Free Republic

OPINION Updated May 3, 2012, 7:41 p.m. ET 'Press 9 for More Options' Companies claim automated phone-answering systems save them millions. I have my doubts. By STEPHEN MOORE One of the deep mysteries of modern life is why, in a nation with some 14 million unemployed people, it has become nearly impossible to call a store, a business or a government agency and speak to a live human being. I'm not a Luddite; I don't rage against the machine; and I've always argued that the digital age is making life better in almost every way. But there are some things...

FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Army News Service, May 2, 2006) – The 2006 U.S. Army Soldier Show will unveil “Reveille: Answering the Call” during a three-performance weekend May 5 through 7 at Wallace Theater. “The entire idea came from the new Army motto: Call to Duty,” said Soldier Show director Victor Hurtado. “For our civilian audience, it may illustrate why people join. For our military audience, it might remind them why – what their initial reasons were and why they continue to serve.” The bottom line, however, remains the same: “Entertainment for the Soldier, by the Soldier,” the working motto of...

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFPN) -- The Tanker Airlift Control Center here started generating missions Air Mobility Command aircrews will fly supporting Hurricane Katrina relief operations in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, through Northern Command and U.S. Transportation Command, asked for airlift support to fly relief supplies to the stricken region, said Col. Jeff Franklin, the center controller working hurricane relief mission taskings. “We’ve already tasked two aeromedical evacuation airlift missions to fly from Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., to (Lackland AFB) in San Antonio,” he said. “In addition, AMC has been tasked to...

I may be going against the conservative grain here, but I am not as bothered by the prospect of questions from Senate Judiciary Committee members seeking to determine how John Roberts' judicial philosophy might guide him in considering certain specific questions of constitutional law, including abortion. I certainly agree that judicial nominees should not telegraph how they intend to vote on a particular case that is either before or on its way to the Court, but I think both sides have used this more as an excuse to shield their respective nominees. There are limited other ways to determine a...