Free Republic

Space mining has been a longtime staple of science-fiction films — and the companies are almost always the villains. The transport ship in "Alien" was towing a load of ore when sinister, corporate overlords diverted it into the clutches of the galaxy's baddest monster. "Avatar" was all about saving the inhabitants of Pandora from thugs clawing their home planet to shreds in search of "unobtanium." Nevertheless, a group of entrepreneurs received a hero's reception Tuesday in Seattle, when they unveiled a new company with the goal of extracting platinum, gold and other valuable resources from asteroids. Director James Cameron, who...

US Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has come under a lot of fire for saying that the "Palestinians" are an invented people. Most have ridiculed Gingrich by pointing out there are clearly millions of Arabs living in so-called "Palestine." But Gingrich wasn't talking about the physical presence of those people today, but rather the national identity they have adopted and the fact that most immigrated to the land not so long ago. In a televised address on Al-Hekma TV last week, Hamas Minister of the Interior and of National Security Fathi Hammad basically backed up Gingrich's assessment, acknowledging that the...

With same-sex marriage laws passing in Maryland and Washington state and New Jersey headed for a fall referendum on the issue, Newt Gingrich said at the Washington state capitol this morning that he's basically comfortable with states enacting gay marriage laws by popular vote. Ginger Gibson sends in the key quote: I think at least they're doing it the right way, which is going through voters, giving them a chance to vote and not having a handful of judges arbitrarily impose their will. I don't agree with it, I would vote no if it were on a referendum where I...