Free Republic

I am leaving Free Republic. After I post this message I will not come back and most likely ask the moderator to remove my account. You may ask why. Today I posted a copy of a letter I received from an anti-terrorism officer in the United States Air Force. It was received through official channels but was not classified or top secret and I was granted permission to share it. It was an article concerning the possibility of a terrorist attack on American soil and it was pulled because, and I quote "Proven incorrect on snopes." This is one time...

Dear America, I take it back. I don’t apologize. Because you know what? It’s none of your goddamned business. I work my ass off 10 months a year. It’s that hard work that gave you all those gooey feelings of patriotism last summer. If during my brief window of down time I want to relax, enjoy myself, and partake of a substance that’s a hell of a lot less bad for me than alcohol, tobacco, or, frankly, most of the prescription drugs most of you are taking, well, you can spare me the lecture. I put myself through hell. I...

September 15, 2008 Categories: Housing crisis Protesters to build "tent city" outside McCain condo John McCain has taken plenty of heat for not being sure how many houses he owns. Now, liberal activists are going to target one of those homes – his Crystal City, Va., luxury condo – with a protest Tuesday in which they plan to build a "tent city" outside the condo building. The protest is being organized by "Change to Win," a coalition of some of the nation's largest unions, and the plan is for laid off workers to build a faux tent city outside of...

Government professor Lisa L. Martin, who served as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences' first diversity dean and chair of the Standing Committee on Women, has left Harvard for the University of Wisconsin at Madison, criticizing Dean of the Faculty Michael D. Smith's commitment to hiring minority and female professors on her way out. As a leader of female and minority recruitment, Martin compiled and released two reports on hiring. Her first report raised alarm when it found that the female tenure rate in 2005-2006 had fallen to 21 percent - half the rate of the previous year. Martin started...

Seems Sarah Palin installed a tanning bed in the governor's mansion in 2007. "She did. She paid for it with her own money," Roger Wetherell, chief communications officer of Alaska's Department of Transportation and Public Facilities told Us Weekly. McCain/Palin go to Defcon 1 Over This Scandalous Revelation: According to Wetherell, it was paid for with her own money and purchased used from a health club.

ROME, ITALY - Pope Benedict XVI denounced the practices of the Episcopal Church (USA) this week by stating that they have strayed too far from scripture. In a move that shocked many because of its direct nature, the Pope said, "The Episcopal Church in the United States continues its practice of moving farther and farther away from what the bible teaches us. They act as if the holy scriptures have nothing to say about life and how we should live it. Now that they are openly ordaining gay bishops and ignoring the gospel message, what is left for them to...

Just a thought. It occurred to me that those on FR need a place to discuss religion, religious thought, denominal issues all things religious without worrying about hurt feelings or bruised egos. This would be a bare knuckle discussion. If you have thin skin or are easily offended it would be better not to participate.

Dole discusses Climate Security Act Written by Lauren K. Ohnesorge Thursday, June 05 2008 Senator Elizabeth Dole discussed national and economic security issues Tuesday evening on the Senate floor. The remarks, available below, were presented during the debate of America’s Climate Security Act. A release from Dole’s office labels the Senator as an original cosponsor of the legislation to address climate change “using a market-driven approach that will strengthen our economy and national security and make America more energy independent.” In her lengthy statement, Dole says nuclear energy is a “safe, reliable, low-cost” energy alternative. She also talks about the...

While Jim Robinson is away for medical treatment, how about we talk about him? I'll start it off by first saying how grateful I am for this wonderful FreeRepublic.com he invented and maintains. I've met not only Jim and Sheila and John and Chris, but hundreds of Freepers, brilliant, amazingly wonderful people (including my husband) solely because of FreeRepublic.com. Let the fun begin........

Still undecided? If you're a Pennsylvania Democrat and today dawned with you still struggling, it could mean one of several things: You could be one of those terminally indecisive people, for whom even ordering at Applebee's becomes an hour-long agony. More likely, it means you're an earnest citizen who feels how momentous this choice is - but not a person who can resolve it through identity politics, the tug of "first woman" or "first black." Perhaps you're a substance maven whose study of wonky Web sites has taught you that, along the grand spectrum of political thought, the differences between...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ The Florida branch of the NAACP says a bill that would ban students from wearing their pants too low could lead to more legal trouble for black males. Orlando Senator Gary Siplin’s bill was approved 28-11 last week by the Florida Senate. The bill calls for no criminal sanctions, but it would prohibit students from wearing pants low so that they expose undergarments. Violators would receive a warning for a first offense, and suspensions from school would be issued for each subsequent infraction. NAACP President Adora Obi Nweze called it a “clearly discriminatory bill.’’ Other groups...

<p>Police said Tuesday they raided a home where they said much more than strip poker was being played. Police said a man turned a poker game with neighborhood residents into his business, with thousands of dollars on the table, high-priced buy-ins, credit card machines and occasionally, nudity.</p>

VATICAN CITY, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Serbia took its campaign against Kosovo's independence to the Vatican on Thursday when its ambassador told Pope Benedict that "moral principles" alone showed it was an injustice. But the Pontiff, receiving Serbia's ambassador to the Holy See, steered clear of the dispute and renewed his call for all sides to show restraint. "With regard to the current crisis in Kosovo, I call upon all interested parties to act with prudence and moderation, and to seek solutions that favour mutual respect and reconciliation," the Pontiff said. Sunday's declaration of independence by Kosovo, which has a...

OTTAWA — The Canadian dollar has reached its highest level since it began to float freely in 1970. The loonie was trading at $1.0459 (U.S.) just before 11:30 this morning, after breaking through the previous post-Bretton Woods high of $1.0443, said Mark Chandler, fixed income strategist for Royal Bank. The main reason for today's surge is a weakening U.S. dollar, he added. The Canadian dollar was pegged to the U.S. dollar for most of the 1960s. The currency's record high is $1.0614, reached on Aug. 21, 1957. Its record low was 61.79 cents, reached in January 2002. Since then, the...

After 9 years, 9,217 postings and 158 original threads I have decided to leave Free Republic. I haven't arrived at this decision lightly, FR has been a huge part of my life for a decade. I've learned a tremendous amount from interacting with people here. A lot of my beliefs have been challenged, and I've had to rethink things I on many occassions. There are not too many places where you can learn from sincere people in an atmosphere of open discussion. My reasons for leaving are twofold. First, and most importantly, I think I'm graduating. I've probably gotten whatever...

CORONADO, Calif. -- The U.S. Navy will spend as much as $600,000 to modify the appearance of a barracks complex in Coronado that resembles a swastika from the air. Navy officials said the spending for changes to the four L-shaped buildings were approved after satellite images from Google Earth revealed the swastika-like shape.

On one of my endless voyages over the internet I stumbled across a free program called TERRAGEN. I will try anything if it's free, almost, anyway. This program lets you design all kinds of stuff, wish I was sharp enough to understand the instructions, but, if you just mess around, you will figure it out. If Reuters ever starts using this, oh, well! Be honest, really,can you tell these are fakes? http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/

Associated Press New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg left the Republican Party on Tuesday and switched to unaffiliated, a move certain to be seen as a prelude to an independent presidential bid that would upend the 2008 race. The billionaire former CEO, who was a lifelong Democrat before he switched to the Republican Party in 2001 for his first mayoral run, said the change in his voter registration does not mean he is running for president. "Although my plans for the future haven't changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to...

CANNES, France - About a decade ago, when Leonardo DiCaprio was on the cusp of megastardom and Al Gore was the U.S. vice president, the two talked together about global warming. Now an all-out environmental activist, DiCaprio has followed Gore's lead by bringing a climate change documentary to the Cannes Film Festival. DiCaprio co-produced and co-wrote "The 11th Hour," which explains how humans have changed the climate and how to fix the damage. "It's such an amazingly large issue, and you suddenly you feel like, what can I do? What can I do? It's too big for me to deal...

[UPDATE 05/06/07: Dedicated to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.] *************************Dear Subscriber: According to our records, your 1957 subscription to The Claxon is scheduled to expire soon. Please don't let this happen! $2 per month will buy you the Quint-State area's leading newspaper, delivered each morning by one of our cheerful Junior Claxoneer news lads -- like 12-year old Claxon Carrier of the Year Skip Olbermaier! Each issue is packed with items of interest around our community - like: Goings-on at City Hall, including the controversial $0.0032 sales tax plan! Publisher Felton Beswick Jr. keeps you up-to-date on the Red Menace! The...