Free Republic

Karl Rove can stare down special prosecutors, intimidate rivals and dispatch Democratic presidential nominees to deep oblivion, but he's no match for the frugal wiper. Getting downwind of Sheryl Crow could be everybody's nightmare. Miss Crow is a pop singer of some repute, as such reputations go, but like a lot of dance-hall glitteries she wants to do bigger things than sing songs about old boyfriends who dumped her. She's busy at the moment trying to cool down the globe, having just completed a transcontinental bus tour with her gal pal, a Los Angeles housewife named Laurie David, promising bemused...

Without exactly being like Mike, Sen. John McCain yesterday join-ed Mayor Bloomberg in calling global warming a reality to be dealt with by weaning the U.S. off Mideast oil. "The world is already feeling the powerful effects of global warming," McCain said in calling for caps on carbon emissions, and "the problem isn't some Hollywood invention." The Arizona Republican did not directly address Bloomberg's environmental plan, which includes $8 tolls on cars south of 86th St. But a McCain spokesman said the mayor and the senator were in sync on facing up to a greenhouse gas effect that many in...

It's only been a couple of days and I'm already sick of the "controversy" surrounding Karl Rove and his interaction with Sheryl Crow and Laurie David at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Maybe a few facts would get us back on the road to dealing with what really matters in this world. This is a manufactured "controversy," and it stinks of opportunism. 1). The White House Correspondents Dinner is an event in which people from the media and the world of politics gather for a meal, some entertainment, and networking with friends and associates. 2). "Global Warming" is what's commonly...

The same food safety net that could not catch poisoned pet food ingredients from China has a much bigger hole. Billions of dollars worth of foreign ingredients that Americans eat in everything from salad dressing to ice cream get a pass from overwhelmed inspectors, despite a rising tide of imports from countries with spotty records, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal trade and food data. -snip- Over the past five years, the AP found, U.S. food makers prospecting for bargains more than doubled their business with low-cost countries such as Mexico, China and India. Those nations also have...