Among the highlights: Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven members of Congress are millionaires. That's 44 percent of the body – compared to about 1 percent of Americans overall. All told, at least seven lawmakers have net worths greater than $100 million, according to the Center's 2008 figures.

"Many Americans probably have a sense that MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AREN'T HURTING, even if their government salary alone is in the six figures, much more than most Americans make," said CRP spokesman Dave Levinthal. "What we see through these figures is that many of them have riches well beyond that salary, supplemented with securities, stock holdings, property and other investments."

Some lawmakers have profited from investments in companies that have received federal bailouts; dozens of lawmakers are invested in Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.

Dr Jim Radike, an expert in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the Role 3 Trauma Hospital at Kandahar Air Field, told The Washington Times that Sergeant Robert David Gordon, 22, from River Falls, Alabama, died September 16 from what turned out to be Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever after he was bitten by a tick. The virus is transmitted by infected blood and can be carried by ticks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Dr Radike said the hemorrhagic fever is similar to Ebola "in that in the end there is internal degeneration and external bleeding. From the Black Sea to upper Turkey, you'll see a dozen or more cases a year. Afghanistan falls right in the middle."

Dr Radike said US soldiers in Afghanistan not only have to worry about the Taliban but also a host of ailments not commonly found in the West. "Diarrheal diseases, typhoid fever, skin ailments and tuberculosis are some of what we have to be on the lookout for," he said. "It's important for soldiers to get medical help early on if they are not feeling well or have been bitten. It's too risky not to have a doctor take a look at it." Dr Radike also advised soldiers to "wash their hands often; it's as simple as that."

Symptoms of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever include sudden fever, dizziness, neck pain, aching muscles, soreness in the eyes and sensitivity to light. Early on, nausea, vomiting and sore throat occur. The virus incubation period depends on how the virus was acquired. If the infection is via tick bite, the incubation period is roughly one to three days, with a maximum of nine days, Dr Radike said. If the illness is not caught early, it is often fatal, he said. The mortality rate is 30 percent, according to the CDC.

The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain "acceptable health insurance coverage" and who choose not to pay the bill's new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, INCLUDING CRIMINAL FINES OF UP TO $250,000 AND IMPRISONMENT OF UP TO FIVE YEARS. In response to the JCT letter, Camp said: "This is the ultimate example of the Democrats' command-and-control style of governing – buy what we tell you or go to jail. It is outrageous and it should be stopped immediately."

Key excerpts from the JCT letter:

"Criminal penalties -

"Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses. Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:

• Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

• Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years." [page 3]

According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker's bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.

In an address intended to shore up public support for the operation, the Prime Minister will accept for the first time that international efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, which began eight years ago, may not succeed.
Describing the Afghan mission as a "conflict of necessity not choice," Mr Brown will insist despite growing doubts over the continued deployment of British troops, "we cannot, must not and will not walk away".

However, following the deaths of seven soldiers in six days, he will also raise the prospect of defeat. "We entered together eight years ago," he will say. "We must persist together; in our different ways we must all contribute; in the end we will succeed or fail together."

Mr Brown will make his personal appeal amid doubts about how long the public and politicians will support the deployment of British troops. An opinion poll yesterday indicated that the majority of BRITISH VOTERS NOW BELIEVED THAT VICTORY IN AFGHANISTAN WAS NO LONGER POSSIBLE.

In a YouGov poll for Channel Four News, 57 per cent of respondents said the mission could not succeed, up from 36 per cent two years ago. Nearly three quarters wanted to see troops home within a year. Families of servicemen killed in Afghanistan called for troops to be withdrawn, WARNING THAT THE CONFLICT WAS TURNING INTO "OUR VIETNAM".

The Daily Telegraph has learnt that there is growing frustration in Whitehall at Barack Obama's deliberations over sending another 40,000 soldiers to Afghanistan. His military advisers said in September that a troop surge was necessary but he had yet to make an announcement. British sources said THE PRESIDENT'S INDECISION WAS UNDERMINING THE MISSION.

Adding to concerns about Western efforts to secure Afghanistan, the United Nations announced yesterday that it WAS PULLING 600 STAFF OUT OF THE COUNTRY TEMPORARILY BECAUSE THEIR SAFETY COULD NOT BE GUARANTEED.

Dr Mirela Siderer, an Israeli doctor who was brutally disfigured in 2008 by a Hamas rocket fired from Gaza into her Ashkelon medical clinic, asked him, "Where were you when Gaza [terrorists] attacked my medical clinic IN VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN LAW?"

Hamas terrorists traumatized southern Israel for eight years with thousands of rockets and mortars before Israel launched its three-week Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist campaign in late December 2008 and early January of this year. JUDGE GOLDSTONE FOUND ISRAEL GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES DURING THE BRIEF WAR. Since its conclusion, Hamas and allied terrorists have attacked Israel with more than 250 additional rockets and mortars.

The wounded doctor also wanted to know WHY JUDGE GOLDSTONE IGNORED HER TESTIMONY given during the commission's fact-finding sessions. He ignored all of her questions, except after the following:

Dr Siderer declared, "I feel so humiliated. I testified in good faith. You sent me a letter, 'Your testimony is essential.' Why does my testimony appear only in passing? My name was mentioned once in parentheses in a technical context." Judge Goldstone, searching for words, replied that he was sorry she felt bad and added succinctly, "She was referred to in the report."

He did not reply to her complaints that Israeli victims were referred to in only two pages of the 576-page report. Dr Siderer explained that "blood was everywhere: after the rocket exploded, wounding [her], a patient and 100 other people." SHE POINTED OUT THAT SHE ALSO TREATS ARAB PATIENTS FROM GAZA. "My life was changed forever," she added. "Next month I will undergo my eighth operation."

Judge Goldstone also ignored other questions:
"Why did you focus on my country's response but not on the attacks that cause it?"
"Why did you not tell me that this council judged Israel guilty in advance?"
"Why did you not tell me that you and other commissioners signed public letters judging Israel in advance?"
"Where was this council? Why were you all silent?"

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At issue is the International Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which various nations have been hammering out this week at secret talks in Seoul, South Korea. Earlier this week, negotiation materials leaked out of the hush-hush hearings, shocking and alarming civil libertarians and privacy watchdogs.

The groups, which include some of the most influential voices on internet policy, voiced "DEEP CONCERNS ABOUT THE LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AND OPENNESS" in a letter sent to Obama on Thursday, the day the parley is set to wrap up.

Based on leaked meeting documents, it would appear that the participating nations are crafting measures that would make it easier to crack down on digital piracy - including cutting off alleged offenders' web connections - as well as making it easier for authorities to search and even seize your personal computer or other electronics in an effort to root out copyright infringement.

In particular, it appears that the treaty would provide some kind of "safe harbor" for internet service providers protecting them from prosecution if they comply with THE TREATY'S DRACONIAN MEASURES to identify and sanction alleged internet pirates. The groups' first objection concerns the highly clandestine nature of the meetings. The Administration's secrecy conflicts with President Obama's promise of "a more transparent, collaborative and participatory government," the groups said.

More than one in five parents say they do not see the benefit in keeping in regular contact with their child's school, according to a poll by the government's technology agency Becta. Two-thirds of teachers said these parents do not realise how important their support is in helping their child succeed at school. More than one in five teachers feel they do not have enough contact with parents.

Becta is leading a campaign urging parents to talk to schools about using modern technology to keep in touch. It says communications between parents and schools can be improved by emails and text messaging, and parents can to follow their youngster's progress, including their achievements, homework assignments and attendance records, online.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls has said FAITH SCHOOLS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OPT OUT OF ANY PART OF THE NEW CURRICULUM, although they will be able to teach topics within the "tenets of their faith". So-called Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education is to become compulsory in both primary and secondary schools from September 2011.

Under current rules parents have the right to withdraw their child from sex education classes up until the age of 19.

In a landmark ruling, Mr Justice Michael Burton said that "a belief in man-made climate change... is capable, if genuinely held, of being a philosophical belief for the purpose of the 2003 Religion and Belief Regulations". The ruling could open the door for employees to sue their companies for failing to account for their green lifestyles, such as providing recycling facilities or offering low-carbon travel.

The decision regards Tim Nicholson, former head of sustainability at property firm Grainger plc, who claims he was made redundant in July 2008 due to his "philosophical belief about climate change and the environment". In March, employment judge David Heath gave Mr Nicholson permission to take the firm to tribunal over his treatment. But Grainger challenged the ruling on the grounds that green views were political and based on science, as opposed to religious or philosophical in nature.

John Bowers QC, representing Grainger, had argued that adherence to climate change theory was "a scientific view rather than a philosophical one", because "philosophy deals with matters that are not capable of scientific proof." That argument has now been dismissed by Mr Justice Burton, who last year ruled that the environmental documentary An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore was political and partisan. The decision allows the tribunal to go ahead, but more importantly SETS A PRECEDENT FOR HOW ENVIRONMENTAL BELIEFS ARE REGARDED IN ENGLISH LAW.

A record US budget gap and the rise of dynamic developing economies like China suggest the dollar, down over 20 percent since 2002 on a trade-weighted basis, has further to fall. Of course, the dollar comprises some two-thirds of global reserves and will remain dominant in most holdings, as attempts to dump it would destroy the value of central bank portfolios.

But with the speed of reserve accumulation increasing after a crisis-induced lull late last year, policy makers can choose TO PARK MORE NEW CASH IN EUROS AND YEN without having to sell existing dollar assets. "I think 2009 will be remembered as a watershed moment for currencies," said Neil Mellor, strategist at BNY Mellon, which has some $20 trillion in assets under custody. "I don't think there will be an imminent move, but it is quite clear THERE'S A PLAN TO SHIFT RESERVES TO A MORE BALANCED PORTFOLIO."

Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi's 2,032-page government takeover of health care does just that. On line 17, p. 110, section 222 under "Abortions for which Public Funding is Allowed" the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run plan. The Speaker's plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange covers abortions.

WHAT IS EVEN MORE ALARMING IS THAT A MONTHLY ABORTION PREMIUM WILL BE CHARGED OF ALL ENROLLEES in the government-run plan. It's right there on line 16, page 96, section 213, under "Insurance Rating Rules." The premium will be paid into a US Treasury account - and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services.

A majority of Americans believe that health care plans should not be mandated to provide elective abortion coverage, and a majority of Americans do not believe government health care plans should include abortion coverage. Currently, federal appropriations bills include language known as the Hyde Amendment that prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions under the Medicare and Medicaid programs, while another provision, known as the Smith Amendment, prohibits federal funding of abortion under the federal employees' health benefits plan.

Speaker Pelosi's 2,032-page health care monstrosity is an affront to the American people and drastically moves away from current policy. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DESERVE MORE FROM THEIR GOVERNMENT THAN BEING FORCED TO PAY FOR ABORTION.

The bill approved by the Environment and Public Works Committee will now become one of several initiatives in the Senate aimed at attacking global warming. But they are unlikely to produce legislation that would be voted on by the full Senate until next year at the earliest.

As an influential moderate Democrat, Senator Max Baucus laid out changes he would seek, including a weaker carbon-reduction target. Other Midwestern and Southern senators from states heavily reliant on coal will seek their own changes, which could upset liberals now supporting the bill.

India's decision TO EXCHANGE $6.7BN FOR GOLD equivalent to 8 per cent of world annual mine production sent the strongest signal yet that Asian countries were moving away from the US currency. The purchase by New Delhi's Reserve Bank from the International Monetary Fund pushed gold prices TO A RECORD $1,090.90 per troy ounce, up 2.6 per cent on the day, as traders bet that other central banks would also become buyers.

Pranab Mukherjee, India's finance minister, said the acquisition reflected the power of an economy that laid claim to the fifth-largest global foreign reserves: "We have money to buy gold. We have enough foreign exchange reserves." He contrasted India's strength with weakness elsewhere: "EUROPE COLLAPSED AND NORTH AMERICA COLLAPSED."

"This is a landmark trade," said Jonathan Spall a director at Barclays Capital and a gold specialist. "Central banks are conservative institutions and India's move is a sign for other central banks and sovereign wealth funds that were contemplating buying gold." New Delhi's acquisition came months after CHINA REVEALED IT HAD ALMOST DOUBLED ITS GOLD RESERVES IN THE PAST SIX YEARS.

ONLY TWICE IN JERUSALEM'S HISTORY HAS IT SERVED AS A NATIONAL CAPITAL. The first time was as the capital of the two Jewish Commonwealths during the First and Second Temple periods, as described in the Bible, reinforced by archaeological evidence and numerous ancient documents. The second time is in modern times as the capital of the State of Israel. IT HAS NEVER SERVED AS AN ARAB CAPITAL FOR THE SIMPLE REASON THAT THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A PALESTINIAN ARAB STATE.

The rhetoric by Arab leaders on behalf of the Palestinians rings hollow. Arabs never established a Palestinian state when the UN in 1947 recommended to partition Palestine, and to establish "an Arab and a Jewish state" (not a Palestinian state, it should be noted). Nor did the Arabs recognize or establish a Palestinian state during the two decades prior to the Six-Day War when the West Bank was under Jordanian control and the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian control; nor did the Palestinian Arabs clamour for autonomy or independence during those years under Jordanian and Egyptian rule.

So much for facts and accuracy.

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Retailers lost $36.3 billion to theft in 2008, up from $34.8 billion in 2007. While no projections are available yet for 2009, signs are that the problem is getting worse, says Joseph LaRocca, senior adviser on asset protection of the National Retail Federation (NRF). FEWER PEOPLE ARE BEING DETAINED in stores for shoplifting, but when they are stopped, they're more likely to run and even attack store employees, says LaRocca.

"SHOPLIFTERS ARE GETTING MORE AGGRESSIVE," he says. "They're fighting, they're abusive, they're running... It's a very disturbing trend." LaRocca attributes this escalation to the rise of shoplifting rings, gangs that steal large quantities of products for resale. These thieves are the reason you often find razor blades under lock and key in your local drugstore, says LaRocca, because small items that can be easily resold are a favorite target of pro shoplifters.

"They're very organized, and they are very skilled," says LaRocca. "They'll steal thousands of dollars in five minutes." They may even open entire stores stocked with stolen products, he says.