Free Republic

Former CIA Director John Brennan said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that Russian President Vladimir Putin “badly miscalculated” when he invaded Ukraine. Brennan said, “I think it’s a combination of, he has now his own prism of looking at the world and Ukraine. Also, I think he has badly miscalculated because I don’t think he has anticipated the consequences and the reaction inside Ukraine, where nationalism runs strong and deep. So I do believe that what we’re going to be seeing in the coming days and weeks is going to be fierce, fierce Ukrainian resistance to this. Even though the Ukrainian...

SACRAMENTO An arbitrator has ruled that state officials miscalculated wages and benefits for corrections employees, a mistake that will cost California taxpayers an estimated $440 million over two years and force cuts to other state departments. The ruling, made public Friday, means the state will pay $200 million for back pay and health benefits to about 30,000 prison guards, probation officers and other correctional employees, retroactive to July 1, 2005. In addition, the employees are due a 3.1 percent pay increase retroactive to the start of the year under a provision that ties their wages to those of other law...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Several concerts on the Dixie Chicks' "Accidents & Accusations" tour have been canceled after slow ticket sales, but the group says it has replaced them with other dates. Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis and Knoxville are among 14 cities no longer on the original schedule released in May, according to a revised itinerary posted Thursday on the Dixie Chick's Web site. Other shows, including Nashville, Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix, have been pushed back to later dates. The North American leg of the tour kicked off July 21 in Detroit. Billboard magazine and other trade publications...