Pat Dollard

Excerpted from Talking Points Memo: Ron Paul’s campaign tells TPM that the presidential candidate did not write a signed direct mail piece in 1993 aimed at attracting subscribers to his newsletter by warning of a “coming race war” and a “federal-homosexual cover-up on AIDS.” “Dr. Paul did not write that mail piece and disavows its [...]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Hospital officials say nurses who staged a one-day strike against nine hospitals in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles will not be allowed to return to work Friday. Hospitals enforcing the nurse lockout have brought in replacement nurses to help care for patients.

The Hill: Tea Party freshman Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said Thursday that the agreement to extend the payroll tax was “a sad day for America” and an example of when “the politics of demagoguery trump policy and also principle” in a post to his Facebook wall. “I cannot support this, but it seems the politics [...]

Big Government: LAS VEGAS – While the Great Recession has affected almost all Americans, Nevadans may be the hardest hit. The state leads the nation in unemployment (13 percent) and home foreclosures (three times the national average). Because of the faltering economy and slowed tax revenue, the Clark County School District needs to cut $78 [...]

SEATTLE (AP) — The release of Nike’s retro Air Jordans caused a frenzy at stores across the nation early Friday, with hundreds of people lining up for a chance to buy the classic basketball shoes and rowdy crowds breaking down doors and starting fights in at least six cities. Race for New Air Jordan Sneakers [...]

MSN: A girl who was swept away in the Indian Ocean tsunami seven years ago said Friday that she broke down in tears after tracking down her parents, who had long lost hope of finding her alive. Wati, 15, showed up earlier this week at a cafe in Meulaboh, a town in Aceh province, saying [...]

New Details Emerge in High School Basketball Game Fight in Baltimore: MyFoxDC.com

New York (AP) More than spirits are being lifted this holiday season. During the four weeks leading up to Christmas, an estimated $1.8 billion in merchandise will be shoplifted this year, according to The Global Retail Theft Barometer, a survey of retailers worldwide. That’s up about 6 percent from $1.7 billion during the same period [...]

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Twin suicide car bombs blasted outside two buildings of Syria’s powerful intelligence agencies Friday, killing at least 40 people and wounding more than 100, authorities said, in the first such attacks since the country was thrown into turmoil by the 9-month-old uprising against the rule of President Bashar Assad. The government [...]

Politico: The storyline dogging Ron Paul as his numbers continue to rise in Iowa — the racist content in newsletters published in the 1990s under his name — poses a significant impediment to his campaign’s momentum. But that’s not his only problem. Even as he disavows the newsletters — the Texas congressman asserts he didn’t [...]

WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. State Department offered a $10 million reward Thursday for information that helps authorities find Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil, better known as Yasin al Suri, an Iran-based senior financier of Al Qaeda. Suri, operating under an agreement between Al Qaeda and the Iranian government since 2005, allegedly moves money and recruits [...]

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Inside the medevac helicopter in Afghanistan, U.S. Marine Cpl. Burness Britt bleeds profusely from his neck. He and two other Marines have just been hit by shrapnel, with Britt’s injuries the most serious. The medevac crew chief clutches one of Britt’s blood-covered hands as he is given oxygen. I take hold [...]

Agencie France Presse: A large metallic ball fell out of the sky on a remote grassland in Namibia, prompting baffled authorities to contact NASA and the European space agency. The hollow ball with a circumference of 1.1 metres (43 inches) was found near a village in the north of the country some 750 kilometres (480 [...]