Free Republic

Attorneys who argued in a Georgia court this week that Barack Obama isn’t eligible to be president say Administrative Law Judge Michael Malihi considered granting a default judgment before they even argued the case. That presumably could have recommended that Obama failed to prove his eligibility and therefore should not be on the 2012 ballot, since he and his lawyer snubbed the hearing, for which Obama was subpoenaed.

In Durham, England, corpses will soon be used to generate electricity. A crematorium is installing turbines in its burners that will convert waste heat from the combustion of each corpse into as much as 150 kilowatt-hours of juice — enough to power 1,500 televisions for an hour. The facility plans to sell the electricity to local power companies. Some might find this concept creepy. Others might be pleased to learn that the process "makes cremation much greener by utilizing its by-products," in the words of cremation engineer Steve Looker, owner and chief executive officer of the Florida-based company B&L Cremation...

The House ethics committee has recommended censure for Representative Charles B. Rangel for ethics violations. It was the committee’s counsel, R. Blake Chisam, who acted as prosecutor in the case, who recommended that Mr. Rangel be censured, a stronger punishment than a reprimand but well short of expulsion. Shortly before the committee of five Democrats and five Republicans began deliberations, Mr. Rangel, his voice cracking, pleaded for his colleagues to keep in mind that whatever his misdeeds, he was not corrupt. Mr. Rangel, 80, a Democrat who has represented Harlem since 1970, was found guilty on Tuesday of 11 breaches...

An organization fighting to ensure that all overseas members of the U.S. military have the opportunity to vote has sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder listing what it says are violations of the federal MOVE Act in two states and in multiple counties in five other states, FoxNews.com has learned. The letter from the Military Voter Protection (MVP) Project calls on the Justice Department to take action against what it says may be widespread violations of the MOVE Act in Connecticut and New Mexico, and in some counties in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Indiana and Nevada.

<p>BELL, Calif. — Residents in this modest blue-collar Los Angeles suburb where one in six lives in poverty were angry: Their city manager was getting paid more than President Barack Obama and the police chief more than the commander of the nearly 13,000-member LAPD.</p>

As President Obama continues his verbal assault on Wall Street as part of his push for new banking rules, he will head to Manhattan Thursday to co-host a swanky fundraiser for Democratic lawmakers. As President Obama continues his verbal assault on Wall Street as part of his push for new banking rules, he will head to Manhattan Thursday to co-host a swanky fundraiser for Democratic lawmakers. Obama will deliver remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraising dinner at the five-star St. Regis Hotel. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is also hosting the event along with members of the New York...

If the Congressional election were held today, 42 percent of voters would back the Republican candidate in their district, while 40 percent would support the Democrat, according to the latest Fox News poll. printemailshare recommend (1) If the Congressional election were held today, 42 percent of voters would back the Republican candidate in their district, while 40 percent would support the Democrat, according to the latest Fox News poll. Most Republicans (86 percent) back their party's candidate and most Democrats (80 percent) back theirs, and independents are divided. By 37-31 percent independent voters are somewhat more likely to back the...

BANGOR, Maine — An American citizen on a flight from Paris to Atlanta claimed to have a fake passport and said he had explosives in his luggage, forcing federal air marshals to intervene and the plane to land in Maine, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, believe the man's passport was authentic. There were 235 passengers and 13 crew aboard Delta Air Lines Flight 273, which landed safely just after at 3:30 p.m. at Bangor International Airport, Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott said. Federal officials met...

The Justice Department has begun investigating potential abuses of public office by former congressman Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) and his aides, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. A team of FBI agents and Justice prosecutors who specialize in public corruption appears to be focusing its preliminary inquiry on large payments Massa's campaign made last month to his top congressional aide and the decision to renew the lease for the lawmaker's personal car within days of his announcement that he would not seek reelection. The inquiry is being jointly led by the Justice Department's public integrity section and the fraud...

It may be time for the United Nations' climate-studies scientists to go back to school. A group of 40 auditors -- including scientists and public policy experts from across the globe -- have released a shocking report card on the U.N.'s landmark climate-change research report. And they gave 21 of the report's 44 chapters a grade of "F."

Obama boasted Monday that Democrats' health care proposals would cut deficits by $1 trillion "over the next decade," a flub that inflated the actual estimate by $868 billion President Obama, making his final push for health care reform, pitched his proposal Monday to a crowd in Pennsylvania with a deficit-reduction figure that the White House later admitted missed the mark. "Our cost-cutting measures mirror most of the proposals in the current Senate bill, which reduces most people's premiums and brings down our deficit by up to $1 trillion dollars over the next decade because we're spending our health care dollars...

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia survived the first cut Thursday in the Obama administration's unprecedented $4 billion school reform contest. This Story 15 states, D.C. make first cut in Race to the Top school reform contest R.I. district may reverse firing of high school teachers See our Higher Ed page for college news & admission advice at washingtonpost.com/higher-ed Analysts pointed to some surprises among the finalists, including New York, Ohio and Kentucky. It was also notable that the most populous state, California, missed the cut even though the state's legislature approved a significant school-improvement plan. Federal officials say...

Barack Obama is still struggling to kick smoking, according to his first medical examination since becoming president. Obama is sensitive about his cigarette habit and tetchy with reporters who raise it. But after his 90-minute medical at the Navy hospital outside Washington yesterday morning, his doctors confirmed he had not yet managed to conquer the habit and suggested he "continue smoking cessation efforts". The doctors also recommended "moderation of alcohol intake".

The pace of global warming continues unabated, scientists said on Thursday, despite images of Europe crippled by a deep freeze and parts of the United States blasted by blizzards. The bitter cold, with more intense winter weather forecast for March in parts of the United States, have led some to question if global warming has stalled. Understanding the overall trend is crucial for estimating consumption of energy supplies, such as demand for winter heating oil in the U.S. northeast, and impacts on agricultural production. "It's not warming the same everywhere but it is really quite challenging to find places that...

President Obama ended Thursday's White House summit by threatening to push for passage of health care reform without Republican support, and despite the daylong meeting with Democratic and Republican lawmakers, a a bipartisan agreement remained out of reach as lawmakers vowed to stick to their guns. At the conclusion of the televised showdown, which was aimed at finding common ground between the two political parties, Obama said Republicans had only a matter of time to decide if they would jump onboard. "If we're unable to resolve differences over health care, we will need to move ahead on decisions," he said,...

The U.K. election campaign, focused for months on topics like the economy and bankers' bonuses, veered Sunday to a more personal issue for Prime Minister Gordon Brown: his temper. Mr. Brown was accused, in separate accounts, of temper fits and the bullying of staff members. The accusations—one in an excerpt from a new book, the other from a charity hot line that receives complaints about bullying behavior—unleashed a debate about the character of a leader who has a reputation in political circles for bad-tempered outbursts and moody self-reflection. Mr. Brown and several political allies rejected the accusations.

In what amounts to a political street fight, the Senate Republican minority has pushed Obama hard in its rebuke of the nomination of Craig Becker. Becker, a pro-labor nominee to the NRLB, saw his nomination come to a screeching halt last Tuesday. Republicans, joined by conservative Democrats, defeated an effort to allow the nomination process to move forward. Now the administration is pushing back, indicating a willingness to consider a recess appointment to place Becker at the NRLB and bypass a Senate confirmation vote.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama says he was saddened to hear of the death of Rep. John Murtha and called his fellow Democrat a steadfast advocate for the people of Pennsylvania for nearly 40 years. Obama on Monday called Murtha a devoted husband and a loving father who had a "tough-as-nails" reputation. The president says Murtha's passion for service was born during his military career and carried over to his congressional service.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama and top congressional Democrats insist they will push ahead with efforts to overhaul health care, though they aren't explaining how they will proceed in that uphill fight. The president acknowledged Friday that the effort ran into a ''bit of a buzz saw'' of opposition. And a leading member of his party suggested Congress slow it down on health care, a sign of eroding political will in the wake of Tuesday's Republican election upset in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown said Wednesday that he is focused on moving to Washington as soon as possible to try to free up some of the political gridlock there.