Free Republic

LONDON (Reuters) - Sir Richard Branson announced on Friday a $25 million prize (12.8 million pounds) for the first person to come up with a way of scrubbing greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere in the battle to beat global warming. Flanked by climate campaigners former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and British ex-diplomat Crispin Tickell, the airline tycoon said he hoped the prize would spur innovative and creative thought to save mankind from self-destruction. "Man created the problem and therefore man should solve the problem," Branson told a news conference to reveal the Virgin Earth Challenge. "Unless we can...

THE EDGE OF EVOLUTION Michael J. Behe (View Bio) The Free Press, 2007 Continuing the important and controversial work begun in his best-selling DARWIN'S BLACK BOX, this book explores the ragged border of the most influential idea of our time—Darwinian evolution. In a nutshell, undiluted Darwinism says that life developed strictly through the interplay of chance and natural selection. Random mutations thrown up by genetic mistakes spread if they helped a lucky mutant to leave more offspring than others of its species. Incessant repetition of this simple process over eons didn't just modify the fringes of life. It built the...

With trouble brewing in Kansas again, this new book from "Icons of Evolution" author is timely: ***** The latest in a series of cogent and provocative reference books to the current controversies of our age. The Politically Incorrect Guide series (or, as we like to call them, the PIG books) have dealt with—in order—American History, Islam and the Crusades, Science, and Women, Sex, and Feminism, and later on this year we’ll see a guide to English and American Literature. Each of the books contains clear, no-nonsense explanations of these important subjects—each and every one free of the usual academic cant...

This is a pretty elaborate one. You are invited to use your phone to access PayPal. The Phish takes you through a series of well-faked screens to a point where you have to enter your PayPal ID and password so as to be able to use the "new service."

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who met with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and US envoy David Welch in Ramallah Saturday, said after the meeting that Welch promised him that the US would not cut off financial aid to the PA, Israel Radio reported. On Friday, US President George W. Bush said Friday that Hamas leaders have "a choice to make," and that "if [Hamas] wants the help of America and the international community to build a prosperous, independent Palestinian state, they must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism, and work for lasting peace." Abbas said Friday night in an interview to the...

How does a new house for $65,000 sound? Petty good, especially since a typical home in the San Fernando Valley now costs more than half a million bucks. OK, there is a catch. This bargain is near Rosarito, Mexico. But now a Granada Hills-based real estate company is making it a little easier to tap into that market through a partnership with a unit of a big international conglomerate. The arrangement between Fidelity Realty Group Inc. and Construmex, a unit of Cemex Inc. USA, enables clients to use the equity in their homes here to build, complete or buy a...

DNA: The Tiny Code That's Toppling Evolution As scientists explore a new universe—the universe inside the cell—they are making startling discoveries of information systems more complex than anything ever devised by humanity's best minds. How did they get there, and what does it mean for the theory of evolution? by Mario Sieglie Two great achievements occurred in 1953, more than half a century ago. The first was the successful ascent of Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in the world. Sir Edmund Hillary and his guide, Tenzing Norgay, reached the summit that year, an accomplishment that's still considered the ultimate feat...

SALT LAKE CITY - Two women claim they were bilked out of their life savings by an apocalyptic religious group that promised them land and a face-to-face meeting with Jesus Christ. Kaziah Hancock and Cindy Stewart earlier won their lawsuit against Jim Harmston and The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of The Last Days in a district court, but it was thrown out by a judge. They appealed to the Utah Court of Appeals on Tuesday. In the appeal, the women's attorney, Don Redd, argued Harmston and the church should not be allowed to create a...

Boy, is this gutsy, huh. Conservatism is a paranoid, fearful personal philosophy and embracing it is a sign of emotional weakness. By its very definition, conservatism is opposed to progress. Conservatives believe we ought to "conserve" existing institutions and social norms, speaking from a positions which is always on the verge of being "led astray," and reflecting with an imperfect memory on the topics of fictional "Greatest Generations" and "Golden Ages." Nothing that sets itself against progress can claim to be on the side of good. Accordingly, conservatives, however nice they might otherwise be, for turning their energies against a...

(CNSNews.com) - Billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros, who has pledged $15.5 million to liberal interest groups, said Monday he would likely up the ante in his quest to oust President Bush from the White House this November. Speaking before the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., Soros declined to say how much he would give or when he might make the next donation. But he said the attacks he has endured from conservatives -- the Republican National Committee and the Bush campaign are two of his biggest critics -- have fueled his restlessness. "I've been really quite...

Billionaire George Soros is launching a grass-roots initiative that seeks to raise up to $75 million to prevent President George W. Bush from being re-elected. The Hungarian-born philanthropist has committed an unprecedented $10 million of his own money to "Americans Coming Together," or ACT, which plans to mobilize voters in 17 states regarded as battlegrounds in the 2004 election, the National Post reported. George Soros Soros, known as "the man who broke the Bank of England," says he wants to be known as the man who brought down the government of President Bush, according to the Canadian newspaper. In 1992,...

Billionaire mounting anti-Bush effort RESTON, Va., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Billionaire George Soros reportedly is putting together a $10 million warchest to prevent U.S. President George Bush from winning a second term. Soros, who in 1992 made $1 billion in a single day through currency speculation that drove down the British pound, along with a group of philanthropists and trade unions, is mounting a campaign to unseat Bush for what he sees as the administration's misuse of power, Canada's National Post reported. "You passed the U.S.A. Patriot Act without proper discussion," Soros said in a recent interview with PBS. "Anyone...

Judiciary panel OKs appeals court choice Partisan `hackles' lacking at hearing WASHINGTON -- The Senate Judiciary Committee, serious and humorous by turns, approved Michael Chertoff's nomination to an appeals court Thursday after a late allegation and debate that ranged all the way to a disgraced New York Times reporter and McCarthyism. On the good-natured side, a smiling Sen. Charles Schumer D-N.Y., said across the committee table at one point to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, "Lucky for you there aren't two of me." Hatch, the committee chairman who is as conservative as Schumer is liberal, smiled back as he , "It's...

A couple of those rich people who are supposed to be among the sole beneficiaries of the president’s proposed tax cuts want even more – such as a genuine liberal talk show to go head to head with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michael Reagan, the reigning czars of the vast Right-wing conspiracy’s nationwide radio network. Apparently unaware that liberals already have their very own national radio network – National Public Radio (NPR) – Sheldon and Anita Drobny are chattering about putting up really big bucks to lure liberal comedian Al Franken to take on the thankless task of trying...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Teresa Smith discovered Internet auctions in a big way about two years ago, selling $800,000 worth of Apple Macintosh (news - web sites) computers through sites such as eBay and AuctionWorks. Like thousands of other small-time entrepreneurs, Smith found that online auction sites could expand her reach and connect her with customers from Hawaii to Switzerland. Soon she was hiring employees and tooling around Boston in a new Ford Mustang convertible. While Smith certainly cashed her customers' checks, unfortunately, she rarely bothered to send out the computers they had paid for. Smith admitted in court in November...

Amidst all the doom and gloom about the economy these days, comes a ray of sunshine! The New York Times on Nov. 19 carried this headline: "Sex Museum Reports Profitability." The story begins, "In its first six weeks the Museum of Sex at 233 Fifth Avenue has drawn more than 15,000 visitors, well over the projections of the number needed to make a profit, reports Daniel Gluck, the founder and executive director." Doesn't that just warm your heart? It sure does mine. The story goes on to tell us that the big draw for these thousands of people is the...

OTTAWA -- The dance is over for Josee Dubreuil. The 26-year-old stripper has been found guilty of stealing more than $124,000 worth of winning Pro-Line lottery tickets from millionaire gambler Terry Leblanc. Clad in a black sweater and pants, her long, blond hair reaching past her waist, Dubreuil sat still as Justice Bernard Dagenais delivered his decision Thursday. Also in court was her forlorn former lover Leblanc, who had made more than $6 million during an eight-month gambling period six years ago. That's when he met Dubreuil while she was dancing at Pigale, a local strip club. PAID FOR DATES...