Free Republic

TALLAHASSEE – Republican Bill McCollum’s trigger-happiness to sue over the federal health care overhaul appear to be paying dividends with Florida voters. The attorney general and leading GOP candidate has swelled his advantage to double-digits over Democrat Alex Sink since early summer, garnering a 49-percent to 34-percent edge in the latest Mason-Dixon poll released Monday. Last June, McCollum, a 20-year congressman and three-time statewide candidate with far higher name-recognition than the relatively novice Sink, nonetheless held just a 6 percentage-point lead, fanning Democratic exuberance that the party had its best shot at re-taking the Governor’s Mansion in decades. Since then,...

Women are a big step closer to serving on U.S. Navy submarines. ABC News has learned that the Navy has decided to lift the ban on female submarine crew members. Subs are one of the last places in the military from which women are excluded.

KABUL - Thousands of U.S., British and Afghan troops are poised to launch the biggest offensive of the war in Afghanistan in a test of the Obama administration's new counterinsurgency strategy. Military operations usually are intended to catch the enemy off guard, but for weeks U.S. and allied officials have been telling reporters about their forthcoming assault on Marjah, a Taliban-held town of 80,000 and drug-trafficking hub in southern poppy-growing Helmand province.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Bill McCollum's early entry into the 2010 Florida governor's race may be paying off. Florida's Republican attorney general has a 10-point lead over his Democratic opponent, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, in a new poll released Wednesday by the Quinnipiac (Conn.) University Polling Institute. McCollum was favored by 41 percent compared to 31 percent who preferred Sink in a random telephone survey of 1,618 registered voters taken Jan. 20-24. McCollum seemed to get a bump from his promise to challenge the constitutionality of any federal health care bill that requires people to buy health insurance, which was...

The 42nd president sees female power as one solution to climate change. While politicians bicker over cap-and-trade legislation, Bill Clinton is looking to the empowerment of women as a weapon for fighting global warming. "In every single society in which that has happened, there's been a moderation in population growth," said Clinton. Because population growth is seen as a major contributor to rising levels of greenhouse gas, Clinton believes that putting girls in school and giving them access to microcredit, capital, and labor markets will temper both the birth rate and climate change. "We need to find a morally acceptable...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama vowed Monday to work with US allies to "halt the rise of piracy" off Somalia's coast, as the Pentagon warned there was no purely military solution to the seaborne scourge. ... "I want to be very clear that we are resolved to halt the rise of piracy in that region," Obama said at an event designed to highlight investments in transportation infrastructure. "To achieve that goal, we're going to have to continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks, we have to continue to be prepared to confront them when they arise...

A teenage employee celebrated his birthday by taking a bath in the utility sink at the Burger King in Xenia, Ohio, local station WHIO-TV reported.

SACRAMENTO -- The skids seemed greased for one of environmentalists' top priorities this year: legislation forcing the construction industry to reduce pollution, which enjoyed strong support among environment-friendly Democrats. But the measure died suddenly last week when another frequent ally -- labor unions -- weighed in against it. The bill would have required construction firms bidding for certain public contracts to retrofit pollution-spewing diesel equipment. Unions, which spend millions on Democratic campaigns ... said they feared the regulations would make construction work too costly and result in lost jobs. The Democrats, who dominate the Legislature, need labor's help on an...

CHRISTMAS, Fla. -- A popular Central Florida tourist attraction faces fines this weekend after a tour boat filled with children and other riders began to take on water and sink in alligator-infested water. Officials said a boat at Jungle Adventures Nature Park in Christmas was carrying more than 12 people Saturday when it broke down during the tour. "All of the sudden, water started coming in through the rear and the guide told us to shift to the front, right side of the boat," rider Evangelo Mondo said. "We had gators out there. We were all very scared the water...

Lawmakers should put more money into the state's KidCare subsidized health insurance program to get more children signed up, says Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who plans to make the program one of her priorities in her new job. In her role as CFO, Sink gets to choose the chairman of the board that oversees the Healthy Kids Corp., which runs KidCare and other state programs that provide health coverage for uninsured children. In an interview last week, Sink said she plans to take the position herself and push for more money to be spent...

SAQLAWIYAH, Iraq (Nov. 28, 2006) -- Marines from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment swooped down on unknowing insurgents recently. Marines netted 13 suspected insurgents and rescued two Iraqis held hostage by insurgents. Marines completed a search of a garage complex with the assistance of B Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment and assets assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, which included amphibious assault vehicles, tanks and air support. "There had been reports of insurgent activity in the area, so we went in and searched it," said Cpl. Rodrigo R. Santos, a 26-year-old rifleman from Yonkers, N.Y. "They were suspected of...

WILLIAM Jefferson Blythe III was born on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Ark. After his mother remarried, he took the family surname, Clinton. Clinton was a good student. He enjoyed playing the saxophone and even considered a professional musical career. While in high school, a fortuitous meeting with President John Kennedy led him to choose a life of public service.

Ferry sinks off B.C. coast VANCOUVER -- Rescuers plucked dozens of people from lifeboats off B.C.'s Queen Charlotte Islands early Wednesday after a large ferry sunk in choppy seas. At least 96 of the 102 people aboard were rescued, said Capt. Leah Byrne of the Search and Rescue Centre in Victoria. She said a search was continuing. Byrne did not say why the Queen of the North went down. The ship was en route to Port Hardy from Prince Rupert, a trip of about 450 kilometres. The 125-metre-long vessel is reported to be completely submerged about 135 kilometres from Prince...

Malta fears it will sink under growing tide of migrants from Africa By David Rennie in Valletta (Filed: 21/09/2005) The holiday island of Malta is in the grip of an accidental tragedy: it is directly in the path of a growing and potentially vast flow of asylum seekers from sub-Saharan Africa to southern Europe. Caught: exhausted boat people from Africa await their fate Its proximity to Libya, 180 miles to the south, threatens the identity and culture of the islanders. Thousands of refugees have made the crossing in recent months. Libya has said that there are 1.5 million sub-Saharan Africans...

Friends of ours moved into a home recently. To my surprise, when I went to a bathroom, I found that the sink had NO overflow protection. Wouldn't you know it, a few days later, I learned that someone had stopped the sink but left the faucet running. The overflow caused damage to the ceiling below the bathroom. I called Home Depot and they said the only sinks they sell are ones WITH overflow protection. Are there any code requirements regarding overflow protection for bathroom sinks? Thanks.

100 Missing After Boat Sinks in Pacific By ANDREW SELSKY, Associated Press Writer More than 100 people were feared dead after a boat laden with illegal immigrants capsized and sank in rough waters in the Pacific Ocean, officials said Wednesday after nine survivors clinging to a wooden box and buoys were rescued. Ecuadorean Navy Capt. Armando Elizalde told Colombian RCN television most of the 113 people aboard "sank with the boat." The disaster happened Friday night more than 100 miles off the coast of southwest Colombia. "The boat, with way too many people aboard, was unable to resist a strong...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Mechanical engineers at Purdue University have new findings offering promise for modifying household refrigeration technology with small devices to cool future weapons systems and computer chips. The devices, called "micro-channel heat sinks," circulate coolant through numerous channels about three times the width of a human hair. Such devices might be attached directly to electronic components in military lasers, microwave radar and weapons systems, as well as in future computers that will generate more heat than present computers, said Issam Mudawar, a professor of mechanical engineering who is leading the research. The researchers are adapting refrigeration systems...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1723080#1723213 Capn Sunshine (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-13-05 10:25 PM Original message My excellent adventure at my neocon congressman's office Well I just drove over to the local office of Rep. Gallegly here in Westlake Village. It's in a newer building, definitely AA or AAA-, among the highest rents in the area. Nice digs. The office itself is spacious, with a wall of windows and a view that takes in our local mountains beyond the 101. I know and have clients in this building. All of them are quite affluent. No one is at the front desk, but a nicely turned...

Argentine warship hits Brazil ship From correspondents in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil December 1, 2004 AN Argentine warship inadvertently fired on a Brazilian frigate during joint naval exercises in the Atlantic Ocean, injuring five people, officials said. Four Brazilian sailors and an Argentine officer were hurt during live-fire training late on Monday night off the coast of Brazil near Cabo Frio, 125km north-east of Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Navy said. The accident happened when an Argentine warship fired a shot from one its canons, hitting the Brazilian frigate Rademaker. The five men were taken to a naval hospital in...

The Clinton Presidential Center and Library opens this week in Little Rock. Like him or not, we must admit that William Jefferson Clinton leaves a powerful legacy, one that vastly expands the ability of political leaders to misbehave and remain in office. One of the most embarrassing but in many ways illuminating endeavors of academics, media pundits, and certain recent inhabitants of the White House, is to focus on something called a “Presidential Legacy.” Bill Clinton spent an inordinate amount of time “building” his. Of course, most presidential legacies take years to develop and evolve. Harry Truman, for example, was...