Free Republic

Like Jay-Z and Lady Gaga, Harold Ford, Jr. has a tour rider. The former Tennessee congressman, who is now trying to carpetbag his way to a Senate seat in New York, banks about $20,000 when he gives speeches booked by the Greater Talent Network agency. According to the below contract for an appearance Wednesday at a Missouri college, Ford demands that when his limo driver picks him up, the chauffeur must be carrying a sign reading "H.F.." Presumably, if the Democrat's name was spelled out, hordes of fans/groupies would be alerted to his impending arrival and swarm him (something that...

"It looks like the [warming] empire strikes back. Obama is attempting to engineer a global warming bailout. This is a classic response of the federal government: Bail out a corrupt and dying industry," Marc Morano, editor of the watchdog site ClimateDepot.com, tells Inside the Beltway.

Roadside memorials are generally crosses, flowers, etc. little reminders placed by families at the side of roads where their loved ones died in car accidents or being run over. It appears that Atheist Activists are so saturated with hatred that they encourage the destruction and disposal of these. They refer to them as “macabre eyesores and dangerous distractions…offensive, annoying and depressing” and state, “When you do see them, remove them as soon as possible…the State condones religious symbols being placed along the road on State property. There is nothing stopping us from taking down these religious symbols. We don't need...

If you’re the President of the United States or one of his political appointees and you’re ideologically opposed to new oil and natural gas development offshore, what do you do when the public registers its overwhelming support for new drilling in public opinion polls?You dance, delay, and deceive. You speak melodious words about seeking the wisdom of the public in making these decisions and then ignore evidence of the public will when you get it, or worse, you hide it.First came the dance. In August 2008, after soaring gas prices and a dramatic shift in public opinion caused President Bush,...

Imam Zaid Shakir came to speak at my school, Claremont McKenna, on December 9th to respond to the “tragedy of Ft. Hood.” Rather than respond to the massacre of American servicemen, Shakir spent the evening indicting the United States – saying “we were born in genocide.” The reason for the Ft. Hood Massacre, according to Shakir? Not jihad or Islamic fundamentalism, but the “pervasiveness of violence in our society” and because of Americans’ “easy access to guns.” Zaid Shakir – Final [1] from The Claremont Conservative [2] on Vimeo [3]. For those wondering who Mr. Shakir is, he’s the go-to...

In an oped in USA Today, John Brennan -- Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism -- responds to critics of the Obama administration's counterterrorism policies by saying "Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda." Brennan writes that, "Terrorists are not 100-feet tall. Nor do they deserve the abject fear they seek to instill." In the oped, titled "'We need no lectures': Administration disrupts terrorists’ plots, takes fight to them abroad," Brennan writes that politics "should never get in the way of national security. But too many in...

With Washington, D.C. buried beneath at least 20 inches of snow, and with more in the forecast, common sense would suggest global warming alarmists look elsewhere to make the argument to raise awareness for their concerns. But no, Dylan Ratigan thinks it's ridiculous to suggest all the snowfall totals could cast doubt on the theory of anthropogenic global warming. On MSNBC's Feb. 8 "The Dylan Ratigan Show," Ratigan criticized those who would dare express misgivings about climate change based on the so-called "snowpocalypse." "Here's the problem - these ‘snowpocalypses' that have been going through DC and other extreme weather events...

Author Kurt Andersen came out swinging this week in New York Magazine against democracy in action! He hates the Tea Party Movement in particular. Andersen, a novelist who at one time was New York Magazine’s chief editor, prefers when “a calm club of like-minded wise men (and women) in Washington” is calling the shots, not the people. Andersen agrees with Elitist-in-Chief President Barack Obama who believes the opponents of his far-left policies should just sit down and shut up. Andersen liked the good old days when: the elite media really did control the national political discourse…Until fifteen years ago, presidents...

Democrats in Congress are holding White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel accountable for his part in the collapse of healthcare reform. The emerging consensus among critics in both chambers is that Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority. The share of the blame comes as cracks are beginning to show in Emanuel’s once-impregnable political armor. Last week he had to apologize after a report surfaced that he called liberal groups “retarded” in a private meeting. While Emanuel has quelled that controversy by meeting with advocates for people with disabilities, on Capitol Hill he’s under...

My husband's cousin Paulette called me the morning of January 20 from Massachusetts. Breathless with excitement, her words tumbling out so fast I could barely keep up, she recounted the joy of Scott Brown's win in the special election to the U.S. Senate. Paulette is 66 years old. She and her husband are retired. She has an active social life which includes lots of friends and competitive amateur tennis. She babysits her granddaughter and checks on her 92-year-old father in Florida every day. She told me she'd never been politically active, "except for voting, of course." But all that changed...

Citi plans crisis derivatives Author: Laurie Carver Source: Risk magazine | 08 Feb 2010 Categories: Derivatives Topics: Citi, hedging, liquidity crisis bankrupt Credit specialists at Citi are considering launching the first derivatives intended to pay out in the event of a financial crisis. The firm has drawn up plans for a tradable liquidity index, known as the CLX, on which products could be structured that allow buyers to hedge a spike in funding costs. Like the untraded US rates liquidity index (USRLI), the CLX is constructed as a sum of the Sharpe ratio – deviations from the mean divided by...

Voters are souring on the economy and the government’s remedies, according to February's IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index. It fell 4.1% to 46.8, matching December’s level and the weakest since July. “Persisting high unemployment and a wobbly stock market dampened January’s optimism,” said Raghavan Mayur, president of TIPP, IBD’s polling partner. Readings below 50 signal pessimism. Confidence in federal economic politics dived 7% to 38.3, the lowest since President Obama took office.

WASHINGTON -- A second major snowstorm in less than a week was blowing Tuesday toward the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. with more flights expected to be canceled. Plows still hadn't touched some roads, utility workers were struggling to restore power and shovels were in short supply. Forecasters predicted the snow would start Tuesday afternoon and continue into Wednesday, along with wicked winds. A foot or more was forecast for Washington and as many as 18 inches for the Northeast travel hub of Philadelphia -- which could cause travel problems as far north as Boston. Some areas are already under...

SAN JOSE – Laura Chinchilla, who was elected Costa Rica’s first woman president over the weekend, vowed in her victory speech to open a dialogue with all sectors of society and improve the quality of health care, education and security. “We do not get a blank check from the people to do anything, on the contrary, they have placed very solemn obligations on our shoulders, (such as) serious and permanent dialogue with all the parties and social sectors,” the 50-year-old Chinchilla said. Chinchilla, of the ruling National Liberation Party, or PLN, garnered 46.8 percent of the vote, with 71.1 percent...

For years, North Carolina's District 7 Congressman, Democrat Mike McIntyre has attempted to publicly distance himself from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. This despite voting twice for the San Francisco liberal to ascend to her position of third in line for the White House. However, over the past several months, the Democrat appears to not only be embracing their relationship, he's touting it in big bold letters. In a recent letter to constituents in regards to healthcare reform, McIntyre lists himself as "MAJORITY LEADER'S ADVISORY COUNCIL - SENIOR WHIP." The claim appears to suggest a close bond with McIntyre...

In an oped in USA Today, John Brennan -- Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism -- responds to critics of the Obama administration's counterterrorism policies by saying "Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda." Brennan writes that, "Terrorists are not 100-feet tall. Nor do they deserve the abject fear they seek to instill." In the oped, titled "'We need no lectures': Administration disrupts terrorists’ plots, takes fight to them abroad," Brennan writes that politics "should never get in the way of national security. But too many in...

A small group of West African men who came to the Rockies in search of economic opportunity are embroiled in a dispute with Wal-Mart, accusing it of a raft of discriminatory actions. Most say they were dismissed because supervisors wanted to give their jobs to local people in need of work.

What if Iran's hardline leadership emerges from the current confrontations at home strengthened and emboldened? If so, the nuclear issue will be back with a vengeance. And three recent war games focused on the Iranian nuclear weapons issue suggest that the prospects for halting the regime's progress toward nuclear weapons are not good. The games -- conducted by highly respected Western think tanks -- explored various strategies for preventing the Iranian nuclear threat from becoming real. The results, unfortunately, were uniformly negative. Given that these were serious games played by serious people, officials who deal with the nuclear problem as...

Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- The group of American missionaries in Haiti facing kidnapping charges for trying to take 33 children out of the country last week made an earlier, unsuccessful attempt at taking dozens of other children, a Haitian police officer said Monday. Laura Silsby, left, and two other members of her missionary group are seen after a recent court hearing in Haiti. The officer did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals. He told CNN that he had stopped the 10 Baptist missionaries, including group leader Laura Silsby, on January 26 as they tried to transport 40...

Pakistani Taliban confirms Hakimullah Mehsud's death PTI, 9 February 2010, 01:11pm IST ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Taliban on Tuesday confirmed that its chief Hakimullah Mehsud had died of injuries sustained in a US drone strike, ending weeks of speculation over his fate. Taliban sources based in the Aurakzai tribal region told TV news channels that 28-year-old Mehsud was severely injured in a drone attack in Shaktoi area of North Waziristan Agency on January 14. The sources claimed Mehsud died recently near Multan city in Punjab province while being taken to Karachi for treatment. His body was taken back to the tribal belt,...

While the liberal mainstream media sings John Murtha's praises, his legacy is nonetheless tainted ad infinitum by his Abscam involvement and his slanderous Iraq war criticism. Dying yesterday at Virginia Hospital Center from complications arising from gallbladder surgery, John Murtha was the exorbitantly long-serving congressman from Pennsylvania's 12th district, having been in Congress for a whopping, almost 40 years. To hear the liberal media tell it, Murtha was a stout defender of the military and noble, yet that conveniently glosses over many episodes in his too-long career that can only bring to mind the word "unethical" at best, or "misconduct"...

Voters are deeply pessimistic about the state of Britain today, believing that society is broken and heading in the wrong direction, a Populus poll for The Times has found. Nearly three fifths of voters say that they hardly recognise the country they are living in, while 42 per cent say they would emigrate if they could. But worries over the pace of social change and dislocation are balanced by the belief that life will get better, according to the survey undertaken at the weekend. It suggests that 70 per cent believe that society is now broken, echoing a Conservative campaign...

A Christian teacher yesterday claimed he was forced out of his job after complaining that Muslim pupils as young as eight hailed the September 11 hijackers as heroes. Nicholas Kafouris, 52, is suing his former school for racial discrimination. He told a tribunal that he had to leave his £30,000-a-year post because he would not tolerate the 'racist' and 'anti-Semitic' behaviour of Year 4 pupils. The predominantly Muslim youngsters openly praised Islamic extremists in class and described the September 11 terrorists as 'heroes and martyrs'. One pupil said: 'Don't touch me, you're a Christian' when he brushed against him. Others...

Iran will make the political decision to enrich uranium to military-grade levels once it has accumulated enough fissionable material for a small arsenal of three to four nuclear devices, according to latest intelligence assessments. Iran, according to the recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, has already accumulated 1.8 tons of uranium enriched to four percent. Iran has announced plans to begin enriching uranium to 20% levels for use as fuel in a research reactor it has in Teheran, which is expected to exhaust its present stock within the year. Although material for the fissile core of a nuclear warhead...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called studies supporting global climate change a "bunch of snake oil science" Monday during a rare appearance in California, a state that has been at the forefront of environmental regulations. Palin spoke before a logging conference in Redding, a town of 90,000 about 160 miles north of the state capital. The media were barred from the event, but The Associated Press bought a $74 ticket to attend. Palin said California's heavy regulatory environment makes it difficult for businesses to succeed, a point that is shared by many business leaders in the state. She criticized what...

What is this flourishing of popular culture, inspired by the GOP gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina? First, as colleague Christy Hoppe notes, we had the camo man's knock-off of "My Maria." But don't overlook the rap genre. We have this contribution by Medina's campaign manager, Penny Langford Freeman -- alias, Penny Langford Longfellow in this Youtube clip. "There is a new game in town and we're getting rid of the U.N. puppets," Freeman warns. "We're calling you out tonight, Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison. You're going to be gone soon because Debra is coming to town!"

China's sovereign wealth fund has lifted the veil on its U.S. securities holdings, revealing more than $9.6 billion of holdings in about 60 U.S. companies. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday, China Investment Corp. said it had spread its investments among a wide variety of index funds and blue-chip companies such as Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Visa, Pfizer and Apple.

Just over two years ago, Rajendra K. Pachauri seemed destined for a scientist’s version of sainthood: A vegetarian economist-engineer who leads the United Nations’ climate change panel, he accepted the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the panel, sharing the honor with former Vice President Al Gore. But Dr. Pachauri and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are now under intense scrutiny, facing accusations of scientific sloppiness and potential financial conflicts of interest from climate skeptics, right-leaning politicians and even some mainstream scientists. Senator John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, called for Dr. Pachauri’s resignation last week. Critics, writing in...

The battle over constitutional amendments across dozens of states that could sink the abortion industry by establishing constitutional rights for the unborn is heating up months in advance of the November elections with a detour into a Mississippi courtroom WND has reported how the move is exploding among pro-life activists and that as many as 32 states are expected to address some sort of "personhood" vote this year – whether through a constitutional amendment or law. Now a lawsuit has been filed in Mississippi over regulations limiting the amount of time that petition signature collectors have to gather names. The...

WASHINGTON -- Failing to overhaul the nation's immigration system, currently a backburner issue for Congress and President Barack Obama, could play a pivotal role in key mid-term election races in November, according to a new study on Latino voting patterns. The report by America's Voice, which supports comprehensive new immigration policies, says revising the laws is the defining issue for Latino voters. The report says that progress - or the lack thereof - in revamping immigration laws and regulations could affect as many as 40 congressional races in areas with sizeable Latino populations, including the re-election bids of Senate Majority...

Energy The administration asked for public comments on a plan to expand offshore drilling. When they came in 2-to-1 in favor, the Interior Department sat on the news. Time for a "Texas tea" party? When you ask for public comment on a major policy issue, at some point you should make the results public, not hide them until you can figure out a way to spin the public reaction to support a conclusion you've already drawn. On its last business day in office, the Bush administration published a proposed draft of a five-year plan to lease areas in the Atlantic...

The Washington Times learned from our Albany source that at least fourteen of Mr. Paterson’s security detail were transferred to other areas of New York’s State Police this past weekend. “I’ve been around Albany a long time and this is as strange as it gets,” he said after pointing out that he recognized a number of the names on the detail roster who were part of this transfer as long time government employees, who served previous New York Governors as security detail. “If I were connecting the dots, I would say that it might be related to some disclosures. That...

February 9, 2010 We're Living In Broken Britain, Say Most Voters Peter Riddell Voters are deeply pessimistic about the state of Britain today, believing that society is broken and heading in the wrong direction, a Populus poll for The Times has found. Nearly three fifths of voters say that they hardly recognise the country they are living in, while 42 per cent say they would emigrate if they could. But worries over the pace of social change and dislocation are balanced by the belief that life will get better, according to the survey undertaken at the weekend. It suggests that...

Fox News has obtained a letter penned by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) addressed to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. In the letter, they question the president's true commitment to Bipartisanship and implore the White House to conduct all talks in public. In addition, they also ask the president to take the reconciliation process off the table. "Assuming the President is sincere about moving forward on health care in a bipartisan way, does that mean he will agree to start over so that we can develop a bill that is truly...

ABC News' Huma Khan reports: Meghan McCain, the daughter of former GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and a self-described “progressive Republican,” today assailed the tea party movement. Sitting in as co-host on “The View” today, McCain said she has ideological differences with the movement. She specifically took aim at remarks by former Congressman Tom Tancredo, who suggested that people who voted for President Obama could not pass a basic civics literacy test. “People who would not even spell the word vote or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House... named Barack Hussein...

GOP leaders: Don't use current health bills for summit starting point By Molly K. Hooper - 02/08/10 07:03 PM ET House Republican leaders said Monday the healthcare summit should not use House and Senate bills as a starting point. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Republicans are right to be reluctant in embracing a summit if the president is unwilling to start the talks from scratch. “If the starting point for this meeting is the job-killing bills the American people have already soundly rejected, Republicans would rightly be reluctant to participate,” the pair...

Just a year ago "tea party" was, for Americans, a term stuck in history, associated only with the glorious 1773 uprising in Boston. Now it pertains to a movement whose supporters – and their champion Sarah Palin – believe they can deliver another revolution against forces also seeking to ruin the country with high taxes and the big boot of intrusive government. A loose, grassroots coalition of disaffected conservatives, evangelicals and a smattering of libertarians, they have already helped derail Barack Obama's health care reform and kill plans for a carbon tax. Tea party volunteers and canvassers aided the capture...

Immediately following the news of his death, election analysts rated the race as competitive for the GOP. While Murtha has held the seat since 1974 with few re-election scares, the Johnstown-area district outside of Pittsburgh has right-leaning roots, and a special election contest will be targeted by House Republicans. With Murtha’s death, Democrats now control the House by a 256-178 margin. In the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) won the district by a narrow 1,000 vote margin against President Barack Obama. It was the only district in the nation, however, that voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential...

House GOP Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) and Whip Eric Cantor (R., Va.) just sent White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel a letter regarding the upcoming health-care summit: Mr. Emanuel: We welcome President Obama’s announcement of forthcoming bipartisan health care talks. In fact, you may remember that last May, Republicans asked President Obama to hold bipartisan discussions on health care in an attempt to find common ground on health care, but he declined and instead chose to work with only Democrats. Since then, the President has given dozens of speeches on health care reform, operating under the premise that...

The steady drumbeat for Marco Rubio keeps going on and on. Today he is picking up the endorsement of Congressman Mike Pence. Congressman Pence said, “I am proud to endorse Marco Rubio for the United States Senate. Marco Rubio’s faith in free markets, limited government and traditional moral values make him the right choice for Republicans in this race. At a time when the American people long for leaders of principle, Marco Rubio will be a courageous check and balance on the current Washington establishment. “With Washington spending money we don’t have and empowering the government at the expense of...

Friday Feb 5th, Judge Gonzalez of the Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, in the Chrysler Bankruptcy case denied a Motion brought on behalf of over 70 of the former Chrysler Dealers to overturn the Rejection Order which stripped them of their franchises in the spring of 2009. Led by Island Jeep’s James Anderer of New York, the dealers Motion would have reversed the decision which stripped 789 dealers, including Timberline Chrysler Dodge of Portland Or., of their franchise contracts during the bankruptcy and sale of Chrysler to Fiat. Anderer's argument rests primarily upon the fact that...

BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) -- 26-year-old Michael J. Abdallah will be heading to court this week for a felony hearing after being accused of holding a runaway teen in his home for six months. Abdallah has been charged with kidnapping and rape, after police say he held a teen captive from July to December of 2009. Police say Abdallah forced the teen to have sex with him, and babysit his one-year-old son. Neighbors of Abdallah are finding the news difficult to believe. Abdallah will be in court for a felony hearing on February 11.

The death of longtime Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha (D) this afternoon will set off a special election in his very competitive western Pennsylvania 12th district. According to state law, the governor has ten days once the vacancy is officially declared to decide on the date for the special election, which can come no sooner than 60 days following that proclamation. That likely means the special election will be held on May 18, which is the date already set for federal primaries around the state. (Special elections costs the state huge sums of money and it's likely that Gov. Ed Rendell...

Issued by The National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington, MD 3:04 pm EST, Mon., Feb. 8, 2010 ... WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO 7 PM EST WEDNESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. * PRECIPITATION TYPE... SNOW. * ACCUMULATIONS... 10 TO 20 INCHES. * TIMING... MID-AFTERNOON TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. * TEMPERATURES... TEMPERATURES NEAR FREEZING AT THE ONSET TUESDAY AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE UPPER 20S TUESDAY NIGHT AND...

White House apologists were quick to point to the unemployment rate decline from 10 percent to 9.7 percent as evidence that the recovery is gathering momentum and that President Obama's policies -- especially his $787 billion economic stimulus bill Congress approved last February -- are "working." But the back story behind the figures provides cold comfort. First, the drop to 9.7 percent unemployment does not reflect the creation of new jobs that normally accompanies an economic recovery. The number of new jobs is actually declining. Total nonfarm payroll employment, for example, dipped by an additional 20,000 positions after a December...

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (AFP) – Afghan men, women and children fearing imminent fighting between the Taliban and US troops, loaded up trucks on Monday and streamed out of one of the world's main sources of heroin. Wrapped in blankets to fend off the winter chill, families packed up goats, furniture and clothes, clogging roads with taxis, cars and tractors in a major exodus to safety, dodging roadside bombs planted to kill US and NATO troops. "We left the area because lots of aircraft were flying over and lots of forces were moving back and forth," Shir Ali Khan told AFP...

"It is not possible that only one person run the country. There have to be laws and the Supreme Leader is also in the law. There have to be a law because one person cannot rule 70 million people." Ayatollah Dastgheyb, senior religious figure and a member of the Assembly of Experts, for the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution while criticizing the current situation of the country said: Armed force should not interfere in political affairs, but it seems like today all the affairs of the country is in the hands of Revolutionary Guards and police and people have no...

Andrea Mitchell, identified by NBC News as the network's Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, this morning joined in the attacks on former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin over the 2008 Republican party's vice-presidential nominee's use of notes written on her hand during an appearance at the Tea Party Nation convention in Nashville this past weekend.Appearing on MSNBC's the Daily Rundown, Mitchell lampooned Palin by holding up her hand with scribbling on her palm while castigating Palin for criticizing Barack Obama for his reliance on TelePrompTers.Co-host Chuck Todd, who can usually be found on his knees in front of Obama, surprisingly tried...

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The leader of the Tea Party movement? No thanks, Sarah Palin told a gathering over the weekend. But the former Republican vice presidential candidate had a tough time convincing the 1,000 Tea Partiers in attendance at the nearly year-old movement’s first national convention in Nashville. They chanted, “Run, Sarah, run!” after she finished her hour-long keynote address Saturday night that ended the three-day event at the luxurious Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Palin was coy when it came to her 2012 presidential aspirations. But she was clearly among friends. The Tea Party movement is probably the best thing to happen to...

WaPo's Howie Kurtz writes about increasing grumblings from the White House press corps over the lack of presidential news conferences in recent months: "It's a source of great frustration here," says Chip Reid, CBS's White House correspondent. "It's important for us to hold the president's feet to the fire." NBC White House reporter Chuck Todd calls the situation a "shame," saying the administration is trying to control the message rather than allowing Obama to be seen "unscripted." While the White House argues that there has been no shortage of appearances by the president on television and in print, some White...