Free Republic

North Korea’s most crucial ally is exploring shifts in its policy toward the authoritarian regime, experts on East Asian relations said last week. China hasn’t taken any major actions against North Korea beyond signing the U.N. resolution condemning Pyongyang’s May 25 nuclear test and calling for unforced inspections of suspected weapons cargo. But criticism in China’s government-authorized media of North Korea has grown to levels that were never tolerated until now, said Jonathan Pollack, professor of Asian-Pacific studies at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. Pollack has written more than 25 books and research reports, including books on U.S.-Chinese...

A petition has been launched to force council chiefs to drop plans to brand a Prescot school with a bizarre 12-word name. More than 100 people have already signed up opposing the plan to re-name Prescot School as Knowsley Park Centre for Learning - serving Prescot, Whiston and the wider community. Organisers behind the Prescotian - a website for former Prescot School pupils - have branded the new name "politically correct madness". They plan to present their petition to education bosses before the start of the next school term in a bid to force a u-turn. The far from snappy...

It’s difficult to make sense out of the foreign policy coming out of the White House under Barack Obama.  On the one hand, Obama insisted that he could not interfere with the internal politics of the “sovereign government of Iran,” refusing for days to even condemn Iran for its flagrantly violent repression of dissent.  When Honduras’ military staged a coup, though, Obama apparently had no such reticence in involving the US on behalf of deposed President Manuel Zelaya — a close ally of Hugo Chavez: In an unusual concurrence of views, the Obama administration and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said...

I remember all of the reverberations from the Dems during the Lewinsky affair that "it was only sex," and that "it's his private life" and that "it doesn't affect his job performance." Well, if this is true, then why is it only true for Democrats?

Just curious...with the 4th of July on a saturday evening, how long of a weekend do you think our fearless leaders of the conservative media, will take for vacation? My bet is, O'Reilly will take off the 3rd and the 6th as well as the weekend, and Rush will take off the 3rd, and not come back until mid week of the next week! Ah, All our valiant leaders! All off with Biggles,and all the sportsmen who always pulled us through. Anyone care to make a guess? >;)

-Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar on Monday announced measures he said would expedite solar energy projects on federal lands. Although hundreds of solar plant projects have applied for leases, none have been approved, and the fast-track effort was applauded by the industry. Salazar has made expanding renewable energy leasing on federal property a top priority, and the announcement should help to clear the bottlenecked permitting program. One of the key initiatives proposes solar energy zones on federal lands in the Western U.S. Other measures include opening new solar energy permitting offices and accelerating reviews of industry proposals. Environmental advocacy groups...

For years, Better Business Bureau has educated consumers about not giving out personal information over the telephone or to anyone who shows up at their front door. With the U.S. Census process beginning, BBB advises people to be cooperative, but cautious, so as not to become a victim of fraud or identity theft. The first phase of the 2010 U.S. Census is under way as workers have begun verifying the addresses of households across the country. Eventually, more than 140,000 U.S. Census workers will count every person in the United States and will gather information about every person living at...

WALHONDING — A lawsuit filed by B&B Entertainment and Thomas George, owners of the adult cabaret business the Foxhole, was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. in a judgment filed earlier this month. B&B Entertainment Inc. and George filed the lawsuit on Aug. 31, 2007, claiming New Beginnings Ministries “conspired with themselves and others to force their religion upon plaintiffs, their employees and their patrons to prohibit plaintiffs from the operation of their said lawful business, all with the purpose and intent to prohibit plaintiffs from the exercise of their Constitutional rights to freedom of speech, enterprise...

Bernard Madoff is an evil con man. He should spend the nearly all the rest of his miserable life in prison. But the 150-year sentence he received is too long. In fact, the something close to 12-year sentence his defense attorney recommended is pretty reasonable. Let's begin with the basics. Penologists typically see three purposes for putting people in prison: Protection of society, deterrence, and punishment. Putting Madoff in prison, of course, does nothing to protect society. He harmed people through the bloodless act of stealing their money. So long as he doesn't start an investment firm -- something that's...

The cost of the high popularity of Lula Notwithstanding his anti-life and anti-family policies, huge state investments in propaganda ensure popularity for Lula Julio SeveroBrazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported, “Approval ratings for Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva rose from 78% on March to 80% on June, according to data from the CNI/Ibope polls released June 9. The percentage of respondents considering the Lula administration very good or good also improved: it went up from 64% to 68%. The rates of those disapproving the Lula administration fell from 19% to 16%”.Certainly, the respondents were not asked...

Four times an eBay auction page listing an allegedly genuine copy of Barack Obama's birth certificate – from Mombasa, Kenya – was scrubbed from the popular Internet site, presumably for violating eBay's policy prohibiting the sale of government documents. But now a fifth posting promising "the truth" about Obama's birth, this time in the form of a written dissertation – sidestepping the restriction against auctioning government documents – has remained on the site for hours; and the top bid has skyrocketed past $15,000.

Miami physician Roberto Rodriguez, 54, was sentenced today to 97 months in prison for his role in a Medicare fraud scheme involving HIV infusion services, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman of the Southern District of Florida and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). Rodriguez was also ordered to pay more than $9 million in restitution to the Medicare program during today’s sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck. Rodriguez pleaded guilty before Judge Huck on March 23, 2009,...

California is preparing to issue IOUs to its creditors this week as it grapples with an unprecedented cash crunch and prepares to begin its new fiscal year deep in the red. Once the US’s richest state, California now has the dubious distinction of having the worst credit rating in the country. ....

LANSING, Mich. -- Empty Michigan prisons could become home to hundreds of California inmates if a deal can be struck. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm sent a letter Monday to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger formally offering space for some of the inmates California is running out of room to house to Michigan. Download: Ganholm Letter To Schwarzenegger Michigan plans to close two prisons by the end of September. They are the Standish Maximum Correctional facility about 145 miles northwest of Detroit and a medium-security prison in Muskegon, about 45 miles northwest of Grand Rapids. Michigan could save the jobs of about...

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) and his wife Sarah attend a memorial ceremony to Yoni Netanyahu in the military cemetery in Mt. Hertzel, June 28, 2009 in Jerusalem, Israel. Ben Tzion Netanyahu, Bibi and Yoni's Dad.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and his Defence Minister Ehud Barak attend a memorial ceremony for the former's brother, Yoni, at the military cemetery in Mt. Hertzel in Jerusalem on June 28, 2009. Yoni Netanyahu was killed in 1976 during the Antebe operation to free Israeli hostages.Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and wife Sarah, left, gather near the grave of his late brother...

Last year South Carolina Rep. James E. Clyburn was expected to stay neutral in the long, bitter Democratic presidential primary struggle between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. An influential endorsement from Clyburn, a civil rights hero and top member of the House Democratic leadership, would have been welcomed by former President Clinton, who worked closely with him in the 1990s and thought they were close friends.

What Count The census is a count of everyone residing in the United States: in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas. Who Everyone All residents of the United States must be counted. This includes people of all ages, races, ethnic groups, citizens and non-citizens. When Every 10 years Every 10 years, and the next census occurs in 2010. Census questionnaires will be mailed or delivered to every household in the United States in March 2010. The questions ask you to provide information that is accurate for your household as of April 1, 2010....

Iran’s post presidential election protests are not evidence of a brewing revolution; rather they unmask a power struggle among the ayatollahs. The fracturing of the leadership has resulted in clear winners and losers internally and externally. Iranian authorities declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent, the winner in the June 12th election with 63 percent of the votes. But Ahmadinejad’s opposition alleged election fraud which triggered sweeping protests followed by a bare knuckled government response and a tepid investigation. Last week, Iranian authorities imposed order to “secure the rule of law” according to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The ayatollah unleashed the...

Coloradans whose license plates expire in July will have to pay new fees to get their plates renewed starting Wednesday. The size of the fees varies by the weight of the vehicle... Late fines are going up, too, and there will be a $2 daily fee on rental cars. The fees come from Senate Bill 108, the first new funding source for Colorado highways since the last time the gas tax increased nearly two decades ago. Democrats led by Gov. Bill Ritter pushed for the law, which should raise $200 million to $250 million a year to repair roads and...

Regular readers of this weblog and my books know that Bible prophecy says the ancient city of Babylon, Iraq will be rebuilt and become the greatest center of wealth, commerce and power in the “last days” of history. The books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Revelation are explicit on this subject. Skeptics and cynics abound, to be sure, but the fact is Babylon is being rebuilt right now, in part with U.S. taxpayer funds. Iraqi leaders hope that eventually millions of tourists will come to visit, and real progress is being made. Consider today’s edition of Stars & Stripes, a...