Free Republic

In his most extensive remarks on the future of the American military, Sen. John F. Kerry said here Thursday that he would expand the active-duty Army by 40,000 soldiers, including a doubling of U.S. Special Forces; speed development of new technologies and equipment to meet threats posed by terrorist networks; and better integrate the National Guard into the nation's homeland security strategy.

The story of the beautiful and haunting riderless horse in Ronald Reagan's funeral procession begins with the truth that a race horse suffering a case of the slows costs just as much in room and board as Secretariat did. The slows can be hazardous to a horse's health because some owners, sentimental as fire hydrants, dump horses faster than J-Lo dumps husbands. As to where they dump them, the words to remember are these from Dave Brandwine: "I didn't want to send him to the glue factory." Yikes. But business is business. Like his horses, Brandwine has to eat, and,...

When I heard about the passing of my hero, President Reagan, I was not prepared for the wave of sadness I would feel. We’ve all known we lost him to the ravages of Alzheimer’s many years ago. I suppose the finality of no longer having him as a light in our world, even if only a glimmer of its prior brightness, released years of pent up grieving. We decided to make the long trek to DC to say thank you. This is very long, but I wanted to get all the sights and sounds in.

Ronald Reagan’s death was a sad day for America.  We remember when America had lost its confidence in the 1970’s, with stagflation and the Iran hostage crisis.  And weremember how the country chose a visionary in Reagan to restore its pride.  Despite omissions in the obituaries that the media are writing, we remember how Reagan ended the Cold War without a shot being fired and how his policies led to the largest economic expansion in American history.  And while news coverage following Reagan’s death give the impression that he was an ''actor who got lucky,'' we remember that prior to...

How many Freepers have intentions of heading to Washington this week? A friend and I were planning on making the drive down from Pennsylvania, to see the beginning of the Prcocessional. However, I'm a bit worried about access in and out of the city. Anybody want to opine as to where a good spot to go would be? The casket will be placed on the cassion at 16th and Constitution on Wednesday at 6:00 P.M. EDT. for the trip to the Capitol. Not sure if it would be better to be there atthe beginning or the end of the route.

<p>Blame it all on Dales ECB website (I ran across it in a google search) - and the going home of our nation’s greatest President, who always remembered my name every time we met at a GOP gig.</p> <p>It has been a long time since I’ve posted here (roughly 2 ½ years) - I left to face a lot of trouble (legal, personal) and try to reorder life nearer the sane-level (still not quite there yet, as you’ll soon see...) - and knowing that I couldn’t do what needed done unless I quit spending so much time having a ball on FR for hours every day.</p>

The D.C. Chapter of Free Republic invites all those coming to our nation's capital on Wednesday to join us at 15th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW beginning at 4 p.m. to pay respects to President Ronald Reagan.We will meet at the southwest corner of 15th & Constitution to witness the 6 p.m. transfer of President Reagan's casket to the horse-drawn caisson and observe the procession as it passes by. When the procession has completely passed by, we will march behind it in the street to the Capitol. (We have alerted the D.C. police to our plan.)The weather will be hot...

Some 100,000 people are expected to pay their respects to Ronald Reagan and government workers will get a day off to honor the former president who died Saturday at his California home. President Bush, mourning the nation's 40th president during a D-Day commemoration Sunday at Colleville-sur-Mer, France, said to applause: "Twenty summers ago, another American president came here to Normandy to pay tribute to the men of D-Day. He was a courageous man himself and a gallant leader in the cause of freedom. And today we honor the memory of Ronald Reagan." The White House later announced the federal...

The D.C. Chapter of Free Republic will try to act as a welcoming committee and clearing house of information for FReepers coming to Washington, D.C. this week to pay tribute to President Reagan.If you are planning on coming to D.C. from out of town, or from around here, please check in on this thread during the week. We'll try to coordinate meetings points for those who desire to gather with fellow FReepers.Offical schedule in D.C. according to the AP:5 p.m. Wednesday: Coffin arrives at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington.6 p.m.: Formal funeral procession to the Capitol, with coffin transfer...

WASHINGTON -- Ronald Reagan, the president who charmed much of the nation with his populist conservatism, will be remembered this week in the way his family said he wanted: a bicoastal week of mourning allowing both world leaders and regular Americans to pay their respects. Following a private memorial service today, mourners will be permitted to say their final goodbyes at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., where the body of the former president will lay in repose until 9 p.m. EDT tomorrow, a spokesman for the Reagan family said. On Wednesday, Reagan's casket will be flown on...

Always upbeat, Reagan conquered bullet wound, cancer during presidency By POLLY ANDERSON The Associated Press 6/5/04 5:19 PM Ronald Reagan, who at 69 was the oldest man ever elected president of the United States, maintained a thumbs-up demeanor for the public during several bouts with illness during and after his presidency. But in later years, as Alzheimer's took a toll on his mental functioning, he was seen less and less in public. He died of the disease Saturday, nine years and seven months after he announced the diagnosis. The most traumatic health scare was on March 30, 1981, just 10...

Program targets growing problem of abandoned mobile homes The Associated Press Jan 4, 2004 : 10:14 pm ET RALEIGH, N.C. -- Local officials have asked the mobile home industry to help devise ways to remove abandoned single-wides, a growing eyesore they say can hurt efforts to attract jobs. The N.C. Association of County Commissioners estimates that 40,000 derelict mobile homes lurk in the state's woods and fields. Unlike old tobacco barns that also dot rural North Carolina, single-wides lack rustic charm. "This is an economic development issue," said Paul Meyer, assistant general counsel for the N.C. Association of County Commissioners....

Is anyone listening to Hannity out there? A caller said that she'd heard someone blame Rush Limbaugh for getting the Reagans off the air. Did anyone catch who said it and is there an article?

40 million starving 'as world watches Iraq' UN agency accuses west of pledging to feed victims of Gulf war while concern for plight of hungry Africans fades Rory Carroll in Kanywambizi, Zimbabwe Wednesday April 9, 2003 The Guardian (UK) Forty million Africans are at risk of starving but are not getting enough aid because the world is distracted by Iraq, the World Food Programme has warned. In an impassioned appeal to the United Nations security council, James Morris, the UN agency's executive director, accused the west of double standards."How is it we routinely accept a level of suffering and hopelessness...

********Satire********* SOUTH BEND, IN - September 21 (AP) The decades-long game of cat and mouse between the University of Notre Dame and the Big Ten Conference took a surprising turn today as Notre Dame was offered and declined the Big Ten football championship. Reading from a prepared statement, Big Ten Conference Commissioner Jim Delaney (of the Ulster Delaneys) indicated that at the close of play on Saturday conference athletic directors met by emergency teleconference and determined that the best path to national respectability would be to award the championship to the Irish, (4-0), who have eliminated half of the top...

Norway sets 40% female quota for boardrooms Companies insist too few qualified women are available to fill posts Andrew Osborn in Oslo Thursday August 1, 2002 The Guardian Blazing a trail for women's rights, egalitarian Norway is about to become the first country in the world to insist on female quotas for company boardrooms. In a decree that has angered employer organisations and meritocratic-minded businesswomen, the government has ordered firms to ensure that at least 40% of their board members are women. State-owned firms have just 12 months to comply; the country's 650 public companies have three years. If they...

40000 in Trafalgar Square for pro-Israel rally By Chris Gray 07 May 2002 The hardline former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was given a hero's welcome yesterday at the biggest pro-Israel rally seen in Britain when he declared his country faced a "biblical battle" against terror. The strength of Mr Netanyahu's speech to 40,000 people in Trafalgar Square, in which he compared Yasser Arafat to Hitler and Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, disappointed organisers of the rally, which was promoted as a call for peace rather than a statement of support for Ariel Sharon's government. Later, the Chief Rabbi,...