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NEW YORK – Irene Prusik has been dead for six years. But in April, someone showed up at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Brooklyn to renew her driver’s license. The explanation given by prosecutors rivals the Hitchcock classic “Psycho”: It was her son, in drag.
Thomas Parkin, 49, was charged Wednesday in the bizarre plot to impersonate his deceased mother so he could collect 117,000 in government benefits. He and the man accused of being his accomplice, Mhilton Rimolo, pleaded not guilty to grand larceny, criminal impersonation and other charges.
Both men were ordered held on 1 million bail. Their lawyers did not immediately respond to phone messages left on Wednesday.
District Attorney Charles Hynes said the scam was “unparalleled in its scope and brazenness.”
Authorities claim that following his arrest, Parkin told them that because he held Prusik when she breathed her last breath, “I am my mother.”
Parkin, who lived with his mother, was accused of hatching the scheme after she passed away in 2003 at age 73. He managed to conceal the death by falsifying her death certificate, then collected 52,000 from her 700-a-month Social Security checks over the next six years, prosecutors said.
Authorities say Parkin also got another 65,000 in rent subsidies by falsely claiming he had a disability and that his mother was still alive and was his landlord.
Parkin used his friend Rimolo to pose as the mother’s nephew when going to cash checks and do other business, prosecutors said. A security camera photo from the DMV office shows a frail-looking Parkin in a wig and dark glasses, Rimolo by his side, as he fills out paperwork.
The ruse began to unravel amid a dispute over the mother’s home, which was sold at foreclosure in 2003. Parkin challenged the purchase by suing the new owner on his mother’s behalf so he wouldn’t be evicted.
As the property dispute dragged out, both sides eventually contacted the district attorney to accuse each other of fraud. By the time investigators arranged a meeting with the family in May, they already had proof Prusik was dead: a photo of her tombstone in a local cemetery.
The investigators played along as Parkin showed up for the interview “wearing a red cardigan, lipstick, manicured nails and breathing through an oxygen tank,” prosecutors said.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) –
Mexico's navy has seized more than a tonne of cocaine stuffed inside frozen sharks, as drug gangs under military pressure go to greater lengths to conceal narcotics bound for the United States.
Armed and masked navy officers cut open more than 20 shark carcasses filled with slabs of cocaine after checking a container ship in a container port in the southern Mexico state of Yucatan, the navy and Mexican media said Tuesday.
“We are talking about more than a tonne of cocaine that was inside the ship,” Navy Commander Eduardo Villa told reporters after X-ray machines and sniffer dogs helped uncover the drugs. “Those in charge of the shipment said it was a conserving agent but after checks we confirmed it was cocaine,” he said.
Drug gangs are coming up with increasingly creative ways of getting drugs into the United States — in sealed beer cans, religious statues and furniture — as Mexico's military cracks down on the cartels moving South American narcotics north.
President Felipe Calderon has sent 45,000 troops and federal police across Mexico to try to crush powerful smuggling cartels. But traffickers armed with a huge arsenal of grenades and automatic weapons are far from defeated, worrying Washington as violence spills over into U.S. states like Arizona.
Some 2,750 people have died in drug violence in Mexico this year, a pace similar to that of 2008, when 6,300 were killed.
Led by Mexico's most wanted man, Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman, smugglers from the Pacific state of Sinaloa are fighting a turf war with rivals. Guzman seeks to control Mexican and Central American smuggling routes into the United States.
(Reporting by Robin Emmott; editing by Patricia Zengerle)

North Korea qualified for the 2010 World Cup finals by battling to a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia on Wednesday night.
Tim Cahill celebrates his first goal in Australia’s 2-1 win over South Korea.
The point saw them edge into second place in Asian qualifying Group 2 ahead of Saudi Arabia on goal difference. It means both group winners South Korean and neighbors North Korea will both go play in the finals in South Africa. The home draw sees Saudi Arabia finish in third place to go into the playoffs where they will face Bahrain. The winners will play New Zealand for a place in the finals. But Iran will miss out after finishing fourth in the Group 2. Earlier on Wednesday, they were denied a victory in Seoul as Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-Sung scored a late equalizer to give South Korea a 1-1 draw. Iran took the lead from an own goal early in the second half against the group winners, but Park popped up to score a brilliant 81st minute goal as he beat several men before firing home. In Group 1, Tim Cahill scored twice as Australia came from behind to beat Japan 2-1 to clinch top spot in the section. The result was academic as both teams had already sealed automatic qualification for the World Cup finals in South Africa. Japan went ahead in front of a big crowd of nearly 70,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as Marcus Tulio Tanaka headed home a Kengo Nakamura corner in the 40th minute. But the Socceroos, who went through qualifying unbeaten, hit back in the second half. Everton’s attacking midfielder Cahill again worked his scoring magic to secure the victory. He was on target in the 59th and 76th minutes to take his tally to 16 in 33 internationals. “This is a step forward for us, it’s great to finish top of the group,” Cahill told www.fifa.com after the win, while captain Lucas Neill paid tribute to their opponents. “They really played the game with intensity and they were running us ragged for a bit and we couldn’t get ourselves in the game,” Neill said. Bahrain later clinched third spot in the group and their playoff spot with a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan. A 74th minute goal from Mahmood Abdulrahman from a free kick gave his side a crucial three points.
Source:CNN

From the beginning it seemed like sentiments were against the marriage between Usher Raymond and Tameka Foster Raymond.
Singer Usher and his wife Tameka are shown in happier times in 2007.
She was older than the 20-something-year-old singing sensation whose career has catapulted him into the realm of first name only fame. She was also married at the time they met and already the mother of three children. Fans didn’t care for her, and word was his mother, Jonnetta Patton, didn’t approve of the relationship eithera fact that seemed for many to be confirmed when Usher replaced Patton as his longtime manager soon after the wedding. So news that Usher had filed for divorce from his wife of less than two years has been met with a collective “I told you so” from fans and industry watchers alike. “A lot of people did not like them together from the very beginning,” said Natasha Eubanks, creator of The Young Black & Fabulous, a popular black celebrity gossip blog. “People didn’t know a lot about her so they wondered if she was some golddigger and where did she come from.” Speculation that the couple was on the rocks had stirred for months. “No one I’ve spoken to is surprised,” a source close to the couple told People magazine. (Like CNN, People is a unit of Time Warner.) “As bad as this is gonna sound, it was never a matter of ‘I wonder if they’ll divorce,’ but more like ‘I wonder when they’ll divorce.’” Usher was often seen in the company of either or both of the couple’s two sons, Usher Raymond V, 18 months, and Naviyd, 6 months, but the pair’s appearances together seemed to dwindle. Eubanks reported on her site in May 2008 that the couple was soon to split and said she was lambasted for itincluding by Usher, who Eubanks said denounced her report during a television interview.
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“Now that the divorce papers have been filed, even E! Online confirmed that the papers say they have been separated since July 2008,” Eubanks said. In May 2008, Usher appeared on MTV’s TRL show to dispel talk that there was discord. “I love my wife very, very much,” he said. “There was a little rumor earlier this week about us separating. It ain’t true. We in love.” Ian Drew, senior editor of music at Us Weekly magazine, said his publication was aware of the marital woes and held off on reporting until the singer filed for divorce. “It’s been going on for almost a year,” Drew said. “They have been separated, there has been a lot of chatter and they were even dispelling it at first. But we knew this wedding was a mistake from the beginning.” Drew said many questioned early on whether the marriage would survive. Their original, and reportedly lavish, wedding was canceled abruptly prior to them marrying more quietly in August 2007. Female fans bemoaned the fact that the handsome singer with the six-pack abs was off the market. See People’s coverage of the most eligible bachelors Since bursting onto the music scene in the early 1990s as an artist on LaFace Records and a teen protégé of Sean “Diddy” Combs, fans have followed Usher’s love life almost as closely as they followed his platinum-selling albums. An earlier relationship with TLC group member Rozanda “Chilli” Thomas set tongues wagging when fans interpreted his 2004 album “Confessions” and the title single to have been spurred by his infidelity and their ensuing breakup. The singer, who has also acted in television shows and appeared in films including “She’s All That,” was first publicly linked with Foster Raymond, a stylist, in 2006 after photos of them together on a beach appeared. The pair initially seemed happy and the newlyweds were featured on the cover of Essence magazine with Usher gazing into the camera while his wife lovingly nuzzled him. In an article in the magazine, Foster Raymond shot back at critics who questioned the singer’s choice of her as his wife. “There are worse things to be mad about,” she said. “There are women getting raped in Darfur, young girls being turned out every single day right here in Atlanta. We have bigger issues to worry about than two people in love with each other.” In February, Usher canceled a performance at music impresario Clive Davis’ famed pre-Grammy Awards party to be at his wife’s bedside in Brazil after she reportedly suffered complications during surgery. Neither side in the divorce has spoken publicly yet. Foster Raymond’s attorney, Randall M. Kessler, declined to discuss the case. “At this time we are issuing no statements and trying to keep it a private matter,” Kessler said in an e-mail to CNN. The Atlanta-based divorce attorney told People.com earlier that he and his client planned on responding to the divorce filing in a “timely manner.” “We were hoping this case would be resolved privately, but since Usher filed it publicly we will have to respond,” he said. Over on Eubanks’ site, theybf.com, some posting comments responded with enthusiasm that Usher had filed for divorce. “Finally, Ursher (sic) does something that make sense!!,” wrote commenter PinkDeJaVu. “This little experiment should have never happened.”
Source:CNN

A former Iranian deputy prime minister who headed a group supporting increased freedom and democracy was pulled from his hospital bed and arrested Wednesday in Tehran, his granddaughter told CNN.
Relatives say they haven’t heard from Ibrahim Yazdi, shown here in 1997, since his arrest Wednesday.more photos »
Ibrahim Yazdi, who is about 76 years old, is secretary-general of the Freedom Movement of Iran, said Atefeh Yazdi of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He has suffered from prostate cancer, and his condition must be closely monitored, she said. The arrest comes amid reports of widespread protests and violence in the wake of disputed Iranian elections. The family found out about the arrestas well as that of her uncle Mohandas Tavassoli, who also is involved in the Freedom Movement of Iranwhen Ibrahim Yazdi’s wife called her daughter, Lily Yazdi, in Mountain View, California. “We knew that this was a possibility,” Lily Yazdi told CNN. “They had just arrested [Tavassoli] yesterday.” She said her son, who is visiting in Tehran, had taken her father to the hospital Tuesday because he was not feeling well. He was put under observation, she said. Her mother reported that members of the Basij came to their home and attempted to force their way in, Lily Yazdi said. Told that Ibrahim Yazdi was not home, they left, but apparently discovered he was in the hospital.
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The Basij is a volunteer paramilitary force that takes its orders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and is suspected of being behind most of the reported violence. There has been no word from either man, granddaughter Atefeh Yazdi said, and attempts to reach relatives by telephone and online have been unsuccessful. “It’s just been very stressful,” she said. “We kind of had a feeling, had a hunch that something might happen. He’s been arrested before. Family members have been in prison before. He’s got a history of being sought after by the government.” Atefeh Yazdi said the arrest is proof of something her grandfather has predicted for a while: that another revolution in Iran is imminent. Ibrahim Yazdi was an aide to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 revolution that overthrew the ruling monarchy and established Iran as an Islamic republic, according to a 1979 article about him in Time magazine. Following the revolution, Yazdi held the post of deputy prime minister for revolutionary affairs in the provisional government of Medhi Bazargan, Time said. The magazine reported he later gave up that position to serve as foreign minister. Supporters of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in 1979, do not like Yazdi because of his role in the revolution, his granddaughter said. And the current government doesn’t like him because “he’s a little too liberal,” she said. According to the Freedom Movement of Iran’s Web site, its main objective “is to gain freedom, independence and democracy for the Iranian nation, on the basis of modern interpretation of Islamic principles.” Atefeh Yazdi said her grandfather does not support President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or the present government. “This is just really hard because of his health condition,” she said of her grandfather. “Apparently, they took him somewhere. We don’t know who these people [the kidnappers] are.” Family members are worried he might be mistreated and his health will not be looked after. “They’re not nice in prisons in Iran,” Lily Yazdi said. She believes her father and Tavassoli were arrested because the Freedom Movement had put out two announcements on the election, although they were “fairly mild.” The two have done nothing wrong, she said, but the government is attempting to keep any potential leadership from the people, so they will have no one else to look to. Members of other dissident groups, numbering in the hundreds, have been arrested for the same reason, she said. The Freedom Movement’s newspaper announced Ibrahim Yazdi’s arrest and said 15 other members were also arrested in towns and villages across Iran, Lily Yazdi said. Ibrahim Yazdi has been secretary-general of the Freedom Movement since 1995, according to the group’s Web site.
Lily Yazdi said she has sporadic contact with her family in Iran as phone lines are up and down. But she said she is hopeful, hearing that protests have recently become more peaceful and police are providing better protection for members of the public. News about Ibrahim Yazdi’s arrest came on the day that defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi asked Iran’s courts to release those arrested for protesting Friday’s disputed election, according to a statement on the Web site of Moussavi’s campaign.
Source:CNN

Alert the media: President Obama killed a fly. Oh wait, it’s obvious that the media already knows this.
In case you haven’t been forwarded the viral video, or haven’t seen any of the dozens of the headlines splashed across world-wide news sites (AP: “Barack Obama: The human flyswatter,” Canadian Press: “Obama kills annoying fly, then keeps going on in TV interview,” NY Daily News: “No presidential pardon for this pest”), here’s the video of our president killing a fly whilst doing an interview with CNBC.With America’s obsession with all things celebrity, it’s not surprising that our photo-friendly president would become paparazzi fodder. But is it getting to be too much? When a story about Barack Obama killing a fly makes it into the same story as Kate Gosselin allegedly spanking one of her eight children, should we be re-evaluating our priorities? The always-controversial Bill Maher put it this way, in his “Real Time” monologue last Friday:
“This is not what I voted for. I don’t want my president to be a TV star…[Obama's] getting a puppy! He’s eating a cheeseburger with Joe Biden! He’s taking the wife to Broadway and Paris —- this is the best season of ‘The Bachelor’ yet!”
The self-described Libertarian pundit went on to say that he’s glad Obama got elected, but that it’s disappointing that Obama hasn’t been “putting it on the line against the banks, the insurance companies, the energy companies who run the country and in many ways, have ruined this country.”Though Maher went out on a limb with his rant, he noticed something interesting at the Friday taping. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:”Up until last Friday, whenever I said anything critical about him, I was getting booed by my audience because they’re liberal Southern Californians…But on Friday, they were cheering.”Is it true? Are more Americans agreeing that Obama is focusing too much on winning the world over with his charm and not enough on bringing about the change he had promised?Anne Dunev concurs with Maher. The Huffington Post’s health writer, annoyed by Obama’s ubiquitous TV appearances (“Who does Obama think he is – Lindsay Lohan? Every time I look at the news, there is Obama – having another Kodak moment.”) implores Obama to, instead, concentrate on fixing our failing healthcare system.
She wrote:
“Our PR is not going to matter much if the Ship of State is rudderless and we crash on the shore of our own greed and stupidity.”
Exposure in it of itself isn’t a bad thing. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having a president who is as comfortable making a cameo on the Daily Show as he is meeting with foreign ministers, as long as he uses the political and popular capital he’s sowing to get things done.
With the troubles of the world demanding attention (two wars, Iran, North Korea, to name a few) and the tribulations of our own country ringing in our ears (unemployment, foreclosures, healthcare, etc.), forget the flies, we want a president who will swat Congress into action.

-Allison Louie-Garcia
Yahoo! News bloggers compile the best news content from our providers and scour the Web for the most interesting news stories so you don’t have to.

The history of sport is littered with symbolic political gestures, but few have been as brave as the stand taken by some players on Iran’s national soccer team on June 17. In a World Cup qualifying match in South Korea, at least eight Iranian players wore green wristbands in a defiant show of support for opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi, including team captain Mohammed Ali Karimi.
Green, the campaign color of Mousavi, has been worn by his supporters during rallies in Tehran both before and after last week’s presidential election. (See pictures of the election and its turbulent aftermath.)
The match was broadcast live on Iranian state television with millions in the soccer-mad nation tuning in. Both the players and coaching staff surely knew that their protest would be big news in Iran, where social-networking services like Twitter have been used to spread the latest protest news. (Read “Iran’s Protests: Why Twitter Is the Medium of the Movement.”)
The players took off the bands for the second half of the game. Some reports suggested that the Iranian Football Federation ordered their removal.
Outside the stadium in Seoul, before the game kicked off, dozens of Iranian fans staged a mini-protest of their own, unfurling a banner that read “Go to Hell, Dictator” and chanting, “Compatriots, we will be with you to the end with the same heart.” The banner was spotted again during the game, along with signs reading “Where Is My Vote?” (a slogan widely displayed on June 16 during street demonstrations in Tehran) and Iranian national flags with “Free Iran” written across them. (See pictures of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.)
It’s unknown whether the game was watched by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But he is known to be a passionate soccer fan who closely follows the fortunes of Iran’s national team. Indeed, at a press conference after he was declared the winner of last week’s election, Ahmadinejad dismissed the protests in Iran’s streets by comparing the demonstrators to soccer fans upset over a loss. “Some believed they would win, and then they got angry,” he said. “It is like the passions after a football match.”
The passions of Iranian fans couldn’t have been helped much by the results of the game. It ended in a 1-1 draw, putting a serious dent in Iran’s qualification hopes.
Read “The Iran Election: Twitter’s Big Moment.”
Read an exclusive interview with Ahmadinejad’s opponent, Mousavi.
View this article on Time.comRelated articles on Time.com: What Iraqis Think About Iran’s Election Turmoil Iran’s Referendum on Ahmadinejad Iran’s Challenger: Mir-Hossein Mousavi Ayatullah Ali Khamenei: Iran’s Supreme Leader Iran War Drumbeat Grows Louder

Los Angeles (E! Online) –
The Sin City strip is getting a little hotter as Holly Madison joins the cast of Peepshow at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. We've got a sneak peek of her provocative performance.
Unlike Kelly Monaco, who she's replacing in the burlesque show, Holly will be going topless.
“I'm not shy,” Holly tells E! News of her decision. “I paid enough for them…why not show them?”
When she's not stripping down on stage, what's her favorite part about living in Las Vegas?
“The roller coasters! The best one is at New York, New York,” Holly tells us.
She'll be back at her old stomping grounds Saturday to watch Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett tie the knot at the Mansion.
The bride-to-be broke her baby news to Holly while hosting a bash in Vegas.
“She was actually here hosting a pool party, and she was acting paranoid and trying to hide in the water,” Holly recalls. “She said, 'Come here, I gotta tell you something…I'm pregnant,' and I said, 'Whatever, you're still totally skinny!' ”
The only man in Holly's life right now is a hairy one. “I just got a new dog,” she tells us. “I'm trying to bring him into show business!”
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Mammoths survived late in Britain
By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News
Woolly mammoths lived in Britain as recently as 14,000 years ago, according to new radiocarbon dating evidence.Dr Adrian Lister obtained new dates for mammoth bones unearthed in the English county of Shropshire in 1986. His study in the Geological Journal shows the great beasts remained part of Britain’s wildlife for much longer than had previously been supposed. Mammoths may finally have died out when forests encroached on the grassland habitats they favoured for grazing. The radiocarbon results from the adult male and four juvenile mammoths from Condover, Shropshire, reveal that the great beasts were in Britain more than 6,000 years longer than had previously been thought.
Researchers had supposed that mammoths disappeared from North-West Europe between 21,000 and 19,000 years ago, during a climatic freeze known as the last glacial maximum (LGM). Britain’s mammoth populations may indeed have vanished with this big chill. But according to the new study, they were not gone forever. Instead, they returned when conditions eased and clung on in southern England until 14,000 years ago. “What this usually means is that (mammoths) die out locally and then re-emigrate from refugia somewhere else,” Dr Lister told BBC News. Purification methodThe specimens have been radiocarbon dated before. But the Natural History Museum researcher used a relatively new method of radiocarbon dating to get very accurate ages for the Condover fossils. “The big issue with all radiocarbon dating is contamination from different sources. You have to be sure the sample you extracted from the fossil is absolutely pure,” said Dr Lister. “There have to be methods for purifying the sample that is extracted from the bone. In the last few years, a new method of purification has been developed at Oxford University called ultra-filtration.” “Various bone specimens that were dated before they developed this new purification method have been shown to be out by a significant amount. Not always, but often. What they do is re-run the sample using the new method and obtain a more accurate date. That’s what we did here.” Other large mammals that disappeared as the last Ice Age relented include woolly rhino, bison and giant deer. At the same time as these species were vanishing from the Earth, human populations were expanding. Similar die-outs of so-called “megafauna” occurred around the world at similar times, prompting some scientists to ask whether climate or human hunting played the dominant role in their extinction. Human questionNo traces of human occupation were found at the Shropshire site. But it is entirely possible that humans could have been in Britain at the same time as these last mammoths. Dr Lister said that humans might have finished off some of the last remaining pockets of mammoths in Siberia. But he did not think people were the main cause of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last Ice Age. During the Ice Age, grasslands were commonplace in Europe because conditions were too cold for trees. But as the climate warmed up, forests began to spread north, squeezing out the grassland habitats favoured by the majestic beasts. “It’s driven by climate change, but it’s not the climate – in the main – that affects these animals. The climate affects the vegetation and the vegetation affects them,” said Dr Lister. “These were grass-eating animals.” Mammoths first appeared in the Pliocene Epoch, about 4.8 million years ago. One population lived on in isolation on Russia’s remote Wrangel Island until about 5,000 years ago, making them the most recent surviving population known to science. Paul.Rincon-INTERNET

Source:BBC

NEW YORK (Reuters) –
Billy Joel has separated from his third wife after five years of marriage, a representative for the musician said on Wednesday.
Joel, 60, married Katie Lee, 27, a television food critic and cook book author, in 2004. He was previously married to supermodel Christie Brinkley, with whom he has one daughter, and to his business manager Elizabeth Weber Small.
“This decision is a result of much thoughtful consideration. Billy & Katie remain caring friends with admiration and respect for each other,” Joel's publicist said in a statement.
Grammy Award winning Joel, whose hit songs include “Piano Man,” “Uptown Girl” and “An Innocent Man,” has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

It isn't getting any easier to be a Republican. Only 22 percent of the voters identify with the GOP, according to the Pew Research Center, compared with 39 percent who see themselves as independents and 33 percent who consider themselves Democrats. The party has no consistent message. And in an era when Barack Obama so clearly represents the Democrats, the Republicans are ill defined, with a multiplicity of voices inside and outside Congress, none of them very popular and most little known outside Washington or their home states.
It gets worse. One third of Republicans have an unfavorable view of their own party (compared with only 4 percent of Democrats who think unfavorably of their party), according to a new USA Today/Gallup Poll. Fifty-two percent of Americans can't specify the “main person” who speaks for the Republicans. Thirteen percent say it's radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, followed by former Vice President Dick Cheney at 12 percent, Arizona Sen. John McCain (the party's presidential nominee last year) at 5 percent, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 4. Former President George W. Bush came in fifth, with only 3 percent. All these potential spokesmen are middle-aged or elderly white men, at a time when more and more voters are women, Hispanics, and young. [See Obama's most powerful opposition.]
Last week, the party's internal tug of war got a bit more intense when party leaders in Washington sparred with Sarah Palin, the charismatic governor of Alaska who catapulted to fame as McCain's vice presidential running mate last year. Palin has become a darling of grass-roots conservatives but an unreliable enigma to many veterans of the GOP establishment. [Read 10 Things You Didn't Know About Sarah Palin]
The latest fuss seemed petty to some but exposed serious GOP fault lines. It started when Palin didn't confirm she would attend a Washington fundraising dinner Monday for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. After several weeks of confusion, the organizers decided to give the coveted keynote speaker's slot to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a potential competitor with Palin for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. Just before the event, Palin decided she wanted to attend after all. But she wasn't assigned to the head table and wasn't given an opportunity to address the group, which some of her fans considered a slap. Palin was seated in the first row, however, and drew a big crowd of well-wishers. [See photos of Sarah Palin]
Palin's fans say that, while she is distrusted by Washington's conservative insiders, she remains one of the GOP's biggest draws. The weekend before the Washington fundraiser, she helped to attract 20,000 people to a parade in Auburn, N.Y., the hometown of William Seward, secretary of state in the 1860s and the man who arranged for the United States to buy Alaska from Russia.
But prominent GOP strategists don't understand why Palin has avoided appearing at events that could bolster her standing among conservatives who will be instrumental in the 2012 primaries. “She's getting a reputation for being on-again, off-again,” says one conservative strategist. “People aren't even sure how to get in touch with her and whether their messages are getting through.” Conservatives say their calls to her office in Alaska frequently aren't returned, leading to speculation that she isn't interested in cooperating with the GOP establishment and that her staff isn't ready for prime time. [Read "Sarah Palin Mystifies and Annoys the Republican Establishment"]
Some Republicans say she needs to concentrate first and foremost on being a good governor, but she runs the risk of alienating conservative leaders if she is too aloof. Palin needs to make a basic decision, the conservative strategist says: “Is she running for president surreptitiously or overtly?”
More important, Palin is doing little or nothing to create a consensus on what it means to be a Republican and seems reluctant to reach out to new voters, which many GOP strategists consider their top priority.
Meanwhile, others are trying to build a new majority, but their messages have yet to catch on. The GOP's appeal since Ronald Reagan made conservatism the dominant ideology has been based on four themes: cutting taxes, slowing the growth of government, preserving “family values,” and strengthening national defense. But in recent years, many Republicans have felt their party going astray, especially on the issues of limiting government, restraining spending, and making common-sense decisions about using force and enhancing national security.
Gingrich is full of ideas and brio, but his failure to maintain GOP momentum when he was House speaker in the mid-1990s undermines his claim to be the conservative of the future. Limbaugh is bombastic and entertaining and draws lots of attention, but he has shown no interest in running for office. Cheney has made some effective arguments in defense of Bush administration national security policies, but he remains deeply unpopular with independents and Democratic voters. Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts and an also-ran in the 2008 GOP presidential race, has been working behind the scenes to cultivate grass-roots support, but many Republicans still wonder if he is a genuine conservative and whether he can bond with everyday voters. [Read 10 Things You Didn't Know About Newt Gingrich]
Meanwhile, GOP leaders in Congress such as Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Rep. John Boehner of Ohio haven't gained much traction with their critique of Obama as a big-spending liberal who is weak on defense and a neophyte in foreign policy. These are the same criticisms the Republicans have directed at the Democrats for years. Americans are indeed worried about some of Obama's policies but so far haven't converted these concerns about Obama into support for the GOP. [Read 10 Things You Didn't Know About Mitt Romney]
Of course, nearly five years ago, the Democrats were in the same boat. The White House and Congress were controlled by the GOP. The Democratic nominee, Sen. John Kerry, lost the presidential race to George W. Bush. And myriad Democratic voices were clamoring to be heard. “It's difficult when you don't have a president in office,” says a senior Obama adviser, because a commander in chief tends to create unity in his party. [See photos of Obama.]
Frank Donatelli, chairman of GOPAC, a conservative political action committee, and former political director for President Reagan, adds that there is no permanent majority in American politics. He predicts that the GOP will make a comeback when the political pendulum swings to the right again, either because the Republicans manage to capture the country's imagination or because Obama falls flat.
But until that happens, chances are that Republican divisions will only get worse.
–See Obama's powerful opposition.
–Read 10 Things You Didn't Know About Sarah Palin.
–See photos of Sarah Palin.

NEW YORK – Billy Joel and wife Katie Lee are confirming a split. In a statement, the pair said that they remain “caring friends with admiration and respect for each other.” They got married five years ago at Joel’s mansion on New York’s Long Island.
A representative for Joel did not immediately respond to the question of whether the couple were getting a divorce.
This was the Piano Man’s third marriage, her first.
The 60-year-old Joel is one of pop’s most successful singer-songwriters; Katie Lee Joel hosted the first season of Bravo TV’s “Top Chef.”
He recorded the song “All My Life” as an anniversary gift to his 27-year-old wife two years ago.

US mulls space exploration future
By Kevin Connolly
BBC News, Washington
In the middle of July 1969 the United States slipped off the surly bonds of Earth and sent Apollo 11 to the Moon.
It was a mission that combined one of the most daring feats of exploration in human history with one of its most dazzling achievements of science and engineering. The world was left to marvel at the power of American technology and the scale of its ambition. But this was all 40 years ago – and it was all ruinously expensive. So one of the most intriguing problems which President Obama has to resolve in the coming months deals not with the instability of General Motors or the transparency of the system of regulation on Wall Street or even the intransigence of North Korea. It is about the future of human flight. To put it bluntly – is the Obama administration ready to pay the colossal bills that would be run up if America were to decide to return to the Moon by 2020? And is the recession-hit America of 2009 really ready to contemplate a mission to Mars to open a new frontier in the heavens? No appetiteThe White House has ordered a public review of America’s options. It opens at a time when the country’s relative standing in space is at an unusually low point. The Space Shuttle programme which was launched in 1981 will come to an end next year when the last craft will be cannibalised, mothballed or scrapped. But Nasa’s proposed replacement programme, Constellation, will not be ready until five years after the Shuttle is gone – and that will leave America, for so long the leader in the world of human space flight, out of the game, at least temporarily. Jeff Hanley, the Nasa official in charge of Constellation, says the reason for that is simple.
Having the new generation of launch vehicles ready earlier would have cost much more money, and America’s appetite for spending big on space has declined sharply over the years. “At the peak of the Apollo project Nasa’s budget was something like 4% of the federal budget,” he told me. “Today, less than half a penny of every federal dollar goes to human space flight.” The first public hearing of the new review committee drew quite a crowd. Many engineers and contractors who work on the space programme were in attendance. Most of them would have drawn some encouragement from what they heard from John Holdren, President Obama’s Science Adviser. “This is a president who gets it,” he told them. “He understands the importance of human space flight. He was clear in his campaign, and since, about his commitment to go back to the Moon and other destinations beyond low-Earth orbit.” But the problem for Mr Obama is simple. It is about money. Spiritual needAmerica’s budget deficit for this year is going to be around 12tn (7tn) – these are hardly the circumstances in which you embark on a major new national project, the immediate practical benefits of which may be rather nebulous. In the 1960s, America underlined the startling power of its economy by simultaneously undertaking two of the largest and costliest projects in its history – the space programme and the Vietnam war. The days of that kind of boundless prosperity are over and Americans are going to take some persuading that tax dollars should be spent on a long-term attempt to reach Mars – with the creation of some sort of base on the Moon as a proving ground. If the space community wants to win the argument it has three possible options. First, it can argue that there is some kind of economic benefit to the project – either through materials that might eventually be found in space, or through technologies designed to get there.
It is sometimes argued that materials like Teflon and Velcro were created as a result of the space programme – but that is a very expensive way to coat a frying-pan or fasten a jacket. Then there is the philosophical argument that the urge to explore the unknown is part of what makes us human and that we have to answer a kind of collective spiritual need to seek new frontiers – a tough argument to sell in a recession. Finally, there is the strategic dimension. The US victory in the race to the moon in the 1960s was a victory over the communist Soviet Union, America’s main strategic rival. It proved the superiority of American technology – and the greater resources of its economy. If the United States does not commit itself to a further major programme of exploration it might find itself abdicating space to China, which is expanding its own efforts. There is no point in winning one Cold War over a communist superpower if you go on to lose a second one. Triumph and disasterMichael Neufeld, a historian at the Air and Space Museum, says the last of those arguments is the weakest and he does not believe the American people will buy the idea that a Chinese presence in space represents some kind of threat. “People are going to have to be convinced that the scientific or the exploration benefits of sending humans to the Moon – and maybe later to Mars – are worth it.” That may not be an easy task. Man has been in space for nearly 50 years now and the truth is that for long parts of that period the public has been bored by the repetition of space travel and stunned by its cost. Only moments of triumph like the Moon landings and disasters like the losses of the Shuttles Challenger and Columbia really seared themselves into the memory. We will know within a few months whether Mr Obama himself has bought into any of the economic, philosophical or strategic arguments for reaching out to the heavens – and more importantly, the extent to which he will be prepared to commit American taxpayers’ money behind them. We are told he “gets” space. We will soon find out if the American people still get it too.

Source:BBC

Australians jailed over graffiti
Six “intelligent and well-educated” Australians have been jailed for causing damage put at 70,000 during a six-month graffiti spree in London.The men targeted Tube and overground trains, Southwark Crown Court heard. The graffiti artists, who all admitted criminal damage, were caught in Ilford, east London, by police officers who heard rattling cans and smelt paint. Sentencing, Judge Michael Gledhill said it was “appalling” to see “talented” graffiti artists sitting in the dock. Ringleader of the graffiti gang – called the AMF – Marcus Wisman, 22, was sentenced to 16 months for conspiracy to commit criminal damage. ‘Talented artists’Scott Mulhearn, 21, Adrian Hing, 22, Luke Vassell, 23, Jack Shumack, 24, and Alex Wisman, 24, were also jailed over the vandalism attacks between late summer and Boxing Day last year. Mulhearn received 14 months imprisonment, Shumack and Hing were both sentenced to 12 months, Vassell received a 10-month sentence and Alex Wisman was jailed for eight months. The court heard that each of the men has an interest in graphic art. Marcus Wisman, Shumack, Hing and Vassell have all either worked as graphic designers or hope to train to do so. Sentencing, Judge Gledhill said: “Each of you are intelligent well-educated young men, hard working and capable of holding down jobs. “Each of you are talented artists, in terms of graffiti artists, so to have to see the six of you sitting in the dock of this court about to be sentenced is quite appalling.” All of the men will serve half their sentence on licence and will not face deportation. British Transport Police detectives found evidence that the gang had also left its mark in Australia and Japan, after discovering photographic evidence of previous vandalism attacks.

Source:BBC

Somali mosque blast ‘kills many’
At least 10 people have been killed by a mortar bomb blast at a mosque in the Somali capital Mogadishu, say reports.It was unclear clear who fired the mortar but it came as pro-government forces continued to battle radical Islamist guerrillas in the city. The fighting has killed more than 250 people – civilians and combatants – since it erupted last month. Earlier, Mogadishu’s police chief was reported to have been killed during an attack on insurgent bases. BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says the death of Colonel Ali Said will be a significant setback for the pro-government forces, as he had often been on the front line encouraging his colleagues to defend their positions. Dadir Ali Jes, who witnessed the mosque attack, said he believed at least 13 people had been killed in what he said was “the most terrible incident”. As well as those killed, more than 120,000 people have been displaced in the latest upsurge of violence, the United Nations says . Meanwhile UNICEF, the UN’s children’s agency, says Islamist fighters have looted its supplies being held in the southern Somali town of Jowhar. Hannan Sulieman, Unicef’s acting Somalia representative, said the UN workers “strongly urge that humanitarian work not be impeded in any way”, and called for the immediate release of looted supplies. Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991 and some four million people – a third of the population – need food aid, aid agencies say.

Source:BBC

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) –
Michael Richards, the Emmy-winning actor who played Kramer on “Seinfeld” but saw his fortunes dwindle in recent years, is “a new man,” according to Larry David, the co-creator of the legendary sitcom.
Richards' flagging career ground to a halt in 2006 after he was captured on a cell phone camera delivering an alcohol-fueled racist tirade at some hecklers watching his routine at a Los Angeles comedy clubs. The master of physical comedy apologized profusely, and inadvertently drew studio-audience laughter while making a mea culpa on “Late Show with David Letterman.”
But now Richards, and Kramer, are back. In fact all of the “Seinfeld” stars — Richards, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Jerry Seinfeld — appear later this summer in about half the episodes of the new season of David's “Curb Your Enthusiasm” on HBO.
Neither David nor Jeff Garlin, a show producer who plays David's manager, would reveal too many details.
But David did say that Richards “is like a new man. He really went through something (with that incident). He used to be very angry and bitter. He's completely different now. You can see it, and he can feel it. I'm very happy for him.”
As for David, he opens on Friday in Woody Allen's “Whatever Works,” which co-stars Patricia Clarkson and Evan Rachel Wood, as well as Ed Begley, Jr. and “Tudors” star Henry Cavill.
(Editing by Dean Gooodman at Reuters)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – New York police say a substitute gym teacher put a 10-year-old student in a chokehold after the two got in an argument over a dodgeball game. The Daniel Webster Elementary School sub was charged Friday with third-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child and harassment.
Detective Thomas Leak said the 58-year-old sub apparently began calling the boy ‘a big baby’ and a ‘crybaby’ after they argued about a call in a dodgeball game.
Leak says the boy threw a punch at the sub but missed. He says the sub grabbed the boy by the back of the neck and dragged him across the gym floor. Leak says the sub put the boy in a chokehold when he tried to break free.
The boy was taken to a hospital with neck and back pain. The sub told police he acted in self-defense.
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Information from: The Journal News, http://www.thejournalnews.com

Los Angeles (E! Online) –
Forget for a moment that Shia LaBeouf says in a BBC interview, “I get to wake up and shake hands with mermaids and unicorns. I live in a fantasy world.”
The real news is what he reveals about a new Indiana Jones film.
The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen star says, “Steven [Spielberg] just said that he cracked the story on it before I left and I think they're gearing that up.”
No title, no release date and probably no script—not to mention whether Harrison Ford will be passing the torch to Shia's Mutt—but the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones franchise is in the works. Woo-hoo! Let's all go shake hands with a unicorn.
And in the rest of the movie world:
• The Hangover you had that's refused to go away? Well, it's getting a sequel. Director Todd Phillips tells MTV that the idea had come up during the shooting of the first film, and its success means a sequel is gonna happen, with cameras rolling as early as next spring. “Now that the movie has really connected, it's something we're doing for sure.”
• Wolverines! The onetime battle cry of Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen will soon be echoed by Josh Peck and Adrianne Palicki, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The pair have been enlisted in the remake of Red Dawn, the 1984 film about a Communist invasion of the U.S.
• The original Bridezilla is back. The iconically coiffed Bride of Frankenstein could soon lumber into theaters with the aid of Illusionist director Neil Burger, says the Hollywood Reporter's Risky Business blog.
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Los Angeles (E! Online) –
Why did Danielle Staub bring “The Book” to dinner on last night's finale of The Real Housewives of New Jersey?
Simply put, she felt it was the perfect time to stick up for herself and to encourage others to do the same.
“I have a lot of people emailing me in a real positive light and saying they're looking to me for courage to stop bullying,” Danielle told me earlier today. “It's about confronting people when you have an issue you want to address instead of letting it go…The message now is to build each other up instead of tearing each other apart.”
And get this, her daughters not only knew about the dinner surprise, but they insisted on staying in the room for the final showdown…
“They felt that I had every right to address the issues,” Danielle explained. “My kids deserved to see how Mommy was going to grow from this and move forward. My children needed to learn from that, and that is why they wanted to stay in the room.”
Danielle still isn't completely convinced that it was Caroline Manzo—and not her sister, Dina—who initially started spreading the gossip about her not-so-stellar past. “I really don't even care at this point,” she said. “I think if it was [Caroline], I might be completely surprised; I would almost be shocked, to be honest with you.”
As for Teresa Giudice's now legendary table-flipping, no apologies have been exchanged between the two. Even so, things aren't that bad between them. “She's actually the nicest out of anyone to me,” Danielle said.
Next up for Danielle? Well, she's more than eager to do a second season, plus she's got herself an agent. They're already talking to publishers about a book.
“There's so much that I have to say,” she said. “It's definitely going to be geared towards empowering women.”
But most important—what does Danielle think of Teresa's new “bubbies”? “Well, they did the trick,” she said. “She's going to have a baby in September. They're fabulous.”
Make sure to come back here later today to hear what Real Housewives of Atlanta's NeNe Leakes has to say about all the Jersey drama. Yes, NeNe! I just know you've missed her as much as I have.
________
Get More Marc on Twitter @marcmalkin

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LOS ANGELES – The California Supreme Court has refused to intervene or delay Chris Brown’s preliminary hearing.
Court records show a petition filed by Brown’s attorney to delay the crucial hearing was denied on Wednesday.
Brown’s lawyer, Mark Geragos (GEHR’-uh-gohs), had asked the state’s high court last week to intervene in the R&B singer’s felony assault case. An appeals court had already rejected a similar request.
Brown is due back in court on Monday for a preliminary hearing, after which a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence for his case to go to trial.
Brown was arrested in February on suspicion that he beat his then-girlfriend, Rihanna. The 21-year-old Barbados-born singer could testify during the hearing.

If an e-mail popped up in your inbox promising a house for 100, you’d expect to see it sent from a guy in Nigeria asking you to wire him several thousand dollars first.
Zeb Smith lies on his front lawn and spends a quiet afternoon with his neighbors.
But this depressed housing market dream is real. And Detroit, Michigan, artist Jon Brumit and his wife Sarah are living it. The couple never counted on owning a home. “It’s not that we have a little money,” Jon Brumit said, laughing. “I’m saying we have no money.” But the couple began entertaining the idea of a permanent nest when their friends Mitch Cope and Gina Reichert, also artists, started taking advantage of foreclosures in the city, where the average home price dipped to 11,533 in April, according to the Detroit Association of Realtors. Dragging down the average are homes are long abandoned or foreclosed on that are selling for pennies on the dollar. Detroit already had the lowest market value houses in Michigan before the latest rounds of job losses at GM and other huge employers, market analysts say. “Those artists are doing a good thing; they are at least helping to stabilize neighborhoods that would be all but lost,” said Mike Shedlock, an investment adviser who blogs frequently about Detroit’s economy. For less than a few thousand dollars, Cope and Reichert snapped up a dilapidated bungalow in a north Detroit neighborhood called “BanglaTown,” for its unexpected mix of Bangladeshis, African-Americans, Polish and Ukrainians and the occasional shady character. Scrappers had cleaned the house to the bone. The copper had been stolen; the electrical wiring was stripped. But no matter. Here was a chance for Cope and Reichert, who run a popular Detroit art store, to rehabilitate the 1920s brick house into a bastion of energy savings, with solar panels, LED lights, recycled wood and high-end insulated windows. They’re installing a security system that exemplifies elegant efficiency with hurricane-proof windows and steel doors replacing burglar bars. They are also experimenting with running their air-conditioning on a car battery.
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The project became known as the Power House. Cope and Reichert wanted to create a central place to power homes nearby and, in turn, revive a neighborhood’s sense of community. The trick was getting their friends not only to cheer the concept but invest in it by moving next door. “It was much easier than we thought it might be,” Cope said. “We told everyone that Detroit is an interesting city to work in as an artist, and the neighborhood is diverse. But, really, it came down to money.” “I kept telling Mitch, ‘Wow those are an awesome, ridiculously good deals but if you find anything that’s less, let me know,” Brumit said. “Like, if something comes along for next to nothing, cool.” A few weeks later, Cope e-mailed Brumit a photo of an abandoned home on his block. Its windows were boarded up and plywood was nailed across the front door. The huge hole in the roof was courtesy of the fire department. A neighbor said the house had been set on firetwice. Pricetag: 100. Brumit called a real estate agent with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, who confirmed that bids on the foreclosed property started at 95 for the property, 5 for the house. There were no back taxesno one seemed to be sure who once owned the house, it had been empty for so long, Brumit said. Cope, also a designer and builder, and an inspector did a walk-through. “Inspection was fine and Mitch told me the foundation was good,” Brumit said. “He just said, ‘If you didn’t mind scraping some peeling paint, doing some surface treatments, putting in new utilities, windows and repairing the roof … this could be pretty interesting.’” Now, when he’s not hauling loads of rubble away or knocking out walls to create a single, open studio space, Brumit’s searching Craigslist for a furnace. In exchange for designing the business Web site of a local barn recycler, he’s getting materials to turn that hole in his roof into a skylight. “I saw it as a project,” the artist said. “I’m a builder. I’ve been building skateboards since I was 12.” Skateboards are one thing. Rebuilding homes where the plumbing has been ripped out or the cabinets destroyed in a fit by an upset foreclosed homeowner is another. Michigan housing authorities acknowledge that there’s little incentive for people who aren’t quite as handy as Brumit. In two weeks, the state will begin offering 25,000 to anyone who buys a home, as long as they pay 1 percent of the total cost and live in it.Landlords or speculators aren’t eligible. Part of a 263 million grant given to Michigan and other states under 2008′s Housing and Economic Recovery Act, the funds are intended to help buyers bring trashed properties up to code, according to Mary Townley, a director with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. She and other housing officials CNN spoke with said Michigan’s economy has some extremely frustrating woes. A report from the nonprofit think tank Brookings Institution said Detroit had the lowest performing economy out of 100 U.S. cities it analyzedscoring the worst in unemployment and average wages, the highest foreclosure rates and the lowest market value homes. The artists in BanglaTown are careful to say they are not looking to change a city. Their goal is simply to improve a neighborhood, one house at a time. New neighbors, freelance photographer Corine Vermeulen-Smith and her husband Zeb Smith, a designer, are always checking out www.freecycle.com, where a stainless steel kitchen sink can be bought for 65. The Smiths bought their 660-square-foot home for 549.99 from Cope and Reichert, who originally purchased the foreclosed home for 500. “We knew the property, we knew it had been sitting there empty for at least a year, and it had been trashed,” Vermeulen-Smith said. “But we wanted to own a home.” All the copper in their “micro-home” had been ripped out, as well as every electrical outlet, Vermeulen-Smith said. Trash had to be hauled out in several loads. “You have to get over that fear that the house had that history, that you’re going to be a victim of a crime or something,” she said. “Crime is everywhere. My husband and I have lived in the city for a long time; we know that people look out for each other year. We don’t have that kind of fear.” Careful not to entice thieves again, the Smiths replaced the copper with plastic. They are considering taking the home completely off the grid with by installing a mini-wind turbine, but for now they are happy to put in the basics. A bathtub from Habitat for Humanity cost them 100. And Zeb Smith, who works at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, brings home wood the museum would otherwise toss when installations close. “This is, for us, very exciting to believe that we could totally reinvent a space,” she said, “and prove that having a home isn’t about having money.”
Source:CNN

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) –
Michael Richards, the Emmy-winning actor who played Kramer on “Seinfeld” but saw his fortunes dwindle in recent years, is “a new man,” according to Larry David, the co-creator of the legendary sitcom.
Richards' flagging career ground to a halt in 2006 after he was captured on a cell phone camera delivering an alcohol-fueled racist tirade at some hecklers watching his routine at a Los Angeles comedy clubs. The master of physical comedy apologized profusely, and inadvertently drew studio-audience laughter while making a mea culpa on “Late Show with David Letterman.”
But now Richards, and Kramer, are back. In fact all of the “Seinfeld” stars — Richards, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Jerry Seinfeld — appear later this summer in about half the episodes of the new season of David's “Curb Your Enthusiasm” on HBO.
Neither David nor Jeff Garlin, a show producer who plays David's manager, would reveal too many details.
But David did say that Richards “is like a new man. He really went through something (with that incident). He used to be very angry and bitter. He's completely different now. You can see it, and he can feel it. I'm very happy for him.”
As for David, he opens on Friday in Woody Allen's “Whatever Works,” which co-stars Patricia Clarkson and Evan Rachel Wood, as well as Ed Begley, Jr. and “Tudors” star Henry Cavill.
(Editing by Dean Gooodman at Reuters)

WASHINGTON – It’s just about the last thing the beleaguered Republican Party needed: a Christian conservative with national aspirations admitting to an extramarital affair with an ex-staffer.
Add Nevada Sen. John Ensign’s infidelity admission to an ever-growing list of woes for the out-of-power GOP.
One senator’s predicament hardly condemns an entire party. But the episode is an unwelcome distraction as the Republicans, their ranks shrinking, seek a turnaround after disastrous losses in consecutive national elections.
Since President Barack Obama took office, Republicans have struggled to counter his popularity and the Democrats’ command of Congress.
The GOP’s new national chairman, Michael Steele, got off to a rocky start. Moderate Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter defected to the Democrats. And Democrat Al Franken is favored to eventually be declared the winner of the disputed Minnesota Senate race over incumbent GOP Sen. Norm Coleman.
Now this.
“Last year I had an affair. I violated the vows of my marriage. It is the worst thing I have ever done in my life,” Ensign said Tuesday at a hastily arranged news conference in Sin City itself, Las Vegas.
Separately, federal records showed that a woman on his political payroll received a promotion and a pay raise around the time he said the affair began in late 2007. And there also was a report of a previous affair, in 2002.
On Wednesday, as fellow senators remained mum, Ensign resigned his leadership post. The skilled communicator and proven fundraiser was the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the No. 4 Senate Republican.
Until his admission, Ensign was trying to raise his national profile. Popular in Nevada though virtually unknown elsewhere, he recently flirted with a 2012 presidential run, visiting the early voting state of Iowa and refusing to tamp down speculation of a bid.
Those dreams now seem dead.
Said Scott Reed, a Republican operative in Washington: “It’s a setback for the GOP in that Ensign is an attractive Republican politician who has national potential but has probably been sidelined.”
There is no shortage of ambitious Republicans angling to be the fresh face of a party that many voters consider stale. Yet, other prospects also seem to be falling out of favor.
Stunting one potential threat, Obama recently named a GOP rising star with White House interest — Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman — as the U.S. ambassador to China. Another Republican hopeful, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, has asked supporters to end efforts to draft him for a presidential run.
The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, seems to be tangled in a new controversy every week. One week, it was an embarrassing high-profile back-and-forth with GOP House and Senate leaders over her attendance at a fundraising dinner. The next, she went after comedian David Letterman.
That said, there are others methodically positioning themselves to lead the GOP — and perhaps be the 2012 nominee. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty opted against running for a third term; confidants believe he’ll run for president. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is fundraising for GOP candidates and criticizing Obama in anticipation of another campaign.
But the GOP is having trouble turning the page on the George W. Bush era. Polls show that it’s the old-timers touting years-old messages — former Vice President Dick Cheney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich — who are identified the most as party leaders.
Since Obama won the White House and Democrats padded their House and Senate majorities last fall, Republicans have struggled to consistently challenge the new president. He’s rolled out a bold agenda and is racking up successes. Republicans recently have seized on his sweeping government expansion and giant price tags. But, with fewer numbers in Congress and no singular leader, the GOP’s ability to do anything more than gripe is limited.
Then there are the party’s structural and philosophical problems. Polls show a dwindling percentage of people consider themselves Republican and the GOP has lost its grip on every part of the country but the South. It’s obvious the GOP needs to attract new loyalists. But the party is in the midst of a family feud over whether to return to conservative roots or moderate its pitch to recruit a wider membership.
Sex scandals don’t help, particularly for a party that’s weathered its share in recent years and that’s made up of staunch social conservatives who preach morality. They include Ensign, who is a member of the men’s Christian ministry Promise Keepers, which calls itself committed to building strong marriages.
Over the past two years, Senate Republicans watched Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho plead guilty to charges in connection with an airport bathroom sex sting with a male undercover officer and Louisiana Sen. David Vitter apologize for a “very serious sin in my past” after his Washington phone number was discovered among those called by an escort service suspected of prostitution.
Electorally, the GOP’s situation in the Senate has been disastrous; Republicans lost no less than a dozen seats in 2006 and 2008, when Ensign was in charge of electing GOP senators. And, 2010 is shaping up to be another tough year, with a wave of open seats Republicans must defend because of retirements.
House Republicans, too, sustained back-to-back shellackings. But the GOP has reasonable expectations of gaining seats there next fall; even Democrats say some of their members are in reliably Republican districts.
The GOP hopes its resurgence begins this fall by retaking governorships in Virginia and New Jersey — and even Democrats say they have a shot.
The party has plenty of revival plans. Barring more unpleasant surprises.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — Liz Sidoti has covered national politics for The Associated Press since 2003.

MIAMI – Ronald Soza celebrated his 10th birthday Wednesday with cake and a serenade by more than 100 other children and their parents.
His own family: absent. His mother was recently deported back to Nicaragua. His father rarely ventures out in public in fear of a similar fate. Now Soza and the other children — all U.S. citizens whose parents could be or have been deported — are demanding a say in the immigration debate.
They are suing President Barack Obama, asking a court to halt the deportations of their parents until Congress overhauls U.S. immigration laws.
The children, who gathered Wednesday at the Miami nonprofit American Fraternity to draw attention to their cause, say their constitutional rights are being violated because they will likely have to leave the country if their parents are forced to go.
Some children said their families didn’t have enough money to pay for school supplies because the breadwinning parent had been deported, and some are at risk of losing their homes. They also say they are suffering psychological and physical hardship.
“My grades went from A’s to C’s when my mom had to leave,” said Ronald.
Nora Sandigo, the head of the Fraternity, originally brought the case on behalf of the children against the Bush administration. She refiled it in January in Miami and a hearing is scheduled for August.
Sandigo said she is frustrated that the Obama administration hasn’t done more to address immigration reform.
“Today these children’s voices are not heard,” she said as dozens of youngsters squirmed and twirled their flags on a rug before her, “but tomorrow these U.S. citizens will be voting.”
Perhaps not literally, but many of the more than 100 children who gathered Wednesday are already in their teens and will be voting age by the next presidential election.
Sandigo says many of the children’s parents came to the U.S. before 1996 immigration changes made it more difficult for them to become legal residents. When they came, they had a valid expectation that if they stayed out of trouble for seven years, they could eventually become legal residents, she has argued.
Immigration experts say the case has a tough road in the courts because Congress explicitly made the law retroactive.
But the lawsuit may help get attention for the issue in the political arena, said immigration Scholar Louis DeSipio of the University of California, Irvine.
“It’s a very conscious decision of the immigrant advocates to focus on this issue,” he added, “to disabuse Americans of the images we have of men in their twenties and thirties running across the border, showing instead that it’s a family affair.”