Free Republic

As President George W. Bush's top speech writer, Marc Thiessen was provided unique access to the CIA program used in interrogating top Al Qaeda terrorists, including the mastermind of the 9/11 attack, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM). Now, his riveting new book, "Courting Disaster," How the CIA Kept America Safe (Regnery), has been published. Here is an excerpt from "Courting Disaster:" Just before dawn on March 1, 2003, two dozen heavily armed Pakistani tactical assault forces move in and surround a safe house in Rawalpindi. A few hours earlier they had received a text message from an informant inside the house....

Friend, The response to Progress Florida's email last week has been incredible! Progress Florida supporters responded with more than $8,000 in 48 hours. I just signed up to be a Progress Florida Progressive Partner because I believe we need to build a stronger progressive movement here in Florida to aggressively fight back against the extremism of Gov. Scott and the ultraconservative majority in the legislature. Yesterday, Progress Florida quickly reacted to the announcement of Gov. Scott's reckless budget cuts. Click here to see TV news coverage of Political Director Damien Filer responding to Scott's plan to cut $3 billion from...

This was sent to me a couple days ago as email to be passed on... 42 years ago Red Skelton said something very prophetic on his T.V show....It's amazing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBTyTWOZCM

I got this in an e mail from my friend. Congressional Reform: The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure. This message asks each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those...

CHEERS FOR THE GREEN BAY PACKERS SAVING AMERICA MILLIONS The Green Bay Packers Are Good for America Every Red Blooded American should jump in line to support the Green Bay Packers! The Packers defeated the Chicago Bears a couple weeks ago thus earning them the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl. By doing so, they literally saved the Hard-Working, Red Blooded, Taxpaying Americans several million dollars of tax money. How you say? Simple... we were told that if the Chicago Bears had won that President Obama (and probably his family) would be attending the Super Bowl to cheer on...

A physics teacher in high school once told the students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train very much, a billion of them would. With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a good American. Good idea .... one light bulb at a time ....

Pray if you want to! CBS and Katie Couric must be in a panic and rushing to reassure the White House that this is not network policy--re: Andy Rooney's commentary on prayer. Folks, this is the year that we RE-TAKE AMERICA ********* Get Ready ********* Keep this going around the globe. Read it and forward every time you receive it.. We can't give up on this issue. Andy Rooney and Prayer Andy Rooney says: I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. I don't agree with Darwin ,...

Prayer Request > We are asking everyone to say a prayer for "Darkhorse" 3rd > Battalion 5th Marines and their families.  They are > fighting it out in Afghanistan & they have lost 12 > marines in 4 days. > > IT WOULD BE NICE TO SEE the message spread if more could > pass it on. > God Bless America and God Bless the United States Marine > Corps... Semper Fi, > Often Tested, Always Faithful, Brothers Forever: > Justin Allen, 23, > Brett Linley, 29, > Matthew Weikert, 29, > Justus Bartett, 27, > Dave Santos, 21, >...

Full of Hot Air A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am." The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude." She rolled her eyes...

Last week we had an active Lobby Day and a wonderful legislative reception! This week the work continues as the bills on our legislative agenda begin to be taken up in committee. So far, here's how the schedule looks for this week: Employee Benefits Legislation SB 1121 Senate Committee on Local Government; Tuesday, 2pm, Senate Room B Nondiscrimination Legislation SB 747 and SB 797 Senate General Laws Committee; Wednesday, 2pm, Senate Room B Anti-Bullying Legislation HB 1575 House Education Committee; Subcommittee #2; Thursday, 7:30am, 5th Floor East Conference Room HJR 625 Rules Committee; Subcommittee #3; Thursday, 4pm. 6th Floor Speaker's...

Good afternoon Patriots! In this Email: 1. Pledge to America: Health Care Repeal Vote 2. Pledge to America: $100 Billion in Spending Cuts this Fiscal Year 3. Repeal Vote Video and Thank You 1. Pledge to America: Health Care Repeal Today is a very good day! Last night, House Republicans held true to their promise and voted to pass HR 2 which repealed Obamacare. This is just the beginning of the road to full repeal. Now it is time to call your Senators and urge them to bring this bill to the floor for a vote. Harry Reid has said...

On this week's edition of "The Hal Lindsey Report": I address a subject that has loomed in the thinking of American Christians only as a hazy shadow in the far-off future. Well, that hazy shadow is beginning to come into sharp relief. That shadow is the specter of persecution. Of all nations on earth, the United States of America seemed to be the last place where the persecution of Christians would be a problem. But it's no longer such a far-fetched idea. I believe we are seeing a crescendo of events and changing attitudes -- political, cultural, spiritual, and economic...

What on earth is Pastor Rick Warren thinking? I have avoided being harsh concerning Rick but on the issue I am about to outline, I must be blunt. A series of errors is outlined below but the zinger following them is my focus. * Praising Syria for its religious freedom when it is an evil, repressive regime. * Perfecting church-growth efforts that even include synagogues, but what is missing in the process is the proclamation of the gospel. Warren's church-growth plan focuses only on numbers. * Being a part of the leadership or board of advisors for questionable organizations such...

Gun Safety Group Announces Seminar In Wake of School ShootingJan 19, 2011 Gardena, CA - A Southern California-based gun safety group has announced its intention to host a week-long seminar in Gardena following a school shooting Tuesday that left two students in critical condition. According to an LA Unified School District spokesperson, the shooting occurred when a gun inside a backpack accidentally discharged. "We've heard enough rhetoric demonizing guns, and it's time to take responsibility," said Kevin Lohman, organizer for the local group called Gun Safety Awareness. GSA was formed earlier this month, consisting mostly of members from the California...

Additional Program Eliminations/Spending Reforms Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy. $445 million annual savings. Save America's Treasures Program. $25 million annual savings. International Fund for Ireland. $17 million annual savings. Legal Services Corporation. $420 million annual savings. National Endowment for the Arts. $167.5 million annual savings. National Endowment for the Humanities. $167.5 million annual savings. Hope VI Program. $250 million annual savings. Amtrak Subsidies. $1.565 billion annual savings. Eliminate duplicative education programs. H.R. 2274 (in last Congress), authored by Rep. McKeon, eliminates 68 at a savings of $1.3 billion annually. U.S. Trade Development Agency. $55 million annual savings. Woodrow Wilson Center...

”Winston, come into the dining room, it’s time to eat,” Julia yelled to her husband. “”In a minute, honey, it’s a tie score,” he answered. Actually Winston wasn’t very interested in the traditional holiday football game between Detroit and Washington. Ever since the government passed the Civility in Sports Statute of 2017, outlawing tackle football for its unseemly violence and the bad example it sets for the rest of the world, Winston was far less of a football fan than he used to be. Two-hand touch wasn’t nearly as exciting. Yet it wasn’t the game that Winston was uninterested in....

The person who calculated this bit of information went to high school in Pittsburgh, Pa. He is now & has been a professor at The University of West Virginia in Morgantown, West Virginia for the last forty some years. I never looked at the clunker program in such depth. But he did. Clunker Math Think of it this way: A clunker that travels 12,000 miles a year at 15 mpg uses 800 gallons of gas a year. A vehicle that travels 12,000 miles a year at 25 mpg uses 480 gallons a year. So, the average Cash for Clunkers transaction...

For Immediate Release Contact: Garren Shipley (540) 686-1138 Senate Democrats Kill Transportation 'Lockbox', Right-to-Work, Other Common-Sense Bills in Less Than an Hour -- Also vote to kill Repeal Amendment resolution -- It might be some sort of record. Legislators have spent entire careers in Richmond and been in the position to kill common-sense, conservative legislation only once or twice. And then they would think long and hard before following through. But on Tuesday, the current crop of Senate Democrats managed to wipe out no fewer than FOUR such pieces of legislation IN LESS THAN AN HOUR. During Tuesday morning's meeting...

Senate Conservatives Fund Dear Fellow Conservative: I have some very important news to share. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) announced yesterday that she will not seek a fourth term in 2012. This is a major development because it opens up a Senate seat in a strong Republican state, giving us another opportunity to elect a principled conservative. The Republican primary election for this seat won't take place until March 6, 2012 but I expect several candidates to enter the race very soon. The Senate Conservatives Fund will thoroughly evaluate each of these candidates to see if a clear standout emerges....

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure. Congressional Reform Act of 2011 1. Term Limits. 12 years only, one of the possible options below.. A. Two Six-year Senate terms B. Six Two-year House terms C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms...

Dear MoveOn member, Two million jobless Americans are scheduled to lose their unemployment benefits between now and Christmas, because Republicans and some conservative Democrats say we can't afford to keep funding the program.1 But guess what? Most of those same members of Congress are supporting an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the rich—a $700 billion tax bailout for millionaires. It's terrible economic policy, and just plain immoral. That's why we're aiming to raise $200,000 today for a "Millionaire Bailout Accountability Fund"—money we'll set aside for rallies and hard-hitting ads targeted at members of Congress who vote for more...

Here is a solution to all the controversy over full body scanners at the airport. Have a booth that you can step into that instead of x-raying you will detonate any explosive device that is on your body. It would be a win-win solution for everyone. No profiling, no invasion of privacy, no long and expensive trials. The rest of the passengers would hear a muffled explosion followed shortly after by an announcement over the PA telling everyone that is flying stand by that there is now a seat available, and requesting maintenance to replace the current booth.

Grope discounts available. Can't see London, can't see France, unless we see your underpants. If we did our job any better, we'd have to buy you dinner first. Only we know if Lady Gaga is really a lady. Don't worry, my hands are still warm from the last guy. Throw a few back at the airport Chili's and you won't even notice. Wanna fly? Drop your fly. We've handled more balls than Barney Frank We are now free to move about your pants We rub you the wrong way, so you can be on your way. It's not a grope....

Even journalists should be allowed a little time and room for frivolity. Here is a good spoof on a current concern in England. Muslim suicide bombers in Britain are set to begin a three-day strike on Monday in a dispute over the number of virgins they are entitled to in the afterlife. Emergency talks with Al Qaeda have so far failed to produce an agreement. The unrest began last Tuesday when Al Qaeda announced that the number of virgins a suicide bomber would receive after his death will be cut by 25% this February, from 72 to only 60. The...

In January, for the first time in 64 years, there will be no member of the Kennedy family holding office in Washington. The chain remained unbroken from 1946, when JFK was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, until this year, when JFK's nephew Patrick Kennedy, retired from the U.S. House.

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock, Arkansas did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. "Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?" She replied, "You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at...

November 12, 2010 Dear xxxxx As we approach the 2011 General Assembly (GA), legislators are focusing on what is still a daunting budget situation. Incoming revenues continue to lag the projections upon which the current budget was based, and the Governor is working on his amendments to balance the budget and advance his agenda. He will present his amendments on December 17th. For that reason, this message concentrates on funding. More Cuts? The Governor has requested that state agencies submit budgets cutting 2, 4 and 6%. In the past, direct aid to public education has not been included when these...

Obama Is Spending Millions Of Tax Dollars On a Vacation For Himself and 3,000 Of His Close Friends Alert: While America suffers through the Recession, the "overworked" Obama wines, dines and dances his way across India - on our dime! The purpose of Obama's multi-million dollar trip to India is to "create" 54,000 jobs, (keep in mind the current unemployment number in the U.S. is 14.8 million.) Obama hasn't revealed exactly how this trip will create American jobs. Obama is simply repeating history. Like the so-called stimulus, the bailouts and other feeble attempts at job creation, Obama will just throw...

I don't know how old this is, but it deserves being re-posted. _________________________________________________________ Robert A. Hall is the actor who plays the coroner on CSI. He is much more than an actor. Read to the end. This should be required reading for every man, woman and child in the United States of America . "I'm 63 and Im Tired" by Robert A. Hall I'm 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I...

Joys of Muslim Women By Nonie Darwish In the Muslim faith a Muslim man can marry a child as young as 1 year old and have sexual intimacy with this child. Consummating the marriage by 9. The dowry is given to the family in exchange for the woman (who becomes his slave) and for the purchase of the private parts of the woman, to use her as a toy. Even though a woman is abused she can not obtain a divorce. To prove rape, the woman must have (4) male witnesses. Often after a woman has been raped, she is...

Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas , Texas is a fairly famous institution and for a variety of reasons: 1. John F. Kennedy died there in 1963 2. Lee Harvey Oswald died there shortly after 3. Jack Ruby-who killed Oswald, died there a few years later. On the flip side, Parkland is also home to the second busiest maternity ward in the country with almost 16,000 new babies arriving each year. (That's almost 44 per day---every day)! A recent patient survey indicated that 70 percent of the women who gave birth at Parkland in the first three months of 2006 were...

Phoenix, AZ (June 11) -- Sen. John McCain should immediately establish a fund for the victims of his largest contributor, Scott Rothstein, who this week was sentenced to 50 years in prison for running an elaborate $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme. The McCain-Rothstein Victim's Fund would reimburse people who were swindled out of their money. A total of $1.1 million of the stolen money ended up in McCain's campaign. "While McCain claims he gave a $9,200 of the money to charities, he used the rest and he needs to give it back to the rightful owners," said Mark Sanders, spokesman for...

We, in Arizona , know you're boycotting us -- but you really should come out here and see our Beautiful Sonoran Desert. It's just gorgeous right now! We know you'd love it and maybe you can share what you saw with the rest of the country so they can love it too!

Personalized email ('keep your friends close but your enemies even closer') from OBozo... Yesterday, I visited Caminada Bay in Grand Isle, Louisiana -- one of the first places to feel the devastation wrought by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. While I was here, at Camerdelle's Live Bait shop, I met with a group of local residents and small business owners. Folks like Floyd Lasseigne, a fourth-generation oyster fisherman. This is the time of year when he ordinarily earns a lot of his income. But his oyster bed has likely been destroyed by the spill. Terry Vegas had...

This is a video of the surrender of Japan in WWII. I have never seen the video, only stills of the surrender. This is the first video I have seen of it and thought maybe FReepers would be interested in seeing it. It is what we used to call a News Reel, back in the day.

It's with a heavy heart that I find myself writing this about someone I've admired for many years.  Ever since "Full Metal Jacket", R. Lee Ermey emboded the image of a hard-ass Marine for most of us.  He was a person whose personal life was as interesting as the characters he portrayed.  Serving in the Marines from 1961-1972 as a staff seargent, he was later given the honorary rank of gunnery seargent because of his ongoing support of military personnel everywhere, and because of his gritty portrayal of Gunny Hartmann. He had a decorated career before being medically retired...

Three Presidents did it, yet we never hear about it

MOVING TO MEXICO Dear President Obama: I'm planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my health, and I would like to ask you to assist me. We're planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and we'll need your help to make a few arrangements. We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Calderon, that I'm on my way over? Please let him know that...

"I'm 63 and I’m Tired" by Robert A. Hall I'm 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired. I'm tired of being...

American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al: We have stuck together since the late 1950's, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce from you far-left liberals.... I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go...

from: John McCain to: date: Fri, Apr 23, 2010 subject: I'm Prepared to Fight Your urgent action is needed. I'm fighting back against my opponent's attacks. But I need your immediate support to fund our new radio and TV ads to set the record straight. Make a contribution before our April 30th deadline. My Friend, I often say I love a good fight, and I have spent much of my life advocating the causes I believe in. I've fought for job creation, lower taxes and a strong national defense. I've fought against pork-barrel spending, wasteful earmarks, sky-high deficits and the...

(This was sent as an email alert) Senate Hides Obama's Energy Tax Bill From Debate "If we introduce it, (correctly) it'll get referred to committees," - Lieberman - Vote Expected In 2 Weeks At The End Of April Lieberman a so-called independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats and fellow co-energy conspirators Kerry, D-MA, and RINO Graham, R-SC, will NOT introduce their Phony Secret Energy Tax Bill via the normal Senate process, but will instead simply hand it over to Reid. Lieberman said "We want him to be able to work with it and bring it out onto the floor as...

DIVORCE AGREEMENT Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al: We have stuck together since the late 1950's for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce.... I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile...

Yesterday the Center for Military Readiness issued the following News Release to Pentagon officials, congressional contacts, and the media presenting the first comprehensive analysis of the Obama Administration’s new “Don’t Report, Don’t Act” regulations regarding homosexuals in the military.  We thought you would like to review our analysis and take a look at the editorial cartoon that summarizes the ultimate effect of the administration’s determined effort to weaken or repeal the law.  Feel free to forward this and to express your opinion to your own members of Congress.  For Immediate Release  April 15, 2010            ...

YOU ARE DOING A GREAT JOB THIS WEEK -- KEEP IT UP FRIDAY! Oh, my, are there a lot of Senators who are ticked off at Senate Majority Leader Reid for mouthing off last Saturday that he had 56 Democrats ready to vote for a comprehensive amnesty, just 4 short of enough to pass it. (That meant only 3 of the 59 Senators in the Democratic Caucus are resisting the amnesty.) You responded to my colleague Jim Robb's action request earlier this week with a torrent of phone calls and faxes to the 14 Democrats who voted NO on the...

Many have asked about the news that there may be "infiltrators" at tea parties around the nation. A website (crashtheteaparty.org) was recently set up. The creator, though he tried to hide his identity, has been outed; his name is Jason Levin, and he's a middle school teacher in Beaverton, Oregon. He's on record saying that you might see some of his team in Nazi uniforms at your local tea party pretending to be racists and other offensive characters. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy doesn't it? And one has to ask the question; if tea partiers are racist, anti-Semitic...

This is floating around the internet as one of those "pass-it-around" emails. Excuse the ALL CAPS, that's how it was sent. I THINK IT IS REMARKABLE THAT WITHIN A WEEK OF TIGER WOODS CRASHING HIS ESCALADE, THE PRESS FOUND EVERY WOMAN WITH WHOM TIGER HAS HAD AN AFFAIR IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, WITH PHOTOS, TEXT MESSAGES, RECORDED PHONE CALLS, E-Mails etc..... AND, THEY NOT ONLY KNOW THE CAUSE OF THE FIGHT, BUT THEY EVEN KNOW IT WAS A CLUB FROM HIS GOLF BAG THAT HIS WIFE USED TO BREAK OUT THE WINDOWS IN THE ESCALADE. NOT ONLY THAT, THEY...

Our Congressman, Alan Grayson, is not well. He is “tired.” He needs a “rest.” Here in Florida, we have a Mental Health law designed to help those who are “a little off” and a possible danger to themselves or others. It’s called the Baker Act. Under this law, a dangerous and possible psychotic person can be held for examination for up to three days. After that, they are released or held for more intensive psychiatric help. These admissions are approved by a judge after initiation by law enforcement officers, physicians, or family members. All initiators have to have personally witnessed...

Dear MoveOn member, Republicans are on a rampage to repeal health care. And with so much misinformation out there, we need to fight back with the truth. So we've got an ambitious plan to go into Republican districts with ads that let voters know what the health care reform law means for their families and hit the Republicans for being against it. To make this work we're going to need to raise $200,000 this week— and that will take 3 donations from people in Livonia. Can you chip in $5? (link deleted) Our new ad campaign is one of the...

Islam is not a religion, nor is it a cult. In its fullest form, it is a complete, total, 100% system of life. Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. The religious component is a beard for all of the other components. Islamization begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their religious privileges. When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other components tend to creep in as well. Here's how it works: As long as the Muslim population remains around...