Free Republic

I’ve spoken at great length on the matter of Weaponized Empathy. It is the primary weapon of the modern Left. Indeed, it so completely dominates their tactical thinking that everything else in their arsenal pales in comparison. Defeating this weapon ought to be the foremost on the mind of any opponent of the Progressive Left. Almost nothing else matters, at this point. Any victory achieved without defeating Weaponized Empathy will be hollow and Pyrrhic. You may succeed in lowering taxes for a time, or passing some military budget items you want. But the Progressive steamroller will go on, slowly, inexorably,...

Donald Trump will probably lose the election. But he is a final warning. Unless political elites of both the left and the right become more humble, unless they once again ask themselves how their agendas will play in Peoria, the next rough beast might slouch over the corpse of the republic.

As the bad economic news continues to emanate from the United States — with a double-dip recession now all but certain — a reckoning is overdue....

Leaked diplomatic cables vividly show China's willingness to translate its massive holdings of US debt into political influence on issues ranging from Taiwan's sovereignty to Washington's financial policy.

CAMPAIGN COUNTDOWN: IT STARTS WITH THE MONEY Print E-mail Steyn on America Monday, 25 October 2010 All this week at SteynOnline, we're looking at what I regard as the key issues in this year's big vote. I'd love to hear your thoughts, so drop us a line at Mark's Mailbox. We're starting today with the most basic issue of all: We're broke. I’ve spent much of this election season overseas, a long way from internal polls for this or that House district, so I’m not too focused on the fortunes of particular Republican candidates or particular Democrat incumbents. But nor...

It’s Time to Worry About Houston Voter fraud and a suspicious fire threaten the November elections in Texas’ largest city. (Author Bryan Preston joins the PJM and PJTV staffs today.) September 7, 2010 - by Bryan Preston I could’ve gone with the “Houston, we have a problem” headline but that’s so … cliché. Nevertheless, the fact is that Houston has a major election problem, one which threatens the integrity of elections in Houston and across the Lone Star State. And when you work in the fact that Texas stands as the nation’s largest solidly Republican state, well, what happens in...

From this metric the United States is in far worse shape than any other country listed. The USA is even worse off than Greece. Unfortunately, there is no mention of monetary systems in the report and the analyst clearly ignores the fact that the EMU is a vastly different monetary system than that in the USA. I strongly disagree that the sovereign debt crisis is a global issue. It is primarily a European problem caused in large part by their flawed currency system. There is no default risk in the USA as I have explained before. What the United States...

Is this finally the economic collapse? By Keith R. McCullough, contributorAugust 11, 2010: 2:07 PM ET FORTUNE -- The Great Depression. Wall Street in 1987. Japan in 1997. Points of economic collapse are generally crystal clear in the rear-view mirror. Professional politicians in Japan have been telling stories for 20 years as to why they can prevent economic stagnation. In the US, the storytelling started in 2007. All the while, stock market and real-estate prices have repeatedly rallied to lower-highs, then collapsed again, to lower-lows. Despite the many differences between Japan and the US, there is one similarity that continues...

Not Quite Churchillian By Marc Thiessen June 18, 2010, 11:36 am This week, President Obama delivered what has been declared by commentators on the left and right one of the worst Oval Office addresses in presidential history. How ironic that Obama’s worst rhetorical hour came in the very same week we celebrate the 70th anniversary of perhaps the greatest speech ever delivered in the English language: Winston Churchill’s “Finest Hour” address. Seven decades ago today, on June 18, 1940, Churchill rallied Britain and the world to fight on in a battle he declared would determine “the survival of Christian civilization.”...

Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal. In the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran. To ensure the Israeli bombers pass unmolested.

Are the Feds Trying to Nationalize Your Retirement Savings? Share Post Print May 9, 2010 Posted by John at 7:15 PM For some time, there have been rumblings that the federal government might try to solve its budgetary problems by nationalizing (i.e., stealing) the money that millions of Americans have set aside for retirement in 401(k) plans and the like. One way they might do this is to confiscate the cash on hand in exchange for a promise to make future payments in the form of an "annuity." An involuntary annuity, in that scenario. I haven't taken this speculation too...

Why radical Islam might defeat the West "Does Spengler know, for instance, that in the last century 2,000 distinct ethnic groups have gone extinct?" Eric Garrett asks in his June 12 riposte, A question of identity, to an earlier article of mine, Neo-cons in a religious bind. Garrett's organization, the World Conservation Union, is devoted to preserving fragile cultures. As a matter of fact, I reported in this space that in the next decade, yet another 2,000 distinct ethnic groups would go extinct (Live and Let Die of April 13, 2002). Ignore the endangered Ewoks for a moment, Mr Garrett,...

A Permanent Deathstyle By James Pinkerton Published 12/01/2005 E-Mail Bookmark Print Save TCS Here's the formula for the AIDS epidemic: First, start with a deadly contagious virus. Second, take no serious measures as dangerous behavior patterns multiply. Third, ignore the obvious lessons of epidemiological and medical history -- try demagoguery instead. Fourth, apply copious amounts of sentiment and red-ribbon artistry to the issue, substituting, in effect, sentiment for science. Fifth, stand back and watch tens of millions of people die. Repeat these five steps for as long as you wish. If you do so, you will find that AIDS is...

Americans have not yet begun to pay the price for the Bush presidency. The global ramifications of his foreign policy, the long-term impact of his budgetary excesses, our depleted military, the ongoing erosion of civil liberties and church/state separation, the unprecedented acquiescence to corporate power…all these factors, and more, will dictate the course of this nation for decades to come. Had Al Gore assumed the presidency in 2001, he would have confronted the same challenges - a nation, and world, simmering in a mix of cultural/religious extremism and declining resources. Realistically speaking, Mr. Gore could probably not have solved any...

Can Islam change? Cover story Ziauddin Sardar Monday 13th September 2004 Beslan and 9/11 are leading millions of Muslims to search their souls. Even clerics now question the harshest traditional laws and look for a more humane interpretation of their faith. By Ziauddin Sardar The Muslim world is changing. Three years after the atrocity of 9/11, it may be in the early stages of a reformation, albeit with a small "r". From Morocco to Indonesia, people are trying to develop a more contemporary and humane interpretation of Islam, and some countries are undergoing major transformations. Much of the attention is...

How the French Plunder Africa France's unchallenged political, economic, and military domination of its former sub-Saharan African colonies is rooted in a currency, the CFA franc. Created in 1948 to help France control the destiny of its colonies, fourteen countries--Benin, Burkina-Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Bissau Guinea, and Chad--maintained the franc zone even after they gained independence decades ago. In exchange for France guaranteeing the CFA franc's convertibility, these countries agreed to deposit 65% of their foreign exchange reserves in a special account within the French Treasury and granted to...

By ALANNA MITCHELL Saturday, January 31, 2004 - Page F1 The two boys are wearing identical outfits -- baggy, chemically faded jeans, oversized winter coats and immaculate white runners, laces untied and tongues jutting up over the cuffs of their pants. The two girls have a more revealing uniform: ultra-skinny jeans and puffy coats that skim the waist, one in brilliant white with a belt at the bottom and the other in tan. They've claimed a sweet vantage point in the mall, right at the entrance to the Famous Players theatre. It's a game of "see and be seen," of...

Mugabe is their darling Aidan Hartley finds that the Zimbabwean president is regarded as a hero by Africa’s upper middle classes In Johannesburg recently I hooked up with Mojo, an old drinking chum from Dar es Salaam, where in the 1980s I was an FT stringer covering the ‘frontline states’ and he was an officer in the ANC’s armed wing, Mkhonto we Sizwe. These days I’m a settler on the land in Kenya, while Mojo has risen to become Lieutenant-General Mojo Matau, South Africa’s chief of military intelligence. At our reunion the beers flowed freely into the night as we...

Fool me once shame on you; fool me twice shame on me written by A.E. Huggett June 16th 2003 If ever there were two men determined to ignore the recent lessons of history, it is President George Bush and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Normally, both men are tough, smart, and dedicated. They hold the security and integrity of their countries first and foremost. So why would two such intelligent and worldly men fall for the UN sponsored, Saudi Arabian hosted Roadmap peace plan? After the UN's totally disgraceful performance over the Iraqi War and it's and Saudi Arabia's clearly anti-Israeli...

Hillary yawner never gets to the good part June 15, 2003 BY MARK STEYN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Advertisement Who is Hillary Rodham Clinton? We all know her husband. He's a hard guy to be non-intimate with. Early in his presidency, he was asked on TV what kind of underwear he wore and chatted away merrily about how he mostly preferred boxers but occasionally wore briefs. Pandora's boxer shorts, once opened, are not easily buttoned up again. He remains the only president to have his, ah, distinguishing characteristics officially examined by a U.S. Naval surgeon when they became a matter of legal...