Free Republic

As President Barack Obama tries to jump-start his SuperPAC, a close look at the numbers shows he needs more than a few rich men and women. He needs to create a nationwide base of rich supporters. A Register analysis of donations to the pro-Obama SuperPAC, Priorities USA Action, shows that 56 percent of its money, $2.3 million out of $4.17 million, came from California. An additional 25 percent came from Washington, DC, and 12 percent came from the president’s home base of Illinois. That’s 94 percent of the SuperPAC’s money from just two states and DC.

SAN FRANCISCO - Government regulators are sharing some alarming information about Facebook: They believe the online social network has often misled its more than 800 million users about the sanctity of their personal information. The unflattering portrait of Facebook's privacy practices emerged Tuesday in a Federal Trade Commission complaint alleging that Facebook exposed details about users' lives without getting legally required consent. In some cases, the FTC charged, Facebook allowed potentially sensitive details to be passed along to advertisers and software developers prowling for customers. To avoid further legal wrangling, Facebook agreed to submit to government audits of its privacy...

A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation underlines that many of the promises surrounding President Obama’s health care legislation remain unfulfilled, though the White House argues that change is coming. Workers at the Flora Venture flower shop in Newmarket, NH, remember when presidential candidate named Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., promised that their health care costs would go down if they elected him and his health care plan was enacted. On May 3, 2008, the president told voters that he had “a health care plan that would save the average family $2,500 on their premiums.”Last year workers at the flower...

MODERATOR, I OPENED THIS UNDER CHIT CHAT AND WANT MY TITLE, THIS IS NOT A NEWS STORY POSTING Charles and Jill Segal have not made a mortgage payment in nearly five years -- but they continue to live in their five-bedroom West Palm Beach, Fla. home. Lynn, from St. Petersburg, Fla., has been living without paying for three years. In Thousand Oaks, Calif., an actor has missed 30 payments, and still, he has not lost his home. They're not alone. Some 4.2 million mortgage borrowers are either seriously delinquent or have had their cases referred to lawyers to pursue foreclosure...

The man behind Donald Trump's possible 2012 presidential campaign is a registered Democrat who voted for Barack Obama in 2008. Not only that, but Michael Cohen, an executive at the Trump Organization who doubles as Trump's chief political adviser, once volunteered for 1988 presidential candidate Michael Dukakis and worked for a Democratic member of Congress.

Conservatives make me laugh – and cry, sometimes. From the very beginning of WND's relentless coverage of the eligibility issue, there were many very high-profile conservatives in public office and the media who discouraged any focus on it. They whispered and muttered that it was not a "winning issue." They wrung their hands in worriment over the possibility that Barack Obama would pull the rug out from under the pursuit by pulling his long-form birth certificate out of his hat – making us look ridiculous for ever asking for it. They even went so far as to suggest the whole...

To just about everyone's surprise, the House Ethics Committee last night voted overwhelmingly to recommend that Rep. Charles Rangel be formally censured by the House of Representatives -- the most serious sanction short of outright expulsion. The committee's judgment was not only severe, it was genuinely bipartisan: Only one member of the 10-member panel, evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, dissented. Make no mistake. This was not the widely expected wrist-slap. If the House goes along with the recommendation, Rangel will be required to stand silently before all 434 members while his transgressions are spelled out and he is formally...

US Pacific Command’s Adm William Fallon says the group wasn’t conducting anti-sub operations, but the fact remains that the submarine did slip past the group’s security screen undetected and popped up within firing range of the Kitty Hawk.

Two words. Unforced error: President Barack Obama on Friday endorsed plans for a Muslim mosque two blocks from ground zero in New York City, declaring that “Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country.�In remarks prepared for delivery at a White House dinner celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Obama said all Americans have the right to worship as they choose.“That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances, Obama said. “This is America,...

The U.S. government's $700-billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout likely had a greater impact on foreign banks than the stimuli packages of foreign countries had on their American counterparts, according to a report released by the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), “Although the crisis began with subprime mortgage defaults in the U.S., its damage spread rapidly overseas,” the report stated. “[We] found that policymakers were ill-prepared for such a worldwide crisis and that the internationalization of the financial system has outpaced the ability of national regulators to respond." COP indicated that despite the limits of international coordination, most countries ultimately...

Glenn Beck fired Pat and Stu over the weekend because of comments they made about the CT shooter. Their comments were about the shooter listening to Olbermann go on and on about how whites are racist and that the shooter must've been listening to him and MSNBC. Not sure what others think but I firing them was WAY over the top in my opinion.

Springfield, Ill. - More than 40,000 unionized state workers got a pay raise last Thursday, bringing to 7 percent the amount they're gotten since last year. These same state employees are in line for another 7 percent by next July 1, all at a cost of a half-billion tax dollars a year. It's more than the virtually bankrupt state can afford, and some Republican lawmakers say the raises need to be rolled back.

"Some UFOs are intelligently controlled extraterrestrial spacecraft, and this is the biggest story of the millennium." These words are not the rantings of a deranged individual looking for attention or a comfortable straitjacket. Stanton Friedman is a maverick of sorts. Employed for 14 years as a nuclear physicist for companies like General Electric, General Motors, Westinghouse and Aerojet General Nucleonics, he worked on highly classified programs involving nuclear aircraft, fission and fusion rockets. In 1958, UFOs caught his attention, and Friedman has since lectured about this subject at more than 700 colleges and professional groups in all 50 states and...

This piece was inspired by an awesome rant from Bob at www.drinkingwithbob.com during March Madness. You can check out the rant here. The Looking Spoon is a conservative humor/satire/art/commentary blog, visit www.thelookingspoon.com to see more posts and art

Republicans say they have no idea yet who will be invited to join President Obama later this month to discuss health care reform but they have plenty of ideas if Obama is sincere about wanting to work together. "When you learn about it in a press event you have the suspicion it's going to be nothing more than a press event," said Sage Eastman, communications director for Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., who wrote the Republican alternative to the Democratic bill. "We're optimistic that this is a chance for the president to say to the American people that we've heard you....

Conservative bloggers are calling for a boycott of the company. Executives say the series, in which Santa is warned the North Pole could melt before Christmas, was intended to inspire children.St. Louis - First, Chicken Little warned children that the sky was falling. And now Build-a-Bear Workshop has warned children that the North Pole could disappear before Christmas. The Missouri-based company has found itself in hot water, defending an animated series on its website featuring polar bears, penguins and Mrs. Claus, as Santa is warned that global warming is "a serious situation." Conservative bloggers reposted the videos online and called...

HAVANA (AP) - Members of a leftist bloc of nine Latin American nations said Saturday they plan to use a new currency dubbed the "sucre" for trade among themselves starting in January. No sucres will be printed or coined, but the virtual currency will be used to manage debts between governments while reducing reliance on the U.S. dollar and on Washington in general. Cuba already signed an agreement on Saturday to pay for a shipment of Venezuelan rice in sucres, according to Rogelio Sierra, the island's deputy foreign minister. He declined to say what the shipment was worth.

Michael Moore Makes Friends in GOP-Leaning Town By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS September 30, 2009 TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- Seated on a platform in a blocked-off street, the founder of the Traverse City Film Festival grinned as Mayor Michael Estes hailed him for boosting the local economy and cultural scene --''with almost no government assistance!'' Who was that free-market champion? Michael Moore. Yes, THAT Michael Moore. The Oscar-winning firebrand whose ''Roger & Me'' attacked General Motors, whose ''Sicko'' extolled government-run health care. His latest film, ''Capitalism: A Love Story,'' which opens nationwide Friday, blames deregulation for the financial meltdown and...

CHICAGO -- Young Americans showed their collective power when they helped vote President Obama into office. Inspired by his message of "change," they knocked on doors, spread flyers, voted for him by a 2-1 margin, and partied like rock-the-vote stars when he won. Since the election, though, that fervor has died down _ noticeably. And while young people remain the president's most loyal supporters in opinion polls, a lot of people are wondering why that age group isn't doing more to build upon their newfound reputation as political influencers. "It's one thing to get excited about a presidential candidate. It's...

The Justice Department's ethics office had recommended pursuing alleged prisoner-abuse cases, which could expose CIA employees and contractors to prosecution for their treatment of terror suspects. DEVELOPING After months of consideration, Attorney General Eric Holder plans to appoint a special prosecutor to examine allegations that terror suspects were abused at the hands of their CIA interrogators. The decision, confirmed by FOX News, comes as the Department of Justice releases a 2004 report from the CIA's inspector general detailing allegations of harsh interrogation practices. Several details in the review had already been reported. FOX News confirmed over the weekend that the...

<p>Attorney Taitz filed a NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION to Expedite authentication, MOTION for Issuance of Letters Rogatory for authenticity of Kenyan birth certificate filed by Plaintiff Alan Keyes PhD.</p> <p>Barry's Kenyan B.C.??</p> <p>Possible Malware Warning! 2009-08-05 The Orly Taitz website is currently compromised. It contains a hidden iframe that links to a Chinese malware site (security-alerts.cn.) I strongly suggest that you disable all JavaScript before visiting. The exploit was NOT detected by Norton AntiVirus 2009 nor AVG (both with current definitions)! It's fresh, folks. Beware!</p>

There are now modified photos of the COLB that broke here yesterday. The changes are so slight, that no one is noticing them. The original one posted in breaking news: One of the modified ones: The changes are so subtle, you can barely tell which one you are looking at. This modified one is showing jokes like: The Font of the Certificate=Schmutz (A Schmutz is a chump, as in you are a chump) #5733=The number of the Certificate, is code for : "Problem with Windows REGISTRY", a sly reference to your claim that Obama does not appear on the Hawaii...

'Cash for Clunkers' Program Blasts Through Funds

This is a 100% TRUE story about a question I posed to Janice Okubo and the Director of Health for the State of Hawai’i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics... ..and this just happened YESTERDAY. Coincidence? That's why I call YESTERDAY: The Day I Asked a Question and Got The MOTHER of All Answers 1) An Original Birth Record is what most people have 2) An Amended Original Birth Record is the exact same thing except it’s issued to adoptees–their original is then sealed and only opened on court order. Legally, it’s treated and accepted as an EQUAL to...

This is in follow-up to my post on Tuesday: "The Day I asked a question and got the MOTHER of all answers" The implications of the following account is that the President's REAL NAME did not appear on any ballot, in any state. That's just one of MANY implications. Let me preface by saying an AMENDED birth record could indicate that the President was adopted by either Lolo Soetoro and/or His grandparents, the Dunhams. My story: I have serious reasons to believe that Janice Okubo and/or Director Fukino, Department of Health in Hawaii are under duress. Something is preventing Director...

Is China really a modern country? Can China be a modern country? Paul Midler’s book leaves you wondering. After studying Chinese at college, Midler lived and worked in mainland China through the 1990s before returning to the U.S.A. to take a business degree. In 2001 he went back to China, setting himself up as a consultant to American importers dealing with Chinese manufacturers. This has given him profound insights into the Chinese way of doing business. In Poorly Made in China he shares those insights. After reading his book, you will find yourself thinking carefully before putting Made in China...

Below is the theme song for the left in America: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qcHohp4 Which is embedded at the site where I post my blogs. I remember last year asking the lefties that would constantly want to bash Bush what the heck they were going to do after the 2008 election. All these guys wanted to do, day in and day out, was talk about WMD, how they felt Bush was a dictator and a liar and blah, blah, blah. My response was, "well, he's going to be gone soon. What then?" No reply, just more Bush bashing! I figured, and maybe even...

Why Obama Is Losing a Faith By Michael Gerson Wednesday, April 1, 2009; Page A21 A number of Catholic thinkers set out a "pro-life, pro-Obama" position -- disagreeing with Obama's pro-choice views but trusting in his moderate instincts and conciliatory temperament. So far, Obama has done little to justify this faith. His initial actions on life issues -- Obama's Catholic supporters would feel betrayed and discredited -- and rightly so. The Catholic hierarchy and Catholic health professionals would feel assaulted by the president -- and they would be correct. And President Obama would not need to worry about future invitations...

He garnered the majority of Catholic votes in the 2008 election, but a number of Catholic groups now say President Obama is showing a complete lack of regard for their beliefs. They count his decisions to lift restrictions on abortion and stem cell research among the most offensive. "As far as the Catholic church goes, there's no bigger priority for Catholics than human dignity and human life," said Cathy Ruse, senior fellow at the Family Research Council said. "And the Obama administration has just been an assault on those values again and again in just two months."

The U.S. Department of Health reports that the sucker birth rates have more than doubled. Phineus Tiberius Burnham, who heads up the department's birthrate analysis unit, said that the number of suckers born every minute is increasingly exponentially. "Latest reports indicate that there are now two or three suckers born every minute," said Burnham. "And it shows no signs of stopping." The northeast has seen a jump in the sucker birth rate. California's sucker birth rate stands dangerously close to overwhelming the entire population of newborns. "We may change our reports to follow only non-sucker births in California," said Burnham....

President Obama addressed the National Prayer Breakfast this morning and used the opportunity to discuss the launch of the White House office of faith-based and neighboring partnerships. Obama stressed the inclusion of secular groups into his faith-based office by giving examples of his own life story. Could this office be a conduit for further government funded community organizing? The transcript of video highlights is below. This is not only our call as people of faith but our duty as citizens of America and our duty as citizens of the world. And it will be the purpose of the White House...

Federal regulators have green-lighted the first trial of an embryonic stem-cell treatment in humans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the go-ahead for Geron Corporation to start a phase I safety trial of its therapy GRNOPC1 for spinal cord injuries, the Menlo Park, Calif.–based company announced today. It first sought permission for the trial four years ago and spent much of the last year trying to satisfy the FDA’s concerns about it. "This marks the beginning of what is potentially a new chapter in medical therapeutics—one that reaches beyond pills to a new level of healing: the restoration...

If Europe wants to phone America on the Gaza crisis, who does it call? Not George Bush, who has two weeks left in the White House. And not Barack Obama, who has been mute on Israel’s military action, although the world looked to him immediately the conflict filled the screens. “Nobody at home in Washington”, ran one US headline on the turmoil. “President-elect Obama is closely monitoring global events, including the situation in Gaza, but there is one president at a time,” said Brooke Anderson, his chief national security spokeswoman. This is disingenuous. Even if silence is meant only as...

Pictures of the new currency that will supposedly replace the US dollar have appeared on the Russian Internet. The United States is reportedly working on the new currency, the amero, which will be common for the USA, Mexico and Canada. The unstable financial situation in the world, the collapsing oil prices and the growing foreign debt of the United States may eventually crush the US dollar as the world’s major currency. Needless to say that the US authorities reject the rumors and promise to keep the dollar afloat. Amero notes have no portraits of US presidents on them and resemble...

Blessed with a nest egg of nearly $1.5 million, a Woodland Hills parish donated almost all of it, leaving just $1,000 in its savings account. An Encino church offered a $100,000 interest-free loan. And a Boyle Heights parish decided it could spare $500 after ruling out the idea of raising money with tamale sales. With gifts large and small, parishes across the sprawling Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles are answering an appeal from Cardinal Roger M. Mahony to help the archdiocese dig out of the financial hole resulting from its multimillion-dollar legal settlements with victims of clergy sexual abuse...

Rush Limbaugh:Referred to as "The new face of Fascis" Denver-- Following Rush Limbaugh's broadcast calling for violent riots in Denver, city officials issue a warrant for his arrest. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper called Limbaugh a "dangerous domestic terrorist" that should be locked up. No stranger to controversy talk show host Rush Limbaugh made comments calling for riots in Denver during the Democratic National Convention this summer. As part of his "Operation Chaos" Limbaugh is expecting Republican rioters to burn cars, burn houses and kill children. "Riots in Denver, the Democrat Convention would see to it that we don't elect Democrats,"...

Taking the advice of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's top planning appointee, a Valley Village woman has sued the city over a new rule that allows developers to build taller, bulkier buildings if they include affordable units. Last month, city Planning Commission President Jane Ellison Usher sent an e-mail to community groups, criticizing the recently adopted density bonus ordinance and laying out a legal strategy to challenge it. On Thursday, homeowner Sandy Hubbard filed the first lawsuit using Usher's suggestions. A group of home and business owners is also considering a lawsuit. Usher and community groups have complained that the density bonus...

The New Hampshire Union-Leader has a new term for Granite State voters who gave Hillary Clinton her surprise victory over Barack Obama: suckers. In a scalding editorial, the state's most significant newspaper rips Hillary for breaking a pledge she signed in New Hampshire not to campaign in states that broke the scheduling rules or to seek to have their delegates seated. They bluntly call her a liar: COURTING VOTERS in Iowa and New Hampshire, last August Sen. Hillary Clinton signed a pledge not to "campaign or participate" in the Michigan or Florida Democratic primaries. She participated in both primaries and...

Fred Thompson quits presidential race Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson quit the Republican presidential race on Tuesday, after a string of poor finishes in early primary and caucus states. "Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort," Thompson said in a statement. Thompson's fate was sealed last Saturday in the South Carolina primary, when he finished third in a state that he had said he needed to win. In the statement, Thompson did not say whether he would endorse any...

Feeling guilty about the amount of carbon dioxide your upcoming flight will pump into the atmosphere? Soon you might be able to fork over some extra cash at Denver International Airport to invest in projects intended to help negate your share of the environmental damage caused by air travel. DIA is looking to become one of the first airports in the nation to offer passengers the ability to buy carbon offsets in its concourses. The offsets would pay for renewable energy and power-saving projects that help cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. The airport is soliciting proposals from companies interested...

MAKKAH, 30 December 2006 — Consider it the “drive-thru window” of the Haj for Muslims on the go. According to various Haj tour operators, known as tawafa organizations, a new Haj Express service is increasingly popular for busy, blue-collar Muslims with limited vacation time to fulfill their duty to God. Haj Express offers five-day packages, which offers a quick in-and-out option for those that don’t have a couple of weeks to spare looking at historical sites and buying Islamic kitsch as gifts for friends back home. Yasin Mahmoud, an Egyptian Haj operator, said the new service has been popular with...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Jill Cody used to feel guilty whenever she drove her car or flew on an airplane. She worried about pumping heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. But the San Jose professor found a way to ease her conscience. She paid a San Francisco company called TerraPass to offset emissions from her car and air travel by investing in wind power and reducing farm pollution. "I'm part of the solution, not the problem," said Cody, who sports a TerraPass decal on the decade-old Lexus she drives about 6,000 miles a year. "Now...

Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin yesterday tried to rally support among black Democrats in Prince George's County, while Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele campaigned with county Democratic leaders who broke ranks this week to endorse him. Mr. Cardin appeared with Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson and about 30 other lawmakers in Hyattsville, aiming to keep a diminishing lead in the polls. In his first public show of support for Mr. Cardin, Mr. Johnson ... But the rally turned sour later. State Sen. Nathaniel Exum, Prince George's Democrat, berated Mr. Cardin for excluding him and other local delegates from speaking...

Suicide bombers follow Quran, concludes Pentagon briefing Tasked with pinpointing motivation, analysts find terrorists 'rational actors' following 'holy book' Posted: September 27, 2006 © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com With suicide bombings spreading from Iraq to Afghanistan, the Pentagon has tasked intelligence analysts to pinpoint what's driving Muslim after Muslim to do the unthinkable. Their preliminary finding is politically explosive: it's their "holy book" the Quran after all, according to intelligence briefings obtained by WND. In public, the U.S. government has made an effort to avoid linking the terrorist threat to Islam and the Quran while dismissing suicide terrorists as crazed heretics who...

CANTON, Ohio - A widow rented a rotary dial telephone for 42 years, paying what her family calculates as more than $14,000 for a now outdated phone. Ester Strogen, 82, of Canton, first leased two black rotary phones — the kind whose round dial is moved manually with your finger — in the 1960s. Back then, the technology was new and owning telephones was unaffordable for most people. Until two months ago, Strogen was still paying AT&T to use the phones — $29.10 a month. Strogen's granddaughters, Melissa Howell and Barb Gordon, ended the arrangement when they discovered the bills....

CHICAGO, Illinois -- Living in Boston these past two years I have had many opportunities to visit the Old Granary Burying Ground, where several Boston Massacre victims are enjoying their final rest alongside John Hancock, Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. During my sole semester in the Emerson College Master's program last fall, these little forays became a near daily ritual. At this point I have tagged along on more of the free tours of the graveyard than I can count. In all that time, however, I don't believe I ever heard as much talk of Samuel Adams as I did...

Another name for lollipop by Mychal Massie There's a stench in the air that's covering the countryside. It isn't from farmers spreading manure as fertilizer. It isn't from factories, exhaust emissions or municipal landfills. The stench is the flatulence being produced from the decadent character of those who will say anything and promise anything to get elected or re-elected to national office. It's election time, and the landscape is littered with those who think you are dumb enough to believe whatever they say are the problems, believe whatever they claim it takes to address said problems, and that they are...

op stars donated to Sen. Hillary Clinton By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer 32 minutes ago If Hollywood has a "DaVinci Code," Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has cracked it. Top stars such as Tom Hanks, Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson donated to the New York senator in recent months, generating the kind of cash usually associated with a major box office opening — or a potential presidential bid in 2008. Clinton, who doesn't face much of a challenge in her re-election, received $4,200 from "The DaVinci Code" star Hanks, the Academy Award-winning actor, and his wife, Rita Wilson. The...

A former Republican congressman narrowly beat his Democratic rival early Wednesday for the right to fill the House seat once held by imprisoned Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a race closely watched as a possible early barometer of next fall's vote. Republican Brian Bilbray emerged victorious after a costly and contentious race against Democrat Francine Busby, a local school board member who ran against Cunningham in 2004. With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Bilbray had 56,016 votes or 49.5 percent. Busby trailed with 51,202 votes or 45 percent. "I think that we're going back to Washington," Bilbray told a cheering crowd of...