Free Republic

NEW YORK (Feb. 13) - A tummy tuck may someday make a cosmetic surgery patient's wallet thinner, too, if a New York City tax panel has its way. Imposing sales tax on Botox treatments, breast surgery and other cosmetic procedures could bring in $62 million in revenue for the city, according to the Independent Budget Office. The suggestion was among nearly 70 options included in a report released by the publicly funded, nonpartisan agency on Thursday. "The business of cosmetic enhancements, including both surgical and nonsurgical procedures, is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States," the report said,...

U.S. Mulls Shifting Experts from Iraq Arms Hunt By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is considering shifting intelligence personnel in Iraq from the so-far fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction to strengthen efforts to combat the intensifying resistance, officials said on Wednesday. "What's more important right now and what's more destabilizing: the insurgency or knowing about the WMD?" asked a defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Officials said Pentagon leaders are considering reassigning a number of intelligence officers, interrogators, translators, linguists and others from the 1,400-member Iraq Survey Group, which is conducting the hunt for weapons...

<p>Berkeley is so tired of these beggars that some folks want them neutered. That may sound harsh, but the alternative is to kill them.</p> <p>The beggars in question are the city's increasingly aggressive raccoons. City Councilwoman Linda Maio can't stomach the thought of the traditional solution by workers at the pound. So she's planning to propose a new ordinance in Berkeley (which already has frowned on everything from nuclear weaponry to wood-fired pizza ovens) to underwrite sterilizing the pesky raccoons.</p>