Free Republic

Barack Obama’s lefty admirers are agitating for a new New Deal. We’ll know that we’ve achieved that blessed state when the government destroys 6 million baby pigs—turning many of them into grease and fertilizer (anything but food)—to prop up the price of pork. Or when it plows under a quarter of the South’s cotton and slaughters pregnant cows. American agricultural policy remains perverse to this day, but nobody is calling for the willy-nilly destruction of American crops and livestock as a means of checking deflation and fostering economic recovery. New Deal nostalgics forget all the elements of Franklin Roosevelt’s program...

Since at least November, police have investigated 15 cases in which organized criminals targeted Asian American business owners in the Philadelphia area, often following them home and robbing them at gunpoint. Yesterday, law enforcement officials urged Asian Americans to call 911 if they fear they are being followed, and to report crimes to the police. --snip-- "We're not about going after illegal immigrants. We're not about going after illegal cash funds," State Police Capt. David Young said. "I'm trying to save lives. . . . I'm asking the community to trust us."

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) today renewed their push to enact legislation to reduce drug-related violence in the border region by cracking down on organizations smuggling weapons illegally from the United States into Mexico.  Senators Richard Durbin, Dianne Feinstein, Jon Kyl, and John McCain are also cosponsors of the legislation. Ongoing violence in Mexico is having a devastating impact on Mexico and is raising concerns for border communities on both sides of the border.  In 2008, more than 5,300 people were killed in Mexico -- double the number in the previous year.  More...

On Tuesday, Barack Obama will be sworn in as America’s 44th president. It will be a poignant moment as America’s first black president takes the oath of office facing the Lincoln Memorial and with his hand on the same Bible used by Abraham Lincoln at his inauguration in 1861. Much has been made of Obama’s decision to use Abe’s Bible, as well as Obama’s ambition to model his presidency after that of Lincoln, America’s first Republican president and historically one of its most beloved. I hope President Obama succeeds, and in two ways in particular. I hope Obama follows Lincoln’s...

Two British servicemen have been killed during an attack on enemy forces in southern Afghanistan. A soldier from 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery and a Royal Marine from 45 Commando Royal Marines were killed in an explosion on Wednesday night. They were killed during an operation north-east of Gereshk in central Helmand Province. Spokesperson Commander Paula Rowe said: "The tragic loss of these two brave servicemen is a bitter blow to Task Force Helmand. "Our thoughts and prayers are with their family, friends and all those who served with them at this difficult time." The men's next of kin have...

More talk about the book, "The Spew", etc.

Hollywood studios that are owned by the world’s biggest media companies are preparing to curb the lucrative pay deals offered to film stars following a precipitous decline in DVD sales, the industry’s most important revenue stream. Hollywood has come to depend on DVDs, with many films only breaking even once they are released in the format. But a decline that started slowly at the beginning of last year accelerated from November, with sales of new titles falling 21 per cent, according to Nielsen figures seen by the Financial Times. A senior executive at one of Hollywood’s leading studios said the...

In its Saturday opinion section, the Rocky Mountain News gives readers a chance to Talk Back to the Media. Under the headline "Mainstream media hardly monolithic," a liberal reader took issue with conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer's criticism of the "mainstream media" for shamelessly favoring Barack Obama during the presidential campaign. The reader disputed this and, implicitly, the notion that the mainstream media have a liberal bias. He supported his argument by employing the fallacy of overstatement, fabricating a straw man, which he then proceeded to rip apart.

Last week in the conference call with bloggers, myself included, Gen. Effie Eitam advised that Israel was going to pulverize Gaza City and would not agree to a ceasefire without recovering Corp Shalit. Then the talk of a lousy ceasefire filled the news and I thought that Effie mislead us. But now I think not. From the getgo, Israel managed the war and the message brilliantly. First of all, the press was barred from Gaza even though the Israel SC ordered that they be permitted in. The diplomatic core stayed on message and the IDF shut up. All to the...

The carbon footprint of Barack Obama's inauguration could exceed 575 million pounds of CO2. According to the Institute for Liberty, it would take the average U.S. household nearly 60,000 years of naughty ecological behavior to produce a carbon footprint equal to the largest self-congratulatory event in the history of humankind. The same congressfolk who are now handing out thousands of tickets to this ecological disaster only last year mandated the phased elimination of the incandescent light bulb — a mere carbon tiptoe, if you will. The whole thing seems a bit unfair. And, on the day millions of Americans were...

Lack of interest cancels local inaugural party January 16, 2009 By Maura Possley, Staff Writer An Alsip inaugural ball set to commemorate the historic swearing-in of President-elect Barack Obama Tuesday was cancelled this week due to lack of interest. Not enough tickets were sold to the Chicago Obama Ball, what could have been the Southland's one shot at an official gala that day. Orland Park attorney Tom Paris was moved to organize the effort after attending Obama's November election night party in Chicago's Grant Park. The party was to have been held at the Condesa del Mar, 12220 Cicero Ave.,...

As the Bush administration ended, reporters who credited or discredited me with developing "compassionate conservatism" asked for an assessment. Most hoped that I'd dump on Bush, as so many others have. I didn't oblige, but honesty requires the mention of disappointment. Governor and then President Bush wanted to fight poverty, alcoholism, addiction, and other social problems. He saw faith-based approaches (from personal experience) as an effective way to do battle. He wanted them to garner additional resources and left the how-to questions to his advisors. As a volunteer chairman of a Bush task force in 1999, I was pleased when...

A little over a month ago, I was sitting with my daughter in a darkened theater, watching with dozens of other horror-struck Americans as, on the giant screen, a little Jewish boy, accompanied by his new friend, a German boy of about the same age, were herded naked, in shocked confusion to their deaths in a Nazi gas chamber.  Or the "ovens" as some slang would put it.  The movie was The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. For more than five minutes after the lights came on, no one in that theater moved.  Barely a sound -- only the muffled...

Secret FISA Court Approves Specific Application of Expired Law For Warrantless Wiretapping The FISA Court of Review (FISCR) today released a public version of an opinion concerning warrantless wiretapping. An unnamed telecommunications carrier stood up for its customers' privacy by fighting the case through an initial decision by a FISA court and the appeal to the FISCR. The Court approved the specific application of the expired Protect America Act (PAA) and expressly rejected arguments that the law was unconstitutionally applied in the case before it. What does that mean for cases in the public, nonsecret courts challenging dragnet surveillance? Legally:...

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty is planning to introduce a private member’s bill calling for the abolition of the long gun registry once Parliament resumes later this month. “The reason I’m doing that is really because I promised the constituents in every election that that’s what I would do, given the opportunity, and you know what, I got the opportunity,” Rafferty said last week while hosting a pre-budget consultation here. Rafferty said he will introduce the bill as soon as he can during the upcoming sitting of Parliament. “While a lot of the debate going on in the legislature...

In a dynamic, wealth-creating economy, there have to be losers if there are to be winners. As businesses, newspapers deserve no extra pity. What ought to worry people – for the sake of democracy, not newspaper owners – is a net loss of reporting. Thomas Jefferson famously said that, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” His point was that self-government can’t work unless citizens are well-informed, especially about public affairs.

Obama and Holder opposed it and Republican Senators are the biggest collection of wimps and dweebs ever. http://www.thebulletin.us/articles/2009/01/16/top_stories/doc496ff11804478216813407.txt

At the board meeting today, Orange County deputies searched gun-rights supporters, especially those wearing CCW buttons, according to those who attended the meeting. Although Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said she would let the permits expire rather than revoke them, her real disdain for freedom is shown by the presence of the SWAT team and the heavyhanded searches of law-abiding residents who wanted to attend the board meeting. Did the sheriff really think that gun supporters are somehow dangerous. I’ve been to gun shows and gun events and have never felt safer. Share this post: 9 Responses to “SWAT team searches gun-rights...

FBI Investigates Odor at Walmart By Jon Byman and Melanie Stout GERMANTOWN - FBI and ATF agents are now investigating the source of fumes released in the Walmart along Appleton Avenue in Germantown Thursday afternoon. Forty seven people were treated in area hospitals. Police say ambulances took 25 of those people, 22 others went on their own. All are expected to be fine. People were overcome by the fumes near the automotive section just after noon. Authorities quickly evacuated the store. Buses were brought to the scene to keep people who had evacuated the store warm. Ambulances and authorities were...

Conservatives are having a St. Paul-on-the-road-to-Damascus type conversion as of late. After spending decades eschewing the popular culture, they now realize the value striving to influence it. For the past few years, organizations like the American Film Renaissance have been promoting conservative movies from established actors such as Patricia Heaton and Gary Sinise. These events also furnish an opportunity for unknown, conservative artists to present their works -- something Hollywood would never do. Conservatives used to approach the pop culture with a laager mentality -- they prohibit their kids from watching television or listening to popular music. As if eliminating...