Free Republic

UP to 12 fighter-bombers are to be part of a massive security operation for President Barack Obama's visit to Darwin on Thursday. Soldiers, federal and Territory police, and up to 500 US secret service agents will also keep the President safe. The Australian Defence Department said the F/A-18 Hornets would be an ``important component'' of the security arrangements. The President will lay a wreath at the USS Peary memorial in Darwin and talk to troops at the RAAF base. A US official said: ``The President and Prime Minister Gillard together will address Australian troops in Darwin.'

WASHINGTON — Politicians and business groups often blame excessive regulation and fear of higher taxes for tepid hiring in the economy. However, little evidence of that emerged when McClatchy canvassed a random sample of small business owners across the nation. "Government regulations are not 'choking' our business, the hospitality business," Bernard Wolfson, the president of Hospitality Operations in Miami, told The Miami Herald. "In order to do business in today's environment, government regulations are necessary and we must deal with them. The health and safety of our guests depend on regulations. It is the government regulations that help keep things...