Free Republic

Health authorities in England have announced that not a single case of influenza has been detected this year, with one professor suggesting that mask wearing should be kept in place during winter to drive down flu deaths to “zero.”

Can you visualize Biden strengthening America’s allies in the Middle East? The U.S.-brokered peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which is scheduled to be finalized this week at the White House, strikes a major blow to the twin forces of Islamic imperialism and terror in the Middle East: the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood and the Shi’ite regime in Iran. The tripartite alliance between the United States, Israel and the UAE, openly supported by Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, gives an institutional structure to a pro-American regional bloc of moderate, anti-jihadist governments all with proven track records...

United Auto Workers President Gary Jones is going on leave amid a federal probe into corruption at the top of the union. Jones “has asked for a leave of absence,” the union, known as UAW, said in a statement on Saturday.

The world’s largest vertical farm is coming to Dubai. The indoor farm is a $40 million joint venture between Crop One Holdings and Emirates Flight Catering, who say it’s a way of producing pesticide-free crops while using a fraction of the water that traditional farming does. The produce will feed passengers of Emirates and other airlines at Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport. The farm will be built near the airport, eliminating trucking costs and emissions. But is vertical farming really as green as it seems? HOW DOES IT WORK? To feed a growing global population, which could reach 9.1 billion...

Sheikha Latifa - the daughter of the Emirate's ruler - is said to have tried to flee in March in order to live a freer life abroad. But witnesses say the luxury yacht she was travelling on was intercepted off India, and she was returned to Dubai. She has not been seen since. Dubai's authorities say they cannot comment for legal reasons. Sheikha Latifa, the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was snatched while trying to escape the country, according to reports. A BBC Newsnight investigation, which was broadcast on Friday, claimed she had received the help of...

Federal officials may not use private email accounts to get around public records laws, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned a lower court decision in which judges dismissed claims from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank that attempted to obtain correspondence from a top White House official through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Google book scan copyright challenge lawsuit dismissed - deemed Fair Use.

Summary: When did humans really begin to control fire and use it for their daily needs? Scientists discovered in the Qesem Cave, an archaeological site near present-day Rosh Ha'ayin, the earliest evidence -- dating to around 300,000 years ago -- of unequivocal repeated fire building over a continuous period. These findings help answer the question and hint that those prehistoric humans already had a highly advanced social structure and intellectual capacity.

The majority of Americans have now filed their taxes. And the majority of Americans have done so incorrectly. There is one mistake, in particular, that lots of people made: They bought tax-free things online or in another state — and they failed to pay tax on their purchase in their home state. It's called a use tax. As far as I can tell, accountants and tax lawyers are some of the only people who pay it. Forty-five states have a use tax. About 1.6 percent of the taxpayers in those 45 states actually pay the use tax. So I figured...

Considered an Effective Witness to the Sanctity of Human LifeWASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 9, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Following Vatican approval, the “Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb” is now available for use by dioceses in the United States. The text of the blessing in English and Spanish is posted online and is being published as a booklet addendum to the Book of Blessings/Bendicional. The blessing will be included in future editions of those liturgical volumes. “We hope the use of this blessing will provide not only support and God’s blessing for expectant parents and their child in the...

Republicans used a procedural move Wednesday to halt hearings in the Senate and force Democrats to vote on a series of politically dicey matters relating to the health care "fixes" sent over by the House this week. Senate Republicans said they would insist that no committee meet after 11 a.m., two hours after the Senate gaveled in on Wednesday. The objection was used as part of the "two-hour rule," a formality that requires unanimous consent for the Senate to meet two hours after the chamber has come into session.

JERUSALEM – Restrictions on access to abortion would turn women's bodies into vessels to be "used" by fetuses, according to President Obama's newly confirmed regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein. "A restriction on access to abortion turns women's reproductive capacities into something to be used by fetuses. ... Legal and social control of women's sexual and reproductive capacities has been a principal historical source of sexual inequality," Sunstein wrote in his 1993 book "The Partial Constitution."

Some Muslims have refused to use alcohol-based hand gels to combat the spread of swine flu because they claim it is against their religion. Some of those employed by St Albans Council in Hertfordshire have complained about the antibacterial lotion, which is considered a key strategy in containing the virus.

Is NBC re-thinking its ways to take some viewers away from FOX news?

Record oil prices have failed to temper the enthusiasm of Chinese auto buyers. In 2006, 6.2 million cars were sold in China, enough for the Middle Kingdom to surpass Japan for #2 in total vehicle sales (the United States still sells twice as many). In the first five months of 2008, Chinese auto sales show no signs of decelerating, up 17.4% from the same period last year. The rise in Chinese auto sales has been so dramatic that projections by China’s government for auto sales in 2020 were already exceeded by 2005. Millions of tons of copper, nickel, aluminum have...

Hobbits mastered use of stone tools Leigh Dayton, Science writer October 09, 2007 HOBBITS may have had long arms and tiny brains but our new-found cousins were agile and smart enough to make stone tools used to fashion other tools, probably for hunting and butchering animals. What's more, they did so at least 40,000 years before modern humans arrived on their home island of Flores in Indonesia. The discovery comes from Queensland scientists who have studied wear patterns and residue on about 100 stone tools found with the remains of hobbits (Homo floresiensis) in Liang Bua cave by Australian and...

A draft constitution was previously rejected by French and Dutch voters Legal experts from the 27 countries of the European Union have agreed on a draft reform treaty. The treaty is set to replace the defunct European constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters. Portugal, which holds the EU presidency until the end of the year, hopes to get agreement on the treaty at an EU summit in Lisbon later this month. Possible domestic opposition to the treaty in Poland and Britain mean they may present the biggest hurdles. The treaty aims to streamline the workings of the EU...

Postal companies should be free to compete for customers across the European Union from 2011 as governments on Monday ended a year-long deadlock over opening the €88bn ($125bn, £61bn) market. Only Luxembourg opposed the decision, after concerns from France and Italy were addressed. The grand duchy and 10 other countries in the 27-member bloc won the right to delay domestic liberalisation for two years. The move will, in theory, allow any operator to carry letters under the 50g “reserved” threshold, although powerful incumbents are still favourites to retain the business. The rest of the market has been open for some...

BRUSSELS/LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Microsoft suffered a stunning defeat on Monday when a European Union court backed a European Commission ruling that the U.S. software giant illegally abused its market power to crush competitors. The European Union's second-highest court dismissed the company's appeal on all substantive points of the 2004 antitrust ruling. More importantly, it endorsed Commission sanctions against Microsoft's tying together of software and refusal to give rival makers of office servers information to enable their products to work smoothly with Windows, used by 95 percent of computers. It annulled only the EU regulator's imposition of a Microsoft-funded independent trustee...

New fires continue to break out around Greece The European Commission will put forward proposals this autumn for a standing EU force to respond to fires, floods and other major emergencies. The commission says the current system has its limits. In 2007, there has been flooding in the UK, a heat wave in central and southern Europe, and now forest fires in Greece, in which at least 60 people have died. But critics say the EU should release financial aid faster, rather than set up a civil protection force of its own. 'Better way' When Greece appealed for help...