Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — U.S. officials for nearly three years accessed data on thousands of domestic phone numbers they shouldn't have and then misrepresented their actions to a secret spy court to reauthorize the government's surveillance program, documents released Tuesday show. The government's explanation points to an enormous surveillance infrastructure with such incredible power that even the National Security Agency doesn't fully know how to properly use it: Officials told a judge in 2009 that the system is so large and complicated that "there was no single person who had a complete technical understanding" of it. The documents, which the...

In our time, people of faith, acting on their consciences shaped by the Judeo-Christian tradition are being accused of hate. "Hate" has got to be the most overused word of our time. If someone is politically incorrect in their views, they are often falsely accused of hate. According to Webster's, hate means "To feel great hostility or animosity toward." Some atheists took offense recently to a military chaplain's quoting of the old saying, popularized by Dwight Eisenhower, "In battle, they learned the great truth that there are no atheists in the foxholes." Some atheists in the military have taken issue...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The stimulus plan the U.S. government is currently considering is necessary to help American citizens, but it will likely not reverse the country's economic decline, hedge fund manager and billionaire philanthropist George Soros said on Monday. "It is not enough to turn the situation around," Soros told the U.S. Conference of Mayors about the $850 billion proposal to increase spending and cut taxes. The plan, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week and will likely be passed by next month, will help state and local governments balance their budgets and preserve important social...

he computer program that helped NASA mistakenly decide that the shuttle Columbia had not been deeply harmed by a piece of falling foam would have predicted serious damage if used properly, said the retired Boeing engineer who developed the program. The engineer, Allen J. Richardson, said the program, known as Crater, was never intended to be used in a mission to predict damage, as it was in Columbia's fatal flight. Members of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, which is expected to release its final report on the disaster tomorrow, have disparaged Crater as a flawed tool. But Mr. Richardson said...

Pol: Funds misused on Texans By Shea Andersen Tribune Reporter New Mexico Republicans say they've had it with the Texas Democrats who are staying in Albuquerque, and not just because of political disagreements. Rep. Dan Foley, a Roswell Republican, wants the Legislative Finance Committee to investigate whether or not using State Police to guard the 11 wayward Texas Democrats is a misuse of state funds. He has asked the committee to subpoena Secretary of Public Safety John Denko to get answers. "I want to know how much, and who authorized this," Foley said at a press conference Thursday at the...