 jobs in August. That marked an improvement from the net loss of 4,000 that the government first estimated. The bump up in the unemployment rate from 4.6 percent in August came as hundreds of thousands of people streamed back into the labor market. That new rate of 4.7 percent was the highest since the summer of 2006. Wages, meanwhile, rose solidly.

Wonder why ? Chilly reception for debate offer October 5, 2007 STEVE HUNTLEY shuntley@suntimes.com Seven hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money to spend to try to get someone to talk to you and not get an answer. That's how much the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based libertarian think tank, has forked over in six months for advertisements in national newspapers trying to persuade Al Gore to debate one of its experts on global warming issues. "We have tried, repeatedly, to contact Gore directly, with registered letters and calls to his office, and have never received a reply," says Joseph Bast, Heartland president. A spokeswoman for Gore told me by e-mail that Heartland is an oil-company-funded group that denies that global warming is real and caused by human activities. "The debate has shifted to how to solve the climate crisis, not if there is one," said Kalee Kreider. "It does not make sense for him to engage in a dialogue with them at this time....

This is so lame I can't believe a Presidential candidate said this in answer to a question about where his US flag pin was; "You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin," Obama said. "Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we're talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest. "Instead," he said, "I'm going try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism."

Can the Senate censure a private citizen? I think not. But why let that stop you. Sen. Ken Salazar dove further into the Rush Limbaugh brouhaha today, saying he’d support censuring the conservative radio talk-show host for his use of the words “phony soldiers.” During a conference call with reporters, Salazar, a Colorado Democrat, said he’d support censure if a vote were taken. None is planned currently in the Senate. “Rush Limbaugh owes an apology,” Salazar said. “He owes an apology to the men and women in uniform who are doing the duty that the commander in chief has asked them to do.”

The Senate passed the Intelligence Bill today, unanimously . And in doing so drop many of their demands for documents to prove Bush Lied. From the AP; Senate Passes Intelligence Bill, Drops Bid for Records of Bush's Prewar Briefings Wednesday, October 03, 2007 WASHINGTON — The Senate has scrapped its bid to obtain the archive of daily intelligence briefings given to the president on Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion. That request was among several controversial provisions dropped from an intelligence bill, leading to the measure's unanimous Senate passage Wednesday. The provision sought to give the Senate and House intelligence committees access to all presidential daily briefs between 1997 and 2003 that referred to Iraq — an attempt to determine whether the White House mischaracterized intelligence prior to the war. Senate Republicans objected, saying the documents had already been reviewed by an independent commission, according to a congressional official, who spoke on cond...

"Violence throughout the country has dropped to a level not even seen before the first bombing of the Golden Mosque in 2006," he continued. "Last week, we saw a slight rise in attacks as al Qaeda attempted its own Ramadan surge, but for the large part, Iraqi security forces, as well as coalition forces, were successful in interdicting most of them." In past years, Ramadan meant extremist attacks, the general said. Not so this year. "Attacks have decreased, and signs of normalcy across Iraq are starting to appear," he said.

If this turns out to be true, we will be waiting with baited-breath for the next Democratic resolution condemning Rush Limbaugh when he speaks of this fake war hero ; ATLANTIC CITY - Where's the mayor? Not since "Where's Waldo?" and "Where's the Beef?" has such a query caused such a stir. In this resort, where the streets are literally paved by gambling revenues, they're taking bets on what might have become of Mayor Bob Levy and whether his disappearance signals another impending scandal involving the city's top job. Amid reports of a federal probe into false claims that Levy admits he made regarding his Vietnam military service, the mayor drove off last Wednesday in a silver, city-owned Dodge Durango and has not officially been heard from since.

...only if Ramadan is celebrated as well. When are these so-called school "leaders" going to actually show some leadership and say no to this ridicules requests? School Keeps Christmas, Halloween; Adds Ramadan Muslim Mother Asks That Ramadan Be Celebrated Along With Other Holidays In Oak Lawn Schools (CBS) OAK LAWN, Ill. Following a school board meeting where parent complained about what the saw as an assault on traditional American celebrations, an Oak Lawn school district has decided to keep observing Halloween and Christmas, but only on the condition that Muslim holiday Ramadan is celebrated as well. The school district had asked principals to tone down all holiday celebrations after a Muslim mother requested that her children be separated from others during lunch for the Ramadan fast. But after heated remarks from many parents at the meeting Tuesday, the school board changed its position. "Everything is staying the same," school board member Dave Lis said. ...

Looks like Imus is coming back to radio very soon. See here and here . Can't wait to hear the first day back...that should be great radio.

He said on this Senate floor yesterday about Rush Limbaugh; "Maybe he was just high on his drugs again." I do not believe a Senator is allowed to make statements like this against other Senators. I also do not believe a private citizen, like Rush, would be allowed to make a statement like this against another Senator on the Senate floor. So why is Harkin allowed to say garbage like this and get away with it?

I would love to hear this but it will NEVER happen.