Free Republic

“We won’t eat bread made with workers’ blood.” A boycott of companies affiliated with SPC Group, Korea’s leading food company, has been gaining momentum after a 23-year-old worker died on the floor of a bread factory affiliated with SPC on Saturday. The disastrous event seems to have catalyzed citizens’ anger over the company’s continuous violations of labor rights, including illegal dispatches and unfair labor practices, despite it being a large company that produces and sells food products familiar to consumers. A list of SPC affiliate brands has been spreading on online communities and social media like Twitter and Facebook. An...

Oil futures ended higher Monday, lifted after a news report said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies could rethink plans to continue with modest output increases if the U.S. and other energy-consuming countries follow through on plans to release crude from strategic reserves. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden could announce a release from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve alongside other countries as early as Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.

Jails are NOT profit centers, and people in custody are not slaves. Privatization of jail system phones and commissary has resulted in overcharging inmates, and a lucrative revenue source for the Contra Costa County Jail. Remember our justice system is based around the presumption of innocence, "Innocent until proven Guilty". In fact, in 78% of Contra Costa County jail detainees are awaiting trial. These are people who could not make bail and are in the jail awaiting their day in court. Pre-sentence inmates are milked like revenue cows to make money for the County. The Contra Costa Jail makes $1.5Million...

On Oct. 26, President Obama signed a new Executive Order which expands the role and scope of Homeland Security in states and areas across the country. This order, which establishes a new Security Partnership Council, will have far reaching effects in the overall mission of Homeland Security, and for state and local areas that interact with the Federal agency. Economically, the Establishing the White House Homeland Security Partnership Council Executive Order will increase funding and resources to state and local governments to fulfill Homeland Security programs and doctrines, as well as increase Federal oversight in the implementation of directives tied...

MEMO IS A TIME BOMB By KEITH J. KELLY November 21, 2008 -- THE South is burning. A former top editor at Time Inc. fired off a scathing memo to Executive Vice President Sylvia Auton, the London-based head of the magazine giant's lifestyle group, criticizing her handling of the deep job cuts within her group. The letter was penned by Susan Haynes, a senior editor at Coastal Living from April 1998 to August 2007, who is now the senior acquisitions editor at Manasha Ridge Press. "I don't know what Time Inc.'s master plan is - or if you even have...

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 296 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 335 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ARKANSAS NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 335 PM UNTIL 1000 PM CDT. ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION... DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 2.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER... THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES...

Excerpt - A severe weather outbreak is likely tonight through tomorrow from the eastern Southern Plains east to the Mississippi River Valley (Southern IL southward). The models have been trending slower and slower with this system with each consecutive run, with the WRF now forecasting the dryline to cross the I-35 corridor late tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. Therefore, the severe weather threat for today will hold off until after dark when the upper-level support arrives. Beginning early tomorrow afternoon, or even late tonight, the threat for tornadoes will increase dramatically over Northeast TX, East OK, and AR as supercells become surface-based....

Historically, the AR15/M16 has not been without controversy and critics. As a military rifle, during early use in the Vietnam War, the M16 suffered from functioning problems due to a change in propellants and improper training of soldiers regarding cleaning and maintenance. Lessons were learned, refinements made and the M16 platform evolved into one of the most prominent firearms in military history. However, the M16 to this day is not without criticism, not so much due to the rifle, but because of the 5.56 NATO cartridge, that lacks the long-range effectiveness of the 7.62 NATO cartridge used in the M14...