Free Republic

In a September 2007 speech at UC Berkeley, Robert Reich told his audience the following: "We're going to have to, if you're very old, we're not going to give you all that technology and all those drugs for the last couple years of your life to keep you going for maybe another couple months. It's too expensive...so we're going to let you die." Reich wasn't just Clinton's Labor Secretary. He's NOW a confidante and personal advisor to Obama. He's a player and he knows what's happening in the administration.

Pittsburgh was treated to an impressive show the week of the recent G20 conference. A nice assortment of military choppers of various types and missions, along with odder aircraft difficult both to identify and explain. Both police and the National Guard were out in force, with downtown nearly sealed off. None of this hardware was used against the "3,000 - 4,000" (more like a few hundred) anarchist demonstrators when they turned their righteous wrath on a dozen Starbucks and a Whole Foods store. No serious confrontation was expected and none occurred. Because all of it - the Guard troops, the...

The Subprime home mortgage collapse...a Primer. It's ALL about the CRA of 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977 - This required banks to offer credit throughout their entire market area for “underserved” populations and small businesses. The CRA gave incentives to help low income borrowers become “home owners”. Liberals call this group “low income borrowers”. Conservatives call them a RISK!The CRA was passed by the Carter administration. In 1995 the Clinton administration authorized subprime loans under the CRA. Democrats added these provisions for the securitization of subprime loans and then ENFORCED the lending to high risk individuals. By 2000,...

Candidate Obama answers a question about his lack of experience. He says he knows how to pick talent. He will set a course and mobilize his assembled talent to achieve that goal

In 2007, Rather filed his $70 million lawsuit against his old company saying he wasn’t allowed to defend his story because the top management of CBS’ parent company, Viacom, wanted to appease the Bush Administration and protect its business interests. Until now, the controversy over the Rather/Mapes story has centered almost entirely on one issue: the legitimacy of the documents – a very important issue, indeed. But it turns out that there was another very important issue, one that goes to the very heart of what the story was about – and one that has gone virtually unnoticed. This is...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A U.S. senator revealed Tuesday that he believes a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran nearly two years ago is being held in a secret prison there. Sen. Bill Nelson shed new light on the disappearance of Robert Levinson during a confirmation hearing for Hillary Rodham Clinton in Washington. Levinson, of Coral Springs, Fla., was last seen on Iran's Kish island in March 2007 where he had gone to seek information for a client of his security firm.

As President Obama repeatedly tells America that his plan for healthcare reform will not lead to the elimination of private health insurance, statements he made in 2007 and 2003 tell a different story altogether. In shocking video uncovered

LONDON, July 31 (UPI) -- Letters from convicted "shoe bomber" Richard Reid from a super-max prison in the United States include lectures to his father about Islam and dreams of freedom. The Mirror, a British newspaper, reported that it had an exclusive look at Reid's letters to his father, Robin Reid, a Jamaican-born recovering drug addict living in a London homeless shelter. Reid berates his father for a letter telling him that his aunt, Madeleine, who brought Reid up while Robin Reid was in prison, had died and was "in a better place." "What you wrote about Aunt Lynn being...

45 Muslim doctors planned US terror raids By John Steel, Crime Correspondent Last Updated: 2:25am BST 05/07/2007 A group of 45 Muslim doctors threatened to use car bombs and rocket grenades in terrorist attacks in the United States during discussions on an extremist internet chat site. Police found details of the discussions on a site run by one of a three-strong "cyber-terrorist" gang. They were discovered at the home of Younis Tsouli, 23, Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London heard. One message read: "We are 45 doctors and we are determined to undertake jihad and take the battle inside America....

ATLANTA, June 4 (UPI) -- The FBI said it was looking at whether a Muslim convert accused of killing a soldier outside an Arkansas recruiting center also targeted an Atlanta Jewish site. The Atlanta site was potentially one of several U.S. Jewish sites Abdulhakim Muhammad targeted, said an anti-terrorism group specializing in protecting against anti-Jewish attacks. Muhammad, 24 -- who pleaded not guilty to killing Pvt. William Long, 23, and wounding Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, outside a Little Rock, Ark., recruiting office -- also had plans for an Atlanta "Jewish entity," an FBI spokesman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Stephen Emmett...

Nuradin Abdi was convicted in 2007 of planning to blow up an Ohio shopping mall. Iyman Faris was convicted in 2003 of planning to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge. Christopher Paul was convicted in 2008 of conspiring to use explosives against targets in the U.S. and Europe. All three terrorists worshiped and socialized at a small mosque in Columbus, Ohio, and, according to David B. Smith, an attorney for Faris, were part of a larger group of jihadists and extremists who frequented the mosque. The FBI now is investigating reports of links to that same mosque by Muslim-convert Abdulhakim Muhammad...

FBI Investigating Multi-Billion-Dollar Defense Contractor With Tax-Exempt Status In Congressman's HometownCBS News has learned the FBI is investigating a little-known not-for-profit organization called Commonwealth Research Institute. It's located, like a lot of Rep. John Murtha's, D-Penn., pet projects, in his hometown, Johnstown, Penn. Commonwealth gets the same benefits as the Salvation Army or any other charity: It doesn't have to pay taxes. But its line of work may be surprising. It's a defense contractor. "It certainly raises a question," says Dean Zerbe, a former top Senate investigator. He questions Commonwealth's tax exempt status, saying it seems to do business just...

A prankster with a water balloon interrupted an anti-tax "tea party" at East Lake Park on Saturday afternoon. The man doused a WGOW Talk Radio crew with one of the balloons, then was chased down and corralled at a nearby church. Bobby Petty, president of the Greater East Lake Community Council that sponsored the event, said he saw the man wearing a bandana at the back of the crowd for about an hour before the sudden attack. He said when emcee John Wolfe told the crowd that County Commissioner John Brooks should be coming out to East Lake helping residents...

Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack. 1967 - Vice principal comes over to look at Jack’s shotgun. He goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack. 2007 - School goes into lockdown, and FBI is called. Jack is hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers. ——————————————————————————– Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school. 1967 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends. Nobody...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The collapse of U.S. housing and stock prices have likely pushed household net worth down by more than 20 percent in the past year, the Federal Reserve said on Thursday. A Fed study of U.S. family finances estimates median family net worth fell by 17.8 percent while mean net worth declined by 22.7 percent. The mean is the average, and the median is the middle value in a series of numbers. Relative to 2004, median net worth slipped by 3.2 percent while mean net worth tumbled 12.7 percent. The data was released as part of a Fed...

As the reader will see from our prior publication, "Adult Stem Cell Success Stories - 2006," [1] adult stem cell research had an impressive track record as of 2006-over 1100 FDA approved clinical trials in the United States for 72 different illnesses and disabilities. 2007 has seen further advances in adult stem cell research and therapy. Currently, peer-reviewed studies have documented 73 different conditions in humans where patient health has been improved through adult stem cell therapy,[2] and over 1400 FDA approved trials are ongoing.[3]Adult stem cells are found throughout the human body from birth onward, in placentas, and in...

AUSTIN, Texas — If anyone wondered whether Texas toll road rage had subsided or lawmakers' irritation at the Texas Department of Transportation had eased, those questions got answered a few days before Christmas: Not so much. Denouncing the massive transportation agency as dysfunctional and out of control, a group of lawmakers reviewing the department said it will be intensely debated in the legislative session that begins Jan. 13. "This is a big agency that is a mess," said Rep. Carl Isett, a Lubbock Republican and one of the leaders of the Sunset Advisory Commission that periodically examines state agencies. He...

Police have smashed a suspected al Qaeda terror cell nursing a "profound hatred of US citizens" plotting to bomb civilian and military jets. The force of the planned explosions would have been worse than the train bombings in Madrid and the Tube and bus attacks in London on 7 July, 2005, according to German security sources. Those attacks killed 191 and 52 people respectively. Three men aged 22, 28 and 29 have been arrested in Germany days before they planned to strike, and bomb-making equipment and explosives have been seized. The arrests come a day after Danish police conducted raids...

CAMDEN, N.J. – Five men who planned an attack on a New Jersey military base were inspired by al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden, a prosecutor said Monday during opening statements in their terrorism trial. The government has presented the case as one of the most frightening examples of homegrown terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks. Authorities said that in 2006 and 2007, the men turned paintball games into terrorist training sessions and met to discuss a plot to sneak onto the Army's Fort Dix base and kill soldiers. No attack was carried out. "Their motive was to defend Islam. Their...

Texas politicians who support toll roads won't have Sal Costello to kick them around anymore. Costello and his family moved to a small town in Southern Illinois this summer. He announced it on his blog Sunday, quietly, an adverb seldom associated with Costello in the past. Costello, if you're new around here or have forgotten, was a Southwest Austin graphics designer who in 2004 made a warp-speed trip from obscurity to notoriety after politicians pushed through a plan to build seven more toll roads. The plan included putting tolls on three roads that were already under construction using nothing but...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: We've talked about the congressman, shared the piece with you from Michael O'Shea and the AmericanThinker.com. They're gutless. They don't have beliefs. They don't keep promises. They don't stick to things and so forth. We've discussed all aspects of their arrogance today; their conceit; their elitism; and they're nuts. There was an online forum with the Democrat presidential candidates moderated by Bill Maher. Senator Biden got this question from Bill Maher: "Senator Biden, forgetting about the upcoming Iowa caucus for just a moment, which would you honestly say is more likely to contribute to the death of...

Sen. Barack Obama designated a personal aide as his direct contact for the 2007 Kenyan presidential campaign of Raila Odinga, who later was appointed prime minister after his election loss was followed by widespread, deadly violence that destroyed or damaged 800 Christian churches, according to e-mails obtained by WND senior staff writer Jerry Corsi during a trip to Kenya. Odinga called for protests over alleged voter fraud after losing the December 2007 general election. The resulting protest violence left an estimated 1,000 members of the dominant Kikuyu tribe in Kenya dead and an estimated 500,000 displaced from their homes. The...

Audio: After the Sub Prime Crisis already started in 2007 Obama says Sub Prime Mortgages that gave houses to people WHO COULDN'T AFFORD THEM was a GOOD IDEA!!

** Originally published January 12, 2007 ** The Botetourt County kid who handed out political business cards as a grade schooler is now the local face for U.S. Sen. James Webb in the Roanoke and New River valleys. Fred Hutchins, who has spent the past several years as state Del. Onzlee Ware's legislative aide, has been hired by Virginia's new Democratic senator to run his Roanoke-based U.S. Senate office. For the time being, it will be in the same place as former U.S. Sen. George Allen's, in an office complex off Virginia 419 near the Roanoke County Administration Building. "I'm...

UNIDENTIFIED gunmen shot and killed a brother-in-law of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid on his home in Madagascar, his brother said. Malek Khalifa told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television that the aim of the killers appeared to have been to rob his brother, Jamal Khalifa, who mined and traded precious stones in Madagascar.

WASHINGTON - Both violent and property crimes declined in 2007 from the previous year, the FBI reported Monday. In preliminary figures for crimes reported to police, the bureau said the number of violent crimes declined by 1.4 percent from 2006, reversing two years of rising violent crime numbers. Violent crime had climbed 1.9 percent in 2006 and 2.3 percent in 2005, alarming federal and local officials. Property crimes were down 2.1 percent last year from the previous year, the largest drop in the last four years. "One preliminary report does not make a trend, but it's going the way we...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry promised to keep fighting for private toll roads and his other transportation priorities Tuesday during his first major speech on the subject since the death in December of transportation commission chairman Ric Williamson. "This is a place for big challenges, not big excuses," he told state Transportation Department employees and highway experts from around the country at the annual Transportation Forum. Next year's legislative session, he said, can't be anything like last year's. "The Legislature must understand that 'no' is not a solution," Mr. Perry said. "It is an abdication of responsibility." Before last year's...

WASHINGTON - The number of people who legally immigrated to the U.S. dropped 17 percent last year, largely because of administrative problems, according to a Homeland Security Department report. A total of 1.05 million people became legal permanent residents in 2007, falling from 1.27 million a year earlier, according to the report by the department's Office of Immigration Statistics. Citizenship and Immigration Services has been under fire after processing times grew because immigrants flooded the agency with applications filed last year in advance of a dramatic increases in filing fees. The delays will keep some people from becoming citizens in...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Potential presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich on Tuesday blasted the modern-day road to the White House as too long, too expensive and verging on "insane." The former House speaker from Georgia said he will decide whether to enter the GOP presidential field in October. But in a wide-ranging speech at the National Press Club in Washington, he ridiculed campaign consultants and spin doctors who he said are extending the 2008 campaign. He said presidential debates have become "almost unendurable." "These aren't debates," the former Georgia congressman said. "This is a cross between [TV shows] 'The Bachelor,' 'American Idol'...

What do monks, kites, unwanted pregnancies, a 19th century abolitionist, and a young man with a life-sized inflatable doll have in common? They're all in movies that we've deemed the ten most redeeming films of 2007. posted 01/29/08 First off, what do we mean by "redeeming" films? They're all stories of redemption—sometimes blatantly, sometimes less so. Several of them literally have a character that represents a redeemer; all of them have characters who experience redemption to some degree—some quite clearly, some more subtly. Some are "feel-good" movies that leave a smile on your face; some are a bit more uncomfortable...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2008 – “Tremendous” growth in the Iraqi air force last year in terms of capability as well as capacity is expected to continue in 2008 as Iraq builds its air force from the ground up, a senior U.S. officer assisting that effort reported today. During 2007, the Iraqis stood up four air force training schools and graduated their first military pilots’ class since 2003, Air Force Col. Lyman “Lewie” Edwards, who also serves as chief of staff and deputy commander for the Coalition Air Force Transition Team, told retired military analysts via teleconference from Baghdad. Last year...

Scholars of the Year by: Malcolm A. Kline, January 10, 2008 Because of the nature of our work, we don’t often get to do “best of” lists. By definition, almost, we are chronicling professors of questionable scholarship in our often vain search for accuracy in academia. What we have assembled, then, is something of a bottom 10 list, sort of a reverse U. S. News & World Report ranking. Indeed, it was hard to narrow down such a selection from the more than 100 professors a year whose antics we cover. Arguably, and we would argue the point, our own...

January 8 - Yvonne De Carlo, actress (Lily on the "Munsters"), age 84 January 10 - Carlo Ponti, producer ("Doctor Zhivago") and husband of Sophia Loren, age 94 January 14 - Darlene Conley, actress (Sally Spectra on "Bold and the Beautiful") age 72 January 16 - Ron Carey, actor (Ofc. Carl Levitt on "Barney Miller") age 71 January 17 - Art Buchwald, columnist for the Washington Post, age 81 January 19 - Denny Doherty, singer in the original Mamas and the Papas, age 66 January 20 - Sen. George Smathers, former U.S. Senator and confidant to several Presidents, age 93...

WASHINGTON - Crime dipped slightly for the first half of 2007, the FBI reported Monday, signaling a stop to a 2-year increase in violence nationwide. Violent crime — including murders, rapes and robberies — dropped by 1.8 percent between January and June last year, the FBI's preliminary data show. Property crimes also decreased, including a 7.4 percent drop in car thefts and arsons by nearly 10 percent. But violent crime appears to be rising, if slightly, in small cities and rural areas, the data show. The FBI data, compiled from local and state police departments around the nation, offer a...

The year we sent off last week was quite mixed. It thus seems appropriate to create lists of the worst and best stories of 2007. Last week, I listed the 10 worst stories of 2007. This week, I present to you the 10 best stories of 2007: 10. Burj Dubai becomes the world’s tallest freestanding structure: This story presents dual reasons to cheer. First, it represents the power of free trade and the global economy in improving technology and humanity’s standard of living. Second, it demonstrates the ability of capitalism to modernize Muslim countries such as the United Arab Emirates,...

Movie List: Best and Worst, 2007 Posted by: Michael Medved BEST OF YEAR: 1. ATONEMENT - Keira Knightly, James McAvoy 2. AMAZING GRACE - Ioan Gruffudd, Albert Finney (The story of William Wilberforce) 3. THE KITE RUNNER - Based on the best-selling novel, and from the director of "Monster's Ball" and "Finding Neverland" 4. RATATOUILLE - Animated film with voices of Peter O'Toole, Brad Garrett, and Patton Oswalt 5. THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD - Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck 6. GONE BABY GONE - Casey Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris (Directed by Ben Affleck) 7....

Borrowing from you to pay you---congressional earmarksBy: Deneen Borelli The Atlanta Story Friday, December 28, 2007 Remember "The Mod Squad" television series that ran on ABC from 1968 to 1973? Chronicling three diverse, hipper-than-hip young cops working in the counter-culture movement of the day, the network promoted it with the tagline "One White, One Black, One Blonde." A similar group seems to have formed among some prominent New York lawmakers. Instead of Pete, Linc and Julie, however, the team is now composed of Senator Charles Schumer (D), Representative Charles Rangel (D) and Senator Hillary Clinton (D). Call them "The Rob...

We have had a fairly mixed year. Both good stories and bad were bountiful, and sometimes good and bad news came together to neutralize mega-stories. Take Pakistan, where Pervez Musharraf’s lifting of both his military uniform and his country’s State of Emergency was closely followed by the untimely assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Nobody quite knows what the net effect of these events will be.

It was a simple commercial, with Mike Huckabee posed in front of a set of scandalously empty white bookshelves that, when framed just right beside a Christmas tree, formed a glowing cross behind the candidate. And, lo, the former Southern Baptist pastor told the voters: "Are you about worn out by all the television commercials you've been seeing, mostly about politics? I don't blame you. At this time of year, sometimes it's nice to pull aside from all of that and just remember that what really matters is a celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family...

It was a year that strode boldly into the stall of human events and took a wide stance astride the porcelain bowl of history. It was year in which roughly 17,000 leading presidential contenders, plus of course Dennis Kucinich, held roughly 63,000 debates, during which they spewed out roughly 153 trillion words; and yet the only truly memorable phrase emitted in any political context was ``Don't tase me, Bro!'' It was a year filled with bizarre, insane, destructive behavior, an alarming amount of which involved astronauts. In short, 2007 was a year of deep gloom, pierced occasionally by rays of...

The oldest trick in journalism is padding late December issues with plenty of "Best of the Year" lists. But which of these lists were the best this year? We present... THE BEST 'BEST OF 2007' LISTS OF 2007 LIST! 10. Yale Book of Quotations' Most Memorable Quotes of 2007. In first place is the crowd-disbursing, "Don't tase me, bro!" 9. Spike TV's Top 10 Best Trailers of 2007. Of course, 300 was included. 8. Wired magazine's Top 10 Startups Worth Watching in 2008. However, they seem to have left one out. 7. Metacritic's Most Critically-Acclaimed Albums of 2007. I only...

Well, another year is ending...and to sum it up... What were the funniest things politicians said in 2007? 1. “Biking through New York’s boroughs in 2005, I thought about some old friends, Joe and Eileen Bailey. Though they are imaginary, I frequently talk to them.” ~ Chuck Schumer 2. "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." ~ Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) on Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) 3. “We’ve got to make sure that people who have more money help the people who...

December 27, 2007, 0:00 a.m. Bills Came Due2007 in review. By Victor Davis Hanson 2007 reminded us that our easy way of life comes at a price, and that there are consequences and tradeoffs in almost everything we do. Let’s go down the list. Illegal Immigration President Bush’s comprehensive immigration bill collapsed this summer, following public outrage from the middle and poorer classes of both parties. These Americans reminded their politicians that first they want their southern border closed to illegal immigration — and discussion of anything else second. They are not racists, nativists, or protectionists — much less...

In news of war, tragedy, and uncertainty, 2007 was a year of frustrationBy ADAM GELLER Associated Press writer December 23, 2007 6:00 AM A war winds on, but lawmakers are seemingly powerless to do anything about it. The wrenching sorrow of tragedies on a Virginia campus, a Minnesota highway bridge and deep inside a Utah coal mine is compounded by a question that echoes: Could this have been prevented? Thousands lose their homes in a mortgage and credit crisis that worsened — despite repeated assurances that the worst had passed. Every year has grim headlines. But the story of 2007...

HARRY REID: Good morning. I'm Nevada Senator Harry Reid, the Majority leader of the United States Senate. Last November, Americans elected a new Democratic Congress to end business as usual in Washington and change America. This week marked the end of our first year in the majority, and in that time, Democrats have put working families first, given our troops the care and support they deserve, and made our country safer. For working families: We cut middle class taxes; raised the minimum wage for the first time in ten years; helped families avoid foreclosure on their homes; made college more...

In Tuesday's off-year elections, Democrats continued to gather steam in Virginia and Kentucky--making it even more obvious that these two Southern states are up for grabs in 2008. Kentucky's Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher, hand-picked for the job by US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2003, did not merely lose his re-election bid to Democrat Steve Beshear--he got pummeled, obliterated and all-around embarrassed by a "has-been" candidate who'd dropped out of politics a decade ago after losing races for governor and Senate. Beshear won almost 60 percent of the vote. Much of Fletcher's trouble was Fletcher himself--he ran in 2003...

NOTE: as I have traditionally done, Christmas songs telling the news of the day will only be the secular songs. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2007 DFU CHRISTMAS PARODIES: OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODSIT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMASPARADE OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERSI SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS GRANDMA GOT RUN OVER BY A REINDEER MIDI - RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER You know Engels and Karl, of course, Uncle Joe Lenin and Mao and Castro and Ho But do you recall the most famous Marxist of all Hillary Rodham Clinton is a neo-Stalinist She'd be an evil despot...that's something...

"Americans ... don't seem to want to pay for health-care reforms directly through higher taxes." — Wall Street Journal editorial Nov. 8, "Schip Wreck." "... (T)he nation's big tobacco companies ... spent an obscene amount of money on deceptive television ads designed to protect their profits, even at the expense of poor children." — New York Times editorial Nov. 8 "Big Tobacco Defeats Sick Kids." The real story, spun hard in opposing directions by the Journal and Times, was Oregon voters Nov. 6 rejected a plan to finance universal health care with an increase in tobacco taxes. Tobacco interests did...

Who is on Jesus' side in Mississippi? That's the question John Arthur Eaves Jr. posed to voters during his recent campaign for Mississippi governor. The 41-year-old attorney and evangelical Christian ran his campaign on themes familiar in the Bible Belt: Eaves is pro-life, opposes gay marriage, and favors teaching creationism in public schools. But one thing about Eaves' overtly Christian-themed candidacy threw Mississippi voters for a loop: Eaves is a Democrat. Eaves did not prevail against Republican incumbent Gov. Haley Barbour in the Nov. 6 elections, but the candidate did manage to make a point in the Republican stronghold: Democrats...