VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The restoration of Michelangelo's frescoes in the Vatican's Pauline Chapel may have produced a special prize - a previously unknown self-portrait of the artist. Chief Vatican restorer Maurizio De Luca said Thursday that the face of a man on horseback in the artist's "The Crucifixion of St. Peter" could well be the artist, though he told AP Television News that nobody will ever know "with absolute certainty that the face is Michelangelo's."
California's a mess. A bankrupt fiasco. A state that has regulated and spent itself into a well of debt so deep it makes the economic situation in the other 49 states seem not half-bad.
LONDON (AP) -- British researchers have announced the discovery of a rare original copy of America's Declaration of Independence - just in time for the Fourth of July. Katrina McClintock, a spokeswoman at the National Archives, said Thursday that a researcher accidentally discovered the "Dunlap print," named after a printer, several months ago.(snip) Edward Hampshire, the National Archives' specialist in colonial materials, said the find was "incredibly exciting."
Lie to me. In Islam it is expected. [snip] When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes hash out reality, he isn't only perfecting one of the wiles of a dictator. He's practicing his religion. WikiIslam defines taqiyya as "sanctified hypocrisy." That's generous. [snip] Taqiyya is a right that Muslims believe brings its own reward.
"Appalled” and “disappointed” are among the words — at least the published ones — officials at the Washington Post are using today to describe actions by, well, the Washington Post. As the paper reports: Washington Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth today canceled plans for a series of policy dinners at her home after learning that marketing fliers offered lobbyists access to Obama administration officials, members of Congress and
Could Toyota Motor Corp. be mortal after all? For the third month in a row, Ford Motor Co. outsold the Japanese juggernaut in the United States, still a crucial and rich market amid this nagging recession. In June alone, the Dearborn automaker reported an 11 percent year-over-year decline in monthly sales to 148,153 cars and trucks, compared to Toyota's 34.6 percent slide to 131,654 vehicles.(snip)Toyota lost more money than Ford and even GM.
As Congress considers health care reform, one of the most hotly debated questions is whether to include a new public insurance option among the choices to improve health care delivery. (snip)No wonder health insurance premiums have risen four times faster than wages. And no wonder the top 10 publicly traded U.S. insurance companies took in $12.9 billion in profit in 2007.
TOPEKA, Kan. -- A federal official has told Kansas to start over its review process for a proposed coal-fired electric plant in southwest Kansas that Gov. Mark Parkinson had endorsed. Sunflower Electric Power Corp., based in Hays, plans to build the electric plant in Finney County. Sunflower had wanted to build two plants, but Rod Bremby, the state's secretary of health and environment, rejected an air-quality permit for them in October 2007...
WASHINGTON — Americans who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit with fines of more than $1,000 under a health care overhaul bill unveiled Thursday by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fines will raise around $36 billion over 10 years. Senate aides said the penalties would be modeled on the approach taken by Massachusetts, which now imposes a fine of about $1,000 a year on individuals who refuse to get coverage. Under the federal legislation, families would pay higher penalties than individuals. Please post more than one sentence, text added; extra wide headlines should be split more than once.
President Barack Obama is chiding critics of his carbon cap-and-trade proposal to combat global warming for being afraid of a future shaped by new energy technologies and thriving with so-called green jobs. What those skeptics are really afraid of is a future locked to laws that institutionalize high unemployment, low growth and a lesser standard of living for Americans.
MERCED, Calif. — The total cost for last month's commencement ceremony at UC Merced has finally been tallied. Just over $1 million. Private contributions of more than $185,000 (including in-kind-gifts) added to $500,000 in unrestricted interest earnings on a private endowment fund, managed by the UC Office of the President, have helped offset the cost of the event.
Numbers are a beautiful thing and, for some, life itself.(snip)Ford averages 1.02 problems per vehicle. Toyota averages 1.01 problems per vehicle. Even J.D. Power officials will tell you, the difference of 1 in its scoring system is statistically meaningless, meaning Ford and Toyota statistically tied when comes to initial quality. Chevrolet and Suzuki, each with 1.03 problems
If anyone ever doubted the West faces sheer insanity in the fight against the most extreme of the Muslim extremists, consider a discussion that recently erupted on a jihadist Web site based on the writings of one of al Qaeda's leading theorists. The thrust of the debate was that Muslim fighters may be justified in cannibalizing U.S. soldiers if they find themselves with nothing else to eat.
As General Motors Corp. prepares to sell its best assets to a streamlined new entity, the worst of what it owns will be auctioned off in bankruptcy court, including contaminated factory sites, parking lots in Flint, Michigan, and a nine-hole golf course in New Jersey. One property the carmaker is ditching is a foundry in Massena, New York, bordered on the east by the St. Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation and
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers here are learning the hard way that trying to apologize for historic injustices isn't as easy as saying "I'm sorry." The Senate found that out two weeks ago when it passed a resolution calling on the U.S. to apologize formally for more than three centuries of enslavement and segregation of African-Americans.
As the prospect of a general election grows nearer ministers are now interested only in deceiving the public, not in governing the country. Dishonesty runs through every area of policy from public expenditure cuts to the failure to hold a referendum on the EU treaty. But new depths of mendacity have been plumbed this week with Gordon Brown’s promise to give British families preference
Feeling a little overwhelmed by the amount of media attention the networks have given to Michael Jackson? You're not alone, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll, and that fact puzzles MSNBC contributor Touré.
A warrior braves the hardship of the front, endures months away from home, suffers the trauma of combat, escapes bullets and explosions and then comes home to America to take his own life. This makes no sense at all. Yet this year, 82 soldiers have comnmitted suicide, according to the Army.
Police say a Connecticut girl overheard her mother's screams during sex and thought she was being assaulted, so she rounded up some friends to attack the woman's companion. The 16-year-old girl, two boys and a 19-year-old man were arrested Tuesday and arraigned Wednesday on assault and conspiracy charges. Please read Rules and FAQ pages: When there is no byline type "Staff" and, please, split wide headlines
John Bolton has a compelling and courageous analysis in the Washington Post today, making the case that Israel should bomb Iran’s nuclear installations and do so quickly. He argues that diplomacy has no chance of working, leaving only one serious option on the table if Iran is to be prevented from going nuclear. He adds a new and important point:
On April 15, over a million people-who had already smelled the contaminated coffee of the Obama regime's galloping socialism-cum-communism-cum totalitarianism-attended thousands of Tea Parties across the country. (Snip) Obama's breakneck efforts to destroy free-market capitalism, inflict decades of debt on future generations, spit on the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, employ a Hitler-like force of ACORN brown-shirts (snip) to manipulate the census and intimidate . . . .
New York - Stocks tumbled Thursday, with the Dow losing 212 points, after a worse-than-expected jobs report hammered hopes that the economy is close to stabilizing. The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) fell 212 points, or 2.5%, according to early tallies. The S&P 500 (SPX) index lost 26 points, or 2.8% and the Nasdaq (COMP) fell 49 points, or 2.7%.
COLUMBIA — First lady Jenny Sanford said Thursday that her husband's behavior is inexcusable but forgivable. Gov. Mark Sanford on Tuesday revealed more details about his extramarital affair with his Argentine mistress Maria Belen Chapur and he disclosed encounters with other women during his 20-year marriage with Jenny Sanford. "There is no question that Mark's behavior is inexcusable," the first lady said in a statement.
Washington - The U.S. is joining other developed countries for the first time in saying global greenhouse gases should peak by 2020 and the average worldwide temperature shouldn’t rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, according to a draft document of the Group of Eight industrialized nations. ''This is a crucial year for taking rapid and effective global action to combat climate change,'' according to the text,
COLUMBIA — South Carolina's top police official says Gov. Mark Sanford did not improperly use state funds for visits with his Argentine mistress.State Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd said Thursday that Sanford did not break any laws. The governor's spokesman says Sanford does not intend to resign.South Carolina's attorney general asked police to investigate the Republican governor's travel
Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe broke her silence Thursday and declared she wants custody of the two children she had with the late King of Pop. ''I want my children,'' Rowe said during a 90-minute phone interview with NBC-LA early Thursday. (Snip) Rowe had initially signed a contract with Jackson surrendering her parental rights, but an appeals court threw out that contract in 2006, ruling that Rowe remained the legal parent of son Michael Joseph
