http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/lessons/ en-us Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:30:57 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2416872/posts Recent headlines seem lifted directly out of an Ayn Rand novel. President Obama decries the “fat cat bankers on Wall Street”. Harry Reid attacks insurance companies for making too much profit. House Democrat leaders call Tea Partiers “Racist, Nazi, Gun Nuts”. How about this nauseating statement made by Army General George Casey after the Muslim terrorist attack on Ft. Hood? "As great a tragedy as this was, it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well"Each of these headlines might well have been uttered by an Ayn Rand character.(snip)An epic demonstration of the inverted morality that... BigGovernment.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2416872/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:30:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416032/posts Coming on the heels of the killing spree by Maj. Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood, the latest terrorist "incident," involving Abdul Mutallab on Northwest Flight 253, is yet another isolated but tell-tale sign that we must learn from: 1) If solidly middle-class Westernized Muslims mouth the al-Qaeda line of radical Islamic, anti-American boilerplate, please take them seriously — i.e., worry less about their feelings and more about the lives of innocents they may in the future seek to annihilate. The more upscale and the more the Western exposure, the more there is to worry about. 2) For the last eight... NRO Corner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416032/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 02:48:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412617/posts Turns out there are real questions about the accuracy of that recent Quinnipiac poll showing President Obama’s approval rating at just 52 percent among Jewish voters. As the JTA’s Eric Fingerhut pointed out, the Jewish sampling “was derived from a sample of just 71 respondents, for a margin of error of plus or minus 11.6 percent — a sample size that pollsters generally say makes such surveys unreliable.” Actually, common sense and some knowledge of Jewish voting habits should be enough to render any such poll findings suspect at best. Obama enjoys two important advantages that make him almost a... Commentary http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412617/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:27:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406016/posts President Obama's complete lack of concern for the fraudulent science associated with global warming is contrasted with the common sense of Sarah Palin. The gutsy Alaskan suggested that Obama ought to hold his horses on the whole climate change thing until The real verdict is in. Of course, the smartest man in the world will have none of that. With the outrageous news of deceit, fraud and suppression of opposing evidence by top climate change "scientists," many conservatives had expected to see the story unfold a little differently (with actual reporting and investigating). Global warming, aka, climate change has been... The American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406016/posts#comment Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:29:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2397943/posts ABC’s Jordyn Phelps reports: President Obama may have a thing or two to learn from Tiger Woods’ golf game, according to an upcoming article in the January edition of Golf Digest. But In light of the recent controversy surrounding Tiger Woods’ car crash, there are likely more ways in which the President may wish to distinguish himself from the golf star. The article lists ten things that the President could learn from the ultra-successful golf star in improving his performance as president, and vice versa, from the perspective of several prominent writers and players. The magazine cover is a photoshopped... ABCNews.com/Political Punch http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2397943/posts#comment Tue, 1 Dec 2009 22:26:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389367/posts The lesson from an unsuccessful pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden this week was simple: Guns talk. The Maersk Alabama, the American-flagged ship infamously attacked by pirates in April, was attacked again Monday when Somali pirates opened fire on the ship in an attempt to board it. But the pirates didn't get far this time, after a four-man security team aboard the ship fired back, thwarting the attack. It's the first time a large cargo ship with an armed security team aboard is known to have repelled an attack, says Vice Adm. William Gortney, who commands the Pacific region... The Christian Science Monitor http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389367/posts#comment Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:26:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380788/posts <p>As many people know by now, or are waking up to this morning, yesterday 39-year-old Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, went on a shooting spree at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas killing 13 and injuring at least 30. While Hasan is in critical condition and unconscious, some are speculating that the motive for the shooting was concern over his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.</p> Cleveland Gun Rights Examiner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380788/posts#comment Sat, 7 Nov 2009 13:08:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2379919/posts Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Despite the best efforts of the White House and much of the media to portray this week’s elections as a meaningless barometer of the public’s mood toward the Obama administration, the results were clear. The voters were communicating buyers’ remorse. One year after reaching its zenith, the Democratic Party is now grappling with what could be the beginning of the end of the Obama era. In Virginia, former Attorney General Bob McDonnell, a solid pro-family, pro-life conservative, won a landslide victory, as did down-ticket conservative candidates. Repeated Obama visits to his own backyard did... Human Events http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2379919/posts#comment Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:38:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380425/posts Lessons learned from the horrific Virginia Tech shootings in 2007 are credited with averting an even bigger massacre at Fort Hood, Texas, Thursday afternoon when police officer Kimberly Munley confronted the gunman without waiting for backup and took him down with four shots. Reviews in the aftermath of the shootings at Virginia Tech, where 32 died, found that first responders' decision to be careful and wait for backup probably cost lives as that gunman moved unchecked from classroom to classroom as law enforcement massed outside. Those findings had found their way to Fort Hood's Special Reaction Team, which had practiced... Christian Science Monitor http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380425/posts#comment Fri, 6 Nov 2009 23:26:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380224/posts The Lesson of Bob McDonnellby Charlie SpieringA week before the election, Virginia candidate for governor Bob McDonnell was asked in a radio interview if he would veto state funding for Planned Parenthood.“We shouldn't be doing that (funding Planned Parenthood) in Virginia,” answered O’Donnell. “That's common sense I think, and that will be part of what we get done.”Pro-choice activists were furious and quick to condemn his remarks. To them it was one more reason why McDonnell was “out of step and out of touch with voters.” But McDonnell, with his common sense approach to politics, proved that you can still... HeadlineBistro.Com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380224/posts#comment Fri, 6 Nov 2009 19:34:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2379177/posts After losing Virginia's governorship for the first time in eight years, some Democrats are trying to console themselves that Virginia is at its core a "red" state. This ignores not only that they won back-to-back governorships but also that Democrats defeated a sitting senator in 2006, took control of the state Senate in 2007 and won an open Republican Senate seat and three House seats in 2008 while carrying Virginia's electoral college votes for the first time since 1964. Some in the White House are trying to deflect blame for the defeat by saying that Sen. Creigh Deeds lost because... WaPO http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2379177/posts#comment Thu, 5 Nov 2009 15:50:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378977/posts My Wednesday Examiner column, written as the 2009 election returns were coming in, stands up pretty well. But let me add some observations written as the course of the elections became clearer. First, in the governor elections in Virginia and New Jersey, the Democratic candidate ran far behind Barack Obama’s percentages in 2008 and the Republican candidates ran ahead of George W. Bush’s percentages in 2004. The numbers are pretty daunting. In Virginia Creigh Deeds won 41% of the votes, way behind Barack Obama’s 53% in 2008. And in New Jersey Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine won 45% of the votes,... Washington Examiner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378977/posts#comment Thu, 5 Nov 2009 10:01:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/2378933/posts Lessons from Virginia for the GOP By Ed Gillespie Thursday, November 5, 2009 After losing Virginia's governorship for the first time in eight years, some Democrats are trying to console themselves that Virginia is at its core a "red" state. This ignores not only that they won back-to-back governorships but also that Democrats defeated a sitting senator in 2006, took control of the state Senate in 2007 and won an open Republican Senate seat and three House seats in 2008 while carrying Virginia's electoral college votes for the first time since 1964. Some in the White House are trying to... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/2378933/posts#comment Thu, 5 Nov 2009 05:55:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2349552/posts With Obama set to go weak on the "Good War" in Afghanistan, we need to recall some lessons of history. There is no such thing as a humane war. Indulging in such fantasies, with CNN enforcing the rules, has made the world a more dangerous place. GANJGAL, Afghanistan — We walked into a trap, a killing zone of relentless gunfire and rocket barrages from Afghan insurgents hidden in the mountainsides and in a fortress-like village where women and children were replenishing their ammunition. (Source: Jonathan Landay, a real battlefield reporter for McClatchy) David Warren, trenchant thinker and writer from Canada,... Nietzsche is Dead http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2349552/posts#comment Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:03:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2343371/posts Former Secretary of the Navy under Reagan, and member of the 9/11 Commission, John Lehman spoke tonight on the campus of St. Joseph's University. His topic was "The Lessons of 9/11: What we have learned, what have we accomplished, and what remains to be done." The Patriot Room http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2343371/posts#comment Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:28:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2337247/posts Spare Change Day of Reckoning: My Two Cents on Learning from 9/11 David J. Aland 11 Sep 09 I survived 9/11 without a scratch. I didn’t even get my uniform dirty. Through nothing less than the grace of God, I was not where I was supposed to be when the terrorists slammed an airliner into the Pentagon. Friends, colleagues, and shipmates of mine died that day, but I lived. In the hours, days, and weeks that followed, my hands joined the thousands that picked up, reconstituted, and continued the work of those that had been killed. To this day, I... Spare Change http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2337247/posts#comment Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:03:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2337347/posts VINCENNES, Ind. The students filed into their social studies class just after lunch and slumped into desks where they had learned about the Civil War, Lewis and Clark, and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. On this day, teacher Michael Hutchison said, the class would feature "another of those huge moments in our history." He reminded the high school juniors and seniors that he would be grading their notes. Then he dimmed the lights and played a video on the classroom TV. The Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2337347/posts#comment Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:50:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2336195/posts On Tuesday, as children in many places went back to school, the world's most prominent black leader undertook to expand a worshipful cult of personality as part of a systematic effort to achieve absolute power. You may have heard about it: Oprah Winfrey kicked off her 24th season on the air by taking over Chicago's Michigan Avenue for a live show in front of thousands of adoring fans. Oh, there was also that business involving the president of the United States going on TV to urge students to work hard and stay in school. In the end, Barack Obama's televised... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2336195/posts#comment Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:25:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2334191/posts Van Jones loved the spotlight. Heck, who wouldn't, after being named a special adviser and green jobs czar for President Barack Obama. In Kansas City last week, Jones was one of the federal officials flown in to take a look at the Green Impact Zone, an idea to upgrade 150 blocks of low-income neighborhoods. Jones was introduced twice by fellow, higher-ranking fed officials -- and on both occasions, Jones made sure to interject that he was a "special adviser" to Obama. But now he's not part of the administration at all, thanks to imprudent remarks and a petition he signed... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2334191/posts#comment Mon, 7 Sep 2009 22:03:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2333718/posts Mr. Van Jones, President Obama's "Green Jobs Czar," is the perfectly useful political foil for the Obama Administration. "Foil" means to obscure or confuse (to leave a false trail or scent) so as to evade or spoil pursuers. It also means a person or thing that makes another seem better by contrast ("The serious man was an able foil to the comic"). Mr. Jones recently resigned from his five month job as the so-called Green Jobs Czar (a highly symbolic do-nothing non-cabinet position) purportedly because he was found out to be a "communist" by conservatives on the Internet. According to... Pasadena Sub Rosa http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2333718/posts#comment Mon, 7 Sep 2009 04:02:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2324895/posts I am deeply grateful for the contribution that Ted Kennedy, who died last night, made to my education. Until Kennedy delivered his intemperate tirade against Robert Bork’s nomination to the Supreme Court in the summer of 1987, I hadn’t known that a United States Senator could brazenly lie to his colleagues and the American people and get away with it. I’m not talking about little fibs, or broken promises, or private dissimulations: all that I took as standard operating procedure in a fallen world. No, Ted Kennedy raised — that is to say, he dramatically lowered — the standard by... PAjamas Media http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2324895/posts#comment Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:18:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2324043/posts <p>Let's go back to that "teachable moment." It was proclaimed by Barack Obama after he said that police in Cambridge, Mass., had acted "stupidly" in arresting Henry Louis Gates Jr. for essentially being black in his own house.</p> <p>It has been a month now, and the one sure thing we have learned in this extended teachable moment is about Obama himself. He can't teach.</p> New York Daily News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2324043/posts#comment Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:16:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2324036/posts Police are removing valuables from unlocked cars to shock motorists into being more careful. Officers in London are taking everything from handbags to satnavs, and leaving a note telling drivers their property is at a local police station. daily mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2324036/posts#comment Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:08:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2322874/posts TOO STUBBORN TO DIE! WHAT SHOULD WE LEARN FROM AFGHANISTAN & IRAQ? By Andrei Nana We have all heard from our friends, family, and society at large, that when it comes to life, we will repeatedly make the same mistakes we made in the past unless we learn from those mistakes we make now. It sounds gloomy and depressing to consider the possibility of that continuous repetition, especially when we like to think of ourselves as always progressing. However, that repetition appears to exist. We also heard from these same people that there is a sliver lighting in everything, and... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2322874/posts#comment Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:13:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2313041/posts “9/11 taught the U.S. that it ignores rising Muslim resentment at its own peril.” ~ Christiane Amanpour, CNN resident dhimmi: “America can’t have another generation of Muslims who hate it.” Well, unless Muslims get over their hatred of infidels and stop teaching their children to hate the Great Satan, don’t expect any change. This is just another in a long list of major media outlets (TIME, Newsweek here and here) declaring the end of American leadership and suggesting that the United States submit to dhimmi status under Islam, and in doing so, Islamic sharia law. We ignore doing so “at... creeping sharia http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2313041/posts#comment Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:59:04 GMT