Free Republic

Straight talk can often inspire public confidence and cool off the debate over emotional issues. But when the issue is illegal immigration, and the straight talk is a pithy directive, it can have the opposite effect. Case in point: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's remarks to newspaper publishers about how he would tackle the vexing issue of illegal immigration. "It's a federal issue," Schwarzenegger said. "And the only thing that I can say and add to this is really, close the borders. Close the borders in California and all across Mexico and in the United States." Close the borders. Thanks for the...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Following the general convergence in Romanian politics, there is not a huge difference between the two main political blocs. Both see membership of the European Union, tentatively scheduled for 2007, as the key foreign policy objective. Romania's economy is growing fast, but poverty is widespread However, the DA Alliance is projecting a more business-friendly image; and its policy includes the introduction of a flat-rate corporation and income tax at 16%. But there is a more intriguing prospect, if Mr Tudor's Greater Romania Party, though much weakened, emerges in a position to hold the balance of power. Mr Tudor has gone...

CHARTED: Yoko Ono, 71, has the No. 1 single on the dance chart, "Every Man Has A Man Who Loves Him"/"Every Woman Has A Woman Who Loves Her," a mix of techno beats and her somewhat off-key vocals that delivers a message in favor of same-sex unions. "This is a victory not just for me but for all Americans who are against the administration's decision to ban gay marriage," Ono says about the success of the tune, as quoted by the BBC.

I've been trying to remember the 2000 election, because I remembered that the polls were showing Bush ahead most of the time, which was what made the close finish somewhat of a surprise. The numbers posted on this Web site confirm what I remembered. It's a different year and a different election, and it's clear that in 2000 the Dem get-out-the-vote effort was stronger than expected, and this year it'll be matched by the GOP. So this one appears to be in the bag -- but don't be surprised if it again turns out much closer than expected. (And everyone's...

WASHINGTON -- The presidential race is too close to project a winner right now, but that doesn't mean it will be too close on Election Day to prevent a landslide. Winner-take-all Electoral College math could convert a modest burst of momentum from President Bush or Sen. John Kerry into a sweep of tossup states -- and a presidential mandate. With state and national polls showing the race essentially tied, Bush and Kerry are making strategic decisions based on the assumption that that the popular vote will be evenly divided and every Electoral College vote will count. Thus, in the final...

Watching ABC, CBS, or NBC news, you would never know that Iranian civilians are now being killed while protesting against their country’s Islamist dictators. You probably wouldn’t know that Iran is considered to be the “world's ‘most active state sponsor of terrorism.’” You most surely haven’t heard that between 10,000 and 15,000 Iranians risk life and liberty to run web logs (“blogs”) opposing their government. Maybe you’ve heard that Iran’s rulers are secretly building nuclear weapons, but did you know that Britain, France, Germany, and Russia have sold nuclear technologies to Iran? Have you heard that Iran now has ballistic...

Marines in clash close to mosque By Adrian Blomfield in Najaf (Filed: 17/08/2004) United States marines and Shia militiamen clashed in the alleys around the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf yesterday as delegates at a national conference sought new negotiations to end southern Iraq's insurgency. American tanks came within a few hundred yards of the mosque, engaging Mahdi army insurgents who are rebelling against the interim government in the name of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. But they did not fire on the shrine, one of the holiest in Shia Islam. Marines patrol a street in Najaf Nearly 3,000 Shia...

<p>Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, despite one Republican leader’s insistence that it’s not likely, said Tuesday there will be a workers’ compensation agreement by week's end.</p> <p>“I see it, I feel it, I taste it,” the GOP governor said during a 30-minute interview with The Bee.</p>

Bush 47% Kerry 45% Other 3% Not Sure 5% RasmussenReports.com --The latest Rasmussen Reports Presidential Tracking Poll shows George W. Bush with 47% of the vote while John F. Kerry attracts support from 45% of the nation's likely voters. Kerry has been steady at 45% of 46% of the vote for the last seven days. Support for Bush has generally been at 46% or 47% during this period, but it did go above that level on two days in the last week. The Rasmussen Reports Presidential Election Survey is updated daily by noon Eastern. After the President declared his support...

Gaddafi was close to having bomb, UN discloses By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 21/02/2004) Libya succeeded in making weapons-grade plutonium before announcing it would abandon its efforts to build a nuclear bomb, United Nations inspectors said yesterday. Col Muammar Gaddafi A report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency discloses the full scale of Tripoli's ambitions to build a bomb before Col Gaddafi's change of heart. Libya's nuclear experiments included the separation of plutonium, albeit "in very small quantities", it said. As part of a deal in December to end its international isolation, Col Gaddafi has allowed American...

Gaddafi 'was not close to building bomb' By Karl Schembri in Tripoli (Filed: 28/12/2003) Libya was not close to building a nuclear weapon, said Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday. Mr ElBaradei flew into Libya with a team of inspectors keen to test Colonel Gaddafi's promise to be "fully transparent" about his nuclear programme. He confirmed that Libya had tried to enrich uranium as part of a weapons programme but did not appear close to producing a nuclear bomb. Col Gaddafi made a surprise announcement 10 days ago that his regime would abandon efforts...

Libyans to reveal just how close they were to making a nuclear bomb By Andrew Buncombe in Washington and Francis Elliott 21 December 2003 A Libyan team last night began talks in Vienna, headquarters of the UN's atomic energy agency, to reveal just how close the North African nation and its maverick leader, Muammar Gaddafi, came to possessing nuclear weapons. The move follows Friday's startling announcement - on the eve of today's 15th anniversary of Lockerbie - that Libya will dismantle its programmes to create weapons of mass destruction after months of secret negotiations with Britain and the US. Colonel...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Federal regulators have decided to close a large swath of Pacific Coast waters to bottom fishing for the rest of the year due to concerns about overfishing, California state officials said.</p> <p>The Pacific Fishery Management Council, which sets limits on West Coast fishing, voted Wednesday to restrict catches of bottom-dwelling fish off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington.</p>

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 October 15 Space Rock SQ222 Noticed After Pass Credit & Copyright: LONEOS, Lowell Observatory Explanation: Why didn't we see it? An undetected asteroid zipped past the Earth undetected last month in the closest near miss yet recorded -- within a quarter of the distance to the Moon. Such a close call is actually quite common -- what was new was that we did see it, although the...

Space rock's close call By Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor A small rock about five metres across flew past the Earth a few days ago. Only four other such celestial bodies have come closer since monitoring began. It is actually next to the bright, arrowed object The rock, designated 2003 SW130, was far too small to pose any risk. Had it entered the Earth's atmosphere, it would have fragmented in a spectacular meteor display. But its detection demonstrates just how efficient astronomers are becoming at picking up such rocks, even those that are the size of a...

Hunters close in on tired and lonely tyrant (Filed: 27/07/2003) American special forces - and old age - are fast catching up with the fugitive former Iraqi president, reveals his biographer, Con Coughlin Suddenly Saddam feels his age. Deprived of the elaborate security apparatus that maintained him in power for more than three decades, the 66-year-old deposed Iraqi dictator spends his days scurrying from one safe house to another, desperately trying to avoid the clutches of the American special forces who are now hot on his trail. As coalition forces yesterday continued to interrogate several of Saddam's personal bodyguards, who...

<p>SACRAMENTO - Republican resolve to resist new taxes could lead to a budget without sales or income tax increases. But Californians will probably pay more to camp at state parks, fish for striped bass and file for divorce.</p> <p>Senate Democratic budget writers have compiled a patchwork of more than $700 million in new and increased fees on everything from fire protection to phone calls -- a small step toward plugging the state's $38.2 billion shortfall.</p>

Close the border for humanity's sake How many undocumented immigrants will die before the Bush administration realizes that the most humane act it can take is to close our southern border and thus stop smugglers from taking the calculated risk that financial profits outweigh the costs of getting caught? The recent death from dehydration and heatstroke of 19 people among 100 undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America crammed into a tractor-trailer near Victoria, Texas, is the latest in a series of similar tragedies. Smugglers have locked immigrants into sweltering trucks to bring them into the United States for years....

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) -Assembly leaders are close to an agreement on plans that could cut about $6 billion from the state's record deficit, including a savings of $650 million in pension financing.</p> <p>Republicans first greeted Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson's proposal with skepticism last week, but party leaders met for most of Monday to work out final details of the budget plan. A batch of legislation needed to enact the cuts and savings is expected to go before the Assembly Tuesday.</p>