Free Republic

In my personal opinion, Obama is a disaster for America. I believe future historians will describe this period as the OBAMA CATASTROPHE - the time when America collectively lost its mind and voted for a man and a group of leftists who quickly destroyed the nation in favor of socialism and income redistribution. However, if people want to save the American nation and way of life - the best and most benevolent society in human history; opposition must be passionate and RATIONAL. The entire legitimacy or birther issue is indeed passionate but definitely not rational. It has been frustrating to...

The entire birther argument, that Obama was actually born in Kenya instead of the US, making him ineligible for holding the office of the President of the US, is a spurious argument. It plays into Obama and the liberals hands - they want this to continue since it makes regular conservatives and opponents into fringe wackos. Not one of us would've looked harder at his legitimacy than Hilary Clinton and the entire Clinton smear machine during the Democratic primaries. That magic bullet would've given Hilary the presidency - and yet nada, bupkis. There are many valid reasons to oppose Obama...

Given the state of world affairs, the crumbling economy, and the "I can't get my mind around $4 trillion dollar deficit"; I've decided to emulate the thousands of Freepers who've stocked up on firearms since the election. I've also returned to Vancouver for a new position - the wife and kids are ecstatic at returning and feel a lot safer than when we were in Houston. I need advice from those who have actually experienced using multiple guns types. I intend to acquire numerous types of weapons in roughly six categories: 1. Double-action semi-automatic handgun (barrel must be over 4...

Barack Obama’s grandmother told him to smile more. Bill Clinton tells the new president to strut more. As the country takes a bullet train to bankruptcy, the last Democratic president urged the current one to “embody” that old American spunk. That spirit of — as they sing in “Oklahoma” — “We know we belong to the land and the land we belong to is grand! A-YIP-I-O-EE-AY!” “It’s worth reminding the American people that for more than 230 years everyone who bet against America lost money,” Clinton told Chris Cuomo on “Good Morning America.” “I just want him to embody that...

Arguments about religion have constantly erupted on Free Republic. This internicene sniping frequently devolved into personal attacks against others just because of religious differences. We all need to step back from this conflict and look around at the world - yes, there's a religious war that's about to erupt but it isn't between Christians. If we are to save our world from barbarism, if we are to save our nations and the best and most humanitarian societies the world has ever known; we must come together, as Christians, despite the differences of our denominations and branches. We need to hold...

WEST COVINA, California (AP) -- A woman was asking a 911 dispatcher for help when her pleas were interrupted by gunshots, then silence. She was shot to death. The woman told the dispatcher someone was trying to break into her home in upscale West Covina, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Dan Rosenberg said. "Deputies heard gunshots followed by silence and an open phone line," he said. Deputies arrived at the house, 20 miles east of Los Angeles, a few minutes after Wednesday's late morning call. The woman, whose name was not released by police, had been shot several times. Paramedics...

PRINCE HARRY FIGHTS ON FRONTLINES IN AFGHANISTAN; 3 MONTH TOUR Thu Feb 28 2008 11:01:34 ET **World Exclusive** They're calling him "Harry the Hero!" British Royal Prince Harry has been fighting in Afghanistan since late December -- and has been directly involved in gun battle, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. The prince, a junior officer in the Blues and Royals, and third in line to the throne, has been a "magnificent soldier" and an "inspiration to all of Briton."

Researchers create gold aluminum, black platinum, blue silver Using a tabletop laser, a University of Rochester optical scientist has turned pure aluminum, gold. And blue. And gray. And many other colors. And it works for every metal tested, including platinum, titanium, tungsten, silver, and gold. Chunlei Guo, the researcher who a year ago used intense laser light to alter the properties of a variety of metals to render them pitch black, has pushed the same process further in a paper in today’s Applied Physics Letters. He now believes it’s possible to alter the properties of any metal to turn it...

N.T. "Tom" Wright is one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought. As Bishop of Durham, he is the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England and a major player in the strife-riven global Anglican Communion; as a much-read theologian and Biblical scholar he has taught at Cambridge and is a hero to conservative Christians worldwide for his 2003 book The Resurrection of the Son of God, which argued forcefully for a literal interpretation of that event. It therefore comes as a something of a shock that Wright doesn't believe in heaven — at...

Why was the South Carolina vote split to just McCain and Huckabee? According to CNN and RCP, the South Carolina delegates were awarded 19 for McCain and 5 for Huckabee while Thompson and Romney got nothing despite both received over 15% of the vote. McCain ended up with 79% of the delegates despite only receiving 33% of the vote. Nevada OTOH, awarded 18 delegates to Romney (53% of delegates) for receiving 51% of the vote; but also gave McCain 4 delegates despite he only received 13% of the vote. What gives?

What happened to the rest of the Michigan GOP delegates? Michigan originally had 60 delegates. They lost half because they moved the primary forward, leaving them a total of 30. However, the awarding of delegates only has 22 going to Romney, McCain, and Huckabee. Where's the eight that's left?

[A reply to Michael Medved's "Stop Lying About Huckabee and Evangelicals!" article posted in Townhall] Evangelicals were 3.24 times more likely to vote for Huckabee than non-Evangelicals. Let me repeat, Evangelicals were 3.24 times MORE likely to vote for Huckabee than non-Evangelicals. Spin it however you like but that's an incredible difference when they comprised 60% of the Republican caucus. Here's a breakdown from the Iowa Republican vote: According to news reports, 60% of Republican voters in the Iowa Caucus were Evangelicals. Of these, 47% of them voted for Huckabee. X = 60% x 47% X = 28.2% So, Evangelicals...

Man uses a wet pair of his aunt’s size 18 underwear to fight kitchen fire LONDON — They went from baggy knickers to the ultimate hotpants. A fire department official in Britain says Jenny Marsey’s miraculous underwear saved the day by doubling as an emergency fire blanket during a kitchen blaze. Marsey’s nephew, John, was frying bread in her kitchen in Hartlepool, northeast England, on Sunday when the fire broke out. He grabbed the nearest thing from a pile of washing to smother the fire — a wet pair of his aunt’s size 18 underwear. The nephew’s quick thinking saved...

Mike Huckabee accepted more than 90 gifts from 21 Arkansans he appointed to state posts during his decade as governor, a Politico analysis of state public records found. Since setting his sights on the White House, those supporters, their families and their companies have kept on giving. They contributed nearly $161,000 to a pre-presidential campaign account and Huckabee's official campaign committee since late last year, according to state and federal campaign finance records. Huckabee’s gifts became issues in his two gubernatorial campaigns as his opponents tried to stoke voter doubts about his judgment and ethics. As he surges in Iowa...

The Republican presidential race has devolved into holy war. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney recently told voters he believes “Jesus Christ is the son of God and the savior of mankind.” Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee subsequently asked a writer, “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?” How this will cut taxes or kill terrorists remains elusive. These theological niceties also distract from the urgent task of examining Huckabee’s Earthly record. The ordained Baptist minister has the preaching chops to wow the Religious Right, and his humorous, easygoing presence wins converts. But his background and positions on...

There are those who would like to tell you that no religion is civilized, but these tend to be people whose ignorance of history is so profound as to appear deliberate. Human beings sometimes do terrible things, and when they do, they invariably find reasons to invoke their belief system, whatever it is, to excuse their bad behavior. Thus Communists have committed their barbarities in the name of "the good of the people," just as Christians and Muslims and practically everybody else, when they decided certain people needed killing or oppressing, found a way to excuse themselves in the name...

I know I'm going to be flamed and elections are still a year and a half away but the momentum seems to be favoring Hilary as the next POTUS. The sooner Republicans and conservatives accept the fact President Bush and the congressional Republicans have so enraged their base and independents that the Democratic Party will gain even stronger control over the congress and will take back the White House in the 2008 elections. What is to blame for the collapse of the Republican dominance over the US? Corruption, arrogant refusal to heed the wishes of the public (especially on immigration...

Like millions of others around the world, I bought a copy of the final Harry Potter book last Saturday and promptly read it. Twelve hours later, I was finished, astonished, at the brilliance of J.K. Rowling. She has woven a universe of magic, not just in her writings, but in the fact that more than a hundred million children over the years have turned off their televisions, computers, and games and sat down to read thick books. What explains the attraction of her work? Sheer brilliance. The clarity of her vision remained unbroken despite the complexity of her creation. Readers...

Scientists could create the first new form of artificial life within months after a landmark breakthrough in which they turned one bacteria into another. Craig Venter likened the process to 'changing a Macintosh computer into a PC by inserting a new piece of software' In a development that has triggered unease and excitement in equal measure, scientists took the whole genetic makeup - or genome - of a bacterial cell and transplanted it into a closely related species. This then began to grow and multiply in the lab, turning into the first species in the process. The team that carried...

HAMAS won its shut-out victory in Gaza with alarming ease. And the reason Hamas won is even more alarming: Fanaticism trumps numbers. You'll hear no end of explanations for the terrorist triumph: Hamas was backed by Iran; Gaza is Hamas' base of support; some Fatah units ran out of ammunition . . . All true. And all secondary factors. Fatah's security forces in Gaza outnumbered the Hamas gunmen.