Free Republic

For all the talk these days of how to revive our supposedly moribund American Dream, it took a college dropout-turned-actor to state the obvious. “I believe that opportunity looks a lot like work,” Ashton Kutcher recently said at the Teen Choice Awards. “I never had a job in my life that I was better than. I was always just lucky to have a job. And every job I had was a stepping stone to my next job, and I never quit my job until I had my next job. And so opportunities look a lot like work.” That such remarks...

In his continuing quest to find the “real killers” of America’s prosperity, President Obama is now testing out the idea that laziness lies at the root of the prolonged recession we’re in. “Look, we in government have been going all out trying to get the economy moving,” the president told an audience of campaign supporters. “In the last two years the federal government has spent more than it ever has before. We’ve generously handed out money left and right. We’ve added new guidelines and procedures to virtually every segment of industry in an effort to direct businesses toward a more...

Obama took his You Don’t Love Me Enough reelection tour on the road to the 57th state this weekend on his way to a less hostile, foreign audience. No, the stopover wasn’t in Kenya. It was in Hawaii on his way to Bali, Indonesia, as a part of a new election strategy that aims to capture the entire foreign vote for Obama and the Democrats. Hey, and why not? No one has done more for those thrifty, industrious, hard working foreign countries than Obama has. And under Obama’s executive amnesty program it’ll be easier than ever for foreigners to register...

(AP) With a new face and a 60th vote for breaking a Republican filibuster, Senate Democrats are preparing to restore jobless checks for 2.5 million people whose benefits ran out during a congressional standoff over deficit spending. President Obama says, "It's time to do what's right." But first, Obama and his Democratic allies are pressing for maximum political advantage, blaming Republicans for an impasse that halted unemployment checks averaging $309 a week for those whose eligibility had expired.

IT APPEARS the effort of stirring instant coffee powder in a mug or emptying the cafetière of grinds has become too much of an effort. In an ever growing convenience culture, Marks & Spencer has launched a ready-prepared coffee which consumers only have to pour into a cup and heat in a microwave oven. Retail experts predict the microwave coffee is just the start of a new trend for ‘convenience breakfasts’ as a population that has grown used to ready meals and pre-packed lunches seek out similar choice and ease at breakfast time. Angela Grove, senior consumer analyst with independent...

Nat Lindquist can tell how good the blueberry crop will be by how many migrant workers show up to help with the harvest. "They know if we're going to have a good crop," and more workers show up those years, said Lindquist, vice president of operations for Jasper Wyman & Son in Cherryfield. "They're well-informed. They have a network, and I don't know how it works, but it does." The network leads migrants - both those who come from other countries and those who reside in the United States - to these Down East blueberry barrens; to the western hills...