Free Republic

Changing the way the world eats is an ambitious goal. The significant changes in the government’s dietary guidelines are an important step forward and a clear signal that the message Dr. Atkins long championed is increasingly heeded. I’m delighted to see the much-awaited dietary guidelines of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). A close look at the recommendations released last week shows how closely these recommendations reflect our efforts to raise carbohydrate awareness and emphasize the importance of weight management. It appears that government officials have listened to the Atkins’...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

Rather got off too easy By Al Knight Denver Post Columnist Article Published: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 An independent panel's probe of the disputed Sept. 8 "60 Minutes" report on President Bush's National Guard service allows for only one conclusion: The program segment was an example of lousy, if not biased, journalism and most of the culprits responsible, especially CBS producer Mary Mapes, deserved to be fired. However, for reasons not yet clear, CBS anchorman Dan Rather was spared a similar fate. Although Rather has resigned his anchorman position, he will continue to work for CBS on both the Sunday...

Yes, the election is behind us, but it is not yet time to heal the wounds. We cannot let the Democrats forget the vitriol they spewed during the campaign. Their ugly tactics are part of history. Forget history and we repeat our mistakes. Remember Bob Woodward’s charge that President Bush and the Saudis had a secret “deal” to keep oil prices low in the run-up to the 2004 presidential election? (See also here). There is no documentation showing that such a deal was ever made. Historical oil and gas prices in 2004 provide empirical evidence that no such deal was...

Chris Whittle, who edits Sunday Morning Shootout ... has a fascinating, wide ranging post on his site Eject! Eject! Eject!, which hits many of my political-entertainment industry buttons. The amn knows whereof he speaks, and has a lot of worthwhile thoughts. >>There are only eight conservative actors in the history of Hollywood, and five of them have been elected to high office. (The sixth was elected president of the National Rifle Association, the seventh was elected Mayor of Carmel, California on a pro-business platform, and John Wayne had the class to never run for – or from – anything.) If,...

An online guide to the Latin Low Mass has been added to the Angelqueen site. Using a variety of sources, the Mass has been divided into sections with narrative explanation, illustration, history and background. The Latin is side by side with the English exegesis/translation. There are also sections on the altar setup,  the vestments, and the furnishings and equipment with photos and descriptions. You can start at the intro and click through the entire mass by hitting the "next" link on each page. Or use the table of contents to find various sections.One reason it was put together was to...

Food Running Low Aboard Space Station Published Thursday, December 9, 2004 By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Food is running so low aboard the international space station that the two crewmen have been instructed to cut back on calories, at least until a Russian supply ship arrives in a little over two weeks, NASA said Thursday. If anything goes wrong with the Christmas Day delivery, the space agency will have no choice, given the grounding of its shuttle fleet, but to abandon the station and bring the men home in early January. This cargo ship "is very...

Insurgents still holding out in Fallujah are running low on ammunition and many of them are seriously wounded, Al-Arabiya television reported from the outskirts of the city. The report, filmed in two segments in different locations, included a brief interview with one Iraqi fighter. He said there were only about 100 foreign fighters in the city and the rest of those resisting the Americans were Iraqis. "They say that they have run out of ammunition and that many of those who stayed inside are seriously wounded," Al-Arabiya correspondent Wail Essam said in his report yesterday. The correspondent added that many...

PARIS (Reuters) - When a Muslim radical murdered the Dutch director Theo van Gogh for a film criticising Islam, Christoph Luxenberg saw his name ripple through Internet forums 1,000 times and immediately knew why. "The safety of experts on Islam is topical again," he said -- in a surprisingly detached tone for the author of a critique of the Koran who fears it could one day spark similar anger. Van Gogh, murdered last week for a film slamming Muslim treatment of women, set out to be provocative. But such is the apprehension among critics of Islam that even an obscure...

Dollar Falls to Record Low Against Euro 2 hours, 39 minutes ago NEW YORK (Reuters) - The euro hit a record high against the dollar above $1.2927 on Friday as the beleaguered U.S. currency weakened across the board in technically driven trading.

[Gabler's tripe not posted] I can't believe this utter tripe wasn't posted. The LA Slimes hit a new low with this Sunday Op-Ed piece "gracing" the front page of the Opinion section. The headline is Rove is America's Mullah. And the inside header is "The Ayatollah in the White House". This is either 1) calling Roosevelt's top political coordinator a Nazi in the 1944 election -- the Mullahs, such as Omar or those from Iran are universally recognized as the worst of the worst today. 2)If this extreme term isn't meant, then what is it? Is the LA Times smearing...

From Hugh Hewitt: I interviewed Matthew Dowd today (and that transcript will follow as well.). His key point: There are three signs of a collapsing campaign. First, the candidate who is falling like a rock challenges his opponent to weekly debates. Second, the candidate who is sinking shuffles his senior staff. Third, the candidate who is the walking dead says that the only poll that counts is the poll on election day. Dowd pointed out that Kerry has already scored two of the three. Heh. Yep, were seeing it happen right before our eyes. With 53% approval ratings this will...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. soldiers in Iraq (news - web sites) were plagued by low morale, experienced spikes in suicides last July and November and lacked access to some medications sought by military mental-health specialists to treat emotional problems, Army experts reported on Thursday. A 12-person Army Mental Health Advisory Team issued a 38-page report on issues faced by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, including suicide, combat stress and the availability of help from the Army. The team traveled to Iraq from August to October 2003 and interviewed almost 760 soldiers. The report found a "significant proportion" of soldiers "experienced and...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Janet Jackson's Super Bowl exposure was "a new low for prime-time television," the government's chief broadcast regulator told lawmakers Wednesday. The Super Bowl halftime show featured a duet by Jackson and Justin Timberlake that ended with Timberlake tearing off part of Jackson's top and exposing her right breast to 90 million TV viewers. The singers said the incident was an accident and have apologized, but it has fueled calls for the government to pay more attention to what goes out on the nation's airwaves. The Federal Communications Commission has received more than 200,000 complaints about the halftime...

As the dollar falls to an 11-year low, Britons pound streets of Manhattan and go shopping until they drop By David Usborne in New York 17 December 2003 It seems like a fair question, but Chris Haxby has got a 'you've-got-to-be-joking' look on his face. No, he and his girlfriend, Londie McKay, definitely do not have a budget limit for their five days in New York. "There wouldn't be any point, would there?" he says. "Especially not in a place like this." Shopping Heaven is what he means. This Christmas, swarms of British tourists are descending on Manhattan. Some will...

Half of soldiers quit Iraqi army over poor pay By Andrew Buncombe in Washington 12 December 2003 America's efforts to bring calm to Iraq have suffered a setback because almost half the recruits for the Iraqi army have quit, complaining of poor pay and working conditions. An official with the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) said yesterday that approximately 300 members out of around 700, who made up the first battalion of the newly formed force, had left. "Their complaint appears to have been about terms and conditions and salary. We will look at these [and] review the terms and...

High and low tides put bounce into Britain By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 29/11/2003) Parts of Britain "bounce" by four inches twice a day and the most wobbly counties are Devon and Cornwall, says a survey. The movement is caused as tides ebb and flow twice daily, according to the survey made using GPS (global positioning system) satellites, revealing tiny movements of the ground down to a few millimetres. The nationwide survey, by a team from the Ordnance Survey, Newcastle University and the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, Birkenhead, shows that the deformation of Earth's crust varies across the country. The...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 November 10 A Green Flash from the Sun Credit & Copyright: Pekka Parviainen (Polar Image) Explanation: Many think it is just a myth. Others think it is true but its cause isn't known. Adventurers pride themselves on having seen it. It's a green flash from the Sun. The truth is the green flash does exist and its cause is well understood. Just as the setting Sun disappears...

London market closes at lowest point for five years The London market has slumped to its lowest close for more than five years. By the close of trading, the FTSE 100 Index was down 154.2 points at just 4392.6. The lowest it reached in the aftermath of September 11 was 4433.7 on 21 September. Today's slide brings the Footsie to its lowest point since April 28 1997. A slump on Wall Street hit shares further, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq fell in afternoon trading. By the close of trading, just six stocks were ahead. Analysts said the...

With Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff For the story behind the story... Sunday, April 28, 2002 12:02 a.m. EDT Clinton Gets Mideast Role, Meets with Crown Prince Abdullah Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal revealed Saturday night that disgraced ex-president Bill Clinton met with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in Texas on Friday, in an apparent reversal of previous Bush administration statements suggesting that Clinton would play no role in the current Mideast crisis. Al-Faisal confirmed the Clinton-Abdullah meeting during this exchange with Fox News Channel's Rita Cosby: COSBY: In the last few days I understand that you and your team...