Quietly, while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been inspiring Democrats everywhere with their rolling bitchfest, congressional superduo Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have completed one of the most awesome political collapses since Neville Chamberlain. At long last, the Democratic leaders of Congress have publicly surrendered on the Iraq War, just one year after being swept into power with a firm mandate to end it.Solidifying his reputation as one of the biggest pussies in U.S. political history, Reid explained his decision to refocus his party's energies on topics other than ending the war by saying he just couldn't fit Iraq into his busy schedule. "We have the presidential election," Reid said recently. "Our time is really squeezed."

There was much public shedding of tears among the Democratic leadership, as Reid, Pelosi and other congressional heavyweights expressed deep sadness that their valiant charge up the hill of change had been thwarted by circumstances beyond their control - that, as much as they would love to continue trying to end the catastrophic Iraq deal, they would now have to wait until, oh, 2009 to try again.

Another push from a Bush

Indiana has more money than any athletic department in the country and it's afraid of spending a couple million dollars to rid itself of perpetual phone caller Kelvin Sampson. The only price to be paid now is Indiana players hearing opposing pep bands playing the Blondie classic "Call Me" from now until the end of the season

Germ fighters: Consumers buy more disinfecting wipes for hands and ...

Germs are the enemy at Nice-Pak Products Inc., which claims to make 80 percent of the world's disinfecting wipes and has products designed to clean everything from shopping cart handles to babies' bottoms. The privately held company, based 20 miles north of New York City in Orangeburg, N.Y., says its big break came 50 years ago when Kentucky Fried Chicken put in a big order for the original Wet-Nap moist towelette, apparently to wipe away whatever finger-lickin' didn't.

Oxygen bars pop up across France

PARIS: As oxygen bars begin to pop up across France, health authorities are beginning to question the merits or otherwise of sniffing O2.

Supposed to improve health and well-being, oxygen bars date back to the late

1990s, spreading from Canada to California and to Britain and Japan, in nightclubs, health clubs, airports or even trade fairs.

But Paris' first oxygen bar opened only last week. Flagged as "a revolutionary anti-fatigue, anti-stress and anti-depression concept", the city's maiden O2 bar is housed in an up-market beauty institute owned by no less than the wife of top French publicist and political "kingmaker" Jacques Seguela.

Seguela has been very much in the news recently for bringing together President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new wife Carla Bruni around a dinner table, a coup that comes almost three decades after helping propel leftwing leader Francois Mitterrand to the country's highest public office.

How Edmund Hillary conquered Everest

At 6.30am on May 29 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary crawled out of his tent into the bitterly cold snow and gusting winds of Mount Everest to begin the final stage of one of the most audacious adventures of the 20th century. Rising more than 1,100ft above the Auckland beekeeper and his Nepalese climbing partner, the Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the mountain's summit awaited its first visitors. Behind them, a single tiny tent - Camp IX, the highest in history - perched on a double ledge 27,900ft above sea level as testimony to years of painstaking preparation.

Women turn on ‘traitor’ Oprah Winfrey for backing Barack Obama

She also has very little experience on her own. She also has a habit of shooting off her mouth and alienating people, which would not be a good thing when dealing with other countries at all. I believe Oprah considered all of this and made a more informed decision. If only more voters could do the same thing America would be a lot better off.

We were always in with a chance

Any person, club, organisation or whatever be it in sport or business plays the game to WIN, otherwise why bother. The reason for no relegation this year is that super league franchises are up for grabs next season and if any club does not meet or exceed the franchise criteria they will be out on their ear regardless of where they finish in the table. Clubs who do not reach the minimum criteria off the pitch, note off the pitch, have everything to lose. This means they have to operate as a viable business entity with correct business development plans in place, suitable and safe stadia, local development systems in operation and community programmes established. This has taken a long time to come but in my opinion this takes RL to the next level. Still behind our friends in Oz but this is a positive step in the right direction.

Fact Check: Clinton, Obama & Health Care

What we're looking for is a president we can count on, that you know where that president is yesterday, today and tomorrow," she said in a debate this month. Obama claims he's always said that single-payer is a good idea that can't be achieved now because of the current entrenched system. His campaign says it's actually Clinton who has been all over the map on health care, and specifically on the question of "single-payer" coverage.