Free Republic

The Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, with their usual propensity for lying, is claiming they have proof that Columbus' "assault weapons ban" which expired three years ago was smart legislation. Monday, a police officer was shot during a high speed chase by what is being reported as an "AK-47" (I remain dubious). Another was shot with a handgun by the drunk driving suspect. Since nowhere in any of the reports can I find any statement confirming it was an automatic rifle, I am forced to assume that it was not. Real AK-47s are quite rare in this country, having been...

Apple today made the source code of Grand Central Dispatch available under an Apache open source license. One of the new technologies for concurrency added to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, Grand Central is Apple’s attempt to help developers deal with the rise of multi-core. The open sourcing of Grand Central comes as something of a surprise, because it is a core technology in Snow Leopard, and could be seen to give Apple a competitive edge in the new world of multi-core. So why did they do it? Only Apple knows for sure, but there are compelling arguments for...

John Hodgman and Justin Long star in the latest "Get a Mac" add. PC "innovates," too, right? Cheers to innovation! Direct link to "PC Innovation Lab" via YouTube here.

New York - Chrysler Financial employees traveling on business can no longer be reimbursed for lunch on trips that don't require an overnight stay. If flying on business, they must travel coach if the flight is less than four hours. Tips to baggage handlers shouldn't exceed $2 per bag. The $4 cost of an in-flight movie? Not reimbursable. The company's new expense rules, posted on its website Friday, are among a handful of policies that have been made public so far as hundreds of companies receiving federal rescue funds scramble to meet a deadline Monday to put in place policies...

Friday, September 11, 2009 - 10:22 AM EDTApple has released Security Update 2009-005 for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, 10.4 Server (Tiger), 10.5 Leopard, and 10.5 Server (Leopard). Security Update 2009-005 is recommended for all users and improves the security of Mac OS X. Previous security updates have been incorporated into this security update. Security Update 2009-005 is available via Software Update and also via standalone installers. More info and download links: • Security Update 2009-005 (Leopard) - 93.14MB • Security Update 2009-005 Server (Leopard) - 181MB • Security Update 2009-005 (Tiger Intel) - 169.75MB • Security Update 2009-005...

DEMOCRAT INCUMBENT Arkansas (Beebe): Safe D Colorado (Ritter): Leans R Illinois (Quinn): Leans R *** Iowa (Culver): Leans R Maryland (O'Malley): Likely D Massachusetts (Patrick): Leans R New York (Patterson): Tossup *** Ohio (Strickland): Tossup DEMOCRAT-HELD OPEN SEAT Kansas: Likely R Maine: Leans D* Michigan: Leans R New Mexico: Likely D Oklahoma: Likely R Oregon: Leans D* Pennsylvania: Tossup* Tennessee: Leans R Wisconsin: Tossup* Wyoming: leans D** REPUBLICAN-HELD OPEN SEAT Alabama: Safe R California: Tossup Florida: Likely R Hawaii: Likely D Rhode Island: Leans D* South Carolina: Likely R South Dakota: Likely R REPUBLICAN INCUMBENT Alaska (Parnell): Likely R Arizona...

The attorney general, by definition, is "the chief law officer of a nation or state who represents the government in litigation." As the nation watched on Election Day 2008, most were appalled by the spectacle of Black Panther party thugs intimidating white voters at a Philadelphia precinct. Most Americans believed these thugs would be swiftly and justly prosecuted. Months passed, and it was finally released that Eric Holder, the attorney general of the United States, would not pursue criminal charges against these men. Why? Had this event been three men in white hooded robes intimidating black voters, the drive-by media...

A LEADING Muslim spokesman has criticised new NSW laws that enshrine the rights of staff to refuse to work on Christian-orientated public holidays. The State Government is banning most shops from opening on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Easter Sunday and Good Friday unless their owners can prove compelling demand from the local community. Shops will also only be able to open for half a day on ANZAC day. The new law prevents shop owners forcing staff to work on those days. Sydney-based Muslim community spokesman Keysar Trad said workers of all faiths were entitled to a break and called for...

The US shifted its policy today, saying it is now willing to meet one on one with North Korea if that is helpful to bring Pyongyang back to the nuclear negotiations. US envoy Stephen Bosworth got the green light from the other members of the 6-party talks, negotiations to rid Pyongyang of its nuclear program, during meetings in the region in recent days.

The U.S. added two more banks to its growing list of bank failures Friday, bringing the tally for the year to 91. Regulators shut down Chicago-based Corus Bank (CORS: 0.26, -0.0702, -21.26%) – the second largest bank to fail this year – and turned most of its assets over to MB Financial (MBFI: 17.03, 0.52, 3.15%). The bank, which did much of its business in commercial real-estate loans, had $7 billion in assets and $7 billion in deposits as of June 30, according to a statement issued by the FDIC. The cost to the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund is estimated...

Three-quarters of teachers in Britain's schools believe they should warn pupils about the dangers of patriotism - which some regard as a form of 'brainwashing', researchers have found. A nationwide study found the majority of teachers felt they should not be promoting the subject at all in the classroom, with some preferring to instruct their pupils in the benefits of 'universal brotherhood'. And even those who felt positively about patriotism felt the need to qualify and tone down their support, stressing that they disliked 'jingoistic flag-waving'. The findings are a blow for the Government after Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke...

U.S. regulators seized Corus Bank on Friday in the fourth-largest bank failure this year and sold its deposits to MB Financial Bank (MBFI.O). Long controlled by the Glickman family, Chicago-based Corus Bank crumbled under the pressure of bad loans on commercial real estate and condominium developments in Arizona, southern California, southern Florida and Nevada. The seizure of Corus and the failure of two smaller banks announced on Friday brought to 92 the number of shuttered banks in 2009.

I know some Democrats doubted whether President Obama's healthcare speech to a Joint Session of Congress could be a so-called game-changer. After I wrote my last piece praising his populist stemwinder to the AFL-CIO on Labor Day, I heard from Obama supporters who were tired of inspiring speeches and who wanted action from the president instead. I sympathized. But if ever a speech was a form of action, it was Obama's Wednesday night. Let me talk about what he said about the crucial public option a little later. What was most important about Obama's address was his declaration that he...

Here is video of Bill O'Reilly talking with Geraldo Rivera about the media not covering the murder of Pro-Life demonstrator Jim Pouillon. O'Reilly points out that the media was outraged over the Dr. Tiller murder but won't even mention the murder of Jim Pouillon. (Video)

Take a few minutes to listen to the last phone call of Betty Ong, a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11 before it hit the World Trade Center, eight years ago today on September 11, 2001. Ong is calm and matter-of-fact as she describes what was occuring within minutes of the hijacking to skeptical airline personnel on the ground. She was forced to repeat the same basic details again and again: "Ok. Our Number 1 got stabbed. Our purser is stabbed. Nobody knows who stabbed who, and we can’t even get up to business class right now cause nobody...

New Delhi. Mumbai. Chechnya. Madrid. London. The question isn’t whether America will suffer a jihadi attack on our passenger rail lines, but when. So, why has President Obama neutered the nation’s most highly-trained post-9/11 counterterrorism rail security team? All signs point to business-as-usual cronyism and pandering to power-grabbing union bosses. Amtrak’s Office of Security Strategy and Special Operations (OSSSO) grew out of a counterterrorism and intelligence unit developed by the Bush administration in the wake of global jihadi attacks on mass transit systems. The office was staffed with Special Forces veterans, law enforcement officers, railroad specialists, other military personnel, and...

Scientists have used a new approach to sharpen the understanding of one of the most uncertain of mankind's influences on climate - the effects of atmospheric "haze," the tiny airborne particles from pollution, biomass burning, and other sources. High resolution (Credit: NOAA) The new observations-based study led by NOAA confirms that the particles ("aerosols") have the net effect of cooling the planet - in agreement with previous understanding - but arrives at the answer in a completely new way that is more straightforward, and has narrowed the uncertainties of the estimate. The findings appear in this week's Journal of Geophysical...

Here's a fitting way to end the day.

I believe I may have an insight into why so many conservatives crazy-hate Barack Obama: He's a liberal. A true liberal. An unabashed liberal. Yes, there's a liberal in the White House -- and most Americans aren't disgusted by that. In fact, most approve of him. (His approval rating is on par with that of Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan eight months into their presidencies.) Worse, he's a liberal with an ambitious liberal agenda. And even worse, he might just succeed in enacting it. During Obama's speech before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, he presented a strong...

GOP senator: 'By the time you got a decision, it'd be 10 years from now'.