Free Republic

After viewing the Thursday night GOP debate in Charleston, I noticed a recurring pattern with Mitt Romney. After virtually every hard hitting, direct question - he responds by saying “I’m going to answer your question - BUT FIRST...” then he rambles on with some canned nonsense having nothing to do with the question. It's pretty obvious that he has these remarks well memorized, having been campaigning for the past six years. What Mitt seems to be doing is thinking of how he's going to answer the poignant question while the torrent of dribble effortlessly spills out of his mouth. You...

Tea Party Rep. Joe Walsh sued for $100,000 in child support BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Political Reporter/apallasch@suntimes.com July 27, 2011 9:59PM Freshman U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, a tax-bashing Tea Party champion who sharply lectures President Barack Obama and other Democrats on fiscal responsibility, owes more than $100,000 in child support to his ex-wife and three children, according to documents his ex-wife filed in their divorce case in December. “I won’t place one more dollar of debt upon the backs of my kids and grandkids unless we structurally reform the way this town spends money!” Walsh says directly into the camera...

A gun-toting man running from police died after he suffered multiple cuts running through a glass door, authorities said this morning. Officers saw the man firing a gun in the air just before 8:30 p.m. in a vacant lot in the the 6200 block of South Vernon Avenue in the West Woodlawn neighborhood, police said. The Cook County medical examiner's office identified him this morning as Jonrynn Avery, 24, of the same block.

Crews have started removing almost 1,000 panels of glass from balconies at the 37-story W Austin Hotel and Residences, a job that will likely extend into next week. Replacement work cannot begin, though, until developer Stratus Properties learns what caused panels to shatter and fall three times in just over two weeks. The downtown hotel temporarily closed its doors Tuesday night after a trio of panels rained down on the building's south side. On Monday, three other panels dropped onto nearby streets. No one was hurt in either of this week's incidents, but four people suffered injuries when two panels...

Watch "A Day Made of Glass" and take a look at Corning's vision for the future with specialty glass at the heart of it.

If former Houston Mayor Bill White is able to prevent Gov. Rick Perry from an unprecedented third term in November, he’ll most likely have received an assist from Libertarian Kathie Glass. Glass, a Houston lawyer who has been keeping a rigorous traveling schedule of tea party events, American Legion venues and radio talk show appearances, is campaigning on a platform of limited government and secure borders. On the stump, her blunt talk, accusing Perry of giving a wink and a nod to President Barack Obama, makes her an immediate presence. And a poll taken earlier this month showed her registering...

A company in Tennessee is recalling some packages of frozen vegetables because they may contain glass fragments. Pictsweet said Friday that 24,000 pounds of packages were distributed to Kroger stores in the southeastern U.S. and Walmart stores throughout the U.S. Recalled are:

The military garrison in San Vicente del Caguan, in the southern department of Caqueta, has been blessed by a Marian apparition, according to soldiers in the area. In an interview with Caracol TV, one soldier said, "The truth is that she was a marvelous surprise. I realized it was her, without a doubt, because no painter exists here that could make an image as marvelous as her." The "divine manifestation" was seen in the window pane of a building housing a battalion of soldiers. The vision has created a fervor among Catholics who have come to see the Virgin and...

Synopsis: SquareTrade analyzed iPhone accidents for over 20,000 iPhone 4s covered by SquareTrade Care Plans and found a 82% increase in reported broken screens compared to the iPhone 3gs. Highlights of the study include: * iPhone 4 owners reported 82% more damaged screens in the first 4 months compared to iPhone 3gs owners. * Overall, the reported accident rate for iPhone 4s was 68% higher than for the iPhone 3gs. * An estimated 15.5% of iPhone 4 owners will have an accident within a year of buying their phone.

The Romans weren't just dab hands at making beautiful vessels, ornaments and plates from glass; they were also good at recycling the stuff. A new study has found that towards the end of their rule in Britain, the Romans were recycling vast amounts of glass. But the researchers behind the study think this probably had less to do with their concern for the environment, and more to do with the fact that glass became scarcer in the northern fringes of the Roman Empire during the last century of their rule. Glassmaking was a highly sophisticated and successful industry during Roman...

The sister of a 23-year-old New York man killed in a bizarre incident at a Boston pub spoke out today, saying the family is “a mess” in the wake of their loved one’s death. “We don’t know what to do with ourselves,” said Jennifer DiMaria, 25, whose brother Michael died after he was hit in the neck with flying shards of glass at The Lansdowne pub Saturday. “My parents are walking around like zombies, my grandparents are devastated… We’ll miss him so much.” Jennifer DiMaria spoke to the Globe from her family home in Hicksville, N.Y., a few hours after...

CORNING, N.Y. (AP) -- An ultra-strong glass that has been looking for a purpose since its invention in 1962 is poised to become a multibillion-dollar bonanza for Corning Inc. The 159-year-old glass pioneer is ramping up production of what it calls Gorilla glass, expecting it to be the hot new face of touch-screen tablets and high-end TVs. Gorilla showed early promise in the '60s, but failed to find a commercial use, so it's been biding its time in a hilltop research lab for almost a half-century. It picked up its first customer in 2008 and has quickly become a $170...

When it comes to computer technology, thin is always in. It's indisputable that the thinner, lighter, clearer, the better when dealing with the latest computer gadget. This keyboard is the epitome of the high standards expected of the technological version of the fashion industry. It's based on image as well, that is, image recognition technology. It judges clicking depending on the image of the size and where your finger touches the keyboard.

Bill Clinton Is Responsible For Our Current Messposted February 17, 2010 Just as I have been saying all along, this current economic mess in which we find ourselves lies at the feet of Bill Clinton. While I have known this for some time from evidence found through various sources, the fact was driven home last night on a television special. Was it on Fox News? Far from it. It was on the PBS show, "Frontline." Long story short is that the deregulation of the financial industry under Clinton and his Treasury Secretary, Robert Rubin, along with their complete refusal to...

(PhysOrg.com) -- Spray-on liquid glass is transparent, non-toxic, and can protect virtually any surface against almost any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, heat, and bacterial infections. The coating is also flexible and breathable, which makes it suitable for use on an enormous array of products. The liquid glass spray (technically termed “SiO2 ultra-thin layering”) consists of almost pure silicon dioxide (silica, the normal compound in glass) extracted from quartz sand. Water or ethanol is added, depending on the type of surface to be coated. There are no additives, and the nano-scale glass coating bonds to the...

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." —The Bhagavad Gita Seven years after the nuclear tests in Alamogordo, New Mexico, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, was lecturing at a college when a student asked if there were any U.S. atomic tests before Alamogordo. “Yes, in modern times,” he replied. The sentence, enigmatic and incomprehensible at the time, was actually an allusion to ancient Hindu texts that describe an apocalyptic catastrophe that doesn’t correlate with volcanic eruptions or other known phenomena. Oppenheimer, who avidly studied ancient Sanskrit, was undoubtedly referring to a passage in...

The new World Trade Center, now under construction, is often considered a symbol of American enterprise. But to some union members and U.S. businesses, it represents what's wrong with the nation's economy. The contract to manufacture the blast-resistant glass wrapping the main tower's first 20 stories was awarded earlier this year to a Chinese firm that underbid U.S. competitors. Now the trade tensions between the United States and China that have arisen recently over tires, steel and paper are spreading to glass. "This new tower is going to be made out of subsidized Chinese glass, putting factory workers out of...

AVIATION WEEK posted an article about aircraft upgrades, new glass cockpits are at the top of the list for many owners. Since the earliest days of aviation, pilots have been staring at gauges to help ascertain the condition of their machines and the world around them. Orville and Wilbur had three instruments on their first Flyer: a stopwatch, an anemometer for measuring wind speed and a tachometer. Subsequently and especially since the introduction of instrument flight and the development of the standard T cluster, engineers managed to cover every available inch of cockpit real estate with some type of instrument,...

President Obama held a "very sober meeting" about the economy with 10 of the nation's business leaders at the White House Wednesday as the House debated his proposed $825 billion economic stimulus package. "They understand when it comes to rebuilding our economy, we don't have a moment to spare," Mr. Obama said of the chief executive officers attending the meeting. "They are looking for action from Washington, bold and swift." Mr. Obama characterized them as being "on the frontline of people who are seeing enormous problems in the economy right now" and said the economic difficulties were a reason for...

It is well known that panes of stained glass in old European churches are thicker at the bottom because glass is a slow-moving liquid that flows downward over centuries. Well known, but wrong. Medieval stained glass makers were simply unable to make perfectly flat panes, and the windows were just as unevenly thick when new. The tale contains a grain of truth about glass resembling a liquid, however. The arrangement of atoms and molecules in glass is indistinguishable from that of a liquid. But how can a liquid be as strikingly hard as glass? “They’re the thickest and gooiest of...

Since deserting his unit in Iraq and fleeing to Canada two years ago, Corey Glass has become the poster boy of the war resisters movement. Thursday in Toronto, supporters are planning to protest his scheduled deportation back to the United States. Corey Glass, 25, who deserted the U.S. Army while his unit was in Iraq and fled to Canada has become a cause celebre there. The American's impending deportation has led to protests and a parliamentary resolution. (ABC News Photo Illustration)But it turns out Glass has had little reason to be on the lam, ABC News has learned. Unknown to...

Daily Glass Of Wine Could Improve Liver HealthFor individuals who reported drinking up to one glass of wine per day, as compared to no alcohol consumption, the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was cut in half, according to a new study. (Credit: iStockphoto)ScienceDaily (May 22, 2008) — Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine are challenging conventional thinking with a study showing that modest wine consumption, defined as one glass a day, may not only be safe for the liver, but may actually decrease the prevalence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). The study, which appears in the...

The story of Western architecture is one of darkness giving way to light. Europe's dour medieval fortresses were replaced by airy Gothic structures and for the modernists, light was an end in itself. Has this tale run its course? From the beginning, architecture has been embarked on a journey to the light. That we have arrived is something we now take for granted. But it wasn't always thus. Indeed, of all the elements that comprise architecture, light was historically the most elusive. For millennia, we lived in shadow. Anyone who has wandered through those 1,000-year-old Romanesque churches around Barcelona in...

Local moms are playing it cautious when it comes to their babies' bottles. Retailers throughout southeastern Wisconsin say they have seen a swell of interest in glass and bisphenol A-free baby bottles in the past few weeks. So much so that a store manager at USA Baby in Brookfield said manufacturers have been unable to keep up with his customers' demands. "We've really seen a surge in the last month," said Tom Blackmore, manager of USA Baby. "It's been hard to keep glass bottles in stock." A growing body of research indicates that bisphenol A - a chemical used to...

Cray Supercomputer at Sandia Helps Researchers Discover Origin of Mysterious Glass Found in King Tut's Tomb Released : Tuesday, July 31, 2007 7:26 AM Global supercomputer leader Cray Inc. (NASDAQ: CRAY) today announced that researchers running simulations on the Cray supercomputer at Sandia National Laboratories have re-created what could have happened 29 million years ago when an asteroid explosion turned Saharan sand into glass. The greenish natural glass, which can still be found scattered across remote stretches of the desert, was used by an artisan in ancient Egypt to carve a scarab that decorates one of the bejeweled breastplates buried...

Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan pulled four cabbage products from 228 stores in Tokyo and neighboring areas after two customers damaged their teeth on glass found in their cole slaw, the company said Friday. KFC received the complaints Thursday, the company said in a statement. One customer, a man, said he chipped his tooth on the glass, and the other, a woman, said she lost a filling, company spokesman Kiyotaka Mura said. An internal investigation has determined that the glass came from a thermometer that broke earlier this week in a refrigerator for cut cabbage at a factory near Tokyo, the...

Safety officials remain mystified why windshields cracked on at least 14 planes at Denver International Airport on Friday. "We are not discounting anything," said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer, whose agency is among those investigating the incidents. "We believe it is very remarkable to have this number of events in the same area at the same time." The National Transportation Safety Board will have a glass specialist from its structures division examine 22 damaged front and side windshields that were removed from the affected planes, said NTSB air-safety investigator Jennifer Kaiser. The cracking occurred over a 1 1/2 hour...

Mysterious Egyptian Glass Formed by Meteorite Strike, Study Says Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic News December 21, 2006 Strange specimens of natural glass found in the Egyptian desert are products of a meteorite slamming into Earth between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago, scientists have concluded. The glass—known locally as Dakhla glass—represents the first clear evidence of a meteorite striking an area populated by humans. At the time of the impact, the Dakhla Oasis, located in the western part of modern-day Egypt, resembled the African savanna and was inhabited by early humans, according to archaeological evidence (see Egypt map.) "This meteorite...

Fulgurites! The second is the world record holder.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. Nov 4, 2006 (AP)— Since going to Canada to avoid another deployment to Iraq, Corey Glass has considered returning to the United States. But after hearing that a fellow former soldier who surrendered to the military and was ordered to return to his unit instead of being discharged, Glass may not return at all. "They're not going to win the hearts and minds like that," said Glass, 24, who signed on with the Indiana National Guard in 2002. Kyle Snyder, a one-time combat engineer who joined the military in 2003, disappeared Wednesday, a day after surrendering at Fort...

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger embarks from San Diego County on a campaign bus tour this morning, he will be greeted by good news in the form of a poll showing his re-election prospects brightening. A new statewide Field Poll shows that 45 percent of the likely voters in the Nov. 7 election would vote for the Republican incumbent and 37 percent for Democratic state Treasurer Phil Angelides. Three percent would vote for minor-party candidates and the remaining 15 percent were undecided. Although that does not represent a statistically significant change from May, when Schwarzenegger led Angelides 46 percent to 39...

General Motors has won the first round of a consumer lawsuit that could set a precedent for other automakers in similar suits pending in several states. A U.S. District Court judge in Dallas has dismissed a suit in which the owner of a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe alleged that GM had been negligent in using tempered glass in its side windows rather than laminated glass.

A Redmond glassblower who was sued for copyright violations last year by artist Dale Chihuly fired back in court Friday — challenging the integrity of Chihuly's art and the public's impression of how it's created. Among other things, Robert Kaindl alleges in a counterclaim filed in U.S. District Court that Chihuly is not involved in conceiving, creating, designing or even signing a "substantial number" of artworks that bear his name.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness. Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said: "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident."'Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis.Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes...

ALBANY, N.Y. - Here's a new tip to help curb drinking over the holidays: Ask for your scotch-and-soda in a highball glass. That's because people tend to unwittingly pour more alcohol into short, wide glasses compared to tall, skinny ones — meaning two cocktails from a squat tumbler might actually pack the punch of 2 1/2 drinks. The phenomenon is so pervasive even experienced bartenders do it, according to a study being published Friday in the BMJ, formerly the British Medical Journal. "People say, 'Oh, the bartender knows what he's doing.' Well, the bartender does know what he's doing in...

If you assume, as I do, that the purpose of the political process is to persuade people to entrust you with power, the solution to the losses Governor Schwarzenegger faced in November is simple. It is also hard work. And it is the solution the Governor seems to be avoiding. If I have any complaint with many of my California Republican colleagues, it would be that they think they can outsmart, outwit, or outmaneuver the Democrats. They believe that if they can find just the right issue, or just the right tactic, they can slick their way into a majority...

1,700-year-old 'Roman Glass' Discovered in East China Glass remains over 1,700 years old, possibly imported from ancient Rome, have been discovered in an ancient tomb located in east China's Anhui Province, local cultural relic department said on Sunday. The tomb was found during the latest road project in Zhulong Village of Dangtu County in Anhui. Archaeologists believed the tomb was built in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 - 420). Covered with white mantlerock, the glass remains seem to have ancient Roman shapes and craftwork. According to the local cultural relic department, the owner of the tomb was possibly from an...

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq (August 18, 2005) -- The Ramadi Glass Works Factory, which was once the second largest employer in western Iraq’s Al Anbar Province, is slowly coming back to life. The factory’s management is working with coalition forces to gradually reopen the plant, which was closed last November after insurgents used the factory to stage attacks. Due to its key role in the local economy, both groups have pushed to open the facility, which also includes a ceramics factory. “It employs 2,300 people and the way we look at it those are 2,300 families affected,” said...

MIDI - FLIPPER There is a place that they face to pray They evoke calls to blow us away If a nuke hit on us comes to pass We'll turn that place into glass They call it Mecca, Mecca...that's where they turn to When they say "Please, Allah, make them dead" They call it Mecca, Mecca...and it's about time, folks To plan for what Tancredo has said What have their kids been learning in school They always teach their one golden rule Right after they hear opening bell Kill Jews and all infidels! They call it Mecca, Mecca...that's where...

Randy Glass Video By Paul Thompson View the printer friendly view A fascinating video relating to an important unheeded warning of the 9/11 attacks was shown on WPTV, an NBC TV station in Florida on October 7, 2002. This video has been overlooked and forgotten until now. What did Senator Bob Graham (left) and US intelligence know about the warning from Randy Glass (right) before 9/11? In this video, Randy Glass, a private US citizen working as an undercover agent in a government sting operation, discusses how he learned about a threat to the World Trade Center and tried to...

A Texas jury has found Ford Motor Co. liable for a rollover accident involving a Ford Explorer in another legal setback for the manufacturer of America's most popular sport utility vehicle. On Tuesday, the jury in Zavala County District Court ordered Ford to pay $31 million in compensatory damages in the case, Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said.

Here is your chance to see if W has what it takes to really beat Kerry.

Glass breakthrough 11 August 2004 Scientists in the US have developed a novel technique to make bulk quantities of glass from alumina for the first time. Anatoly Rosenflanz and colleagues at 3M in Minnesota used a "flame-spray" technique to alloy alumina (aluminium oxide) with rare-earth metal oxides to produce strong glass with good optical properties. The method avoids many of the problems encountered in conventional glass forming and could, say the team, be extended to other oxides (A Rosenflanz et al. 2004 Nature 430 761). Glass is formed when a molten material is cooled so quickly that its constituent atoms...

from the like-blue-LEDs dept. Alien54 writes "Scientists in the US have developed a novel technique to make bulk quantities of glass from alumina for the first time. (link includes a picture of samples) Anatoly Rosenflanz and colleagues at 3M in Minnesota used a "flame-spray" technique to alloy alumina (aluminium oxide) with rare-earth metal oxides to produce strong glass with good optical properties. The method avoids many of the problems encountered in conventional glass forming and could, say the team, be extended to other oxides (see also: A Rosenflanz et al. 2004 Nature 430 761). Scotty would be pleased."

SCIENCE FILE A new glass coating made of vanadium dioxide could provide relief for sky-high summer air conditioning bills — without affecting winter heating costs, according to a study in the latest Journal of Materials Chemistry. Chemists from University College London covered glass with a thin layer of the compound mixed with a sprinkling of tungsten, a combination that blocks the sun's infrared rays when it's hot, but lets the sun's warmth through in the cold.

<p>October 10, 2002 -- WASHINGTON - Former President Bill Clinton was showered with pricey gifts while he was in office from the leaders of Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, but he didn't disclose them because they were earmarked for his presidential library in Arkansas, a new report yesterday revealed.</p>

The financially troubled L.E. Smith Glass Co., one of the last hand-molded glass factories in the United States, abruptly ceased production this week after talks between a potential buyer and a major lender failed. The specialty glass maker, whose customers included Martha Stewart and the retailer Williams Sonoma, had operated in Mount Pleasant since 1907. Martin Noonan, L.E. Smith's Boston-based president, blamed a poor economy and import competition for the company's problems. Both he and the lender, Sky Financial, said they were seeking another buyer. The factory's retail store will remain open for at least the near future, said Tim...

<p>An experiment originally designed to fly on the International Space Station led a team of researchers to develop a completely new type of glass, a material formed while floating in mid-air in a NASA laboratory on Earth.</p> <p>Using static electrical fields to levitate the material, scientists were able to construct a pure glass, free of any contamination typically associated with containers. It could serve as the centerpiece for new medical and industrial lasers, as well as have broadband Internet applications.</p>

<p>QUINCY -- William J. Quarterone did not go back to sleep yesterday morning, too troubled after watching a bleeding man collapse in front of his home in the early hours. Minutes before, police said, the man had stolen some Play Station 2 video games, and was fatally wounded as he fled.</p>

Beijing - Beer bottles that exploded in the hot summer weather were one of the biggest health risks Chinese consumers faced last year, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday. Complaints about food safety rose by nearly 25 percent in 2003 as newly wealthy Chinese consumers looked for quality and spoke out if they were disappointed, Xinhua quoted a leading consumer group as saying. "Personal injury, foreign matter in food, outdated or undated food and children's food safety were the chief (causes of) complaint," said Wang Qianhu, director of the China Consumers' Association's complaint and law department. "...Beer bottle explosions were...