Free Republic

WASHINGTON – Voter turnout will be the highest in decades, dwarfing recent presidential elections, experts predict. The only question dividing experts is how huge will it be. Will it be the largest since 1968, largest since 1960 or even, as one expert predicts, the largest in a century? Soaring early voting levels hint at a big turnout, but that could just be the same voters casting ballots earlier instead of more voters hitting the polls. Weather should generally be favorable, according to forecasts. --snip-- Michael McDonald of George Mason University is so optimistic he's predicting the highest level in a...

WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders and the White House agreed Sunday to a $700 billion rescue of the ailing financial industry after lawmakers insisted on sharing spending controls with the Bush administration. The biggest U.S. bailout in history won the tentative support of both presidential candidates and goes to the House for a vote Monday. The plan, bollixed up for days by election-year politics, would give the administration broad power to use taxpayers' money to purchase billions upon billions of home mortgage-related assets held by cash-starved financial firms.

WASHINGTON - When Tori Boyles, of Columbia, Mo., takes a test at school, an adult often reads the questions to her because the 9-year-old has learning disabilities that make reading difficult. That kind of accommodation generally is not allowed for the reading test that public school students take under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Also, skipping the exam is not permitted for Tori, who has spina bifida, a condition often accompanied by learning problems. "Why isn't there an option to opt out of that?" asks her mother, Becky Boyles. "She just has to stare at this piece of...

NEW YORK - U.S. officials had low expectations for the current U.N. meetings, marked by anti-American insults heaped on President Bush, and have scant accomplishments to show so far. The United States made few direct requests of other nations at the annual opening session and took minimal risks. Bush administration leaders did tone down the rhetoric that has played poorly abroad and refrained from criticizing the United Nations itself. The approach reflected an attempt at rapprochement with countries still at odds with the U.S. on many levels, and acknowledgment that several administration's goals and initiatives for the Middle East, North...

Charges expected within days over airline 'terror plot' By Sean Rayment, Security Correspondent (Filed: 20/08/2006) Terrorism charges against the suspects allegedly involved in a plot to blow up transatlantic airliners are "imminent", The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. The police are "hugely optimistic" that they will be able to bring charges against many of the suspects in the very near future, according to security sources. Police explore a section of woods where a cache of liquid explosive is believed to have been found It is also thought that anti-terrorist officers have found the liquid explosive which police believe was intended to...

A project aiming to create an easier way to measure cosmic distances has instead turned up surprising evidence that our large and ancient universe might be even bigger and older than previously thought. If accurate, the finding would be difficult to mesh with current thinking about how the universe evolved, one scientist said. A research team led by Alceste Bonanos at the Carnegie Institution of Washington has found that the Triangulum Galaxy, also known as M33, is about 15 percent farther away from our own Milky Way than previously calculated. The finding, which will be detailed in an upcoming issue...

WASHINGTON, August 1, 2006 -- Organizers expect 5,000 people top participate in the Aurora, Colo., Freedom Walk event Sept. 9. Freedom Walks around the country will commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and honor American servicemembers. Freedom Walks are part of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program, which highlights corporate and grassroots support for U.S. military members and their families. “Operation Hope,” part of the Beacon of Hope Outreach Center, will host the Aurora Freedom Walk. The nationwide military support program, launched in 2003, provides services to more than 10,000 troops and their families. Event organizer and Beacon...

This fall 4,852 freshmen are expected to enroll at UCLA, but only 96, or 2%, are African American — the lowest figure in decades and a growing concern at the Westwood campus. For several years, students, professors and administrators at UCLA have watched with discouragement as the numbers of black students declined. But the new figures, released this week, have shocked many on campus and prompted school leaders to declare the situation a crisis. UCLA — which boasts such storied black alumni as Jackie Robinson, Tom Bradley and Ralph Bunche, and is in a county that is 9.8% African American...

SIERRA VISTA — The “S.O.S. Borders” organization expects more than 100 people at its rally at the Palominas Trading Post today The rally is scheduled to go from 9 a.m. to noon. At noon, demonstrators will form a human fence, intending to send a message to the U.S. Congress about the need for proper border security. “We want Congress to understand that we want border security and enforcement of our laws, first and foremost. The purpose of this rally is strictly to focus on border security,” S.O.S. Borders Co-executive Director Kimberly Fletcher said during a phone interview Friday as she...

WASHINGTON - Parts of New Orleans are sinking far more rapidly than scientists first thought, more than an inch a year, new research suggests. That may explain some levee failures during Hurricane Katrina and raises more worries about the future. The research, being published Thursday in the journal Nature, is based on new satellite radar data for the three years before Katrina struck in 2005. The data show that some areas are sinking — from overdevelopment, drainage and natural seismic shifts — four or five times faster than the rest of the city. And that, experts say, can be deadly....

WASHINGTON - The operator of the state's power grid said Wednesday that it expects to have ample power to meet peak summer demands. "We are fine, but it is going to be tight in the south," Yakout Mansour, chief executive of the Folsom-based California Independent System Operator, said at a news conference at the National Press Club. He said Southern California customers can expect conditions similar to last year ... --snip-- Mansour said that overall, conditions have improved dramatically over the 2000-2001 period when the state faced tight supplies, escalating prices, rolling blackouts and market manipulation. ... --snip-- Growth in...

New terror attacks 'must be expected' (Filed: 02/02/2006) The Government's anti-terror watchdog has warned there is a "a real and present danger" of new terror attacks in Britain. Lord Carlile said he could not predict targets Lord Carlile, the Government's independent reviewer of counter-terrorism laws, said documents shown to him by the Home Office were "sufficiently alarming" for him to conclude that suicide bombings similar to the July 7 attacks "must be expected". The Liberal Democrat peer said: "The nature of the activities of which I have seen information is sufficiently alarming for me to re-emphasise ... the real and...

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Hamas made a stronger-than-expected showing in the Palestinians' first parliamentary election in a decade Wednesday, and the ruling Fatah Party may have to include the Islamic militants in a coalition government, according to exit polls. The impressive results for Hamas, competing in its first election ever, reflected popular discontent with Fatah, the secular party that has led the Palestinian Authority since its creation 12 years ago and has been accused of widespread corruption and mismanagement. The election was the Palestinians' first truly competitive vote, and officials hoped it would help cement democracy in the post- Yasser...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit narrowed more than expected in November to $64.2 billion as shipments of aircraft, cars and other capital goods propelled exports to a new record and lower oil prices helped trim imports, a government report showed on Thursday. The monthly trade gap fell 5.8 percent from the record set in October and was significantly below Wall Street's median forecast of $66.25 billion. October's record deficit was trimmed slightly to $68.1 billion from an initially reported $68.9 billion gap. Separate reports showed new claims for jobless benefits rose less than expected last week, while import...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 10, 2005 – Iraqi forces have the lead in providing security for national elections Dec. 15, officials said here today. This is a huge job, military and embassy officials said on background. Some 230,000 Iraqi soldiers and police will provide security for more than 6,500 election sites and polling centers in the nation. The election will select members of the first permanent democratic government in Iraq's history. More than 3,800 people are running for office, officials said. They can run as individuals or as members of parties, and parties may be connected to larger coalitions. Iraqi airwaves are...

WASHINGTON - President Bush is expected to announce a new nominee for the Supreme Court on Monday, and conservatives close to the White House said the leading candidates appeared to be federal appeals judges Samuel Alito and J. Michael Luttig. The expected nomination comes just four days after the withdrawal of Harriet Miers in the face of intense conservative opposition. Alito and Luttig both have strong conservative credentials and would be warmly welcomed by Bush's political base. Others who were under consideration were federal judges Karen Williams, Priscilla Owen, Alice Batchelder and Michael McConnell as well as Michigan Supreme Court...

WASHINGTON - President Bush, closing in on another nomination of a new Supreme Court justice, has completed his consultations with the Senate about who should fill the seat of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a White House spokesman said Friday. Bush was expected to announce his choice in the next few days. White House press secretary Scott McClellan ruled out an announcement Friday but otherwise indicated the nomination could come anytime. The president, leaving the White House Friday afternoon for a weekend at Camp David, offered reporters only a slight grin and a shrug when asked if he had made...

MIAMI - Federal prosecutors are seeking bank fraud charges against lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a key figure in investigations involving House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, The Associated Press learned Thursday. The charges stem from the 2000 purchase by Abramoff and his partners of SunCruz Casinos and the alleged use of a fake wire transfer of $23 million aimed at influencing lenders to provide millions of dollars for the deal. Exact details of the charges were not immediately available. A grand jury, meeting in Miami, could hand up indictments against Abramoff as early as Thursday, federal law enforcement sources said. They spoke...

Official IDF sources predict that the withdrawal from Gaza will lead to Palestinian terrorism and violence worse than the previous intifadas, writes Yediot Acharonot's senior military correspondent. IDF sources predict that immediately after the disengagement, the ceasefire is expected to end with terrorist attacks in and from Judea and Samaria. Among the threats are mortar and Kassam rockets on Israel's new toll-way Highway 6, as well as other areas in the coastal plain and the Afula area. The "regular" ambush attacks on roads, as well as attacks on army bases and towns in Judea and Samaria, are also expected. The...

A new initiative seeks to provide housing for the hundreds of individuals and families who want to move to Gush Katif to strengthen veteran Jewish residents in the face of expulsion. In recent months the communities of Gush Katif have been inundated with requests by people who want to move there. This despite the fact that according to the expulsion/compensation legislation they would not be compensated for the destruction of their property if Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan is implemented. While aides to Prime Minister Sharon have confided that the plan largely relies on inducing the willful evacuation by...