KOSOVO - February 17, 2008 - Kosovo's parliament has unanimously endorsed a declaration of independence from Serbia, in an historic session.

The declaration, read by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, said Kosovo would be a democratic country that respected the rights of all ethnic communities.

The U.S. and a number of EU countries are expected to recognize Kosovo on Monday.

Serbia's PM denounced the U.S. for helping create a "false state". Serbia's ally, Russia, called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting.

Correspondents say the potential for trouble between Kosovo's Serbs and ethnic Albanians is enormous.

Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica blamed the U.S. which he said was "ready to violate the international order for its own military interests".

"Today, this policy of force thinks that it has triumphed by establishing a false state," Mr. Kostunica said.

"Kosovo is Serbia," Mr. Kostunica said, repeating a well-known nationalist Serb saying.

The declaration was approved with a show of hands. No-one opposed it.

"We have waited for this day for a very long time," Mr. Thaci told parliament before reading the text, paying tribute to those who had died on the road to independence.

"The independence of Kosovo marks the end of the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia," the prime minister said - Kosovo was a unique case that should not set a precedent.

He said it would be built in accordance with the UN plan drawn by former Finnish President, Martti Ahtisaari - at the end of negotiations which did not produce a deal.

The international military and civilian presence - also envisaged by the Ahtisaari plan - was welcome, he added.

There should be no fear of discrimination in new Kosovo, he said, vowing to eradicate any such practices - and conveying a similar message in Serbian. President Fatmir Sejdiu had a similar pledge - also addressed in Serbian.

The declaration was then signed by all the MPs present.

Kosovo's top leaders are due to go to a sports hall later where the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra is expected to play Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

They are also due to sign their names on giant iron letters spelling out the word "newborn" which was to be displayed in Pristina.

Fireworks and street celebrations will follow. Thousands of people have poured onto the streets.

Some ethnic Albanians, who make up the majority of Kosovo's population, earlier laid flowers on the graves of family members killed by Serbian security forces during years of conflict and division.

The BBC's Nick Thorpe in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica says local and UN police, as well as the NATO troops, are maintaining a high profile to reassure all the citizens of Kosovo that they have nothing to fear.

The declaration approved by Kosovo's parliament contains limitations on Kosovan independence as outlined in Mr. Ahtisaari's plan.

Kosovo, or part of it, cannot join any other country. It will be supervised by an international presence. Its armed forces will be limited and it will make strong provisions for Serb minority protection.

Recognition by a number of EU states, including the UK and other major countries, will come on Monday after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, says the BBC's Paul Reynolds.

The U.S. is also expected to announce its recognition on Monday.

Three EU states - Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia - have told other EU governments that they will not recognize Kosovo, says our correspondent.

Russia's foreign ministry has indicated that Western recognition of an independent Kosovo could have implications for the Georgian breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The UN has administered Kosovo since a NATO bombing campaign in 1999 drove out Serb forces.

WASHINGTON - February 15, 2008 - The Bush regime asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to review an appeals court decision that it said had created a “serious threat to national security” by requiring the government to supply extensive evidence supporting the classification of more than 180 Guantanamo detainees as enemy combatants.

ENGLAND - January 24, 2008 - A children’s story based on the tale of The Three Little Pigs was rejected for an award after judges became concerned that it would offend Muslims.

The animated virtual book for primary school children, The Three Little Cowboy Builders, was also criticized for its potential to offend builders.

The row centered on the Bett awards, which were supported by Becta, the Government’s technology agency for schools. The judges’ remarks, reported on the education technology website Merlin John Online, included: “Is it true that all builders are cowboys, builders get their work blown down, and builders are like pigs?

“The idea of taking a traditional tale and retelling a story is fine, but it should not alienate parts of the workforce. Judges would not recommend this product to the Muslim community in particular.”

Ed. Note: With all due respect, if you find this children's story offensive, then you have the freedom to not read or listen to it!  You have no right, and government has no authority whatsoever, to deprive others of the freedom to read or listen to any story. YOU DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO NOT BE OFFENDED!

Vice President disregards the Constitution he swore to protect and defend

WASHINGTON - January 23, 2008 - Vice President Dick Cheney prodded Congress on Wednesday to extend and broaden an expiring surveillance law, saying "fighting the war on terror is a long-term enterprise" that should not come with an expiration date.

"We're reminding Congress that they must act now," Cheney told the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. The law, which authorizes the regime to eavesdrop on phone calls and see the e-mail to and from suspected terrorists, expires on Feb. 1. Congress is bickering over terms of its extension.

On Tuesday, Senate Republicans blocked an effort by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to extend the stopgap Protect America Act without expanding it, raising stakes for an expected showdown in the Senate later this week on a new version of the law.

"This cause is bigger than the quarrels of party and the agendas of politicians," Cheney said. "And if we in Washington, all of us, can only see our way clear to work together, then the outcome should not be in doubt."

Congress hastily adopted the stopgap act last summer in the face of warnings from the regime about dangerous gaps in the government's ability to gather intelligence in the Internet age.

Regime allies in Congress not only want the expiring law made permanent but amended to give telephone companies and other communications providers immunity from being sued for helping the government eavesdropping and other intelligence-gathering efforts.

Cheney said such providers "face dozens of lawsuits."

"The intelligence community doesn't have the facilities to carry out the kind of international surveillance needed to defend this country since 9-11. In some situations, there is no alternative to seeking assistance from the private sector. This is entirely appropriate," Cheney said.

CLEARWATER, Florida. - January 21, 2008 -  A 75-year-old woman was arrested at a Clearwater McDonald's drive-thru, because police say she wouldn't pull her car forward.

Authorities said Jean Merola, a grandmother of eight, was arrested for disorderly conduct after she refused an officer's orders to move her car while she waited for the coffee and fries she ordered at the drive-through window.

Merola said the McDonald's employees told her to wait there for her food.

Merola was handcuffed behind her back and put in the cruiser.

Another officer arrived and took her to the Pinellas County Jail.

Merola said she was searched, photographed and fingerprinted.

Jail records show she was released about 90 minutes later on her own recognizance.

Please call today and voice your outrage at this clear police-state tactic and citizen abuse!

Chief of Police Sid Klein
Clearwater Police Department
727-562-4420

ENGLAND - January 21, 2008 - In a bid to reduce the recent rise in knife attacks among Britain's youth, the UK's government is to introduce airport style metal detectors in schools. According to reports the number of under-18 year olds convicted or cautioned for carrying a knife rose by 37% between 2003 and 2006.

Britain's Home Secretary Jaqui Smith: "It's a good idea if we look at the ways in which in some schools it might be appropriate to use search arches, because I want young people to know that it doesn't make them safer to carry a knife: it actually makes them more likely to be a victim."

The measure is included in a government plan to be announced next month to deal with violent behavior. Currently portable metal detectors are used in places such as shopping centers and government buildings.

Teachers unions have welcome the idea but stressed it would only be appropriate for a small number of inner city schools.

CONCORD, New Hampshire - January 14, 2008 - Two men accused of helping New Hampshire tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown evade capture have been accused of building explosives to help fight off federal agents.

A new indictment alleges that Jason Gerhard of Brookhaven, N.Y., built pipe bombs. It also accuses Daniel Riley of Cohoes, N.Y., of creating an explosive and building homemade guns, designed as booby traps, to shoot shotgun shells.

The Browns were arrested last fall after refusing to turn themselves in for nearly nine months. They were convicted last January of plotting to evade taxes on nearly $2 million. They maintain there is no law requiring them to pay income taxes.

Riley and Gerhard are two of four supporters of the couple who have been charged with conspiring to interfere with the government's efforts to arrest them and with aiding and abetting the couple. They are scheduled for a joint trial on Jan. 28 with Cirino Gonzales of Alice, Texas, and Robert Wolffe of Randolph, Vt. Gerhard, Gonzalez and Riley also face charges for bringing weapons to the Browns.

Following the Browns' arrests, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents searched the property and reported finding dozens of completed destructive devices and the materials to build many more.

At a pre-trial hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold Huftalen said Riley told investigators he had purchased an explosive chemical mixture called Tannerite, mixed together its components and hung jars of the compound from trees and outbuildings, with bright orange markers facing the Browns' hilltop house.

Huftalen said Riley described a plan to shoot the Tannerite jars from afar if federal agents were spotted on the property. If the jars were ignited, the explosion would be powerful enough to injure or kill anyone in the general proximity, Huftalen said. The indictment charges Riley with creating these Tannerite devices.

Huftalen also said Riley described building improvised guns from pipes and other hardware, many of which were found at the scene. The devices worked as spring-loaded detonators for shotgun shells and were held back with firing pins tied to tripwires.

The plan, as Riley described it, was to secure the guns to trees along the property line and string the wires so that someone walking through the property might trip the wire, firing a shotgun blast in their direction.