Free Republic

[2013] Shortly after 2 a.m. local time on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu handed out some last ministerial posts to veteran Likud party members Silvan Shalom and Yuval Steinitz. Netanyahu had spent all day Sunday handing out marching orders for the next Cabinet and other government roles. The final maneuvering took place just hours before the swearing-in of the 19th Knesset. The outgoing vice prime minister Shalom was appointed minister of energy, and he agreed to stay on as minister of regional development in charge of the Negev and the Galilee, a post with which he was said to be...

DES MOINES — Authorities made a second arrest in the Hot Lotto ticket investigation Thursday night. The Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office have charged Robert Clark Rhodes II, 46, of Sugarland, Texas, with two counts of fraud, according to a release from DPS. Both counts of fraud are Class D felonies. Iowa authorities arrested Rhodes in Texas March 20 with the help of Texas Lottery Enforcement officials, according to the release. He is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond in the Fort Bend County Jail where he will await...

The chances of dying in a crash in a late-model vehicle have fallen by more than a third in three years, the latest IIHS calculations of driver death rates show. Among 2011 models, a record nine vehicles have driver death rates of zero. However, the gap between the safest and riskiest models remains wide, and three cars have death rates exceeding 100 per million registered vehicle years... ...The list of models with the lowest death rates illustrates just how much vehicles have improved. Eight years ago, there were no models with driver death rates of zero (see Status Report special...

Bullish Outlook Sukkos is a unique Yom Tov in so many ways, one of which is its karbanos (ritual offerings). While the number of rams and sheep sacrificed on each of Sukkos' seven days remained constant (2 rams, 14 sheep), the bulls were offered in varying quantities. Specifically, 13 bulls were sacrificed on day one, 12 on the second day, 11 on the third day, and so on. Over seven days, 70 bulls were sacrificed. Chazal, our Sages of blessed memory, offer a fascinating insight into the "diminishing bulls." There are, according to the Talmud (Sukkah 55b), seventy nations of...

This is guide for the casual fan that would like to know how a sprint car works and what the various parts are on the car. Entry level education on the terms will help you at the race track when the announcer says "this broke" or a driver says he had a problem with "that" during an interview. The Chassis In this case, the chassis is manufactured by J&J Chassis Company. It is called a "downtube chassis" because it has tubes that run from the top of the roll cage down to the front of the car. This provides stiffness...

An event held at Washington D.C’s Brookings Institute saw FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne and former National Economic Council head Larry Summers discuss the auto bailout on its five-year anniversary. As always, Marchionne had some colorful commentary, with a one interesting nugget about Fiat. According to Christina Rogers of the Wall Street Journal, Marchionne claimed that the Fiat 500 was only imported to the United States due to the government’s hand, with Marchionne stating “It was a condition assigned to the [bailout] deal” This has previously never been stated in any bailout related discussion – only the Dodge Dart and its...

There’s a post at the Zero Hedge finance site that’s getting some attention. It’s really a repost from this site, and it includes a number of aerial and satellite photos of thousands of new automobiles that the author says are sitting on storage lots, unsold. The author claims that automobile manufacturers are continuing to churn out thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of cars that will likely never ever sell. He warns that those cars that do sell will suffer mechanical issues from having sat for so long. He claims that those cars that don’t sell are recycled and that it’s...

Although Tesla reported a profit of $17 million on $713 million in revenue, their financials were reported using non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) figures. Which means that my current checking account, according to non-GAAP figures, is probably somewhere in the high seven figures. Using GAAP numbers, Tesla lost nearly $49.8 million, on revenues of $620 million. Despite the loss, Tesla delivered 6,457 units, and expects to sell 35,000 Model S units this year. Tesla also announced that their Model X SUV will be delayed again, until 2015. But the bad news was interrupted today by a major development for Tesla....

In Defense of Chassidism An extract from Rabbi Yaakov Mazeh’s expert testimony at the trial of Mendel Beilis Translator’s Introduction Rabbi Yaakov Mazeh served as the government-appointed rabbi in Moscow. He was a prominent figure in Jewish communal affairs; had a reputation as an eloquent Russian orator; and—unlike many other government-appointed rabbis—he was known to be a competent scholar of Jewish law and tradition. Falsely accused of the ritual murder of 13-year-old Andrei Yushchinsky, Mendel Beilis was internationally recognized as a stand-in for the entire Jewish nation by both his defenders and his detractors. In fact, the prosecution alleged that...

The New York Times ran a piece this weekend with the foreboding title "THE END OF CAR CULTURE" (and people accuse us of clickbait). Here's why you should take that claim with a grain of yellow cake uranium. What New York Times environmental reporter Elisabeth Rosenthal is getting at is what most people are calling "Peak Car." This is the idea that car ownership and usage has peaked in the United States and is never coming back. There's ample data to support this theory, although the most recent look at the data suggests that while the recession may have put...

The writing-about-writing crowd is abuzz with discussion about the rather unusual death of Buzzfeed/RollingStone/Gawker writer Michael Hastings. Mr. Hastings, whose name is never mentioned in the press without the immediate mention that he was “the fearless journalist whose reporting brought down the career of General Stanley McChrystal”, died in a single-car accident in Los Angeles yesterday morning. This in and of itself is not unusual, but the circumstances of the crash and its aftermath won’t do anything to quiet the conspiracy theorists who are already claiming that the military-industrial complex found a way to cap the guy. The definitive video...

AQABA, Jordan (NNS) -- The Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (KSG ARG) and embarked Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) commenced their participation in Exercise Eager Lion 2013, June 9. Eager Lion is a multilateral exercise held annually in Jordan, and is a continued effort to support military-to-military partnerships and enhance security and stability in the region. "International exercises like these are important because they strengthen ties and promote interoperability between countries," said Amphibious Squadron Four commodore, Capt. Brad Skillman. "We are delighted to be working with our JAF long-time partners and we are looking forward to a valuable,...

Cooper tires is becoming another victim of President Obama’s much too cozy relationship with the union machine. Cooper Tires was bought by an Indian company. After President Obama sent a thank you to the Steelworkers Union and slapped an absolutely brain-dead punitive tariff of tires coming from China, a few things happened: Imports of low-cost tires did not stop. They came from other countries, at tariffs even lower than the old ones on Chinese tires. Not a single new job was created in America, but more than a few jobs at tire importers were destroyed. Americans paid more for tires....

Petrol heads, continue to rejoice: Car manufacturers have not ignored your cries for high-powered cars and trucks. Despite tightening emissions regulations and rising fuel costs, automakers are building an increasing number of vehicles putting out at least 500 horses. Based on our research, there are over 80 cars sold in the United States that deliver these burnout-inducing numbers (not including tuners such as Mosler or Callaway). That's up about 10 cars from the list we did last year. Each automaker takes its own approach to supplying adrenaline junkies with 500-plus hp, whether through massive turbochargers, supercharging, or just sticking to...

On talk radio, in internet commentary and at right wing conferences, worried analysts and activists obsess over the dire electoral consequence of "three million missing Republicans" who doomed conservative chances in 2012. This lament for the lost legions of conservatism has been relentlessly recycled in right-leaning media to prove that Mitt Romney failed to mobilize his base with his inept, uninspired campaign. The commonly cited proof for this conclusion is that Mitt Romney received even fewer votes than did the hapless McCain-Palin ticket. If only the GOP had run with a "true conservative" instead of another flip-flopping RINO, the true-believers...

TTAC readers looking for a more pro-GM news source may want to check out Bloomberg for their next dose of pro-GM news. A story on Cadillac’s revived fortunes contains all kinds of enthusiastic copy and positive quotes, but still manages to bury the lede way down at the bottom of the story... ...Uh oh. $3,700 just months after their crucial entry-level car was introduced? A nearly tenfold increase in incentive spending in just a few short months? Not good news at all. The incentives do explain why the ATS had a nice bump in sales right around February. It’s unfortunate...

Well, that didn't take long. Yesterday, just before 5 pm Eastern time, Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] released details of its new "lease-like" financing product. The general consensus in the media (we read a lot of Tesla coverage here, folks) has been that it's smart for Tesla to offer financing for its Model S electric luxury sport sedan. It will expand the pool of potential owners. But the press release, and a subsequent media call with CEO Elon Musk, mentioned a cost calculator on the company's website that purports to let users calculate the true net out-of-pocket cost for a 2013 Tesla...

I graduated from Bir Zeit on the Hudson [Columbia University] a little too early to remember Barry Soetoro a/k/a Barack Hussein Obama. But isn't it more than a little curious that not a single one of the 25 members of the Columbia College Class of 1983 - allegedly Obama's class - who lives in Israel remembers him? What are Obama's classmates in Israel up to? Quite a few, like him, went straight to law school after finishing their undergraduate degrees. One is a doctor, several are engineers, and a few hold top jobs in finance. There's an architect in the...

Uh-oh: Susan Docherty, dispatched from China to Europe to teach the Eurotrash the proper appreciation and respect for Chevrolet and Cadillac, has come up with a strategy that assures the destruction of Cadillac outside of the U.S. Cadillac’s global aspirations hinge on its success in Europe, Docherty told WardsAuto. Again:” To be successful in China, Cadillac must first be successful in Europe. No blond jokes please, show some respect. “If a luxury brand is successful in Europe, whether that brand is Chanel or Prada, or Mercedes or BMW, people in parts of Asia look to see what Europeans validate as...

This evening in Kill Khalid, I read that Hamas’ first signed statement was issued on December 14, 1987. Interestingly, according to a LexisNexis search that I completed this evening, it was not until March 4, 1988 that Hamas was mentioned by name in an English media outlet. That first mention came in an Associated Press article by Nicolas Tatro. The piece was titled, “Palestinians: United In the Street, Divided Over Peacemaking.” Sheikh Bassam Jarrar stabbed the air with his finger and declared that a political settlement with Israel would be "disastrous." The Moslem religious leader said the Koran, Islam's holy...