Free Republic

When Governor Paterson in late May was promoting an effort to slash the budgets of his state agencies by 3.35%, he delivered an unusually harsh warning to his commissioners. "If you can't cut 3.35% off of your budget and still be effective, I would ask them to go back and take another look at it," Mr. Paterson said before a gathering of reporters in Albany. "If that doesn't work, maybe we'll have somebody else take a look at it." For the former lieutenant governor, whose administration must carve out the same percentage of spending from his new office, leading by...

"For the first time in its history, Western civilization is confronted with the need to define the meaning of the terms 'marriage' and 'family.'" So states author Andreas J. Kostenberger who, with the assistance of David W. Jones has written God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation. This sense of crisis and the need for definition sets the stage for this book and its central thesis--that the only way out of our present cultural confusion is a return to a biblical vision of marriage and family. As Kostenberger observes, "What until now has been considered a 'normal' family, made...

Way back in June, Sen. Barack "middle name not permitted to be mentioned" Obama campaigned on the theme of "Change We Can Believe In." Now, several days later, his theme should be "Change We Can't Keep Up With." Apparently, the change he was calling for was not for Washington politics, but for his primary campaign positions. Abortion, gun control, capital punishment, FISA laws, the status of Jerusalem, faith-based federal programs, public financing of his campaign, welfare, NAFTA and free trade, and his commitment to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his Trinity Church all have fallen to reconsideration, rephrasing, changed rhetorical...

ALBANY — Tom Golisano, the unpredictable Rochester businessman with deep pockets and never-ending political ambition, brought fresh drama to a chaotic election year on Tuesday with his announcement that he would pour at least $5 million into the state’s legislative races. That is about 10 times what the average Senate candidate spends in an election, and slightly more than all the money held in the Republican Party’s statewide campaign accounts. His aim, Mr. Golisano said at a news conference, was to throw a scare into — and maybe even replace — Albany’s political elite. He certainly drew their attention. “Those...

perichoresis Gk. peri “around” + choreio “dance” Refers to the mutual indwelling and relationship of the members of the Trinity. This concept is emphasized more by Eastern Christianity, but is affirmed by all orthodox branches of Trinitarian Christianity. St John of Damascus defines it such: “The subsistences [i.e., the three Persons] dwell and are established firmly in one another. For they are inseparable and cannot part from one another, but keep to their separate courses within one another, without coalescing or mingling, but cleaving to each other. For the Son is in the Father and the Spirit: and the Spirit...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran test fired nine long- and medium-range missiles on Wednesday, state media said, including one which it has said could reach Israel and U.S. bases in the region. The tests occurred at a time of increased tension between Iran and Israel over Tehran's nuclear program, which the West fears is aimed at making bombs. Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, says its program is only for electricity. A New York Times report in June said Israel had practiced an attack on Iranian nuclear sites, and the tension has rattled financial markets. U.S. and London Brent crude...

When I report this news, I do not mean any offense to the coalition troops fighting in Iraq. They are the greatest fighting force on the planet, but there is only so much they can do. I caught the beginning of Bill O'Reilly tonight, the talking points segment. He said that Islamofascism in Iraq has almost been defeated. This is just not true. For the rest..... http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2008/07/islamic-republic-of-iraq-part-1.html

TAMPA - TAMPA - Robert Cash Jr. said he felt like somebody was targeting his Palma Ceia home. About two weeks ago, he found a claw hammer covered with a rag in a backyard flower bed. Last week, he saw the gate to his wooden privacy fence in the 4100 block of West San Luis Street had been opened. He secured it with a new lock. "It was obvious something was about to happen," recalled Cash, 40. "You don't know what to think." About 2:50 a.m. Saturday, everything gelled. Tampa police said Cash surprised a man who had tunneled under...

WASHINGTON: Senator John McCain told a major Hispanic group here Tuesday that he remained committed to passing the kind of immigration legislation that angered many Republican voters last year, but he underscored that he intended to first secure U.S. borders. Speaking to the convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens, McCain noted his efforts to pass comprehensive immigration legislation, which was supported by President George W. Bush and such Democrats as Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts but which fell apart last year after an angry grass-roots movement that viewed it as tantamount to amnesty rose up to oppose...

Barack Obama has pledged to push through immigration reforms that would give America's 12 million illegal migrants a form of citizenship. "I will make it a top priority in my first year as President - not only because we have an obligation to secure our borders and get control of who comes in and out of our country...but because we have to finally bring undocumented immigrants out of the shadows," he said in a speech in Washington. Both the Democratic nominee and his Republican rival Senator John McCain addressed the League of United Latin American Citizens, the largest Latino organization...

n 2005, the estimated time and money cost of complying with the federal Internal Revenue Code was 6 billion man-hours worth $265 billion. The code that year stood at 7 million words in 736 code sections, up from 718,000 words in 103 code sections in 1955. By contrast, the King James Bible has 788,280 words in 66 books, the Harry Potter series has just over 1 million words in 7 books, and the English translation of War and Peace has 560,000 words.

twincitiescarry.com is holding a potluck picnic and 2A Day celebration “Minnesota Gun Rights Gathering”, or GRG for short 11am, Sunday, July 13, Lake Harriet Bandshell picnic area, next to the Refectory. We will start setting up around 9 am. GPS address will be 4135 W Lake Harriet Parkway, Minneapolis 55410 42nd and W. Lake Harriet Parkway. Pay parking near, street parking a short walk away. Potluck theme, bring enough for yourself, and enough to share as well. Carry is optional. Please let us know if you plan to attend...we’d like to have an idea of how many will attend for...

In posting on the "crisis of choice" made by Democrats and Bill Clinton's veto of ANWR drilling, Gary Gross links to a letter in the local paper praising renewable energy. Why not drill offshore? Offshore drilling is extremely expensive and jeopardizes important sources of seafood. This despite there being not one drop of oil spilled from Katrina or Rita off of the Louisiana Coast. And Humberto Fontova points out, the fish and coral life seem to like being around oil rigs. He's written a book on a group of people who go fishing off of abandoned oil rigs, most of...

Excerpt- WASHINGTON -- Two hard-charging political operatives are teaming up to create a bipartisan consulting organization to advise corporations in crisis -- as they work to burnish their own reputations as well. Former Clinton strategist Mark Penn, chairman and CEO of public-relations firm Burson-Marsteller, is hiring former Bush adviser Karen Hughes as a vice chairman, the principals say. The political combatants, known for their partisan efforts, decided to combine forces to offer a one-stop crisis-communication and public-affairs shop to corporations caught in front-page headlines or faced with a changing Washington. ~ snip ~

Dozens of teenage girls have been made pregnant after being taken into the bush and raped in torture camps by President Robert Mugabe’s youth militia operating near Mudzi, a town 100 miles northeast of Harare, human rights workers allege. Amid the continuing chaos, there are as yet no clear statistics, but the sharp rise in teenage pregnancies seems almost certain to have been repeated elsewhere in rural districts. Some of the victims will have contracted HIV-Aids, which has ravaged Zimbabwe for years and helped reduce average life expectancy to 34 for women, the lowest in the world. ... There are...

Don’t blame a bird for the punch that the Northwest Airlines plane took in the nose on Sunday. Northwest is now examining the dented nose cone of a Boeing 757 jet that was damaged during a flight from Detroit to Tampa. Images snapped by passengers... show the front tip of the plane looking a bit like a beer cup smashed in after a football game. Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the F.A.A. in Atlanta, said pilots heard a bang when the plane was at 18,000 feet during its descent into Tampa. Its radar went out, prompting the crew to suspect...

Argentina raised the prospect of posting military forces in the Antarctic region yesterday, with the announcement of plans to use troops to defend its interests. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner told defence chiefs that Argentina must be prepared to assert its sovereignty and protect its natural resources, as nations compete to claim areas of the region believed to be rich in oil. The plans threaten to inflame tensions between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands, which the South American nation still considers to be its sovereign territory despite losing a war in 1982. Argentinian forces were driven from the...

Have you ever thought that being lead by the Spirit meant that you should hear God speak to you, and that he should tell you what his will for your personal life is? I did. Have you ever thought that because everything in your life is a mess, you must not be yielding to the Spirit's call? I have. Early in my Christian walk I was very zealous for the Lord, and eager to serve him. I spent my spare time as a volunteer for Christian organizations, attended Christian events, watched Christian T.V., and listened to contemporary Christian music. But...

The molecular surface of IDE is represented by light yellow. The N- and C-terminal domains of IDE are colored green and red, respectively. The beta-amyloid (blue) is entrapped inside the degradation chamber of the IDE molecule. Yuequan Shen, Univ. of Chicago Researchers from the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory have deciphered the three-dimensional structure of insulin-degrading enzyme, a promising target for new drugs because it breaks down not only insulin but also the amyloid-beta protein, which has been linked to the cognitive decline of Alzheimer's disease. In the October 19, 2006, issue of Nature (available online Oct. 11),...

July 10, 2008                                     Thursday of the Fourteenth Week                                 in Ordinary Time       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Hos 11:1-4, 8e-9 Thus says the LORD:When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son.The more I called them,the farther they went from me,Sacrificing to the Baalsand burning incense to idols.Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,who took them in my arms;I drew them with human cords,with bands of love;I fostered them like onewho raises an infant...

The United States has criticised what it calls "bellicose rhetoric" from Russia over US plans to develop a missile shield in Europe. Russia said it would be forced to react with military means if the US went ahead with its plan for a shield based partly in the Czech Republic. The reaction was "designed to make Europeans nervous about participating" said a Pentagon spokesman. A White House spokesman said dialogue with Russia would continue. "We seek strategic cooperation on preventing missiles from rogue nations, like Iran, from threatening our friends and allies," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe. He said...

Only in America could critics of a group called "The Race" be labeled racists. Such is the triumph of left-wing identity chauvinists, whose aggressive activists and supine abettors have succeeded in redefining all opposition as "hate." Both Barack Obama and John McCain will speak this week in San Diego at the annual conference of the National Council of La Raza, the Latino organization whose name is Spanish for, yes, "The Race." Can you imagine Obama and McCain paying homage to a group of white people who called themselves that? No matter. The presidential candidates and the media have legitimized "The...

July 9, 2008                             Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week                                 in Ordinary Time       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 Israel is a luxuriant vinewhose fruit matches its growth.The more abundant his fruit,the more altars he built;The more productive his land,the more sacred pillars he set up.Their heart is false,now they pay for their guilt;God shall break down their altarsand destroy their sacred pillars.If they would say,“We have no king”—Since they do not fear the LORD,what can the king do for them? The...

They may not look as threatening as some of the larger canine, but research revealed that the dachshund is the most aggressive breed of dog. Citing a study published by Applied Animal Behavior Science, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported that one in five dachshunds has bitten or tried to bite strangers, and one in 12 has shown aggression toward its owners. The study involved researchers from the University of Pennsylvania. About 6,000 dog owners were questioned about their dogs' behavior. Thirty-three breeds were ranked on their aggression. Ranking below the dachshund was an even smaller dog, the Chihuahua....

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has test fired nine long- and medium-range missiles, including one which it has previously said could travel as far as Israel and U.S. bases in the region, state media reported on Wednesday. The tests occurred at a time of increased tension between Iran and Israel over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme, which the West fears is aimed at making bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is only for power generation.

BRITAIN’S soft justice system hit a new low yesterday with plans to scrap prison sentences for burglars. Hundreds of thousands of crooks could escape jail every year under the proposals by advisers to the Lord Chief Justice. Those sentenced to short, sharp shock jail terms of less than 12 months for “less serious offences” – including burglary – should be handed community penalties instead, Even those who are likely to reoffend could walk free from court if it is believed they will go on to commit “non-serious offences”. And in a further blow, while courts must not be swayed by...

Saudi officials suggested to their Israeli counterparts in a recent meeting that Saudi Arabia would not be opposed to an Israeli strike against Iran, senior Jerusalem officials told Haaretz Tuesday.

Democrats on Tuesday proposed billions in tax increases on businesses and high earners to help bridge California's budget shortfall. The proposed hikes include rolling back the dependent child income tax credit expanded in the 1990s, creating two higher income tax brackets for the state's biggest earners and increasing corporate taxes. The long-awaited list of revenue proposals faces near certain defeat, however, as Republican lawmakers have repeatedly said they are unified in their opposition to any tax increases. Approving a budget and increasing taxes requires a two-thirds vote, which means GOP support is mandatory. "I guarantee you it will be a...

Hello and welcome to another broadcast of the White Horse Inn as we are continuing our series "Christless Christianity," and at the heart of Christless Christianity throughout the centuries has been a heresy known as Pelagianism. I know we've talked about it on the program, sort of assuming that people were familiar with it. In this program we want to actually focus on the historical heresy that is identified with a fifth century monk who came from somewhere in Britain, probably Ireland, a lay monk arriving in Rome and he attracted a following for his austere and ascetic piety. At...

The lefties have hit this hard. 58% remove ban entirely 22% keep don't ask don't tell 20% gays shouldn't be in at all

Enlarge ImageNanomission.Nanoparticles (blue) hit their target in a pancreatic tumor (top); healthy pancreatic tissue without tumor (bottom left); a pancreatic tumor with nanoparticle (green) targeting the tumor blood cells (bottom right)Credit: (top) Milan Makale/UCSD Cancer Center; (bottom) Bharat Majeti, Eric Murphy, and Milan Makale/UCSD The drugs cancer patients take to destroy their tumors also cause debilitating side effects such as nausea, weight loss, and even heart problems. But now researchers report that they can curb the spread of cancer cells in mice with drug concentrations far lower than the standard dose. The key is using a microscopic particle that...

THE Australian soldier killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan was a "top bloke" who had looked forward to returning for his second combat tour of the country, close friends have said. SAS Signaller Sean McCarthy, a 25-year-old rugby-mad soldier from the Gold Coast, was killed when a bomb exploded near his vehicle, the Defence department has said. Two other Australian special forces soldiers were injured along with a soldier from another country. Personnel who served with Signaller McCarthy have written to NEWS.com.au to pay tribute to him as a "bloody good bloke" and a talented soldier. One Army mate,...

'Legal Nightmare' Feared in Russia Suit Against Bank of New York Mellon May Set RICO Precedent By JULIE SATOW, Staff Reporter of the Sun | June 30, 2008 http://www.nysun.com/business/legal-nightmare-feared-in-russia/80947/ The final stages of a $22.5 billion battle pitting the Bank of New York Mellon against the Russian Federation will begin today in a Russian court. Stephen Chernin/Getty A December 2006 picture of a Bank of New York branch just before the bank acquired Mellon Financial Corp. The decision in the money laundering suit, which may be handed down as early as this week, could set a precedent for the global...

Diamonds and precious metals found in the eastern United States might have rained down during the last Ice Age after a comet shattered over Canada and set North America ablaze, all leading to a mass die-off of animals and humans. New chemical analyses of diamond, gold and silver found in Ohio and Indiana reveal the minerals were transported there from Canada several thousand years ago. The question is, how? "There are no gold mines or silver mines in Ohio that anyone knows of, but there are plenty of them in Canada," said retired geophysicist Allen West, who was involved in...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Two environmental groups on Tuesday filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn new federal regulations that grants permission to oil companies working in the Chukchi Sea to disturb the polar bears and walrus that live there. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, challenges regulations issued last month by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that allow "incidental takes" of the animals, meaning permission to disturb or accidentally harass them as long as such actions do not result in physical injury or death. Tuesday's lawsuit, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Environment,...

The list of issues on which Barack Obama has flipped now that the primaries are over is long and growing rapidly. • He says he believes in a Second Amendment right to bear arms. • He now opposes late-term abortion. • He suddenly is a devotee of using faith-based institutions to deliver public services. • He now says that he won't raise Social Security taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year. In the primary, he said he'd eliminate the threshold entirely, including on people making as little as $100,000. • He recently opposed the Fairness Doctrine for talk...

Who read Free Republic? Apparently the U.S. Secret Service does!This past weekend, I posted an article alerting the Secret Service that members of the terrorist supporting group Code Pink were using fake presses to gain access to events headlined by Secret Service protectees like presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (AZ).This morning, McCain spoke at the LULAC convention in Washington, D.C. Usually when he speaks at an event in D.C., McCain can expect to have his speech disrupted by Code Pink activists who rush the stage and heckle him from the audience and the press section.That didn't happen today....

Sources from inside Iran have advised that earlier today, July 8th, the Islamic regime has fired missiles at, and sent mortar shells into Camp Ashraf, where the Mojaheddin (MEK) in Iraq are sequestered.

Conservatives complain that the media have a bias to the left. Do you believe that this is true? Mike Kovanda, DAVIS, ILL. The problem with the media is not that they're veering to the left or to the right but that they have an addiction to presenting two sides to every issue, even when the truth lies on one side or the other. I'd much rather we make our preferences and points of view transparent than pretend we don't have them. ---snip--- What can liberal politicians learn from Republican tactics? Jack Bini, NEW YORK CITY Go after your opponent's strengths....

I have watched with intense interest over the last several years the direction that America is headed. The title of this article is called, The Arrogant Liberal. But the fact is, the subject matter not only applies to those on the left who have decided to spit in Gods face, but to those on the right who have joined them in their move to push America into a politically correct society. Let me say this before I go on. There as been an attempt by those on the left to pass hate crime legislation that is completely aimed at Christians...

It's hard to even begin to imagine the sacrifice... When they leave they are husbands and fathers, wives and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, yet they are willing to put it all aside and stand up for that one great cause that they believe in, that one great fight they believe will make the world that much of a better place. We often sometimes hear their story, and if we don't, we can see some of it in their faces, in their eyes, in the slightly measured walks as they come home. Often I can't watch without feeling...

See trailer for the 90 minute film here. Ian Murray of CEI who reviewed the powerful documentary said “Not Evil Just Wrong” looks at how sanctimony and misunderstanding drove environmentalists to stop Africans from using DDT to help save children’s lives and how the model is repeating itself in the Global Warming debate with even greater tragic consequences. It moved me to tears”. Search the movie on youtube and see how angry even the trailer got the alarmists. Wait til they see the whole story.

I should also source the Olbermann show. This is the story, I was there at McCain's town hall event in Denver. I arrived with my 10yo daughter shortly before 10am. This description of events is ridiculous. Let me tell you, they did not screen participants or questions. NO ONE was allowed a sign, even if it said "I heart John McCain". This "sweet" little librarian had to be an agitator who had to have purposely push until she got a ticket. These people (and they were an organized group), insinuated themselves til they were right next to the door to...

The California Democratic Party has donated $250,000 to help Don Perata pay off his legal bills, as the Senate Democratic leader continues to rack up expenses fending off an ongoing FBI corruption investigation. The party made the quarter-million dollar donation on July 1, according to campaign filings. The money comes just in time for Perata, who, according to a May disclosure, had only $273 cash on hand in his legal defense fund and $250,000 in unpaid bills. Jason Kinney, a spokesman for Perata on legal issues, said the donation -- and the continuing expenses -- are "no indication of anything."...

John McCain pledged yesterday to balance the budget by 2013. Barack Obama responded by claiming that it can’t be balanced, and he can’t be bothered to try: Not only does Obama say he won’t eliminate the deficit in his first term, as McCain aims to do, he frankly says he’s not sure he’d bring it down at all in four years, considering his own spending plans. “I do not make a promise that we can reduce it by 2013 because I think it is important for us to make some critical investments right now in America’s families,” Obama told reporters...

VANCOUVER — Just days after a key Federal Court decision in favour of U.S. army deserters trying to stay in Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency is preparing to deport "war resister" Robin Long. If he is deported, he will be the first of an estimated 200 deserters who have sought refuge in Canada to be returned to the United States, marking an official end to the country's policy of welcoming American draft dodgers and deserters that began during the Vietnam War. The 25-year-old failed refugee claimant was arrested in Nelson on a deportation warrant on Friday, the same day...

John Edwards said Tuesday that if he were asked to accept the vice presidential slot or a cabinet position in a potential Barack Obama administration, he would “seriously consider” whatever the Illinois senator asked him to do. It has been widely reported that the former North Carolina senator is on Obama’s vice presidential shortlist. On Tuesday, NPR interviewer Guy Raz called the former Democratic presidential candidate’s presence on the list an “open secret,” and asked Edwards whether he’d weigh accepting a vice presidential offer, or might take himself out of consideration as Virginia Senator Jim Webb had done Monday. “I’m...

Christian publisher Zondervan is facing a $60 million federal lawsuit filed by a man who claims he and other homosexuals have suffered based on what the suit claims is a misinterpretation of the Bible.

Today is a little different. I am not writing something specifically for the PROLIFE, but it is a request going out to everyone. The effects of this praying will touch the country, the prolife issues, the troops, everything that our country stands for. Please consider what is written below. It was sent to me by a dear friend, and I agree with the power it will have. This is the scariest election we as Christians have ever faced, and from the looks of the polls,the Christians aren't voting Christian values. We all need to be on our knees. Do you...

Whatever happened to leadership and honesty as presidential traits? I happen to believe that the only leader in the West to have these two admirable qualities in droves is the leader of the free world: George W Bush.