Free Republic

Farmers, activists at odds over animal treatment By DAVID EGGERT | Associated Press Writer 11:20 AM CDT, July 11, 2009 LANSING, Mich. - Michigan farmers and animal rights advocates are fighting over the treatment of farm animals, a conflict that ultimately may be taken to voters. The farm lobby is backing bipartisan legislation that would put into law the agriculture industry's guidelines for farm animals' health and welfare, and require audits of livestock farms. A 10-member council would review and possibly update animal care standards at least every five years and local governments would be pre-empted from setting their own...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said Saturday more time was needed for his $787 billion stimulus package to work, predicting the spending would have a bigger impact on the economy later this year. In an advanced text of his weekly radio speech, Obama said the stimulus plan approved by Congress and signed into law in mid-February "was not designed to work in four months -- it was designed to work over two years." U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said it was too soon to decide whether the U.S. economy needed the help of a second-round of government stimulus to...

Here video of a new GOP ad that hammers President Obama for his claim that the $787 Billion Stimulus he pushed through in February has "done its job." The video highlights the downward spiral of the economy SINCE the Stimulus was passed, and hits back at the false claim Obama continues to spout that Republicans offered no solutions of their own. . . . . (Watch the new GOP Ad)

Iraqi Kurds take a stand against Arab hegemony Commentary by Gerald A. Honigman thelastcrusade.org Finally, at long last, another native people, besides Arabs, is staking its claims to a slice of the justice pie in the Middle East--a region proclaimed by Arabs to be solely their own, despite the presence of scores of millions of native, non-Arab peoples in those lands. A story by Sam Dagher in the July 10th New York Times reported that Kurds were going ahead staking claims to the huge fossil fuel deposits sitting under land in northern Iraq on which they have lived for thousands...

Phoenix - Valley Fever - Pirated Movies Lead to Arrests of Illegal Immigrants; Arpaio Says Recording Industry Wanted Help A private eye hired by the Recording Industry Association of America called the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for help with pirated movies, leading to the arrests of two illegal immigrants.Two women in their 20s, Karina Romero-Figueroa, 24 and Judith Romero-Figueroa, [both pictured below], were busted at "the Mercado" near U.S. 60, according to a news release put out by the sheriff's office. Another suspect fled the scene when deputies arrived, leaving teenagers behind who were handed over to Child Protective Services....

Report: Bush-era surveillance went beyond wiretaps A government report raises new questions about how the Bush White House kept key Justice officials in the dark about the post-Sept. 11 program. By Josh Meyer July 11, 2009 Reporting from Washington -- The Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 surveillance efforts went beyond the widely publicized warrantless wiretapping program, a government report disclosed Friday, encompassing additional secretive activities that created "unprecedented" spying powers. The report also raised new questions about how the Bush White House kept key Justice Department officials in the dark as it launched the surveillance program. In a move that it...

Peggy Noonan used her Friday column in the Wall Street Journal to throw some dirt on Sarah Palin’s grave. It’s vintage Noonan: airheaded, dripping with condescension, and completely missing the point. No serious conservative needs to hear anything from Noonan except her groveling apology for being so horribly wrong about Barack Obama, who she energetically supported for president. However, it’s worth picking through the flotsam and jetsam of this embarrassing column, to appreciate the kind of intellectual fat that conservatives need to trim from the Republican Party. Let’s begin by setting the stage: Sarah Palin resigned her governorship last week,...

A website aimed at combating so-called Internet "smears" about President Obama has disappeared from the Internet – including an alleged certification of live birth posted during his campaign – and archives for the website have been thoroughly scrubbed.

As if the real-estate market wasn't depressed enough and taxes weren't high enough, the House last week passed the controversial cap-and-trade, global-warming bill that among many other things would require households and businesses to retrofit their buildings to meet new strict "green guidelines" the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy would promulgate without legislative oversight or review. Retrofits would cover everything from air quality to energy and water usage, and would require the use of government-approved "green" supplies and materials. Until the retrofits are completed to the government's satisfaction, homes and commercial and industrial buildings could not be sold....

What did we expect him to say, “We misread the economy?” That’s for losers and Vice Presidents … but I repeat myself. In his weekly radio address, Barack Obama insisted that we should stop listening to the critics — and the man he put in charge of the stimulus package — and revel in the fabulous success that is Porkulus: In a little over one hundred days, this Recovery Act has worked as intended. It has already extended unemployment insurance and health insurance to those who have lost their jobs in this recession. It has delivered $43 billion in tax...

Eshoo feels the American people have the right to get to the bottom of this, saying, “I can’t think of a better application of tax dollars...

Are current government policies causing the U.S. to lose competitiveness in the global race for capital, prosperity, and growth? Fortune magazine recently reported that the number of U.S. companies in the world’s top 500 fell to the lowest level ever, while more Chinese firms than ever before made the list. Thirty-seven Chinese companies now rank in the top 500, including nine new entries. Meanwhile, the number of U.S. firms has fallen to 140, the lowest total since Fortune began the list in 1995. This is not good. China also surpassed the U.S. as the world’s biggest automaker in the first...

Obama declares to Africa: End tyranny, corruption MARK S. SMITH ACCRA, Ghana – An American president who has "the blood of Africa within me" praised and scolded the continent of his ancestors Saturday, asserting forces of tyranny and corruption must yield if Africa is to achieve its promise. "Yes you can," Barack Obama declared, dusting off his campaign slogan and adapting it for his foreign audience. Speaking to the Ghanaian Parliament, he called upon African societies to seize opportunities for peace, democracy and prosperity. "This is a new moment of great promise," he said. "To realize that promise, we must...

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that his state will not participate in the year 2010, and instead “will skip directly to 2011.” California faces a projected $26.3 billion budget deficit, and the state’s controller began handing out IOUs last week....

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Brushing aside the criticisms of pundits and politicos, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she plans to jump immediately back into the national political fray — stumping for conservative issues and even Democrats — after she prematurely vacates her elected post at month's end. The former Republican vice-presidential nominee and heroine to much of the GOP's base said in an interview she views the electorate as embattled and fatigued by nonstop partisanship, and she is eager to campaign for Republicans, independents and even Democrats who share her values on limited government, strong defense and "energy independence.""I will go...

President Obama — in an inspired move — named Dr. Francis Collins head of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Collins is one of the world’s leading scientists. He is a physician-geneticist known in part for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and for his leadership of the Human Genome Project. (Collins served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the NIH from 1993-2008.) The New York Times reports, however, that a couple of objections have been raised to the choice of Dr. Collins. According to the Times: The first is his very public embrace of...

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and sometimes fiction becomes truth. Expect the phrase "going Galt" to become more common should the Obama administration continue with their soak the rich programs. The latest installment in the Democratic plan, as reported by the New York Times, is to "ask the wealthiest Americans to help pay for overhauling the health care system." As Stop the ACLU points out, "There is no asking. There will be no check box on their tax forms asking if they would like to pay a slightly higher rate so that grasshoppers, illegals, and people who could afford...

Here is video of the final inning of the no-hitter Jonathan Sanchez threw for the San Francisco Giants last night against the San Diego Padres. Sanchez came into the game with a 2-8 record and a ERA over 5.00, but he nearly threw a perfect game. In fact, he did not allow a hitter to reach base. The only man who reached did so on an error by 3rd Baseman Juan Uribe. Below is a report on the no-hitter. . . . . (Watch Video)

Despite a still-lagging U.S. economy and rising unemployment rate, House Democrats announced late yesterday that they will seek a massive increase in federal income taxes to help pay for the national health-care reform proposal that President Obama is urging Congress to enact this summer. House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D.-N.Y.)revealed late Friday afternoon that House Democrats will seek to increase income taxes by $540 billion. The move, which had been discussed earlier in the week by House Democrats, broke in an Associated Press story that was published at 4:14 PM Eastern Daylight time on Friday afternoon (or 8:14...

Foiled Forever by Fossil Finding Last January, Scientific American declared 2009 as “the year of Darwin” in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the revolutionary evolutionist who turned man into a monkey. The celebration is understandable. No thinker has accomplished more to create a cleft between science and religion. No writer has done more to undermine the claim of scripture that man was made in the image and likeness of God. No scholar has forged greater support for moral relativity and modern materialism. His theories are treated as laws; his notions as knowledge; his speculation as science....