Free Republic

Nearly half the state Assembly is switching to hybrids as their choice for state-leased vehicles, a marked change from the gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles and luxury sedans that have long been favored by lawmakers. Thirty-nine of the 80 Assemblymembers now are driving hybrids, up from 27 last year. Of the 40 senators, 13 opted for hybrids, three more than last year. State lawmakers choose their official vehicles, which are subsidized by taxpayers. Legislators had been criticized for voting for clean air and greenhouse gas laws while driving higher polluting vehicles. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, for instance, was driving...

Mitt Romney wants the feds to OK his plan for Massachusetts state police officers to have the authority to arrest illegal immigrants solely on their immigration status. "It's one more thing you can do to make this a less attractive place for illegal aliens to come to work," the Massachusetts governor said. "I think that's a good thing," said Representative Marie J. Parente, a Milford Democrat whose community has enacted licensing regulations that make it more difficult for undocumented immigrants to settle there. "We need to do something," Parente told the Boston Globe. "I think that will be a message,...

House Democrats from Long Island and New York City on Friday joined the chorus of critics slamming Ann Coulter. The lawmakers signed a letter drafted by Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) demanding that the conservative commentator apologize for saying in her new book that widows of some 9/11 victims are "enjoying" their husbands' deaths. The book refers to the four New Jersey women as "the witches of East Brunswick." "Their personal loss should never be minimized, especially in such a cold and callous way as you attack these victims in your book," Israel wrote.

WILL HE EVER STOP? by Timothy Rollins, Editor and Publisher March 29, 2006 In an effort to once again advance his own agenda, Michael McGee Jr. goes on camera calling for enhancer penalties for those who commit crimes against black men, calling them an 'endangered species.' These outrageous comments call for an in-depth analysis to expose McGee as self-serving.We begin with the mortality rate of black men nationwide between ages 15 and 44, and we do not limit it to Milwaukee. The NUMBER ONE cause of death for these young black males is not tuberculosis, AIDS, accidents or influenza. The...

Computer codes row threatens £12bn jet order By Francis Harris in Washington (Filed: 15/03/2006) Britain threatened the United States yesterday that it will cancel its £12 billion order for the new Joint Strike Fighter unless America agrees to give the Armed Forces full access to the warplane's critical computer codes. Lord Drayson, Minister for Defence Procurement, issued the blunt warning as he arrived in Washington to address members of Congress. Without full access to computer software the JSF could be ‘switched off’ The bad-tempered row not only threatens the 150-aircraft programme, but also the intimate Anglo-American military partnership. Without full...

At the funeral of Coretta Scott King, President Bush said her dignity was a “daily rebuke to the pettiness and cruelty of segregation.” The president, with class and compassion, spoke at New Birth Missionary Church in Atlanta, Georgia, to honor the wife of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unfortunately, there were others who spoke and turned what should be a sacred ceremony into an opportunity to engage in left-wing attacks. As noted in the story Political Posturing at King Funeral Draws Cheers, Jeers, liberal activists used the funeral of Coretta Scott King to demean President Bush and...

History, the Roman historian Livy said, is the best medicine for a troubled mind. And these indeed are troubling times. Abetted by their shills in the mainstream media, the liberal Democrats are trying to wring every ounce of partisan advantage from the war in Iraq, no matter how much such carping undermines our resolve and comforts the enemy. But as I’m reminded while re-reading the first volume of Shelby Foote’s masterpiece The Civil War, not much of our current crisis is really that new; but what is new is particularly dangerous. Take the partisan carping first. Nothing we’ve seen in...

The article cited is an editorial opinion: quite approving of Putin's new military "posture". It is noted (elsewhere on the Novostoi site) Russia and China are scheduled to undertake joint manuevers this month, and that Putin was at sea with the Fleet during successful missile trials. I also saw mention in Novostoi of a Defense Minister named Yakov,who,if memory serves, was associated with Bio-Preparat: Russia's Bio Warfare program.

VIENNA (Reuters) - France, Britain and Germany have told Iran they will not settle for anything less than an end to sensitive nuclear processes key to the production of atomic bombs, according to a confidential EU document. Iran has temporarily frozen its enrichment program, a process of purifying uranium for use as fuel in nuclear power plants or weapons, but insists that atomic fuel production is a sovereign right it will never abandon. The document, which summarizes this month's talks between the European Union's "big three" -- the EU3 -- and Iran, said Tehran would only allow increased inspections by...

James Carville, the failed court jester of the left, unwittingly revealed a key insight as to why the Democrat Party is presently floundering so severely. In a statement made this past weekend to Tim Russert, Carville asserted that the purpose of political parties is merely ''to get people elected.'' According to such thinking, political philosophies and/or principles are either incidental, or entirely irrelevant to the party affiliation of those seeking elective office. Judging from the actions of Democrats during the most recent election cycle, Carville’s admission cannot be denied. Once again, Democrats throughout the country, and particularly their de facto...

Questioning Kerry's patriotism Judson Cox April 26, 2004 John Kerry has accused Republicans of questioning his patriotism. Why not question Kerry's patriotism? Should not a candidate for the Presidency of the United States be patriotic? Should he not love and be loyal to the land he hopes to lead? I say yes, and I will question Kerry's patriotism. Sen. Kerry has a record of engaging in activity that falls just short of treason; he has aided and abetted enemies of the United States. Kerry has falsely maligned U.S. soldiers as war criminals: "They told stories that at times they had...

Californians were in denial for many years about the deterioration of their state and local governments, but no reasonable person can now deny that the state is afflicted with a massive crisis of governance at all levels - one that has become, in fact, official dogma. The opening passages of a voluminous report by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's California Performance Review Commission are devoted to a diagnosis of the state's governmental ills, citing a "chaotic and cumbersome" organizational structure, "outdated and ineffective" management systems, useless but costly programs, outmoded technology and other maladies. Alas, the too-wordy report itself is a disappointment,...

"The horrors experienced by many young inmates, particularly those who are convicted of nonviolent offenses, border on the unimaginable. Prison rape not only threatens the lives of those who fall prey to their aggressors, but it is potentially devastating to the human spirit. Shame, depression, and a shattering loss of self-esteem accompany the perpetual terror the victim thereafter must endure." This statement does not, as some might expect, refer to Iraqi detainees, but is commentary by Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, in Farmer v. Brennan, about the U.S. prison system. Those who draw a straight line of responsibility between...

Any report on specific changes to U.S. troop levels based in various parts of the world is speculation, because the department still is working with friends and allies around the world on those levels, senior Defense Department officials said at a Pentagon news conference today. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addressed news reports that final decisions had been made in how to adjust the U.S. military's global "footprint" to better address challenges of the 21st century. DoD began looking at the U.S. global posture almost as...

Local Democrats honor Stenholm with Local Hero Award By JOHN FUQUAY AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Only 11 days since becoming a U.S. representative serving Lubbock, Charlie Stenholm was honored Saturday with a Local Hero Award from the Lubbock County Democratic Party. Stenholm was thrown into Lubbock's congressional district after a Republican-backed move to draw new lines and gain more House seats. The Abilene Democrat is the former representative from District 17, but Abilene was moved into District 19 where voters elected Republican Randy Neugebauer of Lubbock in a special election during the summer. "Republicans are the opposition, they're not the enemy," Stenholm said...

<p>California Democrats formally bid adieu Saturday to ousted Gov. Gray Davis as new fissures emerged over who can lead the party back from the stinging defeat that installed Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger in the governor's office.</p> <p>Despite repeated claims that the state party is united, internal divisions were clear at the annual convention in San Jose, as top Democrats looking to claim the mantle of leadership spent the weekend delivering thinly veiled assaults on each other.</p>

<p>Arnold Schwarzenegger's election as governor of California makes official what has been brewing for some time: The era of the sensitive man has come to an end.</p> <p>From Sacramento to Jerusalem, from Bogota to Baghdad, across all latitudes and longitudes, the masses feel drawn towards the strong, choosing the tough over the thoughtful, the swaggering over the serene. The international political arena increasingly resembles the old Saturday Night Live game show "Quien es mas Macho?" The show where contestants tried to guess who was more macho, deciding if, for example, John Wayne had more testosterone than Charles Bronson.</p>

The United States is deeply engaged in discussions with United Nations members, seeking financial and military support for its operations in Iraq. According to news reports, various U.N. members are insisting — as a condition for any support — that the U.S. hand over to the U.N. a larger role in the civil administration of Iraq. But at the very same time Kofi Annan, the U.N. secretary general, is withdrawing U.N. personnel from Baghdad because it's too dangerous. This seems to disqualify the U.N. for any role in Iraq's immediate future, and one wonders what the participants in the current...