Free Republic

In any partnership, the coin of the realm is trust and responsibility - in other words, saying what you mean and doing what you say. In the dramatic rescue on July 2 of 15 hostages, including three Americans, held captive for many years by guerrillas and terrorists, deep in the Colombian jungles, we saw a powerful reminder that the United States has no better partner in South America than the government and people of Colombia. Colombia's leaders, especially President Uribe, had promised us that our three abducted citizens would be treated no differently than the many Colombian men and women...

Inflation reaches critical levels in Zimbabwe German supplier cuts of African country's mintIn Zimbabwe on Wednesday, a Z$100-billion note would just about buy you two loaves of bread - if you were lucky enough to find them. The country's biggest bakery was forced to shut down this month after it ran out of flour. The new denomination banknote was issued on Monday in an attempt to keep up with the country's roaring hyperinflation, which has reached an official rate of more than 2.2 million per cent. Economists estimate it is actually closer to 12.5 million per cent. At the beginning...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Commodity markets slumped broadly Wednesday, dragged by crude oil prices that dropped below $125 a barrel after the government reported a big rise in gasoline stocks, suggesting high pump prices were hitting U.S. fuel usage. Gold prices sank almost 3 percent while industrial metals such as aluminum and copper tumbled to five-week lows. Soybeans and wheat fell, giving back most of Tuesday's rebound. Corn slumped too as investors fretted about demand for biofuel products that had until June enjoyed a boom competing with the rally in oil. The broad sell-off pushed the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index ,...

The collapse this week of SemGroup LP, a little known private oil-marketing firm, may have played a role in crude oil's 14% drop over the past 10 days. The Tulsa, Okla., company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday, citing among other financial woes a loss of at least $2.4 billion in crude-oil futures. Changes in its hedging strategies coincided with big moves in oil recently. The company had taken out short positions, or bets that crude prices would fall, as a hedging strategy for oil it intended to move through a subsidiary's pipelines and sell to refiners, according to...

Delicacies such as carpaccio of Elk and blue cheese spread on gingerbread are among the dishes that Sweden is hoping will knock France off its culinary pedestal. Eskil Erlandsson, Sweden's Agriculture Minister, has launched a campaign to make his country the haute cuisine leader of the world. "We are going to put Sweden on the world map as a country of good food," he said earlier this week. "We are in a good position to conquer the rest of the world." Mr Erlandsson is not afraid of taking on legendary French gastronomy or incurring the wrath of the country's leader...

Attorney General Jerry Brown sued the county in April 2007, charging that a general plan update approved a month earlier would worsen global warming. The general plan, a blueprint for growth through 2030, projects more homes and increased traffic as the county's population continues to increase. It was the first time the state sued a public agency for not taking into account global warming. State and county officials hailed the greenhouse reduction plan that the county agreed to as groundbreaking. Julie Rynerson Rock, the county's director of land-use services, said the county's plan will be the most far-reaching in the...

After years of false starts, a new industry selling motor fuel made from waste is getting a big push in the United States, with the first commercial sales possible within months. Many companies have announced plans to build plants that would take in material like wood chips, garbage or crop waste and turn out motor fuels. About 28 small plants are in advanced planning, under construction or, in a handful of cases, already up and running in test mode. For decades scientists have known it was possible to convert waste to fuel, but in an era of cheap oil, it...

The Biz Flog for July 23 covers the cost of jet fuel to the airline industry. While reports like to use the phrase "nickel-and-dime" to describe airline fees, the real story about oil and airlines gets buried.

The ethanol industry, until recently a golden child that got favorable treatment from Washington, is facing a critical decision on its future. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily waive regulations requiring the oil industry to blend ever-increasing amounts of ethanol into gasoline. A decision is expected in the next few weeks. Mr. Perry says the billions of bushels of corn being used to produce all that mandated ethanol would be better suited as livestock feed than as fuel. Feed prices have soared in the last two years as fuel has begun competing with...

Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. and Janet Robinson reported grim second-quarter results today—ad revenue down another 10 percent versus the second quarter last year, net income down to $21 million versus the $118 million they made this quarter last year—and just dropped a small bombshell: "We plan to increase the daily newsstand price of the Times from $1.25 to $1.50," said Ms. Robinson on a conference call with investors this morning. It goes into effect on August 18. The paper last raised newsstand prices last July.

WASHINGTON -- The competing tax plans laid out by Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain would both add trillions of dollars to the national debt and could add to the tax system's complexity, a nonpartisan tax research group concluded Wednesday in a newly released report. Both campaigns have asserted that their plans to continue many Bush-era tax cuts and offer new reductions would aid the economy without requiring massive new spending. But the Washington-based Tax Policy Center warned that under either candidate, "the debt would likely continue to rise as it has over the past eight years." Obama's plan --...

Washington, D.C (AHN) -- Minimum wage in the United States will see the second of three planned increases. Thursday, the federal minimum wage for workers will increase $0.70 cents to $6.55 per hour, as mandated by the Fair Minimum Wage Act passed by Congress. The third increase is slated for July 2009, when the minimum wage will jump to $7.25 an hour.According to the Labor Department, a half a million Americans currently work for minimum wage. Most of these workers are young, teens and in their early twenties.The increase approved in 2007 is the first in a decade. In 1997...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The House on Wednesday voted 272-152 to pass sweeping legislation that will offer up to $300 billion in assistance to troubled homeowners and throw government support behind mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The nearly 700-page measure will now go back to the Senate, where final passage is expected. But it's not clear when the vote will occur because of a Republican filibuster threat. -snip-

Economy: Everyone agrees the economy's in the tank and headed for recession — if not already in one. The first quarter was weak, and the second quarter will be weaker, the argument goes. Hold on just one minute.We said in December 2007 that the economy's not in recession, that it has plenty of momentum that will be helped if the Fed aggressively cuts interest rates to keep the housing mess and high oil prices from dragging us into a downturn. No need to panic. So far, so good. To be sure, the first three months of this year were weak,...

Things wouldn't be so bad now if we had listened to Frank Field By Simon Heffer Last Updated: 12:01am BST 23/07/2008 Have your say Read comments When one talks to older politicians they often observe that their lives consist of cyclical re-runs of the same old film. After 15 years of boom, the cycles have become somewhat extended. Now, the impending bust brings back to our screens a rather scary old favourite: unemployment. Barely a day passes that some analyst doesn't pitch in with a projection for the additional numbers that will go on the dole in the next year...

“Dr. Q” has a theory about how to cure cancer that he can’t wait to tell me. I look around at his lab assistants, their faces a rainbow of colors — intense, smart, listening. Their parents come from many parts of the world. Dr. Q has chosen them to test his theory: that a team of scientists from a diversity of backgrounds might find a cure for cancer more quickly, because each would see the problem differently. The lab at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore we’re all gathered in belongs to Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa — “Dr. Q.” He is...

The Fed's "beige book," a roundup of reports from the 12 regional Fed banks released every six weeks, shows economic activity is weak across most of the U.S. and companies are increasingly worried about growth in the coming months. Despite the $107 billion in economic-stimulus checks that have been doled out to millions of Americans since late April, the report said consumer spending was reported as mixed, weak or slowing in nearly all districts. In the Philadelphia region, for example, "despite what one store executive termed 'very large markdowns' on many types of merchandise, total sales have fallen below the...

With the five-week August recess just nine days away, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and her colleagues in the Democratic leadership are doing everything they can to keep Members from having to vote on more American energy production to help lower gas prices.  Their months-long campaign of inaction in the face of soaring gas prices not only pits Democratic leaders against the American people – who support more production as part of any comprehensive energy plan – but it also pits them against an increasing number of rank-and-file Members of their own party.  This morning’s Politico details the Democrats’ strategy...

Congressman John Boehner of Ohio is set to introduce The American Energy Act, which will most importantly increase America’s energy supplies. The bill calls for leasing regulations for offshore natural gas by 2010, removing restrictions for outer continental shelf drilling, and opening up sections of ANWR for drilling.As The Heritage Foundation’s Senior Policy Analyst Ben Lieberman has been arguing this even when gas prices were around $1 a gallon. More energy supplies, not more taxes and regulations, are what this country needs. It’s economics 101: expanding supply is the surest way to lower energy prices, and the quicker Congress moves...

Former Vice President Al Gore recently took his climate-change show on the road for the benefit of liberal bloggers, Sunday morning TV aficionados and other innocent bystanders. This week he laid out his demand for a miraculous transformation in U.S. energy use over a mere 10 years. As for drilling for more oil? "Absurd," the Nobel Laureate scoffed. "When you're in a hole, stop digging." The same might be said for Mr. Gore. For while his message hasn't changed, the political realities of the energy debate have. Suddenly, Mr. Gore's inconvenient speechifying only tightens the vise Democrats find themselves in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. stock market would fare better in the first year after a victory by Republican presidential candidate John McCain than by his Democratic rival Barack Obama, according to a majority of economists at U.S. banks and research groups polled by Reuters. But the survey of 29 firms taken alongside a regular Reuters economic poll also found that economists had mixed views on the two candidates' economic plans. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being "very good," 12 economists gave McCain's proposals higher marks, while nine rated the two candidates equally and eight preferred...

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre said on Wednesday he had filed a lawsuit against Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and its Countrywide unit to prevent the mortgage lenders from foreclosing on homes in his city, which he aims to make a "foreclosure sanctuary."

The difference between a politician and a statesman is the breadth of their horizons. But have we ever seen people with horizons as limited as our modern Congress? Of course their ratings are low – we return their judgment of us. They think we have no sense of deferred gratification; they think we are children – and not very bright, not very disciplined children at that. We return the compliment.

FR does not allow this magazine to be excerpted.

Oil prices continued to decline Wednesday, after a government report showed stronger-than-expected inventories and a Federal Reserve report showed a weakening economy. Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell $3.98 to settle at $124.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has tumbled nearly $23 since setting a record of $147.27 just eight trading days ago on July 11. Prices have not been this low since June 4. The September futures contract became the so-called front-month contract as the August contract, which fell $3.09 to settle at $127.95 a barrel in the previous session, expired Tuesday. Oil settled...

The lenders who financed Avista Capital Partners’ 2007 acquisition of the Star Tribune now want out of the deal, and are seeking a buyer for their debt package, originally worth more than $400 million. Credit Suisse and Royal Bank of Scotland have hired Lazard Ltd., a Wall Street financial adviser, to put the debt package on the market. Two local executives, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, said local business leaders have been approached with offers to purchase the debt. Neither the banks nor their representatives would confirm that there is an effort to sell the debt. But...

Boeing Co. could lift a fast-growing Columbia River Gorge aircraft business to new heights, under a nearly $400 million acquisition announced Tuesday. Bingen-based Insitu’s 360 employees are giddy about the news, which could bring payoffs for many, thanks to a company plan that allowed employees to own shares of the private business, said spokeswoman Tabitha Orlando. Insitu’s acquisition is part of a larger Boeing plan to aggressively grow its presence in the unmanned systems market, said Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft. Boeing and Insitu have worked together since 2002, when the two businesses jointly began development of the...

To CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" host, we live in a world of absolutes - because the potential of a government bailout of two publicly traded government-sponsored enterprises condemns the entire concept of free market capitalism. On the July 22 broadcast of Dobbs' show, he attacked proponents of free-market capitalism because of the potential trouble of the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE). "Well the - it's a, it's quite a mess, quite a mess indeed," Dobbs said. "And I love the idea that all these free traders, free marketeers now got to have the government...

25 signs of insolvency. ... And what can't be paid back will be defaulted on. If you didn't know it before, you do now: The entire US banking system is insolvent.

A whole new industry is springing up that will dwarf Al Gore's ripping off of the population through Global Warming. Companies are figuring out how to work the ridiculous "Carbon Credits" debacle to make big bucks. Rhodia, is a French Company, makes adipic acid which is a chemical used in the production of nylon. They have moved their operation to South Korea and Brazil. Why? A by-product of their manufacturing process is the creation of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is over 300 times more potent as an atmospheric warming agent than carbon dioxide. Rhodia destroys the nitrous oxide...

JONESBORO, Maine - When John Cox heard about plans to turn 87 miles of inactive rail bed in Washington and Hancock counties into public trails, he hoped someone would start a petition against it.

Why is Congress so unpopular? Because it is often intent upon doing things that will make life in America much worse. The most important example is continued blockage of access to America's energy resources. No new nuclear power plants have been permitted in decades; no new oil refineries; no additional drilling off the coast of Alaska, California, Florida or parts of the Gulf of Mexico where there are huge amounts of useable energy; and continuing opposition to building liquefied natural gas facilities.

I recount all this now because it illustrates the perverse nature of Fannie and Freddie that has made them such a relentless and untouchable political force. Their unique clout derives from a combination of liberal ideology and private profit. Fannie has been able to purchase political immunity for decades by disguising its vast profit-making machine in the cloak of "affordable housing." To be more precise, Fan and Fred have been protected by an alliance of Capitol Hill and Wall Street, of Barney Frank and Angelo Mozilo. I know this because for more than six years I've been one of their...

Despite its health-crazy reputation, parts of Los Angeles are plagued by obesity rates that rival any city in America. Now, the city may join a growing roster of local governments aiming to put their residents on diets by cracking down on the fast-food industry, says the Wall Street Journal. The Los Angeles city council is considering legislation that would ban new fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and KFC from opening in a 32-square-mile chunk of the city. The targeted area is already home to some 400 fast-food restaurants, possibly contributing to high obesity rates there -- 30 percent of adults, compared...

WASHINGTON — A housing bill aimed at giving the U.S. economy a shot in the arm appears to be on track for passage after the White House announced President Bush will not block the package, despite his objections to a $3.9 billion provision providing money to some hard-hit neighborhoods. The House is expected to vote on the bill Wednesday and pass it onto the Senate. But the bill won't move ahead without a hitch -- albeit one not likely to derail it: Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., vowed Wednesday to filibuster the bill because of the neighborhood provision once the legislation...

Oil prices fell again this evening as a US government report showed larger than expected increases in reserves of petrol and distillates. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said petrol stocks rose by 2.9 million barrels last week - a much bigger rise than expected. Stocks of distillates, which include diesel, rose by 2.4 million barrels when they had been forecast to rise by 2.3 million barrels. US crude fell $1.78 to $126.64, while Brent crude was $1.95 lower at $127.6 The increase in refined products stockpiles in the US, the world's biggest energy consumer, overshadowed a larger than expected...

When Maurice del Prado of Dublin drives north on Interstate 680 and reaches the truck scales in Sunol, he puts his car in neutral and coasts almost all the way into Pleasanton. Is he crazy? Yes, about saving gas. Del Prado is one of a number of Bay Area residents who define themselves as "hypermilers." He and his ilk will go to almost any lengths to pare their gas costs. Before he started hypermiling, del Prado got about 26 miles per gallon in his Ford Focus. Now he gets 30 or 31, he said. "The No. 1 thing I'm doing...

Scientists at Columbia University are developing a carbon dioxide (CO2) scrubber device that removes one ton of CO2 from the air every day, says the Heartland Institute. While some see the scrubber as an efficient and economical way to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide, many environmentalists oppose the technology because it allows people to use fossil fuels and emit carbon in the first place. According to Columbia University physicist Klaus Lackner, who is leading the research team: Producing a large number of CO2 scrubbers can keep to a minimum any rise in atmospheric CO2 without the economically painful elimination of inexpensive...

DETROIT, United States (AFP) - General Motors on Wednesday posted a five percent drop in global sales in the second quarter as a sharp drop in its home market offset strong gains overseas. GM's sales slipped to 2.29 million vehicles in the April through June period after North American sales fell 20 percent to 963,929, while sales outside the region grew by 10 percent to 1,322,765. < > Sales in the Asia-Pacific region grew 15 percent to 386,980 vehicles, GM said. Sales in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East rose 18 percent to 346,085 vehicles, powered by Chevrolet, which...

A new gasoline tax that ensured high prices would accelerate the move toward fuel-efficient vehicles and provide enough revenue to allow a cut in corporate taxes. On the surface, the market's behavior on certain days of June and July has been so illogical that my brain simply has refused to accept it. Double-digit intraday swings in prices of stocks without any material catalyst have become routine. But last week's trading has finally explained what should have been clear for a while: Though current economic troubles may have started with lax credit and underwriting standards and the ensuing subprime-mortgage fiasco, they...

In another sign of the flagging economy, Pechanga Resort and Casino said yesterday that it plans to lay off more than 8 percent of its work force, or roughly 400 of its nearly 4,800 employees. The layoffs, to begin at a date still to be determined, will be the first in the 13-year history of the Temecula casino, which ranks among the biggest and most successful in the nation. With the move, Pechanga joins a number of Indian casinos in San Diego County and elsewhere that have trimmed their work force as attendance begins to reflect growing unemployment and soaring...

A growing number of California voters believe the chronic state budget deficit is a serious problem and lack faith in the ability of the state's political leadership to do anything about it, according to a new Field Poll. The poll also found voter approval of the job that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature are doing continues to decline. Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo said voters are becoming increasingly frustrated by the Legislature's inability to pass the budget on time or close the $15 billion deficit. “The public has growing concerns about the budget and less confidence that the Legislature...

MICHIGAN (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Truck drivers maneuver several tons of cargo down Michigan highways every minute. A new study shows that hundreds of thousands of them shouldn't even be behind the wheel. Right now about 600,000 commercial drivers suffer from conditions like diabetes and narcolepsy. They are conditions that qualify them for full disability benefits, because they can lead to serious issues like heart attacks, seizures and unconscious spells. Some truck drivers say the reason so many of their peers slip through the cracks is that they find doctors who overlook those medical conditions so they can stay on the...

The vast majority of Americans share the concern of senior Federal Reserve Board officials that inflation is a very real threat in the year ahead, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national survey. Eighty-four percent (84%) of adults are worried about the threat of rising prices. Nearly half (47%) rate themselves Very Worried. Over half of Americans (54%) see high inflation as the bigger short-term problem for the U.S. economy, as opposed to 30% who view job creation that way. Similarly, 44% rate inflation as the larger long-term threat as well, but nearly as many (41%) see job growth as...

The Bush administration on Tuesday released proposed rules administering commercial oil shale development on public lands in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming to provide "critical rules of the road" for investors. The rules would govern lease management and royalty payments should extracting kerogen from rock for further refining into fuel ever prove economically feasible - an open question given the likelihood of carbon taxes, lack of available Colorado River water and a host of environmental protection restrictions. The rules proposed by the Department of the Interior are part of an election-year push by Republicans to support development of oil shale, which...

Economic newscaster Larry Kudlow refers to the last twenty-five years of economic prosperity as the “greatest story never told.” He’s dead-on right on this one. America, and the entire world for that matter, have witnessed in the previous 25 years the greatest period of prosperity in human history. The result of this has been that more wealth and upgraded quality of life has been created during this period than at any time in recorded history. Where has this story been on the nightly news or on the editorial pages of our newspapers? A major reason for this tremendous prosperity over...

Taylor used to be a player in Williamson County, with it and Georgetown vying for funds and the attention of passers-through. But no more, and despite what many city officials will tell you, it will not be a player unless something is done to counteract the rapid growth of surrounding communities. What needs to be done is, Taylor needs to forget its past and embrace something residents see as so vile, that when I first arrived here I thought its mere mention was a dirty word. I am speaking of Rick Perry’s Trans-Texas Corridor. The Texas Department of Transportation (another...

Real estate mogul Sam Zell, who took control of media giant Tribune Co. about six months ago, defended yesterday the staffing and page cuts under way at The Sun and its other newspapers as necessary in the worst advertising climate in decades. In a conference call with Tribune Co. reporters, Zell said reducing staff by as much as 25 percent in some newsrooms and shrinking and redesigning the company's newspapers were the only options to ensure short-term survival and to allow a longer-term reinvention of the American newspaper. "We're looking at some of the worst advertising numbers in the history...

Barack Obama is trouncing John McCain in the race for the White House -- at least in sales of T-shirts, badges, baseball caps and other campaign merchandise. "Everyone is going for Obama," a sidewalk vendor whose stand was smothered in Obama and McCain T-shirts, along with garb for visitors to Washington, told AFP. "We sell about 70 percent Obama stuff -- way more than McCain," said the vendor, who asked not to be named....

Last winter, when I filled out the self-assessment portion of my annual performance review, I decided to try something radically different: honesty. < > Employees shouldn't be so afraid of how they come across that they forget that success is about delivering the goods -- often by learning from one's mistakes and consistently improving -- rather than devoting the majority of one's time and energy to polishing and promoting a pristine image. < >