Free Republic

As the final deadline for creating state health insurance exchanges passed Friday, New Jersey, Tennessee and Florida said they would not work with the federal government on establishing insurance markets required under ObamaCare. Exchanges are online markets required under the federal health care law where consumers will be able to buy individual private policies and apply for government subsidies to help pay their premiums. In his announcement Friday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said his administration is committed to complying with ObamaCare, but "only in a manner that is the most effective and efficient for the residents of New Jersey,...

TX Redistricting Deal Rejected - NO Apr 3 Primary - Apr 17 Unlikely – Split Election Likely – TX Should Stand Up to Feds & RNC Monday, February 6th, was the deadline for a Texas Redistricting agreement to be made in order to have a one 2012 Primary Election in Texas on April 3rd. There was an agreement made between Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and some of the minority groups who are plaintiffs in the Redistricting Lawsuit, but then a Federal US District Judge, Orlando Garcia, in San Antonio struck down the deal. Yep, this is the same...

Legislation to abolish the California Air Resources Board has been killed by a legislative committee. The proposal by Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, died Monday in the Assembly's Natural Resources Committee on a party-line vote, with Democrats opposed to the measure. Assembly 1332 would have transferred the Air Resources Board's duties, powers and jurisdiction to the state Environmental Protection Agency.

Part 4: GM by the Numbers Last week, the Volt, GM's signature hybrid vehicle, turned in a lackluster performance in its first series of road tests by Consumer Reports. CR told Reuters on Monday that "when you look at the finances, [the Volt] doesn't make any sense." The publication went on to note that the Volt was "not particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and not particularly good as a gas vehicle... This is going to be a tough sell to the average consumer." GM and the Feds are betting the farm - and their credibility - on the...

s FOX Network puts the finishing touches on its advertisement lineup for the February 6th Super Bowl — arguably as popular a part of the evening as the game itself — one thing is certain: just about any thing will be permissible in the way of sex, sleaze, and crude humor. Apparently, however, one type of ad will not be permitted: those promoting positive values and faith in God. Following last year’s media furor over a Focus on the Family-sponsored pro-life spot during the Super Bowl featuring Christian football phenomenon Tim Tebow (left) and his mother, FOX has put the...

NEW YORK (CBS) — After a suffering a “shellacking” in the midterm elections, President Obama acknowledges what many have seen as his chief weakness – failing to sell the importance of several legislative milestones to the American people. “I think that’s a fair argument.

Barack Obama revealed his goal for the Supreme Court when he complained on Chicago radio station WBEZ-FM in 2001 that the Earl Warren Court wasn't "radical" enough because "it didn't break free from the essential constraints placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution" in order to allow "redistribution of wealth." Now that Obama is president, he has the power to nominate Supreme Court justices who will "break free" from the Constitution and join him in "fundamentally transforming" America. That's the essence of his choice of Elena Kagan as his second Supreme Court nominee. She never was a judge, and...

I think it was an omen. See the video of Obama's Memorial Day Speech getting rained out.

Obamacare is in the midst of tanking, and all the democrat rats are scrambling around on the deck as the ship goes down. They are running out of time and getting desperate. The fact is, most people do NOT want this extreme government solution to cover a small fraction of Americans without insurance coverage. Most people now see it for what it is, a MASSIVE, unprecedented POWER GRAB over the average citizen's life and privacy, PLUS making us have the privilege of paying a whole lot more for a whole lot less. Even the majority of doctors (Sept 15 Investors...

House GOP leaders who unveiled their “vision” for healthcare reform made clear that a major provision endorsed by 2008 GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) was not included. Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), chairman of the Health Care Solutions Group that spent months writing a "comprehensive" reform plan, said that McCain's proposal to tax employer-based benefits was "certainly not part of our plan."

WASHINGTON, March 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Please find, below, the statement of Democratic National Committee communications director Brad Woodhouse on Governor Sarah Palin's decision to reject over $500 million in federal funds due the state of Alaska under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: "After soliciting and accepting more federal dollars per capita than any other governor in the union, Sarah Palin's decision today to deny the state of Alaska over half a billion dollars in recovery and reinvestment funds - including millions for schools, energy and public safety - appears to be nothing more than political posturing. At a time...

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The judges in the Minnesota Senate trial have identified the first of what could be many wrongly rejected absentee ballots that they say must be included in the final count. The judges' order Tuesday means that 24 supporters of Democrat Al Franken whose absentee ballots were rejected will see their votes counted. Republican Norm Coleman wants the judges to count about 4,700 other rejected absentee ballots, and his lawyer says their decision means they're more likely to take that step. Franken has a 225-vote lead over Coleman, not including the 24 votes at issue Tuesday.

He walked naked through the Australian outback and died without clothes in a canoe in the jungle - but it was learned yesterday that the so-called 'Naked Nomad' had left behind a £2 million fortune. Eccentric Victor Flanagan wandered the sun-scorched roads of Australia without a stitch of clothing, slipping on a simple sarong when he entered towns, a curious figure with shoulder-length greying hair who had rejected civilisation. Everyone believed he was penniless, but it has now been revealed that Mr Flanagan had left behind land worth £2 million near Busselton, in Western Australia. He had inherited the property...

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court today struck down a market-based effort by the Bush administration to regulate emissions of mercury from coal- and oil-fired power plants, agreeing with critics that the Environmental Protection Agency had violated the Clean Air Act when it established the rule. A coalition of environmental groups and 17 states, California among them, challenged the policy, which was slated to take effect in 2010. The EPA had planned to establish a mandatory national cap on mercury emissions and then allow power plants that fail to meet their targets to buy credits from less-polluting plants. Environmentalists have...

Link only per protocol www.wwj.com/Transplant-Decision-Too-Late--Teen-Dies/1376284

As many as 13 potential wind-farm projects in western Kansas could be in danger because of the state's decision to reject two coal-fired generating plants near Holcomb, proponents of the wind farms said. New transmission lines were to be part of the $3.6 billion Sunflower Electric Power Corp. project, which was rejected by Rod Bremby, the state's secretary of health and environment.

Video of Hillel Neuer of UN Watch giving the morons at the Human Rights Council a piece of his mind.

CINCINNATI: A U.S. appeals court on Friday ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging President George W. Bush's domestic spying program, saying the plaintiffs had no standing to sue. The 2-1 ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel was not on the legality of the surveillance program, but it vacated a 2006 order by a lower court in Detroit. That court had found the post-911 warrantless surveillance aimed at uncovering terrorist activity to be unconstitutional, violating rights to privacy and free speech and the separation of powers. The American Civil Liberties Union led the lawsuit on behalf...

Gaza - Palestinian leaders roundly rejected a US proposal on Saturday that aims to foster peace moves by setting a timetable of reciprocal security measures with Israel. The Israeli government, beset by an internal crisis, had already poured cold water on Washington's plan for a "timeline" of "benchmark" steps that included Palestinian forces cracking down on rocket attacks and Israel easing travel restrictions. In an atmosphere of profound mutual mistrust and fundamental weaknesses in the governments on either side, the future of the proposal seemed unclear. Leaders of the ruling Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas ruled out any further discussion of...

The female baby - a type of ape called a gibbon - was born April 9. BOISE, Idaho - The first ape ever born at Zoo Boise is being hand-raised by humans and is gaining weight, after being rejected by its mother. The unnamed female baby -- a type of ape called a gibbon -- was born April 9 and weighed half a pound, but is now up to three-quarters of a pound, zoo director Steve Burns said. Her mother rejected her five days after she was born, Burns said.The female baby - a type of ape called a gibbon...

LOS ANGELES -- Divorced dad Alec Baldwin, caught yelling at his daughter on a voicemail message, said Wednesday he asked NBC to let him out of his "30 Rock" contract so he can devote his time to the issue of "parental alienation." "If I never acted again I couldn't care less," Baldwin said in a pre-taped appearance for ABC's "The View," scheduled to air Friday.

The California Coastal Commission dealt another, if not fatal, blow Thursday to the Australian mining firm BHP Billiton's proposed $800 million floating natural gas terminal offshore of Ventura County. The unanimous rejection of the plan, at a meeting in Santa Barbara, came just three days after the State Lands Commission nixed a lease for the company to run its pipelines from the offshore site 13.8 miles to the coast at Oxnard. The company had tried to postpone the meeting, with officials saying they needed time to digest the State Lands Commission's 2-1 vote, but the Coastal Commission went forward with...

Former US president Jimmy Carter lashed out at British Prime Minister Tony Blair for being "so compliant and subservient" to the Bush administration in Washington. "I have been surprised and extremely disappointed with Tony Blair's behaviour," Carter told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper as he promoted his new book "Faith and Freedom." "I think that, more than any other person in the world, the prime minister could have had a moderating influence on Washington, and he has not," said the 81-year-old former head of state. He faulted Blair for not having been a constraint on US President George W. Bush's decision...

If you spend any time in the cereal aisle, I don't have to tell you that the folks who make Pop-Tarts are always coming up with crazy new combinations of flavors. But you may not realize that for every new variety of toaster pastry that makes it to the greengrocer's shelves, there are dozens of experimental flavors that don't make the cut. Here are some concepts that were rejected, for one reason or another. THERE ARE MORE! Please see More rejected Pop-Tart flavors.

Washington- The Senate voted unanimously Thursday to bolster security at U.S. borders by pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into more patrols, surveillance flights and sensors to catch illegal immigrants sneaking into the country. Senators approved the $32.7 billion budget for the Homeland Security Department next year by a vote of 100-0. But they rejected proposals to boost funds for cities and states at high risk of terrorism attacks, a sore subject amid a recent spate of terrorism-related arrests and threats targeting metropolitan areas. With border security and immigration reform a top election-year priority, the Senate also agreed to make...

More than 25 percent of the new registration forms sent to the state since Jan. 1 have been returned to the counties, most because they lack the driver's license, state identification or Social Security numbers now required by federal law. ---snip--- Problems with a new statewide voter registration system could keep tens of thousands of Californians from showing up on election rolls this June. More than 25 percent of the new registration forms sent to the state since Jan. 1 have been returned to the counties, most because they lack the driver's license, state identification or Social Security numbers now...

Hamas' victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections is already being sanitized by the politically correct, despite the terrorist group's bloody track record and its fallacious and dubious historical claims to the land of Israel. Thankfully, some Western leaders are condemning the selection of murderers by Palestinians for their government. At the top of a BBC article yesterday regarding the Hamas terrorist group winning Palestinian elections: The win poses problems for efforts to restart peace talks with Israel, say analysts. Israel insists it will not deal with an authority including Hamas. So this is all just Israel's problem/fault because the majority of...

MEXICO CITY – Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez said Mexican business executives told him yesterday they feel "totally rejected" by California political leaders, a contrast to their warm relations with Texas officials. After a private meeting with a dozen business leaders here, the Los Angeles Democrat said executives regard the current wave of "anti-immigrant hysteria" in California as an affront to them. The speaker said he invited the group to come to California for a meeting with business and political leaders to improve relations. "I said, 'We want your investment in the state,' " Núñez said he told the members of...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California election officials have rejected an electronic voting machine by Diebold after tests revealed unacceptable levels of screen freezes and paper jams. Three counties already have purchased the TSX voting machine, which was found to have a failure rate of 10 percent. Secretary of State Bruce McPherson said that was too high a risk and he notified company officials in a letter sent Wednesday. In a mock election held last week to test the 96 touch-screen machines, McPherson noted in the letter that his staff encountered "problems with paper jamming on the ... printer module," he said...

I saw this post on FR earlier, but couldn't locate a way to buy these bumper stickers. They were originally on eBay, but were all sold. I finally found the site to grab them. These are too funny. I picked up a few for my family and friends. Click for the site

TOKYO (AFP) - US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) has rejected a passionate offer from North Korea (news - web sites)'s supreme leader Kim Jong-Il for direct talks between their countries, press reports in Japan said. The offer was conveyed to Bush by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who met Kim on May 22, during their talks Tuesday on the sidelines of the Group of Eight (G8) summit in the US state of Georgia, the reports said. "He (Kim) wanted to dance (with Bush) so much as to get thirsty," Koizumi told the US president in a...

Gorelick Rejected Attempt to Revise 'Wall' Memo By Scott Wheeler CNSNews.com Staff Writer April 29, 2004 (CNSNews.com) - One of America's most prominent federal prosecutors sought changes to the 1995 "wall" memo authored by then-Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, but most of the concerns expressed by U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White over the barriers erected between criminal and counter-intelligence investigations were rejected. Gorelick's "wall" memo was the subject of an April 26 CNSNews.com report, which quoted four sources as saying the memo erected barriers to intelligence-sharing between the FBI and intelligence agencies -- and impeded the investigation of alleged Chinese...

A federal judge in San Francisco yesterday rejected the Justice Department's attempt to obtain abortion records from Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a ruling likely to halt demands for as many as 1,000 patient files from clinics around the country, including the Washington area, according to Justice officials and the family-planning group.

<p>Gov. Gray Davis' administration has denied a request by The Bee for information detailing the effects of state budget cuts on public services.</p> <p>The files could include information on how Californians would feel the impact of spending cuts in a vast array of state programs, including fewer offices, reduced hours and curtailed services.</p>

<p>The state Senate on Tuesday shot down $3.7 billion in budget cuts contained in a Republican-driven spending plan, an expected action that underscored continuing divisions between and within the two parties.</p> <p>The 26-13 vote on the measure -- opposed by the Senate's majority Democrats and one Republican -- marked the second GOP budget plan California lawmakers have defeated since the fiscal year began without a budget. Assembly Democrats killed a Republican plan on July 6.</p>

Coulter: Bush Got into Harvard, Sulzberger was Rejected When Bush-hating Maureen Dowd sneered that President Bush only got into Yale because his father was a Yale graduate, giving him a leg up because he was a "legacy," she attracted the attention of "Slander" author and conservative columnist Ann Coulter - a very dangerous thing to happen to a liberal like Dowd, already in hot water for deliberately misquoting the president and altering the meaning of what he said. Noting that the increasingly shrewish Miss Dowd had also sneered at the White House explanation that Bush got into Harvard Business School...

In 1867, Mark Twain visited the Holy Land and was dismayed at what he found, "a desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds -- a silent, mournful expanse. . . . A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action. . . . We never saw a human being on the whole route. . . . There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of the worthless soil, had almost deserted the country." (From The...

Alaska Libertarians and other anti-drug war activists have filed a lawsuit against the state's lieutenant governor for rejecting an initiative to decriminalize hemp. On January 28, the Free Hemp in Alaska (FHA) organization filed a lawsuit in Superior Court in Anchorage to force the state to place the initiative on the August 2004 ballot. In the lawsuit, FHA attorney Ken Jacobus argued that initiative backers filed enough signatures to qualify the measure, even though they failed to follow all of the state's record-keeping rules. "Why disenfranchise thousands of voters?" asked FHA Chair Scot Dunnachie. "Maybe it's because the lieutenant governor...

SPACE CENTER, Houston - In the days after Columbia's destruction, NASA officials made their case: The foam couldn't have caused that kind of damage. It wasn't ice or metal that flew off the fuel tank. The left wing was not breached. All that - and more - is back on the table and under the microscope, now that an investigation board is calling the shots. In the period since Columbia shattered 38 miles (61 kilometers) above Texas, both NASA managers and board members have cautioned that the investigation is in continual flux, with new information turning up all the time....

Saddam's 'cynical' offer is rejected By Toby Harnden, Philip Sherwell, George Jones and Anton La Guardia (Filed: 18/09/2002) The United States and Britain promised last night to continue to press for a United Nations Security Council resolution against Iraq. They dismissed Saddam Hussein's offer to readmit arms inspectors as a cynical ploy. France, Russia and China, the other three permanent members of the Security Council, welcomed Saddam's move and said a resolution was not now needed. However, officials in Washington told journalists that contingency planning for war would continue.President George W Bush did not respond directly to Iraq's offer but...

Attack on Iraq rejected by 2 in 3 voters By Benedict Brogan, Political Correspondent and Anthony King (Filed: 12/08/2002) Tony Blair and Labour will suffer a potentially catastrophic loss of support if Britain joins American military action against Iraq, a poll commissioned by The Telegraph says today. More than two-thirds of British voters believe that a potential attack on Saddam Hussein is not justified in present circumstances, according to the internet pollster YouGov. The survey shows that Labour voters would reconsider their support for the Government if Mr Blair sent troops into action against Iraq. It found widespread unease about...

Blair's Iraq call rejected By Colin Brown, Sean Rayment and Charles Laurence in New York (Filed: 04/08/2002) A damaging rift has opened up between London and Washington over demands by Tony Blair that the Bush administration revive Middle East peace talks before any attack on Iraq. Click to enlarge The Telegraph has learned that the Prime Minister is privately urging President Bush to call Arab-Israeli peace talks before any military action against Iraq, but the White House is resisting. "The Washington argument is: You can deal with Iraq in a separate box. That is not the London position," said a...

The scientific establishment tends to reject, suppress or ignore evidence that conflicts with accepted theories, while denigrating or persecuting the messenger. Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 9, Number 3 (April-May 2002)PO Box 30, Mapleton Qld 4560 Australia. editor@nexusmagazine.comTelephone: +61 (0)7 5442 9280; Fax: +61 (0)7 5442 9381From our web page at: www.nexusmagazine.comby Will Hart © 2002Email: Wrtsearch1@aol.com"THE BRAIN POLICE" AND "THE BIG LIE"Any time you allege a conspiracy is afoot, especially in the field of science, you are treading on thin ice. We tend to be very sceptical about conspiracies--unless the Mafia or some Muslim radicals are behind the alleged...