Free Republic

...Using new technology to study the genomes of 270 volunteers from four corners of the world, researchers have found that while people do indeed inherit one chromosome from each parent, they do not necessarily inherit one gene from mom and another from dad. One parent can pass down to a child three or more copies of a single gene. In some cases, people can inherit as many as eight or 10 copies....

-snip- But not all conservatives agree about the House Republicans. Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist thinks there has always been a functioning House majority for comprehensive immigration reform. So what happened last summer? "The radio talk-show hosts got out there and poisoned the atmosphere," says Norquist, who worries that being overly harsh on immigration contributed to the GOP's loss of Congress. -snip-

With the resignation of Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman, President Bush intends to fill the post with Florida's Mel Martinez, a Hispanic who led the battle in the U.S. Senate for amnesty for illegal aliens. "Martinez is going to lead the fight for amnesty that Bush could not win when Republicans controlled the Congress," one angry RNC member told The Washington Times' Ralph Hallow. Unable to extract an amnesty bill from Denny Hastert and Co. in the House like the McCain-Kennedy bill he supports, Bush is looking to cut a deal with San Francisco Nancy. -snip-

-snip- But the daily lot of thousands of illegal immigrants — intimidation, abuse and sexual exploitation — largely goes unnoticed. Anti-immigration forces do a good job of publicizing crimes committed by illegal aliens. Rapes and murders by people who have unlawfully entered the United States illuminate the threat to public safety posed by porous borders. But about crimes committed against illegal aliens, there is largely silence. While not condoning violence, many anti-immigrants accept the formulation that those who break the law to enter this country are not entitled to seek remedy from the law. As Bubba might say, "They take...

Republican uses animals, mariachi band to critique border security -snip- Bhakta decided to see if he could get an elephant accompanied by a six-piece mariachi band across the river. -snip-

More than fifty immigrants were taken into custody Wednesday after a raid at a west side home. Police were called to the home on Senisa Street after they received a tip about stolen cars. When they arrived, they saw four people running from the house. They looked inside the "stash house" and found 51 illegal immigrants - 38 men, 12 women and a teenage girl – all crammed into three bedrooms. -snip-

Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn may wind up portraying legendary physicist Albert Einstein for a joint U.S.-Italian TV film production.

The Senate Armed Services committee this week will consider a bill designed to break the impasse with the Bush administration over the interrogation of terrorist detainees. The new approach, dubbed ‘Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell’ by supporters, would sidestep thorny questions about compliance with Geneva Convention Common Article III, and “get the Central Intelligence Agency out of the intrusive business of prying into people’s personal lives,” according to the text of the proposed measure.

His mantra on peace and non violence still acts as a guiding principle for many across the globe. And as a way of promoting his crusade for peace, Mahatma Gandhi’s family is taking the baton of his philosophy across the world by holding rallies and conferences for terror victims and appealing for universal peace. Bapu’s grandson Arun will lead a rally in Washington DC to highlight peace and non-violence on September 11, the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in which more than 2,700 people were killed. On the same day in Mumbai, his son...

-snip- Ms. Dobbs' ordeal began late last year at the intersection of Walnut Hill Lane and Central Expressway. She had just pulled out of a shopping center and said she was in the act of putting on her seat belt when a Dallas police officer stopped her for not wearing one. -snip- Ms. Dobbs said she was placed in a filthy holding tank, about 10 by 15 feet, with only one concrete bench. Although a sign said it could hold eight people at most, as many as 28 were crowded in there, most of them sitting on the floor, she...

-snip- All who oppose laws cracking down on illegals must purge all baseless, slanderous reflex cries of racism from their arguments. I know that the vast majority of illegals in America are from Latin America. But in many places (like Farmers Branch, for example), so are the vast majority of law-abiding, English-speaking immigrants who are part of what make their communities and our country great. They are welcomed with open arms by Mr. Barletta, Mr. O'Hare and all of us who want tougher immigration laws. This is not racial. It is behavioral. And as long as the federal status quo,...

Now that President George Bush has declared Hezbollah defeated by its acceptance of the terms of a U.N. cease fire in Lebanon, the United States today will press the Security Council to grant it a similar ‘victory’ over al Qaeda. The U.S. proposal would call for “an end to the violence” between al Qaeda and its enemies around the world, including the U.S., and the creation of a 15-mile buffer zone, manned by U.N. troops, around every nation that al Qaeda chief Usama bin Laden wishes to destroy. -snip-  

BODIES of extinct Ice Age mammals, such as woolly mammoths, that have been frozen in permafrost for thousands of years may contain viable sperm that could be used to bring them back from the dead, scientists said yesterday. Research has indicated that mammalian sperm can survive being frozen for much longer than was previously thought, suggesting that it could potentially be recovered from species that have died out...

-snip- The plan put forward by Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, both Republicans, on July 25th, would allow Mexicans and Central Americans to enter the United States through a temporary worker program. Workers here illegally now would need to leave the country and apply for re-entry. The program would be administered by private companies operating "Ellis Island Centers" outside the country.-snip- Pence and Hutchison recognize that any immigration reform worthy of the name must meet the legitimate needs of our growing economy for additional workers.-snip- 

August 08, 2006 Condi's 'New Middle East' By Patrick Buchanan "Things are as they are, and their consequences will be what they will be. Why then should we seek to be deceived?" -snip- Think back. Had Reagan done to Lebanon, when half a dozen Americans were seized as hostages, what Israel has done, when two soldiers were taken hostage, Democrats would have denounced Reagan as a war criminal. Conservatives would have begged him to ease up. Yet, almost to a man and woman, our politicians are falling all over one another to express their 100 percent support of what...

SANTA ANA de GUADALUPE, Mexico – As the United States calls out the National Guard and prepares to build new fences along the border, some migrants in this deeply Catholic area are seeking assistance – but not from some ordinary coyote or guide. They're turning to a saint. His name is Toribio Romo González, a priest whose rise to sainthood began in the 1920s, after he was killed during a Christian uprising in this central-coastal state of Jalisco. To many, he's known as a patron of migrants – a figure who, legend has it, has led to safety many who...

Illegal immigrant accused of impregnating 10-year-old girl PHARR - Police said they are searching for a 21-year-old illegal immigrant accused of raping a 10-year-old family member and leaving her pregnant. Authorities were alerted to the case by a local doctor, who discovered the girl's pregnancy during a routine medical exam last Friday, Pharr police Lt. Guadalupe Salinas said. The girl was subsequently taken to the Children's Advocacy Center in Edinburg where she told staff that her 21-year-old relative, Pedro Guzman Muñoz, had raped her, police said. It is the Valley Morning Star's policy to not identify victims of sexual assault,...

Dracorex hogwartsia is Tribute to J. K. Rowling Series HARRISBURG – Visitors to the State Museum can get a taste of Harry Potter and brush with prehistoric America with a newly discovered dinosaur species that got its name thanks to the help of a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission paleontologist. PHMC paleontologist Robert M. Sullivan helped world-renowned paleontologist Robert T. Bakker come up with the name Dracorex hogwartsia in honor of the fictional “Hogwarts Academy” from the popular books and films based on Harry Potter’s adventures by British author J. K. Rowling. The scientific name Dracorex hogwartsia means “dragon king.”...

Directors at the Cannes film festival this year say they are using radical images of sex to challenge mainstream pornography and its widespread availability on the Internet. -snip- He said that the United States had a puritanical view of sex which turned it into an issue in young people's minds. In one particularly provocative scene in his film, three gay men engage in a sex session while singing "The Star-Spangled Banner". -snip-

Sasquatch is going to trial in Wylie.The 6-foot-8, 200-pound fright is a statue recently displayed outside Texas Dollar Pawn. The city says the glowering beast – festooned with a dozen Mardi Gras necklaces, which no one wants to know how he earned – violated the city code governing outdoor display of merchandise.  -snip-