Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The families of four soldiers killed in Afghanistan last weekend will not receive death benefits or the money to pay for their funerals because of the government shutdown. The bodies of Sgt. Patrick C. Hawkins, 25; Pfc. Cody J. Patterson, 24; Sgt. Joseph M. Peters, 24; and First Lt. Jennifer M. Moreno, 25, will arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday. The four soldiers were killed Sunday in the Zhari district of Kandahar Province when enemy forces attacked their unit with explosives. But if their families want to meet the plane, they will have to...

Two mutually incompatible arguments are advanced to defend gay marriage. The first states that marriage is a good thing provided by the state, such that gay people have the same right to it as anyone else. The second states that marriage is a bad thing, and that bringing gay people into the institution of marriage will destroy it from the inside. Michelangelo Signorile, a prominent gay activist, urges people in same-sex relationships to "demand the right to marry not as a way of adhering to society's moral codes but rather to debunk a myth and radically alter an archaic institution"....

A documentary on abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s well-regarded practice. The video, which includes some images of Gosnell’s many victims, is not for children or the faint of heart.

In remarks with Afghan president Hamid Karzai at the White House this afternoon, President Barack Obama said the U.S. has fallen "short of the ideal" in Afghanistan:

n the late 1960s and 70s, droves of hippies and freaks bounced back from various countercultural bummers by embracing the “One Way” of Jesus Christ. Though they rejected many aspects of the underground scene—fun stuff like drugs, free love, and the occult smorgasbord—the Jesus Freaks kept others very much alive. They had a strong yen for intense spiritual experiences and communal tribes, as well as an apocalyptic sense of imminent global transformation. In stark contrast to previous generations of American Christians, who largely rejected popular culture as the devil’s work, these hirsute believers also embraced countercultural media—street newspapers, bumper-stickers, coffee...

Time Magazine is holding open on line polling for the Person of the Year for 2012. The poll closes on December 12th so start your Poll Freeping!

Surely, progressives will celebrate the artistic genius in this exhibit. Or, will they cry out that their savior has been defiled?

With all of the action in Gaza right now, where's the Muslim outrage? Minister Farrakhan hasn't issued one statement about either the Palestinians or Israel. Not even a condemnation of his favorite enemy "Da Jeeeeeeewwwwwwssssss!" How the hell does that happen? Anyone else notice it?

A web site posting daily plant closures, layoffs, and Bank Failures. Good reference site

Hope - it appears - peaked at the start of the year in the US, following the global coordinated central bank pump which ramped it from lows to highs within a few months. All that hope - and then some - has now apparently faded. The General Business Conditions expected six months forward dropped to its lowest level since March 2009. What is perhaps worse, given the focus on jobs jobs jobs, is that for the first time since April 2009, the employment outlook for employment turned negative - suggesting firms are looking to reduce employees at the fastest rate...

I have been to the local mall and to several retailers this past week and I'm wondering what sort of numbers we will see this year for Black Friday. Have there been any forecasts on what retailers are expecting? I know that there is so much uncertainty right now economically and socially, how will that translate into our willingness to purchase this year? Will we have a last "Hurrah!" or will we simply set on the sidelines and await the coming "Whateverthehellisgoingtohappennext"?

In an interview with POLITICO, Paul said he’ll return to Congress this week pushing measures long avoided by his party. He wants to work with liberal Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy and Republicans to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for pot possession. He wants to carve a compromise immigration plan with an “eventual path” to citizenship for illegal immigrants, a proposal he believes could be palatable to conservatives. And he believes his ideas — along with pushing for less U.S. military intervention in conflicts overseas — could help the GOP broaden its tent and appeal to crucial voting blocs that handed Democrats...

Based on the popular National Geographic Channel TV show by the same name, Doomsday Preppers challenges you to prepare for a new (and even more fabulous) life below the ground. Design a multi-level dream bunker complete with everything you need for post-apocalyptic bliss, from a gym to a greenhouse to a disco bar! Video at Link

America is in incipient decline, and this week’s presidential election might be the last chance to reverse it. We are becoming a different sort of country, with a different people and different beliefs. Another four years of Barack Obama well might take us past the point of no return, although no-one, to be sure, knows quite where that lies. There is still time to change course. There might not be time by 2016. Nearly a third of Americans now depend on food stamps, welfare, disability payments, or some other form of government support, compared with one out of five when...

I don't live in a battle ground state but I've noticed a lack of yard signs this year for politicians. Four years ago it seemed that everyone had a yard sign and Obama was everywhere, even here in southern Kentucky. I've seen a few bumper stickers on vehicles over by the university but really haven't seen a lot of them either. I'm curious if anyone else could tell me if I'm just early or just in the wrong place to see the usual mania that the elections provide. I keep seeing the polls and wonder if there's so much support...

Recently an Egyptian Muslim posted a YouTube videotape of himself cursing Islam and its holy book, the Koran; then tearing it to pieces and throwing it in the garbage. Here are excerpts of what he said: There it is, Allah's book; this is the basic catastrophe. I don't know what day it is of this disgusting month of Ramadan. You are making the tearing of the Quran such a big and dangerous thing... it is instinctive to tear up this book, those sons of [profanity] think they can threaten me and challenge me not to tear up the Quran, but...

London-Based Shiite Cleric Abdallah Al-Khilaf: Wahhabi Fatwa Permits Sodomy to Widen the Anus as a Means to Jihad The Internet, Fadak TV (U.K.) - June 16, 2012 Video at Link

I will not address the scientific grounds for circumcision (which among other things drastically reduces the transmission of infections including AIDS), because your decree has nothing to do with science. Rather, as Heinrich Heine wrote in 1844 of your city of Cologne, Dummheit und Bosheitbuhltenhier GleichHunden auf freierGasse; Die Enkelbruterkennt man nochheut An ihremJudenhasse. (Stupidity and evil mated here / Like dogs in the open gutter / You still can recognize their descendants today / By their Jew-hatred).

Video at link

On Tuesday night, thousands of Iranians looked up at the sky in the hopes of seeing the Pepsi logo appear on the moon. In the past few days, rumors had swelled on Iranian websites and social networks, saying that Pepsi Co. was going to shoot powerful lasers at the moon to display the brand’s colors on its surface. Some took this as a joke; others believed it. Either way, many went up on their roofs to inspect the moon at the announced time. Our Observers in Tehran tell us more.