Albany, NY - In an open letter to Congressional leadership, Governor David Paterson today urged Congress to include state representation in oversight responsibilities for the implementation of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. The Governor also announced that he will testify before the House Ways & Means Committee on Wednesday for a hearing on “Economic Recovery, Job Creation and...

Jerusalem - Conflict arose Sunday over the burial of one of Friday's light plane crash victims as his family requested to lay him to rest in a coffin, while Chevra Kadisha, the Israeli burial society, refused and demanded he be buried in a shroud. The family of Menachem Ben-Zaccaria of Netanya, who was killed in the crash along with three others, was told that using a coffin was against...

New York - Within the past two weeks my neighbor, my lawyer, and my doctor each told me that Warren Buffett is suggesting that Americans buy shares in American companies. I tolerated the first two, but I really let my doctor have it today. I blurted out - “AND???” “How does that apply to me and you?” “Are you a billionaire?” “Do you draw a $100k salary?” “Did you just give $30B...

Pleasanton, CA - A medical device company has ordered the recall of certain batches of a small mechanical heart pump, saying five people have died while using the device. Thoratec Corp. urged patients to have their implants checked after confirming 27 reports of cases in which wear and fatigue to an electrical wire required the devices to be replaced, the company said. The reports occurred...

Columbus, OH - Discount retailer Value City Department Stores and its subsidiaries have filed for bankruptcy protection and plan to close all of their stores. Bankruptcy papers filed in New York say the Columbus, Ohio-based company blames declining sales, tight credit and the sour economy for crippling its business. The filings follow a series of restructuring efforts and layoffs aimed at...

Nashville, TN - Federal agents have broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree, the ATF said today. In court records unsealed Monday, federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads. Agents said...

New York - Stocks sold off in the final minutes of trading as uncertainty got the best of the market. "Nobody wants to take a stake in this market — They’ve been run over too many times before," Steve Grasso of Stuart Frankel told CNBC. "You’ve got huge down days on no volume — that tells you that the big boys aren’t here yet to play," he explained. "[T]here are too many...

California - For my 26 years in Congress, American foreign policy and America's role in the world have been at the center of my priorities. My lifelong commitment to Israel's security and a strong US-Israel relationship impacts my views and positions on foreign policy and national security issues. And I believe very strongly that Barack Obama is the best choice for president. Why? Because by...

Toronto, Canada - A Canadian judge refused today to review an order revoking the citizenship of a man who lied when he moved to Canada about working with a Nazi death squad in World War Two. The Federal Court rejected Helmut Oberlander's claim that the Canadian government had erred in finding he had been complicit in atrocities committed by the Nazi Einsatzkommando (EK) unit that he worked...

Washington, DC - The FBI reported more than 7,600 hate crime incidents in 2007, down about 1 percent from last year. The decline was driven by decreases in the two largest categories of hate crimes — crimes against race and religion. The data released today is consistent with previous years. Racial bias remained the most common motive, accounting for more than half of all reported hate crimes...

Pervomaisk, Ukraine - A metal menorah has been stolen by vandals from a memorial to Holocaust victims. "The menorah was part of a commemorative memorial near which thousands of people gather each year on Victory Day to pay homage to the Holocaust victims," the Federation of the Jewish Communities of the Commonwealth of Independent States said in a statement today. The Jewish community of...

New York - On Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported that, without a merger and possibly an assist from the federal government, G.M. and Chrylser could run out of cash within a year.A harsh reality has emerged as talks between General Motors and Chrysler continue: Without a merger, and perhaps a hand from the federal government, the automakers could run out of cash within a year. Athough the...

Long Branch, NJ - Five members of a Monmouth County family took part in a scam in which they conned a cell phone company out of reward points, used those points to fraudulently obtain Amazon.com "bucks,'' then used those "bucks,'' to buy GPS units, which they sold on eBay for cash, authorities said. A sixth person, a Long Branch woman, also was arrested in connection with the scheme because a...

Brooklyn, NY - For 20 years, Barack Obama Did Not Right the Wrongs of the Reverend Wright's Racist and anti-Israel Rants. If Obama couldn't stand up for what's right, how is he going to be the president of the United States? Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) today endorsed Senator John McCain for President of the United States, saying, "It's about character, and Barack Obama can not look...

New York City - The tricks Mayor Michael Bloomberg pulled to get a third term, if applied nationally, might see President George W. Bush extending his stay in the White House for four more years. By declaring themselves indispensable in these troubled times, Bush and Dick Cheney, as Bloomberg, could possibly circumvent law as well as the will of the people. These twin pillars of democracy were...