Free Republic

WASHINGTON — Fearful that the White House might scale back manned space exploration, a bipartisan group of lawmakers slipped a provision into a massive government spending package last week that would force President Barack Obama to seek congressional approval for any changes to the ambitious Bush-era, back-to-the-moon program.

The Obama administration appears set to chart a new course for U.S. space exploration by promoting the use of private companies to ferry astronauts into orbit, according to people familiar with the matter.

“The several States composing the United States of America, are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their General Government.” –Thomas Jefferson For the past few days, I’ve received loads of emails urging me to get active regarding the healthcare vote – most of which had a subject line similar to: “Last Chance to Stop National Healthcare!” Well, if you believe the only way to protect your rights is by begging federal politicians to do what you want, then these emails are certainly right. The vote went as expected, and so will the next. So if you think...

TAMPA — For the first time in history, it allowed a human to tap a backspace key and make a mistake go away. Called "Selectric II," it was conceived when Richard Nixon was president, when IBM made typewriters and when a hand-typed card catalog tracked every book at Tampa's downtown library. Librarians got machines for the public, giving each a room of its own with walls the shade of an avocado. The workhorses spit out labels for spines of books and stamped Dewey decimals on paper cards. They typed resumes, got people jobs. But sometime around the election of Ronald...

A fire broke out at the Guinness factory in Dublin shortly after noon local time. Over nine fire brigades and three rigs with aerial ladder platforms were able to contain the blaze before it spread to the ammonia plant at the site. An official from Guinness was able to confirm that no one was hurt in the incident. “There were no injuries to any personnel and the fire has been extinguished,” the spokeswoman said. “An internal investigation is under way to find out exactly what the cause of the accident was.” The fire broke out near the Victoria Quay entry...

A Wisconsin jewelry store is playing the role of secret Santa this holiday season. Wickersham Jewelers in Rhinelander has hidden more than one thousand little gold boxes in parts of northern Wisconsin. Inside each one is a piece of jewelry. The store calls it Finders Keepers and hopes to bring a little bit of happiness into the lives of those who might need it.The jeweler says it got help from people in the community to help hide the boxes in hospitals and public buildings. They hope all of them will be found. Video at link...

This time last year, as investors, economists, and analysts contemplated the future, there was a general feeling that the economy and the markets had already been through hell. As it turned out, the worst was yet to come. Few— actually nobody— accurately forecast the economic and market slides that occurred during the fourth quarter of 2008 and the opening quarters of 2009. Those who claim to have foreseen the disaster can hardly brag, since they generally have always held a pessimistic, sometimes apocalyptic outlook, sometimes for decades. For others, it has been a humbling and sobering experience, to say the...

Routine self-monitoring of blood glucose levels by people with type 2 diabetes who are not taking insulin is an ineffective use of health resources as the modest benefits are outweighed by the significant cost of test strips, suggest 2 studies http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091017.pdf and http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj090765.pdf in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) www.cmaj.ca . In Ontario, blood glucose test strips are the third largest cost for the Ontario Public Drug Programs in 2007/08, accounting for $100 million or 3.3% of drug expenditures. Usage of test strips increased by almost 250% from 76,320 people in 1997 to 263,513 people in 2008. Almost 53% of...

In Rockwall County, a place known for its conservative politics, one mechanic is getting a lot of attention for his latest promotion: a Nobel Peace Prize, free with every oil change. The offer, which pokes fun at President Barack Obama's recent Nobel Prize win, sits on a 4-by-10-foot sign in front of Horizon Auto Center on the outskirts of Rockwall. Owner Ken Sterling says that since he put it there, response has been overwhelming. A photo of the sign was posted online and has gone viral, appearing on blogs, conservative Web sites and Twitter feeds.

THERE is, as far as I know, only one accessory that can immediately bestow the veneer of grandeur upon the everyday fellow. That article is the monocle. By placing the gold-rimmed glass into the socket of an eye, class and eccentricity is instantly conferred upon the wearer. Unfortunately the monocle all but vanished in the post-war era, being consigned to a time when gold watch-chains hung across prosperous bellies and diamond tie pins held together cravats. But things are changing. The optician Vision Express has announced it is to re-introduce the single eye-glass following a sudden surge of interest among...

Whatever Apple throws at its customers, they come back more evangelical than everIt's hardly surprising there was a great deal of hype around the launch of the Apple iPhone 3G S. After all, it ushered in a brave new ingredient to the tried-and-tested iPhone recipe: the ability to cut and paste. The 'S' in 3G S apparently stands for 'speed'. Presumably that's because you can cut and paste, fast. But if Apple made no discernible improvements to an iPhone or iPod, it would still have its army of loyal fans singing their praises, such is the blind loyalty that they...

Globe Staff / E-mail|Print|Reprints|Yahoo! Buzz|ShareThis Text size – + Together, they added some bright splashes of color to the ultramodern, glass-and-steel palette of the Apple Store in Boston’s Back Bay. Discuss COMMENTS (7) Judy Kales, a customer dressed almost entirely in purple as a “statement against winter,’’ was flanked by two Apple Inc. employees in festive red holiday T-shirts. A computer was being purchased, but because this was an Apple Store, a lot of other stuff was going on, as well. The Apple specialist to Kales’s right, Andrew Anderson, was preparing to “migrate’’ all of her programs and files from...

Their families? Left to fend for themselves. So tomorrow more pastors jailed by Chinese atheists will string fine wire for Christmas light insertions into hard plastic containers. A workday: 16-20 hours. Then the items will be marketed global for believers to have Christmas lights for one more December. It goes on and on and on.

Now that the dust has begun to settle on a slim free-agent market with slim pickin's, it appears Johnny Damon and Jason Bay are going to wind up with teams they never would've dreamed of playing for, while Matt Holliday will have to settle for considerably less than the $18 million-$20 million per year his rep Scott (Avenging Agent) Boras asserted to be his worth. We start with Damon, a terrific guy for whom there will be no sad songs sung here over his self-imposed exile from the team he loved, the Yankees. It wasn't as if the Yankees deceived...

The housing market is showing some signs of recovery. Sales are up and prices have stabilized after falling for three years. The ten metro areas that enjoyed the greatest home-price increases over the past year (through June 30, 2009) largely missed the housing boom and didn't indulge in subprime-lending excesses. With no boom, these cities had no need to bust. Instead, their housing markets have plugged along at 4% annual price appreciation, below the national average of 6% annually between 1968 and 2008, according to the National Association of Realtors. Most of these areas are relatively small, with populations less...

Well, it looks like we spoke too soon. Psystar, showing a clear disregard for any semblance of rationality, will solider on and continue to fight the good fight against Apple. Yesterday afternoon, however, a number of factors suggested otherwise. First, Psystar’s website had been down for over 24 hours, hinting that changes were afoot for the Florida-based clonemaker. Second, Psystar attorney Eugene Action told the Wall Street Journal that Psystar President Rudy Pedraza was planning to permanently shut down his company’s operations and fire its remaining staff. But in light of the fact that Pedraza has previously been sanctioned by...

Here's a fairy tale that could only happen in the movies. Man makes YouTube video. Goes to Hollywood. Gets pots of money and a movie deal. Except this story is true. An unknown producer from Uruguay, Fede Alvarez, shelled out about $300 to create a cool video of a robot invasion in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. The four-minute short, "Ataque de Panico!" (Panic Attack) features ginormous (but slow-moving) weapon-wielding robots that blow stuff up. We have to admit, it has pretty amazing production values. The Playlist gushed that the director may be the next Neill Blomkamp, who made the...

we ain't one of the rich nations no more. this year the Fed has to roll over $2T + in short term debt and there are not a lot of buyers lined up at the window. what then? Inflation? Taxes? time to stop the bs about "recovery" and admit the truth: we are in a serious economic decline -- and have been, and this will continue until we start our industry back up let's put America First. it means we gotta throw out everyone who is giving away the wealth of the nation.

Rock-music lore is rife with stories of bands sealing themselves up in an expensive commercial recording studio for days, weeks, or months, refusing to reenter civilian life until armed with a masterpiece destined to be heard for generations. Today, that scenario sounds more like an ancient fable. Major recording centers such as London; Los Angeles; New York; and Nashville, Tenn., are losing the studios that made them famous due to shrinking budgets at the big labels and the growing sophistication of home-
recording technology. Now musicians can plug directly into their laptops and record digitally with greater ease than ever. Software...

Sometimes, bad things happen to great cars. But most discontinued cars are killed off for good reason, and with a dramatic plunge in auto sales over the past two years, automakers are aggressively thinning the herd. GM is winding down its Pontiac and Saturn divisions, and Saab may disappear as well. Chrysler is killing several duds as it tries to build a thriftier, more exciting lineup. All told, automakers plan to retire nearly 50 models over the next two years, which will turn many showrooms into automotive versions of the clearance rack. A few discontinued models will be great buys....

After three years of slumping house prices, the end of the real estate bust may finally be in sight. Home sales are rising, inventories are shrinking, and most economists believe values nationwide will hit bottom in the second half of the year -- but not before falling another 5% to 10% first. Prices after that should stay mostly flat until 2012. "Next year will clearly be better than this year," says Mike Larson, a real estate analyst at Weiss Research. "Prices may drop a little more, but the lion's share of the damage is behind us." One positive byproduct of...

Mac clone maker's lawyer says another attorney misquoted; Psystar not out of business, but site is down Although Mac clone maker Psystar has turned off the lights at its Web site, the firm is not shutting down permanently, the company's lawyer said today.Contrary to a report on Thursday by the Dow Jones Newswire (subscription required), Psystar is not shutting down for good, said K.A.D. Camara, of the Houston, Texas firm Camara & Sibley LLP. Camara represents Psystar in a lawsuit the company filed in a Miami federal court last August that accuses Apple of violating several antitrust laws.

I went shopping this evening at JC Penny. After I paid for my items, besides getting great deals, the clerk told me Merry Christmas. I was like WOW, and told her Merry Christmas too. :) Thought I pass this on to others that are looking for stores that recognize Christmas.

This is funny. Apparently this musician was on a United Airlines flight with his band and they man-handled his checked guitar and broke it. He went round and round with them for several months trying to get them to pay for the damage but they refused so he took matters into his own hands. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

Mostly in the U.S., but Japan, France, Australia and China are coming on fast, says AdMob By the end of December, according to Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, Apple's (AAPL) will have sold 78 million iPhones and iPod touches worldwide. So where, exactly, are those devices? A report issued Friday by AdMob, the world's leading supplier of mobile ads, tries to map the location of Apple's handsets country by country based on the number of users who requested at least one of its ads in November — a number that increased 150% in 2009. Among the highlights of its findings: In...

Apple crushing Sharp, Willcom in JapanApple has claimed nearly half of the Japanese smartphone market in just over a year, Impress says. iPhone sales represent46.1 percent of the entire market in 2009 and also claim the top two spots on the Japanese charts by a wide margin, with the older iPhone 3G still leading at 24.6 percent and the iPhone 3GS close behind at 21.5 percent. The two have had a devastating effect on domestic smartphone sales between 2008 and 2009. The third-place rival, Sharp's Windows Mobile-based Advanced W-ZERO3, had its market share cut in half to 14.6 percent this...

StopeTaxes.com wishes the Internet a very happy 40th birthday! What started in a lab in UCLA in 1969 has transformed human civilization. The internet has changed the way we work, learn, communicate, conduct commerce, and live. One of the most significant developments in human history, it has facilitated tremondous prosperity, innovation, and is bringing change to even the most closed, cruel, and opaque regimes in the world. StopeTaxes.com is committed to preserving liberty online. Indeed, the internet is the last best example of a truly free market. However, efforts are afoot that will hinder all that has made the internet...

With all of the back and forth regarding Microsoft and their software and business practices, I thought I might try to inject some information that sheds a different take on them. By the end of 2010, Windows 7 related employment will account for more than 7 million jobs- or 19% of all IT employment- in the global IT industry and at user organizations. This is 1.2 million in hardware companies, nearly 280,000 in software companies, 1.5 million services and channel firms, and 4.2 million in IT using organizations For every dollar of Microsoft revenue from launch in October 2009...

A short-sleeved squabble ended suddenly Thursday when Town East Mall security raided a kiosk and seized a stash of T-shirts that had southeast Dallas business owners up in arms. Half an hour after the raid, a half-dozen Pleasant Grove business owners gathered at the Southeast Dallas Chamber of Commerce and celebrated a medium-sized victory. In the center of the room, draped across the back of a chair like a pelt, was one of the vanquished T-shirts: "Welcome to Pleasant Grove," it read – below a silkscreen image of a man tossing a body into the trunk of an old Buick....

IT shops buy current products, but they always have their eyes out one or two generations to assure themselves they aren't buying into a dead-end product. Which is why makers of chips and other components that go into systems as well as system makers themselves are forced to talk about the future when what they really want to do is focus on this quarter, right now. And so it is with the future "Bulldozer" cores expected in 2011 from Advanced Micro Devices. The pressure to compete now and in the future is high, and the competition between AMD and Intel...

Surprising no one, Intel announced on Thursday that it would be rounding out its Core i3/5/7 mobile and desktop processor lines on January 7 at the upcoming Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Not that there's anything wrong with being unsurprising - after bumps such as the recent Larrabee GPU/CPU shutdown, a little Chipzillian predictability can be comforting. The early-2010 appearance of the full Nehalem-based Core line, including the Arrandale mobile and Clarkdale desktop parts - has been expected for quite some time. The Reg, for example, noted back in July that "a big batch" of Core i5 processors...

Nvidia CEO Jen Hsun Huang believes the US Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Intel could "completely transform the computer industry." On Wednesday, the FTC sued the world's largest chip maker over alleged anticompetitive practices. Among other things, the consumer watchdog accused Intel of illegally attempting to smother the makers of rival graphic chips."These products have lessened the need for CPUs, and therefore pose a threat to Intel’s monopoly power," the complaint reads. "Intel has responded to this competitive challenge by embarking on a similar anticompetitive strategy, which aims to preserve its CPU monopoly by smothering potential competition from GPU chips...

As far as I know, no one has actually spotted one of the much anticipated tablet devices–from Apple (AAPL) or anyone else–in the wild. But that doesn’t stop publishers from dreaming about what they can do with them once they appear. Link to Vimeo video of the Mag+ in Action! Here’s the latest stab at it, from Swedish media outfit Bonnier Group, best known in the U.S. as the publisher of specialty magazines like Field & Stream and Popular Science. This one just popped up, unbidden, in my inbox, and I’m happy to share it, because I think looking at...

2010…a new decade, and with it must come a new round of predictions, right? It’s a particularly interesting time to be a pundit, though. Not only is technology emerging at a blistering pace, but education itself is undergoing some serious transformations as we look towards global competition. I won’t even try to predict how Ed Tech will look in 2020. Ubiquitous WiFi was barely conceivable in 2000; we were just happy that we finally got to party like it was 1999. I can take a pretty good stab at the next couple of years though. Let me know what you...

A North Dakota cattle buyer displayed no remorse and made no apology as he was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Billings for conviction in a massive fraud in which he showed bankers cows in Eastern Montana that he claimed to own but didn’t. Todd Kenneth Horob, 41, of Williston, who was president of Horob Livestock Inc., instead talked briefly about his children, health issues and trying to get disability so he could support his family. Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull sentenced Horob to 11 years in prison and ordered $6 million in restitution, with $5.1 million to be...

Sing along if you know the words.

An infamous Atlanta hotel known for its campy lounge with baby boomer strip dancers has been shut down. The AJC was the first to report the Clermont Motor Hotel was ordered to close by Dec. 31 after a visit by Fulton County health inspectors uncovered a laundry list of violations, starting with, uh, the laundry. "There are several issues that would have to be addressed," "My friend says it's the only hotel in America that hookers can't get into,"Jeffress said Wednesday night as a group of women watched a lone stripper.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance rose last week, the government said Thursday. Analysts had expected a decline. There were 480,000 initial job claims filed in the week ended Dec. 12, up 7,000 from the previous week's revised 473,000, the Labor Department said. A consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected claims to decline to 465,000. The 4-week moving average of initial claims totaled 467,000, down 5,250 from the previous week's revised average of 472,750. This marks the second consecutive week that claims have climbed. But weekly claims have proven to be...

According to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, the public has soured on Obama's health plan. Do you think the overhaul's a good idea?

December 13, 2009 Tiger Blackened By His All-White Trophy Cupboard India Knight. At some point you notice that all the women Tiger Woods has slept with since marrying his Swedish wife in 2004 have been white. And why shouldn’t they be? If Woods fancies white women more than not-white women — well, that’s his thing, in the way that Rod Stewart’s is leggy blondes. And all my boyfriends have been Chinese — 20 boyfriends, two husbands. No, not really (only one). But what did you think when you read that sentence? Because if I read it, I’d think, “Chinese boyfriends...

SANTA CLARA, Calif., December 16, 2009 – Intel Corporation issued the following statement regarding the suit filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC): "Intel has competed fairly and lawfully. Its actions have benefitted consumers. The highly competitive microprocessor industry, of which Intel is a key part, has kept innovation robust and prices declining at a faster rate than any other industry. The FTC's case is misguided. It is based largely on claims that the FTC added at the last minute and has not investigated. In addition, it is explicitly not based on existing law but is instead intended to...

If you've seen an Internet ad for capacitor-type power factor correction devices, you might be led to believe that using one can save you money on your residential electricity bill. However, a team including specialists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have recently explained* why the devices actually provide no savings by discussing the underlying physics. The devices—sometimes referred to as Amp Reduction Units or KVARs**—are touted as good investments because they reduce the amount of current drawn from power lines while simultaneously providing the necessary amount of current to appliances inside the house. Though engineers elsewhere...

There's a new invention that’s bringing together two things near and dear to the hearts of men across America: dogs and beer. It's called Bark 4 Beer -- a dog collar that opens beer. Yes, it's the kind of thing that makes you say, "why didn't I think of that". The product just launched a few weeks ago and already it’s one of the hottest Christmas gifts of the season. The two San Diego men who are behind it have seen orders coming in from 30 states. Adam Harris and his good friend John Hornbeak stumbled upon greatness while sitting...

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Roy E. Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney whose powerful behind-the-scenes influence on The Walt Disney Co. led to the departure of former chief Michael Eisner, has died. He was 79. The company announced that Disney died Wednesday in Newport Beach, Calif., after a yearlong bout with stomach cancer. Company president and chief executive Bob Iger said Disney was much more than a valued 56-year company veteran. "Roy's commitment to the art of animation was unparalleled and will always remain his personal legacy and one of his greatest contributions to Disney's past, present and future," Iger...

Richard Branson's new commercial spacecraft, Enterprise, will transport the musicians to just outside the Earth's atmosphere where they can enjoy about 5 minutes of weightlessness and time to play one hit song.

It's time to retire the idea of retirement--or at least push it back by a few years. Although it's fun to dream about a permanent escape from a grueling commute or an overbearing boss, think about how much you gain from your friendship with coworkers and having a daily routine where you feel useful. The financial incentives to delay retirement are obvious and dramatic. And recent research even suggests that working part time in retirement can improve your health. Here are 10 reasons you shouldn't quit your day job. Your health. Seniors who work part time in retirement experience fewer...

Starting in January 2010, US McDonald's restaurants will no longer charge for Wi-Fi: The quick-service chain has service in 11,000 of its 14,000 locations in the US, and previously charge $2.95 for two hours access. The network is operated by AT&T, originally contracted by Wayport which was acquired by the phone giant last year. Most AT&T subscribers get free access at McDonald's, Starbucks, and a few thousand other locations...

WIESBADEN, Germany — Overseas military customers ordering gifts online from certain retailers might get an unpleasant surprise when shipping and handling fees are tacked on at the end of the purchase. Those same customers might be most surprised to find that retail giant Walmart had the biggest markup. On a $120 purchase, Walmart.com charged $10.35 to ship to an APO address, compared with $2.10 to a stateside address. For most items, Amazon.com charged the same to ship to an APO address as a stateside address. And Target offered shipping on a $120 purchase to an APO address for less than...

FTC says Silicon Valley giant also trying to dominate graphics chip arena SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Intel Corp. has made peace with arch-rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc., but the Federal Trade Commission's suit against the chip behemoth points to the rise of its new nemesis on the legal front -- Nvidia Corp.The FTC complaint focuses on Intel's alleged anticompetive behavior against AMD in the market for central processing units, or CPUs, that run personal computers. But it also zeroed in on the market for graphics processing units, or GPUs as graphics processors are known, an arena where Nvidia and Intel...

But not until 2011 Broadcom has hinted that 20Mp cameraphones able to record 1080p video could be available by 2011, following the release of its latest multimedia processor. The BCM2763 VideoCore IV multimedia processor for mobile devices was developed using 40 nanometer CMOS process technology, Broadcom said. This means it boasts a smaller footprint and lower power consumption than existing 65 nanometer chips, Broadcom promised, but perhaps more importantly that the 40 nanometer design can support 20Mp image processing and one gigapixel 2D and 3D graphics rendering.