Free Republic

Amazon finally caved to pressure for a company-wide $15 minimum wage in November. At Whole Foods, the difference looks to be made up in cuts to scheduled hours. According to reports by the Guardian, employees — who remained anonymous in fear of retaliation — have experienced “significant” decreases to their scheduled hours. In many cases, this negates or even supersedes the increased hourly rate. Employees report a “30% reduction in hours per week for part-timers and about a 10% reduction for full-timers,” with one Illinois-based employee specifically saying that after the raise, his “hours went from 30 to 20 a...

After a dog killed the mother opossum, the babies were adopted by another dog...

Delta Air Lines' plan to add Saudi Arabian Airlines to its SkyTeam Alliance of partnering companies would require the American carrier to ban Jews and holders of Israeli passports from boarding flights from New York or Washington bound for Jeddah, prompting outraged accusations of illegal religious discrimination. The issue, which has caught the attention of the American Center for Law and Justice already, was raised when Washington attorney Jeffrey Lovitky was perusing airline procedures for travel.

On the January 23 World News Sunday, ABC News Senior Washington Editor Rick Klein used President Obama’s euphemism for spending as "investments" as he and anchor Dan Harris discussed how Republicans will likely respond to Tuesday’s State of the Union Address. Although the setup piece by correspondent David Kerley did allude to Obama’s word choice to call his plan "cut and invest" as having significance, noting that it "worries Republicans," after the piece had ended, Klein used the term "investments" as if it were straight, nonpartisan terminology. Klein: But when you get down to the policy, the President talking about

The Communist Party USA’s position on the recent non-coup in Honduras is markedly congruous with Barack Obama’s: “The Communist Party USA (CPUSA) joins with the world in denouncing the coup d’état this morning against the legally elected president of the Republic of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, by the Honduran military, in which, according to a statement by the president’s wife, Mr. Zelaya was threatened and beaten before being sent into exile in Costa Rica.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2008 – More than 1,000 students, teachers and parents crowded into a Fort Mitchell, Ky., school auditorium Oct. 24 to thank Army paratroopers and their families from Fort Bragg, N.C., for their service. Army Spc. Mike Gaither enjoys a handmade card from a Beechwood Elementary School student. Photo courtesy of Beechwood Support Our Troops  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Fort Mitchell community “adopted” the 82nd Airborne Division’s Company B, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, several years ago after learning about America Supporting Americans, a group that connects communities with...

ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. - This small Western hamlet, best known for a bloody race riot involving white and Chinese coal miners in 1885, might not be the first place one would expect to find the former leader of the free world. But here was Bill Clinton in southwest Wyoming, two days before Saturday's Democratic caucuses, telling about 1,000 people how his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, would establish 10 clean-coal technology projects if elected president in November. "Some environmentalists don't think we ought to be doing anything with coal, but they're wrong," he said. "Think about it, you could become, maybe,...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2007 – Connecting supportive Americans with deployed troops keeps one Colorado-based support group busy. “In the last two years and eight months, we have grown to 16,000 registered supporters,” said Ann Johnson, founder of Adopt A US Soldier. But that number doesn’t accurately represent the volume of volunteers, she added. “Many schools, synagogues, churches, companies and organizations are counted as one in our system, and yet the supporters are many more,” she explained. And they don’t just live in the United States. Johnson said Adopt A US Soldier has supporters in 52 countries. “It’s a very...

The state Assembly on Tuesday voted to allow gay couples to marry in a challenge to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has said he would veto the bill if it passes the full Legislature. Lawmakers approved the measure on a party-line vote, with the majority saying the Legislature should not to wait for the state Supreme Court to act on the issue. It passed 42-34. "This does in fact provide equal marriage rights for all citizens of California," bill author Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said as he began what marked the lengthiest debate so far this year on the Assembly floor....

Like every devoted mother bird, Pippa the silver crested cockatoo is ready to defend her clutch of eggs to the death. Sadly for her, however, they will never hatch. For Pippa has adopted a bowl containing 20 Cadbury's Creme Eggs, which her owner Geoff Grewcock had intended to hand to friends and family over Easter. The 17-year-old bird squawks and flaps whenever anyone approaches. "When I first saw her perched there I thought it was hilarious but now I'm a bit worried about her," he said at his home in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14, 2007 – The University of Miami Hurricanes have reached out to share a little bit of home with the men and women of the Navy Provisional Detainee Battalion, "The Sand Pirates," currently serving at Camp Bucca, Iraq. The connection between the Navy unit and the university is through the Battalion's Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Kathryn A. Donovan, who once worked for University of Miami President Donna Shalala. Shalala sent almost 100 shirts and baseball caps to the battalion just in time for this year’s college football bowl games. "This very generous way of thanking the soldiers, sailors...

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. General Assembly adopted a long-awaited strategy to combat terrorism on Friday, though many nations lamented that it does not include a definition or say anything about states that commit terrorist acts. The document, adopted by consensus, is the result of a year of often bitter work to meet world leaders' demands that the United Nations help its 192 members fight the scourge. Much of the strategy, distributed Thursday, repeats previous commitments — for example, promises to implement earlier General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. It also makes promises that are ambiguous and difficult to fulfill:...

Bush adopts British colonial model for Iraq By Alec Russell in Washington (Filed: 03/12/2005) The success of British colonial forces against the Malay rebellion in the 1950s is being commended in the United States as a template for victory in Iraq. Col Andrew Krepinevich, a Vietnam veteran, has been touring congressional offices, the Pentagon and newspapers since autumn espousing an "oil spot strategy". An American soldier hands out colouring books to Iraqi children This week President George W Bush all but formally endorsed a modified version of that approach as official policy. Rather than focus on hunting down the enemy,...

"I can wage a better war on terror than George Bush has." So speaks Senator Kerry in the U.S. presidential campaign's final days, again reminding voters that the key issue in this race remains as it was a year earlier - deciding which candidate will better protect Americans from terrorism.As with so many topics, the basic difference between Kerry and President Bush is one of character, with the challenger repeatedly changing his mind and the president sticking with one position.On occasion, Mr. Kerry adopts Bush-like terminology. For example, in September 2004 he talked about the war on terror being "as...