Free Republic

Big earthquake (7.3 R)hits Pakistan minutes ago.

"...A French newspaper has pinpointed the source of electrical fire that forced a 787 test plane to make an emergency landing: a tool that was left behind..." http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20101122/BLOG01/101129965

Nestor Kirchner, the former president of Argentina and husband of the country's current leader, has died of a heart attack at the age of 60. A Peronist, he was a member of Argentina's congress and was secretary-general of the Union of South American Nations at the time of his death.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43860.html#ixzz12vIxRMhU Longtime Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank has given his re-election campaign $200,000 as he faces his toughest race in years. A campaign finance report filed Tuesday showed that Frank, the chairman of the powerful House Financial Services committee, lent himself the money Tuesday. Frank, a 15-term lawmaker from Newton, Mass., raised $316,644 last quarter and reported more than $1 million on hand with no debts. His campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

"...Russia and Vietnam are both concerned about China's growing naval power. The Russians are willing to return, if the Vietnamese charge a more reasonable rent. Vietnam is likely to make a deal, as China is an ancient foe, and getting more aggressive..."

"A computer virus dubbed the world's "first cyber superweapon" by experts and which may have been designed to attack Iran's nuclear facilities has found a new target -- China. The Stuxnet computer worm has wreaked havoc in China, infecting millions of computers around the country, state media reported this week..."

"Secretary of State Brian Kemp said Monday that the Justice Department has given final preclearance to a controversial state system of verifying voters’ identification and citizenship. The voter verification system has been tied up in federal court since 2008 and the Justice Department has repeatedly refused to approve the process by which the state checks voter registration information against drivers license and Social Security databases. But Kemp said Monday the federal government had signed off on the program, two months after he sued the Justice Department in federal court in search of approval. The Justice Department in 2008, then under...

News for 2015 World Alpine Championships Beaver ... Ski Channel Vail wins out, will host 2015 world ski championships‎ - 16 minutes ago

"Hugo Chávez expects an arrest warrant for money laundering May 22 - Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez said the U.S. government may be preparing an arrest warrant against him and some of his ministers, as a result of a money laundering case currently being processed in a Miami federal court..."

"...Just days before the Senate was due to vote to start working on Democrats' legislation, Senator Olympia Snowe said that strong derivatives regulation goes to the heart of an effective financial reform bill..." http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2415678120100424

"Chile's President Sebastian Piñera said on Monday that his government "will do whatever it can" to help restore democracy and respect for human rights in Cuba. Piñera also expressed his "profound preoccupation" with the health of Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas who has been in a hunger strike for 27 days..."

"Fariñas wants the president of Chile to ask the UN to intervene in favor of Cuba's political prisoners March 20 - Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas, who is currently hospitalized after 25 days in a hunger strike, was interviewed by phone by Chile's newspaper El Mercurio. "I will ask President Sebastián Piñera to summon the UN Security Council to analyze the human rights violations in Cuba and also to investigate the assassinations of peaceful dissidents, inside and outside of prison," Fariñas told the paper. "We also would like President Piñera to make a statement condemning the violation of human rights in...

Chanise Foxx, free republic *** Update below March 7, 2010, 10:06 ET *** "HUGE NEWS AT FREEREPUBLIC!!! "My name is Chanise Foxx. I work at a office supply store in Kenwood, IL. After nearly 3 years of silence and death threats to me and my family to stay quiet, I am compelled to come forward and tell the world my secret. "I helped Obama campaign staffer Divorah Adler create a fake birth certificate for use in the famous Fact Check story to prove the world of Obama's birth in the 2008 election. Divorah approached me in early 2007 and held...

The lack of black and Hispanic professors, highlighted in two recent reports critical of the faculty makeup at MIT and Emerson College, is a problem shared by the most prominent universities in the Boston area, a Globe survey reveals. Among those struggling the most is the city’s largest school, Boston University, where blacks and Hispanics make up 3.4 percent of tenured and tenure-track faculty, a figure that has barely budged over the past decade. At BU, like the other schools, the percentage of minority faculty lags far behind the demographics of its student body.

"...An FAA spokesman reports that a Eurocopter EC135 went down at about 3 p.m. today near Cave Creek, killing two adults and one child. Stay tuned to 3TV and azfamily.com for more details as they become available..."

"...Andrade is considered the top financial person in the Chávez regime. According to a contract signed in 2007 between Chávez and the Castro brothers, Venezuela must make 5 payments of $26.9 million each, between March and November of this year and other payments until may 2011 to complete the amount of $169.6 million..." "...Ismael García, of the opposition party Partido por la Democracia Social (PODEMOS), told El Nuevo Herald that he plans to ask Venezuela's Attorney General to accuse Chávez and Andrade of "betrayal of the fatherland."

"...The four patrol cars that were following it crashed against each other and all five cars were destroyed..."

"TEHRAN, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Iran's defence minister warned on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic could strike back at Western warships in the Gulf if it were attacked, the semi-official Fars news agency reported..." http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE60I0ZI.htm

"...Primer cómputo: Piñera supera a Frei y es virtualmente electo Presidente de ChileCon 3,75 puntos de diferencia sobre el candidato oficialista, el abanderado de la oposición está a un paso de convertirse en nuevo gobernante del país..."

Big Oil never wanted to be here, in 4,300 feet of water far out in the Gulf of Mexico, drilling through nearly five miles of rock. It is an expensive way to look for oil. Chevron Corp. is paying nearly $500,000 a day to the owner of the Clear Leader, one of the world's newest and most powerful drilling rigs. The new well off the coast of Louisiana will connect to a huge platform floating nearby, which cost Chevron $650 million to build. The first phase of this oil-exploration project took more than 10 years and cost $2.7 billion --...