Free Republic

February 9, 2010 Dear William, Taking away our freedoms is not Patriotic.  In fact, there is nothing more un-American. The badly misnamed Patriot Act is not the Act of Patriots. It is the act of petty tyrants seeking more and more power and control over our country. Now, ever so quietly, the Obama administration is working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to sneak reauthorization of the Patriot Act through without creating a stir among liberty-minded Americans. Well, I'm for making a stir.  A BIG STIR. How about you? We’ve all heard...

Please vote. AFTER YOU HAVE VOTED, PLEASE FORWARD ON TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE. [ NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO IS OH SO ANXIOUS TO REPORT OBAMA A WINNER.] If you cannot click on the link, copy and paste and put in your search engine and the poll will come up for you to vote- http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/10/in_white_house_vs_fox_news_war.html

Not long ago, after a string of especially bad days for the Obama administration, a veteran Democratic pol approached me with a pained look on his face and asked, "Do you think they know what they're doing?" The question caught me off guard because the man is a well-known Obama supporter. As we talked, I quickly realized his asking suggested his own considerable doubts. Yes, it's early, but an eerily familiar feeling is spreading across party lines and seeping into the national conversation. It's a nagging doubt about the competency of the White House. It was during George W. Bush's...

"Do You Austrians Have a Better Idea?" Daily Article by Robert P. Murphy | Posted on 2/2/2009 12:00:00 AM A lot of people get annoyed with Austrian economists because they tend to be so dogmatic (we prefer the term consistent) and because they cloak their strictly economic claims with self-righteousness (we prefer the term morality). After a good Austrian bashing of the latest call to steal taxpayer money and waste it on something that will make a given problem worse, the stumped critics will often shout, "Oh yeah? Well do you guys have a better idea?"Now, in truth, someone...

Having some interesting bantering with an Obama supporter, who sent me this 'resume' of all that he has accomplished: • Obama has served 12 yrs at the federal and state level (4 yrs US Sen + 8 yrs IL Sen) • Obama sponsored 823 bills and cast over 4000 votes in the IL Senate • Obama co-sponsored 15 bills that became federal law and co-sponsored 570 bills. These bills and laws are an impressive accomplishment spanning foreign policy, public health, openness and accountability in government, national security Of the 570 bills Senator Obama introduced into the Senate during the 109th...

Is gmail down? I have been having problems since late afternoon .. it just never synchs... anyone else having problems?

A Tale of Two Speeches Posted By Bobby Eberle On February 8, 2008 at 8:25 am On Thursday, both former Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. John McCain addressed the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). For Romney, CPAC set the stage for his emergence as a presidential candidate. At last year's CPAC, Romney came away as the winner of the presidential straw poll. This year, it was the stage for his farewell address. For McCain, who skipped last year's CPAC, Thursday's speech was his first attempt to make nice with a conservative base he will certainly need if...

Politics: Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson have filed suit charging Cheney, Rove, Libby et al. with "intentional and malicious" exposure of her identity. How was her identity already known? Let us count the ways. 'This lawsuit concerns the intentional and malicious exposure by senior officials of the federal government of . . . (Plame), whose job it was to gather intelligence to make the nation safer and who risked her life for her country," lawyers for the husband-and-wife team say in the lawsuit. We admit we don't know much about the dangers faced by an analyst sitting at a desk...

To the tune of 'The Macarena'....

ATLANTA - Working with illegal immigrants every day in a suburban Atlanta bank, Carlos Carbonell knows exactly where to go to buy a fake green card for his wife. Sometimes he thinks it would be much easier. His wife, Valentina, has been stuck in their native Caracas, Venezuela, for four years because of backlogs in processing her green card application. Carbonell believes in reforming U.S. immigration policy, but he and other legal immigrants who have been playing by the rules feel forgotten in the debate over possible amnesty for most of the estimated 12 million immigrants here illegally. "They are...

The California legislature is voting on this bill June 6th. It will likely pass, and then it goes to Governor Schwarzenegger's desk to be signed into law. By simply taking a few seconds to call this number and automatically registering your opposition to this bill, you can help influence the governor to veto this extremely damaging legislation. Remember, when you call the governor's office (916-445-2841), you'll want to press the numbers in the following order: "1" - for English, then "2" - for legislation, then "1" - for SB 1437, then "2" - for "no"! (Again, that's: "1, 2, 1,...

An oil spill discovered at Prudhoe Bay field is the largest ever on Alaska's North Slope region, US officials say. They estimate that up to 267,000 gallons (one million litres) of crude leaked from a corroded transit pipeline at the state's northern tip. The spill was detected on 2 March and plugged. Local environmentalists have described it as "a catastrophe". In 1989, the Exxon Valdez shipping disaster spilled 11m gallons (42m litres) of oil onto the Alaskan coast. 'Painful reminder' "I can confirm it's the largest spill of crude oil on the North Slope that we have record of," Linda...

It seems that George Clooney is gearing up to take over Michael Moore's role as Hollywood's chief political provocateur. It's unlikely that the directing and screenplay nominee of the historically challenged "Good Night, and Good Luck" and the factually challenged "Syriana" would be pleased with the Michael Moore comparison. The U.K. Guardian recently interviewed Clooney and described him as "quite sniffy about [Michael] Moore, whose modus operandi he finds obnoxious and counter-productive." Using Moore's name as a verb and peppering his harangue with profanity, Clooney said, "I don't 'Michael Moore' this s***. I don't come out and go, 'Look what...

As is often the case when celebrity couples part company, there has been an enormous amount of press coverage concerning the Lance Armstrong/Sheryl Crow split. But the Star is reporting a possible political cause for the engagement halt. There's speculation that the root of the rift may have to do with President Bush. No, Crow doesn't have a crush on the prez. Quite the contrary. The singer has been public about her opposition to Bush's policies. Many of us have a less than fond remembrance of her highly visible, much discussed "War Is Not the Answer" T-shirt. Well, it turns...

Human bowling is a new Shanty Days event CASEVILLE — Shanty Days Chairman Hersel Fouladbash wants to “bowl” people over with a fun new event he devised for this year’s wintertime festival. The 14th annual Shanty Days event in Caseville will include the debut of human bowling. It’s a fun mixture of sledding and...yes...bowling. “I wanted to bring more fun for families,” Fouladbash said. “We need more people to come to Shanty Days events, and with this event, people will have more fun than ever.” The event, which takes place at noon on Saturday at Hoy’s Saginaw Bay Marina, involves...

Employee who lost job after criticizing same-sex marriage in online essay says he"s a victim of reverse discrimination By Robert Sanchez Daily Herald Staff Writer Posted Wednesday, November 23, 2005 To insurance giant Allstate Corp., former employee J. Matt Barber is simply “one guy disputing his termination.” But to same-sex marriage opponents, the circumstances behind Barber’s dismissal from the Northbrook-based company have made him a 36-year-old cause celebre. Barber, a born-again Christian, says he was fired for writing an online article defending marriage and criticizing homosexuality. The Villa Park resident later filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Allstate’s action constituted...

22.8.05 DC Talk Host Fired Over Islam Statements MICHAEL GRAHAM FIRED DC Talk Host Was Target Of Islamist Campaign Confirmation of WMAL/Washington talk host Michael Graham's removal from the ABC station has been made with his just-released statement. Graham had been suspended for making comments local fringe Islamists from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) found offensive, now we've learned he won't be returning to WMAL. CAIR has been linked to terrorist group Hamas. Official ABC reason: insubordination, for apparently not doing enough "outreach" after an incident where Graham called Islam itself a "terror organization". In a Jewish World Review...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican senators called on Wednesday for the rights of foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay prison to be legally defined even as the Bush administration said the inmates could be jailed there "in perpetuity." ADVERTISEMENT The prison, currently holding roughly 520 inmates, opened on the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2002 in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Many of the detainees have been held for more than three years, and only four have been charged. At a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Republican Chairman Arlen Specter...

(CNN) -- The nation's weather agency predicted two or three hurricanes could hit the United States this year, based on an Atlantic season forecast released Monday. Overall, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts seven to nine hurricanes during the coming season, June 1 to November 30. Last year, four hurricanes slammed the Florida coast, causing scores of deaths and tens of billions in damage. "It is difficult to make any kind of an accurate prediction of how many of these will strike land," said NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher. "But I think statistically you can look at the fact that...

Call it "Miracle on [Northeast] 34th Street." Gloria Jummati plummeted about 100 feet from her ninth-floor balcony Wednesday morning at the Coral Ridge Towers in east Fort Lauderdale. But instead of hitting the ground, the 69-year-old woman landed on a small canopy and survived with a shoulder injury. Her landing was perfect: exactly in the middle of the canopy, where two aluminum pipes meet. The pipes bent and cradled her body, stopping her just feet from the ground. The canvas didn't even rip. "It definitely saved her life," said Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Division Chief James Sheehan. An inch or two...