Free Republic

FRESNO, Calif. - Napa and Sonoma may attract wine connoisseurs and tourists to their bucolic settings to taste well-known wines, but the San Joaquin Valley has long been the industry workhorse, producing most of the nation's wine. Now environmental regulators say the same process that gives the region's affordable reds, whites and blushes their pleasant punch is also producing a share of the smog that makes the valley one of the nation's dirtiest air basins — and they aim to do something about it. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District is considering imposing the nation's first air quality...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has attacked violent video games as "a silent epidemic" among children, said she wanted a federal investigation into one of the most popular, "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." Clinton, D-N.Y., is asking the Federal Trade Commission to probe how players can access "graphic pornographic and violent content" for the game from the Internet. In a letter dated yesterday to FTC chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras, she also urged the agency to examine whether the game's rating of "M" for mature should be changed to an "Adults Only" rating. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board, a...

WASHINGTON — The Federal Election Commission is considering whether to require political bloggers to disclose whether they are receiving funds from a political campaign, the latest step in a larger debate over whether political activity on the Internet should be regulated by the government. Friday is the deadline set for the FEC to receive public comments on a number of proposed regulations dealing with Internet activities. The commission will hold hearings on June 28-29 in Washington, D.C., before deciding on final action. One of those new rules, the disclosure requirement, has many bloggers bristling, accusing the government of unfairly targeting...

Insta Pundit University of Tennessee School of Law Knoxville, TN February 10, 2009 Dear Mr. Pundit, I am writing to inform you that the Federal Election Commission has voted unanimously to support my recommendation that there is "reason to believe" that you have violated federal election law. Pursuant to that finding, the Commission has opened an investigation of these violations. I hereby direct you to provide sworn written answers to the following questions related to your violation of federal election law. 1. Did you on or before August 30, 2008, state on your "blog" that "If elected, Hillary Clinton will...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says enacting a spending control measure is "Job No. 1." But the committee charged with selecting what kind of measure should be put before voters appears deeply split. Schwarzenegger wants a spending control plan to prevent massive state budget deficits such as the one that helped drive former Gov. Gray Davis from office and to curb "autopilot" spending formulas that grow faster than tax revenue. Citizens to Save California, a business-led group aligned with the governor, has not yet decided whether to back a spending control similar to Schwarzenegger's plan or a tighter limit backed...

Finland exceeded CO2 Kyoto target by 20 percent last yearFinland emitted 20 percent more carbon dioxide last year than in 1990, making it difficult for the Nordic country to meet its discharge targets as set forth by the Kyoto Protocol, officials said Thursday. Finnish carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions totaled 88.5 million tonnes last year, according to provisional figures from Statistics Finland. All industrial nations ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to take effect in February next year, have bound themselves to meet specific targets for reducing or curbing emissions of six so-called greenhouse gases by the 2008-2012 period, which...

Residential gas bills will rise about 54 percent from a year ago starting Monday for Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. customers. The unit of Cinergy Corp. said the typical residential customer will pay $115.50 a month, up from $75.04 last September for a residential customer using the average 10,800 cubic feet of gas. In Northern Kentucky, the same customer will pay $106.91 a month, up 45 percent from the $73.60 last September. The culprit? Higher natural gas costs, which typically represent about 70 percent of the monthly bill. Consumers such as Mike Rieck, a retiree who lives in North Avondale,...

Sars still spreading in China despite controls, says WHO By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor 29 April 2003 The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome has peaked in most hot spots for the disease but is getting worse in China, the World Health Organisation said yesterday. The WHO declared Vietnam the first country to contain Sars and said Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong appeared to be winning the battle against the disease. But it said China was still not providing full information about its cases. It was also revealed yesterday that the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta...

The California power crisis has made the headlines again, as the state’s Public Utilities Commission has declared that the culprits all along were the power companies, who deliberately created the crisis by "withholding electricity." Princeton’s Paul Krugman, the economics columnist for The New York Times, has joined in, declaring that the crisis was nothing more than a "$30 billion robbery" that took place "in broad daylight." George Reisman, who is a much better economist than Krugman ever could claim to be, thoroughly debunked the commission’s charges in a recent article on Mises.org. It is now time to debunk Krugman, not...