Free Republic

Last week, a federal judge ordered Stella D’oro to reinstate 134 workers after a protracted 10-month strike. This week, the company invited the workers back. It also announced that it would close the factory in October. The decision to close Stella D’oro’s only factory, which is based in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, was made by Brynwood Partners, the private equity company based in Greenwich, Conn., which bought the company in 2006. “The decision to close the Bronx bakery operations has not been made in haste or without significant planning,” a statement from the management said. Operations will be...

Maj. Gina "Torch" Sabric, an F-16 fighter pilot and 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing flight-safety officer, sits on her aircraft after a flight. Sabric proudly attributes the progression of women in aviation to the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP). President Barack Obama presented the WASP the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest and most distinguished award Congress can award a civilian, July 1. Courtesy photo, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. BALAD — It's been more than 60 years since the Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) took the skies by storm as the first women in U.S. history trained to fly American...

Back on June 27, 2008, PolitiFact published a story we hoped would put the whole Obama birth certificate controversy to rest. It ran under the now-laughable headline, "Obama's birth certificate: Final chapter." Oh, how naive we were. More than a year later, the debate continues to rage on the Internet among the "Birthers" movement, people who doubt that President Barack Obama is a natural-born U.S. citizen and is therefore ineligible to serve as president. Or at least, they say, Obama has yet to sufficiently prove things one way or the other. Today, we examine two claims: • WorldNetDaily's owners took...

FOB HUNTER — U.S. Soldiers recently transferred a military base to Iraqi Security Forces near Majaar Al Kabir in a ceremony attended by key U.S. and Iraqi leaders in the Maysan province. "This is a historic event for the citizens of the Maysan province and for all Soldiers operating in Iraq," said Lt. Col. William Walski, commander, 2nd Squadron, 13th Cavalry Regiment. "We are proud of the relationships we have built with the Iraqi Security Forces and are confident of their ability to protect the citizens of Maysan province." During the ceremony, remarks were given by Muhammad Shia, governor of...

The chairman of a House ethics probe into a Caribbean conference attended by members of the Congressional Black Caucus is himself a CBC member who attended the same event in 2005. Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), the former judge chosen to chair the ethics probe, has vowed to lead a fair investigation into trips taken by CBC members to St. Maarten in 2008 and Antigua and Barbuda in 2007. But the ethics watchdogs that have called for an investigation into whether corporations paid for the trips, which would violate House ethics rules, question whether a CBC member should be leading the...

Staunch GOP conservative Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) doubts that Sarah Palin will be able to resurrect her political career after calling it quits as governor of Alaska. King says he was saddened by the news that Palin, "a star" of the party, gave up the job because he doesn't see how she can continue "her political career on the path ... it was going." "I don’t know of anyone who has successfully and voluntarily pulled themselves out of political office and been able to leverage that into more political success," King said in an interview with The Hill on Monday....

PHOENIX, Arizona, July 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Offering brochures on pro-life alternatives to abortion may appear a safe enough act, but for one Arizona sidewalk counselor, the message of "no thanks" instead came through a drawn handgun allegedly held by a man determined that his girlfriend would get an abortion. Local Phoenix station 3TV reported that a pro-life woman was offering literature on abortion alternatives to a man who had taken his girlfriend to the Planned Parenthood facility near Seventh and Campbell avenues, when suddenly the man pulled out a pistol, pointed the weapon at the woman for a few...

As a lawyer who has spent many years defending frivolous lawsuits, both as an in-house general counsel and outside counsel, and as a former member of the McCain-Palin civil justice reform advisory committee, it is clear to me that we do need rationing to contain health care costs — lawyer rationing.Based on my years in the real world of tort lawsuits, largely spent defending automotive product cases against General Motors and Suzuki, the inescapable conclusion I reached years ago is that most lawsuits involving personal injuries or health conditions are not caused by product defects or professional negligence. Simply put,...

California's bond debt has a rating that starts with a "B" for the first time since 2004, after Fitch Ratings today cut the state to "BBB" from "A-minus," citing Sacramento's budget gridlock. The new rating still is "investment-grade" -- but not by much. After "BBB" is "BBB-minus," and then the junk rating of "BB." California has never had a junk rating on its debt, but it's tempting fate now. Fitch said it is keeping the state on "rating watch negative," meaning another downgrade is possible. Fitch, a rival of the better known Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service rating...

Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said Monday he would travel later in the evening to Washington where he would hold talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "We will leave at 19:00 local time (0100 GMT) for Washington for a meeting at the State Department and also a meeting with Secretary Hillary Clinton," Zelaya told journalists in the Nicaraguan capital. Zelaya said he had spoken to Clinton about a recent resolution from the Organization of American States (OAS) that called for his "immediate and unconditional" reinstatement to office. On Sunday, one week after he was ousted in a military-backed...

There’s a new reason to worry about the security of your Social Security number. Turns out, they can be guessed with relative ease. A group of researchers at Carnegie-Mellon University say they’ve discovered patterns in the issuance of numbers that make it relatively easy to deduce the personal information using publicly available information and some basic statistical analysis. The research could have far-ranging implications for financial institutions and other firms that rely on Social Security numbers to ward off identity theft. It could also unleash a wave of criminal imitators who will try to duplicate the research.

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2009 – An agreement signed in Moscow today permits the United States to transit troops and weapons across Russian territory en route to Afghanistan. The pact, signed during President Barack Obama’s visit to the Kremlin, permits 4,500 flights per year through Russian airspace, and saves the U.S. government $133 million annually in transportation costs while boosting logistical efficiency, according to a White House statement. “This is a substantial contribution by Russia to our international effort, and it will save the United States time and resources in giving our troops the support that they need,” Obama said during...

The way the Associated Press is fawning over Michelle Obama and her supposed sense of fashion, you would almost think they were talking about Carla Bruni who really does dress quite elegantly and oozes glamor. To add to this absurdity, the AP also went out of its way to paint the Russian First Lady as frumpy. Um, advice to AP personnel; don't expect the Russians to go out of their way to help you in your stories in that country after that gratuitous slam on the wife of their president. First let us watch the AP's Catrina Stewart act dazzled...

Health Reform: A Senate health care bill will force Americans to buy health insurance whether they want it or not. Where the extra doctors to treat them will come from is anybody's guess.When even the venerable Helen Thomas gets upset at an Obama show and tell, you know the sales job for health care reform and other goodies is not going well. "I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency," said Thomas, a view we share. Thomas accused the White House of "controlling the press" and said just about all Obama events are "prepackaged." White House press...

Despite it being in many ways a marvel of modern technology, the International Space Station can't keep up with even the simplest modern cellphone in terms of data communication with Earth. Disruption-Tolerant Networking, a new protocol for transmitting data in space being developed jointly by NASA, Google's "Chief Internet Evangelist" and others, hopes to change that. Now, spacecraft like the ISS communicate with Earth over a single point-to-point connection using a transmitter that is essentially a souped-up walkie-talkie. Data transmissions must be carefully scheduled to coincide with periods where both the ISS and a receiving station are in range for...

Letter to Editor: My nephew, Brian Bradshaw, was killed by an explosive device in Afghanistan on June 25, the same day that Michael Jackson died. Mr. Jackson received days of wall-to-wall coverage in the media. Where was the coverage of my nephew or the other soldiers who died that week? There were several of them, and our family crossed paths with the family of another fallen soldier at Dover Air Force Base, where the bodies come "home." Only the media in Brian's hometown and where he was stationed before his deployment covered his death. I remember Brian as a toddler...

The Obama administration and the Democrats insist that the money the government gets from cap-and-trade will benefit the creation of clean-energy initiatives in the US, making us the world leader. If so, someone should tell Senators Evan Bayh and Dick Lugar. The two have partnered on earmarks that will subsidize a Russian company in the engineering and production of lithium-ion batteries: The Indiana lawmakers have secured $6.5 million in congressional earmarks for Ener1, Inc., and have talked up the company’s efforts to secure a slice of nearly $3 billion in two Energy Department programs offering grants and loans as part...

With news that Congress has passed its ballyhooed $1 billion “Cash for Clunkers” bill, we feel compelled to voice our skepticism about the program. Here’s the bill in a nutshell: Buyers of new vehicles between July 1 and November 1 will be given a voucher for $3500 if they forfeit a post-1984 car or truck that has been registered for at least one year and has a combined fuel economy rating at least 4 mpg lower than their new vehicle. The voucher grows to $4500 if the increase in fuel economy is 10 mpg or higher. The old car...

60 votes not so super for Obama, Senate DemocratsBy: LAURIE KELLMAN The Associated Press July 4, 2009 Congress returns for its midsummer session Monday with a Senate supermajority not super enough for President Barack Obama's top priorities to pass without Republican support. The seating of Minnesota Sen. Al Franken will give Democrats the filibuster-proof 60-40 majority in the Senate, but only on paper. Absences by two ailing senators mean the party can count only 58 votes, and then only if Majority Leader Harry Reid can herd two independents and the independent streaks of 55 others behind Obama's biggest initiatives: expanded...

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2009 – Iraqi forces, aided by U.S. soldiers and coalition forces, arrested several suspected terrorists in operations in Iraq over the past five days, military officials reported. Iraqi soldiers, aided by U.S. soldiers, detained a wanted insurgent July 4 in Hawijah in Kirkuk province. Mahdi Saleh Khalil is believed to be associated with vehicle-bomb detonations June 30 and April 15, both in Kirkuk city, that killed 37 people and wounded 114 Iraqi civilians. Elsewhere, the Beiji special weapons and tactics team, aided by coalition advisors, arrested a suspected terrorist July 3 in Salahuddin province. The man is...