Free Republic

General Electric Co. said Friday it will build a $100 million manufacturing technology center in Michigan that will eventually employ about 1,200 workers. The Advanced Manufacturing and Software Technology Center will include a GE research and development facility with scientists and engineers who will develop manufacturing technologies for GE's renewable energy, aircraft engine, gas turbine and other products.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 33% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-five percent (35%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -2. This is the third straight day the Approval Index has been below zero. A Rasmussen video report notes that 42% now give the President good or excellent marks for handling the economy. That’s his lowest rating to date. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say the country is heading in the right direction. The Presidential Approval Index is...

WASHINGTON — It took the Obama administration eight days to figure out whether Iranians being gunned down for protesting a fraudulent election and demanding basic civil liberties deserved to be acknowledged by the president of the United States. It took the O-Team less than eight hours to side with Cuba's Fidel Castro, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega over the ouster of Manuel Zelaya in Honduras. As we now have come to expect, Mr. Obama got it wrong again, but this time, nobody noticed. The U.S. news media, preoccupied with the sudden demise of Michael Jackson, ignored the event...

A UN human rights investigator on Thursday called Israel's seizure of a ship carrying relief aid for the Gaza Strip "unlawful" and said its blockade of the territory constituted a "continuing crime against humanity". Israeli authorities on Tuesday intercepted the vessel, which was also carrying 21 pro-Palestinian activists, and said it would not be permitted to enter Gaza coastal waters because of security risks in the area and its existing naval blockade.

WASHINGTON – The eBay birth certificate saga continues. A seller claiming to have a certified copy of Barack Obama's birth certificate issued in a Mombasa, Kenya, hospital in 1961 is back up on eBay telling her story. Six previous times the posts have been removed. Even when the seller offered only autographed pictures of those allegedly responsible for securing the document, the posts have been removed. The seller now insists a YouTube video will be produced, presumably including images of the document. Then, the seller says, the full story will be given to WND. "So now eBay removes my listing...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court's ruling on the Ricci case -- that white firemen suffered illegal discrimination when a promotional test on which they did well was thrown out because not enough blacks did well -- will have no effect on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. While overturned on Ricci, she is protected by the four dissenting justices who upheld the side of the case she had taken as a Circuit Court judge. Sotomayor was additionally helped by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's insistence on reading her dissent from the bench, as if to emphasize the legitimacy of her...

A heavily publicized U.S. Supreme Court reversal of an appeals court ruling by Judge Sonia Sotomayor has at least temporarily diminished public support for President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on the two nights following the Supreme Court decision, finds that 37% now believe Sotomayor should be confirmed while 39% disagree. Two weeks ago, the numbers were much brighter for the nominee. At that time, 42% favored confirmation, and 34% were opposed.

Operation Khanjar part of the effort to turn the tide against the Taliban in Afghanistan -snip- The 4,000-strong marine expeditionary brigade involved in the operation are part of the 21,000 extra US troops Obama has sent to Afghanistan in an attempt to turn the tide against the Taliban. The aim of Operation Khanjar is to retake the initiative in Helmand, and make it safer for elections due next month. Voter registration had been particularly poor in Helmand in part because for the past few years, the British force has been pinned down in the upper Helmand River valley between the...

Washington (AP) - The White House hit back Thursday at a key Republican senator who has accused Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's allies of withholding documents from her past. White House Counsel Greg Craig told Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, that board meeting minutes and other papers detailing the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund's activities while Sotomayor was an outside adviser aren't relevant to her nomination. Republicans have raised concerns about the judge's involvement in the group, arguing it has taken extreme positions. Sotomayor early last month gave the panel documents...

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, has become the sixth co-sponsor of a proposal by Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., that would require documentation of eligibility from presidential candidates. She has joined Reps. John Campbell, R-Calif.; John R. Carter, R-Texas; John Culberson, R-Texas; Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.; and Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, in support Posey's H.R. 1503 plan. The bill's provisions are simple: "To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the principal campaign committee of a candidate for election to the office of President to include with the committee's statement of organization a copy of the candidate's birth...

The chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party is vowing to let Gov. John Hoeven (R) know just how much his constituents want him in the Senate. But although GOP chairman Gary Emineth will have an uphill climb to convince Hoeven, serving his third term, to take on Sen. Byron Dorgan (D), who will seek his fourth term next year, the governor has made comments lately indicating he has not completely slammed the door on challenging the Democrat. Asked by The Associated Press whether he would enter the race, Hoeven said he concurred with Emineth's hope of recruiting candidates by...

The tea party movement has become more than a one-time tax protest. The grass-roots political crusade is growing and expanding. This popular uprising against oppressive big government is in the best tradition of the American independence movement that we are celebrating this weekend.

From NBC's Ken Strickland Details on some of the most contentious elements of health-care reform were released today by one of Senate committees drafting the bill. The Senate Health Committee unveiled its plan for a public/government insurance program to compete with private insurers. And it also detailed the "play or pay" provision that would require companies to provide insurance coverage to their employees or pay fees to the government. Today's announcement, while significant, provides only a few new pieces in what has become a giant health-care reform puzzle. Several outstanding issues remain -- chief among them total cost of reform...

“And the rocket’s red glare ..... the bombs bursting in air ..... gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ..... O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

Sounds far-fetched and, to some, totally implausible. But the Republicans are losing potential candidates at a pace that is downright alarming if you believe in a healthy two-party system. The demise of John Ensign’s political career a few weeks ago and the surreal downfall of Mark Sanford last week is enough to send chills through the even the most optimistic Republican strategist. We know that of the 2008 crop, only Mitt Romney seems likely to stay on as a contender. The old stalwarts like Newt Gingrich may get a lot of press, but it is unlikely they can mount a...

Americans will celebrate their freedom on Independence Day with a certain irony tomorrow. Not all Americans have the freedom to celebrate the holiday with the traditional festive bang. That's because many places ban fireworks. Although about 94 million of us live in states that allow all sorts of fireworks and firecracker use, 43 million Americans live in six states - including New York and New Jersey - where you need a permit to even light a sparkler. California bans some types of fireworks and allows cities to expand what is prohibited. Safety is supposedly the major concern of those who...

DURHAM, N.C., July 2 (UPI) -- A North Carolina university administrator has been charged with inviting a Washington police officer posing as a pedophile to molest his adopted son. Frank McCorkle Lombard was arrested in North Carolina, the Raleigh News & Sentinel reported. U.S. marshals took custody of McCorkle Tuesday and he is expected to appear in a Washington court next week. An affidavit submitted by Timothy Palchak, a Washington detective working with the Northern Virginia Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said the investigation began in June when a man charged with child pornography told police he had...

Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the leading challenger to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has issued a fresh call to his supporters to maintain peaceful protests after the government confirmed the result of the disputed election.

On July 4th 1976 shortly after midnight Israeli Planes landed at Entebbe and began their now famous rescue. The entire assault lasted less than 30 minutes and all six of the hijackers were killed. Yonatan Netanyahu (Bibi's older brother) was the only Israeli commando who died during the operation. He was killed near the airport entrance, apparently by a Ugandan sniper who fired at the Israeli commandos from the nearby control tower. At least five other Israeli commandos were wounded. Out of the 103 hostages, three were killed and approximately 10 were wounded. A total of 45 Ugandan soldiers were...

The Honduran military surrounded the Presidential Palace in Tegucigalpa on Sunday morning, kidnapped President Manuel Zelaya in his pajamas and packed him off to Costa Rica in a plane.