Free Republic

In Scialabba v. Cuellar de Osorio, both Justices Kagan and, to a lesser extent, CJ Roberts use some pretty strong language to characterize Justice Sotomayor’s dissent. From Kagan’s opinion: •The dissent responds to this fact only with a pair of non-sequiturs. Post, at 18–19 (opinion of SOTOMAYOR, J.). •but cf. post, at 14 (SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting) (wrongly stating that under that rule conversion occurs upon the agency’s re- ceipt of proof of the change). •It is, therefore, impossible to understand the dissent’s statement that conversion of such a petition to an appropriate category requires “ ‘substantive alteration’ to [the] petition.”...

UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday a negotiated settlement with Iran over its nuclear program should be sought, and he warned that military intervention would be "unwise and disastrous." Annan, who steps down as U.N. chief Dec. 31, issued the warning as the Security Council debated a resolution that would impose sanctions on Tehran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. The United States is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to Persian Gulf as a show of force against Iran. He addressed concerns about a possible military operation in Iran at a farewell news conference in response...

While Al Gore is commanding all the attention of those searching for the "un-Hillary," there's another candidate who is quietly doing the work it actually takes to run for president. While Al Gore continues to protest that he isn't running, there's another candidate who is privately making no bones about his future prospects. While Al Gore has yet to acknowledge that he lost, there's another candidate who is belatedly addressing the mistakes that caused his defeat. The "un-Gore," "un-Hillary" is John Kerry. He is doing everything Gore isn't doing to prepare for a presidential run in 2008. He is running...

Comments in Middle East border on bizarre... Bill Clinton (in Qatar) called the cartoon depictions of Muhammad published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten last fall "totally outrageous cartoons against Islam," ... In fact, the cartoons are pretty tame stuff -- the Islamic prophet is not shown as dirty, drooling, shaped like an animal or engaged in any unsavory acts, all standard for cartoon depictions of Jews in the modern Arab press. Mr. Clinton is entitled to his opinion, of course, though one wonders why he would want to gin up more hostility toward the West with an inflammatory characterization of...

The United States said on June 22 it would give North Korea 50,000 tonnes of food aid, saying its decision was based on humanitarian need and was not linked to efforts to end Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. 'The United States will be donating, in response to the World Food Program appeal, 50,000 metric tonnes of agricultural commodities for North Korea,' State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said, adding it was not designed to lure North Korea to six-party talks on ending its suspected nuclear arms programs.

Iran warned yesterday that it would decisively confront "any unwise move" by the US, the news agency IRNA reported. "We will rely on our popular support, diplomatic capacities and military strength, and decisively confront any unwise US move in Iran," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Assefi told IRNA. The spokesman was referring to perceived military threats by US President George W. Bush in a television interview on Monday. "We however consider these moves as a psychological war and political pressure by radical US circles and the neo-conservative wing," Assefi added. On US secretary of state-designate Condoleezza Rice's classification of Iran as...