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Someone who bought a rare Bugatti, Jaguar or Ferrari in top condition would have done better during the downturn than an investor in almost any other asset, industry observers say, including stocks, fine art or even gold. “There has been a flight into real assets,” says Historic Automobile Group founder Dietrich Hatlapa, a former Baring Securities and ING banker and collector who designed the HAGI Top, a new index that tracks the prices of a cross-section of historic cars. “People want something they can look at and touch in the evening, rather than a piece of paper in the...

Here is video of Anderson Cooper speaking with a panel about mistakes that law enforcement made in the Dugard case. Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped when she was 11, and had been missing for 18 years. (Watch Video)

First from Trevor Loudon of New Zeal: http://newzeal.blogspot.com/2009/04/obama-file-72-obama-appoints-former.html Obama File 72 Obama Appoints “Former” Communist To White House “Green Job” A few short years ago Anthony (Van) Jones was a Bay Area radical agitator-a committed Marxist-Leninist-Maoist, waging war on the police and capitalist system. Today Van Jones holds a key position in the US government and has the ear of President Barack Obama. According to the White House Blog March 10th, 2009 The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Chair Nancy Sutley announced yesterday that Van Jones – an early green jobs visionary — will start Monday as Special...

"Based on the $3.25 billion [in federal stimulus money] already allocated," The New York Times reports, "the city estimates that 30,776 jobs will be created by early 2011." That's a little more than $100,000 per job, a bargain compared to Obama administration estimates indicating that the cost per job "saved or created" will be more than twice that high nationwide. It's rather surprising that jobs would be so much cheaper in New York City, where everything else is more expensive. It gets better. Last month New York Gov. David Paterson said $33.1 million for highway and bridge repair in the...

Last week, the Drug War Chronicle reports, the Drug Enforcement Administration made its first arrests related to medical marijuana since Attorney General Eric Holder promised not to prosecute people who are complying with state law.

Which of the globe's workers fatten their wallets most? Residents of Swiss financial center Zurich know that their country has more to offer than world-class chocolate and precision watches. They can now brag that, on the whole, they earn more than anyone in the world. Zurich-dwellers rake in $22.60 per hour in average net pay, according to a wage survey released August 19. The runner-up city is less than 200 miles southwest: Geneva, where jobs pay $20.40 per hour. Though the Swiss cities provide the most cash to workers, they are not the most expensive locales for employers to set...

Kennedy biographer Ed Klein joined WOR radio's Steve Malzberg on Wednesday, and revealed President Obama's relationship with the late Senator Ted Kennedy was not as close as has been depicted in the media (h/t Noel Sheppard at Newsbusters). Mr. Klein seemed disgusted by the notion that Mr Obama is considered to be the "last Kennedy brother" by MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews. : AUDIO STEVE MALZBERG: This relationship between Obama and Ted Kennedy led Chris Matthews, wacko of all wackos in my view, to say that he's now the next, he's the last brother. Obama's the last brother. ED KLEIN: Yeah,...

What these sleazebags won't do to pass national health care! Dems today pushed for Obamacare at Teddy Kennedy's funeral. And, they used a child as a prop. They politicized Ted Kennedy's funeral just as they politicized Wellstone's -- before the body was even cold. They even booed Tom DeLay and then-Gov. Jesse Ventura for the horrible crime of paying their respects. This is shameful conduct by shameless people.

Iraq to fetch MiG fighter planes from Serbia (AFP) – 11 hours ago BAGHDAD — An Iraqi military delegation has gone to Serbia to bring back 19 MiG fighter planes that Saddam Hussein's regime sent for servicing 20 years ago, the defence ministry said on Saturday. "General Othman al-Fredji, a defence ministry adviser, and Anwar Mohammed Amin, head of the air force, are in Serbia negotiating the return (of the planes) at the earliest possible date," spokesman General Mohammed al-Askari said. The Soviet-built MiG-21 and 23 aircraft, whose existence has just been discovered, "were sent by Saddam's government in 1989...

BAE Systems targets 300 Typhoon exports BAE Systems will go head-to-head with the US in the lucrative fighter plane export market as it attempts to sell up to 300 Eurofighter Typhoons abroad to keep production going when domestic orders dry up. By Amy Wilson The biggest potential export markets for BAE and its consortium partners, EADS and Finmeccanica, are India, Japan and Saudi Arabia, which is already buying 72 Typhoons. An order from Switzerland could come as soon as next year and the consortium is also pursuing sales in Greece and Romania. It also has long-term ambitions in Brazil, Malaysia...

Obama Joker posters in the Omaha area....grin :) http://www.kmtv.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=4049875&h1=Obama%20%22Joker%22%20Posters%20Prompt%20Outrage&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=103567&LaunchPageAdTag=News&activePane=info&rnd=89305662

Both Hitler's infamous Gestapo and Mussolini's OVRA (Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism) were secret-police organizations that had as their aim the control and prevention of political dissent. Though Heinrich Himmler modeled his Gestapo force after OVRA, it became much more violent than its Italian counterpart. A German law, passed in 1936, exempted the Gestapo from judicial oversight, which in turn exempted its henchmen from answering to administrative courts. All this, of course, is enough to give most Americans concern, given that the increasingly red administration in Washington has been moving daily toward installing radicals in newly created positions...

Always Remember. Never Forgotten.

Pakistan upgraded U.S.-made missiles, test-fired: NYT Updated at: 0901 PST, Sunday, August 30, 2009 WASHINGTON: The Obama administration has accused Pakistan of illegally modifying U.S.-made missiles to expand its ability to hit land-based targets, which would constitute a threat to India, The New York Times reported in Sunday editions. Citing senior administration and Congressional officials, the Times said the charge came in late June through an unpublicized diplomatic protest to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and other top Pakistani officials. The accusation, made amid growing concerns about Pakistan's increasingly rapid conventional and nuclear weapons development, triggered a new round of...

We previously heard about Pastor Steven Anderson as the Baptist preacher who was unceremoniously tasered at a Border Patrol checkpoint a few months ago. See Here: http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/stevenanderson/index?tab=articles

A small molecule earlier found to have both anti-fat and anti-cancer abilities works as a literal turnoff for fat-making genes, according to a new report in the August 28th issue of the journal Chemistry and Biology, a Cell Press journal. The chemical blocks a well known master controller of fat synthesis, a transcription factor known as SREBP. That action in mice that are genetically prone to obesity causes the animals to become leaner. It also lowers the amount of fat in their livers, along with their blood sugar and cholesterol levels. "We are frankly very excited about it," said Salih...

The American conservative movement has devolved into an all fear movement, hopping from one hot-button "fear this" specter to another with a propaganda machine that would make many a fear-monger of the past blush. Fear "death panels." Fear the Marxist in the closet. Fear "government." Fear the imagined civilian "security force" being built. Fear ACORN and SEIU, Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sanders. He sees ACORNs everywhere, and imagines Marxists in every closet. His favorite term for government advisers and department heads is "CZAR." and it's not an accident. He uses it to further fears that somehow, once again, the Commies...

Despite the publication of a critical report on Iran's nuclear program, senior Israeli diplomatic officials are accusing the International Atomic Energy Agency of "hiding critical information on Iran's nuclear progress," the Foreign Ministry said Saturday. IAEA officials said Iran was stonewalling the agency about "possible military dimensions" to its program. In the report, the IAEA said it has pressed Iran to clarify its uranium enrichment activities and reassure the world that it's not trying to build an atomic weapon. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said in a prepared statement that the latest IAEA report, released Friday, "accuses Iran of defying...

Woman took items while bags were being screened. A 30-year-old former Transportation Security Administration worker was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years' probation Thursday for stealing jewelry, gift cards and other things out of tourists' bags as the items were undergoing security screening at Kahului Airport. Devie Darla Dale Feig... The agency already has reimbursed the victims. "I'm not a bad person. But what I did was wrong. I wanted to say I'm sorry," Feig said ... Deputy Prosecutor Terence Herndon called the case egregious and asked that Feig receive the full 90-day jail term. "I believe...

Some would go farther and say that the memorandum from Victor Chebrikov, the top man at the KGB that was addressed to Yuri Andropov, the top man in the entire USSR, outlining a secret proposal made by Senator Ted Kennedy to the Soviets to help them "understand Reagan" in return for their help in making him president, constitutes treason. It's not a word to throw around lightly and the reason I refrain from using it is because I am unsure Kennedy's actions meet the definition. Kennedy was not in direct contact with Andropov, using his good friend John Tunney, former...