Free Republic

County studies, readies rifle bill By Peter Felsenfeld CONTRA COSTA TIMES All it would take is a willing mind and a powerful explosive to turn Contra Costa's hulking oil refineries into giant chemical bombs. In an age of terrorism and readily available weapons, neither prospect can be completely discounted. So Contra Costa supervisors are scheduled Tuesday to take aim at a readily available gun they say presents just such a threat. The board is expected to ask county attorneys to draft an ordinance that would ban the sale of .50-caliber BMG rifles in unincorporated areas. The measure would be based...

Why do the republicans allow the democrats to continue to distort and misrepresent the the employment figures ? Let's look at the simple facts. President Bush's first budget was not enacted until November of 2001. Until that point we were operating under a Clinton budget. Yet, we allow the democrats to hang their hat on the distortional claim of "since Bush took office". Here are the real statistics:

Tech workers asked to instruct their overseas replacements SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 10 — Scott Kirwin clung to his job at a large investment bank through several rounds of layoffs last year. Friends marveled at the computer programmer´s ability to dodge pink slips during the worst technology downturn in a decade. But it was tough for Kirwin, 36, to relish his final assignment: training a group of programmers from India who would replace him within a year.        “THEY CALLED IT 'knowledge acquisition,”´ the Wilmington, Del., resident said. “We got paid our normal salaries to train people to do our jobs....

Dr. Laura Schlessinger, one of the nation's most popular radio talk-show hosts and the most successful on-air counselor, is no longer practicing the rituals of Judaism – a religion she converted to a decade ago in her 40s. ''Almost 10 years ago, I talked on the air about becoming a convert to Judaism,'' she told her listeners last week. ''I was open on the air at that time about that evolution. Well, I would say within the last year I have had a de-evolution.'' Where is she now spiritually? ''Nowhere exactly,'' she chuckled. ''Suspended animation. I still see myself as...

California taxpayers are celebrating a silver anniversary, as 2003 is the 25th year since the enactment of California's Proposition 13, whose landmark victory in 1978 sparked a national tax revolt. It passed in a landslide vote, with some 65 percent of Californians favoring the measure. The proposition slashed property taxes by limiting property-tax rates to 1 percent of the sales price of a home, and it limited subsequent increases to 2 percent per year -- a radical concept at the time. Previously, tax rates were based on a valuation established by a county assessor. Moreover, voracious local politicians determined the...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Ten years ago, it seemed as if every rapper wanted to be a gangsta. Now, everyone wants to be a pimp. 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg strut in full pimp regalia, surrounded by a bevy of beauties, in their new video "P.I.M.P." Rappers like Lil' Jon bounce through their videos holding jewel-encrusted chalices popularized by pimps. Even old-school soul veteran Ronald Isley personifies the pimp style with his alter-ego, "Mr. Biggs," right down to his elaborate cane. Modeling yourself after figures most people consider among the degenerates of society might not seem like the most respectable...

WASHINGTON – A major hotel chain that will not make top-rated Fox News Channel available to guests has a record of individual campaign contributions heavily favoring Democrats. Federal Election Commission records reviewed by NewsMax.com show that among those officials who list Starwood or a Starwood hotel property as their workplace favored Democrats by better than 3 to 1 over Republicans for the 1999-2000 election cycle. Starwood's hotels include Sheraton, Westin, St. Regis, Luxury Connection, Four Points and, ironically, W.

Just three years ago, Congress voted to allow more foreign workers into the United States. Times have changed. Politicians are proposing tough — opponents say misguided — steps to keep jobs at home in the face of rising unemployment, a growing number of white-collar jobs being transferred to India and other countries and lingering anger over some U.S. allies' opposition to the war in Iraq. The House has passed measures to require the Defense and State departments to buy a larger share of equipment from U.S. firms. The measure, which has provoked a corporate and political uproar, has not been...

The threat of scrapes and bruises, not to mention sunburn, didn't stop the fledgling North American Nude Bikers club from holding its first rally this weekend. Events at the Rock Haven Lodge Family Nudist Park in southeast Rutherford County included a barbecue, live music, bike games and a poker run -- where bikers vie for the best hand by drawing cards at stops along the way. They don't actually ride naked. Mostly. "You've got to be real careful or you're liable to get something burnt or hurt," club Vice President Allen "Anchor" Turner said. Turner, 46, came up with the...

<p>The "new" anti-Semitism is as virulent as ever, but it's often easy for Americans — Christian and Jew alike — not to notice.</p> <p>Christians and Jews get along here. Evangelical Christians have become some of the best friends Jews have, and, for their part, most Jews are not as suspicious of Evangelical motives as they once were. Since the anti-Semites abroad regard America as the great Satan and Israel the little Satan, we all feel equal-opportunity hate.</p>

Nuclear Breakout larming as they are, the nuclear bomb making programs of North Korea and Iran are part of a much bigger problem. The international controls that contained the spread of nuclear weapons for decades are crumbling. Major repairs are needed, and the Bush administration, preoccupied with Iraq and wrongly viewing the nuclear challenge as limited to a few rogue states, is not pressing hard enough for them.The first warning signal came from Iraq in the early 1990's. In a nearly successful end run around the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Iraq used a legal civilian nuclear energy program as a decoy...

In the four days since U.S. forces succeeded in tracking down and killing Uday and Qusay Hussein, elected Democrats have been noticeably reluctant to praise President Bush for a job well done. But at least one Democrat has now stepped up to the plate to give credit where he says credit is due - to former President Bill Clinton.

However, Johnny loves “France and [to] be living in a tiny village with nothing around. There is still the possibility to live a simple life. You can go to the market, walk about, buy fruits and vegetables -- the things they did 100 and 200 years ago. We have moments when we're sitting in our house and our kids are playing, and we look at one another and think, 'Thank God we escaped.’” For Johnny, buying a cucumber or a cabbage from a market is primitive living and living and being in America is a place and state of being,...

The publication of evidence from the BBC journalist at the heart of the David Kelly affair was delayed yesterday following a personal plea from the corporation's chairman that publication might affect the journalist's health. In a surprise move, the Commons foreign affairs select committee said it would not publish the transcript of last Thursday's evidence session with BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan that ended with the committee expressing serious doubts about his reliability as a witness. Although the committee had pledged to publish the evidence this week, it reluctantly decided not to do so after Gavyn Davies, the BBC chairman, privately...

BRUNSWICK -- If there's one thing an armed pilot cannot do, it is allow a terrorist to take the gun away. That's why 12 pairs of sweaty airline pilots punched, grabbed and pulled at each other at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center here Wednesday. They were learning how to ward off an attacker trying to get their pistols. The pilots are part of the latest group of 44 training for federal approval to carry guns in the cockpit to deter terrorist attacks -- and defend their planes and passengers if one occurs.