Free Republic

WASHINGTON - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a divorced, billionaire dad, said Tuesday that unwed fathers increase poverty and the government should take steps to get them back with their families. The potential presidential candidate who maintains he's not outlined his prescription to fighting poverty in a speech at the National Press Club. The mayor said welfare reform in the 1990's was driven largely by pushing single poor mothers into the workforce, but that to further reduce poverty, government must now turn its attention to fathers by withholding tax refunds from those who don't pay child support and increasing tax...

Public Safety: A governor's report on the Virginia Tech shootings says earlier warnings might have helped reduce the carnage. It says nothing about VT's complicity in denying the murdered their right to self-defense. After the release of Virginia Tech's internal review of the shooting spree in April that left 33 dead, it was hard to imagine a more clueless document on the tragedy being released. But the report released Wednesday by an eight-member panel headed by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine takes the prize. VT's review called on police, counselors and other university personnel to monitor students whose behavior might indicate...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2007 – Coalition forces disrupted al Qaeda operations in Iraq with a series of raids today, killing a terrorist leader and detaining more than 25 other individuals suspected of being al Qaeda members and associates. Coalition forces killed the military emir of Tarmiyah, who officials said was responsible for directing attacks against coalition forces and Iraqi civilians in the area, and another armed man. When ground forces conducting the raid moved toward the target building, they saw an armed man in a neighboring house maneuvering into position to engage the assault force. Responding in defense against the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Election Commission can continue to regulate independent political groups on a case-by-case basis and does not need to adopt new rules to govern them, a federal judge said Thursday. The decision was a blow to advocates of more restrictive campaign finance laws, who say the lack of precise rules will result in widespread abuses of campaign spending in the 2008 presidential and congressional elections. FEC lawyers argued that election commissioners were adequately policing the activities of so-called 527 groups, named after the section of the IRS code under which they are registered. These groups, which...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2007 – The general who oversees training for Iraq’s security forces called the country a “mosaic,” and said each of Iraq’s regions poses unique challenges to security efforts. “I think every one of the provinces could be rated as having places that are pretty difficult fights,” Army Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik, commander of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, told military analysts during a conference call. “The country is not a one-size-fits-all, a one-description-fits-all. It’s much more a mosaic.” Dubik dismissed “blanket assessments” that predict how long it will take Iraq’s entire security force to function independently...

Earlier this year the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said it was "90 percent likely" that man was having an impact on global temperatures. And dailytech.com reports an analysis of scientific papers in 2004 concluded that a majority of researchers supported what it called the "consensus view" that humans were effecting climate change. But now a study of all research papers between 2004 and 2007 indicates only seven percent give an explicit endorsement of that so-called consensus. Forty-five percent give an implicit endorsement. But 48 percent of the papers are classified as neutral — neither accepting nor rejecting the...

The Left: Rep. Brian Baird, an anti-war Democrat, committed the unforgivable sin of seeing with his own eyes that America is headed toward victory in Iraq. Naturally, MoveOn.org has issued a fatwa against him. Given Capitol Hill's scandals, it's refreshing to encounter a lawmaker who practices honesty even when it costs him. After a recent two-week visit to Iraq, Congressman Baird said he thinks our troops can and should finish the job there. Baird, who represents southwest Washington, voted against the original Iraq War resolution, and he's no fan of President Bush. "The invasion of Iraq may be one of...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2007 – In 46 states across the country, 188 groups are planning Freedom Walks to be held in conjunction with the national America Supports You Freedom Walk planned for Sept. 9 here. America Supports You is a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad. As of Aug. 28, 3,200 people had registered to walk in this year’s national Freedom Walk, part of a series of events commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. “All along we’ve been about 100-plus people (ahead of last year),” said...

ALLEN, Md. (AP) - This summer's drought has withered corn stalks and punished soybean plants across Maryland, but at least one crop is thriving in the hot, dry weather: grapes. Maryland vintners say this year's grape harvest could be the highest quality in five years. "Wineries across the state are telling me this is a great year, like none we have had in recent times," Kevin Atticks, executive director of the Maryland Wineries Association, told The (Salisbury) Daily Times. Atticks' group represents 27 licensed wineries. The grape harvest is now underway and lasts through October. -snip-

Congress: So does it do "the world's greatest deliberative body" honor to seat a convicted washroom pervert? The Senate's latest scandal around Larry Craig is no fluke. It's a consequence of deficient leadership. men's room at the Minneapolis airport is one of too many vice scandals out of Washington. Scandals involving money are there too, but these seem more visible and damaging. The issue here isn't whether Craig is or isn't gay. It's whether someone who breaks the law can control his impulses so he stays within the law. And in this respect, Craig failed miserably. Whatever his justification now,...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Aug. 30, 2007 – The Iraqi air force flew its first mission without the assistance of its American partners over the weekend. Iraqi pilots flew a mission to survey and monitor the power lines in Iraq in a mission called "Operation Power Line" Aug. 25, said Brig. Gen. Sati, commander of the Iraqi air force’s Taji Wing, who asked to be identified by only his last name. "We did our duties today for the very first time, and it was a 100-percent Iraqi mission," he said. Sati announced the mission at a partnership event later that...

IN the most decisive move of its kind in the history of the wrestling business, the WWE have suspended many of their biggest name wrestlers for breaking drug rules. The action came after the 10 men – allegedly including former world champions Edge, King Booker and Randy Orton as well as Mr Kennedy and ECW champ John Morrison – were identified as clients of Signature Pharmacy in Orlando. That company was busted by cops in February for the distribution of steroids and other prescription drugs to clients who had not been examined by a doctor. It has now been established...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2007 – When one of its employees was deployed to Iraq for National Guard duty, the Ultra Machining Company reached out to take care of him and his family while he was gone. Those efforts have earned the Monticello, Minn., company a top Defense Department award. The employee, Sgt. Lou Jacobson of the Minnesota National Guard, was so impressed with the support he received during his deployment that he nominated the company for a Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. Ultra Machining Company, or UMC for short, is among 15 businesses and organizations selected this...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 Elizabeth Edwards says her husband is a better Democratic presidential candidate because U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton would bring out the Republican base. "I don't know where it comes from," Mrs. Edwards told Time magazine. "I don't begin to understand it. But you can't pretend it doesn't exist, and it will energize the Republican base." Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., trails Clinton and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in the polls. His wife has been playing a major role in the campaign, drawing media attention with her attacks on right-wing firebrand Ann Coulter and criticizing Obama and Clinton....

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2007 – The September edition of the Pentagon Channel’s monthly documentary “Recon” will focus on the Coast Guard’s efforts in the Caribbean Sea’s most perilous waterway. Small-boat crews from the Coast Guard cutter Escanaba transfer Haitian migrants from an overloaded sail freighter to the Escanaba. The 101 Haitian migrants eventually were repatriated to Cap Haitien, Haiti. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Newland  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The show, titled “Perilous Passage,” will provide an inside look at the men and women of the Coast Guard who patrol Mona Passage,...

In America secular forces are actively trying to give Christianity the boot. Day by day trusted biblical precepts are being scoffed at, openly ignored and actively fought against. America chooses to ignore its foundations in the bible while Europe is rising on the world’s stage as a super power with no anchor, allusion or claim to any religion but secularism. What is the end of all this and where will it lead? As the line between right and wrong fades into obscurity the lines and distinctions between churches biblical ministries and ministers are also fading

A homeless Austrian accused of murdering his vagrant flatmate and cannibalism had apparently prepared his alleged victim's body parts for eating, Austrian police have said. Robert Ackermann, a 19-year-old German from Cologne, was arrested after he was found next to the mutilated body of Josef Schweiger, a 49-year-old Austrian, in a subsidised flat the two shared, provided by social aid. Achermann - who police say may suffer from mental problems - was staying in a flat with Mr Schweiber that was provided to people with mental difficulties for whom other kinds of care had failed. When Ackermann was found he...

Baghdad, Aug 30, (VOI)- Iraqi Foreign Minster Hoshyar Zibari said on Thursday an expanded conference for Iraq's neighboring countries is to convene in Baghdad in early September, unveiling that Iraq is seeking a long-term security agreement with the U.S.

FORT LEWIS, Wash., Aug. 30, 2007 – Members of the Fort Lewis community paid a somber tribute yesterday to two of their own killed in recent combat operations in Iraq. About 250 friends and family, fellow soldiers and community members gathered in the base’s Evergreen Chapel to honor Cpl. Shawn D. Hensel and Cpl. Willard M. Powell. Both soldiers were members of the 2nd Infantry Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s 4th Brigade, both hailed from the Hoosier state and both were buried Aug. 25 near their respective hometowns. Hensel, 20, of Logansport, Ind., was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry...

Toys "R" Us has recalled about 27,000 wood coloring cases because one color of paint and some packaging contain too much lead. They were made in China.