Free Republic

The MinnesotaCare health care plan for the poor and working poor is struggling to keep up with the demand for applications fueled by the sour economy. The Star Tribune reported Tuesday that applications are up 25 percent so far this year, and in July alone are up 43 percent from July 2008, to 5,473 applications. That rush has resulted in long delays to process applications and jammed telephone lines as the agency that runs the program cuts back on answering the phone so employees can work on the backlog. Minnesota Department of Human Services spokeswoman Lisa Wilder says the department...

WASHINGTON - The State Department said Monday it would revise a portion of its Web site after a Jewish group accused it of minimizing the Holocaust and Germany's role. The department's special envoy for Holocaust issues said a section of the site devoted to "background notes" on Germany would be altered following a protest from The Simon Wiesenthal Center. The center said the entry omitted key information. "We intend to change the language in order to more accurately reflect historical facts," said the envoy, J. Christian Kennedy. The department's Bureau of European Affairs, which compiled the section on Germany that...

TICABOO, Utah - The last U.S. uranium mill ever built, in this parched landscape near Lake Powell, shut down almost as quickly as it started operating as nuclear power fell into disfavor about two decades ago. Keith Larsen, chief executive for U.S. Energy Corp., picked up the mill 10 years later for practically nothing, banking it for better days. His patience paid off, making Larsen's company one of the few already taking profits out of a new uranium boom. Larsen's mothballed mill, once a liability, became a $90 million asset with mining claims — the deal he made to sell...

The House Judiciary Committee Thursday called for congressional hearings and an investigation into the case of two Border Patrol agents convicted of violating an alleged drug smuggler's civil rights. Congressional leaders asked for the investigation during a House field hearing about border security and immigration in El Paso, Texas, after Andy Ramirez, chairman of the Chino-based Friends of the Border Patrol, presented his opening statement, which included the agents' story. Family members of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, the convicted agents, attended the hearing. The agents, who are free pending their sentencing hearings in September, were not allowed to...

HADITHA, Iraq - A young Marine wonders if his superiors will support him if he shoots at perceived threats. An officer worries that civilians look at his Marines with more suspicion. The proud colonel acknowledges that his Corps has lost stature in the public's eyes. Allegations that Marines deliberately killed 24 civilians — including women and children — last November in this rebellious city have prompted reactions ranging from shame and anger to disbelief within the Marine Corps. In this intensely proud service, some say they're being prematurely judged. Others grasp for plausible explanations behind the alleged slaughter. A Pentagon...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (April 28, 2006) – As Iraqi security forces develop and the permanent government is seated, the Iraqi government, with support from the international community, is working to reform security institutions and eliminate insurgent resources. Praise for the Iraqi’s national unity government was one of the topics in this week’s Multi-National Force Iraq press conference. MNF-I Spokesman Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch started the press conference by congratulating the people of Iraq and Iraqi leaders for reaching agreement on the top leadership posts for a national unity government. “There will be challenges … remember, democracy in Iraq equals failure for...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Part of a San Francisco International Airport terminal was evacuated for several hours Sunday after a suspicious item was found in a piece of luggage, officials said. A baggage screener in the American Airlines section of Terminal 3 "noticed a suspicious item" in a passenger's carryon bag around 2 p.m., said airport spokesman Mike McCarron. Authorities would not say what exactly was found in the bag, but San Francisco police Lt. Bill Darr said "there were items, articles inside the carryon luggage that did resemble components of a possible device." Two men and a woman, all...

WASHINGTON - A key Republican committee chairman put the Bush administration on notice Friday that his panel would hold hearings into a report that the National Security Agency eavesdropped without warrants on people inside the United States. Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., said he would make oversight hearings by his panel next year "a very, very high priority." "There is no doubt that this is inappropriate," said Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican and chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Other key bipartisan members of Congress also called on the administration to explain and said a congressional investigation may be...

SACRAMENTO – A state spending limit backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is aimed at avoiding future deficits, but it is not expected to help close the current budget gap and may have no impact on overall spending for years. Here's why: The limit in Proposition 76 on the Nov. 8 ballot is based on how much money the state takes in, and an improving economy is boosting state tax revenue. Simply put, increasing revenues could raise the spending limit. Schwarzenegger's finance department estimates that projected spending would be near the limit next fiscal year, about $2 billion under the limit...

PARACHUTE, Colo. - The brush-covered landscape of buttes and desert just west of the Rockies, already dotted with oil and gas rigs, could be in store for another resource boom as the energy industry turns a fresh eye toward developing oil shale. A reserve estimated at nearly 1 trillion barrels of oil buried deep in rock formations stretching from western Colorado into northeastern Utah and southwestern Wyoming may be a way to ease U.S. dependence on shrinking foreign oil supplies. The newly enacted energy bill was written to help open the way for research programs and commercial leasing of federal...

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Responding to a precipitous drop in popularity, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday said he wants to seek compromise with Democrats on the state budget and the issues he has placed before voters for a November special election. "I feel that there is an agreement to be had," said Schwarzenegger, appearing more contrite than usual as he answered questions from reporters during a Capitol news conference. "We can resolve this, and then we can go together to the special election - Democrats and Republicans alike - and also that we can solve this budget. It's all about the...

TOPEKA, Kan. - A discussion about how evolution should be taught in public schools degenerated Wednesday into personal attacks among State Board of Education members. The board is reviewing proposed standards drafted by three conservative members designed to expose students to more criticism of evolution in the classroom. During the discussion, four board members who want the standards to maintain their existing evolution-friendly tone assailed the proposal. Bill Wagnon told the three conservative board members they were the "dupes" of intelligent design advocates, who presented what Wagnon said was bad science during public hearings in May. "It is all based...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The state Ethics Board is investigating tavern industry lobbyists for charging Wisconsin lawmakers $5 for unlimited beer the night a senator was arrested for drunken driving. State Sen. Russ Decker was pulled over in a Madison suburb about three hours after he and other lawmakers were charged the $5 for food and beer at the Tavern League of Wisconsin's event, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at a downtown hotel. Roth Judd, director of the state Ethics Board, said he launched the investigation to see whether the event complied with state laws on lobbying. Lawmakers...

Harry's Swastika Prompts Talk of EU Ban 2 hours, 5 minutes ago Europe - AP By CONSTANT BRAND, Associated Press Writer BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union (news - web sites) may consider banning Nazi symbols in its 25 member nations after Britain's Prince Harry wore a swastika armband to a costume party, the bloc's top justice official said Monday. AP Photo AFP Slideshow: Prince Harry's Nazi Costume Criticized Franco Frattini, the EU's justice and home affairs commissioner, said he was open to discussing the issue at a Jan. 27 meeting of EU justice ministers. "It may be worth looking...