Free Republic

A major credit card company (First Data Corp., which operates Citi Merchant Services.) has issued a letter to a gun dealer canceling his payment processing services because of corporate concerns firearms were being sold to consumers in other states, in "a non face-to-face environment." Now the move has raised the ire of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Roads and bridges built by U.S. taxpayers are starting to be sold off, and so far foreign-owned companies are doing the buying. On a single day in June, an Australian-Spanish partnership paid $3.8 billion to lease the Indiana Toll Road. An Australian company bought a 99-year lease on Virginia's Pocahontas Parkway, and Texas officials decided to let a Spanish-American partnership build and run a toll road from Austin to Seguin for 50 years. Few people know that the tolls from the U.S. side of the tunnel between Detroit and Windsor, Canada, go to a subsidiary of an Australian company —...

Narrow focus draws 'PG' rating for Baptist-backed film The Motion Picture Association of America is crystal clear when it describes why its "PG" rating exists _ it's a warning flag. "The theme of a PG-rated film may itself call for parental guidance," states the online explanation of the rating system. "There may be some profanity in these films. There may be some violence or brief nudity. ... The PG rating, suggesting parental guidance, is thus an alert for examination of a film by parents before deciding on its viewing by their children. Obviously such a line is difficult to draw."...

This will be a busy week in the House -- Congress goes into summer recess Friday, but not before considering the Section 115 Reform Act of 2006 (SIRA). Never heard of SIRA? That’s the way Big Copyright and their lackey’s want it, and it's bad news for you. Simply put, SIRA fundamentally redefines copyright and fair use in the digital world. It would require all incidental copies of music to be licensed separately from the originating copy. Even copies of songs that are cached in your computer's memory or buffered over a network would need yet another license. Once again,...

Plymouth State Weather Center Track Map TROPICAL STORM WILMA at 17/1500Z 16.3N 80.0W 40 KT

A Guide to U.S. Newspapers 1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country. 2. The New York Times is read by people who think they run the country. 3. The Washington Post is read by people who think they should run the country. 4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand the Washington Post. They do, however like the smog statistics shown in pie charts. 5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country, if they could...

College and high school officials around the country are using weak excuses and creating needless roadblocks for students who are eager to memorialize the fourth anniversary of 9/11. Over 100 high school and colleges are participating in Young America’s Foundation’s 9/11: Never Forget Project, which directs students to plot approximately 3,000 American flags on school quads and courtyards, to hand out Never Forget buttons, and to distribute posters reminding us of the burning towers and the other acts of terrorism committed against the United States. Despite the sensibility and compassion of such memorials, leftist administrators stand opposed to the idea.

When Michael Graham was suspended by ABC Radio for his perfectly sensible and well-articulated comments linking Islam with terrorism, I decided to read his exact words on my radio talk show. I also said I agreed with every word he said. I knew it was risky. I knew there was a possibility I might lose some affiliates. I knew it was unlikely that ABC Radio would order its owned-and-operated stations to pick up my program. Nevertheless, truth is truth. Right is right. Let the chips fall where they may, I thought.

It didn't take long for talk-show host Michael Graham to find another job after he was fired last week by ABC Radio for his comments linking Islam to terror. He's been hired by the Internet-based conservative radio network Rightalk.com, and will start on Monday in a show called "Michael Graham, Unleashed!"

CNSNews has just updated it's article on Michael Graham and changed the headline from "Talk Show Host Fired Over Remarks About Islam" to "CAIR Hails Firing of Michael Graham". CAIR says in the article; "Just as Michael Graham has the right to hold bigoted views, so, too, does our society have the right to live free of hatred and incitement," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad in a statement. "We are saddened that Michael Graham would not take responsibility for his hate-filled words, but we do welcome WMAL's action as a step toward reducing the level of anti-Muslim bigotry on...

As has been noted here before, CAIRless has been whining about the people of DC being told the truth of islam. While Michael has asked that we do not call/write the station, I believe that the advertisers still need to hear our voices. A previous post had a listing of advertiser email addresses provided by CAIRless. Another story on their web site gives actual snail mail addresses, phone numbers and websites. I urge all in the DC area to use the list to contact the advertisers in support Michael and Geoff.

There was a time when the well-being of the nation was the main priority of our elected officials. But now Republicans are in charge. The U.S. Air Force Academy has been turned into a kind of Bob Jones University with a better academics, requiring a military task force to warn commanders against evangelical Christian coercion, as religious beliefs are still a personal matter in America. (Oddly, all the Christ-talk did little to limit widespread sexual harassment and rape at the Academy. What Would Jesus Do, indeed.)

Michael Graham 9 to noon host on WMAL in DC tried to attend an illegal immigrant rally in Montgomery County MD on Saturday and was roughed up by attendees. He was detained by police who demanded ID. His ABC correspondent ID was not good enough! He was wearing a homemade INS shirt (picture on WMAL web site), which he says stood for "I Need border Security!". Story continues to develop. Listen to his show on now at the WMAL web site.

A nurse, who worked until Monday at the hospice where Terri Schiavo is dying of dehydration and starvation under court order, claims Terri feels pain and the nursing staff medicates her for that pain. Nora Wagner also claims she was fired Monday after expressing support for keeping Terri alive.

Local DC talk show host Michael Graham has taken his show to Ireland. Today he had a news item that did not show up in the Washington Post or New York Times. It seems that a high official in the Belgian govt was passing out "stickers" to be placed in the urinals of Brussels during the presidents visit. Visit the WMAL web site to see what it looks like.

College Republicans Plan 'Straight Pride Week' UPDATED: 11:49 AM EST January 28, 2005 EDMOND, Okla. -- A University of Central Oklahoma student group is planning what it calls "Straight Pride Week" on campus. Members of the College Republicans said despite objections from some, they have every right to celebrate.

As he speaks bishop Cesare Mazzolari fixes his gaze on a map of Sudan, his most beloved and troubled adopted homeland. Only once he raised his eyes, filled with tears, to look at me. It was then when he told me he would die a violent death: “The time to be martyred is drawing near. I hope the Lord grants us the grace to face such bloodshed. There’s a need for purification. Many Christians will be killed for their faith. Yet a new Christianity will arise from the blood of these martyrs.”

Here are a couple of newspaper headlines following Florida's bout with hurricane disasters: "Storms create lucrative times," St. Petersburg Times (Sept. 30, 2004), and "Economic growth from hurricanes could outweigh costs," USA Today (Sept. 27, 2004). The writers, Joni James and Barbara Hagenbaugh, might have been listening to economists like Steve Cochrane, director of regional economics at Economy.com, a consulting firm in West Chester, Pa., who told USA Today, "It's a perverse thing ... there's real pain, but from an economic point of view, it is a plus."

Now that the election is history, it seems to me there is some unfinished business I'm afraid will get swept under the rug. I know if these matters are left to my colleagues in the Big Media, we will never see another meaningful story about of these matters. Therefore, I raise them today in hopes of generating enough interest with the American people to keep them alive.

RED STATE, BLUE STATE....My friend Professor Marc just asked me where the terms "red state" and "blue state" came from. I provided the nickel explanation (it's derived from the electoral map of the 2000 election), but added that there were some oddities about the whole thing that I myself didn't understand.