Free Republic

LINN COUNTY - Tracy Seaton, 47, of Shellsburg, Iowa pulled in a 79 pound 4 ounce Bighead Carp from the banks of the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids Thursday evening. Iowa DNR Officer Paul Sleeper verified the fish is a new state record beating out the previous weight of a 76 pound carp caught last year. Seaton used the bow and arrow fishing technique to catch the fish. The Bighead carp is an exotic fish from Asia and is considered an invasive species in Iowa.

...The so called "democratically-elected Government of President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras" is spearheading the force that is trying to disrupt the rule of law in our country. Mr. Zelaya´s is fraudulent inquiry, in all respects, that is aimed at changing one aspect of our constitution, which is that no president can be elected twice. This man who has polarized our society by accusing the higher class of all that is wrong with our country, who has neglected the true economic, social, health, educational and security problems of our nation, is trying to distract the Honduran people from his true intention...centralizing...

Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has rejected a government proposal to conduct a partial recount of presidential election votes - again insisting that the results be annulled. In a statement on his Web site, Mr. Mousavi questioned the impartiality and fairness of the proposed panel that would conduct the recount. Iran's Guardian Council had offered to randomly recount 10 percent of the ballots from the June 12 vote that members of the opposition allege was rigged.

The internecine squabbling between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has left investors puzzled and the U.S. dollar affected. On June 13, Kudrin said at a meeting of the G-8 Finance Ministers in Italy that the global financial system as well as the U.S. dollar's role as the world's main reserve currency was unlikely to change in the near future. Kudrin said Russia would not alter the structure of its reserve funds, as the dollar was in "good shape," and that "it is too early to speak of an alternative" to the U.S. currency. Kudrin vowed...

While Ankara was preoccupied with determining the authenticity of the recent document indicating that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) might attempt to topple the government, the chairman of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, suggested changing provisional article 15 in the constitution in order to lift the ban on prosecuting the leaders of the 1980 military coup. Baykal said that if Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to bring the military coup attempt to court, then he must begin with the events in 1980. If the government is sincere about its claim to counter any attempted military coup,...

HORSE SPRINGS, N.M. — Wranglers at the Platt ranch were marking calves the old-fashioned way last week, roping them from horseback and burning a brand onto their haunches. What they were emphatically not doing, said Jay Platt, the third-generation proprietor of the ranch, was abiding by a federally recommended livestock identification plan, intended to speed the tracing of animal diseases, that has caused an uproar among ranchers. They were not attaching the recommended tags with microchips that would allow the computerized recording of livestock movements from birth to the slaughterhouse. “This plan is expensive, it’s intrusive, and there’s no need...

Recent polls reveal that nearly half the American public is unsure that Israel is still the good guy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The eroding support for Israeli policies signals a growing appetite for a new, more even-handed narrative. What must be understood is that the crucial conflict is not between Israel and Palestine. It's between peace and violence. The Israel Project hired pollster Stanley Greenberg to test American opinion on the Middle East conflict - and got a big surprise. In September 2008, 69% of Americans called themselves pro-Israel. Now, it's only 49%. In September, the same 69% wanted the...

Beijing's efforts to crack down on gambling by Communist Party and government officials with public funds seem to have made little headway. While longer jail terms and the risk of losing their jobs fail to deter officials from gambling, visa restrictions to Macau - the most popular gambling destinations for Chinese officials - has only driven officials to online casinos. As a result, online gambling inside China increasingly flourishes and the sums involved are become increasingly staggering. Police in Central China's Hubei province recently found that government officials and heads of state-owned companies were among the tens of thousands of...

China's central bank reiterated its call for the creation of a new international currency that could replace currencies like the dollar in countries' official reserves. In its annual report on financial stability, issued Friday, the People's Bank of China said the country will push reform of the international currency system to make it more diversified and reasonable. While it didn't specifically target the U.S. currency, it said it aims to reduce over-reliance on the current reserve currencies, of which the dollar is the biggest. "To avoid the shortcomings of sovereign credit currencies acting as reserve currencies, we need to create...

They led the most powerful forces in healthcare -- the trade groups representing doctors, insurance companies, hospitals and drug makers. Any one of them could stall, if not derail, President Obama's hopes of overhauling the U.S. healthcare system. Instead, they stood with Obama before TV cameras at the White House and pledged their cooperation. For Obama, the show of unity gave momentum to perhaps his most ambitious domestic goal. But the moment was a victory, as well, for another man invited to the event that morning in May. Andy Stern heads the SEIU, the union that helped corral the industry...

In the midst of the longest, and probably deepest, postwar recession last year, the U.S. investment position with the rest of the world sharply deteriorated. At the end of 2008, America's net international investment position was minus $3.47 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Friday. That represents the difference between the value of U.S. assets owned by foreigners ($23.36 trillion) and the value of foreign assets owned by Americans ($19.89 trillion). At the end of 2007, the U.S. net international investment position was minus $2.14 trillion. Thus, America's net indebtedness with the rest of the world increased by $1.33 trillion, or...

interview exerpt: QUESTION: How do you think conservative talk radio has affected the Legislature's work? BASS: "The Republicans were essentially threatened and terrorized against voting for revenue. Now [some] are facing recalls. They operate under a terrorist threat: "You vote for revenue and your career is over." I don't know why we allow that kind of terrorism to exist. I guess it's about free speech, but it's extremely unfair." QUESTION: Do you get especially exasperated when your own people -- Democrats -- don't agree with you? You know, I was a community activist, so I'm used to standing out in...

Is the conservative movement rotten to its core? South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's bizarre revelation that he had an extramarital affair with a longtime female friend in Argentina has dealt another blow to an already decrepit Republican Party. After losing control of Congress in 2006 and the White House in last year's election, the Republicans are not only in the minority; they also are adrift and leaderless. Mr. Sanford was highly touted as one who could advance new ideas, as a fresh face for Republican conservatives. He carved out a distinct political identity by fusing a command of policy with...

The South Korean military plans to speed up efforts to deploy ground, air and naval weapons systems for use in strikes against key facilities in North Korea in the event of war, the Ministry of National Defense said Friday. The plan is part of a revised version of a military modernization package. The ministry unveiled the revision of the Defense Reform 2020 initiative drawn up in 2005. The updated plan is focused on securing independent capabilities to remove North Korea's asymmetrical military threat of nuclear and missile programs by deploying sophisticated surveillance, reconnaissance and striking assets. In the case of...

As John notes below, the House passed cap-and-trade energy tax legislation last night even though no complete copy of that legislation existed, making it impossible for our representatives to know exactly what they were voting on. The vote was 219-212. Eight Republicans voted in favor of the legislation. They are: Mary Bono (CA), Mike Castle (DE), Mark Kirk (IL), Leonard Lance (NJ), Frank LoBiondo (NJ), Chris Smith (NJ), John McHugh (NY), and David Reichert (WA). It doesn't follow that these Republican votes (or at least four them) were critical to the passage of cap-and-trade. In the absence of Republican support,...

Sunday morning + political talk shows + coffee. The equation has been a vital ritual in Washington for six decades now, manned by a rarified fraternal order of newsmen who practice some very basic journalism. It's the David Gregory, Chris Wallace, George Stephanopoulos, Bob Schieffer hour of charm.

I have been reading the stories about Mark Sanford who had a error in judgement this past week. I understand that his wife is upset and many conservatives are disappointed. My question is what is the Air Force saying? He was an Air Force Reservist. I did not know that until today reading other posts. He could be court martialed for adultry which is against the UCMJ. Does anyone know if there is anything about this?

Should we fear Arianna Huffington and her mighty HuffPo? Dunno. Should we praise her? Nope, says one critic who examined the underpinnings of the Huffington media empire and emerged unimpressed.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, seeking to conquer what could be the last budget crisis of his tenure, is engaged in a high-stakes negotiating strategy with lawmakers that could force him to preside over a meltdown of state government. As legislators have scrambled to stop the state from postponing payment of its bills and issuing IOUs starting next week, the governor has vowed to veto any measure that fails to close the state's entire $24-billion deficit. *** The governor readily admits that he sees the crisis as a chance to make big changes to government -- to "reform the system," he said...

A question on the letters page of the September 2002 issue of Fortean Times -- a British magazine which covers fringe science or "Fortean" subjects -- piqued my interest. Was it true that a manhole cover, accidentally blasted upwards at escape velocity during the American nuclear tests in the 1950s, was in fact the first manmade object in space, beating Sputnik 1 by a long way? Or was it just an urban myth? The Internet is the natural home of the urban myth: the two could have been made for each other. The question therefore was: could it find room...