Free Republic

TEHRAN, Iran – The American woman released by Iran on Tuesday after more than a year in prison said she was humbled and grateful to Iran's president for her freedom shortly before she boarded a flight to the nearby Gulf sultanate of Oman where her mother was awaiting her. Iran freed Sarah Shourd, 32, after a $500,000 bail was paid to win her freedom.

Oddly enough, Obama's highly educated squad of advisors has failed to identify the chief cause of unemployment: lack of growth in the economy. In fact, the word "growth" is noticeably absent in Obama's speeches. Instead, there is a great deal in his addresses about "fairness," "subsidies," "stimulus," and "benefits." There is nothing about the sort of growth that stems from private investment based on the worthy expectation of profit. As Obama put it in one of the most sophomoric pronouncements in presidential history: "Now is not the time" for profits. Has the President ever considered the fact that his relentless...

We got some troubling news this week - illegal immigration is declining. It's not only bad for those who intend to parlay brown-invasion paranoia into a government job (yes, I'm talking to you, Rick Scott), but also to anybody who's concerned about the future of Social Security. Illegal immigrants, it turns out, have been a godsend to the nation's retirement system. And if they go, we'll be in more trouble than we already are.

LONDON (Reuters) – God did not create the universe and the "Big Bang" was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics, the eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking argues in a new book. In "The Grand Design," co-authored with U.S. physicist Leonard Mlodinow, Hawking says a new series of theories made a creator of the universe redundant, according to the Times newspaper which published extracts on Thursday.

The number of Americans who believe -- wrongly -- that President Obama is a Muslim has increased significantly since his inauguration and now account for nearly 20 percent of the nation's population. Those results, from a new Pew Research Center survey, were drawn from interviews done before the president's comments about the construction of an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero, and they suggest that there could be serious political danger for the White House as the debate continues. The president's religion, like his place of birth, has been the subject of Internet-spread rumors and falsehoods since before he began...

"Some UFOs are intelligently controlled extraterrestrial spacecraft, and this is the biggest story of the millennium." These words are not the rantings of a deranged individual looking for attention or a comfortable straitjacket. Stanton Friedman is a maverick of sorts. Employed for 14 years as a nuclear physicist for companies like General Electric, General Motors, Westinghouse and Aerojet General Nucleonics, he worked on highly classified programs involving nuclear aircraft, fission and fusion rockets. In 1958, UFOs caught his attention, and Friedman has since lectured about this subject at more than 700 colleges and professional groups in all 50 states and...

It’s tempting to be angry at Democrat voters for the way they vote. They’ve turned a recession into a depression… they’ve taken the greatest healthcare system on earth and put it in grave jeopardy of collapse… they’ve nationalized banks and car companies. The wreckage they’ve caused is incalculable. But we need to look at it from their side, for once: They didn’t mean to do these things, they just got conned by their party's candidates. Democrat politicians have fooled union laborers into striking their jobs out of existence... or taxed their employers out of the country. They’ve fooled the poor...

Welcome to National Atheists Day. Why is it called that? I know it's not an official designation, but it could be. You might be asking yourself...WHY would this be National Atheists Day? Quite simple, friend. Just look at the Bible, the Book of Psalms, chapter 14, and verse 1... Psalms 14:1 (HCSB) The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.”

Ruthless in its simplicity. Diabolical in its detail. And so, so much fun watching coworkers yell "COLLATE" for hours on end. [Reddit via Next Round]

BERKELEY, Calif. – Students carried out raucous rallies on college campuses nationwide Thursday in protests against deep education cuts that turned violent as demonstrators threw punches and ice chunks in Wisconsin and blocked university gates and smashed car windows in California. At least 15 protesters were detained by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee police after as many as 150 students gathered at the student union then moved to an administrative building to deliver petitions to the school chancellor. University spokesman Tom Luljak said campus police allowed one person inside, But when she emerged, she encouraged everyone to rush the building, he said....

Great quote. Too bad we don't know who wrote it.... The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency.  It will be easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to an electorate willing to have such a man for their president.  The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails us.  Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to...

Congressional Republicans may resurrect ObamaCare from the dead. You read that right… Republicans in Congress may actually fall for a political trap being set by Barack Obama designed to breathe new life into ObamaCare. That’s why it’s imperative we take decisive and immediate action to stop them. As reported by The New York Times: "President Obama said Sunday that he would convene a half-day bipartisan health care session at the White House to be televised live this month, a high-profile gambit that will allow Americans to watch as Democrats and Republicans try to break their political impasse." Of course, you...

So apparently the people asking questions view Zero as an emperor. Truly sickening to watch.

SYDNEY (AFP) – A high-tech protest boat sank without trace on Friday after a dangerous collision with a Japanese whaling ship, as Australia protested to Tokyo over its fleet's alleged tactics. Peter Hammarstedt, first officer of the Sea Shepherd group's "Bob Barker" ship, said the celebrated "Ady Gil" was abandoned overnight after a tow line snapped en route to an Antarctic research base.

DATE: December 19, 2009 FROM: Sr. Mary Ann Walsh O: 202-541-3200 H: 301-587-4762 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Federal government must not expand its role enabling abortions Bill should not go forward unless and until problems remedied Protection of life, conscience rights; fairness to legal immigrants; affordability top issues WASHINGTON--The Senate health reform bill should not move forward in its current form, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, and Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City said December 19, as senators proceeded closer to a vote. Cardinal DiNardo chairs the bishops' Committee on Pro-life Activities....

OF FOPS, FOOLS and ENTITLED ELITES Keeping Congressional Districts & Senate Seats in the Family From the ranks of the English and French upper classes and nobility came the “fops”. These over-dressed dandies were more concerned with style than substance. With almost 10% of Congress related to another person who’s “served”, are politicians the new nobility? Is the American political elite class the American fopocracy? Are American political elites the new American 'fopocracy'? There's some evidence to think so. There's also gathering evidence that Americans are ready to show some of their members the door. What is a 'fop'?...

WASHINGTON -- The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment insurance has fallen to the lowest level since early January, a sign the labor market is slowly improving. The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time claims for jobless benefits dropped to a seasonally-adjusted 514,000 from an upwardly revised 524,000 the previous week. The fifth decline in six weeks was below Wall Street economists' forecasts of 525,000, according to Thomson Reuters. The four-week average, which smooths fluctuations, fell for the sixth straight time to 531,500. Economists closely watch initial claims, which are considered a measure of layoffs and the...

The House approved a 30-day stop-gap spending bill Friday designed to keep the government operating through October and buy more time for the cash-strapped Postal Service to meet a $5.4 billion payment due next week for its retirees’ health benefits. Adopted 217-190, the measure allows the Postal Service to pay only $1.4 billion on Sept. 30 and effectively amortize the remaining $4 billion after 2017. With $32 billion in the fund, the agency insists it is still able to meet its obligations, but the issue has been handled with such a political sleight-of-hand that conservatives worry it could come back...

It's a quiet Sunday afternoon, after the usual motley crew of assorted losers, twits, and dumb-bells spinning political sewage in the morning. If there's EVER a reason to go to church other than worship God, it's to avoid morning political shows. Anyway, I wondered if Webster's or Wikipedia would be accepting of the following premise: We need an appropriate photo to accompany the urban/slang definition of 'Tool'. Here are my suggestions. Which one best fits your mental image when the word 'Tool' is used in a defamatory way: 01) Obama (dumbo or salt-vampire) 02) Biden 03) Gore 04) Sean Penn...

All but invisible in Latin America a decade ago, China now is building cars in Uruguay, donating a soccer stadium to Costa Rica and lending $10 billion to Brazil's biggest oil company.