Free Republic

In examining the various plans to deal with the financial crisis, there seems to be a common element: a desire to avoid at all cost the collapse of an interlocked collection of derivative securities which could be called the House of CarDS (credit default swaps). The fear is that the massively tangled web of credit default swaps and other derivative securities will explode like a powderkeg that will destroy the economy if things go sour; because of this fear, the collapse must be prevented at all costs. That attitude is fundamentally wrong and dangerous. First of all, it allows Americans...

Cory Maye has lost his motion for a new trial. The opinion is half-assed and poorly argued. Reads like a guy who had already made up his mind, and didn't want to be bothered with the damned facts. I can't believe the same attentive judge I saw at the hearing last December cobbled the shabby thing together.

The Copyright Office is conducting a rulemaking proceeding mandated by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which provides that the Librarian of Congress may exempt certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. The purpose of this rulemaking proceeding is to determine whether there are particular classes of works as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses due to the prohibition on circumvention of measures that protect access. The scope of this rulemaking does not include technological measures that prevent...

The supplied files are my arrangement of Gustav Holst's "In the Bleak Midwinter" arranged for four octaves of either handbells or handchimes. It is supplied here for use in the 2005 Christmas season. I may render it fully into the public domain but do not do so at this time. Performance Notes: The four supplied pages are formatted to be printed as two pairs of facing pages (e.g. as pages 2 through 5 of a six-page leaflet). If they are printed in this way, there will be no annoying page turns. The music is set according to the four verses...

Ora Mae Magouirk, the 81-year-old Georgia widow at the center of a contentious family fight over her medical treatment and right to live, (link broken in original) died of a stroke today at approximately 8 a.m. Eastern, at a nursing home in LaGrange, Ga., according to her nephew, Ken Mullinax of Birmingham, Ala. Mullinax told WorldNetDaily that his aunt's condition had improved considerably since her ordeal last month, but took a turn for the worst Wednesday when her vital signs began to weaken. On Sunday an apparent stroke hit her, causing her to have difficulty with speaking, and her blood...

KING: Have you had any contact with the family today? This is a sad day all the way around, Michael. We know of your dispute. M. SCHIAVO: I've had no contact with them. KING: No contact at all? M. SCHIAVO: No. KING: Do you understand how they feel? M. SCHIAVO: Yes, I do. But this is not about them, it's about Terri. And I've also said that in court. We didn't know what Terri wanted, but this is what we want...

A Bird in a Barren CageFor Theresa Marie Schiavo Born December 3, 1963 Scheduled for Execution March 18, 2005 SING IT. PLAY IT. SHARE IT. A BIRD IN A BARREN CAGEVERSE 1: Theresa Marie was a beautiful girl. with a smile that could light up the room. But now the plans of three evil men are rushing her towards her doom. Her cruel faithless husband now wants her dead-- Wants to marry another wife. Why can't he just see, Terri ought to be free. She and he could get on with life. CHORUS: She's kept like a bird in...

VERSE 1: Theresa Marie was a beautiful girl. With a smile that could light up the room. Her fate, alas, thanks to three evil men, now seems to hold naught but doom. Her husband, it seems, now wants her dead-- Wants to marry another wife. Why can't he just see, Terri ought to be free. She and he could get on with life. CHORUS: She's kept like a bird in a barren cage. 'Cos her husband keeps it bare. No pictures, no music, no pets, no TV. Her life is so lonely there. But Terri is loved by her family...

I just received a copy of Voices of Iraq from NetFlix. It appears NetFlix has ordered a custom-produced batch for their customers, so I would expect an ample supply to be available.

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDAPROBATE DIVISIONFile No. 90-2908GD-003  IN Re: THE GUARDIANSHIP OFTHERESA MARIE SCHIAVO, Incapacitated.  ROBERT SCHINDLER, et al.,Petitioners, v. MICHAEL SCHIAVO,Respondent//PETITION TO REMOVE GUARDIANAND TO APPOINT SUCCESSOR GUARDIAN Petitioners, Robert Schindler, Mary Schindler, Robert Schindler, Jr. and Suzanne Schindler Carr, by and through undersigned counsel, pursuant to Fla. Prob. R. 5.660, hereby petition this Court for its Order removing Michael Schiavo ("Schiavo") as Guardian of Theresa Marie Schiavo ("Terri" or "the ward") and appointing one of the ward’s siblings, Robert Schindler, Jr. or Suzanne Schindler Carr, as successor guardian. Any one of the statutory reasons...

I just received the following email. Pay particular attention to the part in red. I do not doubt that the text and visible formatting are copied precisely from a legitimate ebay message, but the highlighted link is almost certainly bogus--probably a data-capturing middleman. I know this sort of scam is hardly new, but it is circulating again. Beware of it.

Deborah Rowe last night interviewed an international law professor who indicated that he has every intention of nominating Illinois Governor George Ryan for the Nobel Peace Prize; he has not finished the paperwork, but indicated he will do so before February 1.

A class action lawsuit has been brought against Jewel Food Stores and Dominick's Finer Foods, alleging that Jewel and Dominick's conspired to fix, raise or maintain the retail price of fluid milk at their Chicagoland-area stores. Jewel and Dominick's deny all allegations of wrongdoing, and maintain that they set their prices independently and lawfully.

The evil cancer of modern liberalism has spread through society. Few people, however, recognize its root. It all boils down to a simple credo: Hardship is bad, and society should work against it. This statement seems at first obvious, indisputable, and self-evident. It is also, however, FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG. Unfortunately, this lie has become so ingrained into our culture I don't know how to root it out. Perhaps someone here will have some ideas. Economists recognize that [generalized] Demand is an unlimitted force. Attempts to satisfy it can consume unlimitted resources and yet still not succeed. Worse, if Demand were somehow...

From: http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/summaries/reader/0,2061,545266,00.html Illinois Gun Law Tested-- 8/13/2001 A vague clause in an Illinois gun-control law is being challenged by a bicyclist who carried a handgun in his backpack, the Chicago Tribune reported Aug. 6. John Horstman was biking across the state when a DuPage County sheriff's officer stopped him. Police said he matched a description of a man who committed a crime in the county. After searching Horstman, the officer found an unloaded Taurus 9mm handgun stored in a carrying case in his backpack. He was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, which is illegal in Illinois, and could face...

I recently purchased a CD-R/W drive after carefully noting that the only statement of origin on the exterior of the box read "Assembled in U.S.A.". Upon opening the box, however, I discovered that the CD-R/W drive itself was marked "Made in China." Is this legal? I would not have been particularly surprised or chagrinned if the PC board, case, gears, etc. had been made in China, imported to the U.S., and assembled here, but from what I can tell the only "assembly" that was done in the U.S., if any, was the act of putting the stuff into the retail ...

Since many people have seen or will soon see this film and no doubt want to talk about it, I would think it useful to have a thread where people can talk about the film after having seen it, or at least read the book and thus not have to worry about spoiling any surprises for anyone else. Since the movie has few surprises beyond what's in the book, seeing the book should suffice. DO NOT READ FUTHER UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN THE BOOK OR READ THE MOVIE I'll start the discussion with some random thoughts of my own:

Tonight's 9:00 news will rerun at 2:00am cst. The show is discussing the training and application process for becoming an airport security screening. Training is two unpaid eight hour days. Current new wage is $10/hour. Videos talk about importance of appearance, not doing drugs, etc. Then they got a 45 minutes sales pitch for legal insurance. The class was taught how to conceal stuff in luggage, etc. despite the fact that nobody in the class had yet had a background check. Class is followed by 40 hours of on-the-job training. Tomorrow's show will talk about that and tell what happens ...

The first 'trash this' thread was getting rather long...

A firefighter asked, "Where are my brethren?" GOD answered "Your heros are with ME." This firefighter asked, "Why?" GOD answered, "I needed angels." The firefighter asked, "Why so many?" And GOD replied, "Like you, I have many to watch over."