Free Republic

PORTLAND, Ore. — A new superconducting material fabricated by a Canadian-German team has been fabricated out of a silicon-hydrogen compound. Instead of super-cooling the material, as is necessary for conventional superconductors, the new material is instead super-compressed. The researchers claim that the new material could sidestep the cooling requirement, thereby enabling superconducting wires that work at room temperature. "If you put hydrogen compounds under enough pressure, you can get superconductivity," said professor John Tse of the University of Saskatchewan. "These new superconductors can be operated at higher temperatures, perhaps without a refrigerant." He performed the theoretical work with doctoral candidate...

This is amazing. Kerry plays the race card so blatantly. Didn't Ferraro got thrown under the bus for the same comments?

Obama church published Hamas terror manifesto Compares charter calling for murder of Jews to Declaration of Independence ________________________________________ Posted: March 20, 2008 12:45 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein © 2008 WorldNetDaily JERUSALEM – Sen. Barack Obama's Chicago church reprinted a manifesto by Hamas that defended terrorism as legitimate resistance, refused to recognize the right of Israel to exist and compared the terror group's official charter – which calls for the murder of Jews – to America's Declaration of Independence. The Hamas piece was published on the "Pastor's Page" of the Trinity United Church of Christ newsletter reserved for Rev. Jeremiah...

Have just received reports that Fred Phelps and his God-forsaken Westboro Baptist "Church" will be protesting at four churches in Orlando on Easter Sunday. These are the bastar*s that claim God hates America and they praise the killing of GIs in Iraq. Supposedly they will be at St. Luke's United Methodist, First Baptist Church (AKA Baptist World), Calvary Assembly of God and Mary Queen of the Universe churches. Will get details and post here. Depending on schedule of which church they plan to hit first, will set up a meeting point we can all get to, convoy on from, etc....

BAGHDAD – Coalition forces killed seven terrorists and detained 20 suspected terrorists during operations in central and northern Iraq Wednesday and today.Coalition forces targeted several suspected improvised explosive device emplacers southwest of Samarra Wednesday. During the operation, Coalition forces engaged two terrorists observed planting an IED in the road, killing them. The assault force also engaged a vehicle believed to be associated with the group. Coalition forces were engaged by small-arms fire by one of the occupants. Responding in self-defense, Coalition forces returned fire, killing four terrorists. The vehicle, which contained rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, land mines, homemade explosives and other...

MOSCOW (AFP)--Russia's foreign ministry said Thursday that the invasion of Iraq five years ago had turned the country into "one of the most dangerous places on the planet" and led to the death of up to 300,000 people. "The results are clear," Mikhail Kamynin, a ministry spokesman, said in a statement, referring to the casualties of what he called "a huge military operation without U.N. approval" launched by the U.S. and its allies. "Up to 300,000 people, according to different estimates, have been killed since the invasion," Kamynin said. "More than two million people have left their homeland and the...

Give birth, get a parking pass? California lawmakers are considering granting special parking privileges to women in the final three months of pregnancy and the first two months after birth. The legislation would apply to more than a half-million women who give birth every year in California. Assemblyman Chuck DeVore's bill would qualify pregnant women for "temporarily disabled" parking placards from the Department of Motor Vehicles. "Let's be reasonable here: There are challenges, physical challenges, that arise as a natural part of life," DeVore said of pregnancy. The Irvine Republican said it makes little sense to force a pregnant woman...

Lender says it can't get capital to pay off debt and finance commercial lending from other sources due to crippled credit market. Commercial and consumer lender CIT Group Inc. said Thursday it tapped its $7.3 billion credit lines to repay debt and finance its commercial lending and is seeking additional funding sources as access to capital has dried up. CIT Group said it cannot get capital from other sources amid continued deterioration of the credit markets. Aside from looking for new funding, CIT Group said it would also consider selling non-strategic assets and business lines to help raise cash. Shares...

This is the funniest damn thing I ever saw. Bill Clinton giving a speech controlled by a voodoo doll. I didn't find it, a good friend of mine passed the link along to me. http://youtube.com/watch?v=JahdnOQ9XCA

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) -- The parents of U.S. peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed in Gaza by an Israeli bulldozer, marked the fifth anniversary of her death Thursday by dedicating a small West Bank memorial. Corrie was 23 when she was run over by a 60-ton Israeli bulldozer in 2003 as she tried to prevent a Palestinian home from being demolished. The driver said he didn't see her, and the Israeli military ruled her death accidental. On Thursday, about 150 Palestinians and foreigners attended the memorial, gathering in a street in the West Bank city of Nablus, led...

The ongoing saga of the McCain Campaign’s effort to keep the political discourse respectful added another chapter today. As reported by Jon Martin, the campaign has suspended a junior staffer, Soren Dayton, a conservative blogger/consultant who worked in McCain’s political department. His crime: Distributing, via Twitter, a smarmy Youtube video that mashes together the words of Barack Obama, Jeremiah Wright, a photograph of the 1968 Olympics black power salute and a Public Enemy song, among other things. The video suggests, in a rather crude fashion, what conservative commentators have long held: That Wright’s inflammatory rhetoric is a key clue into...

New study reveals relationship standards are relativeAUSTIN, Texas—Although many researchers have believed women choose partners based on the kind of relationship they are seeking, a new study from The University of Texas at Austin reveals women’s preferences can be influenced by their own attractiveness. David Buss, psychology researcher at the university, has published the findings in “Attractive Women Want it All: Good Genes, Economic Investment, Parenting Proclivities and Emotional Commitment” in this month’s Evolutionary Psychology. Previous researchers argued that what women value depended on the type of relationship they were looking for. Women looking for long-term partners want someone who...

A McCain campaign aide has been suspended for posting a racially charged video using the controversial words of Sen. Barack Obama's pastor on a blog. "We have been very clear on the type of campaign we intend to run and this staffer acted in violation of our policy. He has been reprimanded by campaign leadership and suspended from the campaign," "I don't think Sen. McCain wants to get in the middle of a discussion about Sen. Obama's former pastor, or his faith. He believes that people who endorse you, people who befriend you are entitled to their own views, but...

Senator Obama's Tuesday speech in Philadelphia left the mainstream press rapturous, his wife teary, and the commentators that prefer emotion to fact calling it a defining moment in American racial and political history. Perhaps, but a great speech like "A More Perfect Union" does not a great president make, as we have learned before, to our detriment. Unfortunately, the electorate has a short memory and is prone to infatuation; and Obama sings a sweet, sweet version of the same old song. Senator Obama is a gifted orator, and I have often lamented the poor speaking skills of our legislators and...

With the “peace movement” eagerly planning protests in the wake of the 4,000 military death in Iraq, use this opportunity to judge their sincerity. A decade prior to the war, terrorists declared open season on American military and diplomatic personnel around the world. Where were the vigils, marches, crosses, boots and flag draped coffins to mourn the service members and diplomats killed in the attacks on the Khobar barracks, African Embassies and USS Cole? There were none. No calls for peace, much less justice. After seeing a genuine gratitude towards the military by America did they belatedly take up the...

. . . The problem for Obama, who campaigns on a message of racial reconciliation, is that the "mentor" whose church he joined and has generously supported with tens of thousands of dollars in donations is a disciple not of [Martin Luther] King but of James Cone, the expounder of a "black liberation" theology that teaches its adherents to "accept only the love of G-d which participates in the destruction of the white enemy." Above all, the problem for Obama is that for two decades his spiritual home has been a church in which the minister damns America to the...

Adding Up The Race-Religion Math Wright seen hurting Obama more than Hagee harming McCain. Is a double standard at play?   Fiery oratory, different impact: The controversies surrounding Revs. John Hagee, left, and Jeremiah Wright could offer clues about how an Obama-McCain general election contest might play out.   by James D. BesserWashington Correspondent Several polls this week indicated that Barack Obama’s controversial Chicago pastor is hurting his presidential campaign — a reality that prompted the candidate’s roll-of-the-dice speech on race in America on Tuesday. But there is no evidence Sen. John McCain’s relationship with another controversial cleric is...

A 55-year-old Michigan woman was killed this morning in a freak accident just offshore of Marathon. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Bobby Dube said a Spotted Eagle Ray breached the water and struck the woman in the head. "It knocked her unconscious and evidently she fell and struck something on the boat. Her mother, father and sister were onboard and performed CPR till they got back to the boat," Dube said. "By the time EMS arrived she was pronounced dead." The Pigeon, Mich., native was aboard a 25-foot rental boat with her sister, mother and father, reportedly traveling...

Well, AP has done it again. They've clearly ignored the latest investigation into ties between Saddam's regime and the Al Queda network of terrorist groups. Even their own article tries to play both sides of the coin (a writing tactic used primarily by High School students to write book reports on texts they've never seen). "Fact Check: Bush on Al Qaida, Iraqis" By JENNIFER LOVEN ...That's about as factual as the article gets. Beyond that, it's filled with contradictions that try in vain to spin the documented findings to bolster their historically flawed position on the issue; that there were...

Tim Rutten's column, "Obama's Lincoln moment" and The Times editorial, "Obama on race" both miss the mark. In my considered judgment as a race and civil rights specialist, I would say that Barack Obama's "momentous" speech on race settled on merely "explaining" so-called racial differences between blacks and whites -- and in so doing amplified deep-seated racial tensions and divisions. Instead of giving us a polarizing treatise on the "black experience," Obama should have reiterated the theme that has brought so many to his campaign: That race ain't what it used to be in America. I waited in vain for...