Free Republic

<p>The U.S. Army has dismissed a soldier who threatened fellow troops and sent the Pentagon a violent rap song he wrote to protest his Iraq redeployment orders, officials said Saturday.</p> <p>The dismissal for misconduct means Spc. Marc A. Hall will avoid criminal charges but lose all military benefits earned over at least four years of service, including an earlier tour in Iraq.</p>

WASHINGTON — Two weeks after President Barack Obama signed the big health care overhaul into law, Americans are struggling to understand how — and when — the sweeping measure will affect them. Questions reflecting confusion have flooded insurance companies, doctors' offices, human resources departments and business groups. "They're saying, 'Where do we get the free Obama care, and how do I sign up for that?' " said Carrie McLean, a licensed agent for eHealthInsurance.com. The California-based company sells coverage from 185 health insurance carriers in 50 states. McLean said the call center had been inundated by uninsured consumers who were...

People are starting to contact insurance companies asking how they can sign up for Obama’s free health care plan. Do you think they will freak out when they find out they have to pay for it, and if they don’t, the IRS will ensure they do?

WASHINGTON — Two weeks after President Barack Obama signed the big health care overhaul into law, Americans are struggling to understand how — and when — the sweeping measure will affect them. Questions reflecting confusion have flooded insurance companies, doctors' offices, human resources departments and business groups. "They're saying, 'Where do we get the free Obama care, and how do I sign up for that?'

This was from a friend of mine, she found it in the Sharenet newsletter (it's for homeschoolers in the N Va area). Thought it was comical, and it gave me a great guest idea for my internet radio show :) I like playing with dumb libs. "MT ORGANIZATION - Tired of the Taxed Enough Already (TEA party) people? Join us! We're not parties--you can join the political party of your choice and still be one of us. We're pockets--pockets of people who are sick ...of hearing from people who don't want more taxes. Clearly more taxes are needed at certain...

Obama went to a community college yesterday to sign the final package of fixes to the healthcare bill. The Swindler in Chief did this because a major part of the healthcare scam was to directly nationalize the student loan business. There used to be a buffer between the Federal government and student loans but that was unacceptable. The False Prophet said..." (continued)

More than 200 million free energy-saving light bulbs have been sent to households over the last two years by energy suppliers. The mass mail-out was caused by gas and electricity suppliers trying to hit Government targets to reduce carbon emissions. However, Which?, the consumer watchdog has calculated that each household has ended paying £45 each through higher energy bills to fund the scheme, even though many consumers objected to being sent the bulbs. Many complained about having to go to the Post Office to collect what they thought was a parcel, only to find it was a bulb that did...

Right-wing antagonist Ann Coulter cancelled a University of Ottawa address last night after organizers decided it wasn’t safe to speak. The move followed boisterous demonstrations outside that sponsors of the appearance feared could turn violent. “There was a risk there could be physical violence,” said Canadian conservative activist Ezra Levant, who was scheduled to introduce Ms. Coulter. He said some demonstrators swarmed the event, making it “a situation the security and police advised was untenable for safety reasons.” In an interview, Ms. Coulter said she's given 100 to 200 speeches at colleges and last night was the first time one...

As the fugleman for conservative despair, I am of course neither shaken nor stirred at the passing of the health-care bills. It was to be expected. I see plainly that Western civilization, over my lifetime, has been a slow-sinking ship. The few who have known what is happening have worked desperately to seal the watertight doors, repair the fissures, pump out the flooded zones. It's been a losing fight, though. The tilt of the decks is harder and harder to ignore. Last night, a major bulkhead gave way. Soon a funnel will topple over with a great crash and a...

A Senate panel looks at legislation Tuesday that would allow more people to qualify for food stamps. The bill from Democratic Sen. Linda Berglin of Minneapolis would repeal a requirement to show no more than $7,000 in assets such as cash, money in the bank and stocks to qualify for food support. Vehicles already are not counted.

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....

Thirty-seven children have been killed in a stampede at a temple in India. The youngsters' bodies, together with those of 27 women, have been recovered by police in Kunda, Uttar Pradesh. A stampede broke out as thousands of people jostled each other to get free clothes and utensils being distributed during a religious ceremony. An under-construction gate collapsed on the crowd as people surged forward towards a local holy man, police said.

BAGHDAD - "He had a tube down his nose, IV's in his arms, had lost a lot of weight and was heavily medicated. He looked really rough and he looked up at me and said, 'I'm comin' back, chief,'" said Chief Master Sgt. Ronnie Barham, 506th Air Expeditionary Group chief enlisted manager. That was seven years ago. "I had a dry cough and couldn't stay warm. I just thought I had the flu," said Tech. Sgt. Mark Duran, a 506th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron structures technician deployed from the 301st CES Joint Reserve Field Carswell, Fort Worth, Texas. The cough...

No presidential statement or White House press briefing was held on it. In fact, all that can be found about it on the official White House Web site is the Dec. 17 announcement and one-paragraph text of President Obama's Executive Order 12425, with this innocuous headline: "Amending Executive Order 12425 Designating Interpol as a public international organization entitled to enjoy certain privileges, exemptions, and immunities."In fact, this new directive from Obama may be the most destructive blow ever struck against American constitutional civil liberties. No wonder the White House said as little as possible about it.

... [T]his is neither a housing crisis nor a Wall Street banking crisis. This is a monetary crisis, rooted in the lending of money created out of thin air. This is what leads to economic booms and busts. The current crisis goes back to the Asian Contagion of 1997 and the meltdown of the Long Term Capital Management hedge fund in 1998. In response to each of these situations, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates and rapidly expanded the money supply. This excess liquidity helped push stocks, especially tech issues, to unsustainably high levels. The excess money created by the...

Starting in January 2010, US McDonald's restaurants will no longer charge for Wi-Fi: The quick-service chain has service in 11,000 of its 14,000 locations in the US, and previously charge $2.95 for two hours access. The network is operated by AT&T, originally contracted by Wayport which was acquired by the phone giant last year. Most AT&T subscribers get free access at McDonald's, Starbucks, and a few thousand other locations...

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation on Tuesday to impose sanctions on foreign companies that help supply gasoline to Iran, a move lawmakers hope will deter Tehran from pursuing its nuclear program. The bill authorizes President Barack Obama to levy sanctions on energy companies that directly provide gasoline to Iran along with the firms that provide insurance and tankers to facilitate the fuel shipments. The Senate is likely to approve a similar bill, but it is uncertain how soon it will vote.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken today urged the Senate to pass an extension of unemployment and COBRA benefits before the end of the year, citing the 10 percent unemployment rate and the annual rise in heating bills coming this winter. The Minnesota Democrats joined 22 other senators who signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, asking for a vote on the issue by Dec. 31. A 65 percent subsidy of premium costs for those with COBRA benefits, authorized by the stimulus bill, is set to expire at the end of the year.

Newspaper publishers will now be able to set a limit on the number of free news articles people can read through Google, the company has announced. The concession follows claims from some media companies that the search engine is profiting from online news pages. Publishers will join a First Click Free programme that will prevent web surfers from having unrestricted access. Users who click on more than five articles in a day may be routed to payment or registration pages.

Every Christmas you buy gifts and hope that people like them. Then you figure up the bill for Christmas shopping and those presents have put you in the hole for months to come. With the worsening economy for so many, maybe it is time to go for the meaningful present that is free or close to it. Maybe it will reinforce what Christmas was supposed to be about all those long years ago.