Free Republic

Tucker Carlson on Tuesday said, "Very few people have done more to divide the country than Chris Matthews." Such occurred on Fox's "Hannity" show as the Great American Panel discussed the "Hardball" host's deplorable interview with Congressman Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) earlier in the day (video follows with transcript and commentary): SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Ooh. Thrill up my, that was a good line. TUCKER CARLSON, DAILY CALLER: It’s excruciating for Chris to listen to other people talk for once. You could see the kind of pain in his face. But, you know, he’s spent the last couple years just sucking up...

A new analysis of political signs displayed at a tea party rally in Washington last month reveals that the vast majority of activists expressed narrow concerns about the government's economic and spending policies and steered clear of the racially charged anti-Obama messages that have helped define some media coverage of such events. Emily Ekins, a graduate student at UCLA, conducted the survey at the 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington last month by scouring the crowd, row by row and hour by hour, and taking a picture of every sign she passed. Ekins photographed about 250 signs, and more than half...

The first week at United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School, our instructor platoon commander pulled me aside and asked whether I needed kosher meals. “Good evening, Sir. This candidate does not want the Platoon Commander to go out of his way for this candidate, Sir,” I stammered, standing at stiff attention, still tentative with my candidate-speak. “I don’t care what you want, Candidate. I’m just trying to find out if kosher meals are what you need.” I wasn’t going to tell the captain that I grew up with a cut-and-paste Upper West Side–style Judaism, with friends who described themselves...

WASHINGTON — Early versions of the Senate’s far-reaching health care bill said that small businesses with fewer than 50 workers would not be penalized if they failed to provide insurance. That was before labor unions in the construction industry went to work and persuaded Senate leaders to insert five paragraphs. In a provision of the Senate health care reform bill, construction companies with five or more workers would generally have to provide health insurance or pay a penalty. Their provision, added to the 2,074-page bill at the last minute, singles out the construction industry for special treatment, in a way...

The Conservative party says hospitals are at breaking point and claims that a second wave of swine flu could result in a bed shortage The NHS may not have enough intensive care beds to cope if a second wave of swine flu hits the country, the Conservative party claimed today. Hospitals are already at "breaking point" and are having to close critical care beds to new admissions for large parts of the year, according to the shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley. The allegation comes amid intensifying party exchanges over the future of the NHS. The Tories are attempting the novel...

Ticket sales for Bill Clinton's speech Saturday at the CNE have been much slower than expected, forcing organizers to reconfigure the stadium layout and offer fairgoers $5 tickets at the door. About 7,000 advance tickets are sold for the 4 p.m. event, a far cry from the 25,000 people expected when it was announced two weeks ago.“I'm the eternal optimist. I thought we were just going to sell like crazy at the very beginning and it looks like we're going to sell more towards the end of this sales cycle,” said David Bednar, general manager of the Canadian National Exhibition....

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon presented a grim portrait of the Afghanistan war Thursday, offering no assurances about how long Americans will be fighting there or how many U.S. combat troops it will take to win. Defeating the Taliban and al-Qaida will take "a few years," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, with success on a larger scale in the desperately poor country a much longer proposition. He acknowledged that the Taliban has a firm hold on parts of the country President Barack Obama has called vital to U.S. security.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2007 – The National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve is looking for a few good employers to recognize this year. The committee, in conjunction with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, announced today that it has begun accepting nominations for the 2007 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Awards. The nomination process will conclude Feb. 28. Founded in 1972, ESGR’s mission is to gain and maintain active support from public and private employers for the men and women of the National Guard and reserves. It also is a member of America...

Few Democrats willing to stand up for statewide races By Jason Embry By W. Gardner Selby AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Sunday, December 04, 2005 On the eve of an election year when the governorship, a U.S. Senate seat and other statewide posts are on the ballot, the Texas Democratic Party last week was urging visitors to its Web site to get behind four hopefuls — including the mother of NFL quarterback Drew Brees — running for the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals. Activists insist that their focus on races such as the 24-county judicial contest is not a sign that the party...

Few Attend Dueling Rallies at Bush Ranch Saturday November 26, 2005 10:31 PM By ANGELA K. BROWN Associated Press Writer CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - A repeat of last summer's dueling rallies against the war and in support of President Bush drew much small crowds to Crawford on a cool, rainy Saturday. About a dozen Bush supporters stood downtown with signs, one reading: ``Real America won't wimp out.'' Throughout the morning, shoppers and a few tourists leaving souvenir stores stopped in the tent to voice their support for the president. Closer to the Bush ranch, where the president celebrated Thanksgiving with...

Recruit Daniel Murphy, who in college was a 325-pound offensive lineman protecting quarterbacks and opening holes for running backs, lost 100 pounds to join the U.S. Marines, the military's swift-moving, expeditionary shock troops.

'Cause they stand on a wall. And they say "Nothing's gonna hurt you tonight. Not on my watch." Guantanamo prisoners are treated nicer than U.S. Navy SEALs in training. I support Guantanamo Prison policies. www.MoveOnYourself.com Hypocracy in Action.

2 county officials make shift to GOP By Kurt Allen/Assistant Managing Editor When Robyn Flowers and Barbara Hale were trying to find their place in the world of politics, it was almost a given it would be the Democratic Party. Growing up in the South, Democrats ruled the region, and there was little thought given to being Republican. "I think probably, like most people my age, if you were born and raised in Texas, you've been a Democrat because that's what your family did," said Hale, Walker County's court-at-law judge. How the times do change. Now the South, and Texas...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

The patient is bleeding us dry but shows few signs of getting better (Filed: 25/09/2003) Labour vowed to save the NHS - but it is proving an expensive promise. In the fourth part of our investigation into the state of public services Celia Hall gives the money-hungry beast a check-up. During almost 20 years in opposition, there was one issue on which Labour could rely for voter support: the National Health Service. It had been the party in power when the NHS was established in 1948 and felt that it possessed proprietorial rights. As demands for health care grew, Labour...

Few Paying Mind to Democratic Candidates Monday September 1, 2003 12:19 AM By The Associated Press Most voters haven't started paying attention to the Democratic presidential race, says a poll released on Labor Day weekend - the campaign's traditional starting point. Two-thirds of voters - including two-thirds of Democrats - were unable to name any of the Democratic candidates for president, said the CBS News poll out Sunday. Joe Lieberman, Dick Gephardt and Howard Dean topped the field in the poll, with relatively low numbers that suggest the race remains wide open. When pollsters provided voters the names of candidates...

A mob of about 100 Palestinian refugees stormed the office of a Ramallah polling organisation yesterday to stop it publishing a survey showing that five times as many refugees would prefer to settle permanently in a Palestinian state than return to their old homes in what is now Israel. The protesters pelted Khalil Shikaki, the director of the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, with eggs, smashed computers and assaulted the nine staff members on duty. A female worker was treated in hospital for her injuries. "This is a message for everyone not to tamper with our rights," one...

On Nov. 19, law enforcement officials summoned reporters to a news conference to announce the arrests of scores of workers at New York airports as part of a national security crackdown. They gave chilling examples of restaurant workers, mechanics and other employees gaining access to secure areas of airports by lying about their criminal past. These individuals represent a significant vulnerability to the security of our air transportation system," Roslynn R. Mauskopf, the United States attorney in Brooklyn, said at the time. In 15 cases in Brooklyn federal court, defendants have pleaded guilty, and more than 30 others are working...

<p>The D.C. inspector general is investigating Fire Chief Ronnie Few for errors in his resume, while Assistant Fire Chief Gary L. Garland, who was disciplined for false information in his resume, has said he will resign.</p> <p>Inspector General Charles Maddox has added Chief Few's resume to an ongoing inquiry of the fire chief's hiring of a friend as a consultant without disclosing his ties to the contractor, city officials said. Since last week, investigators have interviewed city officials and members of the selection committee that recruited and interviewed Chief Few in 1999. They have asked if Chief Few corrected errors in his resume or made any untrue claims. Stephen Harlan, former D.C. financial control board member and chairman of the fire chief search committee in 1999, yesterday said he has been questioned by the inspector general about Chief Few's resume and the selection process. "They were checking out what was said to the committee," he said. "What I can remember was he held an associate's degree, and we had checked it out." Mr. Harlan would not disclose more information. Lt. Raymond Sneed, president of the D.C. Fire Fighters Association Local 36 and a member of the selection committee, said he also has been interviewed by the inspector general's office about Chief Few's resume. "I think they are going back and double-checking the resume issue. They wanted to know at the time who dealt with the resume in the selection committee. They wanted to verify the resume issue," Lt. Sneed said yesterday. Gloria Johnson, chief of staff and spokeswoman for the inspector general, said she could not comment. Lisa Bass, spokeswoman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, said she was not aware of the inspector general's investigation. Miss Bass also said Chief Garland has decided to resign effective May 26. The Washington Times first reported March 13 that Chief Garland, Assistant Chief Marcus R. Anderson and Deputy Chief Bruce A. Cowan lied in their resumes about having held the rank of chief in their previous jobs in the East Point, Ga., Fire Department. The firefighters, whose resumes also had errors about their educational achievements, were friends and subordinates of Chief Few when he led the East Point Fire Department in the 1990s. The Washington Post reported April 12 that Chief Few's resume erroneously stated that he had received a bachelor's degree from Morris Brown College in Atlanta and received the "1998 Fire Chief of the Year" award from the International Association of Fire Fighters, which does not bestow such awards. City Administrator John Koskinen, who investigated the resume scandal for six weeks, said all four chiefs were disciplined in the matter on April 26. Chief Garland's resignation comes one month after he was suspended for falsely claiming on his job application that he held an associate's degree from Dillard University in New Orleans. The university has no record of his enrollment or attendance. Chief Garland claimed a secretary made the error in his job application and his resume. Chief Anderson returned to work last week and Chief Cowan was back at work yesterday. Neither would comment. Chief Garland would not comment, and his attorney, Vandy L. Jamison Jr., did not return telephone calls. Lt. Sneed yesterday said investigators also questioned him about how the city law was changed to allow Chief Few to appoint Chiefs Garland, Anderson and Cowan without competition. At the request of Mayor Anthony A. Williams, the D.C. Council approved the creation of three jobs — fire marshal, EMS chief and safety chief — that Chief Few could fill without competition. In return for the carte blanche appointments, Chief Few promised not to hire his cronies. Mr. Koskinen, who is conducting his own investigation of Chief Few, said last week he had not asked the inspector general to investigate the fire chief. A city government source said Mr. Koskinen is searching the files of other cities for other resumes sent by Chief Few when he applied for jobs. Chief Few originally said a secretary made the errors on his resume, but last week he said the mayor's office made the errors. Tony Bullock, spokesman for Mr. Williams, said yesterday that he does not think the mayor's staff made any changes in Chief Few's resume, and that all biographical information was provided by Chief Few. "One of the things we do with school board appointments and other new hires is make a press release from resumes we get from personnel and rewrite them to make more of a bio, not just bullets and dates," Mr. Bullock said. "Few is saying we essentially took the resume and were sloppy about converting. But I don't think anyone rewrote it." Mr. Bullock said he doubts that Mr. Williams will say anything about Chief Few's resume until Mr. Koskinen has completed his investigation. Sources within the mayor's office said Chief Few has not taken hints from Mr. Williams and others who have suggested that he resign. They said they couldn't guess the reaction of Mr. Williams, who returned to the District yesterday from a trip to Europe. A city source said the mayor's staffers are furious with Chief Few for trying to place blame on them for putting errors in his resume. "They are livid that he would blame them for his errors," the source said. The inspector general began investigating Chief Few in December about no-bid contracts awarded to Carl Holmes, a former Oklahoma City assistant fire chief and a friend of Chief Few's for more than 20 years. The investigation began after The Times reported Dec. 11 that Chiefs Few and Garland had awarded sole-source contracts worth $23,500 to Carl Holmes and Associates since October 2000. Mr. Holmes worked 13 days for the department, earning a daily fee of about $1,800. Chiefs Few and Garland both worked as instructors and lecturers for Mr. Holmes at the Carl Holmes Executive Development Institute, but neither disclosed their ties to the contractor on their city financial disclosure reports. City disclosure laws require than any affiliation and payments of more than $100 from city contractors be identified. Filing a false financial disclosure statement can bring a fine of up to $5,000 and up to five years in jail, according to the D.C. Code. Chiefs Garland and Anderson both claimed they attended Dillard University but actually attended Mr. Holmes' conference at the university. The institute is not affiliated with the university, which only rents space to Mr. Holmes. The confusion in Chief Few's resume also involves the Carl Holmes Executive Development Institute, which gave him the fire chief award — not the International Association of Fire Fighters. The institute's curriculum includes classes in fire management, resume writing and creative writing courses. • Jabeen Bhatti contributed to this report.</p>