Free Republic

Zoologist Darren Naish has written a thoughtful essay on “Are Sumatran Rhinos Really Living Fossil?” His blog is in response to my comments on the “living fossil” issue, discussed here. I disagree with Naish’s restrictive parameters, of course, as I see this more an issue of educational semantics influenced by zoology, not ruled by it. Darren Naish’s approach is worthy of your attention and he has every right to his very informed point of view. Needless to say, in this case, I was employing the “living fossil” definition that this rhino species is “a living species/clade with many ‘primitive’ characteristics...

To the surprise of perhaps no one, Senators Arlen Specter and John McCain have jumped on this morning's reports of NSA spying within the United States as another opportunity to grab the limelight.Report of NSA Spying Prompts Call for Probe (AP) Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter put the Bush administration on notice Friday that his panel would hold hearings into a report that the National Security Agency eavesdropped without warrants on people inside the United States. "There is no doubt that this is inappropriate," said Specter, R-Pa., calling hearings early next year "a very, very high priority." He wasn't...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 - President Bush is focused on Hispanics, African-Americans and women to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and he may announce his choice for her seat on the Supreme Court as early as the court's opening days in October, Republican strategists said on Wednesday. Republicans noted that it was still early in the process and that the strategists were putting forth a diverse selection of potential nominees in part to portray the White House as interested in people from politically important constituencies. The timing of the announcement, strategists said, could allow a nominee to be confirmed as early...

Many argue that communism will never be possible because of "human nature". The essence of this false argument is the belief that a communist society would consist of an all-powerful central government that would tell everybody what to do--and would therefore undermine the creative initiative of individuals and the search for happiness. • This argument is based on two false assumptions: (1) It assumes that a communist society will look like the former Soviet Union, or the current China, North Korea, etc (ie: corrupt police states with a feudal-style ruling class) (2) It assumes that people will only work in...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cmp/20050715/tc_cmp/165702500 UN Panel: No Single Nation Should Control Internet Addresses Aoife White Thu Jul 14, 9:38 PM ET BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP)--A U.N. panel created to recommend how the Internet should be run in the future has failed to reach consensus but did agree that no single country should dominate. The United States stated two weeks ago that it intended to maintain control over the computers that serve as the Internet's principal traffic cops. In a report released Thursday, the U.N. panel outlined four possible options for the future of Internet governance for world leaders to consider at a November "Information...

Here is the list so far for sponcers to this hate America fest: ANSWER Code Pink UFPJ NION Al Awda World Workers Party Ruckas Revolutionary Communist party Moveon.org ACORN Campus Antiwar Network International Socialist Org Greens Party Muslim Student Association CPUSA

Prehistoric badger had dinosaurs for breakfast Michael Hopkin Fossil of a surprisingly large, carnivorous mammal is discovered in China. This artist's impression shows how the metre-long mammals might have looked. © Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Archaeologists have dug up a new species of mammal that roamed China during the reign of the dinosaurs. The creature was large enough to feast on young dinosaurs, exploding the myth that all of the mammals living back then were relatively tiny. Repenomamus giganticus, as the creature has been christened, was more than a metre long, about the size...

Recent News! They discover proof that Atlantis did not submerge complete but only one part...By Salvador Morales. Atlantis News Agency. Madrid, Spain. 01-06-2005. The Spanish investigator and scriptologist, Georgeos Diaz-Montexano, has discovered paleographical proofs that in fact the island or peninsula (Nêsos) denominated like Atlantis or Atlantic, it was divided in two parts below the sea. To date all atlantologists and students of the Timaeus and the Critias de Plato had thought that in texts of the Greek philosophist narrated the collapse of the all island or Atlantis peninsula, nevertheless, Georgeos Diaz-Montexano has reviewed the oldest texts known writings in...

WASHINGTON - Raising the gavel with a grin, Senate Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) Chairman Arlen Specter opened his first hearing Thursday by allowing more criticism of the Bush administration than his predecessor and by questioning some of the Patriot Act's police powers. With his changes, questions and comments, Specter proclaimed his independence and said he expected the same from Alberto Gonzales, President Bush (news - web sites)'s nominee to be attorney general. "While Judge Gonzales is the appointee of the president ... he's representing the people of the United States, a key distinction which I'm pleased to say...

MSNBC is now reporting that up to 6 other senators (1 possible republican) will give statements of support for contesting the election. There were no names given. Barbara Boxer is confirmed to be the only senator on record to say she is now going to contest the election along with Conyers and a few others from congress. The report went on to say that the debate (if all 6 come on board) will only be about 30 minutes, due to the 5 minute rule per senator. The report also said that Bush's victory his not in jepordy. I still think...

"Prior to his broadcasting career, Williams worked in the White House during the Carter administration, beginning as a White House intern."

Senate Republicans are preparing to implement a sophisticated, multipronged plan to confirm President Bush’s expected nomination to replace ailing Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Well-funded liberal groups are also ramping up their efforts to block any conservative nominee. Activists working with White House and Senate staffers say the 80-year old Rehnquist’s battle with thyroid cancer has sharply focused attention. The controversy over comments that Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), incoming Judiciary Committee chairman, made downplaying the chances of anti-abortion-rights nominees being confirmed also accelerated planning. “The groups on the center-right are prepared to mobilize at a moment’s notice,” said Jay...

On November 18, Dr. Gary Cass, executive director of the CENTER FOR RECLAIMING AMERICA, delivered 66,443 petitions to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s Chief of Staff and each Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asking the senators to “do everything in your power to prevent Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) from serving as the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.” Dr. Cass also delivered petitions to Senator Arlen Specter’s staff, asking him to withdraw his candidacy for the position.

NEW YORK -- "Protection of marriage" is now the watchword for many activists fighting to prevent gays and lesbians from marrying. Some conservatives, however, say marriage in America began unraveling long before the latest gay-rights push and are pleading for a fresh, soul-searching look at the institution. "When you talk about protecting marriage, you need to talk about divorce," said Bryce Christensen, a Southern Utah University professor who writes frequently about family issues. While Christensen doesn't oppose the campaign to enact state and federal bans on gay marriage, he worries it's distracting from immediate threats to marriage's place in society....

THIS AM...on Fox News, Podesta was being interviewed about the library. When asked about the extend of the displays about shillery, he said that...she was important..."as the vice president." He didn't say, "as was the vice president."

Judy (hmmm?) Woodruff just had a report that Karl Rove had offered Nebraska Sen Ben Nelson the post of Secretary of Agriculture. Nelson is up in 2006...and facing a hard race from popular GOP Gov Mike Johanns. Nelson is among the most conservative of Senate Dems..Does this make sense, because Nelson votes with the GOP on most of the key issues..?

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the Security Council on Thursday to issue ``the strongest warning'' to the forces fighting in Sudan to bring an end to the civil wars there. Annan's comments were made to Security Council members in Kenya's capital, where they have begun extraordinary meetings on the violence and humanitarian crisis in Sudan. ``I regret to report that the security situation in (the western region of) Darfur continued to deteriorate despite the cease-fire agreement signed earlier,'' Annan said. ``Both the government and its militias as well as the rebel groups have breached these...

WASHINGTON - Democratic Party leaders said Wednesday they want to know why Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) ended his presidential campaign with more than $15 million in the bank, money that could have helped Democratic candidates across the country. Some said he will be pressured to give the money to Democratic campaign committees rather than save it for a potential White House bid in 2008. "Democrats are questioning why he sat on so much money that could have helped him defeat George Bush (news - web sites) or helped down-ballot races, many of which could have gone our...

Reprinted from NewsMax.com Sunday, Nov. 14, 2004 5:45 p.m. ESTClinton 'Elvis' Library to Include Monica As Bill Clinton's library is unveiled at a gala opening this week, one thing is certain: His messy legacy will be on full display. One alcove will be dedicated to impeachment, and organizers have promised not to sidestep even Monica Lewinsky or Paula Jones. The 58-year-old political superstar is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors a year to his library. "Bill Clinton is a rock star," said Skip Rutherford, head of Clinton's nonprofit foundation that built the $165 million library. "He is Elvis."...

From "Light the Lamp!": The monthly newsletter of the Holy Flame Pentecostal Church of Little Rock, Ark. We welcome back to the area Senator Hillary Clinton (D., N.Y.), who has been spending so much time here in Little Rock lately that she's practically joined the church choir! "I'm here spending time at my husband's library," she told the Lamp when we caught up with her after a Sunday camp meeting, "and of course, I always take time to worship God in as evangelical a way as is feasible, given time and location constraints. As you know, I consider myself an...