Free Republic

National Security: The failure of a fast-track extension of three key Patriot Act amendments does not spell their demise. It may be time to appreciate how successful they've been and how necessary they are. Tuesday's 277-148 House vote to extend three key provisions of the Patriot Act fell just shy of the two-thirds necessary for passage under suspension of the rules. While not a final defeat, it is an embarrassment for Republican leaders who thought it was a slam dunk. Twenty-six Republicans joined 122 Democrats in opposing the renewal of provisions that have helped prevent a successful terrorist act on...

On Monday, a bill banning talking on the phone while driving will be introduced in the North Carolina Senate. The bill would ban using hands free devices while driving as well. Highway Patrol Trooper Beckley Vaughn said it boils down to being distracted while driving. Vaughn said at only 55 mph, a driver goes about 88 feet per second. He said the average reaction time is only .75 of a second.

After six years, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has faced questions about leaders' pay and the lack of medical breakthroughs. But its chairman plans to ask voters for another $3 billion in bonds. When millionaire Silicon Valley real estate developer Bob Klein launched his ballot drive to create a $3-billion state fund for stem-cell research in 2004, he pitched it as a way of taking politics out of science and focusing on cures. One particularly heartbreaking campaign ad showed former big screen Superman Christopher Reeve paralyzed in a wheelchair, struggling for breath and imploring California voters to "stand up...

Experts say judge's injunction on using federal funds effectively halts work in labs across the country WEDNESDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. scientists reacted with dismay to Monday's decision by a U.S. judge to halt any expansion of stem cell research using federal funds. The temporary injunction, which basically blindsided the scientific community, effectively takes embryonic stem cell research back to the pre-2001 days. That was when then-President George W. Bush ordered that federal monies could only be used to fund research involving embryonic stem cell lines created before 2001. Late Tuesday, however, the Obama administration, which had issued...

ISLETON, SACRAMENTO COUNTY -- An Antioch woman died after she drove off a boat ramp and into the Sacramento River while she was talking on a cell phone with her daughter, asking for directions, authorities said today. . . . Just before the call was cut off, Collier told her daughter that her car was filling up with water and to phone her insurance company,

Note: Photos included. SNIPPET: "Shin Bet arrests eight men from northern city of Nazareth, local council of Yafa an-Naseriyye over weapons offences, discussing possibility of murdering soldiers, Pope Benedict XVI" SNIPPET: "The eight indicted men were identified as Bader Salah, 33, of Yafa an-Naseriyye; Suhil Salah, 26, of Yafa an-Naseriyye; Misara Yaad, 28, of Yafa an-Naseriyye; Abdel Rahman Abu Salim, 19, of Nazareth; Ibrahim Muhammad Abu Aaqab, 27, of Nazareth; Bilal Ubeid, 29, of Yafa an-Naseriyye; and Sabri Narni, 29 of Yafa an-Naseriyye. The ninth defendant, who was a minor when he committed the alleged acts. was not named due...

ALBANY, Ga. — Spread the word, but don’t text it if you are driving. Two new distracted driver laws take effect in Georgia tomorrow. One law prohibits drivers from “using wireless telecommunications devices for writing, sending or receiving text messages while operating a motor vehicle,” according to the website drivinglaws.org. The other prohibits a driver under 18 years old with a driver permit or a class D license from using a wireless communication device. Breaking either law can result in arrest and a $150 fine with a point put on the license. “This only applies to drivers on the road,”...

This is for my wife. She's got to upgrade to a 4 gig Iphone (or some such) that has, among other things, email capability. She/we will thus have to have unlimited phone calls, unlimited texting and graphics/pictures, and internet/email. At the present we have AT&T but have to pay extra for texting, pictures and email. What companies/plans would you recommend? thanx so much.

My son is headed back to Iraq for Tour Number Two, and as I was getting stuff ready, I came across a cell phone that I got him for his first tour. It worked like a charm from Iraq, and still does. This one is going back with him. The only downside is that the calls come in at 2 AM!So, if you're interested in getting a cell phone for your Soldier or Marine, I recommend "Telestial" (www.telestial.com). A variety of phones to choose from, they all work in Iraq, I don't know about Afghanistan. Rates are about $1 per...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Police say two Florida teenagers are facing charges after 911 dispatchers heard them talking about breaking into cars when one teen's cell phone accidentally called 911 during the heist. Daytona Beach police say 19-year-old Stefanie Vargas and her girlfriend's 13-year-old brother, Kristian Amezquita, are charged with burglary to a conveyance. According to myfoxorlando.com , the crimes took place on Friday in the parking lot of a strip club at which Kristian's sister works. Police spokesman Jimmie Flynt says during the event, Vargas' cell phone somehow dialed 911 and that dispatchers listened as the pair discussed...

Two years ago, when the FBI was stymied by a band of armed robbers known as the "Scarecrow Bandits" that had robbed more than 20 Texas banks, it came up with a novel method of locating the thieves. FBI agents obtained logs from mobile phone companies corresponding to what their cellular towers had recorded at the time of a dozen different bank robberies in the Dallas area. The voluminous records showed that two phones had made calls around the time of all 12 heists, and that those phones belonged to men named Tony Hewitt and Corey Duffey. A jury eventually...

Investigators identify host factors that help multiple influenza strains thrive and could be targeted for new antiviralsA JOLLA, Calif., December 21, 2009 -- Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham), Mount Sinai School of Medicine (Mount Sinai), the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (Salk) and the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) have identified 295 human cell factors that influenza A strains must harness to infect a cell, including the currently circulating swine-origin H1N1. The team also identified small molecule compounds that act on several of these factors and inhibit viral replication, pointing to new ways to...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 18, 2009 – Iraqi security forces arrested two suspected members of an al-Qaida in Iraq cell responsible for making bombs and attacking government officials during a combined security operation today in western Baghdad. Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors searched a building for a suspected terrorist who allegedly is part of a cell that manufactures magnetic bombs and attaches them to vehicles to kill government officials and those who oppose al-Qaida in Iraq. The security team found a fully assembled bomb, several bomb components and a weapon equipped with a suppressor. Following a preliminary examination of the evidence at...

A man who faced amputation after he broke a leg while rock climbing spoke today of a revolutionary new stem cell technique which fused it back together again. Andrew Kent's right leg broke in five places when a large boulder fell on him as he climbed with his son in the Langdale Pikes in the Lake District in April. He was taken to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle where he underwent three operations to pin the bones back together.

An Australian man who was confined to a wheelchair by multiple sclerosis has made a remarkable recovery after receiving a groundbreaking stem cell treatment. Ben Leahy, 20, was diagnosed with the disease in 2008 and lost the ability to stand within a few months. However, a new procedure to combat the disease has helped him regain his health and he is now walking again.

old information but bears repeating: U.S. DEPT. OF ENERGY 12/12/2008 "Energy Efficient and Renewable Energy Fuel Cells Technology Program Hydrogen Production High-Temperature Water Splitting High-temperature water splitting (a "thermochemical" process) is a long-term technology in the early stages of development. How Does It Work?... The high-temperature heat needed can be supplied by next-generation nuclear reactors under development (up to about 1000°C).. High-Temperature Water Splitting Using Nuclear Energy Why Is This Technology Being Considered for the Hydrogen Economy?... Develop next-generation nuclear reactor technology to supply the high temperatures needed for this process.

BOSTON (Reuters) – Bone marrow transplants, already used to treat some children with sickle cell disease, also may cure some adults with this deadly genetic defect that causes red blood cells to contort, U.S. scientists said on Wednesday. > Destroying a patient's bone marrow and replacing it with healthy marrow from a donor, often a sibling, is considered too risky for adults. > This approach leaves enough space inside the patient's bones for the donated marrow to find a home and produce enough healthy red blood cells to compensate for the defective ones. >

Good grief!

Long story short. I am looking to get a new cordless phone that is bluetooth enabled. This way I can link my cordless phone and my cell phone (i.e. when at home, and without having to do call forward, I can get the cell phone calls on my home phone). I know the Vtech DS6321 is the newest model that I know of that does this, but has one drawback, or is missing one feature that I need. Call Blocking on the phone. My current cordless phone has call blocking on it (Panasonic KX-TGA740), but none of the other features...

Darwin’s theory that species originate via the natural selection of natural variation is correct in principle but wrong in numerous aspects of application. Speciation is not the result of an unlimited naturalistic process but of an intelligently designed system of built-in variation that is limited in scope to switching ON and OFF permutations and combinations of the built-in components. Kirschner and Gerhart’s facilitated variation theory provides enormous potential for rearrangement of the built-in regulatory components but it cannot switch ON components that do not exist. When applied to the grass family, facilitated variation theory can account for the diversification of...