Free Republic

Ferry plots and Filipino Muslim converts By Michelle Malkin  •  August 30, 2007 02:46 PM  The FBI is still sifting through hundreds of tips on the two suspicious men in Seattle whom ferry employees witnessed photographing restricted areas and pacing several ferry routes, “as if trying to measure distances,” over the past several weeks.I have learned that these men have been the subject of much investigative energy within homeland security bureaucracies for quite some time. Indeed, one source told me that until the FBI released the photos of the men, the snapshots had been handled as classified material.Arab-American and Muslim groups...

Carbon trading, the increasingly accepted answer to global warming, will cost far more than we’re being told. In a short time, global warming has graduated from niche cause to accepted fact. Though skeptics may still grumble (or shout) that the science isn’t settled, they’ve lost the battle when President Bush agrees to “seriously consider” an international climate-change treaty; when media mogul Rupert Murdoch writes that “climate change poses clear, catastrophic threats”; when conservative standard-bearer National Review runs a cover article saying that “it’s no longer possible, scientifically or politically, to deny that human activities have very likely increased global temperatures”;...

The United Nations nuclear watchdog agency gave an upbeat assessment of Iranian cooperation with international inspectors in a new report Thursday that could make it more difficult for the United States to win tougher U.N. sanctions against Iran. The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna also concluded that while Iran continues to enrich uranium in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, its fuel enrichment plant has produced "well below the expected quantity for a facility of this design." The quality of the uranium also was lower than expected, the IAEA said. The report praised Iran for taking...

I did not see this posted anywhere.. Listen to this.. and judge for youself... I think Sen. Craig is TOAST.. IMHO

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post saying Cindy Sheehan would probably not do very well against Nancy Pelosi, and therefore I was sorry she had decided to run. I said she was more valuable to the antiwar movement as an activist. I said leftists waste a lot of time on futile electoral contests, and cited examples of such contests. These remarks, which were couched in terms of deepest respect for Cindy Sheehan, have evoked much bile and wrath in this blog's comment section and elsewhere in the blogosphere. So much fun are commenters having discussing what a traitor...

Anrmy Bourhane, a Frenchman of African origin, had three years' experience as an account manager and a masters in international business but spent a fruitless year in Paris looking for work. Eight months ago, he came to London and found a job as a sales representative within 10 days. Two months later, he was promoted. He's one of thousands of young, energetic French people who have crossed the Channel in search of a work environment that rewards talent and drive and is unhampered by the stultifying labor restrictions of their homeland. Now many of those people are hopeful they may...

Authorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) runs out at the end of September. This gave the Democrats and some Republicans in Congress an opportunity to vote in July to expand this government health insurance program. SCHIP is supposed to provide health insurance for children whose families make too much money to qualify for medical welfare, i.e., Medicaid, but who can't afford to pay for private health insurance. Initially, this meant families whose annual incomes were twice the poverty level. This amounts to a $40,000 income for a family of four in 2007. Since SCHIP began operating in...

There has been important progress on Darfur in the past two months. In July we agreed on the deployment of a robust UN/African Union (AU) force and the start of peace talks. But the situation remains completely unacceptable. In the coming weeks and months, we commit as leaders to redouble our efforts to make further progress. At the end of July the UN agreed to our plan. UN Resolution 1769, passed –– for the first time –– unanimously, was the culmination of intense diplomatic activity over the crisis in Darfur. In the next few weeks, one of the largest UN...

All passengers on an American Airlines overnight flight to Chicago were ordered off a plane after complaints about a group of Arabic-speaking Iraqi men who were on their way home to Detroit. The incident forced passengers to stay overnight. The six Iraqi passengers had been training U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton and worked for Defense Training Systems, a unit of the Alaska-based International Logistics Services Corp., said Dave Stephens, the company's chief executive officer. "They did nothing wrong," Stephens said Wednesday. A company press release called it "an unfortunate situation for all flight passengers."

Idaho Statesman reporter Dan Popkey is all over the news this week, following publication of his long-awaited outing piece on Sen. Larry Craig. Roll Call beat the Idaho paper to the punch with its report earlier this week on Craig’s arrest and guilty plea stemming from the now infamous restroom incident. But Popkey had spent months investigating the rumors of Craig’s homosexuality, which date back to at least 1982. In December, Popkey visited me at my Blade office in D.C. to ask whether I knew anything about Craig’s sexual orientation. We spent about an hour talking about his assignment, which...

Bush to outline subprime mortgage initiative Fri Aug 31, 2007 12:00AM EDT By Tabassum Zakaria and Glenn Somerville WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will propose reforms on Friday intended to help homeowners with subprime mortgages avoid default, his first public step to address a crisis that has created turmoil in financial markets around the world. "He will also discuss reform efforts to prevent these kinds of problems from arising in the future," a senior administration official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Many analysts warn that a spreading credit crisis could drag the U.S. economy into recession...

Religious-themed sex guides are flying off the shelves - some even give believers permission to enjoy a good romp. Richard Davies was reading The New York Times books section when he spotted a full-page advertisement for sex guides. A spokesman for Victoria-based online book retailer Abe Books, Mr. Davies wondered what kind of guides his customers were ordering, and ran a search of the company's database. "I knew there was demand for collectible erotica, things like The Pop-Up Kama Sutra," he said. "But we put together our bestselling list and, lo and behold, a Christian guide was No. 1." Of...

Last week in his blog post, New Peer-Reviewed Scientific Studies Chill Global Warming Fears, on the Inhofe EPW Press Blog, Marc Morano cited a July 2007 review of 539 abstracts in peer-reviewed scientific journals from 2004 through 2007 that found that climate science continues to shift toward the views of global warming skeptics. Today, Michael Asher provides more details about this new survey in his blog post, Survey: Less Than Half Of All Published Scientists Endorse Global Warming Theory. Asher writes that the study has been submitted for publication in the journal Energy and Environment. DAILYTECH SURVEY: LESS THAN HALF...

A federal judge on Monday rejected the “everybody else is doing it” defense argued by an attorney on behalf of a restaurateur who staffed his business with illegal immigrants. “This is happening every day in Mexican restaurants,” attorney Charles Torres argued on behalf of Pun Wun Chan. “As an immigration practitioner, I see these types of situations every day. It’s hard for me to take it as a serious crime because it’s a constant ongoing (thing).” U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan sided with Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Mackie, who told the judge, “I don’t think there’s any justification because others...

WASHINGTON - As the world warms, the United States will face more severe thunderstorms with deadly lightning, damaging hail and the potential for tornadoes, a trailblazing study by NASA scientists suggests. While other research has warned of broad weather changes on a large scale, like more extreme hurricanes and droughts, the new study predicts even smaller events like thunderstorms will be more dangerous because of global warming. The basic ingredients for whopper U.S. inland storms are likely to be more plentiful in a warmer, moister world, said lead author Tony Del Genio, a NASA research scientist. And when that happens,...

CHICAGO - Do you believe "The Clown" or an admitted hit man? Jurors will have to decide when they begin deliberations Tuesday in Chicago's biggest mob trial in years. They got the case Thursday night after prosecutors made a last pitch to sway them to believe the testimony of their star witness, admitted hit man Nicholas Calabrese. Defense lawyers have pegged Calabrese as "a walking piece of deception" whose testimony shouldn't be believed, even suggesting that if Calabrese says it's raining, someone ought to go outside to check. But prosecutors say it's the five men on trial who can't be...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A Polk County judge has struck down Iowa's law preserving marriage for only a man and a woman. He ordered the county recorder's office to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Six gay and lesbian couples went to court for the right to legally marry in Iowa. Lamda Legal filed a lawsuit in 2005 on behalf of the couples in Iowa, saying they deserve equal protection under the law. Des Moines laywer Dennis Johnson represented six gay couples who filed the lawsuit after they were denied marriage licenses, and he says Hanson's ruling is a moral...

World Wrestling Entertainment has suspended 10 of its wrestlers for violations of a policy that tests for steroids and other drugs, the company said Thursday. Stamford-based WWE says it issued suspension notices based on independent information from the prosecutor's office in Albany County, N.Y., which has been investigating illegal steroid sales.

Taliban free all Korean hostages Critics say Seoul may have set a dangerous precedent by dealing with the Taliban [Reuters] The Taliban's last three South Korean hostages have been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) after six weeks in captivity. The man and two women were in a Red Cross vehicle being driven to the town of Ghazni, Irfan Sulejmani, an ICRC official, said late on Thursday. Earlier in the day, the Taliban had released four South Korean hostages. Two men and two women were delivered to ICRC representatives by tribal mediators on a road...

SHILLONG, India (AFP) - Three thousand Indian tribal chiefs in one of the world's wettest regions have invited ex-US vice president Al Gore to pick up an award for creating awareness about climate change. The prize will be presented on October 6 near Shillong, capital of northeastern Meghalaya state, at a ceremony expected to be attended by 300,000 people, organisers said. Top Indian economists and green campaigners are also likely to be present. "We were greatly inspired after watching Gore's Academy Award-winning documentary, 'An Inconvenient Truth', and decided to honour him for his concern about the dangers of climate change,"...