Free Republic

NPR's Morning Edition featured a very interesting interview with Chairman Barney Frank this morning. In it he asserted that the $25 billion that the Big 3 is now seeking is definitely not enough to keep the companies going, and it will be followed by tens of billions more if the companies come up with a 'plan' that seems promising. Although if you listen to the interview, he gets awfully agitated at the NPR host for trying to hone in on this point: ****************** Steve Inskeep: I want to ask you about something mentioned in that report from an economist from...

This coming Monday, September 29, homeschool parents will be able to pick up a complimentary tall size (12 fl. oz.) cup of Pike Place Roast from Starbucks. This promotion is part of Starbucks “Great Start for Great Teachers” promotion, and is now open to all teachers. HSLDA intervened when we were alerted that homeschool parents were not included in the promotion. We are pleased that Starbucks is recognizing the contribution of homeschool parents by extending their program to us. In order to pick up your free cup of Pike Place Roast you will need to present evidence that you are...

Reader A.F. e-mails the chart of the day. He writes: “Michelle, I work peripherally for the insurance industry and get the industry’s magazine National Underwriter. The May 8 issue contains a cover story titled: “Workers Comp for Illegal Aliens Sparks Debate Among the States.” A box within the text describes which states already provide WC for illegal aliens: “CA, FL, NV, NY, TX and UT expressly include illegal aliens in the WC coverage” —- UTAH??? So you can come to the US, work illegally, complain of headaches caused by a little slip and fall and you can go on drinking...

What did Chamberlain do? What is appeasement? And what happened to John McCain's arms? One of the little election year mini-dramas making the Internet rounds is of MSNBC's Chris Matthews' insistent questioning of talk show host Kevin James over the issue of appeasement. "What did Chamberlain do?" Matthews asks his Hardball guest repeatedly. Mr. James was unable to answer with historical specifics. As it happens, I've met Mr. Matthews, spending an afternoon with him several years ago at his MSNBC office in the company of a friend who was interviewing him for a profile in the Financial Times. The article...

John McCain's Navy Flight Instructor Weighs In International Politics [This is a DumpMcCain.com/SiaNews.com EXCLUSIVE] May 19, 2008 Greetings! I was John McCain's Navy Flight Instructor --- in formation tactics and air-to-air-gunnery. I could write a book about this man. Suffice to state, I shudder (and I'm fearless) at the nightmare thought of this man becoming our next President and Commander in Chief. I am not alone as to this man's former shipmates, instructors and senior officers --- as to who and what this man is really all about. Although politics is really theater and the best performing actor gets to...

A Dallas man died early Wednesday morning when he accidentally jumped to his death off an overpass following a traffic accident, police said. Chalk Hill Road and West Davis Street Richard Mauricio Jr., 19, crashed into another car at Chalk Hill Road and West Davis Street around 2:30 a.m., said Dallas police Senior Cpl. Jerry Monreal. The other driver told police that Mr. Mauricio then got out of the car and ran west on Davis Street. He jumped over a railing and plummeted to his death. Senior Cpl. Monreal said it’s hard to tell that there is such a drop...

Federal immigration officials raided an Iowa meatpacking plant this month... Nearly 400 of the plant's 900 employees were arrested on immigration charges. Do you feel safer? Ever since immigration reform died in Congress last year, the Bush Administration has made a show of stepping up enforcement. But do homeland security officials really have nothing better to do than raid businesses that hire willing workers – especially in states like Iowa, where the jobless rate is 3.5%? These immigrants are obviously responding to a labor shortage for certain jobs. Giving them a legal way to enter the country would free up...

In the face of mounting controversy over headline-grabbing statements from Pastor John Hagee, CNN has learned presumptive Republican nominee John McCain has decided to reject his endorsement.

John McCain's campaign is using their campaign website to encourage supporters to post supportive comments on political blogs, including the most well-known liberal site in the blogosphere. And to make things easier, they're including talking points with which sympathizers can use to get out the McCain message. "Select from the numerous web, blog and news sites listed here, go there, and make your opinions supporting John McCain known," instructs the page. McCain supporters are asked to send the details of their comment to the campaign, which in turn will verify it and then reward the supporter with "points" (assumedly to...

Rush for 23-cent pizzas closes Papa John's stores Chain seeks police help at 6 local shops Thursday, May 8, 2008 9:34 AM Updated: Thursday, May 8, 2008 05:24 PM THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Overwhelmed by the response to a promotion offering 23-cent pizzas, Papa John's closed its Columbus stores before dinner today. Columbus Police officers were called before 5 p.m. to help close the pizza shops because of concerns that the large crowds could become unruly, said Amanda Ford, a police spokeswoman. She said there are about 20 Papa John's locations in the city, but officers were beginning by assisting at...

After facing a barrage of criticism, the state backed off plans yesterday to require low-income patients to pay the equivalent of a small insurance premium before they get free care at hospitals. But in a compromise plan intended to reduce dependence on the state's free-care pool, care will no longer be completely free for the lowest-income patients. Starting Dec. 1, the rules will require small copayments of $1 or $3 on prescriptions for all eligible patients. Those with an income between 101 percent and 200 percent of the poverty level will face copayments of $5 for a hospital office visit,...

Rip It Good - nuke slywalker's website of the week... Because The Best Things In Life Are Free - el nuko... Mr. Subliminal Rides Again - More photo controversy from Lebanon - duke of nuke... Pakistan Is The key - nuke gingrich...

"Well, excuse me for seeming dense, but I don't see a lot of ruthlessness going on here. I see us being played for chumps again on a Friday evening. Everyone else is already home getting ready to party! We're stuck here waiting for that bloody UPS guy to show up..'...sometime between now and 7:30, sir...'. If we get any more ruthless, we'll have to volunteer to deliver hot meals to old folks..." The boss laughed and scratched his nose. "I can see how this is cutting into your weekend, so let me explain ruthlessness while we're waiting to load out...

Angelides promises health care for all children if elected Schwarzenegger camp says enrollment, spending are up for Medi-Cal and Healthy Families programs By Greg Risling ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides on Friday promised to provide health care for all of California's children if elected by closing corporate tax loopholes and tax breaks given to those who earn more than $500,000. Standing with a group of parents and their children outside a health center in East Los Angeles, Angelides gave brief details about his plan, which he believes would provide health care insurance for children, reduce...

Free songs and videos for your iPod READ MORE: Free, Music, Video, Video iPod, iPod If you’ve gotten a new video iPod to pass the time on a daily commute, you’ve probably noticed that filling it up with content from the iTunes Music store can get expensive. There are free options out there. Every week the iTunes store gives away a song but it can get tedious keeping up. Lucky for us, someone has created a blog linking to every free song available for download each week, complete with a feed to notify you of updates. For video, you can...

Got a call from my brother in the Bay area, telling me that he saw some people circulating 2 petitions. Petition 1 was a petition to raise the cigarette tax another 7.5cents. Petition 2 was a petition to raise taxes on everyone making over $400,000 to pay for "free" pre-school. He wants to know if anyone knows about these petitions and who is circulating them? He's working now and is not able to go online. If anyone has any information on these or any other CA petitions being circulated, please post it here. Thanks in advance.

French give away 400,000 bottles of wine From correspondents in Narbonne July 14, 2005 From: Agence France-Presse WINE growers in southern France, eager to alert holidaymakers to the crisis hitting the industry, will hand out 400,000 bottles later this month at toll booths and along rural roads in the region. Wines produced in the Aude department - in and around Narbonne and Carcassonne - as well as those made in the Languedoc will be given out, especially to tourists vacationing in the Aude, the wine producers' union said. The free bottles will bear special labels extolling the virtues of the...

Being a member of congress used to be a part-time job held by our society’s most successful individuals who wanted to preserve the free society they so enjoyed. Now it is a life long career for people who can’t do anything else, the proverbial brass ring, like hitting the lottery. No matter how humble your beginnings, once elected, you are forever rich, forever powerful and forever respected, at least by some. Overseeing our nation’s security interests, our infrastructure, protecting and defending our Constitution and way of life, these things do not demand the full-time attention of our elected officials, nor...

The Mozilla Foundation has released the first version of Sunbird, its standalone calendar application, for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Sunbird 0.2 offers various features, including the ability to create scheduled events and to see an overview of events on a particular day, week or month. The calendar can be shared by publishing it to a WebDAV (World Wide Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning)-capable server. WebDAV is a set of extensions to the basic HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) underlying the Web, enabling people to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote Web servers. The Sunbird application is available for...

IN SEPTEMBER, when Oprah Winfrey returned for her 19th season, we were told that something big was up. Speculation ran rampant. Was she building schools in Africa? Mounting another pro-literacy campaign? Curing cancer? Instead, the talk-show diva descended into her studio audience and declared, "You've got a car! You've got a car! You've got a car!" All 276 members of her studio audience received brand new Pontiacs valued at $28,000 US apiece. People went nuts. Last month -- neatly timed near the end of sweeps -- Oprah Claus gave away another $15,000 to each and every studio audience member, this...