Free Republic

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States...

FIGHT ON - NEVER WAIVER, NEVER FALTER Late on election night, November 6, 2012...actually probably early in the morning hours of November 7th at the time...well after Ohio and then Virginia were called, and then after listening to the speeches by Romney and Obama, I wrote the following and shared it with friends and groups I frequent. "God in Heaven has answered our prayers...but not the answer we hoped and prayed for. I have faith in Him, and accept His will. It just means we have to work harder, that we will probably have to endure much more, and that...

"Four years ago, I stood before you and said that, 'Israel’s security is sacrosanct. It is non-negotiable.' That belief has guided my actions as President. The fact is, my administration’s commitment to Israel’s security has been unprecedented," President Obama said at the AIPAC convention on Sunday. "Our military and intelligence cooperation has never been closer. Our joint exercises and training have never been more robust. Despite a tough budget environment, our security assistance has increased every single year."

Every summer, sprinklers, pools, ponds, lakes, creeks, rivers, and oceans are invaded by swarms of people looking to escape the heat. Water is wonderful! It offers a refreshing playground in which to frolic. Great memories are had around water including fishing, skiing, surfing, tubing and swimming. Many swimmers have feelings of fear and joy when it comes to remembering the high dive. It doesn’t matter if the high dive was the standard board 12 feet above the water, a rock outcropping, or a local bridge. The experiences all take the individual through a similar range of emotions. In reflection, it...

The White House postponed an event scheduled for Wednesday afternoon where President Obama was supposed to receive an award for a commitment to transparency due to unspecified “changes to the president’s schedule.” The award was to be presented by organizers of the Freedom of Information Day conference in conjunction with “Sunshine Week” for the president’s “deep commitment to an open and transparent government—of, by, and for the people.” The Associated Press reported this week that despite pledges of increased transparency, the Obama administration last year responded to fewer Freedom of Information Act requests than the year before. In 2010 there...

We keep hearing that young men are failing to adapt to contemporary life. Their financial prospects are impaired—earnings for 25- to 34-year-old men have fallen by 20 percent since 1971. Their college enrollment numbers trail women's: Only 43 percent of American undergraduates today are men. Last year, women made up the majority of the work force for the first time. And yet there is one area in which men are very much in charge: premarital heterosexual relationships. [snip] What many young men wish for—access to sex without too many complications or commitments—carries the day. If women were more fully in...

I found this shocking video on Youtube, censored out the cursing, and reposted it. She did this awful task to get two boys to come to church for four Sundays. It makes me ask myself, "How far am I willing to go to get my friends to come to church?" Note: There are a lot of copies of this video floating around. I censored mine, but if you watch it from other sources, be forewarned: There is a lot of cursing. - Jim Bennett http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyKjHOqCYK4

In his Tucson speech, Presi dent Obama rightly said that "terrible things happen for reasons that defy human understanding." Why that morning? Why Gabby Giffords? These and other questions can't be answered, but at a more pedestrian level, the massacre isn't so mysterious: Someone displaying all the symptoms of untreated schizophrenia killed people. This is not an extraordinarily rare or inexplicable occurrence. According to the psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey, 4 million people in the United States have serious mental illnesses, and 1.8 million of them go untreated. Two hundred thousand are homeless, and 300,000 are in jail or prison. Tormented...

Republicans introduce bill to eliminate presidential 'czars' By Michael O'Brien - 01/06/11 04:15 PM ET A group of House Republicans introduced a bill on Wednesday to rein in the various "czars" in the Obama administration. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and 28 other House Republicans introduced legislation to do away with the informal, paid advisers President Obama has employed over the past two years. The legislation, which was introduced in the last Congress but was not allowed to advance under Democratic control, would do away with the 39 czars Obama has employed during his administration. The bill defines a czar as...

It's a theme that appears in thousands of movies, books and musicals: Boy meets girl. They fall in love, marry and live happily ever after. Soul mates forever. Fully two-thirds of Americans believe in the concept of soul mates, where "two people are destined to be together," according to a recent Marist Poll. But a new study offers an important reality check about unions formed in a whirlwind of passion. "Soul mate" couples are often happy at first, because they have intense emotional and personal connections, said W. Bradford Wilcox, lead author of the article in the Sept. 1 issue...

KABUL (AFP) – President Hamid Karzai told visiting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday that Afghanistan would need aid to fund its security forces for up to 20 more years, calling for a long-term US commitment. The newly re-elected Karzai said his government would work to assume responsibility for Afghanistan's security within five years, but that the impoverished country lacked the funds to foot the entire bill. Gates, who held talks with Karzai on implementing a new war strategy that involves sending 30,000 extra US troops to fight the Taliban, reiterated that the United States intended to start withdrawing...

Asked about the problems Obama is facing in Afghanistan, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs went to his tried and anything-but-true playbook of demagoguery, saying: "You can't under-resource the most important part of our War on Terror - you can't under-resource that for five, or six, or seven years.....and hope to snap your fingers and have that turn around in a few months." It's all Bush's fault. That's pretty much all you have to know about the Obama administration's political strategy, in a nutshell. Gibb's by now completely expected demagoguery doesn't account for why Barack Obama has already lost more...

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, May 13, 2009 – With piracy generating big news in the Gulf of Aden, a far-less-recognized multilateral partnership has brought pirates’ swashbuckling days to a virtual halt in the strategic Strait of Malacca. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, praised a partnership among Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and, increasingly, Thailand and the Philippines, that has boosted maritime security dramatically. An estimated 40 percent of the world’s trade -- about 50,000 vessels each year -- transit the narrow passageway that links the Indian and Pacific oceans. Until three years ago, pirates trolling the strait...

AmericanPowerBlog has an article entitled "Barack Obama's European Apology Tour" that does a fine job of cataloging the sheer number of times Barry Hussein sought to point out what a horrible country we've been. I have my own offering focusing on the irony of Obama going to France of all possible places to apologize for American arrogance. At the same event in which Obama took it upon himself to announce to the famously humble French how profoundly sorry he was for America's past arrogance, Barack Obama also shared his vision for "a world without nuclear weapons." This would possibly be...

In a previous article we gave you a taste of how grossly incompetent and inefficient government programs are and that they are far too expensive. Programs that are designed not to uplift the poor and promote self sufficiency, but actually do more to leave people dependant and keep them poor. Its not just the taxpayers that suffer, it is those who are forced to depend on them who suffer and who suffer the most. Consider the story of Sebastian Peters, born and raised in Manchester NH, from earliest moment of his childhood, Sebastian had suffered terrible cruelty under a father...

(03-15) 17:22 PDT Anchorage, Alaska (AP) -- The former fiance of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter said in an interview that they could reunite but would remain apart as friends for now. Levi Johnston, 19, told ABC's "Good Morning America" in a segment to air Monday that he and 18-year-old Bristol Palin broke up after a fight "a week, two weeks ago" and had tried to "make things work." The two are the parents of an infant son, Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, born on Dec. 27. "But this is what it kind of ended up turning into," Johnson said in...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2009 – On location in the Middle of Nowhere, Iraq, filmmaker Jake Rademacher focuses his lens on a unit of young reconnaissance troops with whom he’s embedded. David Scantling, chief executive officer of private equity firm Scantling Technology Ventures; Producer Norman S. Powell; Army Capt. Isaac Rademacher, actor Gary Sinese and filmmaker Jake Rademacher pose for photos after an advance screening of “Brothers at War,” a film that documents Jake Rademacher's experience in Iraq as he sought to understand what motivates his two military brothers. The sneak preview took place Feb. 20, 2009, at the National...

Don't try convincing Ed Jansen, 74, of Cutlerville, that the institution of marriage needs propping up. Or his wife Arlyn, 72. Or Ed's brother Charlie, 83. Or Charlie's wife, Cornelia, 78. Or Cornelia's sister-in-law Wilma VanKooten, 71. Or Wilma's husband Delmer, 75. Nor Guy and Janet Jansen. Berdena and Junior Vos? Nope. Same goes for Melvin Jansen and wife, Marilyn. And the Geelses — Doris and Nelson. You'll lose the argument. Because every living son and daughter born in the past century to the late Evert and Gertie Jansen — seven kids in all — has celebrated or is about...

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2008 – Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England said he was often asked after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, ‘Why?’ Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England spoke to a group of about 50 educators, doctors, lawyers, and business and community leaders at the Pentagon, April 18, 2008, during the orientation for the Joint Civilian Orientation Course. Defense Dept. file photo.  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Why did 3,000 people die,” he said people would ponder. He knows why, England told a group of about 50 educators, doctors, lawyers, and business and community leaders today at...

WASHINGTON – President Bush wants to bolster the multinational fight in Afghanistan by reminding NATO allies that the war is in their interest – and by persuading them to send more troops into battle. But this will be a challenge for Bush, who was en route to Ukraine Monday at the start of a trip that will also lead to Romania, Croatia and Russia. The NATO alliance is strained currently and is engaged in soul-searching about its place and mission in a rapidly changing world. Beyond Afghanistan, Bush is trying to score a breakthrough on a U.S.-based missile defense system...