Free Republic

Politics: The water spigots are back on, at least temporarily, in California's Central Valley. Turned off to protect a tiny fish, they happen to be in the districts of two congressmen "undecided" on health care reform. One could chalk it up to good fortune or just good constituent service. But in the middle of a contentious health care debate marked by Cornhusker Kickbacks and Louisiana Purchases, we may be forgiven if we find an announcement by the Department of the Interior regarding California's water supply a tad too coincidental. On Tuesday, the Department of the Interior announced it was increasing...

Bret Baier reported on Fox News reported today that Republican Congressman Jim Costa received $128 million in federal funding for a school in his district for his vote for the healthcare bill in Congress.

THE TICO TIMES, SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA | CHRISSIE LONG | Tue, Sep 29, 7:08 AM Sep. 29--Three months of intense dialogue between the feuding parties in Honduras finds the chief mediator in the crisis watching from the sidelines. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a longtime champion of peace in the Central American region, has chosen to remain in his home country as the conflict becomes more torrid in Honduras. "I want to be available ... if I am needed," he said at a news conference from his home on Monday, "but I won't go unless my presence is necessary."...

Protest against Palin as she attends a fundraiser in Costa Mesa, CA. Bring rally signs, posters and lots of friends. date: Oct 4, 2008 (Saturday) time: 3:30-6:30 pm location: Segerstrom Concert Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, 615 Town Center Dr. Costa Mesa, CA 92626

When he confessed to impregnating his new girlfriend, the Catholic Church refused to marry a devoted parishioner, then last week fired him from his teaching position at Bishop Feehan High in Attleboro for choosing fatherhood over abortion or abandonment. “Obviously in my heart, I wish he had not fathered a child out of wedlock, but I’m very, very proud of what he’s done: to choose life and love over his job,” glowing first-time grandmother Tammy McCoy of North Attleboro said yesterday of her son Robb McCoy and his 2-month-old daughter, Jaelyn Ruth. “She’s terrific,” Tammy McCoy said. “She’s gorgeous. She’s...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Supporters of a ballot measure aimed at redrawing congressional and legislative districts filed an appeal Monday and were granted a temporary suspension of a lower court ruling that ordered Proposition 77 off the ballot. Although not unexpected, the ruling allows the measure to be included in a public display of all the measures qualified for the Nov. 8 special election. Officials said the display is a largely procedural action intended to give counties official notice of what measures will be on the ballot. There is no word yet on when the case will come before the court...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Superior Court judge on Thursday kicked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting measure off the special election ballot, ruling that supporters violated California's constitution by using two versions of the initiative in the qualifying process. "The differences are not simply typographical errors," Judge Gail Ohanesian said. "They're not merely about the format of the measure. They are not simply technical. Instead they go to the substantive terms of the measure." The proposal, Proposition 77, is one of three initiatives that the Republican governor is supporting in the Nov. 8 special election. It would take the power to draw...

(AgapePress) - A group that exposes abuses within the Roman Catholic Church says the diocese of Springfield, Illinois, is a "hotbed" of homosexual perversion. Last month, Catholic priest Eugene Costa was found severely beaten and unconscious in a Springfield park that has a reputation as a hangout for homosexuals. Now the diocese has stripped Costa of his parish and his position as chancellor because of his history of lurid behavior. Stephen Brady, with the group Roman Catholic Faithful, calls the decision to remove Costa a "preemptive strike," and contends the diocese is doing damage control. "The diocese is removing Costa...

Costa takes bipartisan approach He has received more than 225 Republican endorsements. By John Ellis / The Fresno Bee In 2002, term limits forced Fresno native Jim Costa to end a 24-year legislative career, all spent in the halls of the state Capitol. Costa considered congressional runs in two area districts, but both would have been tough battles — one because of high Republican voter registration, the other because it was centered 100 miles to the north. snip Then — nine months after Costa left public life behind — Rep. Cal Dooley, the incumbent in Costa's home congressional district, announced...

Ted Costa, one of the orchestrators of California's successful recall election last fall, now wants to ask voters to knock the state Legislature down to part-time status. It is a notion that has circulated around the Capitol a lot lately and even has been mentioned by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the throes of his frustration with lawmakers during the state budget impasse. Costa is proposing a constitutional change to cut the legislative year by half, with lawmakers meeting for 90 days between January and the end of June. "The legislators (would) have more time to spend in their districts, and...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 24, 2004 CONTACT: Bob Taylor: press@HowardForSenate.com Kaloogian & Costa Gear Up For Recall Lockyer Effort Launching Drive To Remove A.G. Bill Lockyer SACRAMENTO--U.S. Senate candidate Howard Kaloogian (website: www.HowardForSenate.com) and People’s Advocate leader Ted Costa have joined forces again in a recall movement, this time aimed at California Attorney General Bill Lockyer for his failure to defend the laws he was elected to uphold. Kaloogian and Costa, the original promoters of the historic Recall Gray Davis effort, Tuesday launched a new recall drive directed at Lockyer for neglecting his duty to enforce state laws governing marriage....

After having visited there, I think Costa Rica is better than Hawaii, and at only about 10 cents on the dollar. That's certainly true as a vacation destination, but now I'm seriously considering moving there (retaining US citizenship, of course).They have a higher literacy rate than the US, great medical care, no army, and better weather. And Toucans. Anybody here have any experience, or relatives or friends who have done this? I'd like to learn the downside, because I'm seeing a lot of advantages.

Well, Free Republic can't help.The farmer is at his gate with it locked. The police are there and now the county is going to have to get a court order to cut his lock. It is only a matter of hours before they tear down his house! Aren't we proud of our BIG GOVERNMENT saving us from ourselves!His house might flood. So the government will destroy it so it can't flood!Sad day on Bethel Island, CA in Contra Costa County.Here is the police car, the police filling out some kind of papers. You can just see the farmer. He has...

<p>The anti-tax activist who originated the campaign to recall California Gov. Gray Davis already is planning to go back to the ballot box with another reform measure.</p> <p>This time, however, Ted Costa wants to overhaul the state's redistricting system, a notoriously partisan process that has helped preserve Democratic majorities — and protect Republican incumbents — in the Legislature and Congress for decades.</p>

Source: University Of Colorado At Boulder Date: 2003-10-08 Prehistoric Footpaths In Costa Rica Indicate Intimate Ties With Villages, Cemeteries New findings by the University of Colorado at Boulder indicate tiny footpaths traveled by Costa Rican people 1,500 years ago were precursors to wide, deep and ritualistic roadways 500 years later leading to and from cemeteries and villages. During the past two years, a team of graduate students, NASA archaeologists and remote sensing specialists led by Professor Payson Sheets spent much of their time mapping the small footpaths, many of which are invisible on the ground but visible by satellites. The...

<p>Sacramento -- The drive to recall Gov. Gray Davis has set off an unexpected tug-of- war between rival Republican camps supporting the effort -- a rift that could affect the outcome of an election to decide the Democratic governor's fate.</p>

Drive Launched to Qualify Davis Recall Effort for the Ballot Supporters of an effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis launched their petition drive Saturday. Several hundred activists were at the State Capitol to kick off the effort. Supporters must gather more than 900,000 signatures to qualify the issue for the ballot. Recall supporters are unhappy with the governor's performance, particularly his handling of the budget crisis. "Gray Davis made a lot of promises that got him elected, and now he's falling down on the job, and every day we go deeper and deeper into debt and he's doing nothing,"...

10,000 hits in 4 days to Davis recall website By Bay City News Service Within four days after the Web site "RecallGrayDavis.com'' was launched last week, about 10,000 Californians joined the organized effort to remove Gov. Gray Davis from his seat in Sacramento, according to the group's organizers. Former Republican Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian of Carlsbad, who is spearheading the effort, said, "The Recall Gray Davis campaign is committed to organizing the tens of thousands of Californians we will need to carry out this recall effort.'' Kaloogian called the number of visitors to the Web site a sign of how...