Free Republic

Widow Defends Kerry's Record (CNSNews.com) - The widow of a man who served with John Kerry in Vietnam -- and died right after Kerry left Vietnam - said she is sure her husband would have defended Kerry's record in Vietnam and his antiwar activism.

CalPERS is rethinking its controversial corporate governance campaign. Facing criticism from business organizations and one of its own directors, the board of the influential, Sacramento-based pension fund will engage in "some soul-searching on the corporate governance program" at its twice-a-year retreat at South Lake Tahoe next week, said CalPERS spokeswoman Patricia Macht. "The board wanted to take a look at it because it did become such a lightning rod." The California Public Employees' Retirement System took the unprecedented step this year of voting its shares against directors up for re-election to the boards of 2,700 U.S. companies, or about 90...

<p>The U.S. Senate has passed Ted Kennedy's so-called "hate crimes" bill. In the words of the Traditional Values Coalition, it will criminalize a person's thoughts and provides unequal penalties for the same crime—depending upon the motivation of the accused. That means that the media that possibly provoked or influenced commission of the crime will come in for scrutiny. Yet our liberal media have remained silent on the constitutional and First Amendment implications of this approach.</p>

Armed with just pen and paper as no computer was up to the job, for three months Lion Kimbro wrote down every thought that came into his head. It left little time for much else. Now, was that necessary? When was the last time you thought hard about something? When you actually set aside some time in the day to just sit and think, and note down what was on your mind? No-one does that, do they? Time's too precious, life is too short. Not for Lion Kimbro, a 26-year-old geek and computer games tester from Seattle. Last year he...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - NASA (news - web sites) has developed a computer program that comes close to reading thoughts not yet spoken, by analyzing nerve commands to the throat. It says the breakthrough holds promise for astronauts and the handicapped. "A person using the subvocal system thinks of phrases and talks to himself so quietly it cannot be heard, but the tongue and vocal cords do receive speech signals from the brain," said developer Chuck Jorgensen, of NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. Jorgensen's team found that sensors under the chin and one each side of the Adam's apple...

One of my favorite things to do each year is to collect all I've written and see what stands out in each of them to see what happened in the year. As usual, there have always been great quotes from the year gone by, and I thought about sharing some of the funniest quotes I've made and even other quotes from friends which I thought were enjoyable. I decided one of the best things to do is to share with you some of those great quotes I've made in 2003. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry,...

I consider myself part of the base of the Republican party. I think everyone should own a gun. I think abortion should be outlawed, but I understand that at this point in time it will be difficult to accomplish. I think taxes should be cut, terrorists should be killed, and laws should be enforced. Government is a neccessary evil that we must deal with. It isn't my savior, and I shouldn't have to pay for it to be anyone else's either. Cut as much government spending as possible and force each person to be responsible for themselves. Once people realize...

Law and Request "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." 2 Corinthians 3:6If someone asked you the difference between a law and a request, you would probably answer to the effect that law is obligatory and request is not. You may also note that, for the most part, laws have the recipient's best interest at heart, while requests have the requester's best interest at heart. For example, if you tell your five-year-old that he cannot play in the street,...

Brain science sheds light on men's thoughts October 02 2003 at 03:57AM by Jill Serjeant Los Angeles - It's the universal question on many women's lips. "What could he be thinking?" she shrieks, or sighs or sulks at her husband, boyfriend or son. What is it with men and cars? Why doesn't he notice how much housework needs to be done? Why does he need to keep a grip on the remote control? And the most bewildering one of all - why won't he just talk to me? The answers, says social philosopher, researcher and author Michael Gurian, lie not...

It's not so hard to figure out why bad things happen to good people once you realize that the world is under the rule of a supernatural serial killer. As C.S. Lewis wrote: "All I am doing is to ask people to face the facts – to understand the questions which Christianity claims to answer. And they are very terrifying facts." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Why do people who loathe monopoly in private enterprise believe that government monopolies are A Good Thing? How does adding the power to tax, jail and execute one's customers make for a more responsive or responsible monopoly? ------------------------------------------------------------------------...