Free Republic

U-boats may be on navy's shopping list BY DAVID ELLERY DEFENCE REPORTER 29 Dec, 2011 01:00 AM Australia's ''future submarine'' could be a super U-boat built by a German company that made many of the submarines that nearly brought Britain to its knees in World War II. HDW has released details of a concept design, designated the Type 216, for a long-range conventional submarine. Experts say the design, based on the successful Type 214, is specifically targeted at Sea 1000 - Defence's future submarine program. Rex Patrick, a former submariner and the director of Acoustic Force, said yesterday the information...

They come out from under their rocks every time we have a few tornados and never miss an opening when it comes to exploiting popular ignorance. An AP column last Friday titled Science panel: Get ready for extreme weather opened by asserting – “Think of the Texas drought, floods in Thailand and Russia's devastating heat waves as coming attractions in a warming world. That is the warning from top international climate scientists and disaster experts after meeting in Africa.” And of course their thesis is that this weather is the fault of mankind. They fail to mention that for the...

SUMATRA, Indonesia –Several earthquakes have struck near south Sumatra of the 5.0 and 5.1 magnitude range today- making a tense situation on the volcanically-dotted archipelago potentially even more volatile. The Anak Krakatau volcano is showing signs of increased seismic activity. Authorities fear the volcano is building towards an eruption that could dwarf the one which occurred in 2007. Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Disasters Mitigation Center reported the numbers of seismic tremors now registering from the volcano have exceeded 5,000 a day. There are also reports of a gaseous mist which has seeped from the volcano and have enshrouded it in...

Here is a memo/wake-up call to Occupy Wall Street: 1.) Obama's former White House COS Rham Emanuel: Did not have an MBA or prior banking experience, yet made $16.2 million dollars as a banker according to Wikipedia. New White House COS Daley: former big banker. 2.) Obama supported the TARP bill. 3.) Obama promised that his administration would be bereft of corporate lobbyists; yet at least 16 former lobbyists of some super-sized corporations apparently were hiding at the back entrance to the White House, because as soon as Obama took office they slipped into his administration. 4.) Obama received boatloads...

Appeals Court Dismisses Virginia's Challenge to ObamaCare

Meltdown occurred at Fukushima No. 1 reactor 16 hrs after March 11 quake TOKYO, May 15, Kyodo A nuclear fuel meltdown at the No. 1 reactor of the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi power plant is believed to have occurred around 16 hours after the March 11 quake and tsunami crippled the complex in northeastern Japan, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday.

<p>BS. Which here is short for Baseline Scenarios.Which could also refer to the book "On Bullshit", by Harry G Frankfurt, published by Princeton University Press.</p> <p>At first blush, Paul Ryan's Budget Plan made no sense to me, I didn't have time to read through it all, but now that the econ/finance blogosphere and financial sector media have gotten time to dissect and digest the plan, it's becoming increasingly clear that Paul Ryan has been extremely extremely disingenuous in regards to his budget proposal. I'm going to post a collection of links and excerpt some of them, you'll need to invest some time to digest this because it swings from economics professors, to global macro analysts, to finance guys, to financial journalists... etc.</p>

Navy personnel begin training on refurbished Admiral Gorshkov With the Navy set to induct aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov by 2012, the first batch of Navy personnel have begun training on the refurbished vessel in St. Petersburg, Russia. "The first group of 152 sailors and officers have started their training on-board INS Vikramaditya in Russia. The training comprises four months of theory and almost a similar period of practical exercises on the ship," naval spokesperson told PTI here on Thursday. The group comprises sailors and officers from technical branches of the Navy who will train on the Gorshkov christened as INS...

WASHINGTON — Nearly 900 "special interest aliens" from 35 nations with suspected ties to terrorism have been apprehended along the border between Texas and California over the past 17 months, the Lone Star State being the land route of choice, according to a Border Patrol report obtained by the Chronicle. The arrests include the high-profile case of former Montreal imam Said Jaziri, a native of the watch-list country of Tunisia, who was arrested for unlawful entry by the U.S. Border Patrol near San Diego in January. ..."There are a lot of people crossing the border who came from scary parts...

Took less than a month for former Huffington Post CEO Betsy Morgan and Managing Editor Scott Baker to go huffing and puffing all over The Blaze. The Blaze, now cutting a break for Code Pink in Cairo, should check in with writers Andrea Shea King and Kristinn Taylor who got it right (no pun intended). Is it HuffPo at the helm that is portraying Code Pink rabble rousers as Obama enemies? Note to Glenn Beck: Code Pink is not Global Citizen Barry Soetoro’s enemy. They are right up his wazoo. Big time.

Russian Air Force to receive Ka-52 helicopters The Russia's Defense Ministry plans to start procuring Ka-52 Alligator helicopters for the national Air Force in 2011, ministry's official spokesman Col. Vladimir Drik said on Sunday. The Ka-52 is a modification of the basic Ka-50 Hokum model, it is armed with 30-mm cannon, Vikhr (Whirlwind) laser guided missiles, rockets, including S-24s, as well as bombs. The helicopter is also equipped with two radars, one for ground and one for aerial targets and a Samshite nighttime-daytime thermal sighting system. The development of the Ka-52 started in 1994 in Russia, but its serial production...

Judge Rules Pro-Abortion ObamaCare Law Unconstitutional Richmond, VA -- A federal judge issued a ruling today on a Virginia lawsuit against the ObamaCare health care law that allows abortion funding and he said the program is unconstitutional in part. http://LifeNews.com/state-5735

In February of this year, Brendan Steinhauser of FreedomWorks posted his thoughts on the tea party movement's past, present and future. Part of his post concerned the 'mainstreaming' of what was formerly presented as a populist movement. The third rail of his 'vision' for FreedomWorks was this:

Wednesday September 29, 2010 40 Days for Life Celebrates Maryland Abortion Facility Closure Commentary by Shawn Carney, 40 Days for LifeSeptember 29, 2010 (40DaysforLife.com) - “It’s official!” reads the message from Michael, the local 40 Days for Life coordinator in Severna Park, Maryland.“We have confirmed that Gynecare is closed,” he wrote, “and will not reopen its doors. The office suite that Gynecare has operated in for years is already listed for rent, and we have confirmed with the listing agent that the current tenant will be completely out of the office soon!”For the seventh time now, the Lord has...

NEWTON - The Republican vying for the only open congressional seat in Massachusetts says former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is "an entertainer" and he would decline any offer from her to campaign on his behalf.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As fast as Jimmy Dimora built a political machine to rule Cuyahoga County, his machine's collapse came even faster. When federal agents raided Dimora's house and office in July 2008, citizens got their first glimpse at a corruption probe that over the next 26 months would tear apart county government.

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio - Complete County Corruption Investigation Four FBI agents have entered the house of County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora Wednesday morning and took him away in handcuffs. NewsChannel5 saw the agents enter his Independence home and drive him away in handcuffs. The agents arrived in two vehicles and knocked on the door for a few minutes before someone eventually answered. The agents then entered the home, and left with Dimora in handcuffs. FBI spokesman Scott Wilson confirmed that they are making arrests this morning, but did not confirm if Dimora was arrested. Dimora is considered to be the top target...

Tea Party-backed candidate Christine O'Donnell has taken the lead over Rep. Mike Castle in the bare-knuckle race for the Republican Senate nomination in Delaware, according to a new poll. The survey released by Public Policy Polling shows the race within the margin of error. O'Donnell leads Castle 47-44 percent. The surge comes just at the right time for O'Donnell, with Delaware's primary set for Tuesday along with contests in six other states. The Republican establishment in Delaware has engaged in a tough and personal battle with O'Donnell, criticizing her history of financial troubles while O'Donnell has described Castle as too...

Leaders of the influential FreedomWorks group -- one the largest and most powerful tea party forces in the country -- publicly distanced themselves from the latest tea party political star, Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell, at a breakfast with reporters this morning. "We stay out of that race because we're not convinced O'Donnell can win," FreedomWorks president and CEO Matt Kibbe said at the Christian Science Monitor-sponsored event. FreedomWorks chair Dick Armey shared the ambivalence toward O'Donnell, who's sparked a kind of GOP breakdown with her fast-rising candidacy against party stalwart Mike Castle, who most view as a shoo-in for...

Both Candidates Viewed As Extreme, Poll Finds LAS VEGAS -- Incumbent Democratic Sen. Harry Reid has jumped ahead of GOP challenger Sharron Angle for the first time in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll. The poll, released Wednesday, showed 45 percent of likely voters favored Reid, while 43 percent supported Angle. Seven percent favored another candidate, and 4 percent were undecided. Rasmussen Reports said the results show Nevada is leaning Democratic heading into the November election. Two weeks ago, a similar poll found Angle ahead of Reid 46 percent to 43 percent. Once considered a goner by many political analysts, Reid...

American David Levy, who runs a factory making electric cables in Dongguan, has witnessed the generational shift in China's work force. He described the first waves of migrants, who planned to send most of their money home and eventually return to their village to build a house. "Fifteen years ago, the expectation was: a place to work, a salary and then they didn't care much about anything else. Life was just going to suck for a couple of years," he said. Photos of his factory workers from five years ago document the generational change. None show workers with the wild...

One of our noblest Founding Fathers, Patrick Henry, said it best in 1775 when he said, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Well it appears that Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI) is moving into certainly heroic uncharted waters with a possible battle cry for life “Give me life’s liberty or give me an honorable political death!” Patrick Henry made this famous speech speaking before the Virginia House of Burgesses at St. John's Church on March 23, 1775. He, like Congressman Stupak, was confronted with a highly political and moral dilemma. Patrick Henry framed his moral challenge this way: “Are we...

NEW YORK (WABC) -- An Eyewitness News investigation talks to a police officer who reveals the pressure they are under to make quotas. When Officer Adil Polanco dreamed of becoming a cop, it was out of a desire to help people not, he says, to harass them. "I'm not going to keep arresting innocent people, I'm not going to keep searching people for no reason, I'm not going to keep writing people for no reason, I'm tired of this," said Adil Polanco, an NYPD Officer. Officer Polanco says One Police Plaza's obsession with keeping crime stats down has gotten out...

"When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the Lord a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when you number them." -- Exodus 30:12. No one talked about plagues or ransoms during a news conference today at St. John's United Methodist Church downtown.... These local leaders gathered to promote "Census Sabbath" (PDF) March 5-7. They encouraged pastors, rabbis, priests and other spiritual leaders to dedicate sermons and other messages to the value of returning 2010 Census forms that will arrive in mailboxes...

WASHINGTON — President Obama defended his year-old economic recovery package on Wednesday, arguing that the package, the major legislative achievement of his presidency so far, has created or saved as many as two million new jobs, lowered taxes for 95 percent of Americans and spared the country a potentially disastrous depression. One year to the day that he signed the bill into law, Mr. Obama appeared at the White House alongside small business owners who have benefited from the measure, which has become a kind of political albatross for him and for fellow Democrats seeking re-election in 2010. “One year...

War On Terror: As Khalid Sheikh Mohammed receives the benefits of U.S. justice, three Navy SEALs face court-martial for allegedly punching a captured terrorist who hanged Americans from a bridge in Fallujah. Apparently our efforts to impress the world about the marvels of our criminal justice system require us to give foreign terrorists such as Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the man who invented the manned cruise missiles that flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and plowed into a Pennsylvania field on its way to the Capitol Building, the full rights and protections of the American citizens he conspired...

Former Marine Nick Popaditch, aka the Cigar Marine, is running for the Republican nomination to challange the incumbent Democrat in the California 51st Congressional race for 2010. He needs your support. The district is heavily Democratic and he faces an uphill struggle but this Marine is one tough opponent. This man is a true war hero, not some "Swift Boat" wannabe. His slogan, "A Marines word is his bond", says it all. He gained national popularity when he was photographed atop his tank turret smoking a cigar at the fall of Baghdad. Later in the war he was seriously wounded...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Leading U.S. bank regulator Sheila Bair said on Friday that the government's capital injections into the largest banks was "probably not a good thing." Bair, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, said the billions of dollars of capital infusions last year had a terrible impact on public perception of the financial industry and government regulators. "I think at the time it sounded like the right thing to do and, again, it was part of an international effort, but I just see all the problems it's created," Bair said during an interview with PBS NewsHour. "I...

The departure of Lou Dobbs from CNN leaves the network with a large hole to fill. From the L.A. Times Lou Dobbs' departure from CNN is a mixed blessing for the cable news channel. On one hand, his propensity to spout his opinions on controversial topics such as free trade and immigration had irritated bosses at CNN and its parent company, Time Warner Inc. Although rival channels MSNBC and Fox News have commentators who wear their political views on their sleeves, CNN says it wants its talent to keep their thoughts to themselves

"With 3 percent of the world's oil reserves, the U.S. cannot drill its way to energy security," then-presidential nominee Barack Obama wrote on his campaign website in 2008. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stated, "All told, the U.S. has only 1.6 percent of world's known oil supply." And in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) added, "The math is simple: America has just 3 percent of the world's oil reserves, but Americans use a quarter of its oil." The President, Ms Pelosi and their Democratic party followers are lying, Republican Senator Inhofe, ranking member of the Senate Committee on...

It recently came to light that individuals employed by ACORN have been apparent accomplices with regard to the conduct of alleged criminal activities. Surprisingly, it was the investigative ingenuity of ordinary citizens who brought this information to the attention of the public. As a Member of Congress, these relevations are of interest to me in that ACORN is the beneficiary of substantial federal funding. As the former Attorney General of my state of California, this story is of great concern to me for an entirely different reason. Ironically, it is those who revealed the alleged illegal acts, rather than the...

The Obama White House has deliberately placed favored Washington institutions of the Bush years in its crosshairs, a sign of an escalating battle between the Democratic administration and some of the city's pre-eminent power players. In recent days, the administration has attacked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the insurance industry for opposing key administration objectives, has criticized the nation's largest banks and financial firms for outsized executive pay, and has tried to delegitimize the Fox News Channel by mocking its objectivity. "When you're on their side, it's all OK, but if you're not, they rain hell down on you,"...

If the academic year gets pushed deeper into summer, as President Obama is advocating, the grumbling will not be limited just to students and teachers who will be forced to spend more days in school. Critics say the president's call for a longer academic calendar and a shorter summer vacation will bring on a host of unintended consequences -- including increased costs for school systems, major cuts to the nation's hotel and tourism industries, and a serious blow to summer camp operators. Obama says kids in the U.S. spend too little time in the classroom, putting them at a disadvantage...

Vice President Joe Biden proclaimed success beyond expectations Thursday for the $787 billion economic stimulus, but his glowing assessment overlooks many of the program's problems, including delays in releasing money, questionable spending priorities and project picks that are under investigation.

Just watch and LISTEN to the video. You won't believe it. Manning Speaks Out Against the "Mack Daddy"

"July 21/09: The US Senate votes 58-40 in favor of S.Amdt 1469, the Levin-McCain amendment to strip $1.75 billion for 7 F-22As out of the Senate’s FY 2010 defense budget. The additional funds had been inserted in committee, just as the recently-passed FY 2010 House defense budget proposal contains $369 million in initial funding for 12 more F-22s.The vote was heavily determined by state lines, with 40/50 states voting coherently. Both Republicans voted “yea” to F-22 funding removal in AZ, SC and WY. Both Democrats voted against the amendment in CA, CT, HI, NM, and WA. John Kerry [D-MA], who...

SC against abortion for mentally challenged rape victim 22 Jul 2009, 0517 hrs IST, IANS NEW DELHI: In a significant judgement, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed a Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling that had allowed authorities to force a mentally challenged rape victim to undergo an abortion. A bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan scrapped a July 17 verdict of the high court ordering medical termination of the pregnancy of 19-year-old mentally challenged, unwed and orphan girl Radha (name changed), raped by a staff of the government shelter home in Chandigarh. The bench, which also included Justice...

So to serve the state is a humbling responsibility, because I know in my soul that Alaska is of such import, for America’s security, in our very volatile world. And you know me by now, I promised even four years ago to show MY independence… no more conventional “politics as usual”. And we are doing well! My administration's accomplishments speak for themselves. We work tirelessly for Alaskans. We aggressively and responsibly develop our resources because they were created to be used to better our world... to HELP people... and we protect the environment and Alaskans (the resource owners) foremost with...

IAF drops Russia from $1 bn deal Russia is set to lose a billion dollar (Rs 48,000 crore) defence deal for midair refuellers, signalling a break in its over 50-year-old monopoly as India’s preferred military supplier. The former communist giant has clearly lost favour with the Indian military, as the air force has decided not to field any more Russian Ilyushin-78 refuellers to keep fighter jets airborne for considerably longer periods by tanking them up during flight. After operating Il-78 tankers for almost six years, the Indian Air Force has said the Russian platform does not meet its requirements and...

CHICAGO, May 16 (UPI) -- Three U.S. telemarketing firms accused of making misleading "robocalls" about expiring car warranties must stop the practice, a court says. The Federal Trade Commission announced Friday that a U.S. District Court in Chicago issued a restraining order demanding that three companies accused of aggressively making automated calls to sell auto warranties across the country cease the pitches, The New York Times reported. "For the first time in months, millions of New Yorkers and people across the country will finally have some relief from these annoying calls with potentially thousands saved from falling into this scam,"...

Critics are calling it unpatriotic to abandon the "Freedom Tower" name for an iconic skyscraper rising at ground zero. Former Gov. George Pataki gave the 1,776-foot tower its name in a speech two years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. He says the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is "outrageous" for deciding to call the tower One World Trade Center.

On the Right and Left, the saga of Gordon Brown's Washington visit continues to run and run here in the US. Fox News's Glenn Beck has just upped the ante by displaying the address of the British Embassy on screen and urging his 2.2 million viewers to write to tell the British people: "They don't suck. We appreciate them." Or something like that. At the liberal end of the spectrum, Jon Stewart of the Daily Show is joining in the mirth. Like Beck, he gets much mileage out of the Obama present of a box set of DVDs, in return...

In my exclusive interview with Barack Obama airing tomorrow on This Week, the president-elect told me that fixing our economy over the long term will require sacrifice from every American and scaling back some of his campaign promises. "Our challenge is going to be identifying what works and putting more money into that, eliminating things that don’t work, and making things that we have more efficient. But I’m not suggesting, George, I want to be realistic here, not everything that we talked about during the campaign are we going to be able to do on the pace we had hoped,"...

Associated Press - link only

Some troubling e-mails following my article "First Amendment 101 – Whoopie’s Lesson," in which I attempted to clarify for Whooopie Goldberg – co-host of ABC’s “The View” – some of the finer truths regarding the establishment clause, has prompted me to expand the tutorial for her (and for those who suggested I ought to do more research before commenting on such “nuanced” and “complicated” matters as the first amendment). From the top. The oft-alluded to “separation of church and state” clause exists nowhere in the federal Constitution. (This should be a booming “well, duh” factoid by now). Thomas Jefferson’s use...

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/bp_videos/

WASHINGTON – A controversial one-year program allowing Mexican trucks to travel deep into the United States will be extended for two more years, federal officials announced Monday. John H. Hill, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said the extension would allow for the collection of more data to determine whether Mexican trucks can operate safely in the United States. Opponents quickly denounced the move, which some had been expecting despite their protests that the program poses a danger on U.S. highways. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, accused U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary...

A software engineer, the owner of a miniature golf course and nine other men, many from Central Florida, traveled to Polk County to have sex with a child, deputies said. Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff's Office arrested the 11 men on charges of soliciting sex from a child through the Internet during Operation Paladin -- a two-week online sex sting in which investigators, posing as a 14-year-old girl, used chat rooms and instant messaging programs to lure the men to a location in Polk County. ... Rick Nieves, 22, of Orlando, Extreme UpholsteryRobert Cirone, 42, of Lakeland, unemployedFarhan Mujahid,...

Results of N.H. Primaries Each link will take a minute or two to load.Scroll on town for total votes and percentages. http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/nh/nh_primary_gop_results_by_town/ For those who think Hillary was up to shenenanigans check out the towns where she won. http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/nh/nh_primary_gop_results_by_town/

In running for president, Mr. Bush's use of religious language was a careful, studied process. Initially, he was uncomfortable about talking publicly about his faith. "I view my religion as very personal," he told me in 1999, fidgeting in his chair in the governor's office in Austin. "I want people to judge me on my deeds, not how I try to define myself as a religious person of words." Mr. Bush hired speechwriter Michael Gerson, a graduate of evangelical Wheaton College, and he slowly invested his boss' speeches with words and phrases that resonated with Protestants. Mr. Rove enlisted the...