Free Republic

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry confirmed Wednesday he is departing his position to work on President Biden’s reelection campaign, emphasizing the stakes for climate policy in the election. Kerry, speaking with BloombergTV at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said the stakes for the 2024 election are “as high as they can get,” despite skepticism about Biden among younger, climate-focused voters, who polling shows are increasingly leery of the president’s age and his policies on the Israel-Hamas war.

The first jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown will look a bit different in 2020. Instead of the Kentucky Derby acting as the opening event, the Belmont Stakes—typically the final leg of the Triple Crown—will kick off the sport's championship season. Oddsmakers aren't too hopeful fans will see the first Triple Crown winner since Justify accomplish the feat in 2018. Bovada lists the odds of a Triple Crown winner in 2020 at +700 (bet $100 to win $700) while the odds that there will not be a Triple Crown winner are -1600 (bet $1,600 to win $100). That doesn't mean...

This won’t be the Belmont Stakes as we know it, the first leg instead of the last, no potential Triple Crown on the line, no screaming New York horse racing fans socially sardined together, but the sport deserves a standing ovation in these parts anyway. Because at a time when Major League Baseball is shooting itself in the cleat and alienating fans with a ghastly display of greed during a pandemic, horse racing is giving New York the only game in town, giving bettors a seductive siren call, giving the sport an opportunity to perhaps win back fans it has...

2018 Belmont Stakes Odds PP Horse *ML Odds 1 Justify 4/5 2 Free Drop Billy 30/1 3 Bravazo 8/1 4 Hofburg 9/2 5 Restoring Hope 30/1 6 Gronkowski 12/1 7 Tenfold 12/1 8 Vino Rosso 8/1 9 Noble Indy 30/1 10 Blended Citizen 15/1 *Morning Line Odds are created by Belmont Park Head Oddsmaker Eric Donovan

2018 PREAKNESS STAKES ODDS (5/19/18) Post Position Horse *ML Odds 1 Quip 12/1 2 Lone Sailor 15/1 3 Sporting Chance 30/1 4 Diamond King 30/1 5 Good Magic 3/1 6 Tenfold 20/1 7 Justify 1/2 8 Bravazo 20/1 *Morning Line Odds are created by Pimlico Race Course oddsmaker Keith Feustle

The political "news" today is dominated by mass media glee at being able to publish an eleven year old recording of some less than couth, less than refined--yet wholly private--discussions of sexual themes by the Conservative Republican candidate for President, Donald Trump. While Donald's comments, little more than trivial male banter, do not rise to the actual sexual self- indulgent history of Democratic Presidents Kennedy, Johnson or Clinton; neither that fact, nor Donald Trump's apology, nor even the grotesque moral flaws of Hillary Clinton, should be our principal focus. This election is not about who is the nicest--with all his...

The Islamist government of Turkey is building a 15-acre, $100 million mega-mosque in Lanham, Maryland. Prime Minister Erdogan visited the site on May 15 in a ceremony that was attended by the leaders of two groups linked to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. Also present was the Maryland Secretary of State, representing Maryland Governor and likely Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, Martin O’Malley. The mega-mosque is called the Turkish American Culture and Civilization Center and, according to the Muslim Link, it “will likely become the largest and most striking examples of Islamic architecture in the western hemisphere” when it is finished...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Barack Obama's presidency has been a wild ride for the U.S. Congress and lawmakers are bracing for more turbulence when they begin returning on Monday to tackle an array of tough issues from healthcare to energy. In the three months since Obama took office, his fellow Democrats in Congress have overcome Republican objections and unleashed a raft of spending to try to buoy the sinking economy. With the Senate coming back on Monday and the House in on Tuesday, following a two-week recess, the Democratic leadership in both chambers will press its advantage, while undeterred Republicans dig...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department is considering taking ownership stakes in many U.S. banks in a bid to restore confidence in the badly shaken financial system, the New York Times said. The moves would come after Treasury has had little success in unlocking frozen credit markets, The Times said on its website, quoting government officials. Treasury officials told the newspaper the $700 billion bailout bill gives them the authority to inject cash into banks that request it, a move that would quickly strengthen banks' balance sheets and hopefully persuade them to resume lending. In return, Treasury has the...

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that a planned U.S. missile shield in Central Europe was unacceptable because it would extend American control deep into Russian airspace, not deter Iran as Washington claims. NATO officials called for calm in the dispute, which escalated when Putin threatened on Thursday to pull out of a key European arms-control treaty if no agreement was reached.

The US Republican Party has launched a controversial terror-linked TV advertisement to bolster support ahead of mid-term elections next month. The footage shows al-Qaeda leaders with captions of threatening statements, while the soundtrack of a ticking bomb plays in the background. The advertisement, which ends with the sound of a bomb exploding, is due to air from Sunday. Democrats have hit out at the commercial, calling it scaremongering. US voters go to the polls on 7 November to elect members of Congress. Republicans have made a tough stance on terrorism a major part of their campaign strategy. ... A statement...

Republicans took a page from President Johnson's Cold War-era presidential campaign with an advertisement set to air this weekend called "The Stakes," which prominently features al Qaeda leaders threatening to kill Americans. The advertisement, which is available on the Republican National Committee Web site, is scheduled to run on national news networks Sunday. The Democratic National Committee issued a statement saying the new Republican ad was an attempt to distract voters from GOP failures. Republicans contend otherwise and say the ad "underscores the high stakes America faces in the global war on terror by using the words of the terrorists...

Iran raises the nuclear stakes after being reported to UN By Philip Sherwell in Washington and Kim Willsher in Paris (Filed: 05/02/2006) Iran escalated its nuclear showdown with the West last night by ending international inspections of its atomic sites and preparing to restart uranium enrichment. Hours after Iran was reported to the United Nations Security Council for its nuclear programme, its officials were taking the first steps towards carrying out their threat to produce the material - which Western intelligence believes will be used for atomic weapons. Maryam Rajavi: 'Either the UN acts or the mullahs will have the...

The Nov. 8 special election called by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger remains a mystery to many California voters. Public opinion polls show they don't understand its urgency and are turned off by its $50 million price tag. But to Schwarzenegger, it's an essential next step to the recall election that swept him into office in 2003. And he says its cost is a bargain when compared to the fiscal and political changes it will bring if he's successful. The movie star-turned-governor sees the special election as simply the middle chapter of a three-part series that is needed to turn around California's...

Ashcroft v. Raich, the Supreme Court's medical marijuana case, isn't really about medical marijuana. It's about power -- the power of Congress to exert control, and the power of the Constitution to rein Congress in. The named plaintiff in this case is Angel McClary Raich, a California mother of two afflicted with an awful array of diseases, including tumors in her brain and uterus, asthma, severe weight loss, and endometriosis. To ease her symptoms, doctors put her on dozens of standard medications. When none of them helped, they prescribed marijuana. That did help -- so much so that Raich, who...

<p>LOS ANGELES(AP) - It's been three years since tribal-state agreements ushered in casino-style gambling in California, and since then Indian casinos have become an industry generating $5 billion a year.</p> <p>With key portions of the agreements up for renegotiation, tribes and state officials are gearing up for high-stakes bargaining that could determine the shape of one of the state's fastest-growing and richest industries for years to come.</p>