Free Republic

After the Federal Reserve's aggressive moves this week to ease the credit crunch, Wall Street is starting to wonder if the worst is finally over. Well-known banking analyst Richard Bove even delivered a report on the financial sector Thursday with the bold heading, "The Financial Crisis Is Over." Bove, of |Punk Ziegel, admitted in the note that such a proclamation "sounds ridiculous," but he genuinely believes the crisis is over. "There will be more negative developments, but they will be meaningless," Bove wrote. Later, in an interview on CNBC, Bove said: "I'm convinced that all the signs that you would...

Since the story of Prince Harry in Afghanistan broke in late Feb 08, friends and family have [spoken] about service with him. As the lead US advisor in Helmand Province (the “United Kingdom” area of responsibility within Afghanistan), it was almost inevitable that I would see Harry during his tour of duty. However, as events in Late December through early January would transpire, we actually lived on the same tiny base in southern Helmand for a couple of weeks. Another time, with other Americans, I served with Harry on the same operation for almost two weeks in Northern Helmand. Throughout,...

Taipei - Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama suggested Taiwan 'integrate' with China while praising Taiwan's freedom and democracy, the Central News Agency (CNA) said Thursday. The 72-year-old Buddhist monk made the call in an interview with CNA in the north Indian hill town of Dharamsala, base of the Tibetan government-in-exile since 1959. In the interview, the Dalai Lama spoke highly of Taiwan's democracy and prosperity and apologized for breaking his promise to visit Taiwan every two years because his visits in 1997 and 2001 so angered China that it strained ties between the Tibetans and Taiwanese. For the...

In its last quarter as a publicly traded company, Tribune Co. lost $78 million from continuing operations, the now-private Chicago media giant reported Thursday. For the full year 2007, Tribune was profitable, but its $55 million income from continuing operations was a big decrease from the $661 million it cleared in 2006. Tribune said it took a pretax non-cash goodwill and masthead impairment charge of $130 million in the last quarter of 2007. The charge was $79 million after taxes, it said. Tribune also reported increased charges for severance and related charged in the quarter, and a $6 million pre-tax...

I can't post the article, but here's a link

"The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. But she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know. . .there's a reaction in her that doesn't go away and it comes out in the wrong way."

LaBeouf Pleads Not Guilty To Unlawful Smoking Attorney Enters Plea On Behalf Of Actor After Warrant Issued LOS ANGELES -- Shia LaBeouf has pleaded not guilty to an unlawful smoking charge in Los Angeles. Attorney Michael Norris entered the plea for LaBeouf on Wednesday, a day after a judge issued a $1,000 warrant for the actor's arrest. The "Transformers" star, who was cited last month, was scheduled to be arraigned on the misdemeanor charge but he failed to appear at Tuesday's hearing. The bench warrant was dismissed. A hearing is set for April 24. If convicted, the 21-year-old actor faces...

MARATHON, Fla. (CBS) ― A woman has died in a freak accident in the Florida Keys. Jorge Pino, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said a woman was on a boat with her family off Marathon, Fla. when an Eagle Ray jumped out of the water next to the vessel Thursday morning. The animal reportedly struck the 55-year old woman who fell backward and suffered a severe head trauma. Initial reports had indicated that the animal's sharp defensive barb, located near the base of its tail, had lodged in the woman's neck. The woman, who was from Michigan,...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democrat Barack Obama suffered in the polls Thursday after a much-acclaimed speech on race that, pundits said, had failed to defuse voters' anger over rage-filled sermons by his former pastor. Waging an acrimonious battle against Hillary Clinton for the Democrats' White House nomination, Obama confessed to being bruised by the controversy surrounding his longtime Chicago preacher, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. "In some ways this controversy has actually shaken me up a little bit and gotten me back into remembering that, you know, the odds of me getting elected have always been lower than some of the other conventional...

DHARaMSALA, India–There's a constant buzz in the two-room office of Students for a Free Tibet as throngs of young Tibetans in exile march on the streets. There's a sudden burst of excitement as Lhadon Tethong of Victoria, B.C., gets off her phone and announces: "There's been an emergency press conference and His Holiness has said he's open to change. He will reassess his stance if that is what the Tibetans want." Squeals all round and high-fives. Laptops are set aside and everyone gets on their phone to spread the news. It's eight days since protests inside the Tibet Autonomous Region...

A group of people threw an incendiary device at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco early today, authorities said. No one was injured in the attack, which left a metal garage door charred, said Fire Department Lt. Mindy Talmadge. The main entrance to the consulate is at 1450 Laguna St., but the incendiary device was thrown at a back entrance on Geary Boulevard, Talmadge said.

Guests for today: TBA To talk with Sean during his show (3-6PM EST) Call: 800.941.7326 Listen here: http://www.wabcradio.com/article.asp?id=531472

Max: The FairTax is a radical tax reform with a strong contingent of devotees …. In this campaign season, the tax is being promoted by presidential hopefuls Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, and Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska. Adakin: Sir, only Huckabee and Gravel have expressed outright support for the FairTax. Congressman Paul (as well as Senator John McCain) said he would, as president, sign HR-25 if it made it through congress, but Paul advocates the outright abolition of the income tax and replaces it with nothing. Also part of that “strong contingent of devotees”...

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 Posted By:Catherine MoyPermalinkThe Freaks Come Out in Light These soulless beasts wore the names of dead troops around their necks with no care whether their stunts hurt the families of these troops. Anti-war agitators attacked pro-troop patriots with bottles filled with paint and glass; spilled garbage in front of the Berkeley Recruiting Center; tried to shut down banks and other institutions; struggled with police officers – who were far too passive. If this is what peace looks like, who the hell wants it? The most sickening behavior was that of our politicians, specifically Sens. Hillary Clinton...

Pasco detention deputies give union the boot By Times Staff Writer Published Wednesday, March 19, 2008 8:44 PM LAND O'LAKES Detention deputies give union the boot Pasco County detention deputies voted 132-62 to decertify the bargaining unit that has been representing them in contract negotiations with Sheriff Bob White. In balloting Tuesday and Wednesday, the jail's sworn deputies overwhelmingly voted out the Fraternal Order of Police, less than two years after voting to unionize. The union had yet to finalize a labor contract. Although not at an official impasse with White, it had been stalled in contract talks over the...

For most white folks, indignation just doesn't wear well. Once affected or conjured up, it reminds one of a pudgy man, wearing a tie that may well have fit him when he was fifty pounds lighter, but which now cuts off somewhere above his navel and makes him look like an idiot. Indignation doesn't work for most whites, because having remained sanguine about, silent during, indeed often supportive of so much injustice over the years in this country--the theft of native land and genocide of indigenous persons, and the enslavement of Africans being only two of the best examples--we are...

Every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, the shots start ringing out at 11 a.m. from the 80-year-old Pacific Rod and Gun Club on the shores of San Francisco's Lake Merced, sending loud booms across the western half of the city. Club members and other shooters trickle in all afternoon, unloading their shotguns and dogs, donning their hunting vests and making their way up a set of rickety stairs to the clubhouse. There, they plunk down their fees - $8 per 25-shot round for nonmembers and $4 for members - and head out to the trap and skeet fields.But the prospect of...

Sunset: Planet Earth Credit: Expedition 15 Crew, NASA Explanation: Today, the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading north at 0548 UT. Known as the equinox, the geocentric astronomical event marks the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the south. Equinox means equal night and with the Sun on the celestial equator, Earth dwellers will experience nearly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Of course, for those in the north, the days will grow longer with the Sun marching higher in the sky as summer approaches. To celebrate the equinox, consider this colorful...

The FBI has recently adopted a novel investigative technique: posting hyperlinks that purport to be illegal videos of minors having sex, and then raiding the homes of anyone willing to click on them. Undercover FBI agents used this hyperlink-enticement technique, which directed Internet users to a clandestine government server, to stage armed raids of homes in Pennsylvania, New York, and Nevada last year. The supposed video files actually were gibberish and contained no illegal images. A CNET News.com review of legal documents shows that courts have approved of this technique, even though it raises questions about entrapment, the problems of...

Last month, the Serbian province of Kosovo declared its independence. This week, Canada became the 31st country to recognize it. Foreign affairs critic Bob Rae wondered what took our government so long. Well — perhaps we hesitated recognizing what we went to war for because we recognized that we should have hesitated going to war for it. Wait a minute, someone might say. Canada didn’t go to war in 1999 as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to help Kosovo secede from Serbia. That would have been like Germany dismantling Czechoslovakia in 1938 to liberate the Sudetenland....