Free Republic

Is impeachment an option for Pennsylvania state supreme court justices after their decision to redraw the state's congressional map? It at least deserves a "conversation," Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) suggested Wednesday.

... "In this time of stress on our fuel supply system, why wouldn't we remove a barrier that would allow E15 to be sold less than two weeks before the allowable date of Sept. 15," said Paige Anderson, director of government relations at the Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing, representing gasoline station owners and convenience store chains that sell fuel. ...

New appointee to National Science Foundation. I hope this is not a Presidential appointee - he is part of the IPPC Committee that shared the Nobel Prize with Algore...

... Once Congress finishes this week, it will go on a seven-week recess to give both parties a chance to hold presidential nominating conventions, ahead of a five-week August break. ...

Rand Paul is filibustering the Patriot Act right now, because it continues the unlimited NSA spying on all Americans.

Jerry Sandusky is the focus of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Service, which is looking into whether he sent child pornography across state lines, a national news outlet is reporting today. Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/08/10/3295414/jerry-sandusky-reportedly-focus.html#storylink=cpy

More shake, rattle and roll on the other side of the planet. 8.7 this morning; Tsunami warning for Indonesia, not for Japan. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000905e#summary

This is PA today - we work for government at some level and our spouses work in the service sector, and we buy food, eat out and shop. No real manufacturers of any kind in the Top 50. With Federal and State Agencies listed separately, 25 of the Top 50 are associated with government in some way (like being part of the State education system). I suppose the chances are thin that the newly Republican State House, State Senate and State Governor will do anything to clean out DCNR and DEP, the agencies that have been instrumental in forcing nearly...

NYT: MCCAIN'S BIRTHPLACE IN CANAL ZONE RAISES ELIGIBILITY QUESTIONS...

Federal officials are routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can pinpoint the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers. In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring the government to demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime. Privacy advocates fear such a practice may expose average Americans to a new level of government scrutiny of their daily lives...

BELLEFONTE -- One of up to 10 Interstate 80 toll booths would be put up in Centre County near the Clinton County line and another would be located 40 miles to the west in Clearfield County, according to unofficial plans seen by state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township. Corman, majority policy chairman of the Senate Republicans, made the disclosure during a news conference Monday where he assailed Gov. Ed Rendell as "irresponsible" for holding the state budget "hostage until he gets everything he wants done." The senator said the I-80 map he saw is an early draft and could change...

Domestic Terrorists Anti-Government Groups Often associated with unorganized militias, the Anti-Government movement actually embraces a much larger variety of groups and causes. The extreme fringe believes that the U.S. government is either the enemy or has been subverted by the enemy and must be actively defended against. Anti-Government Issues and Beliefs Gun Control is a conspiracy to enslave us starting with the removal of our ability to either defend ourselves or forcefully change our government. The first ten amendments of The Constitution are God given and all others are temporary, invalid or outright fraudulent. All judicial authority resides with the...

House Bill No. 760 was introduced in the State House of representatives last week. The bill was introduced by representatives Cruz, Youngblood, Parker, Wheatley, Bennington and Curry. The legislation calls for every gun in Pennsylvania to be registered with the state, and each registration must be renewed annually. The registration would cost the gun owner $10 per gun each year. The bill also calls for each gun owner to be fingerprinted, have a back ground check, and to submit pass port-style photos for registration cards. The registration card for each gun would then have to be carried with that gun...

STATE COLLEGE - Motorists in Centre County and 15 other counties statewide may soon drive into the state emissions inspections now confined to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. And, if Philadelphia prices are any indicator, those environmentally friendly check-ups could cost some $50 each. For now, at least, that's a price paid only in the nine counties that comprise Pennsylvania's two biggest metropolitan areas. But a federal judge in Philadelphia ruled last month that Pennsylvania has violated the federal Clean Air Act. The breach happened when officials missed a 1999 deadline to implement tailpipe exhaust tests in most of the state's industrialized...

BELLEFONTE, Pa. ?? An attorney for two Amish men cited for keeping horses on their properties says township officials are trying to restrict religion. The lawyer, James M. Bryant, said a Walker Township zoning ordinance was a means of keeping the Amish out of certain areas. The ordinance's language, which specifically bars horses instead of a broader prohibition against keeping livestock, showed it was targeted at the Amish, he said. "You can have ducks. You can have cows. You can have sheep. You can have burros. ... You can't have horses," Bryant said. "It's just subtle prejudice."

A LOOK AT THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES AND "GLOBAL WARMING" Written April 9, 2002 By Joe D'Aleo Chief WSI/INTELLICAST Meteorologist In the story "Is This Warm Winter a Sure Sign of Global Warming?" we looked at a number of factors that cause changes in global mean temperatures on both the short and long term. We showed that although most of the attention in recent years has been on the greenhouse gases as the primary driver of the global temperature trends, it may still be a relative "bit player" in the climate ride we, like it or not, all find ourselves on....

Editor's File | Decision to 'fire' Coulter gets worldwide attention rungerI stumbled into a skirmish line of our national culture war on a lazy Labor Day morning. It happened during my first cup of coffee about 9 a.m. That's when I signed onto my e-mail account and opened the first of the 364 e-mails that awaited me. The subject line read: "A letter to Ann Coulter." The message, written by a Judith Brewer, said only, "Mr. Unger, I think I love you." The second came from Joe Filko, one of this newspaper's community columnists and a staunch, thoughtful conservative. "You...

Posted on Sun, Sep. 01, 2002 Editor's File | A letter to Coulter runger Dear Ann Coulter: You're fired. It's not that extreme viewpoints are unwelcome on the opinion pages of the Centre Daily Times. All political viewpoints, from Cal Thomas on the right to Molly Ivins on the left, are welcome here. But, we don't welcome haters, Ann, and that's what you are. Well, you are either a hater or a hypocrite who calls names and spews enmity because you believe it will get your pretty face on television more or sell more copies of your best-selling books. In...