Free Republic

Reading Going Rogue was something of a test for myself - could I find the place of appreciation, respect, and even love for Sarah Palin? What I found is that it wasn't really that hard, actually, simply by taking the time to meet her on her own turf rather than through sounds bites, spin, and polarized media battles. Reading someone's personal memoir is an intimate journey into their inner sanctum, and I developed a real appreciation for Sarah in reading the book. Aspects of her that seemed coarse, simplistic, or combative during the campaign were revealed to be a product...

An official announcement by the Obama administration disclosing the reality of extraterrestrial life is imminent. For several months, senior administration officials have been quietly deliberating behind closed doors how much to disclose to the world about extraterrestrial life. Dissatisfaction among powerful institutions such as the U.S. Navy over the decades-long secrecy policy has given a boost to efforts to disclose the reality of extraterrestrial life and technology. The impending disclosure announcement follows upon the secret implementation of a year long openness policy on UFOs and extraterrestrial life. Over the period February 12-14, 2008, the United Nations held closed doors discussions...

Drivers Should Be Forced To Pay Per Mile To Save The Planet, Finds Climate Watchdog By DAVID DERBYSHIRE 12th October 2009 Motorists should be forced to pay to drive on the busiest roads to slash greenhouse gas emissions, the Government's climate change watchdog says today. The Climate Change Committee, led by former CBI chief Lord Turner, wants ministers to introduce compulsory road pricing to prevent global warming. Under the controversial scheme, cars would be fitted with electronic tags and tracked either by satellite or roadside beacon. Charges would rise at times of peak congestion to around £1.50 a mile. Heavy...

Well, as it happens, our new president has no slave ancestry, and neither branch of his parentage could have been owned by anybody, or at least not by anybody American. (Muslim-run slavery, though, is an old story in Africa as well as a horribly contemporary one.) And there were not a few elected black American representatives 40 years ago, even if mainly in Northern states. The objection I make is therefore twofold. First, the election of Obama is the effect not the cause of the changes. (One of my questioners appeared to think that our president-elect had been responsible for...

2008-01-30) — Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards today quit the race for the Democrat presidential nomination, and immediately endorsed Republican frontrunner Sen. John McCain.

When the U.S. Navy deploys a battle fleet on exercises, it takes the security of its aircraft carriers very seriously indeed. At least a dozen warships provide a physical guard while the technical wizardry of the world's only military superpower offers an invisible shield to detect and deter any intruders. That is the theory. Or, rather, was the theory. Uninvited guest: A Chinese Song Class submarine, like the one that sufaced by the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close...

WASHINGTON- Internet giant Google has banned advertisements critical of MoveOn.org, the far-left advocacy group that caused a national uproar last month when it received preferential treatment from The New York Times for its “General Betray Us” message. The ads banned by Google were placed by a firm working for Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ re-election campaign. Collins is seeking her third term. Earlier this week, Google told Lance Dutson, president of Maine Coast Designs, that the ads he placed for Collins had been removed and would not be allowed to resume because they violated Google’s trademark policy. Google’s Web site states,...

BRUSSELS/LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Microsoft suffered a decisive antitrust defeat in Europe on Monday, sending its shares down 2 percent in pre-market trade. A European Union court backed a European Commission ruling that Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, illegally abused its market power to crush competitors. Europe's top competition regulator said the ruling could lead to a "significant drop" in Microsoft's 95 percent market share. Shares in the U.S. software giant fell before the opening bell in New York on the Luxembourg-based court's ruling. The stock was down 2.2 percent at $28.40 in pre-market trading. "Its clearly a major defeat...

The reporter intended the anecdote that opened part four of the Boston Globe's profile of Mitt Romney to illustrate, as the story said, "emotion-free crisis management": Father deals with minor — but gross — incident during a 1983 family vacation, and saves the day. But the details of the event are more than unseemly — they may, in fact, be illegal.

When former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton took a family vacation in January 2002 to Acapulco, Mexico, one of their longtime supporters, Vinod Gupta, provided his company’s private jet to fly them there. The company, infoUSA, one of the nation’s largest brokers of information on consumers, paid $146,866 to ferry the Clintons, Mr. Gupta and others to Acapulco and back, court records show. During the next four years, infoUSA paid Mr. Clinton more than $2 million for consulting services, and spent almost $900,000 to fly him around the world for his presidential foundation work and to fly...

Read the wisdom of Prince Charles!

It was refreshing commentary tonight on CNN,(I cannot believe I just said that).

CBS Fearful Kerry Comments Will Mobilize GOP Base Wednesday’s "Early Show" on CBS highlighted Senator John Kerry’s disparaging remarks about the American military in three separate segments, but instead of expressing outrage at Kerry’s comments, CBS seemed more concerned that the Republicans may use them for political gain in the midterm elections. While CBS omitted mentions that some Democrats have refused to campaign with Kerry and others have asked that he apologize, the network pondered if the outrage expressed by Republicans was an effort to "fire up the base" or simply a "desperate" attempt to change the subject. Co-host Hannah...

OK, now things are getting weird. This Reuters photograph shows blatant evidence of manipulation. Notice the repeating patterns in the smoke; this is almost certainly caused by using the Photoshop “clone” tool to add more smoke to the image. (Hat tip: Mike.) It’s so incredibly obvious, it reminds me of the faked CBS memos. Smoke simply does not contain repeating symmetrical patterns like this, and you can see the repetition in both plumes of smoke. There’s really no question about it. But it’s not only the plumes of smoke that were “enhanced.” There are also cloned buildings. (See below.) [More...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest theme park has called off the country's first "National Muslim Fun Day" because of lack of interest, the park said Wednesday. Alton Towers in central England was to open on September 17 for Muslims -- with halal food, a strict dress code and prayer areas. Music, gambling and alcohol were to be banned for the day and theme park rides such as "Ripsaw," "Corkscrew" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" all segregated by sex. But the park said the event's organizers, Islamic Leisure, who rented the park for the day and were marketing the event,...

HARTFORD, Conn. — A Yale University historian has uncovered a 1918 letter that seems to lend validity to the lore that Yale University's ultra-secret Skull and Bones society swiped the skull of American Indian leader Geronimo. The letter, written by one member of Skull and Bones to another, purports that the skull and some of the Indian leader's remains were spirited from his burial plot in Fort Sill, Okla., to a stone tomb in New Haven that serves as the club's headquarters. According to Skull and Bones legend, members — including President Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush — dug up Geronimo's...

A University graduate careened a rented silver Jeep Grand Cherokee through the Pit about noon Friday, striking nine pedestrians and sending six to UNC Hospitals. Mohammed Reza Taheriazar, 23, who graduated in 2005, is in custody at the Department of Public Safety after turning himself in after the incident. He was born May 5, 1983, according to University registrar records. He was a psychology and philosophy major. He was published in The Charlotte Observer for dean's list honors in spring 2005. He is still listed as a senior in the print directory. At about 2 p.m., a bomb threat was...

Nothing is more costly or dangerous than a failed presidency. The powers of the office are without rival. The scope of responsibility spans the globe. When a presidency fails, we all pay the price -- no matter what our politics. As George Bush serves up his State of the Union address, his presidency is in virtual collapse. None of this will be apparent on the TV screen. The address will be "interrupted" with numerous standing ovations. The pundits will be respectful. The Democratic response will seem muted. As Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton understood, a president never looks better than...

The $16.5 million mansion -- which sits at the foot of Vallejo Street, between the Presidio and some of the city's most hoity-toity addresses -- offers a sweeping view of the bay.

The new Hooters restaurant may have gotten an unwelcome reception from some of the community's religious leaders, but tonight it will get a little help from above. As part of a private opening party, Monsignor Isidore Rozycki, the head Catholic priest for the Greater Waco area, plans to bless the chain's newest location at New Road and Interstate 35. The public won't be able to attend the event. But they can bask in the divine dedication starting Tuesday morning, when the restaurant officially opens. “Blessings are part of the Catholic tradition,” said Rozycki, who is pastor of St. Martin's Church...

Former Liberal Democrat leadership challenger Mark Oaten has stood down as the party's home affairs spokesman over an alleged affair with a rent boy. Mr Oaten released a statement apologising for the "embarrassment" caused to his family, friends and the Liberal Democrat party. Married Mr Oaten, 41, and the MP for Winchester, dropped out of the Lib Dem leadership race this week. The statement follows claims to be made in a Sunday newspaper. News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner said Mr Oaten had been confronted with details of a relationship with a 23-year-old rent boy by reporters from...

Two University of Wisconsin freshmen appeared in court Jan. 17 facing felony charges of disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property as hate crimes. The students, Benjamin Chamberlain and Michael Riha, allegedly vandalized the dorm room door of a UW student and LGBT liaison in Ogg Hall Dec. 21, according to court documents. Also charged and due to appear in Dane County Court Feb. 13 are Purdue University freshman Kevin Cochacki and Auburn University freshman Caleb Moore, both of whom were visiting Riha, their Naperville, Ill., high school friend. According to court documents, Chamberlain is a U.S. Marine ROTC student,...

AN ISLAMIC campaign group has called for a Catholic primary school to be based on the Muslim faith. The Campaign for Muslim Schools said 90 per cent of pupils at St Albert's Primary, in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, are Muslim, yet children are having to take part in Catholic rituals like saying the Lord's Prayer and attending mass. Osama Saeed, co-ordinator of the alliance of Glasgow's main mosques and Muslim organisations, said he could see no reason why the main faith of the school should not change. He said: "Clearly the parents of that area find a faith school,...

<p>Al Franken and the other liberals are probably still wondering why they had such little luck in their efforts to start a talk-radio network to bash George Bush from the left. They didn't consider the obvious explanation. George Bush has his left flank nicely covered. It's on the right that he's weak.</p>

Elijah Muhammad (Elijah Poole) began his advocacy for black supremacy in the 1930s when he met W.D. Fard, an ex-convict who preached that he was Allah’s last prophet. Fard had much success in influencing his flock, and Elijah Muhammad became heavily involved in the movement, calling himself the “Divine Messenger of Allah.” The Divine Messenger was born in 1897 in Sandersville, Georgia. In his message to the black men of America, Muhammad refers to Caucasians as “White devils,” “men of sin,” “beasts,” “serpents,” “anti-Christs,” and “archdeceivers.” The white devils “cannot produce good, for they are without the nature of good”...

SHAKOPEE, Minn. (AP) Once the thin blue mattress rolls out from under the single bed, the prison cell is sleepover-ready. The trundle bed is the best thing Suzanne Locke has here. Along with good behavior, it allows her to host her 6-year-old daughter, Marae, for monthly overnight visits during her 12-year sentence for arson in the state prison for women. "She's my saving grace," said Locke, 26, who says she was high on methamphetamine four years ago when she set fire to a Bemidji duplex and a trailer home over unpaid drug debts. "This little girl loves me. She's got...

I came here today because I believe that American democracy is in grave danger. It is no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse. I know that I am not the only one who feels that something has gone basically and badly wrong in the way America's fabled "marketplace of ideas" now functions. How many of you, I wonder, have heard a friend or a family member in the last few years remark that it's almost as if America has entered "an alternate universe"?

Israel's supreme court has banned the use of Palestinian human shields in arrest raids, saying the practice violates international law. The court issued a temporary injunction against the practice in 2002 after a teenager was killed when troops made him negotiate with a wanted militant.

Mayor Ray Nagin says the city has to lay off as many as 3,000 workers.

it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Jalila, the new Arab super heroine, coursing across the sky, black hair flying, in her battle to right the wrongs and ensure that justice prevails in West Asia. "I'll make you swallow your teeth, killer!" she threatens her foe, muscles rippling under her skin-tight garb, as she lands a hard right to the chops. Also see: Sify Offbeat special Tough as she is, Jalila, the creation of 36-year-old Egyptian Ayman Kandeel, is not left on her own to fight the forces of evil. There are also Aya the Princess of Darkness,...

...developing. Searched, no story yet.

Howie Carr of WRKO Boston has posted a new Mary Jo Kopechne photo at http://fatboy.cc/live_from_chappaquiddick.htm This is the first new Mary Jo Photo since 1969 to appear.

This would be a new low, even for the Times ----- NY TIMES INVESTIGATES ADOPTION RECORDS OF SUPREME COURT NOMINEE'S CHILDREN **Exclusive** The NEW YORK TIMES is looking into the adoption records of the children of Supreme Court Nominee John G. Roberts, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. The TIMES has investigative reporter Glen Justice hot on the case to investigate the status of adoption records of Judge Roberts’ two young children, Josie age 5 and Jack age 4, a top source reveals. Judge Roberts and his wife Jane adopted the children when they each were infants. Both children were adopted...

Lottery Winner's Granddaughter Found Dead SCOTT DEPOT, W.Va. - The 17-year-old granddaughter of the nation's largest lottery winner was found dead near her boyfriend's home, her body wrapped in a sheet and plastic tarp. "All I know is she OD'd and Brandon freaked out," Steve Crosier, the father of Brandi Bragg's boyfriend, Brandon, told reporters in a brief conversation outside the house. Bragg, who lived in the nearby town of Hurricane, was last seen alive Dec. 4. She was reported missing five days later by Jack Whittaker, who won a $314.9 million jackpot on Christmas Day 2002 but has battled...

Arabs No Longer Want 'Devil They Know' in White House Mon Oct 25, 2004 07:23 AM ET By Jonathan Wright CAIRO (Reuters) - In U.S. presidential elections Arab leaders usually prefer the devil they know over any candidate challenging the man in the White House, however much they view the incumbent as an overbearing partner. But as Americans choose between President Bush and Senator John Kerry on Nov. 2, analysts say many Arabs wonder whether anyone could be worse than a U.S. president who occupied Iraq, aligned himself with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and turned his back on the...

WASHINGTON Sept. 3, 2004 — America's payrolls picked up in August, with the economy adding 144,000 jobs, slightly less than economists were forecasting and highlighting the slow and uneven recovery in the labor market that jobseekers have braved. The unemployment rate dipped to 5.4 percent last month from 5.5 percent in July. But the drop in the jobless rate in August came as people left the work force for any number of reasons, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists were predicting the jobless rate to hold steady in August. The gain in payrolls was short of the 150,000 net jobs...

Alan Keyes, the Republican candidate for a vacant U.S. Senate seat in Illinois, said Tuesday that Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary is a "selfish hedonist" because she is a lesbian. His comments came during an interview with SIRIUS satellite radio. Keyes said: "The essence of ... family life remains procreation. If we embrace homosexuality as a proper basis for marriage, we are saying that it's possible to have a marriage state that in principal excludes procreation and is based simply on the premise of selfish hedonism." Asked whether that meant Mary Cheney "is a selfish hedonist," Keyes said: "That...

<p>California's mess is a capital political crime that more than just tarnishes the Golden State.</p> <p>The Sacramento gang has created a fiscal mess more than 20 times worse than anything Congress could manufacture.</p> <p>California's budget deficit works out to more than $1,000 per resident and makes New York City look fiscally responsible.</p> <p>California's deficit is 20 percent of state spending and a third of its operating budget. If every state worker were fired, California would still be at least $10 billion in the red.</p>

The Media Research Center has just announced it's Fifteenth Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting. Please access link for article......

Following ballot initiatives in some parts of the country this fall, local authorities and experts agree that any form of legalization or decriminalization of narcotics is a bad idea. Mary Sloan, prevention supervisor for Northwest Iowa Drug and Alcohol Treatment Unit, had one word to describe the proposals - wrong. "It normalizes use - it gives society a message that if it's legal then it's normal for people to use," she said. "And we do know that marijuana is addictive. People talk about hard drugs and soft drugs - it is a drug. "It can cause problems for people physically...

Trent Lott, the Republican Party's eternal Maalox moment, has given the Beltway's liberal pontiffs on race exactly what they crave: a big, fat excuse to extract legislative payoffs to ease their collective "pain." On Wednesday, the Senate Republican leader went on Fox News and CNN promising more race-conscious government remedies to make amends for his tacit endorsement of segregation. In interviews with Sean Hannity and Larry King, Lott cravenly pledged support for "community renewal" (more minority set-asides); said he would "put more money into education so no child is left behind" (more federal spending for failed urban programs); and boasted...

<p>BATON ROUGE -- An already-bitter U.S. Senate campaign got personal Saturday afternoon at the conclusion of a taped debate between Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican state Elections Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell.</p> <p>After a tense 30-minute segment finished taping at WDSU's studios in New Orleans, the two candidates were preparing to leave. According to witnesses, Landrieu looked over her shoulder and told Terrell, "This is your last campaign."</p>