Free Republic

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/02/rebecca-johnston-mother-o_n_274401.html Synopsis: Johnston joined the Army Reserves in June to get some financial security for her family.

HONOLULU — Stinky city bus riders soon could get soaked. The Honolulu City Council is considering a bill that would impose up to a $500 fine and/or up to six months in jail for public transit passengers convicted of being too smelly. The bill will be heard Thursday in committee. It would make it illegal to have "odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system." It doesn't matter if it's body odor or offensive fumes that emanates from clothes, personal belongings or animals. Councilmen Rod Tam and Nestor Garcia co-sponsored the anti-odor bill.

PANAJI, India (AFP) – India's first lunar mission has captured images of the landing site of the Apollo 15 craft, debunking theories that the US mission was a hoax, the country's state-run space agency said Wednesday. "The images captured by a hyper-spectral camera fitted as a part of Chandrayaan-I... has reconfirmed the veracity of the Apollo 15 mission," said Prakash Chauhan, from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). NASA's 12-day Apollo 15 mission in 1971 was the first designed to explore the surface of the moon in great detail and over a long period. But it and others in the...

The crowd sitting elbow to elbow in the basement performance space at New York City's Comedy Cellar on a recent Wednesday night had pretty much had its fill of sex jokes, gay jokes, rants about New York cabdrivers and time-filling banter with the couple in the front row who had just gotten married a week ago. Then, a few minutes after midnight, James Smith, a lanky Australian stand-up who has appeared on HBO's Flight of the Conchords, bounded onto the stage for a 15-minute set to do something a little different. He talked politics. Some of his targets were old...

The choreograpaher for the Miss Universe pageant, Michael Schwandt, said in an interview that Donald Trump hand picks six of the 15 Miss Universe finalists, and that the judges are only responsible for the final nine. "His reason for doing so, as he told me and he’s told the girls before, is that he left it all up to preliminary judging in the past and some of the most beautiful women, in his opinion, were not in the top fifteen and he was kind of upset about that," Schwandt told the website Guanabee.com. "And he decided that he would pick...

Yes, there are plenty of reasons, and here is just one! California gives over and above what the feds give to Illegal Aliens. Yesterday I was at my doctor's office and picked up a booklet funded 'with a generous grant from the Calif. Bar Foundation', titled, "Seniors & the Law" A Guide for Maturing Californians. They pointed out many programs, such as property tax deferment for seniors in financial trouble, that have been eliminated because of budget cuts...but they didn't cut this one! Pg. 3 (click link to see original document) Is there any financial assistance available for seniors who...

The wailing and gnashing of teeth on both sides of the political aisle over last week's nonindictment of Gov. Bill Richardson and two former aides is to be expected in a state lacking the rich tradition of political corruption prosecutions they have in places like Illinois or New Jersey. Here in the Land of Enchantment, we're not used to the sharp elbows and eye gouging that accompany such matters. From comments coming from both sides, we don't even know the rules of these contests. And trust me, there are rules. Republicans are complaining that the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.,...

Well. Not content with an unprecedented four primetime news conferences to date in his young administration, President Obama now needs to address the entire public school system. And not just for a Hey-Kids-Howya-Doin-I’m-Your-New-President-So-Be-Good-In-School-This-Year-Mmmkay? speech. You know, like back when I was a kid and Jimmy Carter would come around and hand out balloon animals at parties. Or maybe those were clowns. I get confused. Anyway. Nope, Obama can’t just say hey to the kiddies and encourage them to do their homework. He has to make this a — what does the Left call it? — a teachable moment. A speech-in,...

Finally! A Strategy for Dumping RINOs in 2010 A recent blog entry on ConservativeHQ.com details how conservatives can use the lessons and strategies learned from Tea Party and town hall protests to dump unprincipled RINOs in the 2010 primaries, especially when these Republicans are being challenged by proven conservatives. "In these races, the moderate/liberal Republicans typically have the upper hand because they are either incumbents or have previously served in office. The U.S. Senate primary contest in Florida between conservative Marco Rubio and moderate/liberal Charlie Crist is a great example. Crist has the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee...

Wendell CoxEscape from New York Dysfunctional policies are driving away millions of residents and billions of dollars. 1 September 2009 New York State faces a host of economic and budgetary problems, as many of the stories in this issue make clear. One way of expressing the depth of these problems is through the state’s startling domestic-migration numbers. “Domestic migration” refers to people who move from one location to another within the United States. It takes into account migrants both into a state and out of it, subtracting immigrants from emigrants to yield the net number of people leaving a...

Plans to string additional power lines from western Lassen County to the Bay Area were put on hold and possibly terminated in early July after landowners and environmentalists voiced fears about the plans' impact on property rights and the environment.***************************** California’s move toward an environment-friendly future and green economy is being challenged by an unexpected source: a decision-making process that too often pits the concerns of local communities and conservationists against renewable energy developers. Some of the nation’s fiercest environmental battles have been fought in California. Think about the decades-long Bay Area-Delta water wars or the fights over offshore drilling...

Dear MoveOn member, The health care debate is the biggest political story of the year. But what the media and Congress seem to forget is that it's not just about politics or policy minutiae. It's about real people who are really suffering under our broken health care system—and can't afford to wait any longer for real reform. That's why, today, MoveOn members are holding health care vigils across the country—including a virtual vigil online for those who can't make it to an event. These are shaping up to be our biggest and most powerful events of the year. Can you...

There's a smell test that I usually use when a politician invokes the deity into a political debate. Does it seem out of place? Is this something that the politician does consistently or are they suddenly invoking the deity? For instance, Bill Clinton could be found at church only when there was political heat on him. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, evokes the lord a lot and so if she were to evoke the lord I wouldn't be quite as skeptical. (though, I understand that this would give her more license)

As anyone who has ever argued with leftists knows, leftists do not argue; they assault. A standard tactic of leftists, and petty people everywhere, is to attempt to crush an opponent through the use of state power or, failing that, by smearing him as racist, sexist, homophobic, or the all-purpose “mean-spirited.” David Forsmark did an excellent job reporting on former California Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter's dispatching of Chris Matthews and Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Monday's Hardball. Hunter pointed out the U.S. military waterboards trainees and asked if those two believe the armed forces are guilty of sadistically abusing...

WND senior staff reporter Jerome R. Corsi will be the keynote speaker at Howard Phillips' Constitution Day commemoration in Arlington, Va., this month There is no admission charge to the Sept. 17 event at the Hyatt Arlington Hotel, 1325 Wilson Bld. The event celebrates the adoption of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. The program also will include a presentation by Phillips of the Andrew Jackson Champion of Liberty award. Chuck Baldwin, the 2008 Constitution Party presidential candidate will speak on "The Dangers of a Constitutional Convention."

Here is a CNN video report on a new CNN/Opinion Dynamics Poll showing that Independents now disapprove of President Obama's job performance by a 53%-43% margin. It's the first time in a CNN poll that Obama is underwater with Independents. . . . . . (Watch Video)

Meet Oliver, the first baby in the world born using a new egg-screening technique that could double the odds of an implanted embryo taking hold in the womb, unveiled by British experts on Wednesday. Baby Oliver was born in Britain to a 41-year-old woman after 13 failed attempts at in vitro fertilisation (IVF). The new technique, called array comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH), makes it possible to ensure eggs have a normal number of chromosomes, boosting the likelihood of a successful pregnancy. "Chromosomal abnormality plays a major part in the failure to establish a pregnancy," said Simon Fishel, managing director of...

CHICAGO (STNG/AP) -- A southwest suburban man is free on bond Tuesday after he was arrested for allegedly trying to bring weapons into the Daley Center by hiding them in his belt. Jamie Busk, 38, of Evergreen Park was stopped about 2 p.m. Monday at the Daley Center entrance... Among the items found in the belt were a pocket knife with a 2-inch blade and handcuff keys.

The arguments against the power of the states to arrest federal tyranny are as predictable as the sun coming up in the morning, and they are as philosophical in nature as the Declaration of Independence. One of the most commonly used arguments against such a State power is the United States Supreme Court (US S CT) dicta opinion in Marbury v. Madison in 1803, written by Chief Justice John Marshall. Before getting into the misunderstandings and misapplications of that infamous decision, we must first recognize the source and character of Marshall's opinion. As Marshall himself admitted that the US is...

Last week the California Energy Commission said it will consider approving a carbon-capture plant proposed by a joint venture of units of Rio Tinto Plc and BP Plc.Dubbed the Hydrogen Energy International LLC, the venture has provided enough information to start a formal, yearlong certification process for the plant, the CEC said at its regularly scheduled meeting.The proposed hydrogen-powered electricity generating facility for the Kern County area would capture and sequester (store) most of its carbon related emissions. The facility will be similar to the cleanest natural gas power plants, but instead of using natural gas to run its turbine...