Free Republic

A panel advising the State Board of Education on what seventh-graders should learn in their social studies courses has urged deleting the label "heroic" from a curriculum standard about the Alamo's defenders.---snip---The panel said "heroic" was a "value-charged word."---snip---Current seventh-grade social studies curriculum standards include the "siege of the Alamo and all of the heroic defenders who gave their lives there." The advisory committee recommended cutting the phrase "and all of the heroic defenders who gave their lives there."---snip---Debbie Ratcliffe, spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency, said the recommendation was made in response to complaints that curriculum standards are too...

Hillary Clinton and John McCain both ripped into Barack Obama Friday for reportedly saying residents of small-town America “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them” out of bitterness over lost jobs, a remark his opponents interpreted as arrogant...

On a recent sunny weekend in the usually sleepy town of Craponne-sur-Arzon, American flags festooned the streets, country music blared amid the sidewalk cafés, and hundreds of people milled about in cowboy hats or even top-to-toe Wild West get-ups. Dozens of folks turned local squares in this town in the Haute-Loire region of southern France into impromptu, western-style dance floors. The catalyst for all this was the annual Country Rendez-Vous, a three-day festival of country-western music and bluegrass that takes place here each summer in late July. Over the past two decades, country and western festivals have sprung up in...

This just in: Colorado Springs is a conservative city. Exactly how right-leaning the town is may come as a surprise, though. The Springs ranked as the sixth-most conservative city in America out of 237 with at least 100,000 residents, according to a survey released Thursday by a voting-research think tank. More on this topic America's most conservative cities America's most liberal cities It was the largest city in the top 12, outdistancing the next biggest city on the list by more than 100,000 people. Colorado Springs’ placement on the list was enough to destroy a main theory of the Bay...

(GOLIAD, TEXAS) -- There was no shortage of volunteers last night as the controversial Minuteman civilian border patrol organization gathered in this historic south Texas town to organize anti illegal immigrant activities in Texas. Many volunteers said illegal immigration needs to be stopped, and since the federal government is unable or unwilling to do it, then its up to civilians to step in and get it done. "Our children can't get out into our yards," rancher and Texas Minuteman leader Bill Parmley told the group. "We're afraid. Something has to be done." The location of the meeting in Goliad...

<p>An article I posted earlier has been inadvertently removed from the board. Please return it as it was very important.</p> <p>Also, for some reason, my earlier account is inactive. Please resolve.</p>

April 28, 2005 Red state? West Virginia shift Several times, we have posed this question for political experts: Why did West Virginia — long a Roosevelt-and-Kennedy Democratic “blue state” — become a Republican “red state” in the past two presidential elections, despite 2-to-1 Democratic registration? Why did this low-income state vote for the party of the rich — a party openly slashing help for common Americans and giving huge rewards to the wealthy? We never received an explanation from any of the state’s political professors or other societal analysts. But an answer was offered by one of the world’s premier...

RICHMOND, VA -- The prediction that the Virginia gubernatorial race would serve as a national bellwether seemed wishful a month ago. Not anymore. National interest is growing in it now that the contest between Republican Jerry Kilgore and Democrat Tim Kaine has taken on a controversial dynamic involving faith and its role in the public square and given a glimpse of a new Democratic Southern strategy. While Northern Virginia's urbanization lends Democrats increasing hopes for turning this red commonwealth blue, this is still a state of God and NASCAR. Former Attorney General Kilgore was the grand marshal this month of...

The U.S. Census Bureau has released new population projections for the next quarter-century, and the political implications are interesting, though not surprising. Based on the first table here (in Microsoft Excel form; USA Today has part of it in HTML), these are the 10 states that are expected to be the biggest in 2030 and the fastest-growing in the 2000-30 period, with the 2000 population rank given in parentheses: Biggest Fastest Growing 1 California (1) Nevada 2 Texas (2) Arizona 3 Florida (4) Florida 4 New York (3) Texas 5 Illinois (5) Utah 6 Pennsylvania (6) Idaho 7 North Carolina...

April 16, 2005--In the race to become Virginia's next Governor, Republican Jerry Kilgore leads Democrat Tim Kaine by eight percentage points, 44% to 36%. Forty-nine percent (49%) of Virginia have a favorable opinion of Kilgore while 33% have an unfavorable opinion. Eighteen percent (18%) are not sure. For Kaine, the numbers are 44% favorable, 31% unfavorable, and 25% not sure. The state's current Governor, Democrat Mark Warner, is viewed favorably by 65% of the state's voters. Twenty-six percent (26%) have an unfavorable view. President Bush is viewed favorably by 56% and unfavorably by 43%. Just 36% of Virginia voters believe...

Could this happen at your school ? I thought I would share with you all. Three events that happened over the last two days. The first was on Monday. From a letter sent home with the kids last week said Monday was Red, White & Blue day. You were to wear something patriotic. So after school on Monday my 1st. grader jumps off the bus wearing a big flag button. I ask “ were did you get that nice flag button ? “ and she replies “ Oh one of the 1st grade teachers brought them in and gave them ...

A projection by Polidata, a Republican-oriented political mapping and redistricting firm, shows population trends will make Republican-dominated "Red" states more influential in winning presidential elections and determining control of Congress after the 2010 census. The new study forecasts that "Red" states will pick up a net six electoral votes, with Florida and Texas gaining three each. The "Blue" states carried by John Kerry, according to Polidata, will lose a net six electoral votes, led by New York's loss of two. Under this distribution of electoral votes, George W. Bush could have been elected last November without carrying Ohio. (Excerpt) Read...

2 county officials make shift to GOP By Kurt Allen/Assistant Managing Editor When Robyn Flowers and Barbara Hale were trying to find their place in the world of politics, it was almost a given it would be the Democratic Party. Growing up in the South, Democrats ruled the region, and there was little thought given to being Republican. "I think probably, like most people my age, if you were born and raised in Texas, you've been a Democrat because that's what your family did," said Hale, Walker County's court-at-law judge. How the times do change. Now the South, and Texas...

Nowhere land As US towns sprawl into the countryside, creating anonymous zones dominated by soulless malls, one of Britain's leading historians asks if it could happen here Tristram Hunt Sunday February 20, 2005 Observer Take a ride along the I-10 out of Phoenix, Arizona, and witness the birth of a new civilisation. Under the arching desert sky, cotton fields are being transformed into condominiums; cactus wilderness into master-planned communities. This year some 60,000 new homes will spread out along the valley landscape. Similar developments are underway across America: in Florida, ancient citrus groves are coming down for housing lots; in...

  click here for really large version This is an email-able, copyright-ready graphic you can use in emails, on blogs, in flyers, on posters... anything that's noncommercial.

RED ON FRIDAYS Hmmmm. I've noticed that all of the retired Command Sergeants Major wore red shirts on Fridays. Now I know why!!!! Wear Red on Fridays..... The Americans who support our troops, are the silent majority. We are not "organized" to reflect who we are, or to reflect what our opinions are. We would like to start a grassroots movement using the membership of the Special Operations Association, and Special Forces Associations, and all their friends, simply, to recognize that Americans support our troops. We need to inform the local VFW's and American Legion, our local press, local TV,...

CNN) -- President Bush's State of the Union address raised support for his policies on health care and Social Security among people who watched the speech, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Wednesday night. The percentage of respondents who said the president's proposals in those areas will help the country rose 15 points from when the same question was asked of the same people in the two days before the speech. In the post-speech sample, 70 percent of respondents said Bush's policies on health care were positive, while 66 percent approved of the president's plan for Social Security. Bush...

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Driving home from Ventura yesterday (in KALLIFORNIA, I might add) and forgot to get gas. Ran out at the base of the Camarillo grade (not a great place to run out of gas). Managed to get off the freeway. We get out of the car realizing we had forgotten to get gas, and got a can out of the trunk. Looked around, nothing for MILES. Figured we would have to resort to cannibalism and was trying to position myself to knock the boyfriend over the head to avoid an ambush in the future when around the corner came a huge...

WASHINGTON -- Democratic strategists, searching for ways to broaden support, are urging the party to put new emphasis on the West, where they say state and local election results and demographic changes reflect political opportunity in a region long dominated by Republicans. Party leaders acknowledge that the noncoastal Western states, which voted last month largely for George W. Bush for president, are hardly a Democratic bastion. But population trends are making such states as Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico more fertile territory for a future Democratic presidential contender, and such rock-hard Republican states as Montana and Wyoming are displaying...