Free Republic

EMPORIA, Va: Barack Obama says he's decided on a running mate, but he won't say who. "I've made the selection, that's all you're gonna get," Obama said told reporters while campaigning in Virginia Thursday. Asked by an Associated Press reporter when the text would be sent, Obama just grinned and said, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Toyota Motor Corp. said today that its first quarter net income dropped 28.1% to 353.6 billion yen, or $3.2 billion, mainly due to the impact of exchange rates between the yen and the dollar, higher raw material costs and the turbulent U.S. market. While Toyota worked to cut costs and said global vehicle sales increased by 24,000 to 2.19 million vehicles, it wasn't enough to overcome a plunge in sales in the United States and Western Europe. For the three months ending June 30 Toyota's total revenue declined by 4.7% to 6.22 trillion yen or $56.9 billion. "The financial results...

The Democratic candidate is putting together a team to prepare him for taking office in January should he win the Nov 4 election. It is headed by John Podesta, Bill Clinton's chief-of-staff when he was in the White House. A senior adviser travelling with Mr Obama on his global tour told Atlantic.com: "Barack is well aware of the complexity and the organisational challenge involved in the transition process and he has tasked a small group to begin thinking through the process. "Barack has made his expectations clear about what he wants from such a process, and the establishment and execution...

In the patois of punditry, “charismatic” has come to mean little more than “like a rock star.” But the striking thing about the charismatic leader is the extent to which his followers regard him as a healer of wounds, an alleviator of pain. In this sense, surely, Senator Barack Obama is charismatic. The carefully knotted ties and the dark, conservatively tailored suits only accentuate the exoticness of his shamanism; he has entered the American psyche not as a hero but as a healer. The country, or much of it, has longed for such a figure, a man from the once-oppressed...

Twenty years ago, between September 28 and October 4, 1987, millions of people in the United States tuned in to a new show called Star Trek: The Next Generation. This event was eagerly welcomed by fans even though the show was treading on sacred ground as the first Star Trek spin-off. (This is partly why there were some skeptics out there too.) The new Star Trek was also a bold experiment on the part of Paramount in that it was an hour-long sci-fi drama airing in first-run syndication, not the perceived safe haven of network television. During this week in...

First official results in French first round presidential elections (my translation from the live feed): Estimation from SOFRES (French pollsters). Sarkozy: 30% Royal: 25.2 % ------------- Bayrou: 18.3% Le Pen: 11.5%

Oh how I pine for the Weather Channel of old. The one where they just did a damn good job of reporting well, you know, the weather. Then after years of just doing that which they were designed to do they began having delusions of their own grandiosity. Reporting the weather in studio was not enough, they had to have their so called "meteorolgist reporters" on scene. And from there on it has been all downhill. They lost me two summers ago when during the most active night for tornadoes in decades (some 450+ sightings) across the country they chose...

President Bush survived an impeachment hearing this week at a meeting of the Lagunitas School Board. The board voted 2-1 in favor of impeaching Bush, but Trustee Suzi Giacomini abstained and, according to the rules of order, that equated to a "no" vote, deadlocking the panel. Trustee Richard Sloan said he would likely bring it back for another vote after a new trustee is appointed to fill an open seat vacated by Kelly O'Conner. Sloan said the school district needed to take on the issue because board members swear to uphold and protect the Constitution. "I consider George Bush to...

With One High Profile Name Leading The Way, A Significant Post-Merger Exodus Looks Increasingly Likely At ABC Radio. As you may know, the rumor mill has been in overdrive for months. And now, it appears there is substance behind the chatter. Radio's story of the year, what will happen when Citadel finally merges its operations with that of ABC Radio, seems at last to be taking shape. And right out of the gate, we have an earthquake: news that Sean Hannity is extremely likely to leave ABC Radio Networks, as soon as it is contractually possible. That means Hannity, one...

Hatin’ on Hillary: N.H. Dems lambaste Clinton By Brett Arends Boston Herald Business Columnist Monday, August 7, 2006 - Updated: 02:56 AM EST MANCHESTER, N.H. - Dick Bennett has been polling New Hampshire voters for 30 years. And he’s never seen anything like it. “Lying b**** . . . shrew . . . Machiavellian . . . evil, power-mad witch . . . the ultimate self-serving politician.” No prizes for guessing which presidential front-runner drew these remarks in focus groups. But these weren’t Republicans talking about Hillary Clinton. They weren’t even independents. These were ordinary, grass-roots Democrats. People who identified...

WHO'S NOT HOT.... 1. DAN RATHER Nothing in Dan Rather's career at CBS became him like the leaving it. In late June, the discredited one-time golden boy of the electronic media finally threw in the towel and made his long-expected departure from CBS, with an ill-tempered whine that network executives "had not lived up to their obligation to allow me to do substantive work there." The wonder is that they let him do any work at all, much less for over four decades including 24 dismal years as anchor of CBS Evening News. During that period, he dragged the newscast...

Oversight of the government's national security policies is needed now more than ever.The Decision on whether to publish information that government officials assert would damage national security is one of the gravest choices a newspaper can face. There may be times when editors get it wrong, either printing material that proves harmful or withholding information that should have come to light. But these are risks that the Constitution contemplated and that the Framers were persuaded were worth tolerating to ensure a free and vigorous press. Justice Potter Stewart stated this trade-off well in a concurring opinion in the Pentagon Papers...

Washington, D.C. (CNSNews.com) - U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts on Tuesday told an audience at the liberal Take Back America conference that he was sorry for voting to authorize the war in Iraq, calling the entire mission "a mistake." "We were misled, we were given evidence that was not true," Kerry said. "It was wrong, and I was wrong to vote [for it]." Kerry, who led an unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2004, said it was necessary to admit mistakes because "you cannot change the future if you''re not honest about the past." He criticized supporters of the...

Young viewers just don't watch The O'Reilly Factor like they used to. April marked Bill O'Reilly's lowest-rated month in the 25-54 demographic since August 2001. His 415,000 demo viewers in March was a new low, but O'Reilly managed to lose a few more in April, averaging 412,000 in the demo. Here's his post-Katrina track: Sept: 1,115 / Oct: 518 / Nov: 468 / Dec: 460 / Jan: 472 / Feb: 458 / Mar: 415 But this trend started long before the hurricane. for O'Reilly, April's numbers reflected his lowest demo rating in almost five years. Among total viewers, O'Reilly delivered...

I used to enjoy watching Bill O'Reilly on his primetime news/opinion program The O'Reilly Factor. In spite of his somewhat pompous demeanor (now that I think about it, I actually like that in a person) he seemed to be genuinely concerned with being fair to his guests and the subjects of his commentary. Sure, he's been known to cut off more than a few babbling nitwits who've refused to answer his questions directly, but for the most part, he's always tried to give everyone their say, and for that I've admired him... or at least I did before last summer....

God Is Banned From Thanksgiving In Maryland Public Schools By Sher Zieve Nov. 23, 2004 Although the Thanksgiving Holiday and celebration were founded upon giving thanks to God, Maryland public schools have banned students from giving thanks to Him. This school system is adamant that ‘students may give thanks to anyone but, God’. Charles Ridgell, St. Mary's County Public Schools curriculum and instruction director, said: "We teach about Thanksgiving from a purely historical perspective, not from a religious perspective." The problem with this statement is that Thanksgiving, in the United States, was founded upon Christian religious tenets. Therefore, any accurate...

It was John Kerry's ``Do-you-know-who-I-am?'' debate. On at least four occasions in St. Louis Friday night, the squire of Naushon Island made it clear that you should vote for him . . . because he's better than you are. Twice, he told female opponents of abortion he ``respected'' their views. Respect indeed. His wife has another way of putting it. She says, ``Shove it!'' John Kerry [related, bio], as someone pointed out, is a person who just can't help treating people like help. Remember the moment when he talked about his plans for tax increases on people making over $200,000...

John Kerry may be sinking in the polls, but even if he goes down with the ship Nov. 2, he'll still have his own little flotilla to return to back here in Massachusetts. According to a check of state and U.S. Coast Guard records, he and his ``family'' own almost as many high-end boats as they do mansions and SUVs. Since Liveshot married the Widow Heinz, he's been on a nautical buying spree. Excuse me, let me clarify that last statement: His elderly second wife's first husband's grandfather's trust fund has been on a nautical buying spree on behalf of...

WAIT, DID I MISS THE END OF THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL RACE? After months of dropping coy hints, US Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) confirmed to a newspaper in his homestate that he will explore a 2008 run for President. "I will consider a race for the Presidency ... If I decide to run for the Presidency -- or seek re-election [in 2008] -- it will be for the right reasons, and the reasons are that I think I can make a contribution and help effect change in our country and have some influence over the direction of this country," he told...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of “word for the day”. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the “word of the day”; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... vainglorious; adjective: vaingloriously; adverb 1. adj. Characterized by or exhibiting excessive vanity; boastful. Proceeding from vainglory. Today's word is offered up in (dis)honor of last night's Academy Awards.... Etymology: I have no idea. Good Morning Students. Welcome to class! Class is...

Our (Israel) Newspapers Fail Us - (UPDATED) September 28, 2003 Editorial - Israel News Agency "Over at the Jerusalem Post, Israel's venerable English language daily newspaper, rumblings of publisher/staff dissatisfaction are being heard loud and clear. Long-time managing editor, Avi Hoffman was fired last week after he recommended pulling an ad that included language he felt would expose Israel to charges of war crimes. New Post editor Bret Stephens apparently agreed. Publisher Tom Rose was furious and ordered Hoffman fired. The full page ad appeared last Friday. According to Aviv Lavie writing in the rival Haaretz English edition, senior staff...

<p>THERE ARE VERY few traits that men and nations find more unattractive than ingratitude. ''Blow, blow, thou winter wind,'' wrote the Bard. ''Thou art not so unkind as man's ingratitude.'' Later he would have King Lear say: ''Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend ... How sharper that a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child.'' And when, in the Berlioz opera, ''Les Troyens,'' Dido seeks a supernatural revenge to be visited upon Aeneas, her departed lover, she lets slip: ''Can he forget what I have done for him?''</p>