Free Republic

We are screwed :(

A tax called 'No Child Left Inside' has been backed by New Mexico's Sierra Club, an environmental and outdoor preservation group. The proposed one-percent sales tax on video games and televisions is aimed at funding outdoor classroom initiatives and encouraging New Mexico's increasingly obese and diabetic youth to get off the couch and explore the great outdoors.

BALI, Indonesia (Dec. 7) - The United States and Saudi Arabia are the world's worst "climate sinners," environmental groups said Friday, citing their high and mounting greenhouse gas emissions and inadequate government policies to combat global warming.

New Smoking Ban Passes In Chicago No Lighting Up At Beaches, Parks, Playgrounds CHICAGO (CBS) ― Smoking is now off limits at beaches, parks and playground in Chicago. The park district board voted unanimously Wednesday to pass the ban. It takes effect immediately. The penalty for violating the ban is a $500 fine. Enforcement relies on citizens to turn smokers in to police. Proponents of the ban say it's a matter of public health. "I have a lot of sympathy for smokers, but not when second-hand smoke affects the health of other people," Park District Superintendent Tim Mitchell said. Proponents...

CARACAS, Venezuela - Hugo Chavez has just about everything a president could want: popular support, a marginalized opposition, congress firmly on his side and a booming economy as he starts his new six-year term. Now, he's about to become even more powerful — the all-Chavista National Assembly is poised to approve a "mother law" as early as Wednesday enabling him to remake society by presidential decree. In its latest draft, the law would allow Chavez to dictate measures for 18 months in 11 broad areas, from the "economic and social sphere" to the "transformation of state institutions."

PHILADELPHIA (Dec. 5) - A family is suing the U.S. Mint, saying it illegally seized 10 gold coins that are among the rarest and most valuable in the world that the family found among a dead relative's possessions. ...... There were 445,500 minted in 1933, but they were melted down before being released into circulation when President Franklin D. Roosevelt took the country off the gold standard. A handful escaped, however. Two were deliberately set aside and are at the Smithsonian Institution. The Mint has said any others in existence were obtained illegally,

Boy Stolen From Womb in 1995 is Survivor Mother, Sister and Brother Were Slain in Attack By JIM SUHR, AP BRIDGEPORT, Ill. (Sept. 29) - Belting out operatic-sounding songs one moment and doing magic tricks the next, 10-year-old Eli Evans talks of becoming a comedian and football player - no stretch for the 130-pound boy who's already an accomplished ham.

<p>WASHINGTON (Sept. 15) — The government Thursday warned consumers and businesses that it is illegal to use alternative money known as "Liberty Dollar" coins, which organizers promote as a competitor to the almighty dollar.</p> <p>"We don't want consumers to be fooled," U.S. Mint spokeswoman Becky Bailey says, noting U.S. Attorneys offices across the USA have noticed a marked increase in inquiries about the coins.</p>

A Cuban dissident who has been on a hunger strike for 36 days to demand unfettered Internet access is refusing medication and his health is deteriorating rapidly, fellow dissidents said on Wednesday. Guillermo Farinas, a 41-year-old psychologist, went on a hunger strike on Jan. 31 to press Cuba's Communist authorities to respect his right to freedom of information and allow him Internet access, which is controlled by the government. Farinas was moved to a hospital in his hometown of Santa Clara, in central Cuba, where he is being kept on an IV drip. "The hunger strike continues. He has been...

This may be the last holiday season to enjoy tax-free Internet shopping, thanks to new legislation in the U.S. Congress. Two bills introduced Wednesday propose sweeping changes to how Americans are taxed for online and mail order purchases. Businesses initially would be required to collect sales taxes on purchases shipped to roughly half of the country, and that percentage is expected to rapidly increase. "Main Street retailers collect sales taxes, while many online and catalog retailers are exempt from collecting the same taxes," said a statement published by Sen. Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican. "This is costing states and localities...

Data, Net tax plan divides Republicans Published: February 9, 2005, 12:24 PM PST By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com TrackBack Print E-mail TalkBack update A recent congressional report saying that new taxes could be levied on all Internet and data connections is pitting two influential groups of Republicans against each other. Sixteen members of Congress have slammed a suggestion from Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation that a tax originally created to pay for the Spanish-American War could be extended to all Internet and data connections this year. In a letter to the committee sent Tuesday, the House members said...

[printer-friendly] For immediate release: Thursday, December 16, 2004 Contact: Paul West, (415) 398-4404 x319, (415) 377-8304 mobile, media@ran.org Students Teach Mega-bank To Keep Its Promises - Local area 2nd graders visit world’s 2nd largest bank to deliver handmade posters from children around the world. - Poster contest winner recognized with color full-page ad in The New York Sun. NEW YORK – At 2:00 p.m. today, local area elementary school students will hand deliver over 700 colorful handmade posters from children around the world asking William B. Harrison, chief executive officer of JP Morgan Chase, to keep his promise and stop...

Judge tosses Canada's 'iPod tax' Published: December 17, 2004, 11:39 AM PST By John Borland Staff Writer, CNET News.com TrackBack Print E-mail TalkBack A Canadian judge on Thursday set aside copyright rules that had imposed regulatory fees of as much as $25 on the purchase of iPods and other MP3 players in that country. The country's copyright regulators traditionally have imposed a small surcharge on media such as cassette tapes and blank CDs, using the revenues to pay musicians and record labels whose works are being copied at home by consumers. Late last year, the Copyright Board applied this to...

Well just wondering where we all stand I'll start with mine. Your political compass Economic Left/Right: 4.88 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.92 Take the test at: http://www.politicalcompass.org

The Associated Press Updated: 1:27 p.m. ET Oct. 13, 2004 WASHINGTON - With political fund raising, campaign advertising and organizing taking place in full swing over the Internet, it may just be a matter of time before the Federal Election Commission joins the action. Well, that time may be now. A recent federal court ruling says the FEC must extend some of the nation's new campaign finance and spending limits to political activity on the Internet. Long reluctant to step into online political activity, the agency is considering whether to appeal. But vice chairwoman Ellen Weintraub said the Internet may...

WASHINGTON - Users of Internet "peer to peer" networks, already dodging lawsuits from the recording industry, could face up to three years in prison under a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday. The House voted to enlist the government to a greater degree in the entertainment industry's fight against those who copy its products over the Internet. [snip] The bill would train agents to investigate intellectual-property crimes and allow them to send warnings to users they suspect of copying songs illegally. Those found to be sharing more than 1,000 copyrighted files would face jail time. One provision...

Associated Press NEW YORK -- Exactly 33 years after the Washington Senators played their final game, the nation's capital might learn on Thursday that major league baseball plans to return next season. Several baseball officials said Monday that the most likely day for an announcement that Washington, D.C., has been selected for the future home of the Montreal Expos is Thursday, although there was a slight chance the timetable could be moved up. After a meeting of the sport's executive council last Thursday, a high-ranking baseball official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said major league baseball would attempt...

The Louisville metro government owes millions of dollars in overtime to firefighters after a Jefferson circuit judge ruled that officials for years calculated the pay incorrectly. Jefferson Circuit Judge Lisabeth Hughes Abramson has sided with firefighters who sued the old city of Louisville for failing to calculate their overtime based on their total salaries, rather than their base pay. The exact amount of back pay owed still is being determined. (snip) If the court agrees, Oldfather estimated the metro government would owe $10 million to $35 million to some 700 current and former firefighters. Herb Segal, who represents the Louisville...

Hilarious parody group. You need an updated quicktime to view it. http://pilgrimhosting.com/video/RNCprotest.mp4

Swimming With The Big Fish Those fearing the ensuing generation of radio personalities won't have ambition, drive and determination might consider the accomplishments and downright gumption of Radio America's Ben Ferguson. A graduating senior at Ole Miss, the Memphis native has done Talk radio since he was 13 and as he boasts, "It's all been on commercial stations. I never did public access - I wanted to be with the big fish." Free Minded Thinker Billed as the youngest nationally-syndicated talk show host, Ferguson has always been captivated with politics, but it wasn't a case of parental influence. "They never...