Free Republic

Illegal immigrants in this country are threatening a massive boycott on May 1, purportedly to demonstrate they are so essential that the U.S. economy would shut down without their labor. On the contrary, such a boycott will expose the lie expressed by President George W. Bush in Cancun, Mexico, that they are "doing work that Americans will not do." According to the Pew Hispanic Center, illegal immigrants make up less than 5 percent of the U.S. labor force. If every one of the 20 million illegal aliens in our country plays hooky from his job on May 1, the overwhelming...

Do higher house prices make a country richer? The answer is simply “no”. If the market value of the stock is raised, those who own it are made better off by as much as those who will buy their houses from them are made worse off. Higher prices merely redistribute income among residents, principally from the young to the old. So why do fast-growing economies tend to have soaring house prices and slow-growing ones the opposite? The answer is not that higher house prices make a country richer, but the opposite: the wealthier the country, the more expensive its housing....

Gold and silver on a tear overseas. Also, oil seems to be breaking $70 a barrel. Anticipating problems tomorrow or just commodities on an upswing?

Darwin predicted that the "missing links" of evolution—gaps in the fossil record between related species—would come to haunt his theory. He was right: even today, they're a major theme in the effort to discredit evolution with the public. Which is why there was such a stir about a paper in the journal Nature last week describing a 375 million-year-old creature dug from rocks in the Canadian Arctic. [snip] Given the Inuit name Tiktaalik, the specimen neatly splits the gap between fossil fish that lived about 385 million years ago and the four-legged amphibians that came 20 million years later. [snip]...

Left’s Utopia Totalitarian Hell on Earth Lurking within the twisted corridors of the left’s collective mind dwells the seductive image of a glorious utopia. Leftists are certain that with their Promethean genius they could build an earthly utopia if they could but acquire total control over the world, its wealth, resources, and every human person. The infuriating stumbling block is Americans who hold traditional values. These Americans refuse to worship the ''new gods''…the Promethean Left… and vigorously cling to their individuality and inalienable rights. For these reasons, the left—driven by malignant envy and seething rage—has been waging an all-out ''slash...

To Bruce Mirken, denying people in need of marijuana is absurd -if they need it for medical reasons, he believes they should have it. Mirken, the director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, may see this vision become a reality if the Illinois medical marijuana bill is passed through the General Assembly. The bill, which was passed by the Senate's Health and Human Services Committee by a 6-4 vote last week, would legalize the use of medical marijuana. "It's simply crazy that we threaten patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis or AIDS with arrest or jail for something that may...

Setting up a conflict with the Romney administration, lawmakers on Monday advanced a longstanding Beacon Hill proposal to decriminalize the possession of enough marijuana for teens to roll dozens of joints. Approved 6-1 by the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee, the proposal would change the penalty for possessing marijuana to a $250 civil fine for anyone caught with less than an ounce of the drug, regardless of age. In addition, parents of those 18 years and younger would be notified of the infraction. Currently, someone convicted of such an offense can be sent to jail for up to six...

[...] Organizers blasted the federal Drug Enforcement Administration for targeting businesses that are legal under Proposition 215, a California law that permits marijuana use for medical treatment. Demonstrators said the action would restrict access to regulated pot shops for seriously ill patients. [...] "They didn't do any arrests, just took drugs and computers," said Paula "Cookey" Brown. "It just seems like a straight armed robbery." [...]

The price of gold has continued to rise in Asian trading, climbing to its highest level since 1981. Gains came despite concerns that the market may be set for a correction and some analysts are now predicting that prices have even higher to go. Precious metals have been given a boost as investors look to protect themselves against higher inflation and weakening currencies such as the Japanese yen. Gold climbed as high as $522.70 an ounce, before falling back. It was hovering around the $521 mark during afternoon trading in Asia. 'Dizzy high' "There's some profit-taking now, but look at...

Professor focused on intelligent design as theology, not science, at Dover trial Friday. HARRISBURG — If there is a God, then he could have made the monkey and the human with similar genetic material. In the fifth day of Dover Area School District’s trial over intelligent design, John Haught, a Georgetown University theology professor, agreed that was true. So, the idea that “we came from some monkey or ape is conjecture at this point?” Dover’s lead attorney Richard Thompson asked Haught under cross-examination. Haught disagreed. In a First Amendment battle in U.S. Middle District Court in Harrisburg, the Dover district...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- The concept of "intelligent design" is a form of creationism and is not based on scientific method, a professor testified Wednesday in a trial over whether the idea should be taught in public schools. Robert T. Pennock, a professor of science and philosophy at Michigan State University, testified on behalf of families who sued the Dover Area School District. He said supporters of intelligent design don't offer evidence to support their idea. "As scientists go about their business, they follow a method," Pennock said. "Intelligent design wants to reject that and so it doesn't really fall...

Brown University biologist Kenneth Miller, the first witness called Monday by lawyers suing the Dover Area School District for exposing its students to the controversial theory, sprinkled his testimony with references to DNA, red blood cells and viruses, and he occasionally referred to complex charts on a projection screen.Even U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III was a little overwhelmed."I guess I should say, 'Class dismissed,'" Jones mused before recessing for lunch.Dover is believed to be the nation's first school system to mandate students be exposed to the intelligent design concept. Its policy requires school administrators to read a brief...

The trial in Kitzmiller v. Dover, the first legal challenge to the constitutionality of teaching "intelligent design" in the public schools, is scheduled to begin in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on September 26, 2005, and the media are already focusing attention on the case. As the York Dispatch (September 23, 2005) reports, journalists from The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, and National Public Radio have already reserved space in the courtroom; Court TV sought but was denied permission to televise the trial. Paula Knudsen of the ACLU remarked, "It's the first time ["intelligent design"] has ever been in...

Police are losing the war against pot and it’s time to make it legal and regulate the cultivation and use of it, says Eugene Oscapella, an Ottawa University criminology teacher who co-founded the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy. Police say the number and size of local marijuana operations they’re discovering is increasing. In the last several weeks, police have laid charges after discovering more than $43-million worth of marijuana, mostly from four big busts. Monday West Grey police discovered another $1.3-million worth of marijuana growing south of Flesherton. The biggest of recent busts have often involved young, Asia men. Police...

The governor is being disingenuous. At this point the only honest reason to oppose giving licenses to illegal immigrants is because the state should not be giving its blessing to illegal behavior. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that position. Maybe the governor should try it on for size.

Atheist activist Michael Newdow, known for his attempt to remove "under God" from the Pledge, has petitioned a federal court to prevent the Bush administration from "engaging in Christian religious acts" related to the president's upcoming inauguration. Pointing out that two ministers, Rev. Franklin Graham and the Rev.Kirbyjon Caldwell, prayed at Bush's first inaugural ceremony in 2001, Newdow says the Inaugural '05 website indicates the president will chose a minister to "deliver an invocation" before he takes the oath of office Jan. 20. Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition says it's "appalling that Christians are being...

In today's Los Angeles, when a police officer sees a gang member on the street who is in our nation illegally, a 1979 city directive prevents him from apprehending that illegal alien because of his immigration status alone - even if he has knowledge that the subject has been previously deported because of a violent crime. And even though it is a felony to re-enter the U.S. after deportation. Manhattan Institute fellow Heather MacDonald reports that in Los Angeles, 95 percent of all outstanding warrants for homicide are for illegal aliens and as of January 2004, there were more than...

LOS ANGELES - The mirror-like, curving steel walls of the Walt Disney Concert Hall may soon lose some of their luster. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is considering whether to sandblast portions of the walls to reduce glare that has been blamed for blinding drivers and increasing heat in neighboring buildings. "It does get really, really warm in the summer," said Susan Yokoyama, co-owner of a video store near the hall. "It's like sitting in a sauna." After receiving complaints from a nearby homeowners group, the county hired consultants to work with architect Frank Gehry before the hall's...

I heard they mentioned and discussed Egypt, health care, Iran, meals on wheels, law suites, Africa, Tax cuts, Iraq, Social Security, Israel, Aids, open heart surgery, teachers, Korea, public schools, their voting records, who cares more about the troops, Medicare, Halliburton, etc etc.. Did they even mention the millions pouring into our country illegally, during war time yet? What is it now? 3 million a year? Are we kidding ourselves? Is the joke on us? We have a Presidential debate, a VP debate, and a speech today from the President of the United States, yet has either side even mentioned...

After-debate discussion here!