Judd Uncertain of 2014 Run: McConnell Now At-Risk of Conservative Challenger

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Photo Credit: Genevieve719Actress Ashley Judd and Indy Car driver Dario Franchitti are ending their marriage after 11 years, and, yes, the news impacts Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Judd is weighing whether to jump into politics and challenge McConnell in Kentucky in 2014. She was in Washington for the inauguration and attended an event at EMILY’s List, the group that backs pro-choice Democratic women running for governor or Congress. Judd even carpooled with Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who demonstrated she knows how to win in a red state after defeating the self-injurious Todd Akin.

In a statement, the former couple said they mutually agreed to end the marriage. Judd tweeted at Franchitti suggesting they plan to remain close — making a reference to “family,” an awfully politically correct tweet.

Given this development, there’s a chance Judd won’t want to jump into a messy political campaign.

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Evidence Grows for Narcolepsy Link to GSK Swine Flu Shot

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(Reuters) – Emelie Olsson is plagued by hallucinations and nightmares. When she wakes up, she’s often paralyzed, unable to breathe properly or call for help. During the day she can barely stay awake, and often misses school or having fun with friends. She is only 14, but at times she has wondered if her life is worth living.

Emelie is one of around 800 children in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe who developed narcolepsy, an incurable sleep disorder, after being immunized with the Pandemrix H1N1 swine flu vaccine made by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline in 2009.

Finland, Norway, Ireland and France have seen spikes in narcolepsy cases, too, and people familiar with the results of a soon-to-be-published study in Britain have told Reuters it will show a similar pattern in children there.

Their fate, coping with an illness that all but destroys normal life, is developing into what the health official who coordinated Sweden’s vaccination campaign calls a “medical tragedy” that will demand rising scientific and medical attention.

Europe’s drugs regulator has ruled Pandemrix should no longer be used in people aged under 20. The chief medical officer at GSK’s vaccines division, Norman Begg, says his firm views the issue extremely seriously and is “absolutely committed to getting to the bottom of this”, but adds there is not yet enough data or evidence to suggest a causal link.

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Study: RU 486 Abortion Can be Reversed Midway Through Process

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A new paper profiles how the RU 486 abortion drug process can be reversed — an amazing given that millions of unborn children have died from the mifepritsone abortion drug since the Clinton administration approved it.

However, the new paper indicates that women who change their mind about the abortion may be able to go back on the decision before the drug takes the life of their baby.

Dr. Mary Davenport, President of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), co-authored the new paper, which appears in The Annals of Pharmacotherapy.

“We have a series of 6 women who attempted reversal of RU-486 (mifepristone) abortions, and 4/6 successfully went on to have term babies. There were no complications,” she tells LifeNews.

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N.M. State Rep Takes Heat for Bill That Criminalizes Abortion in Cases of Rape

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New Mexico State Rep. Cathrynn Brown has come under attack for a bill she recently introduced that would brand survivors of rape and incest who become pregnant and chose to have abortions as felons.

On Wednesday, Brown, a Republican from Carlsbad, submitted House bill 206, which equates a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest as evidence, meaning that terminating the pregnancy would constitute destruction of evidence.

“Tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime,” the bill reads.

A spokeswoman from NARAL, which supports abortion rights, said the group was keeping an eye on the legislation.

“Any elected official who wants to put criminal liability on survivors of rape or incest is cold-blooded,” said Donna Crane, policy director for NARAL Pro-Choice America.

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Jill Kelley Says Paula Broadwell Tried to ‘Blackmail’ Her

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Jill Kelley was not the first to see the anonymous email that would rupture her comfortable life as a wealthy Tampa socialite who forged friendships with two top American generals.

She learned of the mysterious message from her husband, Scott, who opened the note on his iPhone, under the Yahoo account they share, as he was about to board a plane.

Kelley says she was “terrified” late last summer when he told her about the email. In that note and the barrage that followed, “there was blackmail, extortion, threats,” Kelley told me in her first interview since the David Petraeus scandal erupted, breaking a silence of nearly three months.

These emails, as Kelley would later learn along with the rest of the world, were from Paula Broadwell, whose affair with Petraeus triggered his resignation as CIA director. But the writer was so ambiguous, says Kelley, that “I didn’t even know it was a female.”

Contradicting virtually every published account of the saga, Kelley indicates that the anonymous emails did not warn her to stay away from Petraeus, as is commonly assumed. And yet the press depicted the two of them as “romantic rivals. Think how bizarre that is,” Kelley says.

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War On Women – Literally: Obama Administration to Lift Ban on Women in Combat

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Women in all branches of the military soon will have unprecedented opportunities to serve on the front lines of the nation’s wars.

Leon Panetta, in one of his last acts as President Obama’s defense secretary, is preparing to announce the policy change, which would open hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war, the Pentagon confirmed Wednesday.

The groundbreaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a 1994 rule banning women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units. Panetta’s decision gives the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women.

“This policy change will initiate a process whereby the services will develop plans to implement this decision, which was made by the secretary of defense upon the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” a senior defense official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Some front-line military roles may open to women as soon as this year. Assessments for others, such as special operations forces, including Navy SEALS and the Army’s Delta Force, may take longer.

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Surprise! ABC Discovers That Barack Obama Is a ‘Progressive’ ‘Liberal’

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After years of downplaying ideological labels for Barack Obama, ABC has seemingly accepted the idea that the President is a “progressive” and a “liberal.” While recapping the inauguration, Good Morning America’s journalists used the terms four times in just two minutes and 45 seconds. Yet, when Obama was a Democratic primary candidate in 2007, the networks deployed the L-word just twice– in the entire year.

On Tuesday, George Stephanopoulos hyped the ideological content of Obama’s second inaugural: “The speech, a call to action, an uncompromising annunciation of liberal principles.”

Seconds later, the former Democratic operative turned journalist reiterated, insisting that “liberals were cheering yesterday.” Jon Karl trumpeted, “He went lofty. He went ambitious. And he went unmistakably liberal.”

The labels continued as Karl repeated, “[Obama] unapologetically laid out a progressive agenda, promising action on climate change, equal pay for women and immigration.”

It only took two presidential elections for ABC to come around to this idea. The ABC graphic for the segment touted the liberal agenda: “Obama’s Inaugural: ‘We Must Act’ Pushes Equality and Togetherness.”

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Forthcoming ‘Erotic’ Novel Features Barack and Michelle Obama

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photo credit: jurvetson

A forthcoming erotic novel being described as “fan fiction” will feature the first couple as protagonists-in-chief. According to Pop Culture Public Relations, the firm representing the book’s publisher, the novel, a version of a “personalizable” erotic tome, will be printed with the first couple’s names in it and available online at no cost on January 28. In an e-mail circulated yesterday, Pop Culture PR wrote, “Barack and Michelle Obama Star in This Erotic, Romantic Novel.”

Surely American literature will reach new heights with the publication of GuestHouse Games, in which the Obamas, “alone in their isolated beachfront guesthouse in the tropical paradise of Kailua, Hawaii,” are “drawn into the ancient Hawaiian spiritual world and into the exploration of their own deepest and most forbidden desires.”

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Wife of Christian Held in Iran Waits as Trial, Possible Death Sentence Looms

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As her husband’s trial and possible death sentence looms, the wife of an American Christian pastor imprisoned in Iran for evangelizing clings to hope and prays for a miracle.

Naghmeh Abedini has been told by attorneys for her husband, Saeed, to expect the worst at Monday’s trial, where the 32-year-old husband and father faces the capital charge of compromising national security. Supporters believe the charges are directly related to Abedini’s work nearly a decade ago starting a house church movement in Iran, and the judge he’ll face, Abbas Pir-Abassi, is infamous for sending defendants to the gallows.

“There is a lot going through my mind. I can never clear my head. I only sleep two hours a night,” Naghmeh Abedini told Foxnews.com by phone from her family’s home near Boise. “Unfortunately, he has been set up for failure and a harsh sentence because of his beliefs. His attorney says that the court has gathered a large amount of evidence against him.”

As the trial approaches, Nagmeh and her husband’s supporters are hoping international pressure will be felt inside the Iranian regime. Although the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Iran, on Friday, a spokesman for the Obama administration called on Iran to free Abedini.

“We remain troubled by the case of U.S. citizen Saeed Abedini, who was arrested by Iranian officials more than three months ago on charges relating to his religious beliefs. We call upon Iranian authorities to release him immediately,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

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Michigan Teen Helps Save Women From Rapist

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SHEPHERD, MI — The kids were home alone. Their dad had stepped out and would be back shortly. But in the few minutes before he returned, their quiet world was upended by a terrifying visit.

It was just before 10 p.m. Wednesday. Acelin Persyn was sitting in the living room inside her family’s small house in Shepherd, a tiny, mid-Michigan town where most people know most everyone else and few lock their doors when they leave. The Persyns’ house sits on South Mission Road, a narrow strip of dirt that runs between miles of frozen fields, farmhouses and winter-idled tractors.

Acelin, a round-faced 11-year-old, was playing with 2-year-old brother Angus Persyn. James Persyn III, a shy 14-year-old with shaggy hair, was in his bedroom with the TV cranked loud to drown out the noise of his younger siblings in the other room.

Their father, James Persyn Jr., 36, had left to pick up his fiancée, Tiffany Ramon, 28. Her shift had just ended at her family’s business, J & M Produce and Nursery, only a few miles away.

Suddenly, the children heard frantic banging on their front door and a woman’s panicked screams.

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