Today's Top News from The Washington Times

		Wednesday, August 3, 2011 Must Read Stories Today
Rush for rare earth minerals may create Nebraska boomtown Elk Creek, Neb. (population 112), may not be so tiny much longer. Reports suggest that the southeastern Nebraska hamlet may be sitting on the world's largest untapped deposit of "rare earth" minerals, which have proved to be indispensable to a slew of high-tech and military applications such as laser pointers, stadium lighting, electric car batteries and sophisticated missile-guidance systems. Quiet Wisconsin races erupt into expensive battles What might have been a quiet race for state-level political office in a region best known for dairy farms has been transformed into a battle more expensive than any Wisconsin residents have seen. Freshmen Republicans help ensure that tea party's voice is heard As the final vote on raising the government's borrowing limit approached Tuesday, Republican after Republican took to the Senate floor to attack the bipartisan deal. The one unifying theme: Most were freshman, newly elected with the support of the tea party movement, and showed no qualms about bucking their own party's leaders who wrote the deal. Independent women lead social change in Japan Whether onstage or at the largest protests in 40 years, women are increasingly at the forefront of movements for social evolution in Japan, where men vastly outnumber women in boardrooms, in government and especially in the nuclear power industry. D.C. police investigate 'pattern' in transgender shootings Members of the District's transgender community fear they are being targeted after two attacks on the same block in two weeks during which transgender women were shot at with no provocation. Alabama defends its immigration law Alabama officials Tuesday criticized a Justice Department lawsuit challenging the state's tough new immigration law, arguing that the federal government's failure to enforce its own immigration statutes had forced the states to do so. Council members disclose campaign finance totals Eight months ahead of primary elections, D.C. Council member Muriel Bowser has raised $85,000 as part of early efforts to retain her seat in Ward 4. Uranium firm urges Va. towns to keep 'open mind' A company seeking to mine a 119-million pound southern Virginia uranium deposit has sent letters to localities urging officials to "keep an open mind" before the release of studies that could affect whether the General Assembly votes to overturn the nearly 30-year ban on the practice. Obamas to visit attack sites on 9/11 President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will attend ceremonies at the Pentagon, at the Manhattan site of the Twin Towers and in rural Pennsylvania to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the White House announced Tuesday. Fears of double-dip recession rise A report revealing the first decline in consumer spending since the Great Recession shocked Wall Street investors Tuesday and raised fears that the economy could fall into a double-dip recession. GOP factions unite against presidential popular vote push The Republicans' sometimes competing power centers have joined forces in opposition to a plan gaining momentum in the states to effectively junk the Electoral College in favor of a direct national popular vote for president. Debt deal pits Pentagon against other security agencies The debt deal between Congress and the president sets up what will likely be a painful fight for funding between the Pentagon and other national agencies, according to analysts and officials. PG sets election for Johnson's seat Prince George's County officials have scheduled special primary and general elections to replace former County Council member Leslie E. Johnson. Schools scramble to stop cheating scandals In the wake of school cheating scandals across the country, several states are racing to implement new testing protocols before classes resume. A real-life 'Springtime for Hitler' from India? "Dear Friend Hitler," a new Bollywood film based on an actual exchange of letters between Adolf Hitler and Mahatma Gandhi, seemed to have all the makings of a cultural provocation. Instead, it's turning out to be a punch line. HURT: Madoff could admire Hill's Great Con In a cramped 8-by-10 federal prison cell in Butner, N.C., Bernie Madoff is laughing. Commentary EDITORIAL: Unplug the Internet tax The class warriors in Congress won't rest until everything is taxed multiple times. The idea that online retailers aren't collecting tribute for states in which they have no physical presence galls Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, and Rep. John Conyers, Michigan Democrat. So they dreamed up the Main Street Fairness Act to force Internet shoppers to prop up the big spenders in state government. EDITORIAL: Damascus doesn't believe in Ramadan Security forces backing Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad opened the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with a furious armored assault on the oppositionist town of Hama. The Baathist regime is working overtime to stamp out pro-democracy sentiment across the country. The human rights tragedy is becoming so acute that even the United States and Russia are beginning to take notice. WOLF: Liberals' unmaking of Barack Obama Remember when liberals claimed Barack Obama was "probably the smartest guy ever to become president" and was "a sort of god"? Today they say "we are watching him turn into Jimmy Carter right before our eyes," and the center point of his presidency is "a disaster." So what changed exactly? CLEGG: Discrimination in celebration of 'diversity' Last week, the city of New Haven, Conn., agreed - finally - to pay $2 mil- lion and enhanced pension benefits to the firefighters in a celebrated case that went all the way to the Supreme Court a couple of years ago. The 20 firefighters (19 white and one Hispanic) sued after the city threw out the results of a civil service examination for promotions because it didn't like the racial results. SULLIVAN: Men need not apply The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a solicitation for a contract to provide support services at Fort Detrick in Maryland. Nothing unusual there, except that the contract reflects a new Obama administration program to restrict competition on the basis of gender. 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