Free Republic

The embattled government trimmed income taxes for 22 million people on Tuesday, as soaring food and fuel bills sent inflation rocketing and dented hopes for more interest rate cuts soon. Higher household bills are creating a headache for increasingly unpopular Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the tax handout came after Labour came third in this month's local elections -- its worst post-war performance on record. "This family tax cut provides support this year for those on middle incomes at a time where they face increased bills," Chancellor Alistair Darling told parliament as he unveiled the surprise tax cuts. Ordinary tax...

A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. "Very few people were true Nazis "he said," but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had...

Dems, GOP together nix Murtha earmark By Susan Crabtree Posted: 05/12/08 06:52 PM [ET] Democrats and Republicans joined together to strip a pet project of Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) from the 2009 intelligence authorization bill — the same project Democrats defended last year. The Murtha earmark, $23 million for the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), was one of a handful of pet projects eliminated from the bill in a lopsided 17-4 vote. Several Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee joined with Republicans to support the amendment, which was sponsored by Rep. Pete Hoekstra (Mich.), the panel’s ranking Republican.

The Senate has given critical approval to legislation to give all police, firefighters and other first responders the right to collective bargaining. The 69-29 procedural vote proves the bill would survive any possible filibuster attempt. The Senate will vote to send the bill to President Bush later this week. . . . Cabinet secretaries say they will suggest he veto the bill. . . .The bill would guarantee public safety officers the right to join unions and bargain over wages, hours and conditions of employment. It also would ban them from going on strike.

The Detroit City Council has taken the first step toward removing Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick over a scandal involving explicit text messages to his former aide. The council's 5-4 vote Tuesday begins a process aimed at removing Kilpatrick. Council members also voted to ask Gov. Jennifer Granholm to remove the mayor and voted to publicly censure him. . . . The mayor's office has said the council's actions are politically motivated. . . . Prosecutors have charged the two with perjury and obstruction of justice.

DETROIT (AP) -- A federal judge in Detroit has dismissed the case of a Muslim woman who sued a judge for demanding she remove her veil in court. The judge ruled Monday against Ginnnah (ZHIN'-nuh) Muhammad's claims that her rights to freedom of religion and court access were violated. Judge Paul Paruk (per-ROOK) requested she remove her veil during a 2006 hearing in the town of Hamtramck (ham-TRA'-mick). She was contesting a $3,000 charge from a rental-car company to repair a vehicle she said thieves had broken into.

It is unfortunate when major media discuss constitutional issues yet exhibit zero understanding of why we have a Constitution and what it means. The latest example is the cover story in USA Today on 12 May, 2008, entitled “Reagan's influence lives on in U.S. courts.” The general premise of the article is absolutely true. The influence of judges appointed by any President extends far beyond his term and often beyond his lifetime. However, the article gets lost in discussing why that’s so, and what it means. In 1,572 words about the interpretation of the Constitution, the article never even uses...

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 05/13/2008 Pelosi: President Should Push OPEC for Increased Production, Abandon His ‘Drill and Veto’ Policies Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement prior to President Bush departing today on a five-day trip to the Middle East, including a stop in Saudi Arabia on Friday: "The White House has indicated that President Bush will push Saudi officials for OPEC to increase production in an effort to bring down prices for American consumers. As the largest oil producer and exporter, Saudi Arabia is uniquely positioned to influence the price...

Obama can't win. It's not that complex, really. He just can't win. A candidate who can't win over his own party certainly can't win over the country. The traits and flaws which make him an unacceptable candidate to roughly a third of Democrats will make him an unacceptable candidate to a majority of Americans. And that's how you lose elections. This isn't meant to bash him, it's just meant to be honest and lay the cards on the table. The nagging question from the Clinton camp -- Why can't he close the deal? -- is legitimate and haunting, and it...

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain called Monday for reductions in carbon emissions and criticized the Bush administration for failing to lead the fight against climate change. "We have many advantages in the fight against global warming, but time is not one of them. … We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great," the Arizona Republican said in a speech delivered at a wind-energy facility in Portland, Ore. "The most relevant question is whether our own government is equal to the challenge." McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, proposed...

How did a freshman nobody senator from Chicago, with little more on his résumé than a 20 year membership in an anti-American church of racism, derail the Clinton juggernaut to become the undeniable front-runner for the Democrat Party Presidential nomination? Who is funding Obama? - Who is voting for him and why? – What does he really believe in? - And why do Hillary Clinton supporters swear they will never support him in a general election? Is Obama an unstoppable locomotive or a train wreck barely clinging to its track? Answers to all of these questions exist. But do any...

WASHINGTON - The Senate has rejected a Republican energy plan that calls for opening an Alaska wildlife refuge and some offshore waters to oil development. Supporters of the measure couldn't get the needed 60 votes to overcome a Democratic-led filibuster threat. Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said more domestic oil production is needed to keep prices in check and to reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports. Opponents said areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and coastal waters that have been off limits to drilling for 25 years ought to remain that out of bounds to oil companies....

Democrats' Budget Agreement Assumes Bush Tax Cuts Will Expire By Andrew Taylor, Associated Press CNSNews.com May 13, 2008 Washington (AP) - Democrats controlling Congress are leaving grim decisions on automatic tax increases to the next president and the newly elected Congress under a freshly negotiated House-Senate blueprint for the upcoming budget year. The fiscal 2009 budget plan worked out in private talks between House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt Jr., D-S.C., and his Senate counterpart, Kent Conrad, D-N.D., awards an approximately 4 percent increase on average to nondefense Cabinet budgets passed by Congress each year. But it makes no effort...

California has always been looked upon across this country and around the globe as the state that leads – in its diversity of communities, its beautiful coastline, its commitment to protecting the environment from the ravages of climate change, its world-renowned public universities and the innovation by its best and brightest minds. However, California's luster has tarnished, today boasting the highest gas prices in the nation, consumers paying top-dollar for groceries and being among the top five states in home foreclosures last year. As if this weren't enough, Californians are about to be sucker-punched again from the effects of an...

AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, with talent on loan from G-d, at the cutting-edge of societal evolution, with half his brain tied behind his back — just to make it fair, the all-knowing, all-caring, all-sensing, all-feeling,...

SAN ANGELO, TX -- Although Texas officials have taken some criticism for removing hundreds of children from a religious compound, the Baptist agency caring for them has earned praise from the most important people: the children themselves. Baptist Child and Family Services, an agency affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, was charged with caring for hundreds of children removed from the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints compound near Eldorado, Texas, in April. They coordinated the children’s care in nearby San Angelo for three weeks, after which 75 moved to the BCFS Youth Ranch near Luling. "You’re nice," a 6-year-old girl...

Under current law, the power to govern public employees and unions is left to the states, including rules for collective bargaining, Right to Work protections, etc. In 23 states, workers have the right to work even if they do not wish to join a union, which is, of course, as it should be. That could all change, however, if the so-called, “Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007,” is enacted into law. The bill – which does anything but promote “employer-employee cooperation,” and actually would endanger “public safety” – has already passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming 314-97...

As man is stabbed to death on Oxford St, knife-carrying thugs will escape with a fine Last updated at 15:04pm on 13th May 2008Thugs found carrying knives should not be jailed under new proposals announced on the day a man died after his throat was slit on London's Oxford Street. Britain's most senior judge, Lord Chief Justice Phillips, says people found with knives for the first time should escape with a community order. The sentence could even be lowered to a fine if there were mitigating circumstances, according to his advice which has been issued to magistrates' courts by the...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Public schools don't violate students' freedom of expression by requiring them to wear uniforms, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Monday. In a 2-1 decision, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Nevada school district's clothing rules against challenges from students, including a high school junior who was suspended five times for a total of 25 days for wearing a T-shirt with religious slogans. The Clark County School District's policies were not intended to squelch free speech, but instead were aimed at "creating an educational environment free from the distractions, dangers and disagreements...

The Marine Hymn should remind us that America has a problem with Islam that dates back to the founding of our nation. Before that, Britain, as our “Mother Country”, dealt with the problem of Islamic state sponsored piracy. Either you paid tribute to the Barbary States or they raided and seized your ships and sailors. You could consider the tribute that was paid the maritime version of the jizya, the tax infidels pay to not be molested by Muslims. The Tripolitan ambassador to London made it clear in a conversation with Thomas Jefferson and John Adams that as Muslims, they...

Hoping to prevent a city bankruptcy that would suspend their union contracts, Vallejo's police, firefighters and rank-and-file employees went public Monday with an offer to cut their salaries and give up raises. Capping months of fiscal agonizing, the City Council voted last week to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy following dire predictions by city staff of imminent insolvency. The petition for bankruptcy is expected to be filed sometime this week, said city spokeswoman Joann West. Only one other city in California - Desert Hot Springs (Riverside County) in 2001 - has gone into bankruptcy. Orange County took the same step...

As a state senator, Gov. Paterson spent $4,500 in campaign money on a woman who bills herself as a "life coach." Sandra Tate, who calls herself a "life coach" and is sometimes known as "Reclaimurlife Diva," got the money in 2006. Paterson aides said she did campaign work; her Web site version is a little more vague. Tate's site says she talks with people who are stressed and - for a fee - gets them to "find out what is holding you back." She describes her sessions like this: "You will get cozy and comfortable, perhaps with a cup of...

Global warming alarmists have frequently attributed extreme weather incidents to manmade global warming, but an NBC Weatherplus.com meteorologist burst “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams’s bubble May 12 when he said recent tornadoes are actually thought to be caused by cooler waters. “[I] talked to three people, casual conversation today, all of them smart saying, ‘I don't know, we must be doing something to our Earth.’ So, once and for all, what’s going on here?” Williams asked meteorologist Bill Karins in an interview about tornadoes that have ravaged parts of the southern United States. But Karins didn’t give any manmade reasons...

Two men raped a mentally retarded teenager in the bathroom at the Brooklyn Public Library's Central branch on Grand Army Plaza on April 14, cops said. According to police, the victim, who suffers from Down Syndrome and cannot communicate verbally, did not indicate to her family that something had happened to her, but her relatives figured out that she was in pain and took her to the hospital. Once there, doctors discovered trauma and other evidence that she had been sexually assaulted, cops said. A spokeswoman for the library said it was unaware of the incident. She said the library...

Backgrounder Canada First Defence Strategy – the four pillarsBG.08.013 - May 12, 2008The future security environment calls for a combat-capable, flexible, multi-role military. Recognizing this, the Canada First Defence Strategy sets out a vision for future operations as well as the funding required to support it. This vision, coupled with committed long-term funding, will allow the Canadian Forces to maintain excellence in operations at home, be a solid partner in continental defence, and fulfill a leadership role abroad. The continued effectiveness and sustainability of the Canadian Forces requires a long-term framework to address demand across the four “pillars� upon which...

In the threadbare border towns of South Texas, one of the country’s poorest regions, enterprising locals like Candelaria Espinoza have long been paid to round up votes for candidates on Election Day. There is even a name for these electoral soldiers of fortune: politiqueras. So when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign arrived in South Texas in February seeking an edge in its uphill battle against Senator Barack Obama, Ms. Espinoza was happy to oblige, for a price. The campaign paid her and seven other members of her family $100 to $200 each to knock on doors, deliver fliers and...

DETROIT - The Detroit City Council has spent weeks debating what to do with scandal-plagued Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick: force his ouster or slap him on the wrist. That talk could lead to action Tuesday when the nine-member group votes on three resolutions that may ultimately remove a defiant Kilpatrick from the office he's held for six years. Council members are to consider three possibilities: Remove Kilpatrick from office themselves, ask Gov. Jennifer Granholm to do it, or publicly censure the mayor. The relationship between the Council and the mayor's office was strained even before revelations earlier this year that he...

Douglas Feith, the former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, has embarked on that most difficult and worthy of voyages: to set the record straight on the run-up to the War in Iraq. Yesterday, his voyage brought him to the Daily Show, deep into the heart of uninformed territory...

Some people think that the reason the public misunderstands so many issues is that these issues are too "complex" for most voters. But is that really so? With all the commotion in the media and in politics about the high price of gasoline, is there really some terribly complex explanation? Is there anything complex about the fact that with two countries-- India and China-- having rapid economic growth, and with combined populations 8 times that of the United States, they are creating an increased demand for the world's oil supply? The problem is not that supply and demand is such...

What do Yucca Mountain and Guantanamo Bay have in common? Well, there's the obvious stuff. Both have Spanish names. Neither is a great spot for a family vacation. And each is under the control of the federal government. Oh, and both are essential tools in wars a lot of people claim they want to win. See, Yucca Mountain is where the government wants to keep incredibly dangerous substances -- nuclear waste -- until we figure out a better way to handle it. And Guantanamo Bay is where the federal government keeps incredibly dangerous people -- jihadi enemy combatants -- until...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ― In a flash, a police officer draws a handgun from its holster. Less than two seconds later, a red laser and bright light shine at whatever is in the gun barrel's path while a mini-camera records it all. That's how mini-cams on police handguns would work under a proposal gaining support in New York, which would be the first state in the nation to require the technology. State police were briefed on the technology and are reviewing it for a possible pilot program, said Michael Balboni, the state's deputy secretary for public safety. The device could...

President Bush said Monday that when he meets Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah later this week, he'll bring up the effect that high oil prices are having on the U.S. and global economies. "Of course I'll bring it up to him," Bush said in a CBS News radio interview. However, he added that the capacity of the Saudis to raise production — and thus help lower prices — is limited. "When you analyze the capacity for countries to put oil on the market it's just not like it used to be," Bush said. "The demand for oil is so high relative...

Airbus parent company EADS says it is expecting further delays in deliveries of the A380 superjumbo, the world's largest passenger jet. In 2008, the company says it will only be able to build 12 of the aircraft instead of a planned 13. In 2009, it will only produce 21 of a planned 25 jets. EADS claims that it has already delivered four A380 aircraft, and 17 others are in production. "Most aircraft earmarked for delivery in 2008 have already flown," the company said in a statement. The company said that details about the new plan and deliveries for 2010 and...

U.S. doesn't need Council's advice on Iran May 13, 2008 STEVE HUNTLEY shuntley.cst@gmail.com Iran's malign influence is ever present in the Middle East. In Iraq, Iranian-made weapons and Iranian-trained forces kill American troops as well as Iraqi soldiers and civilians. So blatant is Iran's destabilizing involvement that Iraqi Shiite politicians historically friendly to Tehran no longer are able to ignore it and have protested to Iran. In Beirut, the Hezbollah terrorists that Iran funds and arms have launched the worst fighting in Lebanon since its civil war. Iran remains the chief funder and arms supplier to Hamas, whose reign in...

"A sad commentary is that when one of these individuals was arrested, he inquired as to whether or not his arrest and incarceration would have an effect on his becoming a federal law enforcement officer," reported the DEA's Ralph Partridge, describing one of the 96 arrestees in the recent San Diego State University drug sweep. It is a sad commentary on many aspects of higher ed, and it gets sadder. Two students have died of drug overdoses on SDSU's campus in the past year. The DEA was surprised by the extent of the campus drug ring, which is believed to...

Behind-the-scenes negotiations are under way at the State Capitol to scuttle a proposal that would gradually eliminate the state income tax, lawmakers said Monday. As an alternative, the Jindal administration and the legislative leadership suggested a $302 million tax break, said state Sen. Buddy Shaw, R-Shreveport. The suggestion is identical to the way Shaw originally drafted Senate Bill 87 with one distinction. The alternative proposal is to phase in the tax break over two years beginning in 2009, a delay that Shaw opposes. Shaw said he does not want taxpayers to have to wait until 2010 — when they file...

Three hot-air balloons dropped asphalt shingles, lumber, sticks, leaves and pine needles onto the Morgan County Landfill near here on Sunday so scientists at The University of Alabama in Huntsville could gather data needed to improve tornado warnings. The payloads dropped by the balloons were similar to the types of debris thrown into the air by tornados that touch the ground. Scientists at UAHuntsville's Earth System Science Center hope the Doppler radar data collected will be a first step toward programming National Weather Service Doppler radar to recognize tornado debris, so more timely and precise tornado warnings might be issued....

DanburyNewsTimesArticle Last Updated: 05/12/2008 04:14:20 AM EDT Lyme disease care under fire Medical groups differ on courses of treatmentConnecticutBy Robert Miller Staff Writer In the battle over how best to treat Lyme disease, a new settlement between Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and a major medical group might seem to offer at least a little hope of expanded treatment for those with the tick-borne disease. That, however, would involve a change in the lines of debate over the disease, and it's not clear there will be any yielding. The settlement, reached this month between Blumenthal and the Infectious Diseases Society of...

Dr. John White is the founder & president of White Technical Research, a consulting firm serving the food and beverage industry for nearly 15 years. He has worked with high fructose corn syrup for more than 25 years, and his expertise has been quoted by numerous news outlets. Organizations such as the American Council on Science and Health in Washington, D.C., the Institute of Food Technologists in Atlanta, and most recently the Corn Refiners Association have turned to him and his expertise on the sweetener for answers. Now, QSR talks with him to set the record straight about the similarities...

Dear Civil Law and Procedure Committee, Re: SB543 On Legislative Continuances Please reject SB543 by Quinn.* This proposed legislation will undermine the Jindal ethics reforms and it will cause serious public embarrassment to the legislature in the near term future. 1) Legislative continuances have a financial value to all legislative-attorneys. Please make sure that all attorneys are in compliance with the ethics rules of this state. 2) The expansion of the legislative continuances perk is hidden because they chose to erase all existing legislation and rewrite it. It takes close scrutiny to see the key changes that expand this policy....

City wants charges dropped against Kecia Powell, who's back on the job Culver Police Chief Kecia Powell, the city's only officer, is back to patroling the streets and writing tickets in the small Jefferson County community. But she's hoping Jefferson County District Attorney Peter Deuel will honor a request to drop the official misconduct charges against her. Powell and her lawyer said Wednesday they plan to file a motion to dismiss the case because of civil compromise. She's accused of paying the bill on her work/personal cell phone with a Culver city credit card. It allegedly happened in February, when...

Chinese inflation rose again last month, defying government hopes and predictions that it had peaked. The headline consumer prices index hit 8.5pc in April, up from 8.3pc in March, with soaring food prices accounting for much of the hike. Inflation fell in March from 8.7pc, leading officials to hope a surge early this year had come to an end. The People's Bank acted immediately to raise the reserve requirement - the ratio to loans banks have to keep on deposit - by half a percentage point to 16.5pc, a record. The government is seriously concerned that the economy is overheating,...

CENTRALIA, Wash. -- When the city of Centralia dedicates a monument on Tuesday to the 1996 visit of President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and their spouses, it will be less about politics than the historical significance of the event. The city will officially unveil the monument, which is already in place at the corner of Tower Avenue and Pine Street, at 6 p.m. Tuesday during a ceremony that is free and open to the public. Everyone involved in the project, from politicians to city staff, say the monument is a commemoration of the fact that the country's two...

The White Chick, the Cool Clique, and the Black DudeKids can be so cruel. Especially those kids in the cool kids' clique. Once they decide that somebody who was cool once is cool no more, there's no limit to what they'll do to get that person out of the clique. They'll shun her, they'll rank on her, they'll make fun of her pants suits, they'll even call her the baddest bad name they can think of -- "Racist." Hillary was a cool kid once, but now she's cool no more. What made her cool -- "She's a chick running for...

I was pretty disturbed eight years ago when Hillary Clinton up and announced she was running for a New York seat in the US Senate. Say what? She didn't even live here after she quit Arkansas. Why didn't she run for the single non-voting District of Columbia House of Representatives seat (in a primary against Eleanor Holmes Norton)? Why? Because Hillary is a monster of ambition. So, Hillary and Bill bought a piece of real estate in Westchester County, NY, and that theoretically qualified her to run for that senate seat. Of course, her move was a huge slap in...

• You say that even if global warming turns out to be no crisis (the World Meteorological Organization says global temperatures have not risen in a decade), even unnecessary measures taken to combat it will be beneficial because "then all we've done is give our kids a cleaner world." But what of the trillions of dollars those measures will cost in direct expenditures and diminished economic growth—hence diminished medical research, cultural investment, etc.? Given that Earth is always warming or cooling, what is its proper temperature, and how do you know? ..excerpted...

The 50 U.S. states are holding more than $32 billion worth of unclaimed property that they're supposed to safeguard for their citizens. But a "Good Morning America" investigation found some states aggressively seize property that isn't really unclaimed and then use the money -- your money -- to balance their budgets. Unclaimed property consists of things like forgotten apartment security deposits, uncashed dividend checks and safe-deposit boxes abandoned when an elderly relative dies. Banks and other businesses are required to turn that property over to the state for safekeeping. The problem is that the states return less than a quarter...

The President and First Lady returned to the White House yesterday after attending their daughter Jenna's wedding at their ranch in Crawford, Texas. See Daisy's Sunday ping for photos of the event. Today the First lady attended and spoke at Senate Spouses luncheon at the White House and also congratulated the recipients of the 2008 Preserve America Presidential Awards. Pray for President Bush -- Day 2797 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attended a meeting with members of the Advisory Committee on Democracy Promotion at the State Department and also attended the swearing in of Goli Ameri as Assistant Secretary of...

For the last 28 years, Democrats in Congress and a few Republicans have again and again opposed our drilling for oil in Alaska's ANWR area when we knew it contained at least 10 billion barrels of oil we could be using now.• For the past 31 years, Congress repeatedly prevented us from building any new oil refineries that we now badly need. • More recently, congressional Democrats defeated and discouraged any bill that would let us drill in the deep sea 100 miles out. However, it's somehow OK for China to drill there. • As a further indictment of our...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ― In a flash, a police officer draws a handgun from its holster. Less than two seconds later, a red laser and bright light shine at whatever is in the gun barrel's path while a mini-camera records it all. That's how mini-cams on police handguns would work under a proposal gaining support in New York, which would be the first state in the nation to require the technology. State police were briefed on the technology and are reviewing it for a possible pilot program, said Michael Balboni, the state's deputy secretary for public safety. The device could...