Free Republic

Sen. Mel Martinez, the first-term lawmaker who previously served in President Bush's Cabinet, will assume the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, GOP officials said Monday.

ASHVILLE — The state attorney general on Monday filed a lawsuit seeking clarification on how Tennessee selects its Supreme Court justices. Gov. Phil Bredesen, who was scheduled to held a conference call about the lawsuit later Monday, has criticized the state Judicial Selection Commission for "playing games" with the process. There is currently one vacancy on the court caused by the retirement of Justice Adolpho A. Birch Jr., the only black on the court. Bredesen rejected the first panel of candidates to fill Birch’s seat after the only minority candidate, Davidson County Chancellor Richard Dinkins, withdrew for family reasons. Bredesen...

BRIDGEPORT — A polling company owner admitted participating in a conspiracy to falsify data in order to meet deadlines for clients, which included the campaigns of President Bush, U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Mayor John M. Fabrizi. Tracy Costin, 46, of Madison, admitted to U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall that she participated in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Costin, who owned and operated DataUSA, a survey and polling firm with offices in West Haven and Guilford, faces up to five years in prison when she is sentenced Nov. 30. However a preliminary calculation of...

Marshals Say They Must File One Surveillance Detection Report, Or SDR, Per Month DENVER -- You could be on a secret government database or watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some federal air marshals say they're reporting your actions to meet a quota, even though some top officials deny it. The air marshals, whose identities are being concealed, told 7NEWS that they're required to submit at least one report a month. If they don't, there's no raise, no bonus, no awards and no special assignments. "Innocent passengers are being entered into an international intelligence database as...

CHENNAI, JULY 13 : Welcoming the concept of reservation for minorities, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said there should be "specific" reservation for Christians and Muslims. "I kindly request you to pursue this matter further so that there is specific reservation for Christians and Muslims, as they have been demanding reservation for a very long time," he said in a letter to Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh, a copy of which was released to the press here. Referring to Singh's remarks yesterday that Muslims could be given reservation under the constitutional norms of backwardness, Karunanidhi said he...

With their share of seats in elite institutions under threat, students have become a restive lot and the academic community is in turmoil over the controversial move to reserve seats in Central Universities, IITs and IIMs which has revived the 'merit vs quota' debate in the country. HRD Minister Arjun Singh's latest move to reserve another 27 per cent seats in 20 Central universities and IIMs, IITs and NITs following the 'Mandal formula' has sent shivers among sections of students belong to the upper castes. The proposal, which is before the Union Cabinet, if implemented, would lead to a total...

Some China Textile Import Quotas Re-ImposedBy MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer Thu Sep 1, 9:18 AM ET The Bush administration announced Thursday that it was re-imposing quotas on two categories of Chinese clothing and textile imports after negotiators in Beijing failed to make progress toward an agreement to limit a surge of imports from China. The administration said that it would limit imports of fabric made with synthetic filament threads and also bras and other body-supporting undergarments, in response to shipments that have battered the U.S. industry. "Today's announcement demonstrates this administration's commitment to leveling the playing field for U.S....

HELENA, MT (AP) -- For motorists wondering whether police are working on a quota system, an answer can be found in Montana. A new policy requires state troopers to stop at least one vehicle an hour, whether the driver has done anything wrong or not. But the driver doesn't have to be ticketed, so police officials say it's not a quota system. State police Colonel Paul Grimstad said the rule that took effect on Monday is intended to reduce traffic accidents and drunken driving. Montana had the highest number of alcohol-related deaths per miles traveled in a National Highway Traffic...

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A new policy requires state troopers to stop at least one vehicle an hour, but the driver need not be ticketed, and the chief said the rule steers clear of an anti-quota law. Col. Paul Grimstad said the rule, which took effect Monday, is intended to reduce traffic accidents and drunken driving. Montana had the highest number of alcohol-related deaths per miles traveled in a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report released in December 2003. Officers and sergeants now average 0.88 stops an hour while patrolling highways, Grimstad said. A state law passed this year bars...

My reaction to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement was almost as positive as my reaction in 1981 was negative when the Reagan administration announced that they were going to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court. It wouldn't matter if all nine Justices of the Supreme Court were women, if these were the nine best people available. But to decide in advance that you were going to appoint a woman and then look only among women for a nominee was a dangerous gamble with a court that has become dangerous enough otherwise. The recent outrageous Supreme Court decision making anyone's...

EU steps up pressure on China over textiles By Stefania Bianchi BRUSSELS - The European Union (EU) has stepped up pressure on China to curb what it calls a "ruinous" surge in textile exports, urging it to take action or face possible sanctions to protect the bloc's clothing industry. On April 24, Peter Mandelson, EU commissioner for trade, called on China to consider stricter measures to curb the rise in its textile exports following the end of an international quota system earlier this year. During an informal meeting of European trade ministers in Luxembourg, Mandelson confirmed that Brussels would launch...

We’ll soon have 150,000 U.S. troops stuck in the ever-expanding Iraqi quagmire, a number that will probably grow even larger before Iraq holds elections presently scheduled for the end of January ’05. Maintaining such a force is a logistical and personnel nightmare for every grunt in Iraq. And according to several Pentagon number crunchers, it’s also driving the top brass bonkers. Meanwhile the insurgents continue cutting our supply lines and whacking our fighting platoons and supporters, who attrit daily as soldiers and Marines fall to enemy shots, sickness or accidents. Empty platoons lose fights, so these casualties have to be...

Did Juan Williams even graduate high school? He sounds stupid, uniformed, and spews fictionous garbage. He must be an intern at FOX, I can't imagine any news org paying him for that.

May 15, 2004 Letters Diversity So, the entire Florida Bar is off on the road to diversity. Reminds me of the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby movies of comedic knights — errant on their way to some exotic location, except, of course, that Bob and Bing were a lot funnier than The Florida Bar, and had a better idea of where they were going. The Florida Bar leadership has been in lock-step, tooting its diversity horns and banging its diversity drums for the last 20 years, and the parade has gone nowhere. So, that having failed, they have resolved to...

If you want to be a delegate to the Democratic Party's national convention this summer — it might help to be gay. It appears the Democratic Party has a quota system for delegates to this summer's convention. State Democratic parties in 15 states and Puerto Rico are requiring that a specific number of their delegates be homosexual, bisexual or transgender. The requirement seems to be part of an effort by Democrats to aggressively court homosexuals and their money. Bob Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women for America , said in a time when the nation...

Former Notre Dame great Paul Hornung may have landed in some hot water when discussing how the Irish can improve their football fortunes. Hornung with his 1956 Heisman Trophy. Hornung told Detroit's AM-1270 The Sports Station (an ESPN radio affiliate) on Tuesday that Notre Dame must ease up on its academic restrictions because "We gotta get the black athlete," he said. "We must get the black athlete if we're going to compete." Hornung said that Notre Dame's schedule factors into his opinion. "You can't play that type of schedule," Hornung said. "We're playing eight bowl teams next year ... and...

Did UC's low-SAT admissions dodge affirmative action ban? By Michelle Maitre and William Brand, STAFF WRITERS BERKELEY -- Critics on the University of California Board of Regents and around the state have been asking hard questions about the fairness of admission policies at prestigious UC Berkeley. The critics charge that Berkeley's admissions policy, which weighs personal hardship and extra-curricular achievement alongside academic prowess, has let underqualified students into the internationally famous campus. The question also has reignited a lingering debate over whether the process has provided a back-door way to skirt a ban on affirmative action. An analysis of admissions...

Bush claims victory in diversity Gov. Jeb Bush credits his One Florida program for raising enrollment among minority students in Florida colleges. By ANITA KUMAR, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday had a message for critics of his ban on racial preferences in university admissions. Told you so. Florida universities this year saw the biggest percentage increase in freshmen minority enrollment since Bush's One Florida plan took effect three years ago, new figures show. It was a slight increase - less than 1 percentage point - but it was enough to allow Bush...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - America's country music scene isn't exactly known for its gay artists, but a colorful pack of wanna-be stars pulled out their best rustic twangs and wailing guitars on Thursday to try to change all that.Scores of country music hopefuls auditioned in New York for what is being billed as a television show to pick an openly gay country music star from about 50 contestants.The musicians -- most of whom wore jeans and spit-polished boots -- wailed through Willie Nelson songs, crooned like Lyle Lovett and belted out ballads like Garth Brooks.Livening up the day was The...

<p>Here's the thing about the human heart: You can't legislate it. You can't make laws requiring people to like broccoli. You can't force people into theaters to see "Gigli."</p> <p>And it's the reason the NFL's minority hiring policy is seriously flawed.</p>