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Huckabee builds fancy digs
(CNN) - As he considers a second run for president, Mike Huckabee is building some fancy new digs in Florida. According to the Arkansas Times, the 2008 Presidential Candidate is constructing a $2.2 million home on a lot in Blue Mountain Beach he acquired earlier in the year for $800,000. The beach is located near Destin Florida, on the state's panhandle. The Arkansas Times, which viewed local tax records - also reports the former Arkansas Governor has taken on a $2.8 million Mortgage to buy the ...

Huckabee Building Mansion In Florida
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), a 2008 Presidential Candidate and possible Candidate again for 2012, is currently having a multi-million dollars mansion built in his new primary residence state of Florida: The Arkansas Times reports: Former Gov. Mike Huckabee is building a $3 million house on Blue Mountain Beach just east of Destin, Fla. He bought the lot on the famous sugar sand beach last year for $800,000 and this year took out a building permit for a house expected to cost $2.2 million. ...

Palin to Haiti with Graham (Politico)
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is heading to Haiti this weekend with Evangelist Franklin Graham, a Palin source confirmed to Politico. Palin and Graham will visit a Cholera clinic in addition to other stops, as was first reported by CNN. The Haiti visit was the second foreign trip to surface Thursday. Palin is also planning possible visits next year to Israel and Britain. The Haiti trip could serve two distinct political purposes for Palin. First, it provides an opportunity to expand her imag...

Proposed Bill Would Allow Guns to be Visibly Carried
A new legislature and a renewed chance to change Arkansas' gun laws: a bill filed at the State Capitol could allow gunowners to visibly carry their weapons at their hips. A similiar bill was proposed two years ago by now Secretary-elect Mark Martin but it died in committee. Now, with many more Conservatives at the Capitol, it could have another shot. Proponents of an open carry law say it's time to join with 43 other states and allow Arkansans to wear their guns out in the open, just like in the...

Man arrested in Seattle on way back to Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A Federal Prosecutor says a man Arrested last week in Seattle is on his way back to Arkansas to face an accusation that he left a bomb at a church in Osage being used as a voting site for party-primary runoff Elections. Kenny Elser, assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas at Fort Smith, said Tuesday that 40-year-old Mark Krause would be returned to Arkansas by the U.S. Marshals Service. Elser said he did not know when Krause would be back in the stat...

Pawlenty Hits Presidential Stops With Book Tour
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) announced a book tour Friday that includes stops in many of the important states for a Republican presidential contender. The book tour signifies that Pawlenty is moving toward a presidential run and is wasting very little time getting out on the Campaign Trail. Pawlenty officially leaves the Governor's office at the beginning of January and his first stop on the book tour is Jan. 13. Pawlenty will hit five states that are critical to a Republican presidential c...

AR-Sen: Pryor Changing Position on DADT
Props (as the kids say) where they are due: Sen. Mark Pryor has changed his position and is now willing to vote for the Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. On many previous occasions, I have said that I would oppose Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell until I had heard from our servicemen and women regarding this policy. I have now carefully reviewed all of the findings, reports, and Testimony from our Armed Forces on this matter and I accept the Pentagon’s recommendations...

Beebe sets special election for House seat
LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe has set a March 8 Special Election for a House seat that will be vacated by a lawmaker who plans to resign at the beginning of January. Beebe on Tuesday set the Special Election for the District 24 seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Rick Saunders. Beebe has given the Democratic and Republican parties until Dec. 31 to select their nominees by convention. Independent Candidates must file petitions with the state by noon Jan. 7. Write-in Candidates have been gi...

Q3 Flow of Funds: Household Real Estate assets declined $650 Billion in Q3 2010
by CalculatedRisk on 12/09/2010 01:14:00 PM The Federal Reserve released the Q3 2010 Flow of Funds report this morning: Flow of Funds. According to the Fed, household net worth is now off $11 Trillion from the peak in 2007, but up $5.8 trillion from the trough in Q1 2009. The Fed estimated that the value of household Real Estate fell $684 billion to $16.55 trillion in Q3 2010, from $17.2 trillion in Q2 2010. Click on graph for larger image in graph gallery. This is the Households and Nonprofi...

Fixed mortgage rates rise to 4.61 percent, which could slow refinancing
Rates on fixed Mortgages rose for the fourth straight week this week, hitting 4.61 percent. The surge could slow refinancings and further hamper the Housing Market. Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on a 30-year fixed loan increased sharply from last week's rate. And it is well above the 4.17 percent rate hit a month ago — the Lowest Level on records dating back to 1971. The average rate on a 15-year fixed loan rose to 3.96 percent. Rates hit 3.57 percent last month — the low...

Cherkaskys parting remarks
This seems to be the day for swan songs: First Lt. Richard Ravitch reflected on his tenure and now Michael Cherkasky, chairman of the state Commission on Public Integrity, is saying his goodbyes, along with some “notes of concern,” including his belief that the CPI is too big, its members are appointed by an overly partisan process, and it may be spending too many resources going after relatively minor lobbying violations (the group spent time a while back debating, basically, over ...

Request denied for lawyer to help DuPage pick state's attorney
DuPage County Chief Judge Stephen Culliton dismissed a request today to appoint a special state's attorney to advise the county board on the selection of a new state's attorney to replace Joseph Birkett, who will be sworn in Monday as an Appellate Court judge. Robert Schillerstrom, former county board chairman, filed the request last week claiming that Birkett had a Conflict of Interest in advising the county board because he has publicly stated his preference for having one of the three candi...

Baltimore Muslim Arrested in Attempt to Blow up a Military Recruitment Center
A Muslim has been Arrested in a plot to blow up a Baltimore-area Military recruiting center. WBAL-TV, citing a source, said the man was a U.S. national of Nicaraguan descent and had recently converted to Islam. How long before our self-delusion bites us in the .......... what has to happen? Who are the the misunderstanders of Islam? It is not yet known if this Muslim is tied to recent shootings at Military recruiting centers in the Washington D.C or New York. But clearly he was inspired by the...

Palin planning possible foreign trip
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is planning a foreign trip sometime next year, providing an opportunity to boost her presidential prospects, Politico has confirmed. Details of the trip, including the timing, have not yet been worked out. But Palin sources confirm that plans are being considered for foreign travel in the new year, with Israel and Britain at the top of the list. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset POLITICO 44 The likelihood of such a trip was first reported by the Daily Beast. ...

Palin coming to Israel?
Politico is reporting that Sarah Palin is planning an overseas trip in 2011 and Israel is at the top of her list (Hat Tip: Memeorandum). Details of the trip, including the timing, have not yet been worked out. But Palin sources confirm that plans are being considered for foreign travel in the new year, with Israel and Britain at the top of the list. ... Potential presidential contenders frequently plan highly publicized foreign trips ahead of announcing runs as a forum to boost their foreign p...

There's not much good about 'All Good Things'
COURTESY PHOTO Kirsten Dunst, Ryan Gosling, Frank Langella star in Andrew Jarecki"All Good Things". A detective begins to unravel missing-person case that looks to spell doom. "All Good Things" isn't all good. The star performances are the best things in this fact-based Murder mystery set among the super-rich. In its resonance and effectiveness, however, the low-budget indie project seems better suited to the Lifetime or A&E channels than to the big screen. Barely disguised with invented nam...

Binghams Bungling
Bingham, the galactic Law Firm with roots in Boston’s old-fashioned legal market, is a ubiquitous advertiser in expensive print publications, boasting about its deftness in navigating complex business challenges with keen legal insight. The firm even brags about its advertising prowess. At issue is the embarrassing spectacle of Larry Silverstein handling a simple contract drafting exercise for Jamie and Frank McCourt. The rich erstwhile couple feud over ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers...

China's financial system: Look again
Red Capitalism: The Fragile Financial Foundation of China’s Extraordinary Rise. By Carl Walter and Fraser Howie. Wiley; 250 pages; $29.95 and £19.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk IT COULD be said that any Financial System that appears to be robust will, in time, reveal some underlying rot. In the late 1990s, for instance, the Asian Financial Crisis appeared to confirm the virtues of London and New York—then the global Financial Crisis happened. Anyone who is overly impress...

In defense of Fox News: If using the phrase government option is spinning the news, so is using public option.
The only times I tune into Fox News Channel are when I accidentally sit on my remote control, when I'm feeling blue and need the amphetamine rush that is Shepard Smith flapping his gums, and when I want to inspect Bill O'Reilly's show for crimes against civility. Although I watch Fox News sparingly, I'm glad it arrived to break up the Centrist monopoly on news, information, and opinion led by CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN. Thanks to Fox News, most of our premises are subject to review—even the l...

Billy Graham News and Video - FOX News Topics - FOXNews.com
Description Search… relief," he said in a statement. Graham heads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, founded by his father, the Rev. Billy Graham . His Samaritan's Purse has maintained a presence … Description Search… come to hear Rick Stanley, Evangelist . They came for Elvis' stepbrother ..... year, the silver-haired Evangelist crisscrosses the country ..... the stage with the likes of Billy Graham and Holding Hands in prayer ..... firmly in place. Louisiana Evangelist ...

Cholera News and Video - FOX News Topics - FOXNews.com
Description Search… and to draw attention to the Cholera epidemic ," a spokesman for Rev. Graham ..... Caribbean country this weekend. A Cholera outbreak has killed more than 2 ..... thousands of people, building a Cholera clinic and bringing in plane loads … Description Search… riddled shut down cities across impoverished Haiti at a moment when medical aid workers need to tackle a surging Cholera epidemic that has claimed more than 2,000 lives. Haiti's Radio Kiskeya said in an u...

Taliban Afghanistan News and Video - FOX News Topics - FOXNews.com
Description Search… put an end to this Afghanistan war . And that he released ..... murdered. By the Taliban for leaking sensitive ..... every single day in Afghanistan and continuing to ..... help us end this war including. Our ..... people through in Pakistan . The widening of … is what -- at our Afghan informants are are murdered. By the Taliban for leaking sensitive information about them in it all comes back to Bradley Manning do you still think he's a hero. Description Search&#...

Port-au-Prince News and Video - FOX News Topics - FOXNews.com
Description SearchPORT - AU - PRINCE , Haiti -- Haitians prepared for ..... gas canisters and rubber bullets. Port - au - Prince and other cities including Les Cayes ..... should "clean up" the streets of Port - au - Prince -- a reference to the traffic-halting … Description Search… midst of a disputed Presidential Election. Gunfire and barricades were reported Thursday in the capital city of Port - au - Prince , and the U.S. State Department reissued a travel warning to the country a...

Arianna: Fox News Not News; Calls Beck Show Dadaism, Fantasy
Business Insider: Arianna Huffington had a lot to say about Fox News' journalistic credibility and Glenn Beck at IGNITION: The Future Of Media last week. During an interview that closed the first day of the conference, Arianna also addressed the Daily Beast-Newsweek Merger, and how big HuffPo will be....

Triangulation, cont'd
Noted Clinton-era fetishist John Harris joined my triangulation obsession today in a story we both wrote: The naughty word is “triangulation,” and it does indeed sound like something that in some conservative locales might still be against the law, even if rarely prosecuted when practiced by consenting adults. The question echoing through Democratic circles, among lawmakers and li...