Free Republic

CAMP PENDLETON ---- While artillery men generally consider blowing things up a slice of heaven, the loud booms emanating from Camp Pendleton day and night of late has left many outside the gates saying they are experiencing a slice of hell. "I don't object to noise during normal hours and I don't mind it up until about 10 p.m., but they need to have a little consideration for people who need peace and quiet so they can sleep," said Allen Mortend, a longtime Oceanside resident who lives just outside the base gates. Base officials say they have received dozens of...

"Where is my umbrella?"

SUPPORTERS of West Australian Opposition Leader Troy Buswell are confident a proposed leadership spill against him sparked by a chair sniffing scandal will not succeed. Mr Buswell has been under intense pressure to resign after admitting last week that in 2005 he sniffed the chair of a female Liberal staffer at parliament house after she had stood up. Party whip Graham Jacobs today repeated he would move a spill motion at a party room meeting tomorrow and would support treasury spokesman Steve Thomas to take over from Mr Buswell. Mr Thomas said if he was nominated for the leader's position...

Sen. Jim Webb has dispelled any lingering mystery about it: The pistol involved in the arrest of a top Webb aide was the senator's. "It's my gun," Webb, D-Va., acknowledged in an interview last week. Webb declined again to talk about whether he complies with the District of Columbia handgun ban. Almost six months into his first term, the writer, lawyer and Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam War combat agreed to an interview that touched an array of topics. They ranged from the gun episode, Iraq and presidential politics. Webb disclosed he was invited to the White House on Wednesday...

As a freshman congressman, Daniel Lipinski wanted to ensure constituents knew what he was doing, but he rarely got mentioned in Chicago news stories. So he spent $230,000 in taxpayers' money to get his message across. The Illinois Democrat spent more than any other member of the state's congressional delegation on mailings to constituents during 2005-2006 through the use of ''franking'' privileges. Federal law grants the privilege to members of Congress, allowing them to spend money from their office budget on postage-free mailings to constituents -- often newsletters and brochures extolling the lawmakers' own virtues. ''I continue to be a...

California's prison system is changing its regulations to allow conjugal visits for gay and lesbian inmates in response to a legal threat and a 2003 law that gave domestic partners many of the same rights as married couples. Facing a complaint from an inmate in a Vacaville prison and pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has begun to allow overnight visits for inmates with registered domestic partners and is to adopt permanent regulations later this year. The change will allow gay and lesbian inmates the same rights as other inmates, who are...

With the White House's blessing, the Senate has reached a deal on immigration. And Sen. John McCain has handed his opponents for the Republican nomination a mighty club to wield against him -- if they choose to use it. As Rudy Giuliani's lead over the Arizona senator slipped into the single digits in many national polls, McCain assumed a lower profile on the immigration issue. Sen. Sam Brownback went even further, repudiating his support for last year's Senate bill containing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Now there is a new bill offering such a provision and McCain, like...

Women who have been convicted on misdemeanor prostitution charges could be eligible for an Oregon teaching license under legislation that passed the state Senate Friday, 20-7. Sen. Margaret Carter, D-Portland, argued passionately for the measure, invoking the gospel of redemption and forgiveness, and the sins of judgment, in a floor speech that riveted her colleagues and quieted the often-buzzing chamber. "If a person is able to break free and turn their lives around, we as a society should recognize the strength and bravery required to take those steps," Carter said. "I have truly prayed about this bill and all its...

Remember when media pundits were asking whether Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was "black enough" to attract black voters? That was the old media narrative. The new one goes sort of like this: "Maybe he's too black." Take, for example, his conservative adversaries, such as talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh, who seems to take gleeful delight in reminding everyone of how black Obama is -- and even more delight when the rest of us notice. Back in mid-March, for example, el Rushbo began to air a satirical song titled, "Barack the Magic Negro." He didn't make up the term. He hijacked it...

Concerns about Sen. Barack Obama's safety that led to him getting a Secret Service detail "had a lot to do with race," Sen. Dick Durbin said Friday. "I wished we lived in a country where that is not a problem, but it still is," Durbin said. "The fact that Barack Obama is such a highly visible African-American candidate, I think increases his vulnerability." Obama, vying to become America's first black president, received his Secret Service protection Thursday. It was earlier than any other presidential candidate, excluding Hillary Clinton, who is protected as a former first lady. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,...

Senator Hillary Clinton has told an small-town audience in Iowa that she supports same-sex unions and the removal of Don't Ask Don't Tell. The policy bars openly gay, bisexual or lesbian people from serving in the US Armed Forces. It was introduced in 1993. "Right now, we are discharging soldiers, at a time when we don't have enough people to do the missions we need around the world, because they're gay. "Not because they've done anything, but just because they're gay," she said, according to the Des Moines Register. She quoted former Republican Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, who commented: "I...

As Sen. John Kerry promotes his new book on the dangers of global warming, he's been running up an average electric bill of $1,100 a month at his federal-style red-brick townhouse on Louisburg Square in the Beacon Hill area of Boston. That's according to the Massachusetts Democrat's utility company, NStar, one of many utility companies across the nation whose operators provide information about the average monthly electric bill for any given address. Other members of Congress who have made a point of speaking out about climate change -- either for or against taking drastic action -- have also run up...

The Prime Minister's Office issued a rare "clarification" Wednesday that, in gentle diplomatic terms, contradicted US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's statement in Damascus that she had brought a message from Israel about a willingness to engage in peace talks. According to the statement, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert emphasized in his meeting with Pelosi on Sunday that "although Israel is interested in peace with Syria, that country continues to be part of the Axis of Evil and a force that encourages terror in the entire Middle East." Olmert, the statement clarified, told Pelosi that Syria's sincerity about a genuine...

Liberal Democrats in the Senate and House plan to resume "the fight for women's equality" on Tuesday, when they reintroduce the Women's Equality Amendment. Sens. Ted Kennedy (Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (Calif.) and Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, both of New York, plan to join Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority, in making the Tuesday afternoon announcement. This time around, supporters say they hope "women will finally achieve official equality in America." But a conservative group said women's rights activists are "fighting old battles." First proposed in 1923, the ERA states: "Equality of rights under the law shall...

A woman was killed in a car accident in the center of Krasnoyarsk at noon Dec, 28. The accident happened at the crossing of Lebedevoy St. and Gorkogo St.. A KAMAZ truck with a trailer knocked down an old woman while she was crossing the road. The large-tonnage truck crossed her over. The woman died at the accident site. Traffic inspectors are working at the tragedy scene to establish the guilty.

When Congress convenes in January of 2007, Republicans will be elected both as Speaker of the House and as Senate Majority Leader. The new Republican speaker, who will not be Dennis Hastert, will enjoy a margin of only one vote. But in the Senate, where Republicans currently control 55 of the 100 seats and where many pundits are now saying they teeter on the brink of losing their majority, the GOP instead will lose no more than two seats. And Mr. Conventional Wisdom, who is the lackey of the mainstream media and the supposedly nonpartisan election "experts," again will have...

The worldwide proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction continues to evolve. Short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, particularly if armed with weapons of mass destruction, already pose a significant threat overseas to US interests, military forces, and allies. Moreover, the proliferation of missile technology and components continues, contributing to longer-range systems. Development efforts, in many cases fueled by foreign assistance, have led to new capabilities—as illustrated by Iran’s Shahab-3 launches in July 1998 and July 2000 and North Korea’s Taepo Dong-1 space launch attempt in August 1998. Also disturbing, some countries that traditionally have been recipients of...