http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/news-forum/ en-us Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:25:54 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284466/posts Canada's in the spotlight as debate on health care reform rages in the U.S.Published Thursday July 2nd, 2009 Lee-Anne Goodman, THE CANADIAN PRESS WASHINGTON - It's rare that anything to do with Canada is front and centre in the minds of Americans, but the Canadian health-care system has been a hot topic of discussion over the past few weeks as Capitol Hill legislators work on a massive health-care overhaul. From hair salons to hospital waiting rooms and Georgetown dinner parties, Americans have wanted to know: "What's health care really like in Canada?" "Is it true no one can get a... Canada East http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284466/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:25:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284465/posts "Free-riding is ubiquitous," David says. "These parasitic aggregators are capturing the heart of the stories so that readers have no need to visit the site of the original story." (snip) "It's unfair competition with unjust enrichment," Marburger says. (Snip) "If the copyright law doesn't open the way for originators of news to stop the free-riding, newspapers will die," he said. "No exceptions." (Snip) The Marburgers recommend amending the federal Copyright Act to provide two remedies for unjust enrichment: • Aggregators would reimburse newspapers for ad revenues associated with their news reports. • Injunctions would bar aggregators' profiting from newspapers' content... Cleveland Plain Dealer http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284465/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:22:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284464/posts A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world, scientists have discovered. Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same inter-related colony, and will refuse to fight one another. The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination. What's more, people are unwittingly helping the mega-colony stick together. Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) were once native to South America. But people have unintentionally introduced the ants to all continents except Antarctica. These introduced Argentine... BBC/UK http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284464/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:17:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284463/posts PARIS (AFP) – Climate change has caused a flock of wild sheep on a remote northern Scottish island to become smaller, according to an unusual investigation published on Thursday. The study explains a mystery that has bedevilled scientists for the past two years. The wild Soay sheep live on Hirta, in the St. Kilda archipelago in the storm-battered Outer Hebrides, and have been closely studied for nearly a quarter of a century. The law of evolutionary theory says the brown, thick-coated ungulates should have got progressively bigger. Tough winters mean that bigger sheep have a better chance of survival and... AFP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284463/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:12:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284462/posts It occurs to me that zeros policy in Afghanistan is completely incoherant. How can you stop an indigineous insurgency if you can't fire at the dwellings that are shooting at you? This bozo is going to accomplish the left's stated goal of emasculating the US Military by simple incompetance. I don't know if there is a solution to this conundrum. Any ideas. just a question http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284462/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:01:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284460/posts All right already. I won't call Obama a Marxist in this column. Instead, I'll point to some signs that indicate that Barack and Karl might well be soul mates. At least, they have similar attitudes about capital, labor and profits, er, surplus value. Liberals, even those of the Marxist variety, take umbrage when you point out their ideological kinship with Marxism. I suppose this dates back to the days when being a communist was tantamount to being an enemy of the United States, in that there was a global communist movement intent on -- and coming darn close to --... davidlimbaugh.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284460/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 23:00:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284459/posts ity the broadcast journalists. Just this once. They bend earnestly forward to ask questions of the Iranian president, enunciating as though he were hard of hearing—Charlie Rose, Brian Williams, Scott Pelley, George Stephanopoulos, Mike Wallace—and he shreds them. He says calmly that he is only interested in "the scientific approach" to whether or not the Holocaust happened. Returning question with question, he asks, "Did the Palestinians have anything to do with it?" and wonders why they must be "destroyed today under the pretext of the Holocaust." World Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284459/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:54:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284458/posts KABUL — A young American soldier who walked off his remote combat outpost in a volatile region of eastern Afghanistan has been captured and is believed to be in the hands of the Taliban network headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, American military officials said Thursday. Large numbers of American and Afghan forces fanned out in eastern Afghanistan to shut down routes the kidnappers could use to transport the soldier, officials said. A senior American defense official said there had been no direct negotiations with the kidnappers but that American forces were reaching out to tribal leaders and local Afghan government officials... NYTimes http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284458/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:53:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284457/posts COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) – Former South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson is calling on Gov. Mark Sanford to cut a check from his campaign war chest to help repair the "serious damage" he has done to Republican fundraising efforts in the state. Sanford, a prodigious fundraiser, is sitting on nearly $1.69 million in his gubernatorial election account, and he still has roughly $128,000 in his congressional account, according to his most recent campaign finance reports. New financial reports are due later this month. But now that Sanford's political career has collapsed, his money is in limbo. Under South Carolina... CNN - Political Ticker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284457/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:51:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284454/posts Americans lucky enough to still have a job are noticing something unpleasant in their paychecks: They're making less money. Employers cut 467,000 jobs in June, far more than expected, and the jobless rate hit a 26-year high of 9.5 percent. Just as worrisome, wages shrank to their lowest in nearly a year. The bleak news Thursday from the Labor Department underscored one of the big threats to an economic turnaround: Rising joblessness and falling wages for those still working could send Americans back into spending hibernation and short-circuit any recovery. President Barack Obama acknowledged concern. "What we're still seeing is... WJLA-TV / The Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284454/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:41:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284453/posts WASHINGTON -- Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows, involving everything from war-zone visits to trips to exotic spots such as the Galápagos Islands. The spending on overseas travel is up almost tenfold since 1995, and has nearly tripled since 2001, according to the Journal analysis of 60,000 travel records. Hundreds of lawmakers traveled overseas in 2008 at a cost of about $13 million. That's a 50% jump since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago. The cost of so-called congressional delegations, known among... The Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284453/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:36:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284452/posts Will the New York City school system be compelled to commemorate Islam on Sept. 11? It has been widely reported the New York City Council passed a resolution Tuesday recommending the school system shut down to commemorate two of the most important Muslim holidays, however the reports did not note the holidays fall on Sept. 11 in some years.... Islamic holidays are set based on the lunar calendar, meaning the dates corresponding to the Gregorian calendar change each year. As first noticed by Andrew Walden, publisher and editor of the Hawaii Free Press Eid al-Adha falls on Sept. 11 in... WND http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284452/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:33:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284451/posts President Obama is pouring $13 billion into an ambitious high-speed rail project. Some say it will never make money. Some say it will. And still others say profit is not even the point. Obama's plan is "to jump-start a potential world-class passenger rail" in 10 major corridors, linking cities within the Northeast, California, Florida and other regions with "bullet trains" that exceed 110 miles per hour. State governments are in the process of applying for the federal funds. Sam Staley, director of urban growth and land-use policy at the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think-tank, said the project is risky, and... CNN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284451/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:29:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284450/posts Oh yes, he went there. We’ve been having a running debate on Twitter this afternoon about Sarahcuda and my contention that criticism of her is verboten among righty blog readers, HA’s included. This thread will be an interesting test case. Most of the heat Kraut takes will be for his contention that “You cannot sustain a campaign of platitudes and clichés over a year and a half if you’re running for the presidency.” Didn’t Captain Hopenchange do exactly that? Well, yes and no. Granted, the most memorable line he uttered in 18 months on the trail was “Yes we can,”... Hot Air http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284450/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:25:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284448/posts FLINT, Michigan -- Like the ex-Flint police chief himself, the people who know Brad Barksdale are shooting straight about their former comrade. Barksdale is being praised by many for the single bullet in the chest that killed a robbery suspect who shot his way into the Palace Poker Room in Burton early Wednesday morning with a shotgun. "That guy picked the wrong place to rob," said Keith Speer, veteran cop and president of the Flint Police Officer's Assocation. "He's not going to miss a target he's intending to shoot. "He's not going to take a threat lying down ... he's... MLive.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284448/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:22:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284447/posts Barack Obama yesterday accused Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, of "living in the past" and indulging in Cold War thinking on the eve of his first trip to Russia as US president. Mr Obama described the former president, who remains the country's dominant political force, as someone who still has "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new". He said one reason he will meet Mr Putin, as well as Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, during his visit next week is that he wanted Mr Putin to know that "the old Cold... Telegraph (U.K.) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284447/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:20:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284446/posts Senate bill fines people refusing health coverageBy RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR – 58 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit with fines of more than $1,000 under a health care overhaul bill unveiled Thursday by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama's top domestic priority. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fines will raise around $36 billion over 10 years. Senate aides said the penalties would be modeled on the approach taken by Massachusetts, which now imposes a fine of about $1,000 a year on individuals who refuse to get coverage.... AP via Google http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284446/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:18:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284445/posts Pakistan's top Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is buying children as young as 7 to serve as suicide bombers in the growing spate of attacks against Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. targets, U.S. Defense Department and Pakistani officials say. A Pakistani official, who spoke on the condition that he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the topic, said the going price for child bombers was $7,000 to $14,000 - huge sums in Pakistan, where per-capita income is about $2,600 a year. "[Mehsud] has turned suicide bombing into a production output, not unlike [the way] Toyota outputs cars," a U.S.... The Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284445/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:17:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284442/posts "As soon as I heard five [years], I could not hear much after, and I hurt because I felt I let you and everyone down." So wrote former sailor Steven Nary from his cell in Avenal State Prison in the middle-of-nowhere, California. Nary, now 32, had just endured a 3 ½ hour parole hearing, his first after more than thirteen years of incarceration. Despite a near perfect prison record, a long standing conversion to Catholicism, an excellent psychiatric report, almost enough college credits to graduate, numerous letters of support, several job and living offers—including one from my wife and me—and... cashill.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284442/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:16:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284440/posts President Obama on Thursday called the nation's latest unemployment figures sobering, but said the economic recession is slowing. In a Rose Garden appearance with chief executives of clean-energy companies, Obama noted the average number of job losses in the current fiscal quarter has been 400,000 a month, compared with a monthly average of 700,000 in the previous quarter. "It took years for us to get into this mess, and it'll take more than a few months to get out," Obama said. A government report Thursday showed a net loss of 467,000 jobs in June, compared with a revised loss of... cnn http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284440/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:12:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284439/posts Freddie Mac Gets Another $6.1B from Gov't BY STEPHEN BERNARD | AP Business Writer You have entered an invalid email address From (email):* Required NEW YORK (AP) - Battered mortgage giant Freddie Mac received $6.1 billion in new funds from the Treasury Department to help offset its mounting liabilities, according to a regulatory filing submitted Wednesday. The company could also be close to naming a new, permanent CEO, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has been operating Freddie Mac since last fall, requested the funds for Freddie Mac after the mortgage... Memphis Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284439/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:12:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284437/posts Financial lobby gears up effort against Obama planBy Silla Brush Posted: 07/02/09 12:35 PM [ET] A coalition of financial services interests is in the process of organizing a major lobbying campaign against the Obama administration's plan for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The plans are not yet final, but among the groups and firms in the discussion are the American Financial Services Association, Financial Services Roundtable, Mortgage Bankers Association and Community Bankers Association, according to two industry sources familiar with the plans. The budget could be as high as several millions of dollars to organize grassroots opposition to the plan,... The Hill http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284437/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:01:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284436/posts WASHINGTON -- Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows, involving everything from war-zone visits to trips to exotic spots such as the Galápagos Islands. The spending on overseas travel is up almost tenfold since 1995, and has nearly tripled since 2001, according to the Journal analysis of 60,000 travel records. Hundreds of lawmakers traveled overseas in 2008 at a cost of about $13 million. That's a 50% jump since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago. The cost of so-called congressional delegations, known among... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284436/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 21:57:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284435/posts Former U.S. lawmaker and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney and several other human rights activists remained in an Israeli prison Thursday after refusing to sign a deportation form that they claim is self-incriminating. In a press release from the Green Party, McKinney said the form states that the Spirit of Humanity, a Greek-flagged relief boat carrying 21 activists, medical supplies, cement, olive trees and children's toys en route to Gaza, was violating the Israeli blockade and trespassing the country's territorial waters. "We were in international waters on a boat delivering humanitarian aid to people in Gaza Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284435/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 21:56:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284434/posts The Ruzh Hallat Primary Health Care Center will provide medical services for 30,000 residents of the Humer Kwer quarter of Sulaymaniyah province. USACE photo by Mike Scheck. SULAYMANIYAH — For the 30,000 residents of the Humer Kwer quarter of this province, access to healthcare just got a lot easier with the completion of the Ruzh Hallat Primary Healthcare Center. The $540,000 construction project was managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in Iraq. The U.S. Economic Support Fund provided funding for the project, and the USACE’s Sulaymaniyah Resident Office was the on-site construction manager.Dr. Ousman Younes, the Kurdistan... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284434/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 21:56:39 GMT