Free Republic

Assemblyman John A. Perez's final opponent has bowed out, setting the stage for the first-term Democrat to be selected Assembly speaker today -- the first openly gay man to hold the post. After behind-closed-door talks this week with Perez and other political leaders, . . .

The woman who claimed she was raped on the side of a Ladue roadway now says she made the whole story up. Virginia Burns, 50, of Overland, Missouri says she was not raped like she told police nearly two weeks ago. Burns is also not disabled. Burns claimed she was driving on McKnight Road on November 30 when she ran out of gas. She said she got into her wheelchair and began heading down the road when two white males pulled her into a wooded area and raped her. Burns went on to say that she crawled back to her...

HAVANA: Fidel Castro is calling President Barack Obama's accepting of the Nobel Peace Prize a "cynical act," given that he is sending 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan. The 83-year-old former Cuban leader initially applauded Obama's selection, but he has backed off that recently. In a column on a government website on Wednesday, Castro wrote: "Why did Obama accept the Nobel Peace Prize when he had already decided to take the war in Afghanistan to its ultimate limit?" Castro said Obama "was not obligated to commit a cynical act" by accepting the prize. He said Obama's Dec. 1 speech during...

American Dream 2: Default, Then Rent By MARK WHITEHOUSE PALMDALE, Calif. -- Schoolteacher Shana Richey misses the playroom she decorated with Glamour Girl decals for her daughters. Fireman Jay Fernandez misses the custom putting green he installed in his backyard. But ever since they quit paying their mortgages and walked away from their homes, they've discovered that giving up on the American dream has its benefits. Both now live on the 3100 block of Club Rancho Drive in Palmdale, where a terrible housing market lets them rent luxurious homes -- one with a pool for the kids, the other with...

I have to admit, it was one of the strangest speeches Obama has ever given. In Obama usual grand way, his rhetoric was high flying, and a mixture of pragmatism and nonsense. But it does provide a window into his mind, and it is a shocking view.Obama provided an empassioned defense of America’s wars as ‘just’ wars for humanitarian reasons…something George W. Bush campaigned on worldwide during his presidency. We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth that we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations – acting individually or in concert –...

A political scuffle has broken out about which lawmakers will be allowed to go to Copenhagen, Demark, on a congressional delegation led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Days before legislators are scheduled to discuss global warming at a climate change summit, accusations flew about the politics of who gets a codel invitation. Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.), a partisan Republican who has been an outspoken critic of climate change legislation, said Wednesday that even though he was invited by a senior Republican, he may not be allowed to go on the codel to Denmark next week. Pelosi is expected to lead...

I'm all for Ralph Nader running again. I'd love for Howard Dean to get fed up or some other Democrat to get fed up with Obama and I'd love for a third party of Democrats and liberals to establish itself. I want all kinds of liberals to line and up run in third parties. That's how we weaken their side. As for our side, the focus must be to take back the Republican Party. That's the way you win. You can draw attention to yourself by denouncing both parties at the same time, and you can think that you're relating...

In his third bid for Congress, Republican Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta is counting on a vastly different political climate than in his loss last year. Barletta railed against President Barack Obama's policies in a video on his campaign Web site Wednesday as he launched a third campaign for the seat held by 13-term Democratic Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski of Nanticoke. Barletta lost to Kanjorski in 2002 and 2008, but faces a potentially different race next year. First, unlike his earlier runs, he has a Republican opponent aggressively attacking him. Chris Paige, a Monroe County Republican challenging for the nomination, said...

'Climategate' demands investigation By FLYNN ESPE The East Oregonian Have y'all heard about this "Climategate" business, the one about the 160 megabytes of e-mails and other information that was either leaked or hacked from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit? This is potentially one of the biggest scandals of the decade, but you sure wouldn't know it by flipping on CNN or from any of the top stories trickling down from the mainstream media. If, in fact, you aren't familiar, this is a news story that broke about three weeks ago. The information that was made public contains,...

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea said Friday that it understands the need to resume the stalled international talks on ending its nuclear programs, and that it agrees to work with the United States to narrow unspecified "remaining differences." The statement from North Korea's Foreign Ministry was the first reaction from the communist nation to three days of high-level talks with President Barack Obama's special envoy. Upon returning from North Korea on Thursday, envoy Stephen Bosworth made similar remarks in Seoul that the two sides reached common understandings on the need to restart the nuclear talks. Though the North stopped...

Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters nationwide say they’re at least somewhat angry about the current policies of the federal government. That figure includes 46% who are Very Angry. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 27% are not angry about the government's policies, including 10% who are Not at All Angry........ The data suggests that the level of anger is growing. The 71% who are angry at federal government policies today is up five percentage points since September. Even more stunning, the 46% who are Very Angry is up 10 percentage points from September.

With the publication of damaging e-mails from a climate research center in Britain, the radical environmental movement appears to face a tipping point. The revelation of appalling actions by so-called climate change experts allows the American public to finally understand the concerns so many of us have articulated on this issue. "Climate-gate," as the e-mails and other documents from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia have become known, exposes a highly politicized scientific circle -- the same circle whose work underlies efforts at the Copenhagen climate change conference. The agenda-driven policies being pushed in Copenhagen won't...

Dallas doctor Malcolm Perry, who worked on JFK and Oswald, dies at 80 December 8, 2009 By SCOTT FARWELL Drs. Malcolm O. Perry and Robert McClelland began their friendship in July 1958 at Parkland Memorial Hospital, where they slept on bunk beds and spent hours with their hands in patients – one clamping off arteries while the other stitched up holes. It was a time of exhaustion and adrenaline. And it was a time of history. Drs. Perry and McClelland were two of the four doctors who struggled to save a mortally wounded President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22,...

COPEN­HA­GEN — The top Amer­i­can envoy to cli­mate talks here flat­ly re­ject­ed argu­ments Wednes­day by diplo­mats from poor lands that the Unit­ed States owes a debt to de­vel­op­ing na­tions for decades of Amer­i­can emis­sions that con­tribut­ed to glob­al warm­ing. It was not the first time that the Amer­i­can ne­go­tia­tor, Todd D. Stern, had dis­missed the no­tion. But his words high­light­ed the di­vide that per­sists between the poor and the wealthy as near­ly 200 na­tions try to sketch the out­li­nes of a new pact on cli­mate change here. Asked about argu­ments by diplo­mats and some protesters that the Unit­ed States should...

Stars Express Support For Military Commissions, Support Reversing Holder’s Decision NEW YORK, DECEMBER 5, 2009 — Today, some of America’s most gifted actors and entertainers have signed a statement expressing outrage over Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four 9/11 co-conspirators in a civilian court in New York City... (See which stars have the courage to stand up in our nation's defense and read their statement after the jump.)

East meets West – Pakistan‘s Fighter Aircraft US-built fighter aircraft operating next to Chinese combat jets 08:02 GMT, December 8, 2009 defpro.com | Not many modern armed forces unite in their inventory, and particularly among their key assets, technology from two – in political terms – entirely opposite origins. It is more common in the countries of the former Soviet bloc where, since the fall of the iron curtain, Western technology slowly but ever increasingly found its way into countries primarily equipped with Russian weapon systems. In the past two decades the Middle East and southern countries of the Asian...

Unions pressure Democrats on health insurance taxBy Erica Werner, Associated Press Writer Thu Dec 10, 6:15 pm ET WASHINGTON – Union leaders, among the most passionate backers of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, pressed Democratic senators Thursday to drop a tax on high-value insurance plans to pay for remaking the nation's system. Members of several labor unions denounced the proposed tax on so-called "Cadillac plans," arguing it wouldn't just hit CEOs but also middle-class Americans who did without salary increases to negotiate better health benefits. "I support health care reform but I can't afford this tax," Valerie Castle Stanley,...

The public's overall assessment of the condition of the national economy remains grim; 77 percent of Americans say the economy is in bad shape. The economic stimulus package was supposed to help with that. As of the end of November, the government has spent $217 billion in stimulus, and two Republican Senators say that at least 15 percent of it has been pure waste, as CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports. You probably wouldn't guess that a martini bar and a Brazilian steak house would be on tap for stimulus funds. But in St. Joseph, Missouri the two privately-owned facilities...

Republican Jimmy Higdon has won today’s special election for the 14th state Senate District seat, the Lexington Herald-Leader is reporting. The newspaper says Democrat Jodie Haydon, who was backed by the thoroughbred horse industry, called to concede. (Here are the results by county.) The win deals Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear a major blow in his bid to pave the way for legislation to allow video lottery terminals at racetracks, which passed the Democrat-controlled House during June’s special legislative session but died in committee in the Republican controlled Senate. With tonight’s election, Republicans hold a two-seat majority in the Senate heading...

A federal judge on Thursday ruled the Defense Department in contempt of court for failing to videotape the testimony of a Guantanamo Bay detainee so that the public and the news media could see it. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler is demanding a detailed explanation of why the Pentagon failed to conduct the taping, as she had directed, of testimony by Mohammed Al-Adahi of Yemen. He testified June 23 in a challenge to his indefinite detention at the prison in Cuba. In August, Kessler ordered the government to "take all necessary and appropriate diplomatic steps" to facilitate Al-Adahi's release. The...

COPENHAGEN — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar joined the Obama administration’s charm offensive in Copenhagen on Thursday — and took some shots at the Bush administration in the process. “As much as the world awoke to the dangers of climate change, the political leadership of the United States simply slept,” Salazar said in a briefing at the U.S. center here. “Confronting the impact of climate change was simply not a priority.” He said things have changed since the election of Barack Obama. “I’m here in today in Copenhagen on behalf of President Obama to deliver a simple message: The United States...

Speaker Pelosi: We would do 'almost anything' to pass healthcare this yearBy Mike Soraghan - 12/10/09 12:00 PM ET House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) laid out a scenario Thursday in which the massive overhaul of the nation's health system could pass by the end of the year. If the Senate were to pass a bill by next Thursday, Dec. 17, she said, the House and Senate could conduct a conference committee during the next weekend and pass it before New Year's Day. “I think we would do almost anything if it meant we would pass healthcare for all Americans before...

~ It’s Finally Friday!! ~ HORNET REFUELING A U.S. Air Force KC-10 Extender aircraft refuels a Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft over Afghanistan, Dec. 7, 2009. The squadron is part of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, which is deployed to the region. The Super Hornet is assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 41. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j. g. Kyle Terwilliger Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY A member of the joint international security force in Afghanistan eyes...

A visit to North Korea by U.S. envoy Stephen Bosworth ended in failure Thursday to convince the North to return to multilateral nuclear disarmament talks. "We identified some common understandings on the need for and the role of the six-party talks and the importance of the implementation of the 2005 Joint Statement," Bosworth told reporters. "It remains to be seen when and how [North Korea] will return to the six-party talks." He added, "This is something that requires further consultations among all six of us." But Bosworth claimed he had "very useful" meetings with senior North Korean officials. Further bilateral...

A mysterious giant spiral of light that dominated the sky over Norway on Wednesday has stunned experts — raising the possibility of an entirely new astral phenomenon. Thousands of awe-struck Norwegians bombarded the Meteorological Institute to ask what the incredible light — which could be seen in the pre-dawn sky for hundreds of miles — could possibly be. Theories have ranged from a misfired Russian missile, meteor fireball, never-before-seen type of northern light, black hole and even alien activity. Witnesses across Norway all described seeing a spinning "Catherine wheel-style" spiral of white light, centered around a bright moon-like star....

Newly appointed Chief of Staff of the Russian Land Forces, Lieutenant-General Sergey Skokov, recently made a statement that caused a major sensation across the Russian Federation. Speaking about possible conflicts that Russia may face in the future, he outlined three distinct scenarios: fighting in the "western, southern" and eastern" directions...

Welcome to the ~ Freeper Canteen ~ Christmas Cookie Exchange To all you wonderful bakers out there......do you have a favorite cookie recipe? We've made a few to share.... Peppermint Meltaways Recipe Ingredients 1 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup cornstarch FROSTING: 2 tablespoons butter, softened 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 2 tablespoons milk 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract 2 to 3 drops red food coloring, optional 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies Directions In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in extract. Combine...

Hollywood poised for record-breaking year at the box office; 2009 set to best 2007's record intakeBy Amy Eisinger DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Thursday, December 10th 2009, 3:26 PM The Hollywood box office is having its best year in history, reports Hollywood.com Box Office. This week the box office grand total for 2009 is expected to hit $9.682 billion -- surpassing previous record holder 2007, when the tally was $9.68 billion. With potential top-grossing holiday films still to come, Hollywood is bracing for their first $10 billion year ever. Movies that are still on the way this year include James Cameron's...

US intelligence officials are concerned that Syria is becoming an al Qaeda haven, as the terror group becomes increasingly intertwined with Ba’athist groups operating from Iraq's neighbor to the west. Al Qaeda has refocused its efforts to build an infrastructure in eastern Syria after its network in Iraq was decimated by Iraqi and US security forces from 2007 to 2009, and now the organization is partnering with former Ba’athists from Saddam Hussein’s regime. "A major concern is that eastern Syria will begin to look like northwestern Pakistan," where al Qaeda has joined forces with the Taliban and directs attacks to...

President Obama goes to Copenhagen next week, and he is expected to promise to cut carbon emissions 83 percent by 2050. And John Stossel will have plenty to say about it Thursday night, when his new show, "Stossel," premieres on Fox Business at 8 p.m. EST. Expect Stossel to weigh in on the utter arrogance of the effort. A promise of 83 percent? Not 80 percent? Not 85 percent? And why do the world's leaders wnat to spend trillions on a theortical problem with millions dying from malnutrition, poor hygiene, and malaria.

Accepting Peace Prize, Obama Evokes 'Just War'2009-12-10 16:05:18 (4 hours ago) Posted By: Intellpuke President Obama, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize here in Oslo, Norway, on Thursday, acknowledged the age-old tensions between war and peace but argued that his recent decision to escalate the conflict in Afghanistan was justified to protect the world from terrorism and extremism. “We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth,” said President Obama. “We will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations - acting individually or in concert - will find the use of force not only necessary but...

Today, we announced that Nielsen Business Media has reached an agreement with e5 Global Media Holdings, LLC, a new company formed jointly by Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners, for the sale of eight brands in the Media and Entertainment Group, including Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek, The Clio Awards, Backstage, Billboard, Film Journal International and The Hollywood Reporter. e5 Global Media Holdings has also agreed to acquire our Film Expo business, which includes the ShoWest, ShowEast, Cinema Expo International and CineAsia trade shows. In addition, we’ve made the decision to cease operations for Editor & Publisher and Kirkus Reviews. This move...

Most descriptions of the award of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama have been shortened. The Nobel Prize website says it has been awarded to Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." One of the criticisms of this award is that it was decided after Obama was in office for only 9 days. Having actually expended very little effort, other than campaigning for the office, and having actually accomplished nothing seems antithetic to the letter and spirit of Alfred Nobel's desire to reward and acknowledge those who have done the most...

Public Policy Polling: Perhaps the greatest measure of Obama's declining support is that just 50% of voters now say they prefer having him as President to George W. Bush, with 44% saying they'd rather have his predecessor. Given the horrendous approval ratings Bush showed during his final term that's somewhat of a surprise and an indication that voters are increasingly placing the blame on Obama for the country's difficulties instead of giving him space because of the tough situation he inherited. The closeness in the Obama/Bush numbers also has implications for the 2010 elections. Using the Bush card may not...

“In a startling disclosure from an exchange at an East London mosque, Imam Abdul Makin and a leading Muslim lawyer have supported the killing and raping of non-Muslims, declaring all non-Muslims as guilty and subject to lethal abuse.”