Pat Dollard

CAIRO (AP) – A 26-year-old doctor who exposed the torture of jailed protesters in Iran died of poisoning from a delivery salad laced with an overdose of blood pressure medication, prosecutors say. The findings fueled opposition fears that he was killed because of what he knew. Investigators are still trying to determine whether his death [...]

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – The Army has charged the suspect in the Fort Hood shooting spree with 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. The charges are in addition to the 13 premeditated murder charges filed against Maj. Nidal (Nee-DAHL) Hasan (Huh-SAHN’) in the Nov. 5 massacre at Fort Hood. The Army says the attempted [...]

Speigel Online: Never before has a speech by President Barack Obama felt as false as his Tuesday address announcing America’s new strategy for Afghanistan. It seemed like a campaign speech combined with Bush rhetoric — and left both dreamers and realists feeling distraught. One can hardly blame the West Point leadership. The academy commanders did [...]

Sarah Robinson was just a teenager when World War II broke out. She endured the Blitz, watching for fires during Luftwaffe air raids armed with a bucket of sand. Often she would walk ten miles home from work in the blackout, with bombs falling around her. As soon as she turned 18, she joined the [...]

Gallup: PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are far less approving of President Obama’s handling of the situation in Afghanistan than they have been in recent months, with 35% currently approving, down from 49% in September and 56% in July. Tuesday, Obama outlines his new strategy for the war in Afghanistan in a nationally televised address. The [...]

From the Snooper Report Jeff Poor / NewsBusters.org: Matthews Calls West Point, Site of Obama Speech ‘The Enemy Camp,’ ‘Strange Venue’ Either MSNBC “Hardball” host Chris Matthews let one slip tonight, or it was an extremely poor choice of words. Following President Barack Obama’s Dec. 1 speech, which he announced his intentions for increasing troop [...]

The Hill: Senate Democrats threatened to pull out the procedural stops to force votes on amendments to the healthcare reform bill on the floor as the GOP continues to object to advancing the legislation. Moreover, Senate Democrats said after huddling on floor strategy Wednesday, the majority party is prepared to keep the Senate in session [...]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top Democratic lawmaker predicted on Wednesday that the government will be involved in shaping the future for struggling U.S. media organizations. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, saying quality journalism was essential to U.S. democracy, said eventually government would have to help resolve the problems caused by a failing [...]

Telegraph: An out-of-control wrecking ball smashes into the side of a passing vehicle, in this amateur footage filmed on the streets of New York. The power of the ball sends the people carrier spinning through 360 degrees, forcing pedestrians to run for cover. But any tourists worried that their holidays in Manhattan will be disrupted [...]

ABC News: E-mails between the so-called state dinner crashers and a Pentagon official indicate the official was trying to get them in to the White House event, but did not succeed, according to the email chain obtained by ABC News. In the emails, Pentagon official Michele S. Jones told Tareq and Michaele Salahi that she [...]

The Hill: High-ranking administration officials Wednesday warned Congress there would be severe consequences if the Taliban and al Qaeda aren’t defeated in South Asia. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen fired the opening salvos in what is expected to [...]

Politico: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has publicly criticized President Barack Obama for announcing a target date to begin pulling back from Afghanistan, challenged the president’s policy to his face in a private meeting at the White House Tuesday afternoon. During Obama’s meeting with members of Congress prior to the president’s Tuesday speech at West [...]

CNS News: (CNSNews.com) – Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, is calling on Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to conduct hearings on a possible conspiracy between some of the world’s most prominent climatologists to, among other things, manipulate data on so-called global warming. Inhofe said the recent [...]