Free Republic

As the father of three daughters, I reserved the right to interview their dates. . . For the next few hours, she would be affected by his ability to drive a car, avoid the bad crowds and stay sober. I wanted to know if he could do it. I wanted to know if he was decent. This was my word: “decent.” Would he treat my daughter with kindness and respect? Could he be trusted to bring her home on time? In his language, actions and decisions, would he be a decent guy? Decency mattered to me as a dad, and...

So, listen, to get this out of the way, I am sure there are a lot of Donald Trump supporters who are not garbage human beings. I am sure there are quite a lot of them who just quite frankly don’t know about the abominable things he’s done since he started this campaign (including his mockery of a disabled reporter, his likening Ben Carson to a child molester, his multiple intentional lies about his own past positions, his open courting of white supremacists, or his lengthy history of supporting Democrats, including Hillary Clinton). Some (many?) of his supporters just see...

Donald Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president, claims in Saturday night's debate that the most recent Republican president, George W. Bush, knowingly and purposefully lied us into war in Iraq. President Bush's brother, Jeb Bush, briefly defends his brother the president but quickly turns his defense into a complaint that he's tired of Donald Trump criticizing his mother and his family. Jeb is apparently too wounded to be outraged. George W. Bush shows up to campaign for his brother two days later in South Carolina and chooses not to directly address the charge. George W. Bush...

UPDATE AS OF 2 P.M. EDT, SATURDAY, MARCH 19: Radiation doses at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant continue to decrease. Radiation dose rates at the site boundary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant ranged from 1 millirem to 3 millirem per hour on March 18. Eighteen locations were monitored in a 30-kilometer to 60-kilometer radius of the plant. The highest radiation dose rate at any of those locations was 14 millirem per hour. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) is installing high voltage cables from a nearby transmission line to reactors 1 and 2 at Fukushima Daiichi. Power is...

UPDATE AS OF 10:00 A.M. EDT, SATURDAY, MARCH 19: At a March 19 news conference, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said that sea water injection is continuing at reactors 1, 2 and 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Preparations were being made to spray water into the used fuel pool at reactor 4, and an unmanned vehicle sprayed more than 1,500 gallons of water over seven hours into the used fuel pool at reactor 3, Edano said. He also said he believed that the situation at the reactor 3 fuel pool is stabilizing. Some reactor cooling capacity...

Let me finish tonight in what I believe is an important statement on the Presidency of Ronald Reagan. I should start with a pair of complaints. I think the stewardship of this planet is vital - literally - to the living things upon it - that includes us. Since we are the only thinking beings on it, we have the innate duty to protect it. I don't think Ronald Reagan took that duty to heart. It got in the way of his belief of unbound free enterprise. Honestly, I don't see how we can call "free" enterprises that destroy the...

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and discipline. No matter what happens with this election, even if The One wins, let us not fall to Obama Derangement Syndrome. It's not the end of the world. It's not even the end of the United States as we know it. The genius of America is its people. It only means we need to continue to work, and to remember God is in control and has a plan. Let's all hang in there.

Obama is our only hope for peace in Middle East Published Saturday, April 5, 2008 Editor, the Tribune: Ever wonder why so many independent-minded conservatives are choosing Barack Obama over John McCain and Hillary Clinton? Peace. Obama has opposed the war in Iraq since its start. Clinton supported the war at first but changed her mind for political reasons. McCain has been behind the war all along. Listening to Obama’s speeches and debates, and researching his positions, reveals a man who will not only bring our troops home but will not start new wars. McCain jokes about starting new wars...

<p>With the end of the first week of March, there has so far been only a single American fatality this month (incurred in a non-combat Iraqi helicopter crash). If that were to continue (and it could change tomorrow), we are in a period in which the entire war could be redefined as something analogous to ongoing operations in Afghanistan or even the Balkans. And that, coupled with Iraq’s strong economic performance and political improvement, would radically change the Obama message of Iraqi as an ungodly horror worthy of abject withdrawal.</p>

Former executive spooks some, but not all, faculty By ABRAHAM MAHSHIE of the Tribune’s staff Published Friday, December 21, 2007 Faculty reaction to the naming of Gary Forsee as the new University of Missouri System president yesterday ranged from fear and anger to satisfaction and confidence. "I’m alarmed," said John Kultgen, a retired MU professor of philosophy who wrote a letter to curators when Forsee’s name first surfaced asking to "please, please do not view the university as a corporation that turns out a standardized product or just another bureaucratic structure reaching for a larger share at the public trough."...

Mr. Speaker, On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln rose on the platform at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, following a two-hour oration by Edward Everett, and gave a brief but eloquent discourse that has become a prominent part of our country's heritage. At the dedication of the Gettysburg National cemetery, he acknowledged: "The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is, for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced." Can we find...

Chuck Hagel for president By ROBERT SCHEER Published Sunday, January 21, 2007 Chuck Hagel for president! If it ever narrows down to a choice between him and some Democratic hack who hasn’t the guts to fundamentally challenge the president on Iraq, then the conservative Republican from Nebraska will have my vote. Yes, the war is that important, and the fact that Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, the leading Democratic candidate, still can’t or won’t take a clear stand on the occupation is insulting to the vast majority of voters who have. Hagel is a decorated Vietnam War vet who...

I am posting this as information for anyone who has, or plans to use Potter's School online classes at Pottersschool.org. I think it's important that you know the kind of folks you may be subjecting your children to. Background: My daughter took a class from this group a couple of years ago. The Director at the time was a lady named Janna Gilbert. Ms. Gilbert was always polite and easy to deal with. Based on a good experience, we signed up (this past April) two or our younger children for classes next year. My wife took care of it and...

Iraqi pharmacist asks for troop withdrawal By JANESE HEAVIN of the Tribune’s staff Published Wednesday, March 22, 2006 The image of a child with amputated limbs lying in a hospital bed stared from the projector screen, followed by images of burning buildings and bleeding U.S. soldiers. Iraqi pharmacist Rashad Zidan speaks to students during an after-school gathering yesterday at Rock Bridge High School. Zidan said the United States should withdraw troops from her country immediately. For eight minutes, students and guests at Rock Bridge High School watched a grueling slide show highlighting the anguish and suffering Rashad Zidan says...

My wife just returned from seeing End of the Spear (opening night) with other ladies. She said it was amazingly powerful, and a must-see for all believers. For those who are not familiar with this movie, it is the followup to Gates of Spendor, about the five young missionaries martyed in Ecuador in the 1950's. After they are killed trying to reach this primitive and dangerous tribe, their wives approach the tribe and actually live with them for an extended time, bringing the Good News to them. They are now a Christian people, saved because of the incredible courage of...

A friend of my daughter is a freshman at Mizzou. She thought she had signed up for a literature class, but the lefty professor has turned it into a 1950's history class, complete with the predictable attacks on conservatives over HUAC, McCarthy, Korean War, H-bomb (Oppenheimer vs. Teller), Hollywood "blacklist," big business (McDonalds), suburbia, etc. She has asked me to recommend some books that provide a conservative perspective on that time period. I have already recommended Treason (Coulter) for the section on McCarthy. I would appreciate any suggestions my Freeper friends may have. Remember, this is on her own time...

I just bought an Innotek invisible dog fence, but I need about 1000' of additional wire. Do I have to buy their add-on or is there something at the hardware store I can use? Thanks for any help.

Officer Bowden dies of injuries By the Tribune’s staff Published on columbiatribune.com Thursday, February 10, 2005 Columbia police Officer Molly Bowden died Thursday of gunshot wounds she suffered Jan. 10 after stopping a motorist for a traffic violation. Bowden, 26, was struck three times by gunfire in the neck and shoulder. Columbia police Maj. Sam Hargadine said in a news release that the department learned about 1:30 p.m. Thursday that Bowden had died of those injuries. “Officer Bowden gave a valiant effort and will be deeply missed,” Hargadine said in the news release. “Our heartfelt appreciation goes to this community...

Maria donates $10,000 to Thai quake victims 29th December 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova, due to play an exhibition match in Thailand against Venus Williams, will donate $10,000 to help victims of the killer tsunamis that hit the kingdom, a minister said on Wednesday. Deputy Prime Minister and tennis association head Suwat Liptapanlop said the Russian starlet, scheduled to arrive in Bangkok late on Wednesday, had notified him about her generosity. "She informed us that she wanted to donate 10,000 dollars of her own money to the government's victim relief fund," Suwat said. The fund, launched yesterday, had already received...

Mort Kondracke and Fred Barnes seemed to agree tonight that John Breaux will announce his retirement Monday. Anyone heard anything more on this?