Free Republic

Books about the history of Harlem have long fascinated me — my favorite being "When Harlem Was in Vogue" by David Levering Lewis. However, a more recent book, titled simply "Harlem" by Jonathan Gill, presents a more comprehensive history — going all the way back to the time when the Dutch were the first settlers of New York, and named that area for the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Most of us today think of Harlem as a black community, but it was not that for most of its 400-year history. John James Audubon, famed for his studies of...

An 87-year-old World War II veteran was walking from a corner store in West Englewood after buying lottery tickets when he was attacked by three people who smashed his glasses, knocked out his hearing aid and broke his dentures, then went through his pockets and fled with his wallet, according to his family and police.

"Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late." -- Thomas Sowell We like to think of children as innocent little angels. Of course, that's only true in the sense that there aren't any three year olds who've stabbed their cousins to death for drug money or set up a stock swindle designed to bilk senior citizens out of their life savings. Children are not naturally good. To the contrary, they begin their lives as selfish, completely self-absorbed little savages whose entire world revolves around meeting...

Mitt Romney today announced the support of five former U.S. Ambassadors to the Holy See. The Ambassadors wrote the following letter in support of Mitt Romney: “We the undersigned former U.S. Ambassadors to the Holy See...are united in our wholehearted support for the candidacy of Mitt Romney for the Presidency of the United States because of his commitment to and support of the values that we feel are critical in a national leader...We also know that Mitt Romney is a staunch defender of the principle that every human being should be welcomed in life and protected by law from conception...

Now is the time for all good men and women to put Country above Party. For far to long the RINO Wing of the Republican Party has been in control of losing National Elections. The time has come to cast aside the hold-your-nose clothespins that the RINOs expect us to use when we vote for their tweedle-dumb or tweedle-dumber Candidates. To all Primary voters: List the top 10 demonstrated positive values for each Candidate for all offices, and vote accordingly. If there is no Candidate that meets your values for a given office, then leave that slot blank. This will...

A first time ever telephone poll of what researchers claimed was a representative sampling of Iranians living in Iran shows that the majority of Iranians are in favor of democracy. The questions in the poll were prepared by Israeli researchers, and were presented in a non-political framework, so as not to frighten off participants who fear the country's dictators and clerics. Despite holding conservative beliefs in many areas, the poll showed, a large majority of Iranians – 94% - supported free choice for individuals, while 71% advocated tolerating people of all backgrounds. The results of the poll were compared to...

Washingtion - Mitt Romney focuses on his own family - and not the volatile of gay marriage - in early excerpts of the commencement address he plans to deliver Saturday at the conservative Liberty University.

As expected, North Carolinians voted in large numbers on Tuesday for an amendment that would ban same-sex marriages, partnerships and civil unions, becoming the 30th state in the country and the last in the South to include a prohibition on gay..

Does it break some unwritten rule for a columnist to bring his readers’ attention to his own book? If so, I ask your indulgence. But, after nearly a thousand columns and twelve years since my last book, I hope readers will forgive me for noting that today, April 24, 2012, HarperCollins is publishing the culmination of a lifetime of thinking and years of the most challenging writing of my life. The book is Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph. It is an argument on behalf of the moral superiority — and universal applicability —...

First Lady Michelle Obama tells David Letterman that she and President Obama try to instill the values of south Chicago in their daughters. Michelle Obama: For us, it's the values. The thing that we try to do is make sure -- the residence is on the second and the third floor of the White House. And what we want to have happen is when they get off that elevator and walk in to our residence that it feels like the south side of Chicago, the same values, the same rules, the same sense of responsibility.

Americans seem to have become accustomed to the casual use of the “F” word, with celebrities tracking, proudly, the number of times they “drop the “f” bomb” in public. The frequent use of the “f” word has coarsened our public discourse. But, many of our most emblematic American values, the very characteristics that shape our national character and contribute to American exceptionalism, have been given a bad rep by liberals because they, too, are “F” words. Freedom from an overly intrusive government that thinks that only government knows what is best for Americans. Democrats prefer to support over-expansive government intrusiveness...

Sen. Rick Santorum has no viable path to victory and brings no new issues or ideas to the table. He no longer serves a purpose, or has a justification to remain in the race. Santorum has no viable claim that he is more conservative or more electable than Gingrich. He has no viable claim that he will be better in raising money, in organization, or would do a better job as president. There is simply no path for him. Further — despite winning Iowa, Santorum lost badly in NH and SC, and has no means to complete in FL. It...

The Senate confirmed McFaul as ambassador on December 17, 2011. Transcript below. NPR: Let's say Vladimir Putin wins the election in March and remains in power in Russia. Where are we in these countries, I mean in this evolution towards democracy you describe? MCFAUL: We're, you know, two decades in. I'm not going to give grades about, oh, how democratic or not it is, but most certainly this system is not the totalitarian dictatorship of the Soviet Union. Let's be very clear about that. Individual rights have progressed far. Choice is greater than it was before. And maybe not as...

.....[William]Bennett introduces The Book of Man:Readings on the Path to Manhood with tidings of oy. [snip] JamesFreemanClarke (1810–1888), an American theologian and essayist, limned the distinctions between true and false manliness. His essay is a particularly interesting glimpse of the 19th-century ideal, since 20th-century feminism has worked so hard to persuade us that the “patriarchy” taught men to be tyrants and emotional stiffs. "[Manliness]expresses the qualities which go to make a perfect man — truth, courage, conscience, freedom, energy, self-possession, self-control. But it does not exclude gentleness, tenderness, compassion, modesty. A man is not less manly, but more so, because...

Rick Perry told worshipers at the First Wesleyan Church here Sunday morning that they should disregard “the politically correct police” who say the separation of church and state means faith has no place in public life. “As a matter of fact, you are Biblically charged to take your values into the public arena,” the Texas governor told 90 worshipers. “You will be criticized, but do not be intimidated,” he added. “Somebody’s values are going to decide the issues of the day, whatever they may be. Whatever policies are being discussed … somebody’s values are going to be installed, if you...

Three incidents in recent days tell us all we need to know about the Obama Administration’s "values." On Dec. 1, the story broke that Bethesda, Maryland-based Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where wounded veterans convalesce, apparently had banned visitors from bringing in Bibles or other religious items. Walter Reed Chief of Staff C.W. Callahan issued a memo in September which said: "No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit." Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, savaged the Obama Administration on the floor of the House, saying, "The President...

We want the State to stay out of our lives and sympathy for benefit claimants has evaporated More than half of us - 54% - think unemployment benefits are too high up from 35% in 1983 Workshy parents are to blame for child poverty, say 63% Rise of climate change scepticism: 37% say environment threat has been exaggerated - up from 24% a decade ago Just 29% think same-sex relationships are wrong - down from 46% in 2000 Only 31% want tax rises to pay for health and education, while it was 63% of us in 2002

Newt Gingrich is adamant that he is not a lobbyist, but rather a visionary who traffics in ideas, not influence. But in the eight years since he started his health care consultancy, he has made millions of dollars while helping companies promote their services and gain access to state and federal officials. In a variety of instances, documents and interviews show, Mr. Gingrich arranged meetings between executives and officials, and salted his presentations to lawmakers with pitches for his clients, who pay as much as $200,000 a year to belong to his Center for Health Transformation. When the center sponsored...

I am now officially a self-declared member of the “Not Romney” camp. I will absolutely, positively support Mitt Romney should he win the GOP nomination, but I believe the GOP would meet certain doom if he is the nominee. Therefore, should Gingrich be the only other choice, I’d side with Gingrich over Romney. But I think in the next few weeks conservatives must ask themselves if they are ready to forgive Newt his sins. I’m not talking about his adultery and wives. I’m not really even talking about his ego. What I am talking about is only tangentially related to...

Ever since the conclusion of the FAMiLY Leader’s presidential forum eleven days ago, a handful of presidential candidates, the media, and social conservatives from all across Iowa have been waiting for hear who Bob Vander Plaats and his pro-family organization will publically support. Waiting for word from Vander Plaats seems a lot like waiting for the white smoke to spew out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. Just as is the case in the election of a new pope to lead the Catholic Church, political observers are left to only speculate about what is transpiring at the FAMiLY Leader’s...