Free Republic

N COMMUTING I. Lewis Libby's prison sentence yesterday, President Bush took the advice of, among others, William Otis, a former federal prosecutor who wrote on the opposite page last month that Mr. Libby should neither be pardoned nor sent to prison. We agree that a pardon would have been inappropriate and that the prison sentence of 30 months was excessive. But reducing the sentence to no prison time at all, as Mr. Bush did -- to probation and a large fine -- is not defensible. Mr. Libby was convicted in March on charges of perjury, making false statements and obstruction...

The hottest year since 1659 spells global doom By Roger Highfield, Science Editor Last Updated: 12:54am GMT 14/12/2006 Central England sweltered in temperatures that are likely to make this year the hottest since records began in 1659, according to a report published by meteorologists. The findings came as the Paris based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned that climate change could devastate the ski resorts of Europe within a few decades. Worldwide, the provisional figures for 2006, using data from January to November, place the year as the sixth warmest in a global record that stretches back to 1850...

The Security Council, PP1. Recalling all its previous resolutions on Lebanon, in particular resolutions 425 (1978), 426 (1978), 520 (1982), 1559 (2004), 1655 (2006) and 1680 (2006), as well as the statements of its President on the situation in Lebanon, in particular the statements of 18 June 2000 (S/PRST/2000/21), of 19 October 2004 (S/PRST/2004/36), of 4 May 2005 (S/PRST/2005/17) of 23 January 2006 (S/PRST/2006/3) and of 30 July 2006 (S/PRST/2006/35), PP2. Expressing its utmost concern at the continuing escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and in Israel since Hezbollah's attack on Israel on 12 July 2006, which has already caused hundreds...

After cutting more than $20 million from the budget and trimming the city's workforce by 10 percent over the last four years, the Berkeley City Council unanimously approved a balanced budget Tuesday night without further reductions in city services or personnel. . . . Finally, the council voted unanimously to place an advisory measure on the November ballot calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Arguing for the measure was Daniel Ellsberg, the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers, who answered the inevitable only-in-Berkeley arguments by asking, "If not here, where?" The council also proclaimed Tuesday...

Bartow, Fla. -- In Internet and phone chats with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl, a Department of Homeland Security press aide talked about underage sex, boasted about his job and called President Bush a "liar," according to transcripts released by prosecutors. Brian Doyle, 56, of Silver Spring, Md., acknowledged his chat room pal — "Ashlynne" — could be a police officer "trapping" him, according to about 400 pages of records released this week. Undercover Polk County sheriff's detectives posed as the girl. Doyle allegedly wrote that "law enforcement is very good at this ... i have soooo much...

United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger on Monday challenged his union to battle against corporations that declare bankruptcy and export jobs and he singled out the Bush administration as a major political foe. In his speech to hundreds of delegates at the UAW's 34th convention at the MGM Grand Hotel, Gettelfinger also warned of difficult times ahead as the union fights to preserve a middle-class lifestyle won over the past 70 years. Gettelfinger said some people in management and some industry analysts believe the UAW is not up to the fight.

The Fight over the Iraq vote and the strange hypocrisy of the American Right regarding Iraq The Islamic Republic of Iraq? Traverse any blog or website geared to Republicans and the Conservative Right here in the United States (such as Free Republic or http://www.freerepublic.com ), and a strange dichotomy becomes evident with regard to Iraq. First, they talk about every practicing Muslim and everyone of Arab descent as if they were a member of Al Qaeda and an animal. A popular photo on Free Republic shows a Grim Reaper with a skull and proclaims "Islam - It's the Evil...

Straight from the jawbone of another ass comes betray of an elected official of his Oath of Office and the people he swore to protect. The specific ass in question is Mayor John "please come to Denver, illegal aliens" Hickenlooper, whose Denver Police Department follows the "hands off" policy to illegal aliens outlined in his predecessor's Executive Order 116.

Since Mr Greenspan only represents the rich - Fact, he dosen't want the low minimun wage changed, infact he wants it abolished. Can the poor be represented by suing him? This man has legally robbed the average person blind. He has way to much power and it needs to be changed. He cannot keep giving money to big companies by taking it from the lower end of the scale. I personally cannot see giving any money to CEO's of public companies. That's what he is doing. When has Greenspan ever represented the low scale of paying jobs in this country?...

The King made a royal visit to Wisconsin last week, and as is common when monarchs travel, individual liberties were suspended. King George Bush's bus trip across western Wisconsin closed schools and roads, prevented residents from moving freely in their own communities, and prevented citizens from exercising their free speech rights. All in all, it was a typical George W. Bush visit. But there's a slight twist. People in western Wisconsin, who hold to the refreshingly naive notion that they live in a republic as opposed to an imperial realm, are objecting. "There's a pattern of harassment of free speech...