Free Republic

As a hotel housekeeper, Amelia Acosta hustles to make the beds, vacuum the floors, scrub the toilets and empty the wastebaskets in at least 15 guest rooms a day. The smallest oversight — a soiled towel left on the bed — can be the difference between a reprimand from her boss and a generous tip from a guest. "I'm personally dedicated to my work," she said in Spanish, wiping smudge marks from a bathroom mirror at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites in downtown Los Angeles. Though Acosta sees herself as just another hardworking single mother, she is also one...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, June 8, 2009 – Iraq’s first notable tourist, Jonah, hated it. Belched out of a whale and stuck under Ninevah’s parching, sweltering sun, the Bible says, he cared more for the plant that shaded him than for the city he was sent to save. Dhaif Muhsen, curator for Iraq’s Antiquities Ministry, explains the history behind the oldest known standing archway in the world, located in the ancient city of Ur, June 26, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Marasky  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Thousands of years later, it’s cliché to...

Notwithstanding former President Jimmy Carter's recent statement to the contrary, Undersecretary of State John Bolton's remarks about Cuba's biological weapons capabilities underscore lingering concerns with the rogue island only 90 miles from the United States. Bolton, on May 6, told an audience at the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation that the U.S. is suspicious about Cuban biomedical laboratories and their ability to transfer biological weapons technology to Iraq, Syria and Libya, all countries that Cuban President Fidel Castro visited last year. Bolton also made remarks, which may be interpreted as a clear signal of hardening State Department policy toward Cuba, faulting...