Free Republic

Where is the final version of this bill including the 300 page ammendment added at 3AM? it is not on thomas.loc.gov? They have this outdated version from june 15th... http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:2:./temp/~c111SaqtsC::

Immobilienblasen has noticed a rather curious tendency for China to overpay in "China Inc." Deal Premiums. What exactly is that all about? Well, imagine you had a bunch of money... err... US dollars for example. You've also got a bunch more of these US dollars coming in daily. You don't believe they will hold their value. So you don't really want them. That is quite a problem. The first trick is to get rid of them... without actually seeming to get rid of them. The second trick is to get rid of them in such as way as to not...

WASHINGTON -- Aiming to keep the focus on climate change legislation, President Barack Obama put a plug in for administration efforts to make lamps and lighting equipment use less energy. "I know light bulbs may not seem sexy, but this simple action holds enormous promise because 7 percent of all the energy consumed in America is used to light our homes and businesses," the president said, standing alongside Energy Secretary Steven Chu at the White House.

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del., June 29, 2009 – It was enough to make even the calmest airline passengers nervous: an irate man pacing the aisles of a commercial flight shouting, “I want to slit the captain’s throat!” Col. Thomas Kauth, Logistics Assessment Branch chief, presents Senior Airman Nicholas Barker, 436th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, a certificate of appreciation for his excellence during Dover Air Force Base’s Logistics Standardization and Evaluation Program inspection. Two months later, Barker showed his excellence again by subduing an irate man on an international commercial flight. U.S. Air Force photo by Tom Randle  (Click photo...

The secrecy of the project and the unwillingness of officials to give details of which supermarkets — or countries — will offer the broadcasts hint at the style that the state-run programmes will offer. The official Xinhua News Agency has been chosen to begin the broadcasts and will be making its first foray into TV. It was selected by Beijing’s propaganda mandarins because of its large number of international news bureaux. It also has a lock on the distribution of news to mainstream domestic media. Chen Yue, a spokesman for Xinhua’s English news department, said: “China has recognised the importance...

The funeral of pop star Michael Jackson, who died unexpectedly on Thursday at the age of 50, could be larger than those of Elvis Presley and Princess Diana with as many as a million people expected to travel to Los Angeles to remember the "king of pop". The singer died of a heart attack on Thursday afternoon. However there are still questions about the cause of the heart attack and which drugs (if any) the singer was taking that may have contributed to his death.

Sotomayor Cases Reviewed by the Supreme Court • Affirmative Action: Ricci v. DeStefano 530 F.3d 87 (2008) - pending (now reversed 5-4) Sotomayor was part of a three-judge panel that ruled in February 2008 to uphold a lower court decision supporting the City of New Haven's decision to throw out the results of an exam to determine promotions within the city's fire department. Only one Hispanic and no African-American firefighters qualified for promotion based on the exam; the City subsequently decided not to certify the results and issued no promotions. In June 2008, Sotomayor was part of a 7-6 majority...

BAGHDAD – Iraqi forces assumed formal control of Baghdad and other cities Tuesday after American troops handed over security in urban areas in a defining step toward ending the U.S. combat role in the country. A countdown clock broadcast on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as the midnight deadline passed for U.S. combat troops to finish their pullback to bases outside cities. "The withdrawal of American troops is completed now from all cities after everything they sacrificed for the sake of security," said Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "We are now celebrating the restoration of...

On Monday’s Newsroom program, CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin couldn’t find a consistent argument about the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of New Haven firefighters who accused their city of reverse discrimination. Toobin first reported that Justice Kennedy, “the swing vote in this case, as in so many others,” wrote the decision, but minutes later, he labeled it as a ruling by “the five conservatives on the Court.”

William H. Evans, a 59-year-old Allentown man convicted of beating and raping three children 22 years ago, was released from state prison after a federal judge determined his constitutional rights were violated. Lehigh County is appealing the matter, but lost a bid to keep Evans behind bars until the legal wrangling is resolved. On May 29, U.S. District Judge Norma Shapiro ruled that Evans' constitutional rights had been violated and ordered him released within 30 days from the State Correctional Institution at Waymart, Wayne County. Shapiro ruled that the state Department of Corrections mistakenly told Evans he'd be released in...

POTUS to LGBT: "Welcome to Your White House" June 29, 2009 5:59 PM Yunjiblog ABC News' Yunji de Nies reports: ABBA's "Dancing Queen" filled the East Room, as more than 200 prominent gays and lesbians gathered for the first ever celebration of Pride month at the White House. The President and First Lady entered to thunderous applause. President Obama told the group he is committed to equality for their community. "This struggle continues today, for even as we face extraordinary challenges as a nation, we cannot and will not put aside issues of basic equality," he said, "We seek an...

Near the end of 2007 the LAPD dropped its "Mapping Program" in the which they were going to monitor the local Muslim community. The program was dropped because Muslims said that they were "offended". Now the LAPD has fallen into the same trap as many other governmental departments have. Expecting a Muslim to be honest with them about Islam. This never works.

Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett: Liturgy, Icons, Prayer, and Catechesis June 29th, 2009 by Dr. Carol Younger Two persons styled by the media as “cultural icons” passed into eternity last week: first Farrah Fawcett, followed some few hours later by Michael Jackson. Farrah succumbed to cancer after what her friends called a valiant fight. Michael’s cause of death is not yet known, the coroner not yet willing to say it was a heart attack. Farrah’s funeral will be celebrated tomorrow at the Los Angeles Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (pretty fitting for a “Charlie’s Angel”). As of this...

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2009 – The withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from all Iraqi cities and towns was completed over the weekend and ahead of tomorrow’s deadline, a Pentagon spokesman said on a cable TV news show today. “Overall, the security situation is stable enough for Iraqi security forces to take on this added responsibility,” Geoff Morrell said on CNN’s “Newsroom.” “It’s one that they want, and it’s one that the commanders on the ground feel they are capable of taking on. “It has to be OK because there’s a legal agreement, which forces us to abide by these timelines,”...

Michelle Obama Announces Money for Health Clinics June 29, 2009 5:22 PM Michelle Obama stepped into the health care policy debate this afternoon, criticizing the current state of care in America and announcing the release of $851 million in recovery funds to support community health centers. The first lady's Office says the grant money will go toward upgrading and expanding more than 1,500 health centers across the country. "As you all know, we're at a critical juncture in the debate about health care in this nation. The current system is economically unsustainable, and I don't have to tell any of...

When hundreds of leaders from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community gathered in the East Room of the White House Monday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the launch of the gay rights movement, President Obama worked to assuage concerns that his administration has not made much progress in addressing gay issues. Democratic activists in the LGBT community have said that President Obama's campaign promises to end the military's "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy and to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act do not seem to be top-tier priorities. When a legal brief, filed earlier this month by the...

There is so much misinformation on the subject of global warming and so little consensus -- as to what environmental changes are occurring, whether human behavior is contributing to them, whether they are causing significant environmental damage, and whether the proposed cap and trade legislation would do anything to alleviate any of this -- it is no wonder our freedom-hating majority in the House insisted on cramming it through before they could even read, much less digest, what it contained. It would be bad enough if they passed innocuous legislation to address an alleged problem (man-caused global warming) without first...

Without a doubt, at the center of the New Testament there stands the Cross, which receives its interpretation from the Resurrection. The Passion narratives are the first pieces of the Gospels that were composed as a unity. In his preaching at Corinth, Paul initially wants to know nothing but the Cross, which "destroys the wisdom of the wise and wrecks the understanding of those who understand", which "is a scandal to the Jews and foolishness to the gentiles". But "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (I Cor 1:19, 23,...

Just about everyone acknowledges, inside the Republican Party and out, that the GOP needs to do a much better job of bringing minorities into the party. But how? There’s a big problem with implementing this idea — one that is seldom discussed. The obstacles that prevent Republicans from bringing more minorities into the party are as cultural as they are political. Many blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Muslims, and even women instinctually vote Democrat, even when their views more closely align with the Republicans. It would be ambitious to imagine the GOP could get 50% of every one of those groups. But...

COLUMBUS—Joseph P. Mascari, 39, Columbus, was sentenced in United States District Court here today to 46 months imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release for possessing approximately 150 images of child pornography on a computer in his apartment. Gregory G. Lockhart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Keith L. Bennett, and other agencies participating in the Central Ohio Cybercrimes Task Force announced the sentence handed down today by United States District Judge Algenon L. Marbley. Judge Marbley ordered Mascari, who had been on electronic monitoring since his plea, remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals...