Free Republic

It seems like ancient history now, but Oct. 4, 1957, was a day that changed the world: The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the world's first artificial satellite. The United States also had been working toward the launch of a satellite, but the Soviet breakthrough caught this country and the world by surprise. The Space Age had dawned -- and the Space Race was under way. The jokes were sometimes bitter. ("Their German rocket scientists are better than our German rocket scientists!") But in truth, the United States had been bested by what widely was believed to be inferior technology...

If Russia Ratifies the Kyoto Protocol By S. Fred Singer It ain’t over till the fat lady sings (Old Russian proverb) After much flip-flopping that even a certain presidential candidate cannot match, the Russian cabinet has decided to submit the Kyoto Protocol for ratification. At least, that’s what’s been reported. We shall have to see now what further economic and political concessions the Russian Duma can extract from the European Community in return. It is worth noting, however, that President Putin has labeled Kyoto to be “scientifically flawed” and that the Russian Academy of Sciences concluded that there is no...

SAMARRA, Iraq - The intimate horror of the guerrilla war in Iraq seems most vivid through the sights of a sniper's rifle. In an age of satellite-guided bombs dropped at featureless targets from 30,000 feet, Army snipers can see the expression on a man's face when the bullet hits. "I shot one guy in the head, and his head exploded," said Sgt. Randy Davis, one of about 40 snipers in the Army's new 3,600- soldier Stryker Brigade, from Fort Lewis, Wash. "Usually, though, you just see a dust cloud pop up off their clothes and see a little blood splatter...

One of the most awful prospects of the next presidential election is the return of…that damn map. Depicting the results of the 2000 election, the reigning graphic of American politics divides the United States into two colors, red for Republican and blue for Democratic. It's also the basis of a lot of simplistic political analysis. "The 2000 election map highlighted a deep cultural tension between the cities (the blue states) and the sticks (the red states)," as Matt Bai put it in the New York Times Magazine earlier this year. David Brooks described this schism in more acerbic tones in...

Weekly cases of West Nile Virus are being reported from around the country. These media reports often mention that only the very old may die from the dreaded virus. Is this meant to reassure us – only Grandma and Grandpa may die? Taken in a larger context it is apparent that the human death toll from environmental policies continues to mount while the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram" and "Dallas Morning News" lecture us on riding the train and the bus. The US is in the midst of a nationwide virus epidemic from disease-carrying mosquitoes because misinformed or timid politicians refuse to...

Texas freepers: please call the Texas governor's office and voice your support for the CHL correction bill awaiting his signature (SB501). This amendment and clarification to our CHL law will allow the 230,000 CHL licensees in Texas the right to carry concealed in municipal and other town offices. It takes just a minute to call the Texas Governor's Citizen's Opinion Hotline at 800-252-9600. ********************************************* "Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property . . . Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them."...