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The tale of the turbulent year since Barack Obama's historic election win is told by his evolving political theme: once he promised "Change We Can Believe In" and now he warns that "change is hard". On November 4, 2008, Obama bathed in the adoration of a crowd of tens of thousands in a Chicago park, after beating Republican John McCain to the presidency in an election that promised to reshape his nation. They chanted "Yes we can" on that clear hope-filled night in Obama's hometown, and tears streamed down thousands of cheeks as the president-elect proclaimed America was still a...

Swine flu is causing unprecedented illness for so early in the fall — including a worrisome count of child deaths — and the government warned Friday that vaccine supplies will be even more scarce than expected through this month.

In an interview with NY1, aspiring New York Senator Caroline Kennedy states her case. "I think that I have relationships in Washington that I would like to put to work," Kennedy told NY1 political anchor Dominic Carter. "I helped run the vice presidential search for Barack Obama. I have a good working relationship with him. I want to be able to be a part of the team that uses all my relationships." Of reports that she had missed voting in several elections, Kennedy said she was “dismayed” to learn that. "There isn’t a good excuse," she said. The oldest daughter...

Doctors say it's amazing that a 41-year-old Tampa-area woman survived after someone shot her right between the eyes while she was riding in her boyfriend's pickup truck. Doctors think she was hit with a .44-caliber bullet that broke in two pieces, each traveling under her skin and exiting behind her ears last weekend. She was released from the hospital hours later with just stitches. The woman says two cars started following their truck Saturday night and the occupants began yelling at them. At a traffic light, someone in one of the cars stood up in the sunroof and started shooting...

AS the fires roared across the region this week, so did California's governor. Arnold Schwarzenegger zipped from Malibu to Orange County to San Diego to Santa Clarita to Lake Arrowhead, and then back again. He visited fire-command and evacuation centers. He got briefings on firefighting efforts from local officials. He personally thanks fire crews. On Thursday, he played guide to President George W. Bush, who toured the devastation. And if the governor was working hard during this time, so was his image-making machine - making sure each and every one of his good deeds were duly noted by the media....

DENVER, Oct. 24, 2007 – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen yesterday heard some hard truths when he asked hundreds of soldiers about their service. “All I want to do is start a family, buy a house and have some stability,” an Army captain ready to leave the service to better meet the needs of his family said in Fort Sill, Okla. “We need something better. That’s just not good enough,” another captain said of the 12-month home-station time between deployments. Still another young officer said he was planning to end his military service,...

SAMARRA — Paratroopers from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, have been patrolling and operating in Samarra for more than one year and recently supported the Iraqi security forces in a clearing operation to rid the city of the al-Qaida presence terrorizing Samarra and its citizens. The operation was dubbed “Operation Jalil” in honor of Col. Jalil Nahi Hasoun, Samarra’s former police chief, who was killed May 6, 2007, during a suicide car bomb attack. The operation led Maj. Gen. Rashid al-Helfy, commander of Iraqi security forces in Samarra, his men, and paratroopers of Company C to the...

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2007 – Legislators serving in the Iraqi Council of Representatives have accomplished much in the body’s first year of existence, but additional important and difficult decisions still need to be made, according to a Multinational Force Iraq statement. “The council’s most important work lies ahead of it,” officials said in a statement the command released yesterday. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, who took command of the Baghdad-based command on Feb. 10, is the architect of the current surge of U.S. and Iraq forces into Baghdad and parts of western Iraq to tamp down insurgent violence and...

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2007 – The hard work U.S. troops are doing in Iraq is “laying the foundations of peace for generations to come,” President Bush told soldiers and family members today at Fort Irwin, Calif. “The work that you have volunteered to do will have a lasting impact on the world in which we live,” the president told the troops. By helping Iraq become a country that can sustain, defend and govern itself -- and become an ally in the war on terror -- the U.S. military will have delivered a significant blow to those who want to...

Only a few days have passed since Hillary Clinton announced she is running for president, but already it is clear that much forbearance will be required from us all in the long months ahead. This is not just because Mrs Clinton has started wearing ominous pastels and smiling a lot, or appeared to enjoy a joke apparently about her husband's sexcapades in the White House — although these things do, of course, matter. No, what is so lowering about Hillary and her rush for power is the merciless, unapologetic, chisel-eyed way she has pursued her presidential ambitions over the past...

CINCINNATI - Ohio's rules for primary elections make it too hard for minor parties to get on the ballot, a federal appeals court ruled. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel said the primary requirements allow the Republican and Democratic parties to monopolize general elections. Ohio "is among the most restrictive, if not the most restrictive, state in granting minor parties access to the ballot," the ruling said. Parties automatically qualify for the primary ballot if their candidate for governor or president received at least 5 percent of the vote in the previous Ohio election. Any other party must...

Clinton says Bush years 'hard on science'By Mark Pratt, Associated Press Writer July 23, 2006 BOSTON --New York Sen. Hillary Clinton said Sunday that scientific and medical advances in fields including embryonic stem cell research are being held back by a White House that puts ideology and theology ahead of facts and evidence. "The last 5 1/2 years have been hard on science ... and particularly hard because of the president's veto last week," Clinton told 5,000 attendees at the World Transplant Congress in Boston. **SNIP** Clinton, a potential Democratic candidate for president in 2008, said science is being politicized...

GOVT.'S NEW DRIVING TEST INSANELY TOUGH YOU'LL NEED AN ADVANCED DEGREE TO PASS IT! By MIKE FOSTER WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In a move it says will "save tens of thousands of lives annually," the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing stiff new requirements for driver's licenses -- including a written exam so mindbendingly difficult, you'll need an advanced degree to pass it! Capitol Hill insiders expect the proposal to be swiftly adopted by Congress, which is working toward the creation of a national driver's license. "To put it bluntly, there are too many idiots out there driving," explained highway...

Think Pompeii got hit hard? Worse eruptions lurk By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent Mon Mar 6, 5:03 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The preserved footprints and abandoned homes of villagers who fled a giant eruption of Mount Vesuvius 3,800 years ago show the volcano could destroy modern-day Naples with little warning, Italian and U.S. researchers reported on Monday. The eruption buried entire villages as far as 15 miles (25 kilometres) from the volcano, cooking people as they tried to escape and dumping several feet (metres) of ash and mud. New excavations show far more extensive damage than that...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger conceded Sunday that getting drugs out of the bodybuilding sport he loves so dearly will be close to impossible. "I think it's very challenging to really bust people," he said. "Sometimes you do, but it's a rarity. Because you know when you look at the performances, no matter what sport it is, people take something. But to detect it is really the other question." The Republican governor's comments came at the end of his three-day trip here to preside over the annual Arnold Sports Festival. ---snip-- Schwarzenegger is not a purist and his position...

Same source: Persistent themes in art suggest an evolutionary adaptation. We, as well as the ancient Greeks, admire the Hermes of Praxiteles, above Hardwired to seek beauty Denis Dutton January 13, 2006 THROUGHOUT history and across cultures, the arts of homo sapiens have demonstrated universal features. These aesthetic inclinations and patterns have evolved as part of our hardwired psychological nature, ingrained in the human species over the 80,000 generations lived out by our ancestors in the 1.6 million years of the Pleistocene. The existence of a universal aesthetic psychology has been suggested, not only experimentally, but by the fact that...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Jan. 19, 2006) -- Since December 1997, he has flown off the coast of Macedonia and over the deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq, during four deployments. He has progressed from a lance corporal to a sergeant who holds all the flight qualifications and designations of the CH-46 Sea Knight. He is trusted as the most dependable crew chief instructor by his squadron’s commanding officer. Sergeant Daniel Wilson, a quality assurance representative with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 266, is currently serving in a staff noncommissioned officer billet and represents the Fighting Griffins for combat meritorious staff sergeant at...

FALLUJAH, Iraq (Dec. 14, 2005) -- A maxim exists in Marine Corps infantry platoons and loosely paraphrased, it goes something like this: if squad leaders falter, freeze or fail, all the paper-smart strategic plans made by higher headquarters are worthless. Cpl. Chris W. Adair, a 20-year-old native of Custer County, Colo., knows about this adage from experience. He is one of many veteran squad leaders with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines Regiment, between the ages of 20 and 22, who are on their second deployment to Iraq. This is the third Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment for the Marine Corps Air Ground...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2005 – Initial reports indicate that hostile fire caused two CH-47 Chinook helicopters to make hard landings Dec. 4 in southern Afghanistan, officials reported today. Officials initially reported Dec. 4 that one heavily damaged helicopter made a hard landing north of Kandahar, wounding five American soldiers. The other Chinook made a hard landing at a forward operating base south of Tarin Kowt, in Uruzgan province, wounding an Afghan National Army soldier, officials noted. The Afghan soldier is in stable condition at a nearby U.S. military treatment facility. The five U.S. soldiers are also reported in stable condition...

Try to balance the national budget! very interseting try the long version http://www.nathannewman.org/nbs/

CAMP SLAYER, Iraq — They’ve been called the forgotten few. But to Sgt. Tonja Jackson, the Headquarters Platoon exists to ensure the soldiers of the 69th Signal Company are not forgotten when it comes to promotions, leave and a number of requirements that keep an Army unit going. As the administrative noncommissioned officer-in-charge, Jackson would appear to be a person out of her element. She is a cable dog, and she admits missing the physical work of running communications lines. When the company headquarters was being set up, lines had to be installed and Jackson said, “I took off my...

SACRAMENTO – In his first year in office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proven to be a reliable ally for the state's businesses, vetoing all bills that were on the California Chamber of Commerce "job killers" list and almost always siding with businesses when legislation pitted them against consumers or the environment. Last year, he vetoed legislation to increase the minimum wage and promised to do the same this year. He sides with the majority of voters, who don't like the idea of giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, promising to veto such legislation a second time in a row. Among...

Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn: 1) The bandage was wound around the wound. 2) The farm was used to produce produce. 3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse. 4) We must polish the Polish furniture. 5) He could lead if he would get the lead out. 6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. 7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present. 8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum. 9) When...

Because of inadequate documentation supplied by the LAUSD, an independent monitor said Monday that he cannot determine how much money the district has spent on court-ordered improvements to its special-education programs. Monitor Carl Cohn said he wants to meet with Los Angeles Unified School District officials to determine how much of the $67.5 million the district has pledged to spend has actually gone toward access ramps and other improvements. In a highly critical progress report released Friday, Cohn wrote he had "serious concerns about the reported expenditures" and wants district officials to explain what they've done to comply with the...

N.C. study: Germs can't fight soap, water Researchers test hand-washing methods The Associated Press Posted on Sat, Mar. 12, 2005 CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Mom was right. A new study by infection-control specialists at UNC Hospitals confirms that the best way to get germs off your hands is with plain old soap and water. The researchers tested 14 hand-hygiene agents plus tap water against specific bacteria and viruses applied to the hands of 62 adult volunteers. Soap and water, or microbial soap and water, proved the most effective at removing viruses and bacteria. "Based on these findings, I'd put my...

JERUSALEM - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) said Sunday that Israel has some "hard decisions" to make as it moves toward peace with the Palestinians and the creation of a neighboring democracy. On her first trip to the Middle East since taking over at the State Department, Rice also urged both sides to live up to their promises. "This is a hopeful time, but it is a time also of great responsibility for all of us to make certain that we act on the words that we speak," Rice said before meeting with Israel's prime minister,...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

A New Hurricane: The National Weather Service has issued a warning for yet another catastrophic hurricane following on the heels of Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. The path of this hurricane zigs and zags, and is therefore highly unpredictable. Experts predict that this one will cause the most damage to the United States that we have experienced in four years. They are naming this one Hurricane Kerry. Be advised, the only way for citizens to protect themselves is by being behind a Bush.

Much discussed among computer circles is the so-called end of Moore's Law and its predictions of ever-smaller, faster circuits. Less known is a challenge facing the next generation of hard disk drives: lubricant coatings that can hold up to faster speeds and denser data. Perfluoropolyethers (PFPEs), the current industry standard, are running up against the polymer's limits in protecting hard drives against daily wear and tear. So University of Illinois PhD candidate Wei Xiao developed an entirely new lubricant, based on inexpensive and abundant polyester. She presented her work today for the first time at the 228th national meeting of...

Speaking of the Opera, I guess if you want Music Director Donald Runnicles to stick around, you'd better vote for John Kerry in November. The Scottish maestro, in Salzburg to conduct Korngold's "Die Tote Stadt," told an interviewer from the Austrian paper Der Standard that the outcome of the presidential election could determine whether he stays in the United States: "I would really have to think about whether I could stay there [the United States] if Bush wins a second time," he said. "The American people can make a mistake once, but if they re-elect him, then they actually want...

For those who think that there is too much money in politics (and think most of it is Republican) there is just one word -- Soros. That is George Soros, the left-wing radical billionaire who has pledged to personally spend tens of millions of dollars to try to unseat George Bush in 2004. Defeating the Bush administration -- which he recklessly likened to Nazis and communists -- has become an obsessive focus of Soros life. His recent $10 million contribution to the new Democrat activist group America Coming Together was the largest single donation from an individual in history. Soros...

Democrats have built a soft-money lifeboat After battling with all their might for the soft-money ban that is included in the McCain-Feingold bill, the Democrats, led by Bill and Hillary Clinton, are subverting the purpose of the legislation, consigning it to the dustbin of campaign-finance reforms. After McCain-Feingold passed, a funny thing happened. The Democrats discovered they weren’t as good as Republicans are at raising hard money. At $2,000 per person, they could only come up with $66.5 million through the end of September of this year. In the same period, the Republicans raised $158 million. So the Democratic Party,...

<p>November 25, 2003 -- THE Democratic Party is being replaced by a new group called "Americans Coming Together," which has been launched with two $10 million donations from financier George Soros and Peter B. Lewis, chairman of the Progressive Corporation. The new organization wants to raise $94 million to finance a massive campaign against Bush - all with soft money. The Democratic Party, which is only allowed to raise hard money (donations limited to $2,000 per person) by the McCain-Feingold law is unable to amass the resources necessary for a national campaign, so it is ceding the main role to Americans Coming Together.</p>

On 07-19-03 I posted an article about how I was concerned about Foxnews. Then on 07-30-03 I posted another article about how great it was to see Bob Sellers, Neil Cavuto, and David Hunt tell it like it is! On 08-02-03 I posted an article wishing Bob Sellers Brother in Law good luck fighting and searching for weapons in Iraq Then on 08-05-03 I posted a transcript of Ann Coulters appearance on Hannity and Colmes along with The Asman Observeror and Davids debate with a woman who supported gay leaders in the church. Lets start off with the Asman Observor...

    'Cleaned' hard drives reveal secrets   14:32 16 January 03 Will Knight   Discarded and recycled computer drives can reveal financial and personal information even when apparently wiped clean, MIT researchers have found. Simson Garfinkel and Abhi Shelat, graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, analysed 158 second hand hard drives bought over the internet between November 2000 and August 2002. They were able to recover over 6000 credit card numbers, as well as email messages and pornographic images. The pair wrote a program to scour the disk drives for any trace of credit card information. They found card...