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2/26/2008 | Pro-Family
Materialistic society is 'damaging' children: poll
Breitbart.com
Children feel under pressure to own the latest designer clothes and computer games and most adults believe the "commercialisation of childhood" is damaging young people's well-being, a poll said Tuesday. A survey by GfK NOP for the Children's Society showed that out of the 1,225 adults questioned, 89 percent felt that children are more materialistic now than in previous generations. Evidence submitted to the inquiry from children themselves suggests that they do feel under pressure to keep up with the latest trends, the society added. The poll is part of a larger inquiry into childhood and includes evidence by professionals and members of the public on issues such as lifestyle, learning, friends and family. Professor of child psychology Philip Graham -- who is leading the inquirys lifestyle theme -- believes that commercial pressures may have "worrying psychological effects" on children.
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2/25/2008 | Illegal Immigration, Presidential Issues, Terrorism
Needed on the Border: A Real Fence and a Real Gate
"Virtual Fence" is a virtual farce
An era in America’s long-running immigration debate ended on Friday – less than 24 hours after both Democratic candidates for the Presidency put themselves squarely on the wrong side of the fence. On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would abandon plans to extend the Boeing-designed “virtual fence” beyond its initial 28-mile long demonstration phase. The night before, Senator Clinton said “there is technology that can be used instead of a physical barrier.” A minute or so later, Senator Obama said “this is an area where Senator Clinton and I almost entirely agree,” and then added: “for the most part, having …surveillance, deploying effective technology, that’s going to be the better approach.” Within a few hours, this “better approach” was revealed to be a failed experiment. There are three elements that are essential to achieving genuine border security: physical infrastructure, adequate manpower and technological backup. Failure to provide any one of them will result in failure to secure the border. A physical fence by itself can be breached, but one that is properly designed, backed up by cameras and high-tech detection devices and adequately staffed with border agents that can get to a point of attempted or successful breach within minutes will in fact secure the border against mass intrusion. Sophomoric comments such as Arizona Governor Napolitano’s that even a 50 foot fence will prove useless because border crossers will just find 51 foot ladders miss the point entirely. A fence does not need to be completely impenetrable in order to be effective. It merely needs to slow intruders down sufficiently to permit border agents to get to the point of attempted intrusion in time to stop it or in time to close the breach after only a small number of intruders have successfully entered. Inadequate staffing will cripple the fence’s effectiveness. Inadequate fencing will cripple the Border Patrol’s effectiveness. And poor technology will severely diminish the effectiveness of both infrastructure and staffing. The “virtual fence” or Project 28 was doomed from the start. It failed the most fundamental test of a fence: to serve as a barrier. The “virtual fence” was thus never a fence at all; it was merely a series of detection and depiction devices that would not even slow down intruders, must less stop them. It can be fairly easily defeated by a simple parry and thrust decoy strategy, in which a small contingent of intruders crosses in one spot, attracting Border Patrol agents to chase them as soon as they enter United States territory, leaving another area unprotected which is then flooded with a much larger group of intruders. Senator Clinton got it precisely backwards when she said:”there is a smart way to protect our borders, and there is a dumb way to protect our borders.” She meant that the physical fence was the dumb way, but in reality the virtual fence is the dumb one. That same technology, however, or even a scaled-down version of it, becomes smart when coupled with a well-designed physical fence and adequate manpower. Even a good fence backed up by technology and staffing is still missing an important element, however. A real fence also needs a real gate – in fact, many of them. The purpose of border security is to stop illegal immigration, not legal immigration, commerce and tourism. The proposed barrier is between allies and trading partners, and the legal free flow of persons and goods must be facilitated, not impeded. Finally, once illegal immigration has been reduced, legal immigration almost certainly must be increased. This great country should remain a welcoming nation to those whose skills, values, ideals and culture will make us stronger. It only makes sense, however, to welcome them on our terms and we must know who they are.
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2/22/2008 | Presidential Issues
Huckabee: A Deadlocked Convention is My Goal
1200 WOAI
In an interview with 1200 WOAI news during his swing through Texas, longshot Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee outlined a strategy which has him not winning the GOP nomination outright, but pushing the nomination to the September Republican National Convention, which he says will turn to him as the most ‘conservative alternative.’ The ‘brokered convention’ plan is in stark contrast to Huckabee’s previous sunny predictions of a sweep to victory in the primaries and caucuses on the shoulders of adoring family values conservatives.
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2/22/2008 | Presidential Issues
Clinton: Obama 'Change You Can Xerox'
My Way
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Hillary Rodham Clinton accused presidential rival Barack Obama of political plagiarism Thursday night, but drew boos from a Democratic debate audience when she ridiculed him as the candidate of "change you can Xerox." Obama dismissed the charge out of hand, then turned the jeers to applause when he countered, "What we shouldn't be spending time doing is tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up." The exchange marked an unusually pointed moment in an otherwise civil encounter in the days before March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio - contests that even some of Clinton's supporters say she must win to sustain her campaign for the White House. The former first lady has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses, and trails her rival in convention delegates. Obama has won a pair of big union endorsements in the past two days.
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2/22/2008 | Illegal Immigration, Terrorism
Arizona 'Virtual Fence' to Get Final OK
My Way
WASHINGTON (AP) - A 28-mile "virtual fence" that will use radars and surveillance cameras to try to catch people entering the country illegally has gotten final government approval. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Friday was to announce approval of the fence, built by the Boeing Co. (BA) and using technology the Bush administration plans to extend to other areas of the Arizona border, as well as sections of Texas. These projects could get under way as early as this summer, officials said. The virtual fence is part of a national plan to secure the southwest border with physical barriers and high-tech detection capabilities intended to stop illegal immigrants on foot and drug smugglers in vehicles. As of Feb. 8, 295 miles of fencing had been constructed. The virtual fence already is working. On Feb. 13, an officer in a Tucson command center - 70 miles from the border - noticed a group of about 100 people gathered at the border. The officer notified agents on the ground and in the air. Border Patrol caught 38 of the 100 people who tried to cross illegally, and the others went back into Mexico, a Homeland Security official said.
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2/21/2008 | Presidential Issues
Clinton camp looks to supporters for advice
The Hill
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) campaign, reeling from 10 unanswered losses to rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), is giving supporters a chance to weigh in on the campaign with senior officials Thursday morning. Supporters who phone in will be able to ask questions and offer advice to campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe, political director Guy Cecil and Roy Spence, a senior adviser, according to an e-mail obtained by The Hill. In the e-mail, the Clinton campaign invites those on the list to join the call at 11:30 a.m. because “we want to hear your thoughts, advice and questions as we move forward to the March 4th primaries.” The e-mail could suggest that Clinton’s campaign has hit a wall after a string of decisive defeats and been confronted with a media environment that is increasingly skeptical about the New York senator’s ability to right her listing ship. The former first lady’s camp has also pursued an increasingly negative tone with regard to Obama, citing plagiarism charges and arguing that the Illinois senator offers only rhetoric.
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2/21/2008 | Presidential Issues
McCain Lashes Out Against New York Times Over Story on Relationship With Lobbyist
Fox News
Joined by wife Cindy, John McCain lashed out Thursday at a new report in The New York Times that revisits the Republican presidential candidate’s relationship with a female lobbyist, and rebuked the paper for spreading false rumors. The Times article described how campaign aides kept him and lobbyist Vicki Iseman apart during the 2000 election for fear they were giving the impression they were having an affair. It noted how McCain wrote to government regulators on behalf of a client of the lobbyist while he was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. McCain called a press conference in Toledo, Ohio, to slam the paper for embellishing his committee activities on Iseman’s behalf. “I’m very disappointed in The New York Times piece. It’s not true,” he said. Asked about his relationship with the lobbyist, he said, “I have many friends in Washington who represent various interests and … I consider her a friend.” He said he saw her “on occasion” at fundraisers, receptions and committee meetings, but that was all. His wife Cindy, standing by his side, defended her husband, saying, “He’s a man of great character and I’m very disappointed in the New York Times.”
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2/21/2008 | Presidential Issues
Jackson to Dems: Play nice
Politico
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader and two-time presidential candidate, warned Wednesday that Democrats “could hurt themselves substantially, perhaps irreparably, in November” if fallout from the clash between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is not addressed quickly. Jackson, who has endorsed Obama but who maintains good relations with both Hillary and Bill Clinton, listed three rifts among Democrats that could allow Republicans to win in the general election: “First, we must not allow people to exacerbate black-Hispanic tensions,” Jackson said in a lengthy phone interview from New York. “I think the differences there are exaggerated. You just can’t characterize things as Hispanics for Hillary and blacks for Obama.” Black and Hispanic tensions, to whatever extent they exist, may be exacerbated, however, in the Texas primary on March 4, where, due to a complicated delegate-selection process, predominantly black districts have been awarded more delegates than predominantly Hispanic districts.
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2/20/2008 | Presidential Issues
McCain Rips 'Eloquent But Empty' Obama
ABC News
Arizona Sen. John McCain unveiled a new line of attack against Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., following his Tuesday win in Wisconsin's Republican primary. "I will work hard to make sure Americans aren't deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change," said McCain. The presumed Republican nominee also knocked his likely Democratic opponent by taking a shot at the "confused leadership of an inexperienced candidate." The Obama camp -- fresh off a big win of their own in Wisconsin -- quickly responded. "John McCain's remarks tonight shows why he's offering nothing more than a third term of George Bush's policies -– more fear-mongering, more than a century of war in Iraq, and more budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthiest few at the expense of hardworking Americans," said Obama campaign spokesperson Bill Burton.
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2/20/2008 | Radical Islam
Ahmadinejad: Israel filthy bacteria
The Jerusalem Post
In yet another verbal attack against Israel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the Jewish state a "filthy bacteria" whose sole purpose was to oppress the other nations of the region. "The world powers established this filthy bacteria, the Zionist regime, which is lashing out at the nations in the region like a wild beast," the Iranian president told supporters at a rally in southern Iran. "[Israel] won support [from the other nations] which created it as a scarecrow, so as to keep the people of this area under control," Ahmadinejad said. Referring to the assassination of Hizbullah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh, the Iranian leader said that Israel "uses terror as a threat every day, and afterwards is happy and joyful."
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2/20/2008 | Economy
Oil Retreats After Closing Above $100
Associated Press
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Oil prices pulled back a bit Wednesday after finishing above $100 a barrel for the first time a day earlier as investors seized on a refinery explosion and the possibility that OPEC may cut its output. The spike in crude Tuesday rattled Asian financial markets, with Tokyo's benchmark stock index falling more than 3 percent. Light sweet crude for March delivery on the New York Mercasntile Exchange was down 51 cents to $99.50 in electronic trading by afternoon Europe. The contract climbed $4.51 on Tuesday to settle at a record finish of $100.01 a barrel after trading at an intraday record of $100.10 a barrel earlier in the session. It was the first time since Jan. 3 that oil had been above $100. Still, prices are still within the range of inflation-adjusted highs set in early 1980. Depending on how the adjustment is calculated, $38 a barrel then would be worth $96 to $103 or more today. Many recent forecasts have said demand for oil this year will be less than initially expected -- yet prices continue to rise. That suggests oil may continue its climb as the weakening dollar attracts new investors to the futures market.
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2/19/2008 | Foreign Policy, Politics
Fidel Castro Resigns Cuban Presidency After Half-Century in Power
Fox News
HAVANA — An ailing, 81-year-old Fidel Castro resigned as Cuba's president Tuesday after nearly a half-century in power, saying he will not accept a new term when parliament meets Sunday. The end of Castro's rule — the longest in the world for a head of government — frees his 76-year-old brother Raul to implement reforms he has hinted at since taking over as acting president when Fidel Castro fell ill in July 2006. U.S. President George W. Bush said he hopes the resignation signals the beginning of a democratic transition. "My wishes have always been to discharge my duties to my last breath," Castro wrote in a letter published Tuesday in the online edition of the Communist Party daily Granma. But, he wrote, "it would be a betrayal to my conscience to accept a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically able to offer."
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2/19/2008 | Presidential Issues
Huckabee: 'I May Be Killing My Political Career'
ABC News
ABC News' Kevin Chupka reports: While campaigning in Wisconsin today, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told a crowd, gathered at the University of Wisconsin, at Eau Claire, "I may be killing my political career, but I know this -- if we don't start thinking in terms of solving some of America's problems, we're killing all of your careers." During a press conference immediately following the rally, Huckabee was asked to clarify his remarks. "What I mean by that, I'm just saying there are a lot of people who say I'm staying and creating problems for the party, and there are obviously people in the party who are unhappy that I've stayed. Now, keep in mind, they're all supporting John McCain, but this sense that it's just his turn, let's just all step aside -- I find that insulting as a Republican, and as a candidate," Huckabee said. For the past several weeks, Huckabee has argued that his continued presence in the race is important to the Republican party, and on more than one occasion, has likened his campaign to that of Ronald Reagan in 1976, when he challenged sitting President Ford, much to the chagrin of the Republican base.
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2/19/2008 | American History
Heritage Foundation: It's 'Washington's Birthday'
Fox News
Can you name the holiday that falls on the third Monday in February? Like most Americans, you probably think it’s "Presidents' Day." Every desk calendar and car sale ad seems to confirm it. So it may surprise you to learn that its legal name still is "Washington’s Birthday." The law establishing the holiday never has been changed. For all practical purposes, of course, his day has been forfeited to convenience. We celebrate it on the third Monday in February, rather than on the actual day, Feb. 22, and we call it "Presidents' Day" so we can lump it in with Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, Feb. 12, and pay tribute to all presidents — good, bad and mediocre. That’s why every year legislation is introduced in Congress that would direct all federal agencies to refer to the holiday as "George Washington's Birthday" and return Washington to his rightful place above all other presidents. That’s a step in the right direction. A better step would be for President Bush to issue an executive order that not only would enforce current law but remind Americans that Washington still deserves to be "first in the hearts of his countrymen."
2/18/2008 | Radical Islam
Iran: 'Cancerous growth' Israel will soon disappear
The Jerusalem Post
"The cancerous growth Israel will soon disappear," Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Muhammad Ali Jafari wrote to Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the FARS news agency reported Monday. In a letter of condolences following last week's assassination of Hizbullah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh, Jafari said: "I am convinced that with every passing day Hizbullah's might is increasing and in the near future, we will witness the disappearance of this cancerous growth Israel by means of the Hizbullah fighters' radiation [therapy]." In the letter, in which Jafari consoled Nasrallah over the death of the "martyr," he continued: "There's no doubt that the death of this loyal fighter will strengthen the resolve of all revolutionary Muslims and fighters in the struggle against the Zionist regime, particularly the resolve of those who fought by this martyr's side."
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2/18/2008 | Presidential Issues
Clinton Aide Changes Mich., Fla. Stance
My Way
WASHINGTON (AP) - Harold Ickes, a top adviser to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign who voted for Democratic Party rules that stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates, now is arguing against the very penalty he helped pass. In a conference call Saturday, the longtime Democratic Party member contended the DNC should reconsider its tough sanctions on the two states, which held early contests in violation of party rules. He said millions of voters in Michigan and Florida would be otherwise disenfranchised - before acknowledging moments later that he had favored the sanctions. Ickes explained that his different position essentially is due to the different hats he wears as both a DNC member and a Clinton adviser in charge of delegate counting. Clinton won the primary vote in Michigan and Florida, and now she wants those votes to count. "There's been no change," Ickes said. "I was not acting as an agent of Mrs. Clinton. We had promulgated rules and those rules said the timing provision ... provides for certain sanctions, automatic sanctions as a matter of fact, if a state such as Michigan or Florida violates those timing provisions." "With respect to the stripping, I voted as a member of the Democratic National Committee. Those were our rules and I felt I had an obligation to enforce them," he said.
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2/15/2008 | Terrorism
Bush Says Congress Putting US in Danger
MyWay
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush said Friday that "our country is in more danger of an attack" because of Congress' failure to extend a law that makes it easier for the government to spy on foreign phone calls and e-mails that pass through the United States. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney met with Republican congressional leaders in the Oval Office to discuss the impasse with the Democratic-led House. Lawmakers left Thursday for a 12-day recess without acting on the law, which expires at midnight Saturday. The president said Congress should act quickly on the measure as soon as lawmakers return. Bush argues that without the extension, the intelligence community will not have the tools they need to protect the nation from terrorism. Democrats, equally adamant, accuse the president of fear-mongering and say he has the authority he needs to intercept terrorist communications, even if the law expires. "American citizens must understand, clearly understand that there's still a threat on the homeland. There's still an enemy which would like to do us harm," Bush said. "We've got to give our professionals the tools they need, to be able to figure out what the enemy is up to so we can stop it."
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2/15/2008 | Presidential Issues
Black Leader, a Clinton Ally, Tilts to Obama
The New York Times
MILWAUKEE — Representative John Lewis, an elder statesman from the civil rights era and one of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s most prominent black supporters, said Thursday night that he planned to cast his vote as a superdelegate for Senator Barack Obama in hopes of preventing a fight at the Democratic convention. “In recent days, there is a sense of movement and a sense of spirit,” said Mr. Lewis, a Georgia Democrat who endorsed Mrs. Clinton last fall. “Something is happening in America, and people are prepared and ready to make that great leap.” Mr. Lewis, who carries great influence among other members of Congress, disclosed his decision in an interview in which he said that as a superdelegate he could “never, ever do anything to reverse the action” of the voters of his district, who overwhelmingly supported Mr. Obama. “I’ve been very impressed with the campaign of Senator Obama,” Mr. Lewis said. “He’s getting better and better every single day.” His comments came as fresh signs emerged that Mrs. Clinton’s support was beginning to erode from some other African-American lawmakers who also serve as superdelegates. Representative David Scott of Georgia, who was among the first to defect, said he, too, would not go against the will of voters in his district.
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2/15/2008 | Economy
Bloomberg Rips Government Over Failing Economy
WCBSTV.Com
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ― Mayor Michael Bloomberg has unleashed another flurry of jabs on Washington, ridiculing the federal government's rebate checks as being "like giving a drink to an alcoholic" on Thursday, and said the presidential candidates are looking for easy solutions to complex economic problems. The billionaire and potential independent presidential candidate also said the nation "has a balance sheet that's starting to look more and more like a third-world country." President Bush signed legislation Wednesday that will result in cash rebates ranging from $300 to $1,200 for more than 130 million people. The federal checks are the centerpiece of the government's emergency effort to stimulate the economy, under the theory that most people will spend the money right away. But Bloomberg does not believe it will do much good. And his harsh words at a news conference Thursday reflect the view among some of his associates that the country's economic woes present a unique opportunity for him to launch a third-party bid for the White House.
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2/14/2008 | Presidential Issues
Is It Too Late for Hillary?
Time
T.S. Eliot may have thought that April was the cruelest month, but as far as Hillary Clinton is concerned, it's got nothing on February. As Barack Obama was racking up his sixth, seventh and eighth consecutive wins in the week that had passed since Super Tuesday — trouncing her in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia and moving into the lead in the delegate count — Clinton was doing her best to turn the page of the calendar in search of an early sign of spring. She spent primary day in her campaign headquarters in downtown Arlington, Va., doing interviews by satellite with radio and television stations in Ohio and Texas, states that don't vote until March 4. By the time the ballots were being counted in the Potomac primaries, Clinton had landed in El Paso, Texas, where she declared, "We're going to sweep across Texas in the next three weeks."
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