Free Republic

In June, a diffident and self-deluded President Obama claimed that “the private sector is doing fine.” Last week, the private sector responded: Speak for yourself, buster. Who needs an “October Surprise” when the business headlines are broadcasting the imminent layoff bomb in neon lights?The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last Tuesday that employers issued 1,316 “mass layoff actions” (affecting 50 workers or more) in September; more than 122,000 workers were affected. USA Today financial reporter Matt Krantz wrote that “much of the recent layoff activity is connected to what’s been the slowest period of earnings growth since the third quarter...

Fox News has learned from sources who were on the ground in Benghazi that three urgent requests from the CIA annex for military back-up during the attack on the U.S. Consulate and subsequent attack nearly seven hours later were denied by officials in the CIA chain of command -- who also told the CIA operators to "stand down" rather than help the ambassador's team when shots were heard at approximately 9:40 p.m. in Benghazi on Sept. 11. Former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were part of a small team who were at the CIA annex about a mile...

As proof that we need a strong and powerful President to reverse the damage done to America by Obama, we are developing a list of issues and actions of the Obama administration to demonstrate the dangerous direction our country is in, e.g. rapidly accelerating debt, deteriorating jobs market, shredding of our Constitutional protections from a rogue government, etc. We need to replace the Marxist in the White House that is hell-bent on bringing America to its knees economically, militarily, socially and with respect to its global standing and reverse everything he has done to us.

Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News has posted a bombshell article detailing how the Obama administration has greatly increased gun sales to the Mexican military. But further investigation into Attkisson’s discovery points toward the padding of a gun-control statistic — one frequently mentioned by the Obama administration — as the motive behind the increased sales. Writes Attkisson: One weapon — an AR-15-type semi-automatic rifle — tells the story. In 2006, this same kind of rifle — tracked by serial number — is legally sold by a U.S. manufacturer to the Mexican military. Three years later — it’s found in a criminal...

In a region already marked by terror and uneasy alliances between tribal conflicts dating back thousands of years, PRESIDENT OBAMA backed a Palestinian demand to Israel: “GET OUT!” Trying to advance debate, Barack Obama endorsed a key Palestinian demand for the borders of its future state, prodding Israel to withdraw back to borders established in 1967. He also prodded Israel to accept the demand because it can never have a truly peaceful nation based on "permanent occupation." Obama urged that a permanent Palestinian state be based on 1967 borders – the ones that existed prior to the Six Day War...

There are many reasons to be worried about the bridge-leap the Obama administration has just undertaken in its war with Col. Moammar Gadhafi. How it will all end is just one of them. Particularly concerning is the prospect that what we might call the Gadhafi precedent will be used in the not-too-distant future to justify and threaten the use of U.S. military forces against an American ally: Israel. Here's how such a seemingly impossible scenario might eventuate: It begins with the Palestinian Authority seeking a United Nations Security Council resolution that would recognize its unilateral declaration of statehood.

The ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee accused the imam behind the mosque project near Ground Zero of arm-twisting and "blackmailing" to push Park51 through. "To me, it's almost as if he's blackmailing and threatening the United States that somehow if the mosque is not approved or people speak out against his mosque, you have to worry about being attacked by Islamic terrorists," Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf on Fox Business Network on Friday. King said that the Islamic center was being "put their to make a statement, not to build bridges, but...

The capture of top Taliban militant commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in the Pakistani city of Karachi is the most important catch for the American CIA and the Pakistani intelligence service since March 200...According to analysts, Mullah Baradar not only has first-hand knowledge of the nature and the extent of the Taliban network in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he also knows details of their linkages with the Pakistani intelligence corps... Another aspect of Mullah Baradar's capture revolves around proposed talks which Western commanders and the Afghan government hope to initiate with Taliban leaders who are willing to work within the framework...

An incredible host of conservative bloggers, ranging from Mark Tapscott at The Examiner, who is a member of the Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame, to me and Brian Faughnan at respective blogs at the Washington Times, to the directors of Red State, to Breitbart's blog, to several at Red County, to a particularly well-researched one by Jim Geraghty at The Campaign Spot at NRO, .... has stepped forward in solidarity with John McCormack of the Weekly Standard to demand that New York congressional candidate Dede Scozzafava withdraw .....

Motive Mongering: Does It Belong in Science? Feb 26, 2009 — Amanda Gefter, a book reviewer and science editor, felt the need to warn the world about the creationists. She wrote a blog entry at New Scientist called “How to spot a hidden religious agenda.” In addition, Gefter listed concepts and emphases that she felt betray a hidden agenda: an emphasis on complex molecular machines, the reference to quantum physics in support of free will, and calls for “academic freedom” (which she says can be translated as “the acceptance of creationism”). Lastly, she disclaimed any connection between the truth of...

World Net Daily has done it again and is also on the cutting edge informing the world. As I was making the rounds on my favorite news web sites, I saw the title on WND - Stimulus to ban religious worship. As I started to read the piece I was amazed to find what also was stuffed into this big pork sandwich called the “Stimulus bill”. This “Stimulus bill” was written totally for and by the Socialist Left Democratic Party of America. The ingredients of this bill are 93 % pork and 7% stimulus. This Stimulus bill is none other...

Symbolic gesture gives assurances that US does not want to topple regime. Officials of Barack Obama's have drafted a letter to Iran from the president aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way to face-to-face talks

Perhaps you've noticed an abundance of "Top Ten" lists in recent weeks. As usual, the mainstream media has churned out a variety of year-in-review pieces of late. Two events vied for top billing on all those lists -- the financial meltdown and the presidential election. At present, it isn't clear which of those debacles presents the greater threat to our nation. The factors leading up to the economic collapse in the last two quarters are clear (see Economics 101). What is not clear, however, is whether we can limit the damage to a mere recession. On the other hand, we...

CLOSING THE DEAL A Roadmap for Campaign 2008’s Homestretch By Guy Benson (www.guybensonshow.com) and Mary Katharine Ham (www.weeklystandard.com) Editor and Contributor, Ed Morrissey WHO ARE WE? Allow us to put our cards on the table at the outset: We are two young conservative journalists—both in our 20s. Unlike many of our peers, we are not swept up in Obamamania and would prefer John McCain to win the election. We’ve teamed up with seasoned blogger extraordinaire, Ed Morrissey, whose careful and thoughtful pursuit of the truth—even when it benefits his political opponents—is respected across the blogosphere. In that spirit, we are...

The City of Long Beach is advertising for planning consultants to carry out their plans. Will they be hired if there is some danger that the consultant will say "We have studied the situation carefully and we believe the city should not impose zoning restrictions on property owners and their uses of the land. Nor do we believe that eminent domain is justified." Would such a consultant be considered or hired?...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Iowa Congressman Steve King says terrorists would celebrate if Democratic candidate Barack Obama won the presidency. King, a Republican, bases his prediction on several criteria: Obama's pledge to pull troops out of Iraq, his Kenyan heritage and his middle name Hussein -- a reminder of Iraq's former leader. King, in an interview today with the Daily Reporter in Spencer, said al-Qaida would -- quote -- "be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11th." King says terrorists would declare victory in the war on terror because Obama would pull troops...

The National Education Association (NEA), which gathers this week for its annual meeting in Philadelphia, has just been brought up short by an Ohio court ruling that an individual teacher’s union dues may not be used to fund pro-abortion activities, if that teacher objects for religious reasons.  But many teachers may not be aware that NEA and its state affiliates also fund pro-homosexual activities, including groups advocating the full expression of homosexuality and “transgendered” behaviors by children and teachers at school.The teachers’ union also sponsors training on “GLBT issues.” Its NEA-GLBT Caucus will hold a workshop on June 29 for...

Judicial Watch, a public-interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, has obtained more documents pertaining to the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) of North America -- an initiative that has created uneasiness among some conservative groups. According to its own government website, the SPP is defined as a "trilateral effort to increase security and enhance prosperity among the United States, Canada, and Mexico through greater cooperation and information sharing." The effort includes what the website calls "ambitious security and prosperity programs" designed to keep the nations' borders "closed to terrorism yet open to trade." Tom Fitton, president of Judicial...

UNISEX wash basin areas could be built in schools to help tackle bullying. The move is part of recommendations covering schools in England being rebuilt or refurbished as part of the Government's £45bn Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme. BSF aims to rebuild or renew every one of England's 3,500 state secondary schools during the 15-year lifetime of the initiative. The new guidelines were issued by the Government agency responsible for delivering the programme, Partnerships for Schools. Toilets in Schools was published earlier this month and details new toilet block designs to be incorporated into all BSF schools. It...

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be most unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary...