Free Republic

Newly inaugurated Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will deliver the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address on Wednesday.

The Israel Defense Forces launched a series of air strikes overnight Thursday against targets in the Gaza Strip, hours after a Qassam rocket fired from the Strip hit southern Israel. One Palestinian was killed, two were wounded and several others were feared trapped inside the ruins, medics said. Explosions rocked Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah, sending flames shooting into the air.

Since the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack on Flight 253, there has been much discussion of the Obama administration's reaction and what signals it's sending. The original tactic of releasing statements from various spokespeople was supposed to minimize the affect the attempt had on the country. Supposedly if the president didn't speak of it directly, then it didn't hurt/scare/concern the American people. Take two had Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano assuring the world that the system worked. Take three had her then backpedaling a day later to admit that the system did not work. Next came President Obama changing course...

Beginning with two editorials in late December 2008, this editorial page repeatedly has criticized the California Air Resources Board for its headline-hunting decision to adopt unprecedentedly sweeping and costly diesel-emission rules at its meeting earlier that month. Soon after that meeting, we had confirmed that Hien Tran – lead author and coordinator of the study justifying the rules – lied about having a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of California Davis. Our subsequent reporting showed senior air board officials from Chairwoman Mary Nichols down knew of Tran’s academic fraud before the Dec. 12, 2008, vote but chose not to...

As the vice president knows, I have always advocated an all-of-the-above approach to American energy independence. Among other things, my alternative energy goal for Alaska sits at 50 percent because Alaska reached more than 20 percent during my term in office. The Obama-Biden administration, on the other hand, recently announced a renewable goal of only 25 percent. However, domestic drilling should remain a top priority in order to meet America’s consumption and security needs. The vice president’s extreme opposition to domestic energy development goes all the way back to 1973 when he opposed the Alaska pipeline bill. As Ann Coulter...

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) - A close aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton dismissed as "psychobabble" the fuss over the secretary of state's barbed response to a questioner asking for her famous husband's opinion instead of her own. Clinton ignored questions about the episode as she wound down a marathon African trip Thursday. Clinton had reacted strongly earlier this week when a Congolese student in Kinshasa asked her for the opinion of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, about an international economic issue.

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.—Dietrich Bonhoeffer Question. Silence in the face of murder in the streets of Tehran and a government killing our citizens and soldiers. Vocal support for democratic elections and unseen consequences.

Rochester, NY (OBBeC) - Researchers have reported new revelations on how the body responds to flu. According to the report, scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center have for the first time -- with the use of a computer simulation -- successfully tested a major portion of the body's immune reaction to influenza type A, with implications for treatment design and preparation ahead of future pandemics. The work has been accepted for publication, and posted online, by the Journal of Virology. The new "global" flu model is built out of preexisting, smaller-scale models that capture in mathematical equations millions...

This document was developed by the CDC in February of 2007 to outline what non-pharmaceutical measures the government would take at the various levels of a pandemic outbreak. Non-pharmaceutical measures include things like quarantine and school and business closures. The term used for these measures is "Social Distancing". Here is how the purpose of this paper is defined.This document provides interim planning guidance for State, territorial, tribal, and local communities that focuses on several measures other than vaccination and drug treatment that might be useful during an influenza pandemic to reduce its harm. Communities, individuals and families, employers, schools, and...

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of U.S. voters nationwide favor a military response to eliminate North Korea’s missile launching capability. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 15% of voters oppose a military response while 28% are not sure. [...] The telephone survey was conducted Friday and Saturday, April 3-4, the two days immediately prior to North Korea’s launch. The question asked about a military response if North Korea actually did launch a long-range missile. Support for a military response comes from 66% of Republicans, 52% of Democrats and 54% of those not affiliated with either major political party....

Watching this video contrasting the reception given by Marines to George Bush with that given to Barack Obama is a gift that just keeps on giving: Watch the short Youtube video. Reading the comments on Atlas Shrugs was kind of fun, too. I got a tear in my eye seeing the jubilant, heartfelt outpouring of love and support the Marines had for the President who put them into harm's way. They believed in their President, and they believed in the mission he sent them to accomplish. And I got a pain in my side laughing at the contrast in response...

Few supporters are answering President Barack Obama's call for nationwide house-party gatherings this weekend to build grass-roots support for his economic stimulus plan. A McClatchy survey of sign-up rosters for a score of cities across the country revealed only 34 committed attendees in Tacoma, Wash. , as of midafternoon Friday; in Fort Worth, Texas , only 54, and in Sacramento, Calif. , just 78. "Before the election, we would have had 500 to 800," said Kim Mack , 46, a Sacramento city-facility manager who's hosted house parties for political figures and causes since the mid-'90s. Even in Washington , policy-wonk...

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA _____________________________________________________________ Karen L. Strauss, Ruth Borenstein, Brad Jacklin, Dustin Hergert, Eileen Ma, Suyapa Portillo, Gerardo Marin, Jay Thomas, Sierra North, Celia Carter, Desmund Wu, James Tolen and Equality California, Petitioners, v. Mark D. Horton, in his official capacity as State Registrar Of Vital StatisticsOf the State Of California and Director Of The California Department Of Public Health; Linette Scott, in her official capacity as Deputy Director Of Health Information & Strategic Planning for the California Department of Public Health; and Edmund G. Brown, Jr., in his official capacity as Attorney General...

By Rene Guerra The Democrat nomenklatura ---particularly through its loudmouth, the “mainstream” media, plus one or two idiotic “conservative” pundits--- are blanketing us now with the mantras that we all should show “unity around ‘our’ new president,” that we express “graciousness toward [Barack Hussein] Obama,” and other blather. Of course, RINOs and “moderate” Republicans will heed and march in lockstep, but conscious conservatives and true Republicans, for sure, consider those duplicitous calls as German Jews must have considered similar calls after Hitler grabbed the Chancellery. The German Jews had by then browsed through “Mein Kempf”; we, conservatives, have browsed...

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (AFP) – White House hopeful Barack Obama called for a global response to the deepening financial crisis Friday as ministers from the world's major wealthy democracies headed to Washington for emergency weekend talks. "We also have to recognize that this is not just an American problem. In this global economy, financial markets have no boundaries," the Democrat told a crowd of several thousand in working-class Chillicothe in the battleground state of Ohio. "So the current crisis demands a global response," Obama said on the final business day of a rollercoaster week which saw stocks dive worldwide, amid panic...

Will John McCain have the courage to state in straight- talk fasion, "Well meaning but naive and short-sighted Democratic party policies and legislation is at the heart of the meltdown of our financial markets" to try to turn the tide of lies we have all witnessed this past week? And that he challenged them multiple times. Average swing-state Joes and Janes are ready to accept this but noone is saying it. Noone. (except Bill C.)

McCain Responds to Obama's Reported Undermining of the Commander-In-Chief During Wartime [Andy McCarthy] The McCain Campaign has issued a statement responding to the report from Amer Taheri (see today's web briefing) that Sen. Obama secretly negotiated with the Iraqi government regarding U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. McCain spokesman Randy Scheunemann stated as follows: At this point, it is not yet clear what official American negotiations Senator Obama tried to undermine with Iraqi leaders, but the possibility of such actions is unprecedented. It should be concerning to all that he reportedly urged that the democratically-elected Iraqi government listen to him rather than...

Homeschool Wish List by: Malcolm A. Kline, February 05, 2008 They are about the one group that so-called elites have no problem piling negative stereotypes upon. Thus, it usually comes as a shock to the system of folks who think that having a BA and watching CNN makes them well-informed to learn that homeschoolers don’t fit the stereotypes that they have come to regard as fact..... Because misconceptions abound about home schooling and those who are, homeschoolers have circulated a “wish list” on the internet.... 1. Please stop asking us if it’s legal. If it is, and it is, it’s...

Striking Out by: Bethany Stotts, January 28, 2008 The popular online professor ratings site, ratemyprofessors.com, has been eliciting some fiery responses to what professors see as the accountability-undermining anonymity of online technology. The subsidiary mtvU of MTV Networks, owner of ratemyprofessors.com, hosts the “Professors Strike Back” series in which professors “rebut” the anonymous and often insulting comments left on the ratings website. A 24-hour channel, mtvU broadcasts to 750 campuses and over 7.5 million students. Throughout the series, many professors decried the ratings website as promoting non-constructive venting which often occurs in the heat of the moment and reflects the...

An Iraqi National Policeman reacts to a simulated IED attack on his convoy during a training exercise, Dec. 17. The training is part of a 10-day course developed by the INP and Coalition forces to train new INP to become familiar and comfortable with the duties required of a personal security detachment team. Photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Erica R. Gardner. BAGHDAD — Members of a newly formed Iraqi National Police (INP) Emergency Response Unit (ERU) Company received certificates of completion Dec 17 for training completed. The ERU Company, composed of 125 men, is currently training with...