Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- The war in Iraq could ultimately cost well over a trillion dollars -- at least double what has already been spent -- including the long-term costs of replacing damaged equipment, caring for wounded troops, and aiding the Iraqi government, according to a new government analysis. [...] Some leading economists have predicted that, depending on how long troops remain in Iraq, the endeavor could reach several trillion dollars as a result of more "hidden" costs -- including recruiting expenses to replenish the ranks and the lifelong benefits the government pays to veterans.

Gordon Brown has paved the way for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq by telling George Bush he would not delay their exit in order to show unity with the United States. After four hours of one-to-one talks with the US President at his Camp David retreat, Mr Brown told a joint press conference he would make a Commons statement in October on the future of the 5,500 British troops in the Basra region.

It comes right down to freedom. They want to go back to small government. Not smaller government. Small government as it was originally intended. And that is what really unites most of our support. The word ‘freedom’ is a short-hand way of explaining Paul’s platform. Paul supports a drastically reduced federal government- the elimination of the IRS, he believes state’s should be left to regulate abortion and marriage policies. He questions many international organizations and agreements, such as the World Trade Organization, NAFTA and the country’s membership to the United Nations.

The US Department of Elections has released the Selected Presidential Reports for the 2007 July Quarterly, and there are a few surprises. No surprise, of course, is that people in the armed services and veterans overwhelmingly support the Republican Party. However, after digging through individual candidates’ contributions by employers, we find an elating (or disturbing, if you’re rooting for Rudy McRomney) trend. The breakdown? Here you go. Direct FEC data

"I watched the Republican presidential debates with neighbors, and two of the five people in the room said, ‘Who is that guy? I really like him,'" said Republican media consultant Tom Edmonds. "My gut tells me he's a sleeper and will indeed have an impact on the Republican race."

Paul's cash on hand puts him in third place in the Republican field in that important metric, although he is well behind leader Rudy Giuliani, who has $18 million in the bank, and Mitt Romney, with $12 million. Paul, who polls show with support in the low single digits, said his surprisingly strong fundraising is the best measure of his support.

DES MOINES -- The lack of an invitation didn't stop Congressman Ron Paul from crashing the party. Congressman Paul, R-Texas, was not extended an invitation to speak at Saturday's Iowans for Tax Relief/Iowa Christian Alliance forum at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines. But, he spoke to more than 600 supporters less than 100 feet away from a forum that saw six of his fellow GOP candidates address more than 800 at the forum. As the ITR/ICA forum concluded, Paul was greeted by campaign enthusiasts from Iowa, Tennessee, Florida, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Arizona and all points in between. The out-of-state supporters...

Help Restore the Republic. Oh he's changed his position and he's changed his tune, He's reached across the aisle and around, He beats his chest and he screams for war, Oh Rudy McRomney, he's a clown. The Republican Party has lost its way, Its embraced the thought of war that never ends, If it ever wants to win an election again, Rudy McRomney cannot win. But Democrats are just as bad or worse, Its no wonder folks don't vote at all. To restore our republic, power back to the people, We need Paul, Paul, Paul! Ron Paul! McRomney McRomney and...

This deer blind is very cool.

Is cooking a hamburger patty and inserting the meat, lettuce and ketchup inside a bun a manufacturing job, like assembling automobiles? That question is posed in the new Economic Report of the President, a thick annual compendium of observations and statistics on the health of the United States economy. The latest edition, sent to Congress last week, questions whether fast-food restaurants should continue to be counted as part of the service sector or should be reclassified as manufacturers. No answers were offered. In a speech to Washington economists Tuesday, N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers,...

CNN host is newest victim of American job exportationNEW YORK -- In a surprising move, CNN announced yesterday that it is laying off long time anchor Lou Dobbs, host of the network's hit economic news program Lou Dobbs Tonight. CNN cited rising production costs and the availability of overseas broadcasters willing to work for less as reasons for the layoff.   Dobbs, whose recent features have included titles such as "Exporting America" and "Broken Borders," does not find the irony amusing. Responding to his termination tonight on his final show, Dobbs said that he regretted waiting so long to cover...

HE is the hobbit king of New Zealand, hailed throughout the land as the saviour of hope, goodness, truth and the national economy. Now director Peter Jackson can burrow into his own little hobbit-hole, snug inside a grassy hillside. The set of Bag End, the round-walled underground home of hobbits Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, always felt cosy to Jackson over the past seven years of creating the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. But big Hollywood studios aren't known for their sentimentality and New Line Cinema wanted the set demolished as soon as shooting was completed. The rotund and furry...

If you want to stay married, three of the most ominous words you'll ever hear are "It's a girl." All over the world, boys hold marriages together, and girls break them up. In the United States, the parents of a girl are nearly 5 percent more likely to divorce than the parents of a boy. The more daughters, the bigger the effect: The parents of three girls are almost 10 percent more likely to divorce than the parents of three boys. In Mexico and Colombia the gap is wider; in Kenya it's wider still. In Vietnam, it's huge: Parents of...

As the inquest into the death of a 'human guinea pig' at Porton Down opens, a witness breaks 50 years' silence to recount the horrors he sawLike most 19-year-olds, Alfred Thornhill had never seen anybody die. When the fresh-faced trainee engineer from Salford answered his call for National Service, he thought he could handle anything. Dispatched to the ambulance service, the self-confident teenager arrived for a month-long posting at Porton Down, the Government's top-secret chemical weapons laboratory in Wiltshire. He was proud to be doing his bit for his country. But nothing could have prepared the young Mancunian for the...

Phoenix, Ariz. The results of a six-year study of Supreme Court gun cases will be released in September and has uncovered scores of forgotten decisions that affect the highly contested Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Co-written by an attorney who has won three cases before the High Court, along with the research director of a prominent think tank, and a nationally recognized gun-law expert, the researchers conclude from the evidence that the Supreme Court has recognized an individual right to arms for most of the past two centuries. Among the key findings in "Supreme Court Gun Cases,"...

George R. R. Martin is the award-winning author of the epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. The best-selling series has earned rave reviews for revitalizing and perhaps revolutionizing a genre which has for so long been plagued by Tolkien copy-cats—those who have been re-mixing the tired ingredients of quests, reluctant spell-flinging heroes, bumbling enemies, and pure good triumphing over pure evil, for the past 50 years. --7/23/2003 interview with George R.R. Martin. Interesting tidbit about the progress on A Feast for Crows and a few minor spoilers. The comic adaptation of The Hedge Knight is available now....

WASHINGTON, July 23 (UPI) -- The report of the joint congressional inquiry into the suicide hijackings on Sept. 11, 2001, to be published Thursday, reveals U.S. intelligence had no evidence that the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein was involved in the attacks, or that it had supported al-Qaida, United Press International has learned.

Disarmed residents of the nation's capital, which is also the nation's murder capital, seem to have attracted a powerful ally in Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). The D.C. Personal Protection Act, introduced by Hatch on July 15, would repeal the District's 27-year ban on handguns and lift prohibitions on carrying weapons in homes and businesses. Yes, Congress has been through this before. For the first time, however, someone with the heft of Orrin Hatch is leading the charge. Why Hatch? And why his sudden preoccupation with D.C. after 27 years? As Council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) put it: "I can't...

Are you getting those anxious cold sweats yet? I’ve started developing some nervous twitches and the like whilst waiting for his next instalment in George R.R. Martin's the A Song of Ice and Fire Saga, A Feast for Crows. Well, depending where you look and what you believe, there are a range of publication dates being touted around at the moment: Amazon have the US release from Spectra schedule for September 2003 and UK release from Voyager February 2004. Strange that, since the great man himself says on his website that the book isn't finished yet so any publication date...

A Danish pizzeria has banned French and Germans from dining there because of their country's stance on a war with Iraq. Aage Bjerre, who owns Aage's Pizza on the island of Fanoe, said he's tired of French and German attitudes toward the United States. He's put two homemade drawings on the shop door, one a silhouette of a man coloured red, yellow and black for Germany and another in the red, white and blue for France. Both silhouettes have a bar across them. He says Germans will be allowed in if their country joins a war on Iraq, but the...