Free Republic

SAN DIEGO – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s prospects for a second term dimmed Wednesday as Republicans went public with their concerns about the committee’s fundraising and two prominent governors indicated a preference for new leadership atop the party. Asked in an interview at the Republican Governors Association (RGA) meeting here if there should be a new chairman of the party, Mississippi Gov. and outgoing RGA Chairman Haley Barbour flatly said: “Yes.” “To defeat an incumbent president, even one that’s got the political problems of this one, the RNC has to operate at absolutely maximum capacity and this year...

The public release of the genome of the cacao tree - from which chocolate is made - will save the chocolate industry from collapse, a scientist has said. Howard Yana-Shapiro, a researcher for Mars, said that without engineering higher-yielding cacao trees, demand would outstrip supply within 50 years. Dr Yana-Shapiro said such strains will also help biodiversity and farmers' welfare in cacao-growing regions. The genome's availability will likely lead to healthier, tastier chocolate. The sequencing of the genome was an international, multidisciplinary effort between firms including Mars and IBM, the US department of agriculture and a number of universities,

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour says he's not setting any "artificial deadline" to decide whether he'll run for president in 2012. Barbour has deflected questions for months by saying that as chairman of the Republican Governors Association he has been focused on getting his party's candidates elected.

Okay...who do you think is the most overrated celebrity? Try to exclude people who are only famous for being famous like Snooki and the Kardashians. Also, just from a personal point of view I would suggest not listing any rap artist as none of them have talent anyway.

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20101113/NEWS/11130335/Barbour+sets+sights+on+2012+race

I'm trying to post a link only to a news story from a Gannett newspaper. Gannett papers are suppose to be allowed as "link only" and are not to be excerpted but I can't get the story past FR's software. This story is not available from another news source or I'd just go that route. Suggestions?

After months of criticism aimed at Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steel from many sides of the party, it appears some Republicans are starting to make concrete moves to replace him ahead of the 2012 election cycle, reports The New York Times on Wednesday. In an interview with the newspaper, Henry Barbour, the chair of the Mississippi Republican Party and nephew of former GOP Chair and current Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, admitted to seeking candidates other than Steele to run in January's election for party chair. "I do think we have to make a change, and I have actively talked...

I've always liked Director Peter Weir's films. Master and Commander, Witness, Gallipoli. Even things I didn't care for like The Year Of Living Dangerously and The Dead Poets Society were still well done and stylish. Now he has this coming out in January about an escape from a Soviet gulag in 1940 (be sure to click on the link to the trailer below): Trailer here ---------------------------------------------------- Then there is this little number from Director Kevin Smith. I'll provide the synopsis from IMDB but I'll be damned if I'm going to provide a link to the trailer. From IMDB: "A horror...

While the RNC is pushing back against people like me for pointing out they did not mount a good GOTV effort because they sabotaged their 72 hour program, they’ll have a hard time pushing back against Haley Barbour. Barbour has, a bit surprisingly, gone on the record to say that the RNC’s get out the vote (GOTV) efforts were sub-par. Given just how effective the Republican Governors Association was last week, it’ll make any sort of push back against Barbour difficult. Well that’s up to the Committee, and I will say that this time the RNC was not able to...

President George W. Bush acknowledges in his new memoir that he personally approved the use of waterboarding against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Washington Post reports. In "Decision Points," due out Tuesday, the former president writes that he was asked by the CIA for permission to waterboard Mohammed (dubbed KSM), who was suspected of having information about additional terrorist plots. "Damn right," Bush says he responded. He adds that he would make the same call again, in order to save lives.

A leading Republican predicted that even if a newly empowered GOP doesn’t completely repeal the healthcare law, the party will make it unrecognizable over the next few years. “They will make such big changes to it over the next three years that you won’t recognize it,” Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.), the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Barbour said he would be “surprised” if Republicans don’t win back the House on Tuesday, though he was less sure about the Senate. A GOP win would be a referendum on President Obama, he said, and Republicans...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – New technologies allowing voters to cast ballots via the Internet or other electronic means are catching on in the United States and elsewhere, even as fears mount about security of the systems. A total of 33 US states are allowing some email, fax or online ballots in 2010, according to the Verified Voting Foundation, a group that monitors security of election systems. (snip) The startling security breach came in September, when a pilot Internet vote system for the city of Washington, DC, was put online for a test. A team of computer scientists from the University of...

Natalie Portman has fallen out with her father over explicit sex scenes in her latest movie. Relations between the actress and her Israeli doctor father Avner Hershlag are said to be ‘very frosty’ following the scenes in psychological thriller Black Swan in which she plays a lesbian ballerina. Natalie, 29, has previously turned down roles, including Lolita, which she considered too explicit, but she was determined to take on the role of troubled prima ballerina Nina in Black Swan. ‘Natalie is a very private and dignified person and is often influenced by her father’s approval,’ said a source. ‘This, however,...

Well...do ya?

One of my favorite websites it aintitcool.com. It's a media fan site geared toward horror, SciFi, anime...that kind of thing. It's also often profane so I always hesitate posting from there. Regardless they have a daily feature titled, aptly enough, "The Behind the Scenes Pic of the Day" I love the original Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein so I wanted to post this and share it. I'll post the photo for those who don't want to go to the site.

NEW YORK – From the 1950s' Pentagon to today's Obama administration, the United States has repeatedly pondered, planned and threatened use of nuclear weapons against North Korea, according to declassified and other U.S. government documents released in this 60th-anniversary year of the Korean War. (snip) Just this past April, issuing a U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said "all options are on the table" for dealing with Pyongyang — meaning U.S. nuclear strikes were not ruled out.

LONDON (Reuters Life!) – A lost flute concerto by 18th century composer and virtuoso violinist Antonio Vivaldi has been discovered by an academic among a set of dusty papers housed in Scotland's National Archives in Edinburgh. The extraordinary find, a 300-year-old copy of the Italian Baroque composer's original manuscript, comprises the parts for "Il Gran Mogol," one of a quartet of national concertos. The others, entitled "La Francia," "La Spagna" and "L'Inghilterro" remain lost. The musical score, which scholars believe may never have been performed, was found and authenticated by Southampton University research fellow Andrew Woolley. "This piece was previously...

I need to rent some horror movies not everyone has already seen. Suggestions?

RALEIGH, N.C. – You might call them the Honey Police — beekeepers and honey producers ready to comb through North Carolina to nab unscrupulous sellers of sweet-but-bogus "funny honey." North Carolina is the latest state to create a standard that defines "pure honey" in a bid to curb the sale of products that have that label but are mostly corn syrup or other additives. Officials hope to enforce that standard with help from the 12,000 or so Tar Heel beekeepers. "The beekeepers tend to watch what's being sold, they watch the roadside stands and the farmer's markets," said John Ambrose,...