Free Republic

The Bush administration yesterday moved to open an area off Florida’s coast to oil and gas drilling after an aggressive lobbying push by energy companies and industries that are crimped by high fuel costs. The Interior Department’s draft five-year plan, which would set federal oil and gas policy from 2007 to 2012, would open 2 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico, part of an area known as Lease 181, if approved. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat running for reelection, criticized the plan, saying if it would amount to the “largest expansion of drilling off Florida’s coast in the...

In an effort to advance their proactive vision for this Congress, on February 1st, 2006, Senators Nelson (FL-D) and Martinez (FL-R) unveiled the Permanent Protection for Florida Act. This measure provides permanent protection for Florida’s coasts and extends the moratoria protecting the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts through the year 2020.

She Deserves Better Katherine Harris, the congresswoman from Florida and its one-time Secretary of State accidentally burst onto the national scene in 2000 as the person charged with making sense of hanging chads, raw feelings and the fate of the free world (read: whether Bush or Gore would be President). Ms. Harris handled that unenviable task articulately and with aplomb, speaking publicly about respect for the rule of law and gently reminding people that if they did not like that process, they could take it to the courts (they did) or lobby their legislature for new rules (few ever will)....

WASHINGTON, March 17 — A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a clean-air regulation issued by the Bush administration that would have let many power plants, refineries and factories avoid installing costly new pollution controls to help offset any increased emissions caused by repairs and replacements of equipment.

All of my family (my brother, brother-in-laws, father, uncles, cousins) are in Texas and I'm stuck here in Florida, but we are having a discussion (online and on the phone) that will resume tomorrow about this picture: The arguments are about all the different models of weapons found in this pic.

This weekend I spent some time at the range and a few of us were talking about the .32 caliber catridge. One of my friends was shooting a Iver Johnson .32 S&W revolver, another was shooting a Taurus .32 H&R Magnum, and then another was shooting an old Colt revolver in a .32 S&W long. All the firearms were inherited from family members so we didn't know anything about them. I linked to the Taurus gun selector site because it's confusing me. What's the difference between the .32 H&R and the .32 Mag?

In what may be the first step of its kind by a major energy company, Duke Energy Chairman and CEO Paul Anderson Thursday said he believes a mandatory “economywide” federal tax on carbon is needed to slow the impact of climate change. Speaking at a breakfast in Charlotte, N.C., sponsored by the Charlotte Business Journal, Anderson said Duke “has long supported voluntary measures to reduce greenhouse gases. But it’s clear to me now that we have to move mandatory measures to get real results in a fair manner.” “I believe U.S. public policy on global climate change should encourage a...

Attorneys general from nine states filed suit Tuesday over a final rule by the Environmental Protection Agency reversing its 2000 decision to regulate coal- and oil-fired generation for hazardous air pollutants under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. Section 112 would require utilities to install “maximum achievable control” technology. EPA’s final rule, published in the Federal Register and effective Tuesday, removes coal and oil-fired utility units from the section 112 source list. In pursuing a mercury rule wrought by litigation, the agency concluded in December 2000 that it was “appropriate and necessary” to regulate fossil units under section 112...

Ok everyone...I received a company email today that I would have to attend a mandatory training class called "Managing Differences" or as it is commonly known as Diversity training. Being the well informed FReeper that I am, I know that this is obviously bull$h**! It's values training. I really want to have some fun with this one, so I need some ammunition so I can take over the class and bend them toward my evil VRWConspiratorial ways! Any ideas? What should I expect?

Freep this poll. Look at the comments. ROTFLMAO!

Well...I tried to do a good thing today. Earlier today I noticed that a secretary in the office was a little down, so I approached her to find out what was the matter. She wasn't happy about all the Christmas decorations or the Christmas Tree that some of the other secretaries had set-up. She is a Jehovah Witness. She does not celebrate Christmas and she thought the whole idea of a Christmas tree was too pagen. I had to agree with her on this one. I kinda think the same thing. We spoke half the day off and on and...

I need help. I just can't decide. For some reason I have been buying up fire-arms and this is going to be my last purchase this year. My wife said so. She thinks I have an addiction to firearms and FreeRepublic. I'm going on a hog hunt soon and I don't really have a proper firearm to do this...yet. (This is what I told my wife...hee hee.) I've narrowed it down to these two weapons. Which should it be Freepers?

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Congress's top Democrat, Tom Daschle, lost his bid to be reelected to the Senate, US networks reported, capping a night of defeats his party, which also failed to win control of either chamber of the US legislature. Daschle, arguably the most powerful Democrat in the US Congress, lost the Senate's most closely-watched election in a 51 percent to 49 percent squeaker to Republican challenger John Thune, a former member of the House of Representatives. In failing to hold on to the seat he first won in 1986, Daschle becomes the first Senate leader to lose reelection...

Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has unveiled a detailed version of his plan to invest $10-billion in clean coal technologies over the next 10 years, including a doubling of clean coal research on integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plants and other “zero-emissions” clean coal systems. The plan also calls for development of hydrogen turbines and “megawatt-scale” fuel cells powered by coal; expansion of university-led near-zero-emission research centers on geologic sequestration; support of at least five regional carbon sequestration demonstration projects; and a one-time appropriate request of $300-million to resolve a fossil energy budget shortfall. Kerry’s proposal also calls for a...

Democrats meeting in Boston this week are promising to support coal as a key domestic fuel for power generation and say the party would “move beyond OPEC” by diversifying sources of oil used in the United States. The party also calls for investing billions of dollars in technologies to generate electricity with less pollution. “We believe coal must continue its important role in a new energy economy, while achieving high environmental standards,” the 2004 Democratic National Platform Committee report says. In addition, the platform would invest in hydrogen technologies. It supports “mandatory, enforceable reliability standards” and creation of public-private partnerships...

I'm not sure how it came up, but I had some lib at work tell me that Churches that preach a pro-Bush message should lose their tax-exempt status. I told her "OK...as long as you apply your rule to 'rat churches too." She then said, "You don't see Democrats pulling that kind of crap! "Bill Clinton never!...Seperation of Church and state....Kerry is for all people...Bush wears his religion on his sleave...judge not lest ye be judged...blah blah blah blah!" Well. I was going to give her my one Kerry pic with him preaching in front of the Virgin Mary, but...

I know everyone is fixated on the Sand Burgler right now, but I just want to remind everyone why the Democrats are so dangerous. They empower our enemies any chance they can get. They continue to put themselves before their country or their countrymen. Clinton is a disgrace, Berger is a disgrace, and yes...John Kerry is a digrace. This is a 6.0 mb file. Click Here.

BNSF Spokesman: Act Was 'Incredibly Cruel' POSTED: 9:02 pm CDT July 8, 2004 UPDATED: 9:52 pm CDT July 8, 2004 WELLINGTON, Kan. -- In the pitch blackness of the rural Kansas night, the object lying on the railroad tracks looked like a traffic cone someone had thrown onto the line. The members of the train crew asked each other, "What is that?" They certainly didn't think it was a human being. But the sound of the impact didn't sound like it came from a traffic cone. The train screeched to a stop. Its crew searched the tracks. Nothing.

Dear Valued Verizon Online DSL Member, We'd like to inform you of an important charge that will affect your Verizon Online DSL bill. Starting June 1, 2004, Verizon Online will begin adding a monthly Supplier Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) Recovery fee on DSL Service. Verizon Online is assessed the FUSF fee by its suppliers (companies that provide the network services Verizon Online uses to bring you DSL service), which are required to contribute to the Federal Universal Service Fund on revenues they receive for transporting Internet services over telephone lines. The fee will be no greater than the current...

May 6, 2004 Presidential candidate John Kerry, who was recently chastised by Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza, was in California this week attempting to define himself to Latino voters by attending a Cinco de Mayo event. Yzaguirre wrote Kerry, “‘relegating all of your minority staff to the important but limited role of outreach only reinforces perceptions that your campaign views Hispanics as a voting constituency to be mobilized, but not as experts to be consulted in shaping policy.’ “‘Not a single one of your senior staff is Latino. Quite frankly, we find this deeply troubling,’...