Free Republic

Well, here we are its vacation week your host on the road thankful and grateful to the Lord giving me another day to keep the road trip moving forward some of the geography I've visited reflected in the music above. Gasoline Prices In The USA At the start of the week gasoline in Somerset, Pennsylvania 375.9 a gallon. At the week's end gasoline on west side of Knoxville, Tennessee 275.9 a gallon. In Taxylvania our gasoline tax can be bumped up by a decline in wholesale gasoline prices... On a brighter note I visited this place during the week... RFK...

Iowa caucuses are 54 days away. Donald Trump is, still, the national frontrunner. Marco Rubio is, now, the establishment's best (only?) hope. And Ted Cruz is the guy who looks best positioned to win. Yes, you heard that right. Ted Cruz, as of today, has the most direct route to the Republican presidential nomination -- assuming the past history of Republican nomination fights works as a broad predictor where this race is headed. Let me elaborate. 1. Cruz is positioned as the most conservative candidate in the race. While Trump gets all of the attention for his over-the-top statements, Cruz...

Pending auctions of greenhouse-gas permits will benefit only California’s government. It's probably no coincidence that Gov. Jerry Brown recently launched a website to scare Californians into embracing his global-warming hype. The state is about to launch a cap-and-trade scheme that potentially will raise billions of dollars for the government, ostensibly to fight global warming.In reality, the money is likely to be diverted to more mundane political uses – like backfilling the huge budget hole perpetuated by Mr. Brown and the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Washington, DC – A new website has been launched by the American College of Pediatricians that cautions educators about the management of students experiencing same-sex attraction or exhibiting symptoms of gender confusion. The site http://www.factsaboutyouth.com was created by a coalition of health professionals to provide accurate factual information to educators, parents, and students about sexual development. In addition, these concerns are outlined in a letter and fact sheet sent by College president Thomas Benton, MD, to all 14,800 school district superintendents in the United States.The letter reminds school superintendents that it is not uncommon for adolescents to experience transient confusion...

DID YOU HEAR the one about Dick Cheney, a priest and a rabbi walking into an Arab-run port? No? Too bad, because the brouhaha that has replaced Cheney-mania is a lot less entertaining. This week brought a strange bipartisan convergence over, of all things, the commercial management of U.S. ports. Bipartisan consensus is often a troubling sign, particularly when it's on an issue few know much about. It was prompted by the Bush administration's decision to defend the bid by Dubai Ports World, based in the United Arab Emirates, to buy the British-owned Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which...

An Arab company's bid to take over management of cargo terminals at half a dozen U.S. ports has become a rallying point for critics seeking tougher port security and greater scrutiny of foreign investment. But trade and security experts said criticism of the deal involving government-owned Dubai Ports World was misguided because the U.S. government, not terminal operators, was responsible for security at the ports. In addition, they said, foreign companies already control a large share of the U.S. cargohandling business.The target of congressional critics is Dubai Ports World's $6.8-billion deal to purchase Britain's Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.,...

Lots in the news this month. But are we really receiving news or are we receiving conjecture disguised as news? As a retired journalist, I can recall the days when, under strict orders, we could only write facts for newspapers. Oh, of course there were the editorial pages and the famous columnists. It was on these pages that opinion lived and thrived. Even gossip was permitted but generally only by a Hollywood reporter or what was called a gossip columnist --- Louella Parsons, Hedda Hopper, and Walter Winchell come to mind. Stray from the editorial pages and any reporter or...