Free Republic

There's no doubt: Texas loves its football. So, on the surface, a bond election including a $94 million price tag for a second high school stadium isn't entirely shocking to read, given the culture of the Lone Star State. Yes, the price tag would make it the "most expensive in Texas history." That's true. But according to district spokesperson Rachel Trotter, there is much more to the story than "building a new football stadium." Trotter told WFAA over the phone this is not just a football stadium, but rather "the district's largest classroom." Trotter noted there is numerous other benefits...

WASHINGTON -- State Sen. Pat Fallon was elected Saturday afternoon by 144 Republican officials from northeast Texas to replace Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe as the GOP nominee on the ballot for Texas’ 4th Congressional District, likely sending the Prosper Republican to Washington as the district’s next representative. Fallon, who represents District 30 in the Texas Senate, beat out 17 other candidates with 82 votes from the 144 voting GOP county and precinct chairs who live in the district, needing only one round to secure a majority. The chairs gathered Saturday afternoon at the Hopkins County Civic Center for...

Just wondering if anyone out there is doing any investing with Prosper dot com.

Most two-term presidents leave some sort of legacy. Ronald Reagan won the Cold War. George W. Bush prevented another 9/11, and constructed an anti-terrorism protocol that even his critical successor embraced and often expanded. Even our one-term presidents have achieved something. JFK got Soviet missiles out of Cuba. LBJ oversaw passage of civil rights legislation. Jerry Ford restored integrity to the White House. Jimmy Carter finally issued the Carter Doctrine to stop Soviet expansionism at the Persian Gulf. George H.W. Bush won the first Persian Gulf War and got Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. And even our impeached or abdicated...

Obama is ahead of Romney, the presumed Republican nominee, 51 percent to 44 percent among registered voters. And Romney does no better against Obama than he did a year ago, despite his emergence as the GOP standard-bearer.

When you were a child, Mommy probably rewarded you for being good and punished you for acting naughty. Now that you're all grown up, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants you to feel just like a child again. The governor's proposed solution for Californians' health care woes includes a plan to reward people who eat good food, get plenty of exercise, don't smoke tobacco or drink booze. Following in the fine tradition of Mommy, we now have Nanny Schwarzenegger. He's from the government, and he's here to make you do what's good for you. And you thought you were all grown up?...

All my life I have been an American friend of Canada. As a child, I knew that one branch of my family had fled European tyranny and persecution and found shelter north of the border, where they had prospered and enjoyed the blessings of liberty, tolerance, and a free economy. Visiting relatives confirmed that Canada was a good country, full of mostly good and kind people. Our cousins of the flesh were surrounded by a people who were our cousins of the spirit. Family trips to Canada confirmed that it was indeed almost indistinguishable from home. The coins were made...

BELGRADE, Serbia, Sept. 30 - A senior American diplomat expressed frustration on Thursday that Serbia had yet to turn over a leading war crimes suspect months after the election of a new president who had promised "full cooperation" with the international tribunal at The Hague. Marc Grossman, the under secretary of state for political affairs, said the Serbian government had made no progress toward arresting the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, Gen. Ratko Mladic. General Mladic was indicted in 1995 on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from his actions during the 1992-95 conflict...

<p>CALIFORNIA'S inmates aren't the only ones the state's prison guards have in lock-down. Taxpayers are being held, too.</p> <p>Last year, in the midst of their first budget crisis, Gov. Gray Davis and the Legislature ratified a contract with the guards' union that mocks current efforts to balance the budget.</p>

US war crimes envoy skips visit to Croatia during trip to region ZAGREB (AFP) - US war crimes envoy Pierre-Richard Prosper will not have time to visit Croatia during his current trip to the region, the US embassy said here Thursday. Prosper will not visit Croatia since "demands on his schedule and logistical complications preclude a stop in Zagreb," the embassy said in a statement. No firm date has been set for a future visit to Croatia, it added. Prosper, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, was expected Thursday in Sarajevo for a two-day visit to Bosnia, where...