Free Republic

Chicago-based comic-book artist Chris Ware (who we are big fans of) was commissioned by Fortune magazine to create a cover for their May issue. The end result, though, was rejected. It seems a few of the images on the cover - including Guantanamo Bay prisoners, Mexican factory workers, and a few potshots at business execs and money-grubbing politicians - were too much for the kids at Fortune. And yet we agree with Fishbowl NY's take that the cover is "hilarious, beautiful, meticulous." We've reached out to Fortune for any comment on the cover but haven't received any response yet. Check...

U.S. defense chief lauds soldier in pink boxers Thu May 21, 8:05 pm ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday praised an Army soldier in eastern Afghanistan who drew media attention this month after rushing to defend his post from attack while wearing pink boxer shorts and flip-flops. In fact, Gates said he wants to meet the soldier and shake his hand the next time he visits Afghanistan. "Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage," Gates said in remarks prepared for a speech...

Mar 29, 2009 0:19 | Updated Mar 29, 2009 18:05 PA dismantles W. Bank youth orchestra By KHALED ABU TOAMEH AND AP Palestinian authorities disbanded a youth orchestra from a West Bank refugee camp after it played for a group of Holocaust survivors in Israel, a local official said on Sunday. Palestinian children from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank play for Holocaust survivors at a center in Holon, last Wednesday. He added that Younis has been barred from the camp and the apartment where she taught the 13-member Strings of Freedom orchestra has been boarded up. On...

Jaime Oppenheimer/The Wichita Eagle East High School junior Geoffrey Stanford discovered a word usage error on the state writing assessment last week. The state is sending out a corrected version of the test. Geoffrey Stanford's teachers always tell him to read tests carefully. Every sentence. Every word. Slow down. Make sure you understand what's being asked, and then proceed. So while taking his state writing test last week, the East High junior saw something that didn't make sense: The word "emission" -- as in "the emission of greenhouse gases" -- was spelled "omission." "I thought, 'Surely they're not talking about...

On the origin of Charles Darwin's radical theory By Laurie Goering February 12, 2009 LONDON — Charles Darwin is widely thought to have developed his natural selection theory of evolution after noting differences among finches in the Galapagos Islands. But it was variation in another species the young British naturalist observed during his now-famous voyage on the HMS Beagle—man—that actually drove his breakthrough, a new book argues. And the inspiration for that insight may well have been Darwin's fervent anti-slavery views and moral passion to show that men of all races were brothers. "Everyone says the Galapagos are everything, which...

IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2008 ISRAEL HAS ACCOMPLISHED THE FOLLOWING: 1. Scientists in Israel found that the brackish water, drilled from underground desert aquifers, hundreds of feet deep, could be used to raise warm-water fish. The geo-thermal water, less than one-tenth as saline as sea water, free of pollutants, and a toasty 98 degrees on average, proves an ideal environment. 2. Israeli-developed designer-eyeglasses, promise mobile phone and iPod users, a personalized, high-tech video display. Available to US consumers next year, Lumus-Optical's lightweight and fashionable video eyeglasses, feature a large transparent screen, floating in front of the viewer's face...

German Jews boycott Shoah service in protest of anti-Semitism Eldad Beck Published: 01.28.09, 09:30 / Israel Jewish Scene BERLIN - In an unprecedented move the leaders of the Jewish community in Germany decided to boycott the state ceremony marking International Holocaust Memorial Day on Tuesday. The service, which was held in the Bundestag building in Berlin, was attended by the German president and chancellor, and all government and parliament members. The official reason for the boycott was the fact that in recent years the ceremony's host, the Bundestag speaker, has refrained from mentioning the presence of heads of the Jewish...

By Associated Press Writer Raquel Maria Dillon, Mom delivers rare octuplets AP A woman gave birth Monday to eight babies, only the second time in history octuplets have survived more than a few hours, doctors said. The mother gave birth to six boys and two girls weighing between 1 pound, 8 ounces, and 3 pounds, 4 ounces, doctors at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center said. The hospital had scheduled a Caesarean section for seven babies, but doctors were surprised when an eighth came out at 10:48 a.m. "My eyes were wide," Dr. Karen Maples said, explaining her reaction to the...

A Gaza Post-Mortem Noah Pollak - 01.23.2009 - 7:43 AM A fragile quiet prevails in Gaza and Israel today, its duration unknown. It would be satisfying to say that Israel won, but clearly it did not. The political leadership did not allow the IDF to continue advancing until Hamas’s leadership, ensconced in bunkers underneath hospitals, could be eliminated. This act would have consummated the operation, demonstrated Israeli seriousness, and extended the current peace interregnum. But despite what could have been, the reality is sinking in: Hamas lost. According to news reports, Hamas’s Damascus leadership ordered the group to attack withdrawing...

Busy Gupta performs brain surgery, reports for CNN Television Writer David Bauder, Ap Television Writer – Wed Jan 7, 5:54 am ET AP – If Barack Obama wants a surgeon general with visibility to promote health issues in his administration, it can't hurt to hire a CNN correspondent called one of People magazine's "sexiest men alive." Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon and one of CNN's busiest personalities, is under consideration by the president-elect for the job. Should the offer come, CNN said Gupta has indicated he is likely to take it. Obama will have a man who has interrupted...

Apple's Steve Jobs: "Hormone Imbalance" Has Caused Health Problems Computer executive posts statement to quell questions on his condition By Larry Greenemeier APPLE CHIEF EXECUTIVE STEVE JOBS: seen here in June 2007 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, is suffering from a "hormone imbalance" for which the 53 year old says he has already begun treatment. Image courtesy of Acaben Apple co-founder and chief executive Steve Jobs posted an open letter to customers on his company's Web site today in which he says that he's being treated for an unspecified "hormone imbalance" that has caused severe weight loss and kept...

Thousands in Chicago protest against Israel's military actions in Gaza Special report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts CHICAGO, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people gathered Friday afternoon in Chicago's downtown, protesting against Israel's recent military actions in the Gaza Strip. About 4,000 people gathered around 3:00 pm in the Pioneer Plaza in downtown Chicago, chanting slogans, waving Palestinian flags and carrying signs that read: "Stop U.S. Aid to Israel Now", "stop the siege of Gaza now" and so on. Protesters later spilled across the Michigan Avenue Bridge to East Wacker Drive in front of the building that houses the Consulate General of...

Massive coal-ash spill causes river of sludge and controversy What may be the nation's largest spill of coal ash lay thick and largely untouched over hundreds of acres of land and waterways Wednesday... By SHAILA DEWAN KINGSTON, Tenn. — What may be the nation's largest spill of coal ash lay thick and largely untouched over hundreds of acres of land and waterways Wednesday after a dam broke this week, as officials and environmentalists argued over its potential toxicity. Federal studies long have shown coal ash to contain significant quantities of heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and selenium, which can...

Indian woman gives birth aged 70 Mon Dec 8, 2:45 am ET AFP/File – A hospital in Calcutta. An Indian woman has given birth to her first child at the age of 70 after receiving … NEW DELHI (AFP) – An Indian woman has given birth to her first child at the age of 70 after receiving IVF treatment, newspapers reported her doctor as saying Monday. Rajo Devi, who married 50 years ago, gave birth to a baby girl on November 28 after in vitro fertilisation, said Anurag Bishnoi, a doctor at the Hisar fertility centre in Haryana state. "Rajo...

September 2008 Killing talk radio by Brian C. Anderson, Adam D. Thierer On the lurking threat to the freedom of the airwaves. The Left has watched uneasily as power drains away daily from the CBS Newses and the Time magazines of the liberal mainstream media and flows toward a more politically pluralistic array of new media alternatives that range from (mostly) conservative talk radio to (Fox-dominated) cable news to the ceaselessly expanding (thoroughly bi-partisan) Internet. And make no mistake: liberals want to snuff out this exciting, democratic world of analysis and debate and return to the good old days, when...

Erin Brockovich working for NYC law firm NEW YORK - The legal crusader portrayed by Julia Roberts in the Oscar-winning film "Erin Brockovich" is now working for a Manhattan personal injury law firm that specializes in asbestos cases. The real Erin Brockovich signed a consulting contract with Weitz & Luxenberg and will be involved in soliciting cases and investigating claims. Brockovich told the New York Post: "I'm hands-on and they're hands-on so it will be a team effort." Already the 48-year-old Brockovich has filmed two TV commercials for the law firm seeking individuals who may have contracted lung cancer from...

Palin on Ahmadinejad: 'He Must Be Stopped' By SARAH PALIN | September 22, 2008 Governor Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, was scheduled to speak today at a rally in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza to protest the appearance here of President Ahmadinejad of Iran. Her appearance was canceled by rally organizers who sought a nonpolitical event. Following are the remarks Mrs. Palin would have given: ROBYN BECK / 2008 AFP Sarah Palin I am honored to be with you and with leaders from across this great country — leaders from different faiths and political parties united in a single voice...

Physics Experiment Won’t Destroy Earth Well, that’s a relief. After a long safety review, physicists have declared that the enormous atom smasher that’s expected to go online this fall won’t create tiny black holes that will “eat” our planet. So that’s one less thing to worry about. The Large Hadron Collider, which is being built near Geneva, Switzerland, will do things with subatomic particles that humans have never done before, causing some people to worry that scientists might be unwittingly building a doomsday devise. The $8 billion machine is designed to accelerate protons, the building blocks of ordinary matter, to...

06/25/2008 If you don't know what ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is all about, you better bone up. This left-wing group takes in 40 percent of its revenues from American taxpayers -- you and me -- and has leveraged nearly four decades of government subsidies to fund affiliates that promote the welfare state and undermine capitalism and self-reliance, some of which have been implicated in perpetuating illegal immigration and encouraging voter fraud. A new whistleblower report from the Consumer Rights League claims that Chicago-based ACORN has commingled public tax dollars with political projects. Who in Washington...

Obama’s “Talking” Cure Joshua Muravchik September 2008 In the never-ending torrent of attacks on the Bush administration’s conduct of American foreign policy, the President’s supposed neglect of the peaceful instruments of diplomacy has come in for especially pointed criticism. Bush has been faulted, for example, for his unwillingness to talk directly with Iran and to negotiate one-on-one with North Korea, for his crude attempts to “isolate” Syria, and for his failure to immerse himself in the Israel-Palestinian peace process. The general line was encapsulated by the television news star Anderson Cooper last year in a leading question to Barack Obama:...