Free Republic

Scarcely a day goes by that we don't hear in the news of another gun rampage. The latest, on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, caused me to have more than the usual pause about such incidents. It was personal for me. I did my graduate work at MSU, lived on campus and worked in those buildings. To read of shootings, injuries and death to students in those same buildings that I had been in many times, gave me more than the usual chllls I experience when reading of such incidents. The loss of life and the...

If you listen to terrestrial radio, and live in the San Francisco Bay Area, north of San Jose, you most likely have heard of KSFO AM. Last weekend, the managers of that radio station decided to fire weekend talk host Barbara Simpson suddenly and for most listeners shocklingly. Barbara was affiliated with that station for over nineteen years, since it's inception as a conservative leaning radio station. This was a few years after Rush Limbaugh show everyone that conservatives could appeal to a large portion of the population. Some local blogs, such as richlieberman 415media have been flooded with posters...

Conservative talk radio is like a big pot of soup filled with chunks of carrots, potatoes, celery, tomatoes, corn and whatever other vegetables were tossed in. Each personality is different, but they contribute to the overall flavor. Liberal talk radio is a similar pot of soup with the same ingredients but it's been pureed. There are no lumps, and it all looks the same – bland with no personality. It's no surprise then that conservatives get attention and criticism from the political opposition, which doesn't like to be confronted with differing thoughts and ideas. Political correctness clashes with reasoned opinions....

The Senate vote on immigration failed. The issue is dead. Or is it? No, it isn't – and Americans better not be complacent about it. The politicians will be back with another version, regardless of which party wins the next election. Locally, the same mentality prevails to circumvent law, logic and morals on the part of politicians, activist groups and churches and the media are cheerleaders. Example: Front page, Contra Costa Times in Northern California, July 11. Complete with intentionally emotional pictures, it described a 1.3-square mile area on one street in Concord with 91 apartment complexes housing some 38,000...

Why am I not surprised? While Washington is roiled in the divisiveness of the immigration/amnesty bill, the pencil pushers are working on the building of "THE FENCE"! I'm talking about the fence that's supposed to be built along the Mexican border to cut down the number of illegal aliens sneaking into this country every day. Well, it's not really a fence, as any normal person would imagine. This is a new-fangled one. It's a high-tech "fence" that depends on towers, radar, cameras, video terminals, detectors and all kinds of technology – so much in fact, that Border Patrol agents will...

We're in the middle of a domestic immigration war, and it's a classic. The blind are leading the blind. The selectively deaf are leading the selectively deaf. Their enemy is the electorate. They march onto the Washington congressional battlefield with the banner of their leader, George W. Bush, flapping in the wind. The coat of arms is golden yellow, emblazoned with a cross on the shield, supported by two bold figures – a fruitcake and a skunk – all on a field of mockingbirds.Golden yellow is for cowardice in the face of pressure groups – everything from big business and...

"DRIP on all politicians." That's the advice of my buddy and top, long-time, now retired, San Francisco talk host, Jim Eason. He said it for years, never changing his opinion. DRIP = "Don't Return Incumbent Politicians," – one term, and they're out. I'm there. In fact, I'm hard pressed to keep my language decent after watching people elected to protect this country work so hard to sell us out by trying to push through the deceptively named Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. No matter how it's painted, the proposed law is amnesty for people who came here illegally and...

Today is Memorial Day. Do you have any idea what that means? For starters, think about two young men whose bodies were officially identified May 23, after being killed in Iraq.Pfc. Joseph Anzack of Torrance, Calif. was found shot to death and floating in the Euphrates River. Who knows what torment he endured before he died; he and two other soldiers were ambushed and taken prisoner May 12. His buddies are still missing. Pvt. Oscar Sauceda of Del Rio, Texas was killed May 22, after he and his unit were hit by enemy small-arms fire. He was with the 1st...

The gaggle of senators announced the immigration compromise with glee. I feel I've been punched in the gut and that my country is being stolen from me by elected government officials. They say it will solve the "immigration" problem but it's amnesty, no matter how they sugarcoat it. If this abomination passes, the country as we know it is lost. It grants instant legal status to the 12 to 20 MILLION illegals in this country now; no one knows how many, and they're not all from Mexico. We have illegals here from more than one hundred countries, including Communist China...

I envision her as a Viking warrior, whose body is sent to the gods on a fiery barge with all the honors due. Oriana Fallaci was outspoken, courageous, dedicated, talented, passionate and honest – in her personal life and in her writings as a journalist, reporter and novelist. And now she's gone. The call, early Friday morning, brought me the news I dreaded. Oriana Fallaci had died at 3 a.m. in a private clinic in the city of her birth, Florence, Italy. She was 77. She is survived by siblings and their children. I cried. I felt I knew her...

If you were to believe the picture presented by the media, you would think South Africa is a political, economic, cultural and social utopia. After all, the media picture goes, apartheid is gone, Nelson Mandela is free, blacks are in charge and all's well. Things are as they should be. Well, not exactly. In fact, things in that physically beautiful and natural-resource rich country are pretty rocky, but so much is at stake in preserving the image of order and peace that the realities are ignored on the world stage, especially in the United States. But there may be a...

What do people think about the rioting and destruction in France? It's hard to say because beyond some "good pictures" of torched cars and firemen and police trying to deal with an out-of-control situation, we aren't getting the whole – much less the real – story. For the third continuous week, a good part of France is in flames and wilding mobs in the streets have wreaked havoc on business areas and neighborhoods. The whole country is the victim of wanton violence and destruction. From a news-coverage point of view, what do we get? Not much – not much accuracy...

They say if you want a donkey to do something, get his attention first. So, whack him on the head with a 2-by-4. That'll do it. But what about people? How many times do humans have to be hit on the head before they pay attention? Oh, I don't know. Let me count the ways: The U.S. Embassy takeover in Iran; the Hezbollah kidnapping of 20 U.S. and other hostages in Lebanon; destruction of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut; destruction of the U.S. military barracks at Beirut airport; truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait; truck bombing of U.S....

Happy Birthday to us! Yes, us, the United States of America – 229 years old and still kicking! Given the state of the world, politics, jealousy, philosophies, ego and human nature, it's almost a miracle we're still here and generally intact. Not that there wasn't, and isn't, an effort – exterior and, unfortunately, interior – to change us and ultimately to destroy us. Evil hates good and whatever you think about the frailties of the United States, overall, we are a good and benevolent country. Oh, how some people hate that. It galls them to attribute goodness to us (U.S.)...

If a country – my country – the United States of America, could look into a mirror, what would it see? What would be reflected to illustrate what kind of country it is – today, in the year 2005? What would that reflection tell us about who we are and the kinds of lives we live? What hints might be in that reflection of what our future holds? If the truth were told, it might not be the reflection most Americans would prefer. Yes, we still fly the stars and stripes and maintain our Constitution and the Bill of Rights....

Did you make up your mind yet about President Bush's Social Security proposal? Do you want some control over your future retirement or do you want to rely on the government to take care of you? Heads up! If Social Security faces financial problems in the near future, look again at Medicare-Medicaid. Hold your breath. While you've been distracted by politicians on both sides of the aisle who don't have the courage to speak the truth or use the brains God gave them at birth, the media, in their role as maidservant to the status quo – as perceived by...

Massive slaughter is old hat for Africa. Living beings mowed down for no good reason with automatic weapons or slashed with machetes. Rivers of blood and bloated bodies. This time, it's not dead people. This time, it's animals, beginning with big game. Since the usual reaction of the rest of the world to African bloodbaths is to ignore it or to '"tsk tsk" that nothing was done soon enough, it's not surprising that the current slaughter in Zimbabwe is virtually ignored in the media and the West. For lovers of African wildlife – giraffes, lions, elephants, hippos, antelopes, cheetahs and...

Cut the cat-and-mouse game!Posted: April 18, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com The silence is deafening. Where's the sense of urgency about protecting the security of Americans in this country from terrorists? In December, President Bush signed an updated intelligence law, which, among other things, tightens border security by requiring anyone entering this country, from anywhere, to have a passport. Two weeks ago, his administration announced the new guidelines. Then, last week, he said he "read in the newspaper about the need to have passports" and – we're told – he said, "What's going on here?" The comments were...

wish I'd met him in person, but despite the lack of direct human connection, I feel I knew him. I also know there was something unique about this man, Pope of the Roman Catholic Church John Paul II. Was it his words? There's no doubt he was an educated man and a talented writer. He could reach the audiences to which he spoke, whether in person or in print. He had a way of choosing the direct path to our heart, our mind, our conscience and our soul. This was a man who was comfortable speaking to millions of people...

The wrangling continued even before Terri Schiavo's body was cold. Would there or woudn't there be an autopsy? All along, we were told the husband wouldn't allow it. Then we were told Florida law requires autopsy and it would be done by the Pinellas county medical examiner. When Terri's parents requested that renown forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril H. Wecht be allowed to observe, the answer was "no." Would she be buried or cremated? The family requested a Catholic funeral with Terri's body. Terri is Catholic; her husband Michael isn't. He said "no." Where will her remains be laid to rest?...