Free Republic

In Belgium, you can buy jam in returnable jars, and once I finished my jar, and was cleaning it, and in the glass at the bottom was "3/8 L". And this sort of threw me, because I was a big metric fan, and the great advantage of the metric system was that it got rid of all those silly fractions. So why were they using them here in metric-land? Then I figured the jar was only so big, so it took up less space to print 3/8 L rather than 0.375 L. But there was another possibility. That being that...

WASHINGTON - A prominent congressional opponent of sweeping immigration legislation conceded Friday the measure is likely to pass next week, adding "The Senate should be ashamed of itself." At the same time, Sen. Jeff Sessions (news, bio, voting record), R-Ala., predicted that without significant changes, no final compromise would emerge from House-Senate negotiations this year. Sessions indicated little chance of a filibuster, a tactic that would require supporters to amass 60 votes to prevail. The Alabama Republican made his remarks at the end of a week of maneuvering on the Senate floor that left the fundamental provisions of the legislation...

FORT HUACHUCA — “Bobby died doing what he knew best, being a soldier,” Chaplain (Maj.) Frank O’Grady said. As the soldier’s family listened, the Catholic priest said the combat death of 1st Sgt. Bobby Mendez, Rob to his loved ones, is sorrowful when seen through human eyes. To all of Mendez’s family, his wife, children, mother, father, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews and cousins, as well as the extended relationship called soldiers, “It is a sad day,” the chaplain said. But, God’s compassion is a wonderful, joyous thing and now, the soldier is serving along side of Christ, he said during...

PHOENIX -- Republican legislative leaders are now willing to provide cash to put National Guard troops on the border without adding special conditions. But the concession Wednesday to Gov. Janet Napolitano may bring GOP lawmakers and the governor no closer to agreeing on terms for a comprehensive border security plan: Napolitano is now raising objections to another provision, this one dealing with sanctions against companies that knowingly hire undocumented workers. Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said the measure, now set for hearing next week, would simply give Napolitano $10 million to pay to put "boots on the ground" in Southern Arizona....

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Backers of a failed special election measure that would have forced doctors to notify parents or guardians before performing abortions on underage girls are circulating petitions to have Californians vote on nearly the same measure next November. Like Proposition 73, the initiative would require a girl under 18 to wait 48 hours after a parent or legal guardian is notified of her intention to get an abortion. Secretary of State Bruce McPherson on Monday cleared supporters to begin gathering signatures. Voters rejected Proposition 73 by 53 percent to 47 percent during the Nov. 8 special election, when...

California would consider switching to public financing of political campaigns under a bill approved by the Assembly on Monday. It was the first time assemblymembers have ever passed such a measure. The bill would provide public money to candidates who voluntarily give up outside contributions similar to systems in use in Arizona, Connecticut and Maine. The voluntary system would require candidates to first raise a large number of small donations from within his or her legislative district before qualifying for public financing. The candidate would then have to agree not to spend additional money, including his or her own money....

In an unusual campaign to hedge their political bets, a coalition of 11 leading environmental groups has quietly drafted a ballot measure asking California voters next year to approve the largest parks and water bond in state history. The proposed measure, now awaiting a title and summary from California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, would raise $5.4 billion to shore up aging levees in San Francisco Bay's delta, build new drinking water treatment plants, fund flood control, restore salmon runs and purchase new parklands from Monterey Bay to Lake Tahoe to inner-city Los Angeles. --snip-- ``We're hopeful the governor and the...

WASHINGTON - Charging that the Supreme Court undermined one of the pillars of American society, the House took up legislation Thursday to block court-sanctioned seizings of people's homes for use by private developers. The bill, headed toward easy passage with bipartisan support, would withhold federal funds from state and local governments that use powers of eminent domain to force homeowners to give up their property for commercial uses. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling in June, recognized the power of local governments to seize property needed for private development projects that generate tax revenue. The decision drew criticism from...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Opponents of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempt to change the way legislative districts are drawn are using retired Judge Joseph Wapner, former star of the television program "The People's Court," in commercials attacking the ballot initiative and its corporate supporters. The three television ads, which began running Monday in most of the state, accuse oil and insurance companies, developers and Wal-Mart heirs of contributing heavily to Yes on 77 committees to elect lawmakers who will support their agendas. The ads also contend that Proposition 77 would give too much political power to retired judges. Wapner served 20 years...

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Turning up the heat in his ongoing battle with public employee unions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger officially endorsed a ballot measure Saturday that would require those unions to seek written permission from members before using dues money for political purposes. Democrats, the principal beneficiaries of labor union contributions, have viewed the measure as a virtual declaration of war on their political power in the state. Addressing an enthusiastic luncheon crowd at the state Republican Party convention, Schwarzenegger announced his support for the measure dubbed "Paycheck Protection," which will appear on the ballot as Proposition 75. The initiative...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Two California House members from opposite parties are asking a federal elections panel for permission to raise unlimited money to oppose Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting measure. Reps. Howard Berman, D-North Hollywood, and John Doolittle, R-Rocklin, are seeking an advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission that would allow them to collect "soft money" from unions, corporations and other donors to support or oppose ballot measures in the Nov. 8 special election. Both oppose Schwarzenegger's redistricting initiative. Berman's chief of staff, Gene Smith, said the request was motivated by their desire to raise money to fight it. Schwarzenegger's...

SAN FRANCISCO - Opponents and supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment requiring parental notification before doctors can perform abortions on minors have filed lawsuits challenging statements that the other side provided for the state's voter guide. The lawsuits, filed in Sacramento Superior Court by Proposition 73's sponsors and by a pro-abortion rights group called Campaign for Teen Safety, specifically take aim at the rebuttal arguments the opposing group submitted for the upcoming ballot guide. In it, each group offers its view of the ballot initiative's potential impact. The legal tit-for-tat is just the beginning of what promises to be one...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - An appeals court that failed to knock an energy regulation measure off California's Nov. 8 ballot considered Friday whether Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting initiative should go to voters. "This is not an easy case," Presiding Justice Arthur Scotland said as the court heard arguments on an attempt to overturn a Sacramento judge's order that removed the redistricting proposal from the ballot. "I have spent a lot of time on this," Scotland added. "It's not an easy call. If it's not an easy call why should the courts do a rush to judgment and risk making the wrong...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Superior Court judge on Thursday kicked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting measure off the special election ballot, ruling that supporters violated California's constitution by using two versions of the initiative in the qualifying process. "The differences are not simply typographical errors," Judge Gail Ohanesian said. "They're not merely about the format of the measure. They are not simply technical. Instead they go to the substantive terms of the measure." The proposal, Proposition 77, is one of three initiatives that the Republican governor is supporting in the Nov. 8 special election. It would take the power to draw...

SACRAMENTO – State lawmakers are no longer sitting on the sidelines as the San Diego Chargers scramble to build a $450 million stadium under the city's haunting fiscal cloud. Legislation to create a state bonding authority that could help the Chargers secure tax-free financing for a new home is on a steady march through the Legislature and to the governor's desk. Where that home might be has been a matter of speculation in recent years. While the Chargers insist they want to stay in San Diego, the prospect of moving north has added intrigue to their quest for a new...

ROCKLIN, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger distanced himself Tuesday from a measure that would limit the use of union dues for political purposes, just one day after his chief strategist said the governor was considering campaigning for its passage. The Legislature's Democratic majority considers the dues initiative the most threatening of the Republican-backed measures that could be put before voters in a possible special election this fall because it would effectively dry up a major source of their campaign money. The governor has until mid-June to decide whether to call the election but has said he would rather work out...

ELK GROVE, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the completion Thursday of a petition drive to change how legislative districts are drawn - the second of three measures he wants to put before voters in a proposed special election this fall. Supporters turned in about 215,000 signatures to county officials in Los Angeles Thursday, the first of nearly 1 million they expect to deliver to election offices statewide by Monday. The measure requires 600,000 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Speaking at a press conference in an upscale neighborhood, Schwarzenegger advocated for the redistricting measure that would put...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday turned in thousands of petition signatures supporting ballot measures he wants to put before voters in a November special election. But Schwarzenegger said he is still interested in reaching compromise solutions with Democratic leaders before a mid-June deadline for calling the election. "Our doors are open for negotiation," he said. The move comes as Schwarzenegger's popularity has hit new lows and Democratic opposition to his proposals have grown in strength. The governor and his supporters are pushing three constitutional amendments that would put new limits on state spending, lengthen the time...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A legislative committee Tuesday approved a measure modeled after an Oregon law that would allow the terminally ill to end their lives with a doctor's assistance. The bill cleared the Assembly Judiciary Committee after more than a dozen hours of testimony and debate spread over three hearings. It now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, and finally to the floor. The Senate would then have to take up the legislation. Supporters said the measure would give people with no more than six months to live the choice to end their lives with a self-administered drug prescribed...

Right now, just one tax-cut activist is fronting the effort to check the political clout of the state's public employee unions. Lurking in the background, however, are the nation's biggest drug companies and their $7.7 million stash of campaign funds, not to mention Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a political campaign committee for which he has pledged to raise millions more. If and when some or all of them engage in a fight to force the unions to get written employee consent before they can spend dues money for political purposes, it could become the most explosive campaign of the 2005...