Free Republic

Dear Iowa Caucus participants, You have been told for the better part of year now who it is that you must choose. Beltway insiders have insisted upon thrusting establishment candidates upon you. Libertarian anarchists have swopped into your state shouting that you must support Ron Paul, while toking on the marijuana they soon believe President Paul will make legal. You've been openly mocked by Governor John Huntsman from Utah--who ironically seeks your support. Ann Coulter has defied every conservative principal she's ever espoused by trying to brainwash you into thinking that Mitt Romney is the best that you have to...

The Simon Wiesenthal Center commended President Obama's call for further democratization in the Arab world but expressed deep disappointment that he called for Israel's return to the pre-June 1967 borders. "We welcome the President's recognition of Israel's security needs and that Hamas cannot be a partner in the peace process, but a call to a return to 1967 borders as the basis for negotiations, even with 'land swaps' is a non-starter, when at least half of the Palestinian rulers are committed to Israel's destruction," said Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, founder and dean, and associate dean of the Simon...

Delta Air Lines survives yet another effort by unions to organize the largely nonunion company. In results released this afternoon, ticket and gate agents overwhelmingly rejected a bid to be represented by the International Association of Machinists. Delta says the vote was 8,746 to 3,638 against the union, and about 3,000 eligible employees didn't vote. Last month, about 20,000 flight attendants and 13,000 fleet service workers such as baggage handlers rejected union representation in separate elections. A prepared statement by the union today confirmed the outcome, but claimed "continued illegal interference in union elections has once again denied employees their...

Houstonians rejected the city's red light camera program in a hard-fought ballot contest, delivering an immediate $10 million hit to an already dire budget situation at City Hall. With almost all votes counted, a majority of voters put a decisive end to the use of the devices, which had been used to issue more than 800,000 tickets and collected $44 million in fines since 2006. "This is a victory for the people," said Paul Kubosh, an attorney who defends red light runners and collected more than 20,000 signatures with his brothers to get the referendum on the ballot. "The voters...

Eleven militant Palestinian groups based in Syria warned on Sunday against a "concession and compromise" policy ahead of a possible round of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The message from the groups, which include Gaza rulers Hamas as well as the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine factions, appeared directed at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (Snip) The U.S. and the "Zionists," the statement said, were "aiming to wipe out the national rights of the Palestinians and to cover up the practices of the occupation, settlement expansion and

Mo. voters reject key provision of health care law JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri voters have strongly approved a new law that rejects a key provision of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Tuesday's vote approving the ballot measure is seen as largely symbolic because federal law generally trumps state law. But it could portend trouble for the Democratic Party in November's midterm election. Legislatures in other states have passed similar measures. But Missouri is the first state to challenge aspects of the law in a referendum. Missouri's law prohibits the government from requiring people to have health insurance or...

The National Rifle Assn. is urging its California members to vote against Republican Senate candidate Tom Campbell “to protect your gun rights and hunting heritage in California.” The bright orange postcard, which went out over the weekend, faults Campbell for favoring gun show regulations, a waiting period for handgun purchases and restrictions on the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons. Campbell defended his record on 2nd Amendment issues in an e-mail to a handful of voters who sought clarification from his campaign after receiving the mailing. While lobbying groups often attack candidates who don’t score 100% on their issues, he said,...

A hiring lawyer from Greenwich, Conn., wrote to The Ethicist of the New York Times with this question: Is it ethical to recommend rejection of members of the Federalist Society simply because you disagree with their conservative politics? The Ethicist, Randy Cohen, said politics should not be a factor.... The lawyer, who made recommendations on summer and full-time associates, had noted the review was intended to take account of judgment and personality. The Ethicist countered that reasonable people differ over politics. “I am tempted to believe that those whose politics differ from mine lack ‘judgment and personality’ and taste in...

NEW DELHI/LONDON (Reuters) – China and other big developing nations rejected core targets for a climate deal such as halving world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 just five days before talks start in Copenhagen, diplomats said on Wednesday. China, the world's top emitter, together with India, Brazil and South Africa demand that richer nations do more and have drawn "red lines" limiting what they themselves would accept, the diplomats told Reuters. The four rejected key targets proposed by the Danish climate talks hosts in a draft text -- halving global greenhouse gases by 2050, setting a 2020 deadline for a...

WASHINGTON – Have you heard that the world is now cooling instead of warming? You may have seen some news reports on the Internet or heard about it from a provocative new book. Only one problem: It's not true, according to an analysis of the numbers done by several independent statisticians for The Associated Press. The case that the Earth might be cooling partly stems from recent weather. Last year was cooler than previous years. It's been a while since the super-hot years of 1998 and 2005. So is this a longer climate trend or just weather's normal ups and...

(CNN) – Two Republican statewide candidates in California are touting the results of a state GOP convention straw poll that showed conservative activists overwhelmingly rejecting the gubernatorial bid of former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and the likely Senate bid of former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. The campaign of gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner boasted about his 64-point victory over Whitman in Sunday's straw poll on their Web site and on Twitter. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore's campaign touted their own dominating win over Fiorina — 91 percent to six percent — in a campaign e-mail celebrating their success at this weekend's Fall...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Two top Bush-era officials on Friday rejected ex-vice president Dick Cheney's scathing criticism of US President Barack Obama, saying the country's national security was not in jeopardy. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who served in the same post under former president George W. Bush, and Tom Ridge, the former head of homeland security, both voiced disagreement with Cheney a day after he attacked Obama's performance as the new commander-in-chief. Gates said in an interview that opponents of Obama's decision to close the "war on terror" prison at Guantanamo were engaging in "fear-mongering," a reference to Cheney's stance on...

Florida might reject stimulus cash for jobless Federal funds to the tune of $1 billion could extend unemployment benefits to Florida's jobless -- but Republicans say there are too many strings attached. By JEFF HARRINGTON St. Petersburg Times Florida is on the verge of forfeiting more than $1 billion in federal stimulus funds that could help 250,000 Floridians whose unemployment benefits are running out. The problem: The federal offer for aid comes at a price that many in the state Legislature are unwilling to pay. To receive the money, the state would have to pass a new law widening the...

<p>WASHINGTON – Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee defeated a Republican call to reduce recommended spending across hundreds of programs over the next five years as they moved toward approval of a blueprint that preserves President Barack Obama's top priorities.</p>

A middle school in Marin City will not be renamed after President-elect Barack Obama. Sausalito Marin City School District officials nixed the idea of renaming the Martin Luther King Jr. Academy Thursday after dozens of community members voiced opposition to the idea at a meeting.

Israel this week issued a formal rejection of a recent offer by former US President Jimmy Carter and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to mediate a ceasefire between the Jewish state and the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip. Carter and Annan sent their proposal to Israel several weeks ago, and noted that South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Irish President Mary Robinson would also be part of the mediation team. Carter, Annan, Tutu and Robinson have for decades been among the foremost international critics of Israel's right to defend itself against Arab Muslim terrorism and have regularly lent...

A staggering amount of money is being spent to persuade state voters to ratify four Indian gambling deals. If approved, Propositions 94, 95, 96 and 97 would authorize 17,000 more slot machines for four of the state's wealthiest gambling tribes. The deals would catapult California into the gambling big leagues, well beyond the modest increase voters were promised when they first authorized Nevada-style gambling for tribes in 1998. This page has consistently opposed the expansion of gambling, beginning with the state lottery. We oppose the new gambling deals contained in these referendum initiatives, too. Gambling is the wrong way to...

WASHINGTON - A day before President Bush's war address, Senate Democrats rejected a four-star general's recommendation to keep some 130,000 troops in Iraq through next summer and sought legislation that would limit the mission of U.S. forces. Their proposal was not expected to set a deadline to end the war, as many Democrats want, but restrict troops to narrow objectives: training Iraq's military and police, protecting U.S. assets and fighting terrorists, Democratic party officials told The Associated Press. The goal is to attract enough Republicans to break the 60-vote threshold in the Senate needed to end a filibuster. Democrats have...

Iraqi armed groups reject Maliki plan Spokesmen for two of the major Iraqi armed groups have rejected the reconciliation initiative of Iraq's prime minister. Clashes were reported in Baghdad's Adhamiya district The two spoke to Aljazeera on Sunday live from Baghdad. Ibrahim al-Shammari, spokesman for the al-Jaish al-Islami (Islamic Army), said that the proposal by Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister, is far from being an "initiative for national reconciliation". "If the proposal excludes those who fought the Americans, then who is supposed to be meant by this proposal?" al-Shammari said. "We do not recognise this government. ... We do not...

Several Southern California cities have abandoned plans to renew long-term contracts for coal-fired electricity, gambling on the availability of adequate alternative energy from cleaner sources. Local officials told Utah-based Intermountain Power Agency on Monday they wouldn't be renewing their contracts for cheap, coal-fired power, which expire in 2027, and would instead be looking for available alternatives, from wind farms to desert solar power. "It's a huge change," said Mayor Todd Campbell of Burbank, which is one of the cities that decided to not renew its contract. The others are Pasadena, Glendale, Riverside and Anaheim. They join the Los Angeles Department...