Free Republic

Bankers must take long-term view of their reputation Antonia Senior: Business commentray The word banker never used to be an insult. It once stood for a pillar of the community, a captain of capitalism. But bankers’ reputations have soured as their bonuses have bloated. You cannot condemn an entire industry on the reputation of one rogue trader. But the £3.7 billion hit to Soc Gen from Jérôme Kerviel’s bad bets comes at an extraordinary time for the banking world. That hit pales beside the £67 billion writedowns that the banks have taken on their exposure to sub-prime debt so far....

The Skeleton Closet All the Dirt on All the Candidates for President --Since 1995-- Because character DOES matter. You've come to the right place for dirt, attitude and opinionated character reviews of all the presidential candidates. Candidates In 2008 John Edwards -- Mike Huckabee -- Mitt Romney -- Rudy Giuliani -- Hillary Clinton -- Ron Paul -- Fred Thompson -- Barack Obama -- John McCain -- Bill Richardson -- Dennis Kucinich -- Wesley Clark -- Ralph Nader -- Joe Biden -- Newt Gingrich -- Alan Keyes

"Join Kenneth Copeland and his special guest Governor Mike Huckabee as they take a unique look at their life experiences and explore two foundational teachings: The Need for Character and Integrity and The Integrity of Character."

Way back in 1992, when Hillary and Hubba Bubba first burst onto the national scene, many Americans expressed doubts about their honesty and integrity. Clintonesque, parsing, the definition of "is" - those and other phrases became polite shorthand ways of accusing a Clinton of lying. Fast forward to last week, to fresh proof that the charge is still political dynamite. If Sen. Clinton loses the nomination because of the honesty gap, she can't say she wasn't warned. Indeed, one of the mysteries of the Democratic race so far is why she fell into a predictable trap. She and her team,...

Is it just me or are we all getting pretty tired of FNC’s abuse of “Breaking News” and “News Alerts”? It amazes me that you can’t watch one day’s worth of programming on America’s “fair and balanced” network without being assaulted by these false overtures. The producers at the FNC must think we are the dumbest viewers in the history of television news. The recent fires in Southern California provided almost every anchor on Fox with the opportunity to over-dramatize the events of the day. I’ve never seen so many “Breaking News” reports on one story in my life. And...

Recent months have seen Jeri Thompson painted a variety of ways in the press, from doting mom to trophy wife. The wife of GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson says she knew that would happen, but because she has given few interviews, it can be hard to tell who she really is. The Naperville Sun had an opportunity to get to know the 41-year-old Naperville native. She sat down for an interview before attending a major Chicago fund-raiser. The former Jeri Kehn lived in one of Naperville's downtown neighborhoods with her mom and stepdad, Vicki and Ron Keller. She graduated from...

NEW ORLEANS—The members of Integrity have prayed unceasingly for their bishops as they met this week to consider a response to the primates' communiqué. The bishops were pressured by the Archbishop of Canterbury and other international guests to comply with the primate's demands. The bishops struggled mightily amongst themselves to achieve a clear consensus on how to respond. Integrity is gratified that the final response from the House of Bishop declined to succumb to the pressure to go backwards, but rather took some significant steps forward. We are encouraged by their strong language against the incursions of uninvited bishops into...

Contenders for the GOP Presidential nomination bring not only the positions they espouse, but the additional spouses they have espoused. Does anyone have trophy wife bios and photos and stories of succession? This exploration is not totally even - Romney cannot enter, and Rudy can enter more than once - but in a campaign this long it would be interesting to know how our candidates walk the walk, and who walks with them.

I finally had a chance to sit down and read the Globes 7 piece story on Mitt Romney. It's worth a read if you have the time. Long, but full of details. Before reading it what struck me, was the Boston Globe does a 7 article piece on Romney, and the most negative thing the public can take away from it is that Romney strapped a dog carrier to the top of his car. You would think with a paper owned by the NYTimes that has a penchant for negative stories on Romney, a little more could have been unearthed,...

During the Middle Ages there were all kinds of crazy ideas, such as that a piece of rhinoceros horn would increase potency. Then a method was discovered for separating the ideas--which was to try one to see if it worked, and if it didn't work, to eliminate it. This method became organized, of course, into science. And it developed very well, so that we are now in the scientific age. It is such a scientific age, in fact that we have difficulty in understanding how witch doctors could ever have existed, when nothing that they proposed ever really worked--or very...

Tears run from the eyes of U.S. President George W. Bush during a ceremony in honor of Medal of Honor winner Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham in the East room of the White House in Washington, January 11 2007. Cpl. Dunham was killed when he jumped on a grenade to save fellow members of his Marine patrol while serving in Iraq. REUTERS/JIM bOURG (UNITED STATES)

Dear (name deleted): I received your message indicating surprise and disappointment with your final grade this semester. In your message, you said “I did miss several days in your class. I did not mean to miss but I was just going through so much this semester with a death in my family, my house got robbed, fired from my job for being 10 minutes late and my good friend died so i [sic] am sorry for that.” I am sorry, too. I am particularly sorry that I was hog hunting in South Carolina and was, therefore, unable to respond immediately...

There was quite a bit of discussion back and forth today about irresponsible journalism, and bad headline writing. Look at this example: Retail sales in Sept down on gasoline dip Oh noes...say it ain't so! Let's look a little further into this particular article... Retail sales fell unexpectedly in September on a record drop in gasoline sales, but were up when gasoline sales were stripped out, a government report said on Friday. OK, well that is a little different then what the headline title insinuated. How convenient. Anything to do with the upcoming elections? You decide. It does seem like...

Since last summer, Dennis Hastert has been found on the wrong side of compelling ethical issues with alarming frequency. It appears that any time a grassroots campaign to hold our representatives accountable is launched, more of Hastert's fingerprints are found in the wrong places. First, Hastert protested over the FBI searches of a fellow congressman's office when the Constitution explicitly provides allowance for such things when evidence exists to support suspicion that a serving congressman has committed a felony. He told us mere citizens that we ought to learn our place, and that it was not proper for us to...

Dear Jesse Jackson by Mychal Massie Dear Rev. Jackson: I read with interest your Sept. 12, 2006, article "Goodwill, unity, money have been squandered since Sept. 11," which appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times. I do not object, as such, to your poisonous screed directed at President Bush. I object to the substance that so freely flows from your mouth and that can best be likened unto that which is consistent with encopresis – albeit in your case, the malady can hardly be defined as involuntary. You purport yourself to be a minister – a reverend – a so-called man of...

As ABC prepares to air their mini-series regarding the events leading to the events on 9/11, the left is up in arms over the docudrama's implications that former President Clinton's inaction greatly contributed to the attacks of 9/11. I will save that debate for later. What bothers me most about this whole thing is the whiny rhetoric coming from the left, as they launch attack after attack on ABC, calling for truth and honest representations in the mini-series. 'The Path to 9/11', as it is called, has a number of top democrats crying foul and slinging allegations of political bias...

by Mark Finkelstein September 5, 2006 - 08:39 Looks like CBS got itself a two-fer. Katie's not just an anchor - she's a comedian, too! The highlight of her extended interview with Harry Smith on this morning's Early Show, touting her debut on tonight's CBS Evening News, was her claim that what the "old media" has to offer in contrast with the new media is . . . "integrity and standards." Couric is apparently a jokester of the deadpan school, managing to get off the line without dissolving into guffaws. This from the woman about to take over the illustrious...

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- As the leadership of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force changed hands, the departing and incoming commanders said they believe an investigation into accusations that U.S. Marines deliberately shot civilians in Haditha, Iraq, will ultimately strengthen the corps. Lt. Gen. Keith Stalder took command of the Camp Lejeune-based group on Wednesday from Lt. Gen. James Amos, who is headed to the Pentagon to become deputy commandant in charge of combat development. "We don't know the facts on Haditha, let alone what the facts mean at this point," said Stalder. "We do owe it to the American people...

Pepsi Alerted Coca-Cola to Stolen-Coke-Secrets Offer•Three Arrested for Allegedly Stealing, Plotting to Sell Coca-Cola Recipes•Coke: Coca-Cola (KO) and Pepsi (PEP) are usually bitter enemies, but when PepsiCo Inc. got a letter offering Coke trade secrets, it went straight to its corporate rival. Six weeks later, three people were scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday to face charges of stealing confidential information, including a sample of a new drink, from The Coca-Cola Co., and trying to sell it to PepsiCo......

Last month, The New York Times published a 2,000-word, front-page dissection of Bill and Hillary Clinton's marriage. It contained no real news, few named sources, and plenty of gossip masquerading as political coverage. Observing that the Clintons typically spend 14 days of each month together--hardly unusual for a couple that includes a senator and a peripatetic former president--the Times opted for the half-empty conclusion that the two lead "largely separate lives." The story also made an oblique reference to a Canadian politician named Belinda Stronach, the significance of which would likely be grasped only by insiders and people who read...