Free Republic

The half-billion-dollar National Guard price tag to man the U.S. Capitol for more than five months has emptied the Guard's coffers and will affect readiness if Congress does not act, National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Daniel Hokanson said Wednesday. The Guard’s largest and most expensive mission was to protect the .U.S capital, including providing security for the presidential inauguration and the much-criticized militarization of the U.S. Capitol grounds with razor wire and 7-foot nonscalable fences....The peak deployment in the nation’s capital required 26,000 service members from all 50 states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. Without the reimbursement, Hokanson...

Officials from the Department of Energy have for months been sitting in on board meetings as "observers" at Solyndra, getting an up-close view as the solar energy company careened towards bankruptcy after spending more than $500 million in federal loan money. Word of the Energy Department's unusual arrangement came as federal agents on Thursday converged on the California headquarters of the failed solar company, focusing fresh attention on the first corporate beneficiary of President Obama's stimulus program to create new clean energy jobs. The company, which closed its doors last week and laid off 1,100 workers, has been a subject...

HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe has introduced a new half-a-billion dollar bank note in a bid to tackle cash shortages fed by rampant inflation, the central bank said on Thursday. "Introducing the new 500,000,000 bearer cheque for your convenience," read a Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe full-page advert in the state daily, The Herald, displaying specimens of the new note. The note, comes into circulation 10 days after the introduction of a quarter-of-a-billion one early this month. This is the fourth set of high denomination notes to be issued this year, the first being in January when a 10 million dollar note...

PARIS (AP) - As the U.S. pledges more than half a billion dollars in aid to the Palestinians, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is making clear she considers Hamas to blame for the deteriorating conditions in the Gaza Strip. The U.S. is giving $555 million to Palestinians next year, including 150 million to the moderate-led Palestinian government in the West Bank. No money will be given to the rival Hamas leadership in Gaza, which seized control of the seaside territory in June. The U.S. says it is stepping up food and medical aid to Gaza, which has been choked off...