Free Republic

People such as George Soros and Michael Moore certainly talk a good game, but the next Mother Teresa they are not. Mother Teresa never criticized the free-market system; wealth just wasn't for her. Soros and Moore are quite the opposite. They will never take a vow of poverty and dedicate themselves to helping the poor. They just want our civilization to take a vow of poverty and become poor. This has caused many to wonder: How can someone preach socialism while being the most rapacious "capitalist" imaginable? Well, I have a theory about this. It has often been observed that...

NEW YORK - Just in time for Valentine's Day, The New York Times today delivered a remarkable front-page bouquet to Robert Rubin, in the form of an unusually generous assessment of the former Treasury secretary's attempted string-pulling on Enron's behalf.

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised to get a million plug-in hybrid cars on the road by 2015. His own new presidential limousine will be far from green, however. The Obamobile being prepared for the president-elect is said to be a monster gas-guzzler made by General Motors, the troubled car giant. It will look like a black Cadillac but is built like a tank. A spy photographer who tracks down future car models for magazines snatched pictures of the heavily disguised first-car-in-waiting when it was being road-tested last summer. The armour-plated car, which has a raised roof, windows up...

The murky fate of San Francisco's would-be greenest building shows that when it comes to issues like climate change, political leaders are willing to go only so far. They happily announce new initiatives or tell people what to do. But when faced with large investments that might stimulate large-scale change, the rule of thumb is: Take a pass unless someone else picks up the tab. At least that's the case with the headquarters the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission was all set to build in Civic Center - one short block from City Hall - a 12-story billboard of sustainable...

While his own celebrity status has been a topic of great debate, Barack Obama is heading to Los Angeles to enlist big donors — celebrities included — to contribute to his campaign. Obama attends two events Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif., including a $2,500-a-head event at the Beverly Wilshire that includes a performance by Barbra Streisand. She had initially endorsed Hillary Clinton after Obama won the backing of Oprah Winfrey last year. Hollywood strongly supported Bill Clinton during his two election campaigns, and while many Clinton backers faithfully lined up behind his wife, there were a handful of high-profile defections...

Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others! Today, Perez Hilton, a celebrity gossip blogger, who has lately decided to finally take journalism seriously and post completely objective articles about politics (as can be seen by the above picture), posted Obama's infamous "pig" quote as his website's "QUOTE OF THE DAY". This comes as no surprise when considering the fact that 99% of Hollywood consider themselves not only experts on politics but also the forefront crusaders in their "global cause" to elect Obama president. Excuse me while I puke. However; It surprised me to read the comments on...

Limousine liberal convention-goers may have to take the bus----Denver does not have enough limos and black cars to go around. "Denver isn't really big on chauffeurs," said Barbara Curtis, Two Step Limousine. Denver has 271 limo companies, most with 2-3 cars. "Companies reserved black SUVs.....apparently the Secret Service had those canceled because they needed them," she said....black cars cost $4,000 for the 4-day convention, limos twice that.

You would think that this story is right out of science fiction. But the facts appear to be that the US Democrat-controlled Congress intends to destroy the Republican middle class with $11 per gallon gasoline. The Democrats’ base -- wealthy white “limousine liberals”, and very poor people -- won’t be harmed, but the families who live in suburbia will be devastated. The multi-millionaires like billionaire Senators John Kerry & Jay Rockefeller, financial speculator George Soros, filmmaker Michael Moore, and actors George Clooney & Meg Ryan can easily pay for their auto and private jet fuel. Poor people are forced to...

I'm an Iowan. My feet are dry.. all Praise to God. So, I will say what is on the minds of a lot of Iowans that are busy trying to hold their families together right now. These flood victims are no less worthy of help than New Orleans residents. To totally ignore them is like an elephant in the room. Why are you ignoring us? Are we too humble? Are we too unworthy because we help ourselves and each other? Are we the wrong class? The wrong color? The wrong location? Are we too quiet? Or are we not something...

It's urban flight flipped on its head: The number of low- and middle-income residents in San Francisco is shrinking as the wealthy population swells, a trend most experts attribute to the city's exorbitant housing costs.Many worry it's increasingly turning San Francisco into an enclave of the rich, where nurses, firefighters, cops, teachers and others professionals aspiring toward homeownership or in need of cheaper rent can no longer afford to stay."A kind of derogatory term for the city would be Disneyland for yuppies," said Hans Johnson, demographer with the Public Policy Institute of California. "There is a legitimate public policy concern...

Greg Craig: Obama's Next Thorn http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26816 He defended John Hinkley, Jr. after the latter’s attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. He defended former Bolivian Defense Minister Carlos Sanchez-Berzain, a human rights violator accused of 67 deaths. He was a “personal attorney” for Kofi Annan in the UN Oil for Food scandal and he provided “special counsel” to Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial. Currently, high powered attorney Greg Craig of the DC-based Williams and Connolly law firm, is defending Pedro Miguel Gonzales, President of the Panamanian legislature, accused of murdering U.S. Army Sgt. Zak Hernandez. And he’s a senior foreign...

A successful Manhattan based financial planning firm President is tired of being called a Yuppie. In the "natural evolution of the Hippie-Preppie-Yuppie progression," Chuck Failla say he has found religion. These days, more Americans not only want to live well, but want to also do good (or at least do no evil), he says. "They still love money and conspicuous displays of affluence. But now, the way to achieve status is to trade in the Beemer for a Toyota Prius, spend $50,000 putting solar panels on the roof, shop at Whole Foods for $7-a-bunch organic endive, and acquire a chic...

The rhetoric of Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton about the sad state of America is reminiscent of the suspect populism of John Edwards, the millionaire lawyer who recently dropped out of the Democratic presidential race. Barack Obama may have gone to exclusive private schools. He and his wife may both be lawyers who between them have earned four expensive Ivy League degrees. They may make about a million dollars a year, live in an expensive home and send their kids to prep school. But they are still apparently first-hand witnesses to how the American dream has gone sour. Two...

Al Gore has come under fire for making personal gain from his mission to save the planet – after charging £3,300 a minute to deliver a poorly received speech. The former American Vice-President was also accused of being "precious" at the London event, demanding his own VIP room and ejecting journalists, despite hopes the star-studded gathering would generate publicity for the fight against global warming. Many of the audience at last month's Fortune Forum summit were restless as Mr Gore, who has won both a Nobel Peace Prize and an Oscar for his campaigning work this year, delivered the half-hour...

After decades on the political sidelines, liberalism is making a comeback. Polls show plunging support for Republicans and their brand of conservatism among young, independent voters and Latinos. But what kind of liberalism is emerging as the dominant voice in the Democratic Party? Well, it isn't your father's liberalism, the ideology that defended the interests and values of the middle and working classes. The old liberalism had its flaws, but it also inspired increased social and economic mobility, strong protections for unions, the funding of a national highway system and a network of public parks, and the development of viable...

If you're wondering who's largely to blame for the alleged heating up of the climate you need look no further than Jane Fonda. That's what "Freakanomics" columnists Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt suggest in Sunday's New York Times Magazine. "If you were asked to name the biggest global warming villains of the past 30 years, here's one name that probably wouldn't spring to mind: Jane Fonda. But should it?" the authors ask. According to Editor & Publisher, the two cite Fonda's anti-nuclear thriller "The China Syndrome," which opened just 12 days before the Three Mile Island accident in...

Veteran actress and feminist Jane Fonda has been slammed for not paying her female employees working in the actress' radio network Green Stone Media. The twice Oscar winner and the radio network's co-founder Gloria Steinem have been accused of "putting their own reputations above their female employees' finances." According to the New York Post, Fonda and Steinem are 'refusing to pay severance, and the founders won't file for bankruptcy protection because it would publicly embarrass Jane and Gloria.' However, the 'Klute' star's spokesperson has denied the reports and said that the accusations are unfounded. "This is pure speculation. There is...

California lawmakers among Congress' richest By Erica Werner ASSOCIATED PRESS Article Launched: 06/15/2007 03:05:17 AM PDT WASHINGTON -- California boasts some of Congress' wealthiest lawmakers, annual financial disclosure forms filed Wednesday show, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and the state's senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, among the most well-off. Both Democrats are married to wealthy investors worth many tens of millions of dollars. Pelosi and her husband, Paul, own a vineyard. Feinstein and her husband, Richard, boast a condo in Hawaii, another one in Tahoe City and interest worth $5 million to $25 million in a hotel. The...

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Hollywood star and long-time environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio has a message for the world: go green now, before it's too late. As DiCaprio tells it in film documentary "The 11th Hour", launched on Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival, people are living in the last minutes of the final hour before it may be too late to do anything about global warming. "Global warming is a reality. It is happening," DiCaprio told reporters gathered for the movie's debut. Last year "An Inconvenient Truth" explored the same environmental issue by telling of former U.S. Vice President Al...

Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio sent out a message about global warming at the Cannes Film Festival. The heartthrob has made a film, the 11th Hour, warning that human beings face extinction as a result of the environmental crisis. At a press conference in the South of France following the screening, The Blood Diamond actor, 32, attacked US President George Bush, saying: "It's very simple. He's done very little for the environmental movement." The Titanic star's latest film, which he narrates, follows another environmental warming documentary by former US Presidential candidate Al Gore, shown at the Cannes Film Festival last year....

When it comes to Sheryl Crow's touring requirements, if it's Tuesday, this must be Bombay. Gin that is. The rock star's performance contract includes specific day-to-day instructions on what kind of booze Sheryl needs in her dressing room (TSG has never seen such attention to detail in any other concert rider we've posted). For each show, Crow requires 12 bottles of Grolsch beer, 6 bottles of "local" beer, and a bottle each of "good Australian Cabernet" and "good Merlot." As for the harder stuff, promoters are directed to purchase specific booze depending on what day of the week the concert...

People aged between 50 and 64 have the UK's largest "carbon footprints", according to research. But they are also the most concerned about climate change, and want the government to do more to tackle global warming, the study says. The report - Greening the Grays - is published by the Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York. The research included analysis of UK residents by age and expenditure, along with surveys and focus groups. Researchers found that people in the 50-64 age group have a carbon footprint of 13.52 tonnes per capita per year, compared with the UK average...

Cadillac Deval: When not heli-commuting gov rides in style

"If New York City is a business, it isn't Wal-Mart -- it isn't trying to be the lowest-priced product in the market. It's a high-end product, maybe even a luxury product. New York offers tremendous value, but only for those companies able to capitalize on it." -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg January 2003These seem the best of times for America's elite cities. Wall Street's 2006 megabonuses created thousands of instant millionaires, and, with their venture-fund soulmates in places like San Francisco, Boston and Greenwich, the best people are prowling for Ferraris, planes, multimillion-dollar condos, the newest $200 lunch place and the...

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama -- showing strength as a leading attraction in the 2008 Democratic presidential parade -- hits California this month to star at two major San Francisco fundraisers for one of the nation's most liberal senators, Barbara Boxer. The two Feb. 19 appearances by Obama for Boxer, D-Calif., and a separate, exclusive Atherton event to introduce Obama to top Silicon Valley decisionmakers come within days of California visits by a string of big-name Democratic presidential candidates searching for campaign cash. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards is expected in the Bay Area on Feb. 15, and Sen. Hillary...

Gwyneth Paltrow is "deeply upset" over stories claiming she made anti-American remarks, and tells PEOPLE exclusively that she never said anything against her native country. "First of all I feel so lucky to be American. When you look at the rest of the world, we're so lucky, and that's something my dad always instilled in me," Paltrow tells PEOPLE. "I feel so proud to be American." . . . "I felt so upset to be completely misconstrued and I never, ever would have said that," says the 34-year-old Oscar winner. "I definitely did not say that I think the British...

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards acknowledged Thursday that amid his criticism of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., a volunteer member of his staff asked the world's largest retailer for help obtaining a hot new Sony Playstation 3 for Edwards' family. Edwards, a potential 2008 presidential candidate, told The Associated Press that the volunteer "feels terrible" about seeking the game unit at Wal-Mart while his boss claims the retailer doesn't treat its employees fairly. "My wife, Elizabeth, wanted to get a Playstation3 for my young children. She mentioned it in front of one of my staff people. That staff person mentioned it...

Historic preservation, condominium conversion and neighborhood character are dominating political debate this fall in Berkeley, where land use has become the hottest issue on the civic agenda. "More people care about land use than any other issue right now," said City Councilman Kriss Worthington, one of the few people in Berkeley who's neutral on the issue. "Berkeley can vote to stop the war, but the war's not going to stop tomorrow. But land use is one of the few things the city has direct control over and you can see the results in your neighborhood." Berkeley, with a population that's...

GLOBAL WARMING: Governor, lawmakers don't exactly practice what they preach - Sacramento -- Despite their outspoken support for landmark legislation to fight global warming, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and some of the leading Democratic lawmakers who voted for the measure still use gas-guzzling vehicles for official state business. Schwarzenegger, who is expected to sign the legislation on Wednesday at a ceremony in San Francisco, typically is escorted by the California Highway Patrol's security detail in a massive 2005 Ford Excursion that gets less than 11 miles per gallon, according to an evaluation by Consumerguide.com. The global warming bill's co-author, Assembly...

LIMOUSINE liberals, move over. You've been out-glammed by Lear Jet liberals who burn beaucoup fossil fuels in the sky as they soar around the planet fighting global warming. Last week, they flew to their Mecca, the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York City. For the left-leaning and loaded, this is the meeting that has it all -- the mega-rich paying to be seen caring about poor people and the environment, while posing for photos with former President Bill Clinton. The big news of the CGI was an announcement by Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, that he...

Rodale Books, publisher of former Vice President Al Gore's No. 1 New York Times bestseller about global warming entitled AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, will reissue his first bestselling book, EARTH IN THE BALANCE: Ecology and the Human Spirit in Fall 2006 (Rodale Books, Paperback, $15.95; On Sale October 31). AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, published in May, is No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list with more than 500,000 copies in print. Mr. Gore continues to tour the country to promote both the book and documentary film about the destructive effects of climate change, and what can be done about it....

STRANGE and unfamiliar sound emanated from Hollywood yesterday - total silence. It now looks as if the 9/11 attacks were just meant to be a tepid dress rehearsal for the big show. The atrocities that were narrowly averted yesterday - planes bound for our shores, to be blown up in midair by men who hate - prove one thing beyond doubt: If we care to watch our children grow up, get old enough to retire to Florida, or simply live to see another dawn, we must be vigilant. We cannot relax. The bullet we dodged whizzed by frighteningly close. That...

The Federal Correctional Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana has a new resident. Robert Creamer of Evanston, Illinois moved in recently. He's the husband of far-left Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky--my representative in Congress. Creamer is the former executive director of the Illinois Public Action Council, a defunct organization that appointed itself as the consumer watchdog for Illinoisans. While running this goo-goo group, Creamer got in the habit of kiting checks, which is illegal for a very good reason: It undermines the most important ingredient of a functioning economic system, trust. Schakowsky was on the board of directors of IPAC while hubby was...

Just call her money girl - Streisand tix demand off as price skyrockets By Scott Van Voorhis Boston Herald Business Reporter Friday, June 30, 2006 - Updated: 07:35 AM EST The days of being the music world’s top-priced ticket may just be memories now for Barbra Streisand. The 64-year-old crooner with a taste for trendy, lefty causes earlier this month rolled out grand plans for a 20-concert tour, her first in 10 years. But after taking a look at her ticket prices - including $5,000 deluxe packages - even Babs’ die-hard limousine liberal fans may be having second thoughts. And...

Pete Seeger sings songs of peace, hope and the working class. Bruce Springsteen's idea to reinterpret the Seeger songbook with broad strokes of street jazz and gospel is a noble thought. Unfortunately, Springsteen's Tuesday night "Seeger Sessions" concert was outsourced to the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park. Everything that was so right about the music was so wrong for the venue. Springsteen and his raucous 17-piece band failed to even fill the pavilion. Roughly 5,500 fans showed up, and the $92 ticket price knocked out the working-class audience that Springsteen and Seeger have championed. This is First Midwest...

No politician in America has a darker history with the waters off Martha's Vineyard than Senator Ted Kennedy. The Chappaquiddick Kid has been leading a three-year old battle to stop a windmill energy farm. A Boston company proposed building 130 wind turbines over a 24 square mile area off the Massachusetts coast. The wind turbines would provide three-quarters of Cape Cod's energy needs and nearly two percent for all of New England instead of relying on coal burning power plants. Greenpeace supported the idea. Yet big-time environmental liberals, the Chappaquiddick Kid, Robert Kennedy, Jr. and the befuddled Walter Cronkite oppose...

RELATED NEWS: Cardinal Rivera calls border wall an “error” Mexican cardinal criticized xenophobic attitude of US against immigrants Irish Church celebrates contribution of immigrants Arizona bishops release dramatic letter on immigration Archbishop Naumann: Scripture exhorts faithful to welcome the migrant, alienKansas City, Feb. 03, 2006 (CNA) - In his latest column, Kansas City, Kansas Archbishop Joseph Naumann weighed in on the volatile national immigration debate, saying that Scripture exhorts faithful to welcome the stranger and the alien, not as an option--but as a responsibility.The Archbishop wrote in regard to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Justice for Immigrants Campaign...

In trying to make sense of the Oscar nominations, it always helps to remember one thing: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences likes movies that are socially liberal but artistically conservative. And this has been the case from the beginning. So Terrence Malick ("The New World") shouldn't feel bad today, any more than King Vidor ("The Crowd") or Charlie Chaplin ("City Lights") or Spike Lee ("Do the Right Thing") should have in their respective years. If you want to be nominated for best picture, don't make the most artistically adventurous film of the year and don't push the...

A too-close-to-call federal election campaign in Canada has spurred the nation’s beleaguered Liberal leader to try and cling to power by attacking the nation’s oldest ally and largest trading partner. That Canada sells 83% of its world exports to the United States and some 50% of all Canadian jobs depend either directly or indirectly on those exports seems irrelevant right now. It’s a bizarre world Up North these days. Prime Minister Paul Martin is in the fight of his political life against Conservative leader Stephen Harper and that’s obviously why he’s been trying to whip up anti-American fervor in the...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sunday, December 18, 2005 PRESS CONTACT: Jasmyne Cannick (Local Media) (323) 839-0216 jasmynecannick@hotmail.com LaNiece Jones (Int’l and Nat’l Media) (510) 568-5899 lajpr@aol.com Viewing to Take Place on Monday, Memorial Service Slated for Tuesday LOS ANGELES - There will be a public viewing of Stanley Tookie Williams on Monday, December 19, 2005 from 3 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the House of Winston Mortuary located at 9501 South Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles. The memorial service for peacemaker Stanley Tookie Williams will take place Tuesday, December 20, 2005 at 12 noon. The service will take place at Bethel...

Into the storm -- no pun intended -- that is Katrina and Rita's wake, comes no less an expert than Barbra Streisand. In an interview with ABC's Dianne Sawyer to promote her upcoming CD with Barry Gibb, she veered off course and declared a "global warming emergency". Maybe the waves are getting too close to her seaside estate, not sure. "For the United States not to be part of the Kyoto treaty is unforgivable" said the singer, ignoring for the moment that this was a pretty lopsided (i.e., 95-0) vote in the US Senate, including many recipients of her largess...

Even for Greenpeace, a group known for turning high-seas drama into political statement, the foray into the Nantucket Sound wind farm debate has played like perfect theater. Take, for instance, the picture-postcard morning of Aug. 17, when a pair of Greenpeace motorboats surrounded a schooner crammed with wind farm opponents, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. It was a made-for-TV face-off that, indeed, was reported on the national news that night. But for Greenpeace, a $360 million organization that spends about $3.3 million each year on U.S. campaigns, ongoing efforts for the Cape Wind project transcend interrupting a Kennedy sail. Today,...

An extraordinary story has emerged involving former Lyndon Johnson aide and now PBS commentator Bill Moyers. The story was told in The Wall Street Journal by retired federal appeals judge Laurence Silberman, who reports that when he was acting attorney general under President Ford a memo written by Moyers to the FBI came to light in the press. The memo, which dated from the 1964 campaign between President Johnson and Barry Goldwater, directed FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover to investigate the Goldwater campaign for evidence of homosexual activity. It came after Johnson aide Walter Jenkins had been arrested in a...

A MUSLIM cleric who has defended suicide bombings in Israel and Iraq is to be allowed into Britain next month for an international conference. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, 79, who has a visa to come to Britian but is banned from entering the United States, has been asked to attend the conference in Manchester. The invitation will be seen as the first test of the Government’s promise after the London bombings to clamp down on hardline Islamic preachers and other extremist clerics. Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, is expected to let Dr Qaradawi enter Britain despite having the power to ban him...

Queen Guitarist Brian May Asks For Reasoning Why Terrorists Hate West Douglas Maher All Headline News Staff Reporter July 12,2005 12:04 PM EST London,UK (AHN)-Brian May,the guitarist for the legendary rock group Queen has made a comment regarding the recent terrorist attacks in London. "I sense there is a mood of quiet resolve among the people I speak to. We are feeling that we must not go any further down the road of escalation...this is old stuff, but I personally feel that in the wake of 9/11 an opportunity was missed...to seek understanding rather than revenge." May told Launch Radio...

Sen. Edward Kennedy will be the Democrat's point man in their all out attack on President Bush's nominee to the high court. Though Kennedy no longer holds the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a role he played from 1979 to 1981, he is the most senior ranking Democrat on the august committee. He is also the most virulent among his Democratic colleagues in his opposition to the Bush administration. The stage has once again been set for him to become the salient force in the looming battle over who will replace a retiring Justice - Sandra Day O'Connor. Kennedy,...

Robert McNamara says he did not realise during the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 just how close the US and the Soviet Union came to nuclear war. Forty-three years later, the controversial former US defence secretary is more concerned than ever about the dangers of nuclear weapons. Sitting in his Washington office, the subject of The Fog of War - the Oscar-winning documentary about his views on the Vietnam war - cautions, in a rare interview, that he does not want to talk about Iraq. The 89-year-old Mr McNamara - who served under Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson...

The share of immigrants - legal and illegal - of the Bay State work force has nearly doubled in the past quarter-century, skyrocketing to 17 percent from 9 percent, a new report says. Indeed, the state's total labor force would have shrunk during that period if not for that astonishing influx of immigrants, the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth and Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies found. ``Immigrants have become our key source of labor,'' said MassINC research director Dana Ansel, one of the study's authors. ``To the extent that our economy builds and grows, looking for skilled...

I am old enough to be nostalgic about radio, having grown up when it was a stately medium and we listened to Journeys in Musicland with Professor E.B. "Pop" Gordon teaching us the musical scale, and the guest on The Poetry Corner was Anna Hempstead Branch, who read her sonnet cycle, "Ere the Golden Bowl Is Broken," and the gospel station brought us Gleanings From the Word, with the whispery Reverend Riley trudging patiently through the second chapter of Leviticus, and at night there were Fibber and Molly and Amos and Andy and the Sunset Valley Barn Dance with Pop...