Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed back Tuesday on the decision by San Francisco's conservative Catholic archbishop to deny her Communion over her support of abortion rights, saying she respects that people have opposing views but not when they impose them on others. The California Democrat says she comes from a large family with many members who oppose abortion. “I respect people’s views about that. But I don’t respect us foisting it onto others.” Pelosi added, “Our archbishop has been vehemently against LGBTQ rights. In fact he led the way in an initiative on the ballot in California.”Pelosi...

This is one of my favorite Orchestral Music pieces of all time. I know every note of this. I found this to be a particularly lovely version, and the camera work highlighting the members of the orchestra is nice too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17lEx0ytE_0&index=15&list=PL31D875377959CDD0 Just a little break from politics.

LOS ANGELES – Much of the audience attending the Grammy Awards on Sunday donned light-up devil horns for the opening performance of the annual event—a presentation of the AC/DC hit “Highway to Hell.” “Party time/My friends are gonna be there too/I’m on the highway to Hell,” the Australian rock band blared out as flames blazed on the jumbotron behind them, along with pyrotechnic effects. “Hey Satan/Payin’ my dues … I’m on the highway to Hell/Don’t stop me.” The group had been introduced by rapper LL Cool J, as the audience stood to their feet. “To kick off the 52 second...

The Texas Department of Transportation should submit a request for more detailed proposals within the next couple of months to work on the Interstate 69 section of the massive Trans-Texas Corridor project. Earlier this year, two teams of private investors indicated their interest in the I-69 portion by submitting requests for qualifications: Bluebonnet Infrastructure Investors and the ZAI ACS TTC-69 Team. Bluebonnet’s equity partner is Cintra, while ZAI ACS is led by Zachry American Infrastructure and ACS Infrastructure Development. Cintra-Zachry signed a comprehensive development agreement to develop TTC-35, which would go from the Dallas area to Mexico. “We shortlisted both...

WASHINGTON – While several members of Congress have denied any knowledge of efforts to build "NAFTA superhighways" or move America closer to a union with Mexico and Canada, four members of the House have stepped up to sponsor a resolution opposing both initiatives. Rep. Virgil Goode Jr., R-Va., has introduced a resolution – H.R. 487 – designed to express "the sense of Congress that the United States should not engage in the construction of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Superhighway System or enter into a North American Union (NAU) with Mexico and Canada." "Now that Congress is preparing...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Roads and bridges built by U.S. taxpayers are starting to be sold off, and so far foreign-owned companies are doing the buying. On a single day in June, an Australian-Spanish partnership paid $3.8 billion to lease the Indiana Toll Road. An Australian company bought a 99-year lease on Virginia's Pocahontas Parkway, and Texas officials decided to let a Spanish-American partnership build and run a toll road from Austin to Seguin for 50 years. Few people know that the tolls from the U.S. side of the tunnel between Detroit and Windsor, Canada, go to a subsidiary of an...

Hockey may be Canada's national sport but now that we're all North Americans, local ties, it seems, are the casualty of international competitiveness. It's happening again with Canada's mining giants Inco and Falconbridge. If North American integration confuses loyalties, it also rallies those on the further reaches of the ideological spectrum. When the Canadian prime minister recently visited the U.S. president, Linda McQuaig coyly suggested in her Toronto Star column that the question isn't how well these two conservative soul mates get along, but "What are they up to?"In the U.S., arch-conservative Jerome R. Corsi, in his Human Events Online...

<p>A fair amount of attention, although not necessarily the attention one would seek, attends the production of ''The Passion,'' Mel Gibson's movie about the last days of Jesus Christ. Making a movie about Christ is a surefire path to instant publicity, most of it negative. And when one of the most bankable stars in the English-speaking world is backing the project, you can bet Christ won't go quietly this time.</p>

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honours AC/DC November 12 2002 Australia's heavy-metal rockers AC/DC have been inducted into the 2003 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Elvis Costello and the Attractions, The Police and The Clash. They were joined by The Righteous Brothers, Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, whose 1965 chart-topping hit You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling helped define what came to be called "blue-eyed soul" during that decade. "These inductees represent many influential genres of rock, including 60s soul, heavy metal and 1970s English punk," said executive director Suzan Evans in a statement. The hall inducts...

Ken Nichols O'Keefe doesn't fit easily into the stereotype of a peace activist. A decorated former United States marine and veteran of the Gulf War, he has the look and tattooed body of the infantryman he once was. But it's O'Keefe - self-described "world citizen" with the word "expatriot" etched into his right hand - who is leading a campaign against United States policy in Iraq by becoming a "human shield." He hopes his presence, along with dozens of similarly-minded war protestors, will prevent President Bush from engaging in a conflict that seems inevitable. O'Keefe and about 50 others left...