Free Republic

What if no one canceled self destruct? Let That Be Your Last Battlefield aired 5 years after Dr. Strangelove. But notice the similar extreme zoom-ins to control panels and exterior shots. Was this episode a parody? This is my own edit mashup. I couldn’t find the original music score from the Kubrick film so I recomposed it by ear for this project.

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) said Thursday on Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow” that Republican support of giant omnibus spending bills “should never happen” again. Anchor Larry Kudlow said, “Senator Lee, just the last point here. I think Sen. Rand Paul put his finger on it. He was on our show a couple of nights ago. He said the GOP has lost any power of the purse, and he said the GOP has emasculated itself. This is not a good episode for the Republican Party, is it?” Lee said, “No, not at all.”

The Chinese military is equipping soldiers stationed in Tibet with newly developed helmets embedded with a self-destruct button. The button will trigger an embedded bomb to go off, killing the soldier. “At a battalion or brigade level command center, a commander monitors a soldier who is far away by using the navigation system. The commander can activate the self-destruct function of the soldier’s helmet if he can’t get in contact with him,” state-run media China Observer reported on Dec. 27. Soldiers can also press the button themselves. “If a soldier is seriously wounded and doesn’t want to be captured, he...

On Wednesday Connecticut Governor Daniel Malloy issued a memo to his state’s authorities, telling them to ignore federal law regarding illegal immigrants. Malloy declared Connecticut a sanctuary state. On Friday a previously deported illegal alien murdered his girlfriend and kidnapped her six year-old daughter. Oscar Obedio Hernandez, an illegal alien from El Salvador, was arrested on Friday night.

Minneapolis — Target cut its profit and comparable-store sales outlook amid stiffer competition and its own stumbles in areas like grocery sales. The discounter’s second-quarter net income fell nearly 10%, though that was better than what most had expected. Sales at stores open at least a year fell 1.1%, reversing seven straight quarters of gains. Target shares were down more than 6% in mid-morning trading Wednesday. The quarter underscores challenges that Target and other retailers face from Amazon.com and shoppers who remain cautious about spending.

One of the nation’s top traffic safety organizations is issuing an urgent warning about driving while high. AAA says that in some states that have legalized marijuana, fatal accidents involving drivers who’ve consumed pot are on the rise. “Marijuana-linked traffic fatalities on the rise, AAA warns”...

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) was invited Tuesday, along with fellow members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, to test drive — er, test ride — a driverless car on the Capitol grounds. Well, the ride never happened, because Norton did a particularly good job of testing the car’s bright-red “kill” button — which, as captured by WRC-TV’s cameras, killed the car to the point that it could not proceed with the test ride. “Oh, no, don’t push it!” an engineer from Carnegie Mellon University cried after Norton pounded the mushroom button. “It shuts everything down.” [...]

Not a single candidate came out ahead in last night’s Vegas slugfest—Romney looked petty, Perry looked desperate, and Cain was obviously lying to himself about his 9-9-9 plan. After a seemingly endless series of eight prior candidate encounters, one of the GOP presidential contenders finally came up with an ingenious debate strategy that counts as fearless, distinctive and utterly original: attacking Ronald Reagan over the arms-for-hostages deals during Iran-Contra. Near the conclusion of a deeply damaging slugfest that weakened every candidate on stage, Congressman Ron (“Dr. Demento”) Paul outrageously trashed the Gipper’s memory in response to pre-debate Herman Cain comments...

Rick Perry talks treason about the Federal Reserve Board. Treason is a capital offense. Is Perry suggesting the death penalty for Federal Reserve Board members? Rick Perry says Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke will have a tough time if he goes to Texas. Is Perry threatening that violence might happen to Bernanke if he visits Texas? This is sick stuff. I can think of several nations Rick Perry is fit to lead, but the United States of America is not one of them. With his latest comments, perhaps Rick Perry wants to be the running mate of Vladimir Putin...

The new year 2011 and lack of confidence in the tax policies of incoming governor Jerry Brown brings devastating news to Southern California. The progressive tax-and-spend policies of Democrat-run California government have chased another lucrative business out of the state. The open-borders, do-nothing immigration policy of the Obama administration claims the runner-up prize for this economic blow to an already-reeling economy in San Diego. The major cruise lines have just announced they are leaving San Diego, California to make NEW home ports in Texas, Florida and Australia. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that Texas and Florida don’t have state...

"I am not going on this mission for the Emperor or for the Empire...I am going because I was ordered to." These words were spoken by one of Japan's first kamikaze pilots, Lieutenant Yukio Seki, after being compelled to volunteer for a suicide mission. Though apprehensive, the pilot maintained the insight to comprehend that "Japan's future was pale if it was forced to kill one of its best pilots." So it is in Washington, D.C. as a "divine wind" blows through the nation's capital. Although in the majority, Democrats are experiencing decreased capacity to successfully wage political war. Disregarding plummeting...

The Mexican National Anthem was played at a CSU Pueblo baseball game on Sunday and now school officials are taking some heat over it. School officials say they think some people might be upset over the song being played at all. They believe others might be upset because of how long it took for the American National Anthem to be played. School officials say there were technical difficulties causing a few minutes to laps between anthems. Thunderwolves coach Stan Sanchez says his players requested that the Mexican National Anthem be played to honor the Mexican players. School officials say they...

NANCY PELOSI, the new House of Representatives Speaker, received a huge blow to her authority yesterday in a bitterly contested leadership battle.Congressional Democrats voted by a margin of 149-86 to elect Steny Hoyer as their House Majority leader — effectively the Speaker’s deputy — despite Ms Pelosi’s aggressive and unprecedentedly active canvassing of support for John Murtha, a rival candidate. Her intervention, in a contest over which she had previously promised to stay neutral, has raised question marks over her judgment even before the first woman Speaker in America formally takes power on Capitol Hill. The leadership election has left...

Gubernatorial candidate and professional wiseacre Kinky Friedman was accused Wednesday of making another racially offensive remark _ this time in a year-old interview in which he said sexual predators should be thrown in prison and forced to "listen to a Negro talking to himself." The independent candidate already was under fire for referring to Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Texas "crackheads and thugs." ... The Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Houston Chronicle have reported on an interview with Friedman that aired on CNBC last year in which the country singer and comedian was asked what to do with sexual predators. "Throw...

AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas chapter of the NAACP asked comedian and independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman on Friday to apologize for using a racial slur during a 1980 nightclub act in Houston. NAACP President Gary Bledsoe said in a letter that Friedman's remarks "invoke the worst racial stereotypes about people of color." Friedman's campaign did not immediately return a call seeking comment. On Thursday, the campaign issued a lengthy statement denying Friedman was a racist and explaining that he used comedy to lampoon bigotry. Friedman told The Associated Press the criticism was orchestrated by his political opponents. Earlier this...

Morning, folks. The following thread is presented as a place for my fellow FReepers to wipe their feet. : )No longer the darlings of Dixie, the trio's new direction is already paying dividends This time, they brought a sense of humor. The Dixie Chicks entered the United Center on Tuesday night to the orchestral pomp of "Hail to the Chief," a not-so-veiled shot at the president whose name was not spoken all night, but whose presence has loomed large over the country-pop trio's career the last three years. "The Incident," as the Chicks once described it, occurred in 2003 when...

Tony Blair's Government was in turmoil last night after scandal and crisis left three of his most senior Cabinet ministers fighting to save their careers.On the most chaotic day since Labour came to power, John Prescott became an object of ridicule over a two-year affair with a civil servant; Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, was under intense pressure to resign over the foreign prisoners scandal; and Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, was heckled and slow-handclapped by nurses. With only a week to go before local elections in England, the timing could not have been worse for the Prime Minister. On...

In elections one earns political capital. Once spent, c’est tout. Consumed capital cannot be replenished by a cauterized constituency, and today the Republican base boils. I recently spoke to someone who volunteered for Bush’s 2004 campaign. I asked whether he would work for the GOP in 2008, and he bemoaned “no.” I asked why, and he replied, “It’s a sad day when Democrats like Dianne Feinstein are tougher on immigration than Republicans like Sam Brownback.” The avalanche of support that has followed Republicans since 1994 we now see slowly evaporating over the issue of a guest-worker program. Impassioned Republicans four...

Almost under the radar - I can not recall the last time Libs were (publicly at least) protesting Libs, as in the Hillary/Antiwar protest this past week. Add to this is the ND DIM telling DNC Chair Dean to shut up. Probably, this is normally a behind-closed-doors event. Will Lib vs Lib continue or will they quickly rein in their minions? Its obvious Dean is fracturing the kingdom of the lost, but will it continue? No radio talkers seem to have picked up on whether this is a trend or flash in the pan. FReeper thoughts.......pretty please ;)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2005 – A soldier assigned to the 43rd Military Police Brigade was killed in action by an improvised explosive device in the vicinity of Baqubah, Iraq, Nov. 3, military officials reported. Elsewhere, a 1st Corps Support Command soldier died as a result of non-battle related causes Nov. 3 at about 11:15 p.m. near Tallil. Officials released no further details on these incidents. The names of the soldiers are being withheld pending notification of next of kin. In other developments, two terrorists attempting to build a car bomb were killed when the device prematurely detonated in central Baghdad...