Free Republic

An insight into how liberals and conservatives differ not just in politics but also ways of thinking.

Big brother has taken it to a new level, outfitting student Ids with tracking devices at Santa Fe Junior High and Santa Fe High School. Minus a few high profile shootings, schools are generally known as a safe environment for our children. Why then are these schools outfitted school ids with tracking devices that must be worn at all times? Are our students going to school or prison? What is the threat that requires such drastic measures? How many more schools plan on implementing these Orwellian “security” measures? Patrick Mann is a senior and said he feels like he’s in...

NO COUNTRY FOR BITTER WHITE MEN They’ve made your lawns, beds and meals for several years, but now they might be signing your paychecks. Between 2002 and 2007, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses in Texas increased about 40 percent. If money in Texas could talk, it’d speak Spanglish. While Hispanics (namely Mexicans) in New York are largely seen are the mops and rags of the workforce, in Houston they are the face of new leaders emerging in the business world. Maybe it’s because they know their audience, which happens to have a projected $3 trillion purchasing power this year. This...

This seems a little...inappropriate, doesn't it? At another point, he told Democrats upset at a perceived lack of progress to think of the patience of onetime slaves. "You know, the slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs, they weren't sure when slavery would end, but they understood it was going to end," he said. Confirmed: The president has himself a new talking point. CBS' Mark Knoller tweets that he said it again: Obama says people are impatient but "now's not the time to quit...it took time to free the slaves...ultimately we'll make progress." I sincerely would like to know...

Cochise County Arizona Sheriff Larry Dever says the president does not want border security unless he gets immigration reform. http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/checker.aspx?v=hdkU6UZukU

Obama Says Fox News Is Hurting The Growth Of The United States Gregory White Sep. 28, 2010, 1:29 PM President Obama has attacked Fox News in an interview with Rolling Stone, questioning the impact of the channel on the long term health of the U.S. economy. From the Rolling Stone Interview (via MSNBC, emphasis ours): I think Fox is part of that tradition — it is part of the tradition that has a very clear, undeniable point of view. It's a point of view that I disagree with. It's a point of view that I think is ultimately destructive for...

<p>Democrats are considering cramming as many as 20 pieces of legislation into the lame-duck session they plan to hold after the Nov. 2 election.</p> <p>The array of bills competing for floor time shows the sense of urgency among Democratic lawmakers to act before the start of the 112th Congress, when Republicans are expected to control more seats in the Senate and House.</p>

ANAHEIM — Disneyland officials have reached an agreement with a Muslim college intern allowing her to wear a head covering while on the job, Muslim community leaders and Disney officials said Monday. Officials with the Council on American-Islamic Relations say the scarf acts as an Islamic head covering, called a hijab, in accordance with her Muslim religion. Disney officials don’t call it a hijab — just a head scarf to accommodate an employees needs. The woman, who was not identified by name, is the second Disney employee in recent weeks to complain that Disney did not allow her to wear...

Andrew Cuomo, betting that he's still running in a very blue state, offers a bit of a challenge to the Republican base: "There are no places in New York today for Tea Party politics," he said today, per NY1's Josh Robin.

U.S. Education Secretary Vows to Make American Children 'Good Environmental Citizens' "Today, I promise you that under my leadership, the Department of Education will be a committed partner in the national effort to build a more environmentally literate and responsible society," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Thursday, September 23, 2010 By Nicholas Ballasy Education Secretary Arne Duncan looks on as President Barack Obama talks to students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (CNSNews.com) - U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan vowed on Tuesday that his department would work to make American children into...

Senate Democrats Approve Pro-Abortion Obama Judges on Party-Line Votes Washington, DC -- Senate Democrats, on largely party-line votes today, approved three pro-abortion judges President Barack Obama put forward for key judicial positions. The Senate Judiciary Committee approve the nominations of Goodwin Liu, Edward Chen and Louis Butler, for appeals court and district court positions. http://LifeNews.com/nat6724.html

Senate to Reconsider Obama's Pro-Abortion Judicial Picks Washington, DC -- The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider sixteen of President Barack Obama's judicial nominees during a hearing Thursday, including several who have been panned for advocating abortion. Some of the more controversial nominees include Goodwin Liu, Edward Chen and Louis Butler, nominated to appeals court and district court positions. http://LifeNews.com/nat6708.html

President Barack Obama assured Hispanics on Wednesday he was not walking away from immigration reform while expressing disappointment that he had not delivered on a 2008 promise to overhaul U.S. policy. Obama, a Democrat who is ramping up his rhetoric against Republicans ahead of November 2 congressional elections, said only cooperation from both parties would allow reforms to advance. He blamed Republicans for backing away from reform and urged Hispanics -- an important and growing voting bloc -- to continue giving him the support they gave during his presidential campaign. "Now, I know that many of you campaigned hard for...

New York City officials want to take their smoking ban outdoors. City officials announced new legislation on Wednesday that would outlaw smoking in parks, beaches, marinas, boardwalks That means no smoking in Central Park or on the Coney Island boardwalk. Violators could be issued quality-of-life summonses by the parks department and pedestrian plazas throughout the city.

As the National Institutes of Health fights in court for permission to resume long-term funding for research involving human embryonic stem cells, some members of Congress are coming to the agency’s defense with a proposal to make President Obama’s stem-cell funding policy the law of the land. Monday in Washington, D.C., Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) spoke in favor of the Stem Cell Research Advancement Act. This bill would make clear Congress' intent to allow federal funds to be used on the promising research, which is controversial because the cells themselves are derived from days-old human embryos, which are destroyed in...

WASHINGTON – First lady Michelle Obama is prodding the nation's restaurants to add more healthy options to menus, label those items more prominently and market nutritious foods to kids. Speaking to the National Restaurant Association on Monday, Mrs. Obama pleaded with restaurants small and large to take a little butter or cream out of their dishes, use low fat milk and provide apple slices or carrots as a default side dish on the kids' menu. Mrs. Obama said that Americans are spending half their food dollars outside the home and eating a third of meals in restaurants. She asked the...

First lady Michelle Obama is challenging the nation's restaurants to add more healthy options to menus, label those items more prominently and market nutritious foods to kids. Speaking at the National Restaurant Association Monday, Mrs. Obama pleaded with restaurants small and large to take a little butter or cream out of their dishes, use low fat milk and provide apple slices or carrots as a default side dish on the kids' menu.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - The Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino is defending its decision to hold an event in the city that rallied support around legislation that would aid undocumented young people. The gathering at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church aimed to raise awareness and promote advocacy for the DREAM Act, said John Andrews, spokesman for the Diocese of San Bernardino. The Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act would help young illegal immigrants who are illegally in the United States enlist in the military, attend college or acquire citizenship. The youth would have to meet certain requirements, such as...

At his White House press conference Friday, President Obama once again endorsed the placement of a triumphalist mosque in immediate proximity to Ground Zero, declaring it the “inalienable right” of the increasingly transparently immoderate imam determined to build it there. Troubling as this evidence is of Mr. Obama’s submission to shariah – the supremacist political-military-legal code of places like Saudi Arabia and Iran that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf says he wants to bring to America, even more worrisome is something else he at least implied: He was prepared as “Commander-in-Chief” to prevent the burning of Qurans by a pastor in...

Orszag: Obama “not a socialist” Former Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag told Fareed Zakaria on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” that President Barack Obama’s critics are wrong to say that he has a socialist economic philosophy. “President Obama is not a socialist,” Orszag said. The label reflects a “yearning for pragmatic solutions to the problems that we face. And socialist just -- I mean, again, it just does not fit.” Orszag said that given the actions that the Obama administration has taken to deal with the economic crisis, labeling Obama as a socialist is misguided. “One...