Free Republic

PALM SPRINGS – A state senator has introduced legislation that would enable a large group of Indian tribes to expand existing casinos or build large new ones without further negotiations with the state. Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert, said his proposal would allow all 61 tribes that negotiated gambling agreements, or compacts, with former Gov. Gray Davis in 1999 to have up to 2,000 slots each, the number many tribes believe were promised by the deals. But the California Gambling Control Commission had voted to limit all tribes in the state to roughly 60,000 slots, based on the commission's interpretation...

THAR THAR REGION, Iraq (Nov. 23, 2007) -- Recent security gains have allowed coalition forces to decrease the number of temporary outposts in cities like Fallujah while reinforcing new structures for use by Iraqis in the future. The most recent was completed Nov. 20: Combat Outpost Hawas, a dual outpost that provides coalition forces a presence here in the southeastern Thar Thar region. This area became a hideaway for Iraqi insurgents who retreated from coalition forces in other parts of Al Anbar Province. The smaller of Hawas’ two camps is run by Iraqi soldiers who have already begun conducting operations...

BAGHDAD, Nov. 8, 2007 – The Qudas electric generation facility in northern Baghdad is getting two new gas turbines that will add 200 megawatts of power to the national grid. Iraqi workers place hundreds of cubic meters of concrete at the Qudas gas turbine expansion project in northern Baghdad. In all, 1,000 cubic meters of concrete will be needed to create two pedestals that will serve as the foundation as two new 100-megawatt gas turbine generators are installed. Photo by Norris Jones  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. A crew of more than 150 Iraqis is involved with the...

ARE Californians taxed too much, or not enough? Taxes are the central question of how to fund Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's massive $12 billion expansion of government-run health care with its 4 percent payroll tax, 4 percent hospital tax and 2 percent doctor tax. Ironically, Schwarzenegger lambasted Phil Angelides during last year's gubernatorial campaign for wanting to raise taxes by $7 billion to create a new government health care entitlement. Angelides argued mightily that his proposal amounted to fees, not taxes. But the governor called Angelides' "fee" a "tax," so a "tax" it was. Now that Schwarzenegger is proposing a government...

1st Lt. Marc Miller, 2nd Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, talks with locals in the Baghdad neighborhood of Bakriyah during an operation to rid the area of illegal weapons and terrorist activity. Department of Defense photo by Sgt. Raul Montano. BAGHDAD -- Iraqi and Coalition forces this week continued their efforts to secure the capital city as part of Operation Together Forward.On Sept. 4, Iraqi security forces, working closely with Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers, conducted Operation South Sword Search in the Baghdad neighborhood of Bakriyah.Policemen with the 2nd Iraqi National Police Division and Soldiers from the 6th...

POTTSTOWN, Pa. - Calling nuclear power an overregulated industry that needs a jump-start from Washington, President Bush on Wednesday pitched his plan to expand nuclear power generation by dealing with radioactive waste, lessening regulations and reviving nuclear fuel processing. The backdrop for the president's effort was the Limerick Generating Station, a nuclear plant operated by Excelon Corp. about 40 miles from Philadelphia. Bush donned a white hard hat for a brief tour, then spoke to employees in a sweltering tent set up in the shadow of the plant's two enormous cooling towers. Bush argued that nuclear power is abundant, affordable,...

DOUGLAS, Ariz. - Much of this dusty city along the border is separated from Mexico by a fence consisting of 12-foot vertical metal bars, spaced inches apart to prevent illegal immigrants from squeezing through. Surveillance cameras are mounted on towers nearby, and Border Patrol agents posted hundreds of feet away in the desert scrub and flowering ocotillo watch for anyone who might try to scale, cut through, slip under or sneak around the fence. Though these fences are criticized for shifting would-be border-crossers to more dangerous and remote spots, they do make it harder for illegal immigrants to reach urban...

MOLEPOLOLE, Botswana, April 28, 2006 – "Joy in our hearts," sang the small group of Bana Ba Keletso preschool children during the dedication ceremonies for the expansion of the Bana Ba Keletso Orphan Care Center here April 22. U.S. European Command, through the Office of Defense Cooperation's humanitarian assistance program, provided more than $188,000 for the construction expansion of an administration building and multipurpose hall complete with a food-preparation facility. Through the partnering efforts of the Rotary Club of Gaborone and the Department of Defense, more than 400 at-risk orphan children from the surrounding Molepolole area are nurtured by the...

SAN DIEGO – Sempra Energy proposed Monday to more than double capacity at its liquefied natural gas terminal under construction in Mexico, strengthening its position in the race to build the first such plant on North America's Pacific coast. Sempra is building in Mexico at a time when rivals seeking permission in California are stumbling over opposition from environmental and NIMBY – “not in my back yard” – groups. The expansion plan is a response to “significant interest we have received from a number of potential natural gas producers and marketers,” said Darcel Hulse, president of Sempra's LNG unit. Sempra...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq (Army News Service, Nov. 15, 2005) – Ten days has been added to Iraqi basic training and a second group of Iraqi soldiers has begun the new 24-day cycle. "It started off as a two-week program,” said Staff Sgt. Michael J. Munoz of the 80th Division, who serves as operations noncommissioned officer at the academy. During the 24 days of training, Munoz said the recruits now learn drill and ceremony, weapons marksmanship, squad-level movement techniques, room-clearing procedures and how to operate traffic-control points. Instructors are able to go into greater detail when teaching the individual skills because...

BERLIN, Sept. 15, 2005 – NATO defense ministers, who met here Sept. 13 and 14, "are strongly committed to expanding NATO's role" in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in a Sept. 14 news conference. "By spring, our goal is for NATO to partner with the Afghan National Army to manage security in what will amount to something like three quarters of that country," he said. The secretary said U.S. forces would continue to play a strong role. Discussions during the Sept. 14 meetings focused on expanding NATO influence into the southern part of Afghanistan, including the area around...

Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital received a $50 million donation last week from one of the people born there – famed Jewish actress Natalie Portman. Portman’s donation is earmarked for an improved and expanded emergency trauma center being funded by the Hadassah Women's Zionist movement. The expansion will enable three times as many victims to be treated at once. At a ceremony Thursday evening at the Jerusalem Theater, Dr. Kobi Assaf, Hadassah Hospitals’ director of surgery and shock trauma said the expansion of the trauma center will save many lives. "One of the most crucial things we can do for trauma patients...

LODI -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld apparently doesn't know they turn the lights off each night at Lodi's R.E. Services. Rumsfeld recently told disgruntled National Guard troops in Kuwait the reason there isn't more armor on military vehicles in Iraq is because it can't be made fast enough. "There's no capacity is what Rumsfeld said," said Mark Frater, chief executive officer at R.E. Services, which began making lightweight armor for military vehicles earlier this year. "I'm just running one shift. I've got capacity. I could run around the clock if they gave me the orders." Frater's company makes laminated plates...

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union is expanding plans to set up several elite battle groups for rapid deployment to international trouble spots. The original plan was to have nine such groups of 1,500 troops ready by 2007, but EU military officials said an enthusiastic response from nations wanting to contribute forces meant that at least 12 would now be set up. Of that, four - led by France, Britain, Italy and Spain - should be in place next year. Ministers are to firm up their contributions to the forces at a meeting at talks in Brussels on Monday....

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Nearly $70 million in state bond money earmarked for reducing pollution was used by California dairies to expand their operations, which resulted in more air pollution, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. The result, the newspaper said, is that the air in California's dairy-rich San Joaquin Valley is now among the dirtiest in the nation, recording more eight-hour ozone level violations than Los Angeles. State Treasurer Phil Angelides, who as head of the Pollution Control Financing Authority approved the loans, now says the money was misspent. The environmental impact of large dairies should have been studied...

The San Jose City Council voted Tuesday to expand an investigation into potential favoritism in the city's decision to purchase $8 million in Cisco networking and phone equipment for its new downtown City Hall. Under the council's order, City Attorney Rick Doyle and City Auditor Gerald Silva will join forces to examine whether the city's early dealings with Cisco improperly put the San Jose networking giant in the position of advising the city on how much Cisco equipment to buy. Cisco's role in consulting with the city was first reported last week by the Mercury News. Since then, at least...

Fox News Plans to Expand Its Radio Offering Mon Sep 29,12:13 AM ET NEW YORK -- Armed with one of the most powerful brands in news, Rupert Murdoch's Fox News now hopes to do for radio news what it did for television news: deploy a feisty mix of talk and information to unseat the industry's entrenched players, according to Monday's Wall Street Journal. News Corp.'s radio arm, Fox News Radio Service, which launched last spring with one-minute news updates from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, plans to expand in November, selling news updates to radio stations around the clock...