Free Republic

Hamas should accept an “extraordinarily generous” proposal to release Israeli hostages it is holding in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a temporary cease-fire, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday, speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Hamas is expected to respond to the U.S.-led proposal Monday in discussions with Egyptian and Qatari officials in Cairo. “Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel,” Blinken said during a panel discussion at the WEF. “And in this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and...

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton paid tribute to billionaire finances Thomas H. Lee at his Manhattan memorial – calling him a 'constant presence' in her life. Her husband and former president Bill Clinton also attended the service at the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts on Monday morning. Lee, who was once known as the 'envy of Wall street', shot himself inside the bathroom of his family office on Fifth Avenue on Thursday, with the city medical examiner ruling his death a suicide.

Francis ‘Urbi et Orbi’ Pro-Life Words Censored by Translator According to a source at Priests for Life: Something I wanted to bring to your attention is the address that Pope Francis gave on Christmas day at noon during his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and to the world) blessing. He mentioned the babies in the womb, and his exact words in that section of his address were as follows: “The Child Jesus. My thoughts turn to all those children today who are killed and ill-treated, be they infants killed in the womb, deprived of that generous love of their...

This year, Joe and Jill Biden increased their charitable donations from 1.5 percent of their income to 1.87 percent. "The Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden also released their 2012 federal income tax returns, as well as state income tax returns for both Delaware and Virginia. The Bidens filed joint federal and combined Delaware income tax returns. Dr. Biden filed a separate non-resident tax return for the state of Virginia. Together, they reported adjusted gross income of $385,072. The Bidens paid $87,851 in total federal tax for 2012. They paid $13,531 in Delaware income tax and $3,593 in Virginia income...

According to a Financial Times piece “Inside Match.com,” dated July 29, the president and key engineer, Mandy Ginsberg and Amarnath Thombre, are information-love junkies. Really: Indeed, says Thombre, “the politics one is quite interesting. Conservatives are far more open to reaching out to someone with a different point of view than a liberal is.” That is, when it comes to looking for love, conservatives are more open-minded than liberals. Naturally, if you run the world’s biggest dating site, you’re bound to learn a few practical lessons. “With a mountain of data in its servers from the 75 million users it...

Americans gave nearly $300 billion to charitable causes last year, setting a new record and besting the 2005 total that had been boosted by a surge in aid to victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma -- and the Asian tsunami.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 27, 2006 – It’s a little-known fact that about 20 percent of servicemembers donate blood, compared to less than 5 percent of the civilian populace, the director of the U.S. military’s blood program said here today. This year, the Armed Services Blood Program will collect about 160,000 units or pints of blood products, Navy Cmdr. Michael C. Libby said during a Pentagon Channel interview. “That’s 20 percent more than last year, and that’s twice as much as we did in 2001,” Libby said. That’s possible, he said, because of the great generosity of the program’s donors. National...

Apparently, conservatives care more about the poor and are more generous when giving to the poor. This shatters the age old myth that Liberals are more compassionate towards the poor. It also destroys the cornerstone of the Liberal argument. Republicans work harder, make more money, and donate more of their money to the poor. We also fight all the wars! God Bless America and all that is great about our country! Here is the article: SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse University professor Arthur C. Brooks is about to become the darling of the religious right in America -- and it's making...

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse University professor Arthur C. Brooks is about to become the darling of the religious right in America -- and it's making him nervous. The child of academics, raised in a liberal household and educated in the liberal arts, Brooks has written a book that concludes religious conservatives donate far more money than secular liberals to all sorts of charitable activities, irrespective of income. In the book, he cites extensive data analysis to demonstrate that values advocated by conservatives -- from church attendance and two-parent families to the Protestant work ethic and a distaste for government-funded social...

A review of tax returns can be revealing in terms of character

Former vice president Al Gore (news - web sites) may be supporting Howard Dean (news - web sites), but retired army general Wesley Clark (news - web sites) has support in his quest for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination from ... Madonna (news - web sites). The Material Girl on Tuesday publicly threw her support behind the retired four-star general, one of nine Democrats seeking to replace George W. Bush in the November 2004 election. "I endorse him because I think he's a great guy," the pop superstar said on CNN Tuesday. "I think he's a natural born leader." Madonna...

Last Updated: Wednesday, 24 September, 2003, 11:09 GMT 12:09 UKMadonna book sells 8,000 copies This was Madonna's first attempt at children's fiction Madonna's children's book The English Roses has sold just over 8,000 copies in its first week in the UK. The book, launched amid a blaze of publicity, made it to number 17 in the national book chart, according to data company Nielsen Bookscan. It was the second bestselling children's book of the week, behind JK Rowling's fifth Harry Potter book. This week the top-selling book in the UK, David Beckham's autobiography My Side, sold 103,508 copies. Madonna's book,...

<p>The middle-aged serial slurper came to Midtown yesterday clad in an early Halloween costume - dowdy tweed suit and bushy hair - to role-play the part of an actual mom.</p> <p>We've seen this gal tied up, beaten down, with cones protruding from her bosom, and naked so frequently, it is to yawn. But Madonna's new, prissy act, unveiled on Fifth Avenue, was downright weird.</p>

Poor Madonna (news - web sites). In her new career as a writer of children's books, lightning has not struck twice. Her first effort, The English Roses, had skeptical critics baying with praise at how effectively she examines the subtle but cruel ways girls exclude those they envy or pity. The book has been translated into 37 languages, and it has been on the USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list since Sept. 22. Its highest rank was No. 7. In the second of Madonna's expected five books, Mr. Peabody's Apples, illustrated by Loren Long, the pop star and mother turns her...

LONDON: "Material Girl" Madonna is said to be gearing up for a fistfight with Warner Bros Records over differences about where her Maverick Records is heading. According to PeopleNews , a reason for the impending parting of the ways may be attributed to a rumour that Time Warner is lining up to sell off the Warner Music Group. Tension seems to be brewing, as renegotiations between the two warring parties is virtually non-existent, sources close to the disgruntled Warner executives, say. Others are even predicting "a nuclear lawsuit," with the big guns of parent company Time Warner lining up for...

Madonna's bestseller November 26, 2003 MADONNA'S second children's book Mr Peabody's Apples is on top of the New York Times best sellers list for children this week. The queen of pop has topped the book chart just eight weeks after her last number one with The English Roses. Children are loving Madonna's tales. As funny as it may sound, Madonna has kept The Cat In The Hat from going number one in the book world. The Cat In The Hat is being propelled by the movie starring Mike Myers, Alec Baldwin and Kelly Preston. Madonna's career as an author couldn't...

Nobody ever says, "Madonna who?" She's part of our culture, an American success story who's maintained a media presence for 20 years now, re-inventing herself with every prevailing wind, while never, ever giving the impression she's doing anything other than what she wants to do. We are by turns impressed, embarrassed, shocked and amazed by Madonna's antics, but we're rarely surprised anymore. Madonna, the dancer from Detroit, set out to become famous and succeeded beyond anybody's but her own wildest dreams. She's 45, and shows no signs of slowing down or relinquishing her place in the spotlight; in fact, she's...

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) --The Material Girl has stepped onto the political stage and endorsed Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark. "I think he has a good handle on foreign policy, I think he's good with people, and I think he has a heart and a consciousness," pop singer Madonna said. "He's interested in spirituality -- I mean, those things mean a lot to me." The singer and children's book author met Clark a few weeks ago for over an hour. In an interview recorded last week with CNN's Denise Quan, Madonna said they discussed his becoming president. The singer told...

It's a miracle just in time for the holidays. Popcorn, a six-pound stray dog with five legs, has made it through unprecedented surgery and found a home in the process. The tiny dog's been out of surgery less than a day. Dr. Ansede, along with Dr. Rebecca Tudor of N.C. State Veterinary Hospital, amputated two of Popcorn's five legs.

Great Responsibility By Daniel W. Drezner 05/06/2003 E-Mail Bookmark Print Save TCS Americans like to think of themselves as generous to the less fortunate. It's therefore disheartening to read in the Financial Times that, "Japan and the US are the least helpful of the rich countries towards the developing world, according to a new measure from a leading think tank." The "leading think tank" is the Center for Global Development (CGD), a recent offshoot of the prestigious and nonpartisan Institute for International Economics (IIE) Anyone familiar with IIE's work over the past two decades knows that they excel at producing...