Free Republic

The National Father’s Day Council announced that on June 16th this year it will be giving former President Bill Clinton its annual “Father of the Year” award. Dan Orwig, chairman of the National Father’s Day Committee, said that “President Clinton’s exemplary behavior over the last decade has set an example for reprobates everywhere that reform is truly attainable.” “Consider, despite the temptations faced by a person of his stature, there is no evidence of scandal since he left office,” Orwig recounted. “No young women have come forward to allege improper sexual conduct. No shady real estate schemes have come to...

Mandy Moore’s Amanda Leigh is an absolutely wonderful, beautiful, and most importantly, musical album full of fantastic songs. Country, folk, rock, and pop are all blended together to create one of the few truly great albums of the 21st century that I have heard so far. When I emphasized the word “musical,” it is because this is completely different from Moore’s first few albums. People who know my tastes in music would never believe that I liked a Mandy Moore album, were it not for the fact that this particular Moore album sounds like it’s from a completely different artist....

--snip-- It's important to understand that antibiotics aren't always the answer, and are intended to fight bacterial infections. Taking them for viral infections, such as a cold, most sore throats, acute bronchitis and many sinus or ear infections will not cure the infection, or keep others from getting sick, and may cause unnecessary and harmful side effects.

Britain's New Stealth Bomber Is Unmanned And Fully Autonomous Robert JohnsonJan. 13, 2013, 4:38 AMBritain's New Stealth Bomber Is Unmanned And Fully AutonomousBAE Taranis Britain's Air Force has been using Tornado jets as bombers for decades and is already building a fleet of new Typhoons, but BAE hopes to supplement those forces with a powerful new drone. The Taranis, named for the Celtic god of thunder will fly faster than the speed of sound and beyond the eye of enemy radar with its single-wing stealth design, and UK officials hope to see it replace piloted planes and current unmanned drones...

It's no surprise to LaTanya Lozano that homicides are up in the Bay Area's biggest cities. She moved to Hayward in late 2011 to try to protect her four sons, only to see two of them shot dead last year back where she used to live, Oakland. First her 15-year-old, Shonte Daniels Jr., was shot by a 14-year-old friend in a park, apparently after teasing him. Six months later, in October, 21-year-old Rashad Meredith was caught in the middle of a gunfight between rival groups outside his aunt's apartment. "This tore down my whole life," said Lozano, who was hospitalized...

Yesterday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city officials unveiled a new initiative to limit supplies of prescription painkillers in the city’s emergency rooms as a way to combat what they described as a growing addiction problem in the region. Some critics, as documented by The New York Times, however, felt the move would unnecessarily hurt poor and uninsured patients who use emergency rooms as their primary care doctor. Needless to say, Mr. Bloomberg was not swayed by this line of argument. “The city hospitals we control, so … we’re going to do it and we’re urging all of the other hospitals...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Bill Enns, a central California real estate agent specializing in farmland, fields dozens of calls every week from potential buyers. Many want almond, pistachio or walnut orchards — or any land suitable for growing nut trees. [...] California's almond industry, which grows about 80 percent of the global almond supply and 100 percent of the domestic supply, saw the most dramatic growth — powered by strong demand from new money-spending middle classes in India and China. The growth has prompted a rush for almond-growing land and pushed almond land values through the roof. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/With-almonds-rising-revenues-land-values-soar-4189081.php#ixzz2Ht4HqjiG...

"My office will not comply with any federal actions which violate the United States Constitution or the Kentucky Constitution which I swore to uphold," Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman said. FRANKFORT -- An Eastern Kentucky sheriff said Saturday that he will not enforce any new gun control laws that he considers unconstitutional. Asked whether such a stance makes him more a judge than a law-enforcement official, Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman said he has "a team of attorneys to step up with me if necessary to be sure the Second Amendment is upheld." "I consider this a moral obligation," he...

**SNIP** The uncompromising language of the report, and the stark picture that its authors have painted of the likely effects of global warming, have profound implications for the rest of the world. If the world's greatest economy is already feeling the strain of global warming, and is fearful of its future impact, then other nations face a very worrying future as temperatures continue to rise as more and more greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere. "The report makes for sobering reading," said Professor Chris Rapley, of University College London. "Most people in the UK and US accept human-induced climate...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Open Line Friday to Seattle we go. Peter, thank you for calling, sir. Great to have you with us. CALLER: Great to be with you, Rush. Happy birthday to the Surgeon General of Democracy. RUSH: Thank you very much. I appreciate that. CALLER: They don't hate you 'cause you're on the right; they hate you because you're correct. RUSH: Effective, yeah. That's sadly the case. Every time you see me ripped to shreds in the media, folks, understand I've just been effective, and that's why I'm being ripped. Or anybody else on the right. Same theory applies....

Without a change in proposed federal rules, the continuation of a Minnesota health insurance program for people with costly illnesses could cost health plans and their subscribers more than $60 million next year, state officials say. The issue involves a long-standing program called the Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association, which the Legislature created in 1976. It helps provide coverage for Minnesotans who can't find insurance on the open market, often because of a costly pre-existing health condition. One of the key changes coming in 2014 with the federal Affordable Care Act is that insurers no longer will be able to deny...

The European Union is working on a detailed plan meant to restart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and establish an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital, Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Israeli diplomatic sources as saying. The plan will set a clear timetable for a discussion on all core issues over the course of 2013. It will likely be presented in March after a new Israeli government is formed.

An Egyptian appeals court on Sunday overturned the life sentence of former President Hosni Mubarak for directing the killing of protesters, a ruling that could prolong a politically fraught legal battle over the fate of Egypt’s deposed autocrat two years after he was ousted. The court is said to have ordered a new trial. Although expected, the decision may also put the issue of retribution for Mr. Mubarak and his inner circle back in the news just as a campaign begins for new parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for April. The decision may also bolster the prospects of the Islamist...

SHAWNEE, Oklahoma -Armed with a gun and ready to shoot, a Shawnee woman defended her home as man broke down her door. It happened in broad daylight and she didn't back down. Pam Loman and her husband, James, say they've lived on Homer Lane in Shawnee for over 10 years and have never had any problems. But early Friday afternoon, while Pam was home alone, she quickly figured out, three men outside her home were up to no good. "I still feel queasy sick at my stomach, a little shaky, a little nervous," Pam said. ... Pam says the knocking...

Keeping the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from threatening the rights of lakeside homeowners like it did last year at Lake of the Ozarks is a top priority for U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, this year in the 113th Congress in Washington. In a phone interview with the Daily Mail Monday, Hartzler said she will also work to pass a new farm bill, cut spending, fight gun control and protect commodities-trading options for grain elevators and farmers and the 4th Congressional District's military installations. Referring to FERC's 2011 attempt to condemn 1,200 homes at Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri...

Last Friday, the sitting president of Egypt – the world’s 15th most populous nation — was exposed for calling Jews “apes and pigs.” And he did it in a TV interview (in Arabic) in 2010, less than two years before he took office. Needless to say, this was HUGE NEWS for American mass media! Only it wasn’t. (Knock, knock, New York Times? Anybody home?) In fact, to be fair to the paper of record, not a single major outlet has covered it. Not AP or Reuters. Not CBS News or CNN. Not Time magazine or U.S. News & World Report....

Education Secretary Arne Duncan, a chief proponent of the longer school year, says American students have fallen behind the world academically. "Whether educators have more time to enrich instruction or students have more time to learn how to play an instrument and write computer code, adding meaningful in-school hours is a critical investment that better prepares children to be successful in the 21st century," he said in December when five states announced they would add at least 300 hours to the academic calendar in some schools beginning this year....

WASHINGTON (AP) — The powerful gun lobby is gauging enough support in Congress to block a law that would ban assault weapons, despite promises from the White House and senior lawmakers to make such a measure a reality. Senators plan to introduce a bill that would ban assault weapons and limit the size of ammunition magazines, like the one used in the December shooting massacre that killed 27 people, most of them children, in Newtown, Conn. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has promised to push for a renewal of expired legislation. -snip- You don’t want to bet your house...

(Reuters) - Hopes for overhauling the federal tax system are fading in Washington, but in some state capitals, tax reform experiments - some far-reaching - are fast taking shape. Across the South and Midwest, Republicans have consolidated control of state legislatures and governorships, giving them the power to test long-debated tax ideas. Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, for instance, called on Thursday for ending the state's income tax and corporate taxes, with sales taxes compensating for lost revenue. A similar plan is being pushed by Republicans in North Carolina. Kansas, which cut its income tax significantly last year, may trim...

King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, of Saudi Arabia, has ordered 500 tons of wheat to be sent to Syrian refugees in Zaatari camp in Jordan, Al Arabiya TV reported Sunday. Three hundred trucks loaded with wheat headed the refugee camp, said Badr al-Samhan, regional manager of the Saudi national campaign for the Syrian people... Saudi Interior Minister Prince Mohammed Bin Nayif also ordered 2,000 additional tents for Zaatari refugees after terrible floods ruined some tents in the refugee camp. After a U.N. appeal for more assistance to Syrian refugees, Saudi Arabia decided to boost its humanitarian assistance to the...