Free Republic

(Some time in the not-too-distant future at a public university near you). Good morning, everyone. My name is Dean Crawler and I would like to welcome everyone to new staff training here in the Dean of Student's Office at the University of Neo-Communism in Wonderland, or UNCW. I wish to welcome all returning Deans, Associate Deans, Assistant Deans, and Adjunct Deans as well. They say it takes a village to raise a child. One could say that it takes a fiefdom to raise a generation. Of course, we prefer to avoid references to Western civilization here at UNCW. We are...

In his first formal press conference in months, Barack Obama showed that getting re-elected can increase a president's confidence and combativeness. He staked out tough stands on several issues, especially on the looming budget negotiations. Looking ahead to the "fiscal cliff" on Dec. 31, when the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire and sequestration cuts government spending sharply, Obama demanded $1.6 trillion of increased revenues as part of any budget bargain. That's twice the number he and Speaker John Boehner agreed on in the grand bargain talks in the summer of 2011. Those talks fell apart when Obama telephoned Boehner...

On CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday morning Arizona Senator John McCain made an astute if obvious observation about why the Obama administration would feel inclined to mislead Americans about the deadly raid (read: terrorist attack) on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya last September: It interferes with their erroneous “al Qaeda is on the run” talking point (via Mediaite):If you look at their narrative…“I got bin laden, al Qaeda’s on the run”… al Qaeda is not on the run. Al Qaeda’s is making a strong comeback all over the Middle East. They’ve got terrorist training camps in Iraq, they’ve taken...

Diplomatic message to Egypt: Hamas terrorism must cease by Tuesday evening or we step up attack. Israel has delivered an ultimatum to Hamas through Egypt, according to which the IDF will widen its offensive in Gaza in 36 hours unless Hamas ceases firing rockets and smuggling arms into Gaza, IDF Radio reported Monday morning. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told the station that the time left before Israel steps up its attack can be measured in "hours, not days." "We are at a junction," he said. "Either we go toward a calm or toward a meaningful widening of the operation… including...

A bitter election battle to succeed Nicolas Sarkozy as new leader of France’s main centre-Right party, UMP, has gone down to the wire in a contest that could decide whether or not the group swings farther Right. Jean-Francois Cope, the party’s firebrand secretary-general, was more than 3,000 votes ahead of the moderate Francois Fillon, with some 155,000 ballots counted from the election among the party’s 300,000 members. With the outcome still unclear, the surprise of the night was the higher-than-expected score of Mr Copé, 48, who was expected to finish well behind Mr Fillon, 58. Last night members of the...

Germany, Holland, and the creditor states of northern Europe have not lost a single cent on eurozone rescue packages, so far. They have lent money, at a theoretical profit. They have issued a fistful of guarantees to Europe’s twin bail-out funds, covering Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and soon Cyprus. They have taken on opaque and potentially huge liabilities through the European Central Bank. Yet little has disturbed the illusion that the euro is a free lunch for the surplus powers. An assumption persists that the creditors will be spared the consequences of flooding Southern Europe with excess capital. All the...

Who would have thought the ubiquitous education superstar Michelle Rhee would be sitting next to Andy Stern on the board of the Broad Foundation? Yes, that's right. The Republican governors' siren and CEO of StudentsFirst works alongside the former SEIU leader, who's visited the White House more than anyone else in the past four years and who said "workers of the world, unite" back in 2007. Stern is the same guy who called the left-leaning former KB Homes executive Eli Broad his "favorite billionaire" in 2005 when the union elites and progressive business owners got together to seriously implement their...

As Israeli airstrikes and naval shells bombarded Gaza this weekend, the world asked the question that perennially frustrates, confuses and enrages so many people across the planet: Why aren’t the Americans hating on Israel more? As in Operation Cast Lead, the last big conflict between Israel and Hamas, and as during the operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon, much of the world screams in outrage while America yawns. If anything, many of Israel’s military operations are more popular and less controversial in the United States than they are in Israel itself. This time around, President Barack Obama and his administration have...

Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your new country can do for you. “Welcome to USA.gov,” a website maintained by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), bills itself as the “primary gateway for new immigrants to find basic information on how to settle in the United States” — featuring a prominent section for new immigrants about how to access government benefits. “Depending on your immigration status, length of time in the United States, and income, you may be eligible for some federal benefit programs,” the Web page reads. “Government assistance...

Santa Monica Forced To CANCEL Christmas After Atheist Campaigner Launches Protest Against Town's Holiday Decorations 18 November 2012 A California town has been forced to axe its Christmas decorations after an atheist protester objected to a 14-piece religious display in the town centre and set up his own booths mocking Christianity and preventing church groups from celebrating the holidays. Officials in Santa Monica, California have snuffed the city's holiday tradition this year rather than intervening in the religious fight - prompting churches which have set up a 14-scene Christian diorama every year for decades to sue over freedom of speech...

wish President Obama and the Democrats would explain to the nation that the federal budget deficit isn’t the nation’s major economic problem and deficit reduction shouldn’t be our major goal. Our problem is lack of good jobs and sufficient growth, and our goal must be to revive both. Deficit reduction leads us in the opposite direction — away from jobs and growth. The reason the “fiscal cliff” is dangerous (and, yes, I know – it’s not really a “cliff” but more like a hill) is because it’s too much deficit reduction, too quickly. It would suck too much demand out...

Link only. Can't copy with my phone.

Soros increases his stake in AIG By Laurie Bennett November 18, 2012 at 5:56am One of the likely beneficiaries of the government-backed recovery of American International Group: billionaire George Soros. Soros Fund Management has upped its investment in AIG, bringing its holdings to 15.2 million shares, worth $484 million. The fund last week reported AIG as its third largest investment (after Micron and Lucent). Soros is a longtime supporter of liberal causes and Democratic politicians. In the last election, he gave $1 million to the major super PAC supporting President Obama’s re-election, and another $1 million to American Bridge 21st...

(WASHINGTON) -- A vaccine for the H5N1 avian flu, or bird flu, has been approved by a panel of experts to be stockpiled for emergency use in case of a pandemic. A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted 14-0 in favor that the vaccine, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Quebec, was in compliance with licensing standards under accelerated approval regulations, reports MedPage Today. H5N1 currently does not spread as easily among humans as it does among domestic foul, but flu experts have feared it could mutate and potentially lead to a pandemic. In infected humans, the virus is...

Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and District Attorney George Gascón aren't exactly seeing eye to eye these days. But if a common bond could be forged, perhaps the first step to take would be uniting the warring city officials over their shared sartorial senses. As police chief, Gascón was far more likely than not to wander into police headquarters dressed like a lawyer. Gascón is a lawyer, and Mirkarimi is not -- but, in the limited amount of time the sheriff has been permitted to do the job he was elected to do, he's often outfitted like one. So, it was a...

A man attempted to rob a Beer For Less store in Millcreek is identified Coroner Lyell Cook tells us Patrick Atkins, 21 years old, was pronounced dead at Hamot yesterday just before 9 pm. Cook says he died of a single gun shot wound to the chest, and Cook ruled it a homicide. The shooting happened just after 8 tonight at the Presque Isle Beer For Less store at 2756 West 12th Street. Atkins reportedly walked into the store with a small handgun in an apparent attempt to rob the store. The clerk in the store was armed with a...

A San Francisco sheriff's deputy was hauled to his own county jail this morning after authorities identified him on a surveillance camera as the suspect who allegedly robbed a local Bank of America. Officer Albie Esparza tells us that on Nov. 7 about 4:50 p.m., Deputy Phil Tong, 36, allegedly walked into the Bank of America at 3701 Balboa St., handed the teller a note that said he had a gun, and demanded cash. He fled with $1,700 and was last seen on Balboa Street headed toward 39th Avenue. Police say they recognized him on the surveillance camera holding a...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency met a deadline Thursday on a plan to control emissions from three Arizona power plants that it contends have impaired visibility at places like the Grand Canyon. The Associated Press reports that the EPA had proposed approving Arizona's air-quality plan to reduce sulfur dioxide and soot at the Apache coal-fired plant in Cochise, along with the Cholla and Coronado plants. But when it came to nitrogen oxide emissions, the EPA suggested the state's plan didn't go far enough and came up with one of its own. The conflict highlights the tension between the EPA and...

(CNN) -- Hamas wants an end to Israel's long blockade of Gaza and raids on the territory in any cease-fire that might put a stop to five days of weaponry plummeting from the sky, a top Palestinian official said Sunday. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007, said an Israeli airstrike killed a family of 10 on Sunday. Israel, meanwhile, said Hamas had fired nearly 150 rockets into Israel in a single day, and that the strike was aimed at killing one of the leaders of the militant group's rocket corps -- but Israel was unsure...

Given the results of recent national elections, it appears that the nation is split on a number of issues that neither side considers negotiable. In May 2009, I wrote an article suggesting an amicable divorce between the two sides, with a partitioning of national assets between the two groups based on what was dear to each. It was a rhetorical device to outline the differences found in a split nation, and to make a larger point about ideology applied to everyday life. Looking at the recent election, it may be time to revisit the idea. The winners of the last...