Free Republic

It makes one wonder what makes Al Gore leave his palatial mansion with the giant carbon footprint, take a gas guzzling limo, to his private plane and spread CO2 all across the world just to promote the global warming hoax. It can't be that he actually believes the distorted research he peddles. If that was the case, he wouldn't be such a major polluter. Maybe it has something to do with protecting his investment. After all, he is founder and chairman of a venture capital company that has invested about $1 billion in companies that just might make a bundle...

An 8-year-old Saudi girl has divorced her middle-aged husband after her father forced her to marry him last year in exchange for about $13,000, her lawyer said Thursday. Saudi Arabia has come under increasing criticism at home and abroad for permitting child marriages. The United States, a close ally of the conservative Muslim kingdom, has called child marriage a "clear and unacceptable" violation of human rights. The girl was allowed to divorce the 50-year-old man who she married in August after an out-of-court settlement had been reached in the case, said her lawyer, Abdulla al-Jeteli. The exact date of the...

Second Lt. Mohammed, an Iraqi Army platoon leader assigned to 3rd Battalion, 40th Iraqi Army Brigade, coaches his Soldiers through a room clearing exercise during a three-day joint training exercise with their American counterparts from 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division on Forward Operating Base Cedar, Iraq. Photo by 1st Lt. Patrick Dunn. FORWARD OPERATING BASE CEDAR — Iraqi Army (IA) Soldiers here recently underwent three days of intense training overseen by their U.S. counterparts. The 40th IA Brigade Soldiers were instructed by U.S. 1st Cavalry Division Soldiers on various tactical formations, including entering...

For well over a century, socialists, progressives, and even many Christians have railed against the capitalist exploitation of workers. They denounce capitalists—whether the Carnegies and Fricks of yesteryear or the Nikes of today—for paying low wages for hard work. Their antagonism toward individual and corporate targets is misplaced. The inexorable law of supply and demand, not greedy exploiters, determines wages. When the supply of labor exceeds capital’s demand for labor, wages are low. Carnegie could pay low wages because if Smith wasn’t willing to work for a pittance, Jones was. Why? Because those low wages were superior to Jones’ other...

ATLANTA – Malika Garrett, 43, and her husband, Russell Garrett, 43, a former Forsyth County, Georgia, Deputy Sheriff, both of Woodstock, Georgia, pleaded guilty Friday to charges of harboring and exploiting their illegal alien nanny. Malika Garrett and Russell Garrett both pleaded guilty to one count of harboring an alien for private financial gain, and Malika Garrett pleaded guilty to an additional count of making a false statement to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said of the case, “Harboring illegal immigrant domestic workers and causing them...

Please take a minute and go to http://www.cnn.com/showbiztonight and vote on the question of the day: Sarah Palin's New Interview: Did Tina Fey and Katie Couric exploit her? As we all know, the media did all it could during the elections to assassinate Gov. Palin's character. We need to make sure to vote on this and let CNN know that we're not part of the brain-washed masses who believe every word the liberal media puts out.

Emma Watson says she is at that strange age when she’s “not a woman yet, but I’m not a girl anymore.” At 18 years old, the “Harry Potter” starlet – whom the Times of London calls “tiny and pretty and delightfully brought up” – is clearly poised for adulthood, and even says she would go naked in a film for the right role.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2008 – President Bush warned today that terrorists could use the government transition under way as an opportunity to attack, and urged his staff to give the incoming administration the support it needs to “hit the ground running.” Bush addressed members of his Cabinet, including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, and executive office staffers on the South Lawn of the White House. Terrorists might be tempted to take advantage of the first U.S. wartime presidential transition in four decades, he warned. “We're in a struggle against violent extremists determined to attack us, and they would like...

Look at the group of teachers and adults smiling in the background. No wonder homeschooling is so prevalent. There's no chance those kids have any idea of what they are singing about! My first response was Hitler youth.

RUSH: Folks, I got the most incredible sound bites for you. Kids in North Korea and Cuba, in Saddam Hussein's old Iraq and other regimes, were taught to sing songs to their leaders. There's a video out that says that the...? Where it was shot? In fact, I tell you. You know what? Since I brought it up, go ahead and grab the bites. It's 36, 37, 38. The beginning of the video says that the video "took place in a neighbor's house in Venice, California Venice, as if it were some kind of spontaneous grassroots effort by a bunch...

New Haven (AP) _ A family of Ecuadorean immigrants has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the owners of a New Haven bakery shop where they worked of sexually and verbally abusing them for years. They also allege the owners refused to pay the minimum wage or overtime and threatened to deport them if they complained. The unusual lawsuit by undocumented immigrants was filed earlier this month under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Olger Nestor Urena Flores and members of his family are making the allegations against Antonio DiBenedetto and his wife, Anna, who own Rocco's Bakery in New Haven and...

Camelot has withdrawn its short-lived "Cool Cash" scratchcard after it required a higher than absolute zero grasp of how numbers work to understand it. According to the Manchester Evening News, to qualify for a prize, punters had to "scratch away a window to reveal a temperature lower than the figure displayed on each card". Sadly, as the card had a decidedly wintery theme, this initially-shown figure was often below zero. Cue anarchy, as Camelot was beseiged by "dozens" of confused customers who thought they'd won, but suffered a "computer says no" snub. Among these was Levenshulme's Tina Farrel, a 23-year-old...

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani has been criticised over a fundraising party at which participants are being urged to donate $9.11. The International Association of Fire Fighters accuses him of exploiting the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. Mr Giuliani rose to national prominence as New York's mayor on 9/11. The Giuliani campaign says it did not plan the event, which is due to take place on Wednesday evening in California at the home of a supporter. Nevertheless, the firefighters association said the stated theme of the fundraiser - "$9.11 for Rudy" was in poor taste. "It is nothing short of...

[C]arriers have introduced a variety of fees to reach even deeper into customers' pockets. Some, like Northwest Airlines, are charging as much as $15 for coach passengers to reserve a more leg-friendly aisle seat. Others, like American Airlines, are charging up to $15 for changes to seat assignments that aren't made online.

WASHINGTON - As he tries to explain how he'll cope with the return of his wife's cancer, presidential hopeful John Edwards is opening up about another family struggle — the death of his teenage son Wade 11 years ago. His family life suddenly in the spotlight, Edwards has responded by speaking about an experience bound to bring him sympathy, humanize his campaign and focus on perseverance after tragedy. The discussion began last Thursday when John and Elizabeth Edwards announced her breast cancer had spread to her bone. It continued Saturday when Edwards was asked if he could balance the campaign...

http://www.oem.com.mx/elsoldemexico/notas/n64985.htm Our borders have been turned into "land of nobody",Nuestras fronteras se han vuelto tierra de nadie the consul of Guatemala in Tapachula, mister Melvin Valdez, denounced that the migrant Guatemalans suffer exploitation during its step by Mexico... http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.oem.com.mx/elsoldemexico/notas/n64985.htm/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dguatemala%2Bguatemalteco%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D

A Democrat community leader who would "offer a homily during worship services" and facilitated his congregation's "opening our doors to all people regardless of sexual orientation" has been given a slap on the hand after pleading guilty to extensive child pornography offenses involving children as young as six. Authorities say Andrew Douglas Reed, 53, who reported for an abbreviated jail term just a few weeks ago, had pleaded guilty to a page-long list of counts of 2nd-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. Court records in the Asheville, N.C., case said he admitted that he would "record, develop and duplicate material...

Madonna has said that she does not want to be a wife and a mother. And she confessed her older children, Lourdes, 10, and Rocco, six, complain that she neglects them. The controversial star made the startling admission just three weeks after creating a worldwide furore by adopting little David Banda in Malawi. It came as she was quizzed on American TV about her six-year marriage with British film director Guy Ritchie. Speaking on NBC-TV's Dateline programme, which is similar to Newsnight, she laughed with interviewer Meredith Vieira who said: "Six years... and they said it wouldn't last." Then Madonna...

China to double its aid to Africa The African leaders are being given a warm welcome China has pledged to double its aid to Africa and provide $5bn in loans and credits over the next three years. Chinese President Hu Jintao made the announcement as he opened a summit in Beijing attended by nearly 50 African heads of state and ministers. The summit is focusing on business with more than 2,000 deals under discussion. African leaders welcome their booming trade links with China, but critics accuse Beijing of dealing with repressive regimes. Beijing says it is just doing business and...

Rosa Brooks: No Escaping Sexualization of Young Girls With JonBenet back in the headlines, it's hard for a parent to avoid paranoia. August 25, 2006 IT'S BEEN a good week for the media, and a bad week for parents. The arrest of former schoolteacher John Mark Karr in the slaying of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey launched a flurry of excited stories about pedophiles, child abduction and murder. The cable news stations could hardly hide their glee, and even the New York Times joined in. In a two-part series on pedophilia, the newspaper reported that many pedophiles now use Internet...