Pat Dollard

BBC: A US man who triggered a major alert by falsely claiming his son was adrift in a helium balloon has been sentenced to 90 days in jail – and his wife to 20. Richard Heene, 48, and his 45-year-old wife Mayumi said in October their son had been carried off by the balloon. Six-year-old [...]

The Wall Street Journal: Look for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to try to circumvent the traditional conference committee process by which the different versions of health care reform passed by each house will be reconciled. If so, it will be the latest example of violating principles of transparency and [...]

Times Online: Kim Peek, the autistic savant who inspired the Oscar-winning film Rain Man, has died, aged 58. Mr Peek’s father Fran said that his son had suffered a major heart attack on Saturday and was pronounced dead at a hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, the town where he had spent his life. Mr [...]

The Hill: Centrist, Blue Dog Democrats are likely to favor the Senate’s healthcare bill if it comes up for a vote, one of their members said Wednesday. Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), a Blue Dog who voted against the House’s healthcare bill in November, said that he and many other centrist Democrats would flip their votes [...]

National Review Online: In a surprise move, Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, will seek a vote this afternoon on an amendment to prohibit the practice of trading votes for earmarks in the United States Senate. “Americans are disgusted by the earmarks, kickbacks, and backroom deals that have been used [...]

The Washington Examiner: In a party-line vote at 1:17 a.m. yesterday, Senate Democrats cleared a key procedural obstacle to a federal takeover of health care. With Saturday’s buyoff of Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., a pre-Christmas vote now looks likely. But Obamacare’s far from a done deal. There are large and contentious differences — on abortion, [...]

CNS News: Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said the White House and the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives have been pressuring him not to speak out on the “compromise” abortion language in the Senate version of the health care bill. “They think I shouldn’t be expressing my views on this bill until they get [...]

Times Online: Osama bin Laden’s closest relatives are living in a secret compound in Iran, members of the family said last night. They include a wife and children who disappeared from his Afghan camp at the time of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. There has been uncertainty about the family’s whereabouts for the [...]

The Washington Post: It was serendipitous to have almost simultaneous climaxes in Copenhagen and Congress. The former’s accomplishment was indiscernible, the latter’s was unsightly. It would have been unprecedented had the president not described the outcome of the Copenhagen climate change summit as “unprecedented,” that being the most overworked word in his hardworking vocabulary of [...]

WASHINGTON (AP) – Universities and colleges are still waiting for tuition payments for thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who attended school last fall under the new GI Bill, leaving the veterans panicked that they’ll be unable to return to class in January. Veterans Affairs Department officials promise to get them back into the classroom. [...]

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A little late to start doing any good, don’t you think you inbred Marxist f-? FOX News: Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, after securing a sweetheart deal for his state as part of the health insurance reform bill, said Tuesday that three other senators have told him they want to bargain for the same kind of [...]

BBC: US parents who triggered a major alert by claiming their son was adrift in a helium balloon have been ordered to pay the $42,000 (£26,000) rescue bill. The Colorado couple reported in October that their young son had been carried away by the balloon – whose progress was then tracked by news organizations. Six-year-old [...]

Y-Net: Carter apologizes for ‘stigmatizing Israel’ Former US president offers US Jewish community apology for any contribution he may have had to Jewish nation’s negative image WASHINGTON – Former US President Jimmy Carter on Monday asked for the Jewish community’s forgiveness for any negative stigma he may have caused Israel over the years. Carter, who [...]

Rasmussen: The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 25% of the nation’s voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-six percent (46%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21 That’s the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this [...]

WASHINGTON (AP) – From the White House to Capitol Hill, Democrats confidently predicted Senate passage of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul Tuesday after the bill cleared its second 60-vote test and the time was set for a final tally. Coming to the Senate floor in the middle of the afternoon, Majority Leader Harry Reid, [...]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama may delay his year-end Hawaiian vacation to remain in Washington as a bill to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system makes its way through the U.S. Senate, the White House said on Tuesday. “They are going to make a decision later this evening about when the president will leave,” White [...]

NEW YORK (AP) – Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, viewed by many New York Republicans as a savior for the struggling party, said Tuesday that he won’t run for political office next year and instead would concentrate on his lucrative law and consulting businesses. “We have some pretty significant commitments next year that [...]