Paul E. Ester's Flogger

The allegations emerged two weeks ago, on Aug. 19, when a Web site called blogACTIVE.com posted claims that Schrock was gay, and accused Schrock of being a hypocrite for opposing gay rights issues…. Blogs score again

The Dasses were arrested July 17 on the gunnery range used by helicopters from Fort Stewart. The charges included illegally possessing automatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, as well as harassing an endangered gopher tortoise with a Rottweiler, said Steve Hart, spokesman for Hunter Army Airfield…. Rest of Article

NEW YORK – An expert on Iraq (news – web sites)’s postwar reconstruction has pleaded guilty to smuggling 4,000-year-old artifacts looted from the country’s national museum after the U.S. invasion.

Joseph Braude, 29, pleaded guilty Tuesday, two days into his trial on charges of smuggling and making false statements to customs agents. He could be sentenced to up to 16 months in prison.

His lawyer said after the plea that Braude had for years assisted the FBI (news – web sites) and CIA (news – web sites) with counterterrorism efforts, a contribution that should persuade the judge to keep him out of jail.

Braude studied Near Eastern languages at Yale University and Arabic and Islamic history at Princeton University before publishing “The New Iraq: Rebuilding the Country for Its People, the Middle East and the World” last year.

Braude became a sought-after expert, appearing on NBC’s “Today” show, CNN, the Fox News Channel and others.

He lied to customs agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he returned from a trip to Baghdad last summer, failing to declare that he was carrying three ancient marble and alabaster seals and even briefly denying that he had been to Iraq…. Rest of Article