Free Republic

DISGUSTING: Despite legislation passed by Congress to make it possible to sue foreign governments that sponsor terrorism, in a filing in federal court, the Justice Department is arguing that giving the money to the victims "can have significant, detrimental impact on our foreign relations, as well as the reciprocal treatment of the United States and its extensive overseas property holdings."

Surprisingly little attention has been paid to the crucial years Barack Obama spent growing up in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 1967 to 1971, ages 6 to 10 in his life. These formative years, when a child first spends significant time in the wider world beyond his family environment, must have taught him many lessons about America, some of them very unpleasant, given the particular situation of his family. It would have been brutally difficult for any child, including young Barry Soetoro as he was then known, to have been uprooted from Honolulu, where his mother raised him as a single mom...

Stacey-Clear A, McCarthy KA, Hall DA, Pile-Spellman E, White G, Hulka C, Whitman GJ, Mahoney E, Kopans DB. Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114. Comment in: * Lancet. 1992 Dec 19-26;340(8834-8835):1538-9; author reply 1539-40. * Lancet. 1992 Dec 19-26;340(8834-8835):1538; author reply 1539-40. * Lancet. 1992 Dec 19-26;340(8834-8835):1538; author reply 1539-40. * Lancet. 1992 Dec 19-26;340(8834-8835):1539-40. Great uncertainty exists about the benefit of detecting breast cancer by mammography in women under 50 years of age. We have reviewed the survival of patients aged 49 years or less whose cancers were detected by mammography alone. 117 women under the age...

A majority of Pittsburgh City Council members said yesterday that they'll vote for a tuition tax, but that won't stop the universities -- and maybe the students -- from trying to derail the effort. [snip] Mayor Luke Ravenstahl gathered five council members in his conference room yesterday to deliver a message: We don't want to tax students, but unless the universities pay voluntarily, we have no choice. [snip] "If this tax is implemented, it will not be the fault of Mayor Ravenstahl," said Mr. Burgess. "It will not be the fault of council. It will solely be on backs of...

Public officials need to take seriously their oath to uphold the Constitution. Just as important, the people of the United States, charged with electing these officials to public office, should spend time on this exercise. After giving the Constitution proper consideration, we should ponder an important question. We should give serious thought to whether public apathy or indifference to the workings of the government has played a role in allowing heretofore acknowledged 1st Amendment Rights under the Constitution to become abridged.

DO NOT VOTE FOR EDMUND BROWN While ACORN is under investigation in many states, California's Attorney General, Jerry Brown (who will be running for CA governor), thinks that the fault will be found, not with ACORN, but with the people that filmed the undercover video! Attorney General Brown has gone as far as to tell ACORN not to worry. So much for investigating the supposed target of the investigation – ACORN – not to mention that it should be well beyond suspicious that an investigative unit of the government would tell an entity under investigation, i.e. ACORN, what will be...

What is CNN talking about in this video? I think they are from a different planet. Of course people are upset about what is going on. CNN makes mention of some genius's comment "They are exploiting false rumors found on fringe websites". Is Fox News a fringe website? Are the everyday hard working Americans who are protesting fringe now? Why doesn't CNN just report it like it is? Why don't they just say "Obviously enough people are concerned for their safety, and a group called the Oath Keepers has popped up because of this"? Why didn't they play the entire...

Just an update on the Communism poll I took. Looks like most think we are heading towards Communism. Yes 87% (541 votes) No 5% (34 votes) Don't Know 2% (10 votes) Don't Care 0% (0 votes) Hope So 1% (5 votes) (idiots) Other: 5% (32 votes) Total Votes: 622 http://myfreepress.net/blog/post/Jason/2009/11/communism-poll/ God Bless

For the past couple of months I have worried about the risks of a failed presidency. No one should want this, regardless of party affiliation. It is harmful and dangerous to our economy and country. However, it appears obvious to me that the royal regime known as Obama has ended. Seth Leibsohn writing in the National Review summarized it this way: "This is reminiscent of the Jimmy Carter years - the last time the U.S. was seen as weak - unable to move and coax other countries, unable to reassure dependent allies, unable to have the respect of the world...

Terrorism Typology for Consequence Managers: Identified, Explained, and Redesigned Rarely can terrorism’s definition and categories fit into one package suitable to all law enforcement agents, investigators, consequence managers (CM), and academics. This paper makes no pretense to be an exception. Rather, by narrowing this paper’s scope to functionality of CM, I propose this thesis. Consequence managers need to understand past terrorist global patterns to discover future trends for the purpose of aligning the right policies and strategies within prevention measures. My paper uncovers evidence supporting this thesis within a two-fold layout. First, this paper describes and interprets variations in terrorism...

When we were young, we learned about the best and brightest minds in the nation coming together to create the foundation of a new country and fundamentally change the role of government in the lives of the people. Now there is a proposal to have a similar Constitutional Convention in California, but without those great minds, how are we to be sure that we get a document that rewrites the Constitution for the better and not make our state’s problems even worse? It is important to note that according to recent article in the Ventura County Star by Timm Herdt,...

It's a conspiracy, for goodness sake. Imagine if they tried to pull this fascist garbage with Bush (remember the call of the Democrats? Buck Fush!). Army fears anti-Obama politics at Palin event Yahoo.com hat tip Pamela RALEIGH, N.C. – The U.S. Army plans to prevent media from covering Sarah Palin's appearance at Fort Bragg, fearing the event will turn into political grandstanding against President Barack Obama, officials said Thursday. Fort Bragg spokesman Tom McCollum told The Associated Press that the military post's garrison commander and other Army officials had decided to keep media away from Palin's book signing, which will...

The President of the United States, Barack Obama has shares in Baxter, the company many say is responsible for the h1n1 swine flu pandemic. Back in 2005 Barack Obama bought $50,000 worth of stock in two companies. Right after he bought the shares also in 2005 Barack Obama (still a senator at that time) introduced the first comprehensive bill to address the threat of avian influenza pandemic. AVIAN Act (S. 969) Then it makes it even more interesting that over $60 million dollars was awarded for a vaccine against the bird flu (2007) that at the time did not mutate...

The Washington Times is reporting that The Obama administration on Tuesday had Obama's National Security Council (NSC) take control of congressional briefings on the Fort Hood killings and asked Democratic leaders to delay a probe, as top Republicans said intelligence shortcomings blamed for failing to prevent the 9/11 attacks are re-emerging. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said that the NSC had taken over the briefings "due to the high visibility of the issues surrounding the tragic event at Fort Hood," and that Democratic leaders agreed to postpone any congressional action on the shootings. "This...

Sarah Palin supporters need to make sure every nursing home, hospital, and private school in Iowa gets a free copy of Going Rogue Today, we bought our copies of Going Rogue here in Chicago. Not knowing we were buying them, several friends bought extra copies when they bought theirs, and so we’re going to have extra books later tonight. Tomorrow, we are taking three of those to the assisted living centers/nursing homes here in Boystown to donate them to the little libraries they have there. Old people are the most dependable, regular voters out there…and they typically default vote Democrat....

(Excerpt): WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The federal government made $98 billion in improper payments in fiscal 2009, and President Barack Obama will issue an executive order in coming days to combat the problem, his budget director announced Tuesday. .... In total, Orszag listed 99 agencies and programs that received $1.98 trillion dollars in 2009, with $98 billion of the money -- or 5%-- in improper payments.

In my interview with Governor Palin yesterday evening, we touched briefly on some current events, including President Obama's trip to Asia and the place of the tea-party movement in the Republican party. Some highlights: 1) I asked Palin about the anti-tax-and-spending tea parties. "I love the tea party movement," she said. "It's beautiful, it's healthy. It's part of that good healthy competition that's needed in a political party." She contrasted the somewhat tumultuous state of the GOP to what's going on in the Democratic party today. "It seems like the Democratic party is filled with more sheep-like individuals, who go...

I’ve read some misguided partisan ranting before, but the piece, “Gone Rogue” (how original) by Newsweek’s Evan Thomas is in a class by itself. That it passes for a news story is telling of how detached the elitists in media really are. Nothing exceptionally newsworthy is going on (a book tour!), yet we are witnessing a foaming hysteria from all fronts of the liberal establishment. And, we must ask: Why? Sarah Palin is merely promoting her book. The degree to which the left fears Palin is astonishing. The former governor isn’t even talking about running for office and yet Newsweek...

WASHINGTON – More than $98 billion in taxpayer dollars spent by government agencies was wasted, much of it on questionable claims for tax credits and Medicare benefits, representing an increase of $26 billion from the previous year. In all, about 5 percent of spending in federal programs in fiscal year 2009 was improper, according to new details of a government financial report that were released Tuesday. Saying the overall error rate was similar in 2008, officials attributed the $26 billion jump to some changes in how to define improper spending as well as an increase in overall spending due to...

Obama File 90 Alice Palmer Re-examined-Was Obama's First Political Boss a Soviet "Agent of Influence"? Obama file 89 here Alice Palmer is a Chicago based academic, activist and former friend, employer and political ally of Barack Obama. In the mid 1990s Alice Palmer, then an Illinois State Senator, employed Obama has her chief of staff, when she attempted an ill-fated run for the US Congress. Obama was part of Friends of Alice Palmer, alongside controversial property developer Tony Rezko and Democratic Socialists of America members Danny Davis, Betty Wilhoitte and Timuel Black-also a member of Committees of Correspondence). Later Palmer...

The Zimbabwean leader used the United Nations food summit in Rome to harangue Britain and other Western countries and to defend the confiscation of thousands of white-owned commercial farms. He demanded that the West lift the "illegal and inhuman sanctions" imposed on him and his government. Mr Mugabe is banned from visiting the European Union except under special circumstances, such as United Nations conferences. Addressing hundreds of delegates, he said that the policy under which thousands of commercial farms had been seized was a quest for "equity and justice". He blamed the subsequent meltdown of Zimbabwe's economy on "hostile interventions"...

Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) issued the following statement regarding the postponement of a full Committee briefing on information related to the Fort Hood shooting: Here's the full text: "Due to the high visibility of the issues surrounding the tragic event at Fort Hood, the President has instructed the National Security Council to assume control of all informational briefings.

Alice Palmer is a Chicago based academic, activist and former friend, employer and political ally of Barack Obama. In the mid 1990s Alice Palmer, then an Illinois State Senator, employed Obama has her chief of staff, when she attempted an ill-fated run for the US Congress. Obama was part of Friends of Alice Palmer, alongside controversial property developer Tony Rezko and Democratic Socialists of America members Danny Davis, Betty Wilhoitte and Timuel Black-also a member of Committees of Correspondence).

The total combined national debt has just officially hit $12. In the 300+ days that Obama has been our president, Obama and Pelosi have accumulated more than $1.4 trillion dollars of debt, an astounding rate of increase of nearly $4.7 billion a day. Congratulations federal government, you're the best! Our children and grandchildren will really appreciate it.

I was watching Glenn Beck yesterday and he was pointing out Andy Stern and SEIU and their involvement in getting Obama elected. I have posted this video before, but I feel it needs to be posted again. Often times Campaign Contributions are not directly contributed to the person running for office. In this video you will hear Andy Stern talking about the "War Room" and how they spent 71 Million Dollars getting Obama and other Democrats elected. I always feel remorse for anyone who has lost a loved one, but not for someone who uses their lose to push their...

Alice Palmer is a Chicago based academic, activist and former friend, employer and political ally of Barack Obama. In the mid 1990s Alice Palmer, then an Illinois State Senator, employed Obama has her chief of staff, when she attempted an ill-fated run for the US Congress. Obama was part of Friends of Alice Palmer, alongside controversial property developer Tony Rezko and Democratic Socialists of America members Danny Davis, Betty Wilhoitte and Timuel Black-also a member of Committees of Correspondence). continue reading Here

The term “drink the Kool-Aid” is used to describe blind acceptance of something, whether it be a high stress work environment, an order from a superior, or membership in a particular group. This term is commonly used in American politics and corporate culture, typically by outside commentators, who might say that someone is “drinking the Kool-Aid.” People will also tell each other not to drink the Kool-Aid, in the hopes of encouraging people to open their eyes to a situation before it is too late. There are two different explanations for the origin of this phrase. Some people argue that...

After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, private meetings in the back rooms of the Capitol, murky obfuscation, misleading statements and outright mistruths, and other varieties of objectionable behavior, the Speaker of the House of Representatives finally maneuvered the enormously expensive and power-grabbing health care reform bill through to passage by a thin 220-215 vote. True, the exuberance displayed when the 218th vote was cast, marking passage, was untoward, but the majority party seemed not to care. And surely they were joking when they claimed a lone Republican “aye” vote made the effort “bi-partisan.” Nancy Pelosi’s health bill (H.R. 3962)...

The Postal Service reported a loss of $3.8 billion last year, despite a reduction of 40,000 full-time positions and other cost-cutting measures. The loss was $1 billion more than the year before despite job cuts and other efforts designed to save billions of dollars, postal officials said Monday. "Our 2009 fiscal year proved to be one of the most challenging in the history of the Postal Service," Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett said. "The deep economic recession, and to a lesser extent the ongoing migration of mail to electronic alternatives, significantly affected all mail products, creating a large imbalance between...

At 9 am ET today, Americans for Tax Reform and the Alliance for Worker Freedom will deliver a letter to both chambers of Congress and to US Attorney Channing Phillips in Washington DC, demanding a federal investigation of Andrew Stern, president of the SEIU. They will claim that Stern, who stopped registering as a federal lobbyist in 2007, has continued his lobbying efforts. They claim to have compiled evidence of Stern’s lobbying from the recently released White House visitor logs, media reports — and Stern’s own Twitter feed, in what has to be a first for the social networking service....

That’s certainly the conclusion one can draw from two stories over the last couple of days. Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), who pushed Barack Obama to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to the US for criminal trials, says that criticism of the decision is “un-American”: Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) has strong words for the Republicans opposing Attorney General Eric Holder’s plan to bring five 9/11 suspects to New York City to face trial. “They see this as an opportunity to demagogue,” he said. “They will seize on any opportunity to do that, and that means they’ll even take a stand that’s un-American.”...

Days after announcing another huge layoff, Al Gore's Current TV referred to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as a "Gun-Ho" and a "TWILF." These disgraceful, sexually-charged epithets were part of an attack on prominent conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, and came in the form of a cartoon ironically titled "The Stupid Virus":

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Republican voters say former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin shares the values of most GOP voters throughout the nation. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 21% of Republican voters disagree and think the 2008 vice presidential candidate does not share their values. Twenty percent (20%) are undecided. By contrast, 74% of Republicans say their party’s representatives in Congress have lost touch with GOP voters nationwide over the past several years. Only 18% of Republican voters believe their elected officials have done a good job representing the base.

Anyone trying to figure out what in the world is going on in today’s economy might remember Agatha Christie’s classic, Murder on the Orient Express. When master sleuth Hercule Poirot boarded that train, he’d no idea that before the night ended he’d face the most perplexing murder case ever. A carful of passengers, all of whom had motive and opportunity, maneuvered around so skillfully that even Christie’s brilliant Belgian couldn’t figure out whodunit. The best he could do was point a perfectly manicured finger at the most likely culprits — in the end, everybody walked away, except the luckless victim....

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - Our society is made of bendy, cowardly stuff these days. The travesty at Fort Hood last week is only the latest proof. We're in desperate need of a vaccination, alright, but not for the swine flu. We need a massive shot in the arm of courage to help strengthen us against this rampant virus of godless political correctness. After this terrible, heartbreaking week, I think if I hear one more person extolling the virtues of diversity I'm going to throw up. Diversity simply for the sake of appearances, for the sake of balanced-looking statistics...

Where does the corruption begin? I have been doing a lot of thinking about the corruption in our political structure. I have come to the conclusion that we are looking at the branches of the tree and not the roots. When someone wants to run for office what do they do? They start collecting campaign donations. If you don't bend your morals to benefit large special interest groups/businesses, you might as well give up and not even run for office. You won't have enough money to get heard. No longer do we vote on the people with the best values,...

Fact-Checking the "Fact-Checkers" By the Editors File this one under "Quit Making Stuff Up." It took us all day, but we assembled the definitive debunking of the 11 Associated Press "fact-checkers." Might we suggest a new profession for these folks? As the always brilliant Mark Steyn pointed out: That's 11 writers for a 695-word report. What on? Obamacare? The Iranian nuke program? The upcoming trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? No, the Associated Press assigned 11 writers to "fact-check" Sarah Palin's new book... Hey, don't be too hard on the AP. CNN is also into fact-checking... SNL skits that are "mean"...

* What can we all do, every day, to make sure we are ready to prevent fraud in the Iowa Caucus in 2012? PLEASE take this seriously. A massive effort was launched on Dr. Utopia’s behalf from Chicago to game the Iowa Caucus. A good portion of Chicago rolled across the Illinois border to vote in Dubuque, Waterloo, Des Moines,you name it to ensure Dr. Utopia won that Caucus in 2008. The caucus centers are chaos hatcheries. Dr. Utopia’s goons, most of whom certainly appeared to be ACORN or SEIU, marched in, took over, and told anyone who wouldn’t stand...

Our kids are the ultimate credit market, and the rest of us are all pre-approved! By Mark Steyn Just between you, me, and the old, the late middle-aged, and the early middle-aged: Isn’t it terrific to be able to stick it to the young? I mean, imagine how bad all this economic-type stuff would be if our kids and grandkids hadn’t offered to pick up the tab. Well, okay, they didn’t exactly “offer” but they did stand around behind Barack Obama at all those campaign rallies helping him look dynamic and telegenic and earnestly chanting hopey-hopey-changey-changey. And “Yes, we can!”...

Far from taking over as the engine of growth from an exhausted West, China is making matters worse. Its "beggar-thy-neighbour" policies continue to play havoc with global trade and risk tipping the world into a second leg of the Great Recession. "The inherent problems of the international economic system have not been fully addressed," said China's president Hu Jintao. Indeed not. China is still exporting overcapacity to the rest of us on a grand scale, with deflationary consequences. While some fret about liquidity-driven inflation, Justin Lin, World Bank chief economist, said the greater danger is that record levels of idle...

In an odd exposé that has left the worlds of politics and academia abuzz, a local homeless person revealed yesterday that he only blamed himself for his failures.

...The Founders did not give us a government like the one we have today. The government they gave us was strictly limited in its scope, guaranteed individual liberty, preserved the free market, and on matters that pertain to our private behavior was supposed to leave us alone. In the Constitution, the Founders built in checks and balances. If the Congress got out of hand, the states would restrain it. If the states stole liberty or property, the Congress would cure it. If the President tried to become a king, the courts would prevent it. In the next few weeks, I...

WASHINGTON — In being named White House counsel less than a year into President Obama’s tenure, Robert F. Bauer is reversing a longstanding trend. Many presidents initially name a close friend and ally to the post, and then turn to a well-known Washington legal fixture when they run into legal or political trouble. In this case, Mr. Bauer, a trusted back-room counselor who was one of the first people Mr. Obama hired when he came to Washington five years ago, is taking the place of Gregory B. Craig, a legal powerhouse who was a relative latecomer to Mr. Obama’s inner...

The secretary of defense let off some steam on his airplane, warning of the terrible consequences of leaking information about internal government policy debates. He’s “appalled.” Navy Times tells us that Gates said that “disclosures of sensitive information on any ‘options under consideration’ does not serve the nation well. Nor are they in the military’s strategic interests..” When I first came to Washington, and for many years thereafter, I thought leaks were just awful. How dare they? Among other things, I thought–and this I still think–that it has a chilling effect on internal debate. Because if you’re afraid that your...

I just realized the AUDIO on my previous post cut off just before the most important part of this conversation. He says "rather then think about if you take a "train ride" or a barracks" Then couples that with National Disaster and Terrorist Attack. Get ready to get on the train if something happens. http://myfreepress.net/blog/post/Jason/2009/11/rob-emanual-explains-national-security-force/ FULL AUDIO AT LINK THIS TIME

Not sure if this has been posted, but I figured I would post again if it has, for those who have not seen this. Pay close attention to the words of Rob Emanual in the video below. We will be forcing people to serve in this national security force. You can also see their plans on www.change.gov. What if your child doesn't want to serve in a security force? Is this the America we all grew up in? VIDEO AT LINK

Today many in the United States are crying out to President Obama and Government to do more and more to fix our social ills. The notion that Big Government has all our answers and the solutions we need in this very chaotic and unstable world is fairy tale. It is one that is rooted in the personal belief that Fallen Man through and by the efforts of Big Government or "Socialism" can bring security and comfort to it's inhabitants. There is no man made ideology or system that can ever usher in a world Utopia of perfection and bliss. These...

We all know gun control is coming soon. Looks like it will be here sooner then we thought. Two weeks ago, in another reversal of policy, the U.S. joined a nearly unanimous 153-1 U.N. vote to adopt a resolution setting out a timetable on the proposed Arms Trade Treaty. Clinton said in a statement. "The United States is prepared to work hard for a strong international standard in this area." VIDEO AT LINK

What a testament to the spirit and dedication of our workforce that we were able to reach 100 percent completion of ENGAGE! and COACH! training of nearly 55,000 TSA employees in less than a year – while also carrying out our security mission. This required team spirit, determination and the enthusiastic embrace of taking the evolution of security at TSA to the next level. On behalf of the Senior Leadership Team, congratulations to OSO HQ and field leadership, the Evolution team, the phenomenal facilitators, and our committed workforce for completing this phase of our cultural evolution with passion, enthusiasm and...