Free Republic

I feel the need to get a few things off my chest, even if nobody's listening, so here goes. 1. Collective bargaining has no place in the government sector. People who work at the taxpayer's pleasure are already very well compensated (usually, as always, there are exceptions). These folks generally have pensions, health insurance, vacations, full-time positions and JOB SECURITY. They also receive compensation commensurate with their duties. All unions are out there for (in modern times) is to line the pockets of corrupt union officials and corrupt politicos. 2. Why keep pushing for government funding of high speed rail?...

BAGHDAD--“So much of what the Army is geared toward is targeting or improving the perception [of] or reinforcing the Government of Iraq to their people, but for a few hours, on behalf of the American people, we blessed the lives of … Iraqi kids.” An Iraq boy is fitted for a custom donated wheelchair, Aug. 11, 2010, by a team of volunteers with the United States Division – Center surgeon's office as these troops for the third time support Brad Blauser and his nonprofit organization, Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids, in distributing wheelchairs to Iraq’s children most in need. U.S. Army...

A 59-year-old San Francisco man is not expected to survive injuries suffered Friday afternoon when he was punched in the face by a man who had been part of an earlier assault on the victim's son, police said. Authorities said the victim, Tiansheng Yu, was on life support at a hospital Saturday. Yu was critically injured about 3:04 p.m. in the 1800 block of Telegraph Avenue just a few feet from the entrance to the Fox Theater. Police said that moments earlier, Yu and his 27-year-old son, whose name was not released, had parked their car in the 1700 block...

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2010 – Though the number of trainers for Afghan security forces has increased significantly, the process is a work in progress and the American people must have patience, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also addressed the effects of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and the progress of United Nations sanctions on Iran. The United States, NATO allies and international partners have added significant numbers of trainers for Afghan security forces, but more are needed, the secretary said. After Afghan units undergo...

Former US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin disagrees with the Obama administration's demand that Israel halt settlement construction, although her reason for that opinion is puzzling to some (or at the least demonstrates she's not familiar with the term "natural growth" that much of the debate has revolved around). Palin debates Biden in St.... She told Barbara Walters on ABC's Good Morning America this week that she disagrees with the White House because all the Jews moving to Israel need a place to live. "I disagree with the Obama administration on that," Palin told Walters. "I believe that the Jewish...

Rickkleinblogpic ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: The decision by Rep. Joseph Cao, R-La., to vote for the Democrats’ health care bill last night would put him directly in the Republican Party’s firing line, under the standard enunciated by RNC Chairman Michael Steele last week. On ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” last week, Steele said of Republicans who support President Obama on health care or the stimulus bill: “So candidates who live in moderate to slightly liberal districts have got to walk a little bit carefully here, because you do not want to put yourself in a position where you’re crossing that line...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's congressional allies want to create a powerful insurance commissioner to oversee medical plans nationwide. State regulators say it would duplicate what they do without better protecting consumers. Conservatives bemoan the big government mentality. The issue could flare as lawmakers push to meet an ambitious schedule for votes on health care legislation before their August vacation. Like the notion of a government insurance plan to compete with private companies, designating a single official appointed by the president to oversee the market goes to the heart of the federal role.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Amid rising public impatience with an economy now under his watch, President Barack Obama on Tuesday said his administration needs to push money out faster to initiate a recovery and conceded that unemployment would rise above 10 percent. "People are going through a very tough time right now," Obama said at a White House news conference. "And I don't expect them to be satisfied." For the second time in a month, Obama voiced unease over the results of a $787 billion economic stimulus that he pressed Congress to pass as one of his first acts as president.

* KBW analysis shows banks need to raise capital * Sees Bank of America needing more government help (Adds dateline, detail on government stress test) NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - U.S. banks including Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) may need to raise $1 trillion of capital, Keefe, Bruyette and Woods analysts said in a report on Thursday, after they stress tested the industry.

Mission District rally for immigrant rights Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, February 26, 2009 Several hundred people packed a school auditorium in San Francisco's Mission District on Wednesday evening to decry the city's treatment of immigrants, making their case in front of a panel of city officials that included representatives from the Police Department, mayor's office, school board and Board of Supervisors. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/26/BANN165CUH.DTL&type=printable

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2008 – Navy Adm. Mike Mullen didn’t like the way wounded Vietnam veterans were treated when he first entered the service in 1968, and he is working to ensure that America’s wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan get the care and help they need and deserve. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said during a Pentagon Channel podcast interview yesterday that as one of the leaders of the U.S. military, he is passionate “about seeing to the needs of those who are wounded – who have sacrificed so much, whose lives have been changed so...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2008 – It is imperative for Congress to quickly approve $102.5 billion in fiscal 2008 emergency supplemental funding earmarked to finance the global war on terrorism, a senior Defense Department official said here today. “We need that money as soon as possible so there is no disruption to our warfighting efforts and not a disruption to our soldiers’ lives, both in the field and their families at home,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters during a news conference. “It is imperative that we get that money as soon as possible,” Morrell reiterated. President Bush requested $189.4...

There is always a good excuse for big government. I thought I would spend some time to catalogue some of those excuses, just to put them down on the record. Whether it is on the floor of the Senate or Assembly, in budget or other committee hearings in the Legislature, these excuses pop up from time to time. In this era of term limits, it is rare for those in decision making positions to hang around long enough to hear these excuses repeated, so this article can act as a chronicle, since I have now heard many of these excuses...

All you need is ubuntu You and me, me and you, lots and lots, for us to do By Sean Coughlan BBC News Magazine Bill Clinton told the Labour conference to get into ubuntu. Eh? Ubuntu. That was what Bill Clinton told the Labour party conference it needed to remember this week. "Society is important because of Ubuntu." But what is it? Left-leaning sudoku? U2's latest album? Fish-friendly sushi? No, it's a word describing an African worldview, which translates as "I am because you are," and which means that individuals need other people to be fulfilled. The former president, husky-voiced...

Sentencing should be delayed for two Border Patrol agents facing 20 years apiece in jail for shooting a drug smuggler and violating his civil rights, 22 congressmen told the Department of Justice Wednesday. In an official letter, the congressmen asked U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to postpone sentencing and review the case against Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean. "Due to significant concerns over the circumstances surrounding the prosecution of agents Ramos and Compean, the House Judiciary Committee has already recognized the need for a thorough review of this case by calling for congressional hearings and an...

Why do men need war? It's male bonding Reports by Roger Highfield and Nic Fleming (Filed: 09/09/2006) Men need threats, rivalry and war for them to work together the most effectively, according to a study of the "male warrior effect". The issue of why men start wars has been investigated in a series of experiments by Prof Mark van Vugt of the University of Kent. They reveal that conflict is part of male bonding. "We all know that males are more aggressive than females but with that aggression comes a lot of co-operation," Prof van Vugt said yesterday. While male...

Dear friend: Do you want to see a Libertarian in Congress? Of course you do. And thanks to Tom DeLay, the Libertarian Party may have its best chance ever. A surprise opportunity has offered itself recently, and we need to exploit it. A federal judge has ruled that Tom DeLay’s name can not be replaced on November’s ballot with another Republican politician. Late last week, DeLay announced that he will withdraw his name, leaving only two candidates on the ballot: a liberal Democratic former congressman, and Libertarian Bob Smither. Bob is well known by the voters and media in this...

California has approved 18 power plants to be built in the next few years, but only two are under construction and will cover only half of the expected growth in peak energy demand state officials are predicting by 2008. Five years after the state's power crisis, anxiety over insufficient supply stems from a more cautious power market in which generators want to be sure they can sell the energy they produce before spending billions on new plants. Energy experts warned that the record-setting heat wave alone should not spur a power plant boom. The two plants being built will add...

No need for witch doctors - I'm staying, says Mugabe By Peta Thornycroft in Harare (Filed: 17/07/2006) President Robert Mugabe has ridiculed followers for consulting witch doctors to choose his successor, dismissing the suggestion that he is going to step down. Robert Mugabe:cheers and laughter from the crowd Shaking his fist, Mr Mugabe, 82, told Zanu PF leaders and party elders at a weekend "consultative" rally in the country's capital, Harare, that they should not rely on witchcraft to choose Zimbabwe's next president. Mr Mugabe, who drew cheers and laughter from the crowd, told them: "The things we hear about...

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2006 – To successfully prosecute the war against terrorism, the U.S. military needs additional funds to maintain its equipment, the Army chief of staff told Congress yesterday. "To prevail in the long struggle we are now engaged, we must maintain our readiness by resetting those who have deployed through a disciplined, orderly reconstitution of combat power," Army Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker said before the House Armed Services Committee. "Our soldiers' effectiveness depends upon a national commitment to recruit, train, equip and support them properly." Equipment "reset" actions include repair and replacement of worn hardware. "In simplest terms,...