Free Republic

WASHINGTON – Repairs for rural bridges, an under-highway safe crossing for turtles and efforts to protect the sage grouse population are among 100 projects a Republican senator pointed to Monday as questionable federal stimulus spending. The list by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., includes projects others would identify as ideal for creating jobs and benefiting generations of Americans: skateboard parks, streetscapes, upgrades of park facilities, bike trails and parking garages. ... Coburn also criticized a $3.4 million Florida Department of Transportation project for an "eco-passage" — an underground wildlife road crossing for turtles and other wildlife in Lake Jackson, Fla., along...

In his Earth Day speech on Wednesday, Barack Obama claimed that Porkulus and its tax breaks for weatherization and residential energy efficiency had set off a “rush” to hire construction workers to make homes more energy efficient. Yesterday, his Labor Department begged to differ. They adjusted the numbers announced earlier this month on jobless claims upward, past analysts’ expectations, and the analysts predicted that unemployment would rise for the next 12 months into double digits: ----------------------------------------------------- Worse-than-expected news on unemployment and home sales Thursday dampened optimism that a broad economic recovery might be near. Many analysts don’t expect the housing...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Welders, bricklayers and other construction workers under the U.S. government's $787 billion stimulus law would earn significantly higher wages in some areas than crews on private, non-stimulus projects. Wage rules in the law are a potential bonus to workers' wallets but they're upsetting contractors who say it will increase their costs and reduce the numbers of projects that can be funded. Tucked within the 407-page law is a requirement that laborers and mechanics employed on government stimulus projects be paid "prevailing wages," which is defined as the salary and fringe benefits for corresponding work on similar...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   California: NRA Victory in San Francisco Lawsuit!   Thursday, January 29, 2009   PUBLIC HOUSING OFFICIALS DROP ILLEGAL BAN ON FIREARMS POSSESSION IN PUBLIC HOUSING An NRA-led coalition of self-defense civil rights groups including the Second Amendment Foundation and the California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA) has prevailed in a Second Amendment lawsuit challenging a ban on firearm possession in San Francisco public housing residences. “This success is further vindication of the U.S. Supreme Court's Heller ruling upholding the Second Amendment as protecting a fundamental, individual civil right for all law-abiding...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Oct. 27, 2008 – When students in Tarmiyah, Iraq, returned to school in September, they were welcomed by new classrooms full of new furniture and supplies. Their school, northwest of Baghdad, also had new electrical and sewer systems. Army 1st Lt. Erik Peterson meets with local contractors Oct. 20, 2008, and conducts a final assessment of improvements made to the Huda Teacher’s School in Tarmiyah, Iraq, northwest of Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Lyndsey Dransfield  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. After conducting a final assessment of improvements made to the Huda Teacher’s School on...

NBC News, which keeps the most widely followed of the media electoral-college estimates, on Friday night said it is moving the closely watched battlegrounds of Virginia and Colorado to “lean Obama,” putting its estimate for the Democratic nominee over the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. President Bush won each of those states by 5 points or more in both 2000 and 2004. Before the move, NBC’s count had Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) at 264 electoral votes, to 163 for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), with 111 as tossups. “We’re going to be, this weekend, moving Virginia and Colorado...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Oct. 23, 2008 – Leaders from Multinational Division Baghdad’s 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, joined the Taji Area Essential Services Committee to check on Iraqi government-funded projects in Taji, northwest of Baghdad, Oct. 15. Army Staff Sgt. Chris Mason, a native of Gilroy, Calif., pulls security duty outside a school undergoing rehabilitation in Taji, Iraq, northwest of Baghdad, Oct. 15, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Christopher Long  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Lt. Col. Thomas Mackey, a native of San Bernardino, Calif., and commander of...

DHI QAR — Electricity for any country means prosperity for its people; improvement to their lives and more opportunities for employment. In Iraq, a country that long has suffered from a serious lack of electricity production, a gleam of a light for a child in a dark night is a gleam for a new future. To avoid the darkness of winter, many Iraqis buy oil lanterns. And for many Iraqis, electric flash lights are very important if their private generators run out of fuel. Others have an electrical connection to generators run by local businesses to feed them with power...

TALLIL — A team from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) paid a visit recently to the village of Al Haboosh in Dhi Qar province with several goals in mind. For one thing, the team members wanted to check on the progress being made by the contractor building a new compact water unit for the village, a project funded with Economic Support Fund (ESF) money by the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) for Dhi Qar province. That project, which cost $650,000 and will provide clean drinking water to an estimated 1,500 Iraqis, is proceeding satisfactorily, said Navy Cmdr. Mike Lang,...

TALLIL — The Adder Area Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is hoping to wrap up more than a dozen projects of different sorts before the end of the year. Navy Cmdr. Mike Lang, officer in charge of the office, said the intent is to end the year “with a strong finish” by closing out a significant number of projects. The office is part of the Corps’ Gulf Region South (GRS) district, which serves Iraq’s nine southern provinces. Among the projects being eyed for completion before year’s end are three primary healthcare centers (PHC) in Dhi Qar...

BAGHDAD, Nov. 20, 2007 – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing a number of road improvement projects in Iraq, including a one-mile stretch on Victory Base Complex here. And while that particular project may be “inside the wire,” it is having an impact in town. Graders prepare the roadbed for asphalting. Iraqis are upgrading roads throughout Iraq, including this one on Victory Base Complex, Baghdad. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Hayder Mohammad, 26, is among those commuting from their Baghdad homes every day to help upgrade a gravel road into a paved main...

SACRAMENTO – A record $19.9 billion transportation bond pitched to voters last fall as a way to “fast track” projects is hitting slowdowns in some areas. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signaled that the money is flowing with a groundbreaking at Solana Beach last month for the extension of car pool lanes on Interstates 5 and 805. The bond will cover part of the $168 million cost. But legislation to set guidelines for distributing $2 billion to improve the movement of freight was stalled in part because Republicans thought proposals by Democrats were skewed toward improving air quality. And legislative leaders are...

BAGHDAD, Aug. 3, 2007 — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division, completed 112 construction projects between June 30 and July 27, 2007 – bringing the total number of completed projects to 3,998. Currently, there are 576 construction projects ongoing – all funded through the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, the Development Fund for Iraq, the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, the Economic Support Fund and the Iraq Security Forces Fund. Water projects that were completed this month include three network projects in Sadr City in Baghdad Province – each totaling $1.9 million. Each potable water project included laying...

... "Any rape case is horrible but this takes it to another level, something you can't think of even in your worst dreams," police spokesman Ted White said. According to the police report, a man knocked on the woman's door at about 9 p.m. and told her he had a flat tire. The mother and son, whom police have not identified, went outside and were ambushed by a group of gun-wielding suspects. The victims told police they were forced back into their home and beaten and sexually assaulted. According to authorities, the men raped, sodomized and beat the woman, then...

DUBAI — The UAE accounts for the bulk of the ongoing and planned infrastructure projects in the GCC countries, amounting to an estimated $1.3 trillion plus of investments over the 2007-2012 period. According to Edward Morse, Lehman Brothers' Chief Energy Economist, as of early April 2007, there were over 2,000 infrastructure projects. The core of these, over $300 billion, are in the UAE, mostly in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Projects in Saudi Arabia have doubled over the past 18 months, and are now tracked at over $280 billion. Kuwaiti projects exceed $215 billion and the development costs for projects in...

Sex offenders, drug dealers and gang members are not welcome in New Orleans. That's the crux of a measure passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would prohibit people convicted of certain crimes from living in the soon-to-be re-opened housing projects in New Orleans, while at the same time giving others priority to return. The measure proposed by Congressman Bobby Jindal will make it easier for handicapped, elderly and working people to move back into New Orleans public housing, while locking out those with shady pasts. Some evacuees say it's a racist move by politicians they don't trust....

BAGHDAD, March 6, 2007 — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division completed 64 construction projects between Feb. 23 and March 4, 2007 – bringing the total number of completed projects to 11, 395. Currently, there are 1,696 construction projects ongoing – all funded through the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, the Development Fund for Iraq, the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, the Economic Support Fund and the Iraq Security Forces Fund. “Clean, accessible drinking water is tantamount to good health, and access to fuel helps improve the burgeoning economy here. We are committed to seeing that the Iraqis...

WASHINGTON - By 2020, the United States will emit almost one-fifth more gases that lead to global warming than it did in 2000, increasing the risks of drought and scarce water supplies. That projection comes from an internal draft report from the Bush administration that is more than a year overdue at the United Nations. The Associated Press obtained a copy Saturday. The United States already is responsible for roughly one-quarter of the world's carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse" gases that scientists blame for global warming. The draft report, which is still being completed, projects that the current administration's climate...

Margarita sighs and glances around the home she’ll soon be leaving. There’s the tiny Christmas tree, still perched by the window. Over there are the toys her kids should have put away before going to bed. On the kitchen counter, bamboo shoots and dishes wait to be washed. She doesn’t want to move away from this jumbled place, but she knows she has to. Because this is now the law: Anyone like Margarita who lives in state-funded housing must show identification to their landlord and sign a paper that says they’ve come legally to the country. Like scores of immigrants...

ICE helps with funding, plan development and quality control. BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 5, 2007 — One the biggest efforts in rebuilding Baghdad is concentrating on the very things many have taken for granted: central services such as sewer systems, clean running water, electricity and trash disposal. In the past few years, many Iraqis have had to do without these necessities. So, the responsibility of helping bring all these services back to Baghdad has fallen on a few members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team’s Special Troops Battalion. (BSTB) These members make up the Infrastructure Coordination Element. Each person was selected...