Free Republic

Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) – Congressional Republicans on Wednesday rejected the idea that the $900-billion economic stimulus plan being pushed by the Obama White House and Senate Democrats will preserve or create more than 3 million American jobs. “The important thing to appreciate about that number is that instead of being ‘creating’ 3 to 4 million jobs, it is ‘saving or creating’ 3 to 4 million jobs,” Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) told CNSNews.com during a press briefing. “The problem with that line is that you can’t ever prove a negative. You can’t ever prove that there was a job that would...

It started out as the dream job for a passionate Christian -- reporting about religion for a major newspaper. But writing about other people's religions ended up costing William Lobdell his own. The former Los Angeles Times reporter chronicled his soul-wrenching, emotion-laden journey in the recently released book "Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America -- and Found Unexpected Peace," published by Harper Collins. Lobdell's spiritual journey led him from an uninspired Protestant childhood to agnosticism before he attended a weekend Christian men's retreat where he was "born again." Concerned with what he considered...

HAVANA – The ouster of Cuba's two most prominent younger leaders leaves more doubt than ever about who will guide the country once the Castro brothers and their gray-haired revolutionary contemporaries are gone. President Raul Castro is 77. His hand-picked No. 2, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, is a year his senior. And there are no obvious next-generation successors in the ranks of mostly obscure communist party officials, military officers and bureaucrats who were suddenly promoted this week in Cuba's largest leadership shake-up in decades. "This is the old guard, most of them are very traditional hard-liners," said Uva de Aragon,...

As others have noted, the Catholic-school movie Doubt (like the play) is kind of a Rorschach test that leaves audiences forming conclusions based on their preconceptions. The film, set in 1964, pits a disciplinarian nun (Meryl Streep) against a “the-Church-needs-to-change” priest (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) over his abuse of a child. But having seen it, I think the movie version is open to several interpretations: 1. It might be a “Gay message movie.” (Spoiler alert!) We meet a boy who is misunderstood and abused because of his homosexuality (“God made him that way,” explains his mother. “We’re talking about actions, not...

New York (AP) -- Bernard Madoff's contention that he pulled off one of the biggest financial frauds in history without any help is being met with disbelief by his investors and experts in the securities industry. It normally takes a team of accountants, stock brokers, lawyers and more to operate the kind of multibillion-dollar investment fund that Madoff ran from the 17th floor of his Manhattan headquarters. The firm had clients around the globe. Simply generating the detailed financial statements investors got in the mail every month would have been a monumental effort for just one person, observers said, even...

Republican strategist Karl Rove said Sunday the fact that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama does not have a large lead in the race shows that there are “grave doubts” about the Illinois senator. “With a restive electorate, with an economy that's sort of chugging around, with a war in the background, at the end of eight years of Republican rule in the White House, Obama should be way ahead,” Rove, who engineered President Bush’s two election victories and whose name is synonymous with tough campaigning, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Meantime, Sen. McCain’s (Ariz.) campaign manager Rick Davis stated...

Britain must leave Iran in no doubt of its anger Last Updated: 12:01am BST 26/03/2007 The last time Iranian forces kidnapped British naval personnel from Iraqi territorial waters, in 2004, the hostages were released after three days. So it must remain our earnest hope that the current outrage in the Gulf will also turn out to be no more than another act of bellicose posturing by Teheran, and that HMS Cornwall will shortly welcome its crew members back on board, all safe and well. More doubtful is how the behaviour of our Government, especially that of a Prime Minister who...

Note; Had to remove words to get under 300. See article. People are taught that the fossil record furnishes proof of evolution. But, where are there fossils of half-evolved dinosaurs or other creatures? The fossil record contains fossils of only complete and fully-formed species. There are no fossils of partially-evolved species. Evolutionists claim that the genetic and biological similarities between species is evidence of common ancestry. However, that is only one interpretation of the evidence. Neither position can be scientifically proved. Although Darwin was partially correct by showing that natural selection occurs in nature, the problem is that natural selection...

Schwarzenegger Squashes Religious Freedom Thomasson: “Arnold Schwarzenegger has two faces. He speaks at churches and says he believes in religious freedom and family values, yet he’s stabbing pro-family Californians in the back.” Sacramento, California – Campaign for Children and Families is shocked and dismayed that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed SB 1441 (Kuehl). Today’s disastrous action by Schwarzenegger means Christian and other faith-based colleges in California will be forced to promote transsexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality if they accept students with Cal Grants. “People of conscience are appalled that Arnold Schwarzenegger has trampled religious freedom to satisfy hyperactive sexual activists,”...

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers of both parties told the nation's homeland security chief Thursday they doubt that plans for more agents, improved sensors and other measures to tighten U.S. borders against illegal immigrants and terrorists will work. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff agreed that his department is unlikely to completely curb the immigration flow, particularly at the Mexican border. But he said a crackdown this year appears to have deterred immigrants from trying to sneak into the country. "If we're ever going to someday get to a comprehensive immigration policy, you have to succeed first at a border security plan," Rep....

JACKSON, Miss. (March 24) - Randy Walker swears he would have died from his diabetes after Hurricane Katrina had a sheriff not seized two FEMA trucks filled with ice and distributed it to residents, many of whom had to keep their insulin cold. Now, that sheriff could be prosecuted on charges of interfering with a federal operation. Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee commandeered two 18-wheelers full of ice from Camp Shelby, a Federal Emergency Management Agency staging area, after five days passed with little relief for residents living without electricity in the wake of the deadly storm. "Man, I was...

Louisiana governor's political future in doubt Associated Press Sept. 11, 2005, 5:33PM Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco acknowledges applause from worshipers after she was introduced during a mass at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Baton Rouge, La., Sept. 4.SLIDELL, La. — "I've probably been to hell and back," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said as she traipsed back to a military helicopter that would lift her from this hurricane-ravaged city back to Baton Rouge. Her eyes were bleary but she looked fitter than she had in the days immediately following Hurricane Katrina's Aug. 29 strike. Waylaid by one reporter after another, she granted interviews...

Hi, I'm a long time lurker, having posted a few times, but been a Freeper for close to two years. I have had lots of doubts with President Bush for some time, even before the 2004 elections, but I didn't like Kerry so I voted for Bush again. But this tragedy has hit too close to home. I lived in Idaho for several years before moving back to Alabama, and I live in Washington County, and I left before Katrina hit, and my home is powerless and won't have power or oil for a while. Although I continue to support...

Although the state's $3 billion stem-cell research institute could help companies such as VistaGen Therapeutics of Burlingame find new cures for a range of health problems, it won't bolster California's coffers the way its backers had promised, a new study has concluded. Many claims supporting last year's passage of Proposition 71, which launched the research effort, ``are based on unrealistic assumptions about the potential economic impact,'' according to the study unveiled Tuesday by the California Council on Science and Technology. ``Some statements about these returns verge on hyperbole.'' The report by the non-profit advisory group, which was created by the...

WASHINGTON - Efforts since the Clinton administration to clean up the nation's biggest industrial source of air pollution reached what may be a legal dead end Wednesday. A federal appeals court ruled that power plants can throw more pollutants into the air annually when they modernize to operate for longer hours. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Duke Energy Corp. didn't need the Environmental Protection Agency's permission when it made improvements between 1988 and 2000 at eight power plants in North Carolina and South Carolina. While the modifications would allow the plants to operate more hours and,...

After 14 weeks of trial, and seven days of deliberation, the Jackson case came down to a battle of two videos. Both videos played at the end of closing arguments showed the statement of the young accuser to the police, and the Bashir documentary outtakes that showed a side of Michael Jackson that is innocent and wistfully childlike. In the end, the jury decided that Michael Jackson was not guilty of molestation. Everyone knows that Michael Jackson is more than weird, he is a universe unto himself. But the jury may have leaned on a universe of innocent love and...

I imagine more than a few people will never forgive God for the recent Tsunami. Today I went on Google and typed in, "Why did God allow the tsunami to happen?" The search engine found 108,000 web entries on the subject. Yeah, people are wondering. Just like they wondered why God did nothing to stop the Holocast. Before that, the First World War. Many turned away from God after each of these tragedies. And it's not surprising. When criminals in our society commit gross crimes of willful murder, we execute them. Many people, putting two and two together, figure an...

Experts: International domain names may pose threat The new trick is a variation of the 'homograph attack' The new trick is a variation of a known technique called the "homograph attack" and takes advantage of loopholes in the way some popular Web browsers display domain names that use non-English characters. It could allow malicious hackers and online identity-theft groups to trick unsuspecting users into divulging sensitive personal information, according to an advisory from The Shmoo Group, a hacker collective, and from Secunia. snip For example, attackers could register a Web domain "bloomberg.com," which looks identical to the popular business news...

I am a lifelong skeptic. I am also a Christian believer. Skeptics Club is aimed at those who are by inclination the former but who would like, if possible, to be the latter as well. Some otherwise sophisticated believers seem unable to understand skepticism. If they can't, that's okay. Yet I believe many people can only come to faith by exploring their doubts. As for me, most faith claims strike me as dubious, at least at first, before I've had a chance to investigate them. Fair warning: This site is designed for true skeptics who are nonetheless exploring faith. None...

Practically everyone has prayed. Some have tried it a few times, an experiment. Others, even apparently irreligious personalities, pray constantly. Something inside urges us to ask for help. We ask. It may be, "Please help me with this exam." Or, "Save my marriage!" Or, "Heal my Dad." Two possible problems. We "hear" no answer. And Dad still dies. Why would anyone pray to, as historian Paul Johnson terms him, "the God who is silent?" As a believing Christian and a skeptic, this is frustrating. It's hard to pray for divine intervention, only to see the natural order continue unmolested. Nevertheless,...