Free Republic

With jobs like mortgage broker, investment banker, stock analyst and others that once looked solid - and profitable - suddenly looking not so good in the wake of America's looming financial difficulties, a Daily News Special Report revealed what most of us already know despite heavy doses of conventional wisdom to the contrary: Teachers and other school employees do pretty darn well. Especially if they work for the Los Angeles Unified School District. According to information provided to the Daily News by the LAUSD, the average salary for teachers is $63,000 - not too shabby that. But more than 8,500...

Bitter Half Alert: Here she goes again. But don’t you dare breathe a negative word about what she says on the campaign trail, because she’s just a “civilian” whom you should lay off of–and if you don’t you’re a racist, wife-beating brute! MichelleO, MichelleO, MichelleO: Michelle Obama mixed a story about how her husband, the Democratic presidential candidate asked her out, with a solemn assessment of U.S. economic and social conditions during a visit to the Denver area Wednesday. Obama spoke before a crowd of about 150 that paid from $1,000 to $10,000 apiece at a private fundraising dinner at...

<p>A man heckling First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna outside the 92nd Street Y was arrested after he punched a wheelchair-bound girl whose parents had told him to shut up, authorities said yesterday. German Talis, 22, was shouting obscenities at the Bushes...Wendy and John Lovetro and their daughter Maureen, 18, who has cerebral palsy.</p>

If you are a parent (or grandparent) of a young child, you are a target for manipulation by activists (some with scientific degrees) who claim we are surrounded by a sea of chemical "toxins" and "carcinogens." You are easy prey — because you care so deeply about the health and welfare of your babies and children. Purveyors of unfounded health scares know that. The fearmongers have just about everything going for them. And unless you recognize their manipulative tactics, you will be among their millions of terrified victims. Here's how they work: They know what psychiatrists have known for many...

A state lawmaker wants to tax in-room adult movies ordered at hotels to help fund child sex-abuse investigations. The current version of House Bill 1086, sponsored by Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, would impose a 99-cent fee on all in-room movies ordered at hotels. Stephens, though, said she plans to narrow her proposal to apply to just adult movies. The money would go into a fund for children's advocacy centers, which counsel sexually abused children and help police and prosecutors interview young victims. There are 14 such centers in Colorado and more than 600 nationally. Stephens said imposing the fee on...

Gov. Tim Kaine yesterday announced a plan to expand health care coverage to thousands of uninsured, low-income Virginians as the state faces a projected $641 million budget shortfall. "One in seven Virginians still lack health insurance because their employers don"t provide it or because they cannot afford it," Mr. Kaine said. "As more citizens rely on our health care safety net for their most basic health needs, we must strengthen that system." Mr. Kaine, a Democrat, said the two-year budget that he plans to present to the General Assembly on Monday will include about $25.5 million in new health care...

New Iowa Leader Criticized by for Indecision on Federal Student Aid. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who backed in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants, hedged Sunday on whether illegal immigrants who have gone to school in the United States should become eligible for federal student aid such as Pell grants and subsidized federal student loans. "I'm not sure that I would support that," Huckabee told ABC News, "it was a different program in Arkansas." Huckabee's failure to take a clear position on federal student aid while appearing on ABC News' "This Week with George...

I’ve said it all along: The Democrats’ massive S-CHIP expansion is a Trojan Horse for Hillarycare. Now, we get it straight from the horse’s mouth. A Hill source sends an audio clip of former Iowa Dem. Governor Tom Vilsack at Drake University on Nov. 16 describing how S-CHIP will help achieve those universal entitlement ends: Click here for audio. Transcript: “I think there is going to be a commitment to universal coverage. I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be a sector by sector process. I think you either need to go in whole hog or not. We tried to...

The growth in human population and rising consumption have exceeded the planet's ability to support us, argues John Feeney. In this week's Green Room, he says it is time to ring the alarm bells and take radical action in order to avert unspeakable consequences. We humans face two problems of desperate importance. The first is our global ecological plight. The second is our difficulty acknowledging the first. Despite increasing climate change coverage, environmental writers remain reluctant to discuss the full scope and severity of the global dilemma we've created. Many fear sounding alarmist, but there is an alarm to sound...

Firings are urged over misuse of foster kids' money L.A. County supervisors also want child welfare workers to return funds spent on lunches, musical events. By Jack Leonard Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 8, 2007 Los Angeles County child welfare workers who misused thousands of dollars meant for foster children should be fired and forced to return the money, county supervisors said Wednesday. Supervisor Gloria Molina described the practices highlighted in a county audit released a day earlier as a "new version of taking candy from children." The audit showed some employees bought themselves lunches and attended musical events...

L.A. workers use gift cards meant for foster children Audit shows that child welfare employees spent thousands on meals and tickets to musical events. By Jack Leonard Los Angeles Times Staff Writer November 7, 2007 Los Angeles County's child welfare workers spent thousands of dollars in gift cards and entertainment tickets earmarked for foster children to buy themselves meals and attend musical events, according to an audit released Tuesday. Among the most serious problems cited by auditors, county workers bought 160 tickets in July to see the hit musical "Wicked." County officials said the purchase was part of a gala...

The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 7 in 10 Americans support the new bill to increase the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by $35 billion, which President Bush vetoed Wednesday. Of course most Americans support the bill. It's for the children, and the way supporters push it, it's practically free. If Bush seems so clearly out of touch with the voters (as well as moderate and conservative elected Republicans) on the politics, then on a policy level he had reason to veto the bill. The Senate and House have found the worst mechanism to fund the SCHIP...

Smokers have already been banned from New York bars and restaurants, and soon they could be prohibited from lighting up in cars carrying minors, an idea giving added fuel to critics who say the city has become a nanny state. A City Council member of Queens who is chairman of the council's Environmental Protection Committee, James Gennaro, said he is planning to introduce the smoking bill next week. "I am just seeking every opportunity I can to denormalize smoking and to try to put it out of the reach of kids," Mr. Gennaro said. "I've lost family members to lung...

RUSH: Jerry in Scottsdale, Arizona, hello, sir. CALLER: Morning, Rush. How are you doing? RUSH: I'm fine. CALLER: Let's get straight to it. The source of the controversy in the Democrat Congress was proposing to raise a tax on cigars to $10 per cigar -- RUSH: Yes? CALLER: -- to raise $35 to $50 billion for state children's health insurance. RUSH: Right. CALLER: It's "for the children." RUSH: It's for the children. In the name of saving the children, big government has targeted yet another industry to destroy. CALLER: So the Winston Churchill that I just started smoking cigars with...

The defeat of amnesty for illegal aliens is a good moment. Against widespread expectations, a 53 to 46 majority voted against it. The conservative grass roots did an outstanding job of framing the issue with honesty and well-informed candor. The American people saw it for what it was and wouldn't stand for it. However, this isn't the end of it. In fact, the worst thing that could be done is for opponents to declare victory and lose focus. The key is to read between the lines. The fact is, the majority of the U.S. Senate supports some form of amnesty...

Uh-oh. Don’t look now, but somebody who wants to be President forgot to take their medicine. It remains uncertain as to whether the failure to follow the prescription will be politically costly. But the Senator formerly known as Hillary Rodham Clinton seems to be caught in another little conflict, and this one could be a problem with, shall we say, “the faithful.” By “the faithful,” I mean the left-wing contingency within the Democratic Party that long ago abandoned any historic, western understanding of the relationship between the human person and the earth (an understanding that is so commonplace for most...

Operators of Web sites with racy content must label their sites and register in a national directory or be fined, according to a new U.S. Senate proposal that represents the latest effort among politicians to crack down on Internet sex. The requirements appear in legislation announced Thursday by two Senate Democrats, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Max Baucus of Montana, that they say will "clean up the Internet for children." The proposal, which the senators describe as a discussion draft, relies on the idea of embedding a new tag--such as --in all Web pages that the government deems unsuitable for...

A controversial new bill would slap smokers with a fine if they light up in cars with kids, an incendiary idea that’s outraged puffers and civil libertarians while gaining speed nationwide. “They are going to come into your home next,” said Gary Nolan, national spokesman for The Smokers Club, Inc. “Will we have the food police issuing tickets if your child’s (weight) is out of wack and you are heading into a Burger King?” Added Dr. Michael Siegel, a Boston University tobacco policy analyst: “This is a disrespect for parental autonomy. We allow parents to let their children play hockey...

Textbooks used in Iran's schools are instilling students with hatred toward the West, especially the United States, and urging them to become "martyrs" in a global holy war against countries perceived to be enemies of Islam, a new study says. An Iranian human rights activist, Ghazal Omid, praised the findings, saying they prove hard-liners in Iran are using the books to turn children into "ticking bombs." However, a U.S. academic who specializes in Iran and Islam, and a former Iranian teacher said they believe the textbooks are a reflection of Iran's history and its deep suspicions of the West, not...

Clinton wants all U.S. troops out of Iraq when Bush leaves office The Associated PressPublished: January 28, 2007 DAVENPORT, Iowa: U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday that U.S. President George W. Bush should withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq before he leaves office, saying it would be "the height of irresponsibility" to pass the war along to the next commander in chief. "This was his decision to go to war with an ill-conceived plan and an incompetently executed strategy," the Democratic senator said her in first presidential campaign tour through the early-voting state of Iowa. "We expect him...

<p>Hillary's first conversation will be begin tonight at 7 PM. You need to register at the linked site to participate.</p> <p>Hillary's website asks people to "help make these webcasts a true national conversation by spreading the word."</p> <p>I'm doing my part.</p>

Hillary is doing a live chat now via her website.

Speaker Pelosi Delivers Victory for the Right to Breathe Clean, Smoke-Free Air Says Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement by William V. Corr, Executive Director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: By declaring the Speaker's Lobby of the U.S. Capitol to be smoke-free, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today sent a powerful message to the nation about the serious dangers of secondhand smoke and the need to protect everyone's right to breathe clean, smoke-free air. From office buildings to restaurants and bars to the Capitol of the United States, all workers and the public should...

Nairobi, Kenya – A new United Nations children’s book promoting fears of catastrophic manmade global warming is being promoted at the UN Climate Change Conference in Kenya. The book's main character, a young boy, is featured getting so worried about a coming manmade climate disaster that he yells “I don’t want to hear anymore!” The new children’s book, entitled “Tore and the Town on Thin Ice” ((http://www.unep.org/PDF/TORE.pdf)) is published by the United Nations Environment Programme and blames “rich countries” for creating a climate catastrophe and urges children to join environmental groups. The book is about a young boy named Tore...

The text is white against a black screen. The sound is the electronic warbling of a video game. But in this political ad, the message is in the faceless voices of cheerful children engaged in mayhem. "Hit the hooker with the tire iron!""Steal the old lady's car.""Shoot her first!" The ad accuses a Democratic candidate of voting against banning the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to children. Another ad, in Connecticut, says a Democrat voted to permit convicted sex offenders in public housing. Yet another, in Arizona, linked a candidate's work as a lawyer for the American...

EDITORIAL: Internet gambling 'ban' Americans are playing poker online? Oh, the humanity! Of the myriad policy crises churning on the horizon -- entitlement insolvency, illegal immigration and runaway federal spending among them -- congressional Republicans chose to spend the little political capital they have left on an Internet gambling ban. With brick-and-mortar casinos in nearly every state and card games breaking into network television, millions of moralists found it unbearable that Americans were wagering about $6 billion per year on the Web. That their neighbors might be playing poker or placing sports bets from the comfort of their desk chairs...

Ex-Boston City Councilor Scondras nabbed in underage sex sting By Laura Crimaldi Tuesday, October 10, 2006 - Updated: 06:06 PM EST LAWRENCE - Former Boston City Councilor David Scondras was busted in a Lawrence school parking lot before dawn Monday after showing up with lubricant and booze in hope of a tryst in the woods with a 15-year-old boy he’d met online, the authorities said. The ‘‘boy” that Scondras, 60, of Cambridge allegedly drove some 30 miles to meet for sex turned out to be a 20-year-old Lawrence General Hospital security guard, police say. The guard said he’d received a...

'Abused' girl sent back to Belarus Barbara McMahon in Rome Monday October 2, 2006 The Guardian A 10-year-old girl, who said she was sexually abused and beaten at an orphanage in her native Belarus, has been sent back to the former Soviet republic from Italy amid bitter recriminations from the couple who had hoped to adopt her. Alessandro Giusto and his wife, Chiara Bornacin, denounced the Italian authorities for agreeing to the repatriation. The child has been at the centre of a case that has strained relations between the two countries. "They took her away like thieves, hidden, without even...

09/07/2006    GAAS:601:06    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation to Expand Preschool for Children at California’s Lowest-Performing Schools   Fulfilling the promise he made in his January budget to provide quality preschool targeted to the children who need it most, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed legislation to increase early education programs at the state’s lowest-performing schools. The legislation is a part of the Governor’s three-year initiative to help close the achievement gap by expanding preschool opportunities statewide.   “Preschool gives our kids the strong foundation they need to be successful in school and in life,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “This proposal...

10) MARIJUANA USE HAS NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY: A massive study of California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found marijuana use caused no significant increase in mortality. Tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death. Sidney, S et al. Marijuana Use and Mortality. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 87 No. 4, April 1997. p. 585-590. Sept. 2002. 9) HEAVY MARIJUANA USE AS A YOUNG ADULT WON’T RUIN YOUR LIFE: Veterans Affairs scientists looked at whether heavy marijuana use as a young adult caused long-term problems later, studying identical twins in which one...

  From the Desk of Mark Stephens, Executive Director, NRSCDo you have your wallet handy? Well, you better . . . . . . Let me tell you why.The LCLI (Liberal Cost of Living Increase)Anytime liberal Democrats take the reins of government, the American people must pull out their wallets and pay a price. It's the automatic Liberal Cost of Living Increase - the LCLI. You see it happen at the local level, state level and at the federal level.Americans are feeling the squeeze of rising energy prices and escalating health care costs - but the LCLI will dwarf...

"U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, center, poses for a photograph with well-wishers outside the Helen B. Atkinson Health Center in Harlem, Monday, Aug. 7, 2006, in New York, following a press conference at the center calling for a decision on 'Plan B' emergency birth control by Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Andrew Von Eschenbach, who, Clinton says, has delayed a decision on Plan B's application." "U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton , D-NY, third from right, greets well-wishers outside the Helen B. Atkinson Health Center in Harlem, Monday, Aug. 7, 2006, in New York, following a press conference calling for a decision...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger disagreed with his fellow Republicans in the Legislature over the issue of health care for undocumented children Thursday, saying the state should provide insurance for all children regardless of whether they are in the country legally. Republicans in the Legislature say they won't vote for the state budget if it includes about $22 million the governor is proposing for county health-insurance programs that cover all children, including those who are undocumented. Republicans, whose votes are required to reach the two-thirds margin necessary to approve a budget, also oppose another $1.8 million Democrats added as a first step...

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Some children in Canada are so well-off and so keen on current affairs that they donate thousands of dollars to politicians -- at least, that's what one contender for the leadership of the opposition Liberal Party seems to believe. Former Immigration Minister Joe Volpe hit the spotlight this week after it emerged that a pair of 11-year-old twins and their 14-year-old brother had each donated C$5,400 ($4,900) to his leadership campaign. The parents of the children -- who also donated C$5,400 to Volpe's campaign -- are related to the chairman of generic drug maker Apotex Inc. In...

Monrovia/Nairobi (dpa) - Young girls in Liberia are still being sexually exploited by UN peacekeepers and aid workers, a child welfare organization said in a report Monday. The report by ``Save the Children'' claimed that half of young girls in camps for displaced people, some of them as young as eight, regularly have sex with peacekeepers and aid workers in exchange for food and other goods. ``This cannot continue. It must be tackled. Men who use positions of power to take advantage of vulnerable children must be reported and fired. More must be done to support children and their families...

Bill would ban people from smoking while children in the car BATON ROUGE, La. -- Parents would have to stub out their cigarettes while their kids are in the car, under a bill headed to the Senate for debate. The bill would prohibit anyone from lighting up a cigarette, cigar or pipe in a vehicle while a child required to be in a booster seat or car seat is riding along _ a child up to 60 pounds, or up to about eight years old. The House approved the bill in a 66-31 vote. Rep. Gary Smith, D-Norco, said he...

America is fat and getting fatter. Today 140 million American adults are overweight or obese. Their bodies carry 4 billion pounds of excess fat, the result of eating 14 trillion excess calories. Numbers of this size belong in the domain of economists, not physicians. And therein lies the solution. Medical and public health attempts to control obesity should continue, but it is time to add marketplace approaches. The first step is realizing that, nationally, weight gain is not a medical problem, it's a pollution problem.

Gestapo-like tactics prompt outrage, complaints among owners, citizenry. In the ongoing effort to keep public places clear of intoxicated citizens and drunk drivers, some police agencies are using a controversial tactic – going directly into bars and restaurants to make arrests. Such is the situation in northern Virginia, where Fairfax County Police are targeting patrons suspected of having one too many. "[Officers] were talking to one of the guests, then physically pulled him off the barstool," Richie Prisco, general manager at Champps bar told the Reston Times. "They were really aggressive and nasty." According to the report, police are hauling...

HOUSTON -- Houston's police chief on Wednesday proposed placing surveillance cameras in apartment complexes, downtown streets, shopping malls and even private homes to fight crime during a shortage of police officers. "I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?" Chief Harold Hurtt told reporters Wednesday at a regular briefing. Houston is facing a severe police shortage because of too many retirements and too few recruits, and the city has absorbed 150,000 hurricane evacuees who are filling apartment complexes...

In this war freedom should come first not after! In New Hampshire the Motto is Live free or Die! I don't need Bush spying on law abiding americans and taking our freedoms. Anyone who surrenders a square inch of freedom to the government in the name of saftey is a traitor and should be treated like one! Let the Bush Fashists all drop dead! Filthy Commys! LET FREEDOM RING!

Although the Minneapolis school district now has a Cadillac SUV on its hands, Superintendent-to-be Bill Green says you won't find him behind the wheel. He'll stick with his 1996 Camry, which could use two new tires and a brake job. After all, he just invested in a radiator repair. Former Superintendent Thandiwe Peebles turned the leased Caddie SRX, with its leather seats, sticker price of almost $47,000 and a nasty interior odor over to the district Monday as part of her settlement. District officials are scrutinizing the lease to determine their cheapest option for getting out of it. Peebles signed...

Funding for the project, more than $369,000, was made possibly by a school safety grant through the National Institute of Justice, a research branch of the U.S. Department of Justice. "The idea is to improve school safety for the children," said Phil Meara, superintendent, Freehold Borough School District, on Monday. "We had a swipe-card system that operated the doors, but the technology was obsolete." ...

On Bloomington's AM1230 Rush was pre-empted by Blago's State-of-the-State address. While waiting for Blago to enter the radio announcer, speaking in the hushed voice of a golf or bowling program, said "And on the Democrat left side of the platform we have the Superintendant of Schools and State Treasurer Judy Barr-Topinka" Then in a parenthetical voice he said. "Ron Gidwitz, Jim Oberweis and other detractors of the governor are not in attendance in the chamber." Eisendrath and Brady not mentioned by name. Of course, Brady, a St Sen, was there. Blago proposes a capital construction program. His KeenOH gambling expansion...

A former Broward County man has been ordered to continue to pay child support for a child he did not father. He said his wife cheated on him; she denies it.Richard Parker said he never suspected that his wife had been cheating on him when she got pregnant seven years ago.When the Hollywood couple divorced in 2001, he agreed to pay her $1,200 a month in child support.But less than two years later, when his son was 5, he says he learned the awful truth: The boy he had raised as his own wasn't his.Parker sued his ex-wife, Margaret Parker,...

Americans overwhelmingly want Big Brother to butt out of their TV watching, according to a new study of U.S. viewing habits set for release Tuesday. According to the survey, done this month by Russell Research for TV Watch, 81 percent of American TV watchers worry about the kinds of programs their children could be exposed to, and 91 percent of parents said more parental involvement is the best way to keep kids from seeing what they shouldn't see. Just 9 percent of parents said the government should increase control and enforcement of network television programming. The survey arrives in time...

hillary in aviaryHILLARY'S INCOMPETENCE by Mia T, 11.13.05 (viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE) Clinton Administration Veteran:"Hillary Rodham Clinton needs to be kept very far away from the White House for the rest of her life." My two cents' worth--and I think it is the two cents' worth of everybody who worked for the Clinton Administration health care reform effort of 1993-1994--is that Hillary Rodham Clinton needs to be kept very far away from the White House for the rest of her life. Heading up health-care reform was the only major administrative job she has ever tried...

Before the divorce rate began its inexorable rise in the late 1960s, the common wisdom had been that, where children are concerned, divorce itself is a problem. But as it became widespread -- peaking at almost one in two first marriages in the mid-1980s -- popular thinking morphed into a new, adult-friendly idea: It's not the act of divorcing that's the problem, but simply the way that parents handle it.

Looking for the complete (as opposed to excerpted) versions of the following Wall Street Journal pieces: "Hillary's Vaccine Shortage" (orig published 8/15/03) "Avian Virus Caused The 1918 Pandemic, New Studies Show" Kindly send via FReepmail. Thanx.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) Why I Am Marching The scientific consensus is clear: human activities are increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, causing our planet to warm. If we don't act soon to reverse this trend, future generations will pay the price. There are cost-effective measures we can take now to begin to address this critical issue, but Congress has been unwilling to lead. So I thank you for joining this virtual march. Together, we can send a strong message that it is time to act to stop global warming.