Free Republic

One of two American immigration and customs officers who were shot in Mexico on Tuesday has died, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said. The two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents were shot while driving between Monterrey and Mexico City on Tuesday afternoon by unidentified gunmen, U.S. officials said. "One agent was critically wounded in this attack and died from his injuries. The second agent was shot in the arm and leg and remains in stable condition," DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a written statement. The names of the agents weren't immediately released. It's not clear where...

TRIPOLI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Palestinian refugees should capitalise on the wave of popular revolts in the Middle East by massing peacefully on the borders of Israel until it gives in to their demands, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Sunday. Gaddafi is respected in many parts of the Arab world for his uncompromising criticism of Israel and Arab leaders who have dealings with the Jewish state, though some people in the region dismiss his initiatives as unrealistic. He was giving his first major speech since a popular uprising in neighbouring Egypt forced President Hosni Mubarak to resign, an event...

There has been no shortage of individuals and institutions that have sought to capitalize on the shootings in Tucson. Add Vermont senator Bernie Sanders to that list. This afternoon Sanders sent out a fundraising appeal, seeking to raise money to fight Republicans and other “right-wing reactionaries” responsible for the climate that led to the shooting. He writes: Given the recent tragedy in Arizona, as well as the start of the new Congress, I wanted to take this opportunity to share a few words with political friends in Vermont and throughout the country. I also want to thank the very many...

Jared Lee Loughner, the young man who allegedly shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and killed six others in Tucson on Saturday, would seem to defy easy categorization. Yet the evidence does provide clues into the mind of a man who even the staunchest partisans should be able to agree held muddled politics far outside the mainstream

From the interview..... "First of all, London," Sawyer said. "How serious is it? Any implication that it was coming here? ... Director Clapper?" "London?" Clapper said, before Brennan entered the conversation explaining the arrests.

Rep. Cleaver has proposed a $48 billion earmark When absurdity gives way to hilarity, you must be talking about politics. In the midst of a colossal global concern for the economic stability of our great nation, Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri's 5th Congressional District representative, has one small earmark on his wish list that deserves some attention. Cleaver has listed a new earmark -- one of several -- and he promises to "fight for every one." But this is a whopping $48 billion package that must go down as the grandaddy of all earmarks.

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251,000 State Department documents, many of them secret embassy reports from around the world, show how the US seeks to safeguard its influence around the world. It is nothing short of a political meltdown for US foreign policy.

Americans spoke loudly and clearly tonight, so let there be no doubt, that it was the Presidents agenda that was on the ballot tonight, because even Obama himself made it clear to every American that his agenda was at stake in this eleciton. For those few Democrats that did win a re-election bid or a new seat they did so maninly because they ran away from the Obama agenda and committed themselves to Conservative principles. The GOP would be wise to hold those Democrats to account and to recognize that there is no compromise with the narcissistic totalitarian in the...

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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."

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has reopened a long-running feud with Fox News Channel, branding the conservative U.S. cable network as "ultimately destructive for the long-term growth" of the United States. In an interview published Tuesday by Rolling Stone magazine, Obama took specific aim at Fox's Australian-born chairman and chief executive, accusing Rupert Murdoch of being more concerned about generating profits than promoting an agenda to improve America's well-being. The U.S. president likened Murdoch to William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper baron whose sensational publications produced the term 'yellow' journalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

NEW YORK (AP) - President Barack Obama's $30 billion small community business lending program faces one big challenge: many of the community banks and businesses it's supposed to help don't want it.

The President is not a stupid man. He is a very cunning, shrewd and formitable politician. He desperately needs a crisis, one that pits Conservatives against Liberals, one that his Liberal base will rally to his side and become enthused about in order save the Democrats control of the Congress in the coming election. For Nine Years there has never been a Public Quran burning or even the threat of one, Why? On Aug 13th the President speaking at a Ramadan dinner celebration at the White House said "Let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe...

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OBAMA: The US economy for a long period of time was the engine of world economic growth. We were sucking in imports from all across the world financed by huge amounts of consumer debt. Because of the financial crisis, but also because that debt was fundamentally unsustainable, the United States is not going to be able to serve in that same capacity to that same extent.

The Pentagon must hold down its spending and make choices that will anger "powerful people" in an era of economic strain, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a weekend speech in Kansas. Increasing health care costs, a top-heavy uniformed and civilian management force, and big-ticket weapons systems are swelling the military's budget at an "unsustainable" rate, Gates said. In response, Gates said, he has ordered the Defense Department's military and civilian leaders to find savings of 2 to 3 percent -- more than $10 billion of the Pentagon's roughly $550 billion base budget -- and shift spending toward war-fighting costs.

PAKISTAN, Islamabad : Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, who was believed killed in January, vowed attacks on the United States in a new video apparently made last month, the SITE monitoring group said on Monday. Mehsud threatened to retaliate against the United States within a month for the killing of Islamist militant leaders, according to a transcript of the video.

If Passed In Albany, Law Would Be First Of Its Kind In The United States Organ donation has become a vital way to save lives around the world, but a vast shortage of donors continues to mean people are losing their lives while on waiting lists. But there is a unique proposal that could change all that.

Dear Mr. President, Your inauguration on 20 January, 2009 is undoubtedly the most historic event that many of us have witnessed in our life times. We believe that recognition of this event should be celebrated in as many manners and forms as possible. To that end, I and other interested parties are going to launch a not for profit charity drive, via the web, to solicit charitable donations in support of the Kapiolani Women’s & Children’s hospital in Honolulu Hawaii. Our intent is to recognize the historic and inspirational feat that you have achieved as the first African American President...