Free Republic

<p>MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) - An Oregon school bus driver has been suspended for refusing to remove a Confederate flag from his personal vehicle.</p> <p>The Mail Tribune reports that 28-year-old Ken Webber of Medford said he's worked four years for First Student School Bus Transportation Services, a contractor for the Phoenix-Talent School District in the Medford area.</p>

President Barack Obama said Friday that opponents of his energy bill are disputing the evidence of global warming in a cynical ploy to undermine efforts to curb pollution and steer the nation to greener energy sources. Obama said some opponents "make cynical claims that contradict the overwhelming scientific evidence when it comes to climate change - claims whose only purpose is to defeat or delay the change that we know is necessary." Obama said the nation's economic future is tied to its environmental promise, describing innovation as key to righting a flagging economy, saving the globe's natural resources and ensuring...

The Obama administration is setting aside 200,000 square miles in Alaska and off its coast as "critical habitat" for polar bears, an action that could add restrictions to future offshore drilling for oil and gas. Federal law prohibits agencies from taking actions that may adversely modify critical habitat and interfere with polar bear recovery. Assistant Interior Secretary Tom Strickland called the habitat designation a step in the right direction to help polar bears stave off extinction, recognizing that the greatest threat to the bear is the melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change. The Bush administration last year...

A top White House economist says spending from the $787 billion economic stimulus has already had its biggest impact on economic growth and will likely not contribute to significant expansion next year. Christina Romer, the chair of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, said Thursday that the $194 billion already spent gave a jolt to the economy that contributed to growth in the second and third quarters of the year. She told a congressional panel that by the middle of next year, the impact of the stimulus will level off. Romer said spending so far has saved or created...

Universal Voter Registration Every election cycle, our nation argues about voter fraud and purging voters. Universal voter registration is the solution to both of these problems. It eliminates voter fraud. It makes unlawful purging of voters impossible. It's also more simple to administrate than our current system, therefore costing less and easier to validate. Universal voter registration is very simple: Every eligible voter is registered to vote by default. Voters can "opt-out" if they choose, preserving their first amendment right to free speech. Preventing Voter Fraud My proposal extends our existing statewide voter registration database (VRDB) to record both eligible...

Obama's Naive Berlin Speech Dennis Prager Tuesday, July 29, 2008 To better understand Sen. Barack Obama, his speech before 200,000 Germans in Berlin is one good place to start. As we shall see, however, it does not leave one secure as to the senator's understanding of history, of America's role in the world, and what to do about evil, among other important issues. Obama: "At the height of the Cold War, my father decided, like so many others in the forgotten corners of the world, that his yearning -- his dream -- required the freedom and opportunity promised by the...

Congress is the place to challenge McCain’s or Obama’s qualifications to be President The New York Times has twice ran articles questioning whether John McCain’s birth in the Panama Canal Zone would disqualify him to be President based on Article II of the U.S. Constitution: “No Person except a natural born Citizen . . . shall be eligible to the Office of President”. “Natural born” is not defined. The blogosphere is ripe with speculation that Obama may also fail to meet the qualification, since his supporters posted online an inauthentic copy of a birth certificate purporting to be for Barack...

In a case that could determine how far local governments can go in limiting forest-clearing across entire watersheds, a state appeals court ruled Monday that a King County law went too far. Rural property-rights advocates hailed the decision as repudiating excessive regulation, while environmentalists said it could degrade some of the county's most pristine streams and further jeopardize Puget Sound's threatened chinook salmon. A three-judge Court of Appeals panel ruled that the 2004 clearing and grading ordinance — part of a package of laws collectively but imprecisely called the critical-areas ordinance — is an indirect but illegal "tax, fee, or...

WASHINGTON — What if your family was planning a big end-of-summer bash (a Grand Old Party, you might call it) but preferred that you not be seen — or heard? That is the question hanging over President Bush, with eight weeks to go until Republicans gather in St. Paul to nominate Senator John McCain as his successor. Convention planners, the White House and the McCain campaign are wrestling with how to choreograph a proper send-off for Mr. Bush — sure, his poll numbers are in the tank, but he is still the party leader and president of the United States...

The Justice Department on Friday agreed to pay more than $5.8 million to Steven Hatfill, the former government scientist once branded by the Justice Department a person of interest in the deadly anthrax attacks of 2001. The legal settlement to Hatfill, in cash and an annual payments, signals the end of a civil lawsuit Hatfill brought against the Justice Department and FBI, accusing them of violating his privacy rights by improperly leaking sensitive information about the anthrax investigation to reporters. "I think it's a gratifying end to a very sad chapter in [Hatfill's] life and that of the FBI and...

The Point | In defense of waterboarding By Mark Bowden No one should be prosecuted for waterboarding Abu Zubaydah. > Several investigations are under way to find out who ordered the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, apparently an effort to cover up evidence of torture. Leaving aside for a moment the wisdom of destroying the tapes, I'd like to take a look at what was allegedly done to Zubaydah, and why. > When captured in Pakistan in 2002, Zubaydah was one of the world's most notorious terrorists. The 31-year-old Saudi had compiled in his young life 37 different aliases and...

A river regained JEFFREY P. MAYOR; The News Tribune PORT ANGELES – Floating down the Elwha River on Thursday, Robert Elofson nodded his head in appreciation. A trio of harlequin ducks skittered across the river’s tumbling surface as they took off. Downstream, a handful of mergansers quietly dozed, ignoring the three rafts drifting by their riverside roost. Rings on the river’s surface marked the occasional rise of a trout as it slurped in a bug for a midday meal. With the Elwha River already a remarkable outdoors experience for kayakers, rafters and anglers, Elofson believes it will become so much...

BELLINGHAM, Whatcom County – Neither Joshua Sutton nor Joseph Hubbard had any criminal history when they bought $15,000 worth of marijuana from an undercover detective in Whatcom County last year. Both were arrested and charged with unlawful possession with intent to deliver, a felony. But then their cases diverged dramatically, thanks to a practice which has been routine for nearly three decades in this county on the Canadian border, where federal agents dump reams of drug cases on local officials every year. Sutton, who put up most or all of the money for the drug buy, paid $9,040 to a...

OPERATION WETBACK. Operation Wetback was a repatriation project of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service to remove illegal Mexican immigrants ("wetbacks") from the Southwest. During the first decades of the twentieth century, the majority of migrant workers who crossed the border illegally did not have adequate protection against exploitation by American farmers. As a result of the Good Neighbor Policy, Mexico and the United States began negotiating an accord to protect the rights of Mexican agricultural workers. Continuing discussions and modifications of the agreement were so successful that the Congress chose to formalize the "temporary" program into the Bracero...

To Dawn Morrell State Legislator, Puyallup I began writing to you in early December about problems with the Governor's election. You waited more than a month until after you had certified and inaugurated Christine before condescending to respond. Your form response claimed that the legislative role in certification was merely clerical. In the hour and a half that I spent discussing this with Jim Kastama (Democrat State Senator, Puyallup) he completely disavowed any support for such a limited legislative role. No reasonable reading of the State Constitution or understanding of constitutional principles can support your contention. The reason for the...

The Living Constitution is dead Judicial recognition of a Living Constitution causes the very problem that the idea of a living Constitution is supposed to solve. Proponents of a Living Constitution want a more flexible document. When the Supreme Court issues a decision the result is to lock in current opinion and to forbid opinions from evolving in the future. Justice Kennedy along with four Justices recently declared that it is cruel and unusual punishment to execute a person for a crime they committed as a minor. Justice Kennedy discovered an "Evolving Standard" that he perceives to be a long...

Friday, January 14, 2005, 12:00 A.M. Pacific Key interest groups financed large part of hand recount By Andrew Garber and David Postman Seattle Times Olympia bureau OLYMPIA &#8212; The unprecedented hand recount that put Gov. Christine Gregoire in office this week was paid for in large part with contributions from powerful interest groups, including labor unions, tribes and trial lawyers, which gave much more than they would have been allowed during the campaign. Democrats, by law, had to put down a $730,000 deposit with the state to do the recount. The party made a nationwide appeal to raise that amount...

Why President Clinton was impeachedThere is another liberal Documentary out "The Hunting of the President." Susan McDougall has been promoting the movie. She claims in recent interviews that President Clinton’s impeachment was entirely do to a right wing conspiracy to get the President no matter how or what the cost. I have also had liberal friends and acquaintances ask why President Clinton was impeached. A free society can only function when most citizens obey the laws and cooperate with their government out a sense of respect for the rules and for their government. A police state exits when citizens follow...

Respect for government and a free societyA free society can only function when most citizens obey the laws and cooperate with their government out a sense of respect for the rules and their government. A police state exits when citizens follow the rules only out of a fear of punishment. When a politician acts as if he is above the law and demonstrates a lack of respect for the rules he undermines an essential foundation of a free society. To disregard a law that you actively and publicly oppose might be acceptable because the contempt shown would be for one...

Clinton, Martha Stewart double standards and corruptionMaybe someone can explain why it was acceptable for the President of the United States to, while under oath, lie to the courts; while Martha Stewart is sentenced to 10 months for merely making a false statement to a Federal Investigator. I have little sympathy for Martha Stewart, but Democrats willingness to condone Clinton’s lack of respect for the truth, the rule of law and the judicial branch of our Government was unjustifiable. Corrupt government is a far greater threat to Our Country than the corruption of a few CEO’s, assuming that selling another...