Free Republic

(CNSNews.com) - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says her agency's plans for the coming year include improving the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities; training health professionals in "cultural competency"; and developing definitions of sexual orientation and gender identity. On the HHS Web site, Sebelius also summarized actions taken thus far on behalf of the LGBT community, such as forming an internal LGBT Coordinating Committee, the inclusion of LGBT people in implementing the Affordable Care Act and ongoing anti-bullying efforts.

......are Hit by Financial Oblivion Evacuation plans for British expats stranded in Spain and Portugal if their banking systems collapse are being drawn up by the Foreign Office. The contingency plans are being put in place to help thousands of Britons if they were unable to get to their money in the event of a catastrophic banking collapse in two of the most vulnerable eurozone economies. Around one million British expats live in Spain, particularly around Marbella and Malaga, and some 50,000 in Portugal. The Foreign Office is concerned that those who have invested savings in their adopted countries would...

"The record clearly shows that periodic mainstream victories at the polls have only succeeded in slowing our descent into socialist tyranny; we have not yet found the key to stopping or reversing that descent. Until we find that key, mainstream America will continue to win the occasional election while losing our republic." "From their high-ground positions in newsrooms, schoolrooms, and college classrooms, liberals can snipe at mainstream politicians and shape the narrative of current events. Because of their control of the cultural institutions, liberals may be out of office, but they are never out of power."

Should we or shouldn’t we celebrate Columbus day? Every year the debate rages around this time whether the expansion of European civilization into the western hemisphere was a positive or negative development in human history. Of course Columbus himself was a complex figure, and there is much to love or hate about him depending on one’s point of view. The leftward side of the debate points out Columbus’s greed, ambition, pride and at times cruelty. And yet on the other side , one must admire the bravery, tenacity, and Columbus’ willingness to venture at great risk. Columbus also had a...

Located in the very heart of modern-day Germany, in the province of Hesse, is a small humble town of only 15,000 inhabitants. In the middle of that town stands an imposing old cathedral built in the 12th-14th centuries of reddish stone. Situated in front of that cathedral is the statue of a man in a monk’s garb on a stump of a freshly felled oak, with a huge Saxon ax in his hand. The humble town is Fritzlar, called Gaesmere in ancient times. It is known in Germany as the birthplace of two beginnings: Here began the Christianization of Germany,...

Rarely are currency exchange rates as good for the American dollar as that of Asian countries. In Asia, the American dollar carries a lot of clout and with the recent devaluation of the USD; it is a good thing that these countries offer an excellent trip for so little cost to Americans.

A 41-YEAR-OLD Jordanian man was charged with premeditated murder after his raped teenage niece was shot dead on Tuesday to "cleanse" the family's honour... "The man was arrested and charged after he shot the 16-year-old girl eight times in different parts of her body,'' ... "The suspect, who was arrested while carrying his gun, confessed to the crime, saying that he wanted to cleanse his family's honour after his niece was raped last year. She gave birth to a baby boy two months ago and her family kept the child.'' "honour killings'', a court usually commutes or reduces sentences... Between...

Note: The following text is a quote: Social Science Research Assists Navigation of ‘Human Terrain’ By Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg Special to American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, May 18, 2009 – The Defense Department is funding research to help warfighters learn and adapt to the social and cultural norms in their deployment areas, a Navy program officer said in a May 13 webcast of “Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military” on Pentagon Web Radio. “It's been a shift in the thinking of the Department of Defense away from conventional warfare practices to the asymmetric and irregular...

Next week, Burger King kicks off a major ad campaign that involves a unique twist on the tried-and-true marketing technique of taste testing. The campaign is already generating controversy. One ad, set to begin airing Monday, features images of villagers in traditional garb choosing the Whopper over the Big Mac. A Transylvanian woman, an Inuit tribesman from the Icelandic tundra and others point and, in their native tongues, declare their preference for Burger King's flagship product. Burger King says it was trying to find "Whopper Virgins," which is also the name of its campaign. "We wanted to see how the...

Barack Obama is America's first major party presidential candidate to have come of age after the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s and '70s. Americans who reached adulthood before or during the Cultural Revolution often differ over the big events of recent history. Americans who came of age afterward, on the other hand, don't necessarily know any recent history. And what they do know is often wrong. Every candidate makes mistakes on the stump, and voters allow for the gigantic g-forces exerted by the presidential campaign as it whirls candidates around the nation at terrific speed. But we have an...

Asked by a British member of Parliament if he is one of those atheists who wants to get rid of Christian symbols especially during the Christmas season, atheist Richard Dawkins replied that he is not. Dawkins said that he himself sings Christmas carols and that he considers himself a "cultural Christian." Just as many Jews regard themselves as Jewish, defend Jewish interests and cherish Jewish culture while not participating in Jewish religious rituals, Dawkins says that he respects the fact that the history and traditions of the West are shaped by Christianity. Dawkins says he's not one of those who...

There is a excellent book on the bookshelves titled Mass Exodus by Carlos Perez (SgtMaj USMC). Though it is written from conversations with his father, it can be realted to real life exploits. Support this fine American!

Mr. Meangenes showed up this morning,appropriated my cereal,and showed off his "country" accent....an' stuff.

Tehran - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards will step in to stop any "cultural aggression" that threatens the country, one of the country's top generals said on Tuesday. General Yahia Rahim Safavi, military adviser to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and former head of the Guards, said the Guards had a priority to guarantee the "internal security" of the country. "Guaranteeing internal security is delegated to ordinary police but if the situation worsens, the Revolutionary Guards will step in to restore order," he said. Speaking at Sharif University in Tehran, he said "if the situation worsened, the guards had the...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2006 -- Language training and awareness of Iraqi and Arab culture are absolutely necessary for servicemembers deploying to Iraq, the outgoing commander of Multinational Corps Iraq said in Baghdad yesterday. Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who gives up command tomorrow, told Baghdad-based journalists that a poll conducted among 1st Cavalry Division soldiers following their 2004 deployment to Iraq pointed out how important they believed language skills to be. The idea is not to have every soldier fluent in Arabic, but rather to have an understanding of some common phrases they need to use on a daily...

At least in America they understand the notion of cultural difference The US is not free from Islamophobes, but nor is it a racially monolithic culturally static state like Tony Blair's Britain Gary Younge in Minneapolis Monday December 11, 2006 The Guardian (UK) Afew weeks ago, Washington-based radio host Jerry Klein announced his own very radical plan to assuage public fears of terrorism. All Muslims, he suggested, should be branded with a crescent-shaped tattoo or be forced to wear a red armband. The phones rang off the hook. The first caller said Klein was "off his rocker". The next thought...

After the Chicago White Sox were eliminated from participating in post season play, many fans were asking "why?" Why did the team with the most talent in the game play mediocre baseball for the second half of the season? How did a team that was 27 games over the .500 mark in July reverse course so quickly and end up being one of the greatest disappointments in baseball history? Who was responsible for this monumental collapse of a team that was supposed to repeat as World Series Champions? I think I have the answer to these questions, but it has...

Black Cultural Festival cancels event for this year The sponsoring group for the 24-year-old celebration comes up short of money to put on the event, but promises to return. By Laura Dempsey Staff Writer The shoestring budget of the Dayton Black Cultural Festival snapped this year, forcing the board to cancel the popular, 24-year-old summertime event. "This is a huge loss for the community," said Linda Hudson, executive director of the Dayton Black Cultural Festival. "The decision was made a couple of weeks ago, because we just don't have the money and couldn't get enough sponsors. We still owe some...

ZARQA, Jordan (Army News Service, April 25, 2006) – More than 300 U.S. Soldiers from U.S.- and German-based units gained greater insight into the Arabic culture at the Peace Operation Training Center in Zarqa, Jordan, March 24 through April 16. The Cultural Awareness Course is part of U.S. Central Command’s Theater Support Cooperation Program, and is taught by Jordanian allies and Soldiers from Third Army. “Third Army has partnered with the Jordanian Armed Forces to teach this training since October 2003, and pushes it as a key training platform and integral piece of the Forces Command training strategy for deploying...

From a strictly military perspective, Iraq represents a stunning victory for America. But as capably as American forces prevailed over Saddam Hussein on the field of battle, the post-war effort has been frustrating, to say the least. Efforts to elevate Iraq's new government to a modern version of the democratic process, despite seeming so close to the final goal, are regularly discouraged and stalled. The reasons for this quandary are simple, yet fundamentally profound. In short, democracy, or any of its derivatives (as is our own representative republic), cannot create or uplift a culture. Rather, they will only ever succeed...

Answer To Last Month's "Full House For Disaster" Four Of A Kind: Foundations For An American Future March, 2006 Feature--Return Of The Gods Web Site SynopsisThe four foundation blocks for a Conservative American Future, one that returns to the wisdom of the Founders: Integrity, Identity, Responsibility & Respect. Last month we discussed a metaphorical "poker hand from Hell," reviewing a "full house" of egregious errors in addressing social goals and in understanding the causation for social phenomena. In a discussion of error in addressing societal goals, we described serious mistakes in assigning responsibility in the approach to Public School...

U.S. Air Force Capt. LeeAnn Roberts instructs Iraqi trainees and a coalition soldier on proper firing techniques at the Al Kasik Training Base firing range, Iraq, Jan. 30, 2006. She is the first female coalition military assistance training team instructor assigned to the base, and the only female out of 8,000 assigned personnel. U.S. Air Force photo U.S. Air Force Capt. LeeAnn Roberts Female Officer Overcomes Cultural Challenge to Train Iraqis By U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Mark Woodbury Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq Public Affairs AL KASIK, Iraq, Feb. 13, 2006 — For one U.S. Air Force captain, breaking...

Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia's prime minister, "says a huge chasm has opened between the West and Islam, fuelled by Muslim frustrations over Western foreign policy," according to the BBC, in a story about the Mohammed caricatures. The Beeb claims that Abdullah is "promoting a moderate form of Islam," but his anti-democratic actions prove otherwise. Au contraire, Mr. Abdullah, it is your seething, Muslim masses that are the cause of this "chasm." Again, the BBC: As he spoke at a conference in Kuala Lumpur, thousands protested outside at Western cartoons of Prophet Muhammad. ... "Long live Islam. Destroy Denmark. Destroy Israel. Destroy...

Every time I bring up the Holocaust, the same thing happens. Some of the people want Hitler's genocide to be the archetype of a people's suffering, denying others their right to bring similar atrocities to light. Some want to deny it (like current Iranian President Ahmadinejad). Some want to straddle the line or apologize: "There would have been no Hitler if not for the reparation payments put upon Germany after World War I." What are we to do, create a chart ranking peoples' suffering: "mine was worse than yours?" These were all horrors. Calling one a genocide while not allowing...

Chinese archeologists find new cultural relics of ancient Loulan city www.chinaview.cn 2005-10-08 22:36:44 URUMQI, Oct. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- A team of Chinese archeologists have discovered new cultural relics in the ruins of the ancient Loulan city, which is supposed to be the capital of the Loulan Kingdom and is part of Chinese ancient civilization that vanished 1,500 years ago. The findings, located underground northwest of an ancient government office site, include camel feces, fodder, charcoal and bestial bones under a 70-centimeter-thick layer dating back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 AD to 220 AD). "The discovery provides another important evidence...

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Kent D. Padmore From Trinidad to Iraq: Marine Bridges Cultural Differences By U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Mike Escobar 2nd Marine Division FALLUJAH, Iraq, Oct. 5, 2005 -- It is said that experience is the best teacher, the common denominator that unites people of different backgrounds who have lived under similar conditions and tackled similar challenges. For U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Kent D. Padmore, a childhood spent in poverty on the island nation of Trinidad prepared him for the monumental task he would undertake decades later."I came to the United States in my mid-twenties, already having...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2005 – A new Army National Guard program is helping attract young people with native language skills and cultural expertise into the military to support the global war on terror. The new program focuses on recruiting native speakers in 20 languages and dialects, most spoken in the Middle East, into the Army's 09L "translator aid" career field, Army Capt. Bill Greer, national program manager, said during an interview today with the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service. The active Army began seeking out native Middle Eastern recruits two years ago to help support the war on...

It’s times like these that I miss my country most. Holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving remind me that once upon a time (long ago, in a galaxy far, far away), I had a country. It was called America. Perfect? Absolutely not. Nothing is in this world. But it represented something noble, brave and fine. Even if they couldn’t quite articulate it, Americans understood what America meant – and cherished it. Once, we knew our nation’s history. Once we spoke a national language. Once we controlled our borders. Once we knew what treason was and how...

Larry King aired a pre-taped interview with Vice President Dick Cheney on CNN this evening. On one segment, Cheney said that during Hamid Karzai's state visit to Washington, the first repurcussions of the false Newsweek "Koran desecration" at Gitmo story were being acted out in various locations in Afghanistan. Cheney quoted Karzai as having told him and President Bush that in Jalalabad in the northern part of his country, inflamed rioters attacked one of their own Afghan cultural centers and burned it to the ground. Inside of the cultural center there had been over 400 especially fine copies of the...

This is my recent online exchange with D.A. King, founder of The American Resistance Foundation, a national coalition of citizens actively opposed to illegal immigration. Mr. King spends lots of his own money as he travels and speaks and takes part in rallies and debates all comers. George Thomas Clark - Don't you think the Bush administration, and politicians in general, consider it in the interest of the United States to allow significant numbers of undocumented immigrants into the country every year? After all, if the very conservative and defense-minded Republican administration considered immigration a grievous threat to national security,...

The last time anyone has bothered to look, we entered a new millennium back in 2000, and are currently living in the 21st Century. One would be inclined assume (based on their monikers) that those calling themselves 'progressive' or 'radical' would be looking toward the future and would be predisposed to welcome change and innovation. This assumption would be wrong. The very terms 'progressive', and 'radical' or 'RAD', are good examples of the FUBARING of language by the likes of one of their 'leading lights' Herbert Marcuse, and really mean their opposite. Incidentally, the use here of the term 'RADS',...

Attacks by the ACLU, “liberals” and others who/that are likeminded, upon Christianity and its historical place in American politics, is clear evidence of the cultural civil war that rages in this country. Not a day goes by that more skirmishes of that war become evident, and the more that the enemy succeeds (but are they?), the more virulent they become. The writer is well aware of the First Article of Amendment to the Constitution. He opines that without Christian founding leaders, whose objective in regard to religious liberty was to give all who worship the freedom to do so (but...

The reelection of President Bush has sent the Democratic Party reeling. How could a President with so many perceived negatives win with such relative ease? The economy is not fantastic, the War in Iraq is not universally popular, health care costs and fuel prices are rising, President Bush smirks and stutters, and the Redskins lost! Why is John Kerry not President today? Additionally, why, in a supposedly ideologically divided electorate, have Republicans defied political convention and steadily increased their majorities at both the Federal and State levels? The truth in undeniable. Americans are beginning to no longer vote in line...

Editors' preface: A noted historian of the Middle East has said the following about the legacy of scholars who devoted their careers to the study of the region: The giants of the recent past tend to be largely forgotten as soon as they are dead if not before, especially if what they have written isn't what is now considered fashionable or central … They are criticized when they are in error, but their achievements are forgotten.[1] While this is largely true in the English-speaking countries, it is not true in France, where a few French "giants" of Islamic and Arab...

Have you ever been annoyed by a TV in a bar, restaurant, airport, or any public place? Well, you now have an option available and it's called TV-B-Gone, a keychain universal remote control, that has the power to turn off virtually any television set. The device, manufactured by Cornfield Electronics, a San Francisco technology firm can be purchased for $14.99 US, and according to the maker, the devices are flying off the shelves. Currently, the mini device has the ability to turn off about 1000 TV sets, including every model of US, Asian and European televisions. Inventor, Mitch Altman, says...

When is it “OK” for an innocent bystander to be brutalized at the whim of a common thug? Amid the collection of worldviews we endeavor to rationalize in our pluralistic cultural, brutalizing ones neighbor and stranger alike is still repugnant to most. Who among us, whether atheist, Christian, or secular humanist will praise and commend the actions of a judge who in the name of love and understanding does not penalize the lawbreaking thief, rapist, and murderer. Why is it so difficult for the average person to apply this simple example of reality to God? If the Creator God...

People from all walks of life keep asking me the same question: “Are there moderate Muslims?” I know myself that there are, but… Many of the moderates are faced with intimidation by militant Muslims (“Islamists”). Muslims also have to contend with their own old cultural habits, hateful religious leaders, a bigoted press, and schools that teach hatred and homicide bombings. As usual, just as things seem the darkest, I happen upon something that brightens my spirit -- at least a little. Last week, FOXNews mentioned the organization “Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism” (FMCAT). I immediately went to their website, and...

FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) - The NFL has learned its lesson from the Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction." In order to avoid a repeat of the crotch-grabbing, breast-baring halftime show from Houston, the league is tightly controlling the concert that will be broadcast before Thursday night's season opener. The league picked the acts, which include Elton John, Lenny Kravitz and Destiny's Child. They'll be performing from Gillette Stadium, where the New England Patriots will play the Indianapolis Colts. There will also be a 10-second delay on the broadcast to give the NFL and ABC a chance to pull the plug on anything...

Ancient Hun capital registered for world cultural site www.chinaview.cn 2004-04-06 13:07:29 XI'AN, April 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Shaanxi Province is preparing to apply for world cultural and natural heritage listing for its Tongwancheng Town, the world's only ruins of ancient Huns, ancient Chinese nomadic tribe which fought across northern China, central Asia and Europe. "The ruined town will give important clues to the study of the Huns who disappeared nearly 1,000 years ago," said Zhang Tinghao, director of the Shaanxi Cultural Relics Bureau. The 1,600-year-old ruined town is in Jingbian County of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The place is only 500...

...............Sure, many black Americans continue to register as Democrats, but not as they used to. Today there is no more a monolithic "black vote" than there is a "white vote," and this is another reason we haven't heard anything about it lately - because it no longer truly exists, at least not the way we have understood it in the past. The real issue is that black people are becoming more "American" by the hour, moving from a defined group identity to a more individualized sense of being. If anything, Sept. 11 prompted questions of national identity, and African Americans...

It is no longer enough to be a good manager focusing on efficiency and "optimization," DoD's director of force transformation said here today. "It is more important to be a good manager and a transformational leader," Arthur K. Cebrowski said at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Defense 2004 conference. "The role of good management, of the transformational leader, is to look at and identify perfectly predictable surprises and act in advance," Cebrowski told those assembled. "The responsibilities of transformational leaders are to identify disparities before they take place and stop wasting time with optimizations and efficiencies that will...

One of my favorite things to do each year is to collect all I've written and see what stands out in each of them to see what happened in the year. As usual, there have always been great quotes from the year gone by, and I thought about sharing some of the funniest quotes I've made and even other quotes from friends which I thought were enjoyable. I decided one of the best things to do is to share with you some of those great quotes I've made in 2003. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cry,...

CHICAGO (AP) Americans are not just getting fatter, they are ballooning to extremely obese proportions at an alarming rate. The number of extremely obese American adults - those who are at least 100 pounds overweight - has quadrupled since the 1980s to about 4 million. That works out to about 1 in every 50 adults. Extreme obesity once was thought to be a rare, distinct condition whose prevalence remained relatively steady over time. The new study contradicts that thinking and suggests that it is at least partly due to the same kinds of behavior - overeating and under-activity - that...

The term “diversity” is now a ubiquitous part of our cultural parlance, but its meaning remains nebulous and murky. It is applied liberally by those with anti-liberal tendencies who often wish that ideas once thought loathsome or disgusting will one day be as socially acceptable as eating lunch or dinner. “Diversity” functions as its own religion. It falsely claims that all actions or behaviors have value and that no ideas are more meaningful than any others (unless they are politically incorrect ideas but that´s another column). Most importantly, “please respect their diversity” is used as a bludgeon against whoever proclaims...

Wake Me Up When Cuba Is Free At Last! By Donnel Jones, June 14, 2003 Home   Search   Forum   Terms I really can't bear it. Castro has flipped his lid and is alienating one of his few, remaining allies: the European Union. Whatever unlikely moral intelligence is left in the E.U., it should be commended for aligning itself with the United States in its censure of Cuba's most recent brutal crackdown on dissidents. Of course, this censure took the form of an announcement that the E.U. would "review" its relationship with the Caribbean dictatorship, so one shouldn't get one's hopes up. To help...

It is time once again to shed crocodile tears as senior French officials complain of being treated unfairly by the U.S. media. Former diplomat Ken Adelman notes that a general antipathy toward France is being attributed to a Bush administration-orchestrated disinformation campaign rather than “Paris’s deeds,” such as:

Lawton-AP) -- A Lawton man says game fowl breeders licensed by a group he founded will be protected from a new state ban on cockfighting. Mike Turner says his Kiowa Association for the Preservation of Rural and Cultural Lifestyles is a recognized sub-entity of the Kiowa Tribe. Turner breeders can get a license which essentially leases their birds and equipment to the association and protects them under tribal law. He says any cockfights would have to take place on Indian land. Turner says he doesn't know if Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson will challenge his plan, but says he's ready...

I don't know for sure when this was first published, but I found in the archives at Oregon Magazine; it's a hoot! PBS is so low-brow! Much Ado About Nothing: PBS Airs New Production of La Bohemeby Plato Hamburger, Drama Editor of The Peg's Bottom GazetteA new production of La Boheme, the story of a French embroidery heroine lost in an Italian opera by Puccini (pronounced pooch-eenie) was aired on PBS....For those of you who were lucky enough not to tune in, and so are unfamiliar with the piece, it is, next to Days of Our Lives and All My...