Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert is an old wrestler, and last Thursday night he used a classic move of his sport by quickly reversing positions. On behalf of the Republican leadership, Hastert went before his colleagues to embrace essentially the same package of spending that two weeks earlier he had scourged conservative House members for proposing. The change was a matter of necessity rather than choice. It was required to quell the first really serious split in House Republican ranks since the GOP took control of the chamber a decade ago. But the rancor was not limited to...

President Bush and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill say they’re restoring the GOP to its historical role as the party of limited government. But will the results match the rhetoric? Their change of tone isn’t surprising. Angry constituents are demanding meaningful budget cuts to offset the spiraling costs of the hurricane relief effort. One recent national poll found 61% of all Americans (and 58% of Democrats) believe spending cuts are “the best way for the government to pay for hurricane relief.” And Republican backbenchers in Congress have applied their own form of pressure. According to the Capitol Hill newspaper The...

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Leftist leaders at the University of California, Santa Barbara have begun distributing a profanity-sprinkled "Disorientation Guide" that calls for a return to the activist spirit of the 1960s. The guide, which came out last week, features interviews with the college's "most politically active" professors, a directory of local liberal organizations and commentaries on subjects including feminism, corporate media, proper "queer" terminology and the value of blogs.It also chronicles the history of UCSB activism, including the infamous 1970 burning of the Bank of America in Isla Vista."A lot of people have passion for certain issues, but never...

- Plan to breed and sterilise millions of male insects - Leader says project almost ready for testing in wild Genetically modified mosquitoes could soon be released into the wild in an attempt to combat malaria. Scientists at Imperial College London, who created the GM insects, say they could wipe out natural mosquito populations and save thousands of lives in malaria-stricken regions. Led by Andrea Crisanti, the team added a gene that makes the testicles of the male mosquitoes fluorescent, allowing the scientists to distinguish and easily separate them from females. The plan is to breed, sterilise and release millions...

Metal band Voidgazer's vocalist, and fellow beer swilling anti-Jihadist Kevin Montavon has just forwarded me a copy of an article from the Faith & Values section of the October 7, 2005 edition of the Columbus Dispatch entitled 'Islam’s Outreach,' written by Felix Hoover. The piece is well written, and offers details into the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The column thoroughly describes an interfaith gathering, including 'future leaders of Ohio farm and food industries', who visited 'Congregation Tifereth Israel' for an overview of Judaism, before heading to an Islamic center for 'an overview of Islam,' conducted by Abdonasser Abdouni, 'acting...

London synagogue belongs to Neturei Karta, ultra-Orthodox sect opposed to state of Israel as national homeland for Jews Hackney Gazette An Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Stamford Hill in London has been attacked and vandalized - not by anti-Semitic thugs, but by fellow Jews who regard its leaders' outspoken condemnation of Israel as a betrayal. Rising tensions over the forced evictions by Israeli troops last month of Jewish settlers from Gaza and parts of the West Bank as part of the Middle East peace process has sparked a backlash among Stamford Hill's Orthodox Jewish community. Windows at the synagogue in Alkham...

The clues to help forecasters figure out why hurricanes defy them sit untouched inside a dusty storage room off Miami's Rickenbacker Causeway.Here, at the government's Hurricane Research Division, the life spans of dozens of storms are documented on nine-track tapes stacked floor to ceiling, wall to wall, from Claudette to Fabian to Irene to Andrew.There are trillions of bytes of data. But the division's 16 remaining researchers don't have time to study them.While the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been warning the nation about the rise in dangerous hurricanes, the agency has denied requests from its hurricane researchers for...

A lawyer for San Diego's retirement system determined in May 2004 that board members likely had broken the state conflict-of-interest law – a conclusion reached in private one year before prosecutors brought charges against six current and former pension trustees. In a May 13, 2004, memo, Michael A. Leone wrote that it was "probable" that a court would find that the law was broken when the trustees voted to adopt a city proposal to continue underfunding the pension system while simultaneously enhancing future benefits for city workers. The memo is one of 60,000 documents and e-mail messages released last week...

October 10, 2005Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time Psalm: Monday 44 Reading IRom 1:1-7 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus,called to be an Apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God,which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,the Gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith,for the sake of his name, among all...

SRINAGAR/ISLAMABAD: The death toll in a magnitude 7.6 earthquake, epicentred in Muzaffarabad, was put at 40,000 by independent sources on Monday against a government count of 20,000 in Pakistan as the armed forces deployed all their helicopters and transport aircraft for rescue operations. Looting broke out in almost totally destroyed Muzaffarabad, which was desperately short of food, medicine and water. ''They've lost everything, they have no clothes, no food, nothing,'' said a resident. ''People have started looting things from shops.'' International community, led by the US and Saudi Arabia, sent aid worth millions of Dollars, rescue teams, helicopters, aircraft and...

LETTER DEFENDS FORGOTSTON OCTOBER 09, 2005 Several letters to the editor were printed in a recent edition of the Times Picayunne blasting C.B. Forgotston. Apparently they were eager to defend Ray Nagin, who C.B. criticized. However, The Dead Pelican recieved a letter from one Walter Abbot that was submitted to the Picayunne. At this point, it has not been seen in the New Orleans paper. It's printed below. XXXXXXX To the Editor: I know C. B. Forgotston. C. B. is a friend of mine and he’s no racist. But C. B. Forgotston’s email news service isn’t what the Times-Picayune should...

On Feb. 20, 1999, while Harriet Miers was managing the law firm of Locke Liddell from the firm's Dallas office, she contributed $415 to the law firm's political action committee. Federal Election Commission reports show that on May 19, 2000, Locke Liddell's PAC contributed $1,000 to Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate Campaign Committee. For an unexplained reason, Harriet Miers listed herself as a "self-employed attorney," according to the FEC Report on her 1999 contribution to the Locke Liddell PAC. FEC records also show a $500 contribution on Feb. 15, 2000 by the Locke Liddell PAC to Democrat Nicholas Lampson, who ran...

The humble bee is not only busy but also brainy and is capable of abstract thought, according to German research. Bees possess "higher cognitive functions", judging by cunning experiments at Berlin's Free University, Germany, where the creatures learned to compare and distinguish different colours and patterns. The research shows the bee can form sameness and difference, a conceptualising ability that may help them in their daily foraging activities. To probe the bee's mental prowess, research scientist Martin Giurfa and his colleagues first trained the insects to associate certain stimuli with a sugar reward. In one experiment, bees saw the colour...

CNBC stated that Bank of America swithed their position on GM to "SELL". It is being mentioned that GM will follow Delphi into Chapter 11. Although GM has 38 Billion in cash and assets, it may not be enough to cover what is certain to be a huge drop in sales during the next few months. If GM files, that will be extremly bad for our economy.

Why the Fed has no other alternative but to print money! Next time the Fed embarks on its usual money printing exercise, consumer price inflation accompanied by renewed dollar weakness is likely to both exceed asset inflation - especially in the housing sector - and income gains. This should ensure that the forthcoming recession will be characterized by consumer price inflation and simultaneous economic weakness. In the past, I have demonstrated that economic growth and deflation is entirely compatible. The entire economic expansion of the US in the 19th century was a deflationary boom. Declining prices led to strong real...

Transformation is a tricky business. The U.S. military is discovering that fact on a daily basis in Iraq. And at home, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is reckoning with the obstacles to his ambition of transforming the U.S. military for the 21st century.

n the lack of opposition to the continuing war in Iraq. After thinking about it over the weekend, I am a little mystified about the lack of open oppostion to the war. Typically five or six days a week I research a newsworthy story and write about it on this website. Some people agree with what I have to say and some don't. Readers will write and give me their opinion and why I am full of bull. When that happens, I am forced to re-examine my position. Most of the time my mind doesn't change, but sometimes it does.

Miller investigation has involved a lot of law enforcement, but yielded little public knowledge BY BOB LINK, Of The Globe Gazette Editor's note: This is the second of a two-day series of reports on the death of Evelyn Miller of Floyd, investigated by the Globe Gazette and the Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier, Lee Enterprises newspapers. CHARLES CITY —Investigators have released very little about their findings in the murder of Evelyn Miller. In the days following the discovery of the 5-year-old’s body in the Cedar River, Floyd County Attorney Marilyn Dettmer announced that the case was a homicide and little else. No...

George W. Bush seems beset on all fronts. His job rating dipped to new lows after his torpid response to Hurricane Katrina. Casualties continue in Iraq, and some Democrats call for withdrawal now or by a date certain. The Social Security changes he campaigned for earlier this year seem unlikely to be enacted. Proposals to make tax cuts permanent are stalled in Congress -- and stalled proposals sometimes never come forward. The president's commission on tax reform is soon to report -- but no one seems much interested, and the last major tax reform took a full two years to...

Recruit Daniel Murphy, who in college was a 325-pound offensive lineman protecting quarterbacks and opening holes for running backs, lost 100 pounds to join the U.S. Marines, the military's swift-moving, expeditionary shock troops.