Free Republic

Transparency and taxes are a study in contrasts. No one is against transparency (publicly), but few, if any, elected officials actively work toward making Nevada's government more open to the public. Few politicians support taxes (publicly), but when Nevada legislators get together behind closed doors, that's all they seem to talk about. Consider, for instance, the 2009 Legislative Session, when Nevada legislators passed a series of tax increases amounting to a record-setting billion dollars in hikes. Many citizens know few — if any — of the details behind those tax increases, because legislative leaders of both parties conducted the negotiations...

Rewarding (to some) A-H1N1 flu hysteria grips globe --snip-- Global panic seems to have taken hold on the flu front, as media sensationalism magnifies medical warnings into worldwide alarm. A key soccer match plays to empty stands in Mexico, gates locked against ticketholders; Mexican City restaurants, bars, movies, discos, theaters, gyms and swimming pools are closed for five days at a cost of $100 million a day; tourist ships are veering away from Mexican ports; one child dies and 433 schools are closed in the US; “swine flu” tops the Twitter meter; Egypt orders all pigs slaughtered; Britain with five...

Taller People Make Happier People, Study Shows Taller people appear to live happier lives, according to a new study.Researchers conducted a phone survey among more than 454,065 adults aged 18 and older between January 2008 and April 2009.Participants were asked to give their height as well as answer questions about their standard of living.Writing in the journal Economics and Human Biology, researchers said they used the Cantril "self-measuring striving scale", which allows participants to describe their quality of life through imagining a “life ladder” with rungs numbered from zero to 10 at the top. The top rung is associated...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced plans for a new carbon tax aimed at combating global warming. The tax will be introduced next year and will cover the use of oil, gas and coal, he said. The new tax will be 17 euros (£15) per tonne of emitted carbon dioxide (CO2). It will be phased in gradually. It will apply to households as well as enterprises, but not to the heavy industries and power firms included in the EU's emissions trading scheme. Most electricity in France - excluded from the new carbon tax - is nuclear generated. Mr Sarkozy said...

The Butterfly Nebula from Upgraded Hubble Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team Explanation: The bright clusters and nebulae of planet Earth's night sky are often named for flowers or insects, and NGC 6302 is no exception. With an estimated surface temperature of about 250,000 degrees C, the central star of this particular planetary nebula is exceptionally hot though -- shining brightly in ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust. Above is a dramatically detailed close-up of the dying star's nebula recorded by the newly upgraded Hubble Space Telescope. Cutting across...

In light of yesterday's arrest warrants charging voter registration fraud in Florida and hidden camera video showing ACORN workers counseling a reporter, posing as pimp, how to cheat the IRS and secure public housing to run a brothel... Should the Justice Department launch a full investigation into the group's dealings and leadership? (vote at link)

Bobby Flay and Father Leo. (Grace Before Meals Father Leo Patalinghug’s “fusion fajitas” beat Bobby Flay’s “red curry-marinated skirt steak fajitas” Sept. 9 on the Food Network’s “Throwdown! With Bobby Flay.” After preparing his signature dish for a crowd of parishioners at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland, the cooking priest commented, “My fusion fajitas are smokin.’ I guarantee this will make you say, ‘Thank you, God.’” Divine providence was on Flay’s mind as he was driving to challenge the priest. “We’re going up against Father Leo,” he said. “As a former altar boy, I’m not so sure this is...

As everyone knows and remembers, tomorrow is 9-11. for the past 8 years (almost), we have been safe and free from a heinous attack on the scale of 9-11 or worse. Every year around this time, though, most did not worry of another attack because of the safety measures and the two fronts of the WOT. I was one of those people for the last 4 or so years. But, recently I have had a bad feeling, almost a premonition, that something may occur, what, where, and when, I don't know, around this time. I don't want to frighten anyone,...

Just last week the Iranian Assembly approved a mostly hard line cabinet. With that taken care of, the insane Mullahs have placed their focus back on persecuting Christians in Iran. Yet the Islamic world is silent.

MARSHFIELD, Wis. — When it comes to spitting a cricket for distance, the central Wisconsin talent seems concentrated in one Marshfield family. Brian Johnsrud spat a thawed cricket 22 feet, 8 inches at the Central Wisconsin State Fair on Saturday. Minutes later, his son Jared shot his cricket 10 feet, 5 inches to win the 9-to-11 age division.

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- President Obama tried to talk tough on health care Wednesday night but his threats, like his recent communications on his plan, remain vague. The Republicans know it and they aren't exactly trembling.Obama tried to cover all the bases, vowing that the public option would be only a small part of his health-care plan, yet he spent the last fourth of his speech talking about how government needs to step in. The president promised the plan would not add to the federal deficit, yet said it would cost $900 billion.And he promised to listen to "serious" proposals...

The Hill locks onto an aspect of the President’s speech that escaped me during my earlier analysis, which is the expectation that Barack Obama would bring his own plan to Capitol Hill. The White House had told the press last week that Obama would take charge of the debate by offering a new plan that would address many of the concerns raised in the debate and assume leadership of the crusade. What happened to the Obama plan? It turned out to be a no-show:

UPS Lobbies Congress for BailoutUnited Parcel Service – the 100-year-old company that operated for decades as a parcel-delivery monopoly – is quietly seeking a Congressional bailout designed to limit competition for overnight deliveries, leaving Americans with a less reliable next-day delivery network for critical goods like medicines and essential inventory. This is a bailout, plain and simple, and the American people won't stand for it.

Harvard Translation: not one dime! Ten Trillion Dimes!

Here is video of Megyn Kelly talking with defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh and trial attorney Lee Armstrong on "Kelly's Court" about whether the undercover ACORN video will result in criminal charges. (Watch Video)

At least five ACORN workers are behind bars and law enforcement officials are seeking six others for forging signatures on voter registration applications last year. The workers were turned in by ACORN, Association of Community Organizations for Refom Now, supervisors in June 2008. The arrests today in Miami-Dade County include a mother, her son and her daughter, according to Ed Griffith, spokesman for Miami-Dade State Attorney Katharine Fernandez Rundle. The FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Rundle’s office scoured hundreds of suspicious voter registration applications provided by ACORN. The accused apparently created fake voters who did not exist,...

Poverty levels in parts of Britain mirror "the times of Dickens", leaving schools struggling to cope with increasing numbers of children lacking the most basic personal skills, according to a teachers’ leader. Some pupils from the poorest areas arrive at school unable to dress themselves or use a knife and fork, with some even unable to use a toilet properly, she said. Lesley Ward, president of the 160,000-strong Association of Teachers and Lecturers, warned that many children were also being relied upon to raise younger brothers and sisters and lacked stable father figures in the home. “Children who get themselves,...

Judge sets court date in 'birther' case filed by Wiley Drake Thursday, September 10, 2009 BUENA PARK, Calif. (ABP) -- The so-called "Birthers" claimed a small victory Sept. 8 when a federal judge set a tentative trial date of Jan. 26, 2010, for a lawsuit claiming that President Obama is constitutionally ineligible for his office. "We won again," Wiley Drake, a former second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said of the ruling by federal judge David Carter. Drake is one of several plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleging that Obama cannot hold his office because he does not meet...

WASHINGTON – White House economists said Thursday the Obama administration's recovery efforts have saved or created more than one million jobs so far. President Barack Obama has promised that his $787 billion stimulus plan will create or save 3.5 million jobs by the end of next year. But the economy has fared worse than the White House predicted when it pitched the jobs plan and officials have sought to beat back criticism that the results did not justify the huge combination of tax cuts, state aide and government spending. In its first report to Congress on the stimulus, the White...

South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson says his party's leadership told him to apologize to the White House for his outburst during President Barack Obama's address when he shouted out, 'You lie!'