Free Republic

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday that the period of turmoil in the financial sector following the failures of several large banks may be coming to an end. “The situation is stabilizing,” she said Tuesday at a conference of the American Bankers Association, the largest trade group for U.S. banks, in Washington, D.C. As evidence, Yellen cited increased lending to banks from the Federal Reserve, including from a new line of credit that was set up by the Fed and backstopped by taxpayer money. She also said that flights of deposits out of smaller banks to the banks that were...

Obama: "Open your hearts and open your minds to the words of Prof. Derrick Bell." Derrick Bell: Racism gives white people "a sense of property in their whiteness... and to feel superior to blacks."

BOSTON—The number of Earth-like extrasolar planets suitable for harboring advanced life could be 10 times higher than has been assumed until now, according to a new modeling study. The finding contradicts the prevailing notion that a terrestrial planet needs a large moon to stabilize the orientation of its axis and, hence, its climate. In 1993, French mathematicians Jacques Laskar and Philippe Robutel showed that Earth’s large moon has a stabilizing effect on our planet’s climate. Without the moon, gravitational perturbations from other planets, notably nearby Venus and massive Jupiter, would greatly disturb Earth’s axial tilt, with vast consequences for the...

The enormous steel ball you see in the photos (and the incredible video below) is the world’s largest ‘tuned mass damper’ and sits near the top of the world’s largest completed skyscraper on earth, taipei 101 in taiwan. the idea behind a tuned mass damper is quite simple: as a building sways (resulting from high winds, earthquakes etc), its tuned mass damper, essentially a finely tuned and ridiculously heavy pendulum, will move in opposition to the structure’s oscillations and minimise any movement. if that makes no sense, watch the crude gif below. due to both the immense size of taipei...

BAGHDAD, May 15, 2006 — The keys to stability in Iraq lie in unity, security and prosperity. Iraqis are making steady progress toward these goals. The formation of a unity government that upholds the voice and resolve of all Iraqi people will set the stage for efforts to diminish the violence and improve security, as well as enhance economic and cultural well-being. Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Nouri Al-Maliki is guiding the Iraqi effort to form an effective national unity government and create the positive political environment for long-term security and prosperity. He proposed four pillars of government that will contribute to...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is systematically leading his country into dictatorship by provoking internal conflict and characterizing his internal opponents as traitors. Beyond Venezuela, he sees himself replacing Fidel Castro as the leader of Latin America's radical left--uniting the region against U.S.-style democracy, free markets, and American influence. Chávez derives popular support from fellow ideologues and a small but committed segment of Venezuela's largely poor population, and he is beginning to use the hemisphere's dependence on Venezuelan oil to encourage leftist movements elsewhere and to pressure other countries into acquiescing to his activities. By politicizing and mismanaging the state petroleum...