Free Republic

Another Missouri Republican consultant suggests that Representative Jo Ann Emerson, the Republican who has represented Missouri’s eighth district since 1996, could be a top contender to replace Todd Akin if he quits. Her name has been making the rounds among party insiders, thanks in part to the fact that she’s currently the longest-serving House member in Missouri. Missouri GOP executive director Lloyd Smith used to be her chief-of-staff. UPDATE: A colleague points out that Emerson is a member of the moderate-leaning Republican Main Street partnership, and generally less rightward than the three — Akin, Sarah Steelman, and John Brunner —...

Immigrants lag behind native-born Americans on most measures of economic well-being — even those who have been in the U.S. the longest, according to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies, which argues that full assimilation is a more complex task than overcoming language or cultural differences. The study, which covers all immigrants, legal and illegal, and their U.S.-born children younger than 18, found that immigrants tend to make economic progress by most measures the longer they live in the U.S. but lag well behind native-born Americans on factors such as poverty, health insurance coverage and homeownership. The study,...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) -- A Navy tradition has caught up with the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" rule on gays serving openly in the U.S. military. The Navy said two women shared the coveted "first kiss" Wednesday when the USS Oak Hill returned home to its Virginia base. Marissa Gaeta of Pacerville, Calif., descended from the ship and shared a quick kiss with her partner, Citlalic (SEET-lah-leek) Snell of Los Angeles. The crowd screamed and waved Navy flags around them. Both women are fire controlmen in the Navy. They met at training school and have been dating...

NEWBURGH – An almost $2 million federal grant will allow the creation of a New York Renewable Energy Cluster in Newburgh. The money will make way for the Solar Energy Consortium to expand its industry-led clean energy manufacturing cluster into Orange County. Congressman Maurice Hinchey, who helped get the grant and played a key role in establishing TSEC, said the cluster will mean work for Newburgh residents. “It’s going to create a lot of jobs for the City of Newburgh and it’s exactly the type of economic development I envisioned when I spearheaded creation of TSEC back in 2007,” Hinchey...

Officials from the Department of Energy have for months been sitting in on board meetings as "observers" at Solyndra, getting an up-close view as the solar energy company careened towards bankruptcy after spending more than $500 million in federal loan money. Word of the Energy Department's unusual arrangement came as federal agents on Thursday converged on the California headquarters of the failed solar company, focusing fresh attention on the first corporate beneficiary of President Obama's stimulus program to create new clean energy jobs. The company, which closed its doors last week and laid off 1,100 workers, has been a subject...

SALEM – The State of Oregon’s health care costs have increased by $6 million annually according to actuaries because of newly eligible dependents required by the national health care law. Under the new health care law, Public Employee Benefits Board (PEBB) eligibility rules were loosened and expanded to include more dependents. The expansion allowed for a new age group of adult children aged 25 to 26 who were previously ineligible to be included on their parents’ health care benefits. The eligibility rules were also loosened to include all dependents between the ages of 19 and 24 who were previously eligible...

A devastating earthquake strikes Japan. A massive tsunami kills thousands. Fears of a nuclear meltdown run rampant. Bloodshed and violence escalate in Libya. And U.S. companies selling doomsday bunkers are seeing sales skyrocket anywhere from 20% to 1,000%. Northwest Shelter Systems, which offers shelters ranging in price from $200,000 to $20 million, has seen sales surge 70% since the uprisings in the Middle East, with the Japanese earthquake only spurring further interest. In hard numbers, that's 12 shelters already booked when the company normally sells four shelters per year. "Sales have gone through the roof, to the point where we...

From November 1943, until her demise in June 1945, the American destroyer 'William Porter' was often hailed - whenever she entered port or joined other Naval ships - with the greetings: 'Don't shoot, we're Republicans!' For a half a century, the US Navy kept a lid on the details of the incident that prompted this salutation. A Miami news reporter made the first public disclosure in 1958 after he stumbled upon the truth while covering a reunion of the destroyer's crew. The Pentagon reluctantly and tersely confirmed his story, but only a smattering of newspapers took notice. In 1943, the...

An American boy based in Indonesia has been selected to play the role of Barack Obama in the upcoming movie about the US president’s childhood in Jakarta. “Obama Anak Menteng” (“Obama The Menteng Kid”) is expected to begin filming this week and rushed into Indonesian cinemas by June 17. The film is based on the novel of the same name, which author Damien Dematra claims to be a true account of “Barry’s” childhood in the Jakarta suburb. He reportedly wrote the novel in just five days after five days of research. Hasan Faruq Ali, selected for the role, told a...

The U.S. Air Force admits that the chaplain's office at Andrews Air Force Base retracted an invitation to Family Research Council President Tony Perkins--a former Marine officer--to speak at a prayer luncheon held at the base on Thursday after the conservative leader criticized President Obama’s efforts to end “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell"--the military policy on homosexuality. “The Chaplain’s Office retracted Mr. Perkins’ invitation after his recent public comments made many who planned to attend the event uncomfortable,” the Andrews base public affairs office said in a statement issued late Thursday. “This was a local decision made by the Chaplain’s Office...

A transgender couple have revealed they are expecting their first baby in a month’s time. Scott Moore - thought to be only the second ‘pregnant man’ to go public - is due to give birth to a boy in February, with husband Thomas by his side. The couple were both born girls and have undergone surgery to transform their sex. Scott, 30, who is legally married to Thomas because he still has a female birth certificate, says he is eagerly looking forward to giving birth. They have decided to call the child ‘Miles’. ‘We know some people will criticise us...

Five days after the catastrophic 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, a medical worker has sent an urgent plea/complaint that the hospital he is at outside Port Au Prince has only treated four quake victims from the destroyed Haitian capital while teams of surgeons have no patients to treat.Tim Traynor sent the following e-mail to Democracy Now!I am sitting at Hopital Sacre Coeur in Milot, Haiti, 75 miles north of PAP waiting for patients that have yet to arrive. I have a 7 member trauma/ general surgery team that arrived from the States earlier this afternoon and have received only 4 people...

Three intelligence reports warned that Taliban insurgents were planning an attack just days before this month's raid on two remote military outposts in eastern Afghanistan that killed eight U.S. soldiers, but the reports were dismissed as insignificant, U.S. officials told The Washington Times. As a result, military officials did not send additional troops or make preparations to protect the 140 U.S. and Afghan troops at the combat outposts near Kamdesh in Nuristan province by the Pakistan border, the officials said. Army Maj. T.G. Taylor, a spokesman for the Army's Task Force Mountain Warrior, told The Times that the three reports...

Why are forum replies reviewed and posting delayed? Makes it kinda tough to carry on a conversation when it takes hours to communicate.

Conservatives are taking too much solace in the precipitous drop in Barack Obama's approval ratings, and too many of us are overconfident that his administration is merely a replay of the hapless presidency of Jimmy Carter that was easily swept out in a landslide election. Today's situation is far different, far more conducive to our political adversary's political power, than that which faced Carter. And Obama is an entirely different breed of cat. He's more ruthless, more tactically savvy, and has far more dangerous objectives. A drop in his poll ratings isn't as serious a setback for him as similar...

Methinks Wisconsin State Senator Jim Holperin doth protest too much. In his attempts to rebut a critique by Tom Tiffany of his first six months in the Democrat-controlled Wisconsin Senate, Senator Holperin parrots the Democrat talking point that the Democrats “eliminated a $6.6 billion deficit, and left the state with a $270 million surplus.” Two observations here: If there’s going to be a $270 million surplus, that means Wisconsin taxpayers will be paying $270 million more in taxes than it will take to pay for Democrat spending. I don’t suppose the taxpayers will get any of that surplus money back,...

Link from Drudge: Troy's celebrated solar house left in the dark Direct posting of Detroit News articles is not allowed.

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Democratic leaders are scaling back their plans to cut the gases blamed for global warming and to transition the country to cleaner sources of energy. Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Rep. Henry Waxman of California announced Tuesday the outlines of a deal that they said would ensure the legislation will please both environmental and industry groups and have the support of moderate Democrats on the House Energy Committee.

Bureaucratic infighting is holding up one of the Obama administration's top goals in renewable energy - the construction of wind turbines off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts that would generate clean electricity and create "green" jobs. At the center of the fight are two obscure but powerful federal agencies, each of which claims the ability to approve new wave and tidal energy projects along the outer continental shelf. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Minerals Management Service (MMS) each says it has the sole authority to issue permits and licenses, and neither is willing to budge. The result:...

It is my humble suggestion that the monstrosity of handouts to thugs, unions, and dependents be henceforth known as: Porkulus Marximus. That's my vanity for the season.