Free Republic

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

ADLAI STEVENSON once argued that a politician is a statesman who “approaches every question with an open mouth”. If the performance of Jan Egeland, of the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is an indication, the same is true of those paid by the United Nations. A week ago, despite just one day having passed since the Asian tsunami, with the reported death toll one tenth of what it is now believed to be, and ignoring the fact that public holidays are never the easiest times to start organising an aid effort, Mr Egeland saw fit to dismiss...

I only have access to a few English language television stations while I am visiting Israel: BBC News and CNN International. Every quarter hour they recap the top stories. Today’s big story (after the non-stop images of a tidal wave taking out resorts frequented by Europeans and few Americans) is the comment of U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland who said that western nations, particularly the United States, were being stingy with their aid packages offered for victims of the disaster. Without putting into context the fact that the United States provides more funding to the UN than any...

As television and radio reel from new censorship laws in Venezuela, there are also signs of intimidation appearing against Venezuela's bloggers. We've recently reported that "media" like VHeadline* aligned with Venezuela's dictatorship have targeted the fearless Aleks Boyd, whose blog VCrisis.vom is a thorn in the side of the Chavez regime. They've now taken aim at essayist Gustavo Coronel, a retired Venezuelan oil executive who writes graceful, informative essays on VenezuelaToday. Coronel's deep well of knowledge has drawn the invective of chavistas in the past, but his latest work, directed at Global Exchange and at the Sandalista political tourists who...

ADA suits close another beloved eatery Once again it's happening in central California: "After more than 40 years in business, Roy's Drive-In in Salinas is closing -- in part because the owner can't afford a lawsuit that accuses him of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act." Jarek Molski of Woodland Hills in southern California, who uses a wheelchair, "is suing Patterson because he claims the restaurant is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Molski has sued over 200 small businesses for not meeting ADA requirements. ...Built in the 1950s, Roy's Drive-In does not have ramps to access the...

<p>When unscrupulous law firms began operating an ill-disguised protection racket that shook down small California businesses for money, the Legislature - or at least its Democratic majority - found itself in a dilemma.</p> <p>The shakedown lawyers were combing through the records of state agencies, looking for firms that had committed tiny transgressions of regulatory rules. They threatened their owners with expensive lawsuits under a provision of California law allowing private actions for so-called "unfair business practices," then offered to go away if the businesses paid specified sums.</p>

Linda Diane Tevis crashed into a parked 18-wheeler on a foggy February morning. Injured and shaken, she was in no condition to deal with a wrecker driver trying to tow her car. "I was a little delirious." she said. "The air bag had hit me. The next thing I know he was saying he was going to tow my car." All of this happened as paramedics treated her before she went to the hospital. When she and her husband, Mike Tevis, were faxed a copy of the Lone Star Towing Service bill a short time later, they got delirious again....

Caps won't solve 'insurance crisis' By STEVE SANDS COMMUNITY VOICES 15 June 2003 We are in an insurance crisis. This crisis affects doctors, who have seen their medical malpractice insurance rates skyrocket during the last two years. It affects businesses that now pay nearly twice the premium for the same comprehensive loss coverage purchased two years ago. It also affects homeowners. Recently, one insurance agency announced a plan to raise its homeowner rates in Florida by as much as 85 percent over the next two years. Insurance policyholders are being price-gouged across the board. Because the insurance companies are exempt...