Free Republic

Reversing a decade-long trend, many of America's largest cities are now growing more quickly than the rest of the nation, yet another sign of an economic crisis that is making it harder for people to move.

With the cap-and-trade bill passing the House of Representatives last week by seven votes, the eight Republicans who supported it were bound to feel some rapid political warming. Conservative Internet and radio accused them of single-handedly passing President Obama's "cap-and-tax" legislation, which is a myth; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi probably would have forced the requisite number of Democratic votes in the absence of Republican backing. But these eight Republicans were still termed "traitorous." It is typical that we praise independent judgment and political nerve in our elected officials -- until they show those qualities.... ...A serious concern about global climate...

As part of the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, President Obama wants to focus on regulating the so called "fine print". The Consumer Financial Protection Agency would be in charge of regulating those products in the same way other government agencies regulate the safety of drugs, food and toys Obama said Americans are demanding it. "Those ridiculous contracts with pages of fine print that no one can figure out—those things will be a thing of the past," the president said in a statement accompanying the 152-page draft bill. "And enforcement will be the rule, not the exception."

Mormons don't get depressed. Or so we like to think. Of course, not every member got the memo. FYI: We Latter-day Saints get depression and anxiety like any other mortals. To think and act otherwise would be the same as to pretend we are above the laws of nature. To say that membership in the church is a ticket to a world free of depression and anxiety is like saying that all babies born in the covenant don't get colic. It is equally untrue that no kid in Primary acts out, no young men and women in Mutual have acne,...

A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world, scientists have discovered.Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same interrelated colony, and will refuse to fight one another. The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination. What's more, people are unwittingly helping the mega-colony stick together. Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) were once native to South America. But people have unintentionally introduced the ants to all continents except Antarctica.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has advised ethics officials to drop an investigation of whether a protest rally and other actions by the Diocese of Bridgeport constitutes lobbying, saying that the lobbying law is too broad and could violate freedom of religion in this instance. Blumenthal said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon that it's possible the church's activities fall under the lobby registration law — the diocese, for example, might have spent over the threshold of $2,000 booking buses to take parishioners to a rally at the Capitol in March to protest a bill that would have dramatically changed...

BOSTON — The Boston Archdiocese has admitted that, within two years, it won’t have the money to pay for the care and housing of its elderly and sick priests, unless major changes are made to those benefits.An outside study says a combination of factors, including poor management, has brought the fund that supports retired priests to the brink of insolvency. As a result, starting Wednesday, retired and sick priests are having their benefits cut.Joe D’Arrigo is a consultant hired by the archdiocese to put the clergy fund on sound footing. He said the fund was managed by priests with...

TEL AVIV – The composition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is "under assault" by the U.S. and Europe, says a top minister in the Israeli government. "It seems there is a coordinated assault between the U.S. and some European countries to remove Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his party and to replace them with the Kadima party," the minister said. The minister spoke on condition his name be withheld due to possible political fallout from his comments. He said he was expressing his belief and does not have any proof of possible U.S.-European collusion to influence the composition of...

The previous DUmmie FUnnies EDITION demonstrated the laughable excuses the DUmmies have come up with to explain the high ratings of Fox News. In this DUFU edition we are treated to yet more DUmmie excuses only this time it comes in the form of FUnnie excuses to explain how MSNBC's Rachel Maddow has plunged so steeply in the ratings. You can see the DUmmies struggling to come up with excuses in this THREAD, "Rachel Maddow's Audience Down Nearly 55%." I can give you the easy explanation for her epic fail: she stinks! So what will MSNBC do when they...

Driving north out of New York the other day, I heard a caller to Mark Levin’s show discuss his excellent book Liberty and Tyranny. The word she kept using was “inevitable”: The republic felt exhausted, and there was an “inevitability” to what was happening. A quarter-millennium of liberty seemed to be about the best you could expect, and its waning was—again—“inevitable.” As she spoke, the rich farmland of Columbia County rolled past my window. To many of its residents, the caller would have sounded slightly kooky. Were any of the county’s first families suddenly to rematerialize from their centuries of...

For the first time, direct evidence of lightning has been detected on Mars, say University of Michigan researchers who found signs of electrical discharges during dust storms on the Red Planet. The bolts were dry lightning, says Chris Ruf, a professor in the departments of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences and Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences. "What we saw on Mars was a series of huge and sudden electrical discharges caused by a large dust storm," Ruf said. "Clearly, there was no rain associated with the electrical discharges on Mars. However, the implied possibilities are exciting." Electric activity in Martian...

Tokyo, July 01: (Kyodo) North Korea has issued navigation bans for 10 coastal sites along the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea citing military exercises, the Japan Coast Guard on Wednesday said. The latest move covers seven sites located off the Sea of Japan coast and three sites in waters off the Yellow Sea, the coast guard said, adding that it was informed of the bans by the North Korean government via e-mail. The new bans indicate that North Korea is preparing for newer missile launches, official sources stated. Pyongyang test-fired a long range missile on April 5 and...

July 1, 1863 The Battle of Gettysburg begins The largest military conflict in North American history begins this day when Union and Confederate forces collide at Gettysburg. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Two months prior to Gettysburg, Lee had dealt a stunning defeat to the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville. He then made plans for a Northern invasion in order to relieve pressure on war-weary Virginia and to seize the initiative from the Yankees. His army, numbering about 80,000, began moving on June...

General Motors is using its huge pension fund in a way it never intended. It had planned — and put money aside — for a steady march of retirees over time. But instead, tens of thousands of blue-collar workers, most in their 40s and 50s, are all becoming eligible for retirement benefits now, as the company rapidly downsizes. And even as its pension fund faces this giant bulge in payouts, G.M. is not putting any new money in — the company is not required to make any contributions to the fund until 2013. The longer this goes on, the weaker...

NEW YORK, July 1 (Reuters) - U.S. private employers cut 473,000 jobs in June, more than expected but down from the 485,000 jobs lost in May, a report by a private employment service said on Wednesday.

For a while, the weirdness exercised a global fascination. The prestigious Oxford Union invited him to address their members, and Michael Jackson flew in to Britain wearing his trademark surgical mask, a wise move considering the country was then in the grip of Mad Cow Disease. On an official tour of Blenheim Palace, which must have been a bit of a comedown after Neverland, they rolled out the red carpet, but he insisted it be heavily disinfected, and it squelched under his crutch. Crutch, not crotch. Due to some domestic mishap, he was grabbing the former rather than the latter....

Fifty-six percent (56%) of Americans say they are not willing to pay more in taxes and utility costs to generate cleaner energy and fight global warming. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, taken since the climate change bill was passed on Friday, finds that 21% of Americans are willing to pay $100 more per year for cleaner energy and to counter global warming. Only 14% are willing to pay more than that amount. Fifty-two percent (52%) of all adults say it is more important to keep the cost of energy as low as possible than it is to develop...

Bauer, 40, has made a career of running against South Carolina's establishment -- and winning. Elected to the state legislature at age 26, he became known as an ambitious politician, rising quickly and winning the state's No. 2 position in 2002. Yet as lieutenant governor, he has become known as much for his personal behavior as for his political record. In 2003, he was charged with driving 60 mph and running two red lights in downtown Columbia. When pulled over, Bauer was so aggressive that a police officer pulled a gun on him. In 2006, Bauer was stopped by a...

On Monday, the Waxman-Markey climate bill moved to the Senate floor after narrowly passing the House. It's a step, yes—but as everyone knows, cooling the planet will require a lot more than closing an emissions deal. That's why earlier this month the august National Academy of Sciences (NAS) brought together in Washington, DC, leading scientists, economists, policy experts, philosophers, and a menagerie of other experts for a two-day workshop to discuss a crazy-sounding idea: Should the US consider geoengineering the planet's atmosphere to combat global warming?

When we’re finally done with Obama his “Czar System” circumventing the constitutional confirmation process will stand out. Since he has a Czar for everything, count on a Labor Czar who will be his enforcer. Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) will be Labor Czar. He’ll direct Obama’s ACORN brown shirts and intimidate workers into surrendering to Card Check and nobody will be able to stop them. Who is Commissar Stern? Stern’s a favorite son of the Democratic Socialists of America, whose name spells out its aims. Stern’s SEIU is ruthlessly lawless. More than 3820 Unfair Labor...