Free Republic

It’s a cold, cruel world. Success is a distant dream. Failure is just a breath away. Risk avoidance is code phrase of the day. Don’t step out of line. Best to keep your head down and go unnoticed. Stealth is the way to survival. Don’t travel alone. There is security in numbers. Groups have the power to negotiate, to make alliances. Only by sticking together can you prosper. Individuals are targets. The lions pick off those who stray from the herd. Blend in. You do not know what’s best for you. You can not do it on your own. The...

IN a remote corner of rural Java, a blacksmith and his family were astounded last week to learn that the American woman who helped save them from poverty 26 years ago was Ann Dunham, an anthropologist better known as the late mother of the US president. Dunham is still remembered in the central Javan hamlet of Kajar as a generous benefactor whose gifts of money, food and schoolbooks helped numerous villagers. Yet none of them had realised that the woman who paid several visits to research rural crafts in the 1980s had a son who was to become America’s 44th...

An Army psychiatrist who authorities say went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood was so conflicted over what to tell fellow soldiers about fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan that a local Islamic leader was deeply troubled by it, the leader said Saturday. Osman Danquah, co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, said he was disturbed by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's persistent questioning and recommended the mosque reject Hasan's request to become a lay Muslim leader at the sprawling Army post. Danquah said Hasan never expressed anger toward the Army or indicated any plans for violence, but during the...

Celebrities are always trying to build walls around themselves, literally and figuratively, and those walls cost money. This week, rapper 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, admitted that he spends $20,000 a week on security at his Farmington, Connecticut, mansion. "My home is surrounded by cameras. I need surveillance not only to look out for me but also to protect me. You get all these crazy lawsuits, and I need cameras to check on things," the 33-year-old told the entertainment news service WENN. Jackson's security costs work out to a little over $1 million a year.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A Daytona Beach man thought he hit the jackpot. He thought he won $166 million on a slot machine at the very popular Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near I-4 in Tampa. However, as soon as the crowds departed, the celebration ended. The casino told him that he didn't win a thing. The casino claims the slot machine malfunctioned. Bill Seebeck, who lives on a houseboat, thought his ship had come in. His blood pressure skyrocketed and said he was screaming and celebrating. But then casino workers told him there was a malfunction and wanted him...

OMG! Did you hear there is a loan forgiveness clause for veterinarians in the bill? The Dem from New York says, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF SWINE FLU? Where do these people come from? I am more scared todays for the future of our Country after watching this travesty than ever before. What a nightmare.

Attitude strikes a nerve with the judge SALEM — When police found 22-year-old Taylor Jackson hiding near the scene of her wrecked car early yesterday morning, they say Jackson made one thing clear: "I'm not going to get arrested from a (expletive) Salem cop," Jackson allegedly told officers. "I'm from Marblehead." Police arrested her anyway, and Jackson was in Salem District Court yesterday to face charges of drunken driving and leaving the scene of a property damage accident. She also got a lecture from the judge. "If you were my daughter, I'd leave you in jail for the weekend," Judge...

Sarah Palin called out far left Speaker Pelosi for breaking several promises to the American people… “Your Blue Dogs Are Howling” Democrats are going to ram their nationalized health care plan through the US House today. From her facebook page: Like many Americans, I’m very concerned about the efforts underway to rush through the 2,000 page Pelosi health care bill this weekend. Why the rush? That’s a lot of pages to read. Why not give everyone the chance to read it and debate it? How much will this bill cost us? It’s unclear because the figures coming out of Washington...

The day before Halloween, the White House released a partial list of visitors since Jan. 20 of this year. The list is fascinating and highlights exactly what kind of house the Obamas are running. Topping the visitor chart is Andy Stern, president of the far-left Service Employees International Union. Stern has been received by the Obamas 22 times. Wow! He must be quite a guy. In fact, shouldn’t he be getting frequent stayer points like they give in hotels? Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, clocks in with 14 visits. This has to be a Michelle Obama...

On Friday’s Countdown show, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann suggested that Fox News is a racist organization that would hold race or religion against its employees in awarding promotions, as he used the show’s "Worst Person" segment to slam Fox and Friends co-hosts Brian Kilmeade, Gretchen Carlson, and Peter Johnson, for raising questions about whether Muslims serving in the military should be treated with more attention. While every show in MSNBC’s primetime and morning lineups has a host who is white and non-Muslim, Olbermann suggested that the Fox and Friends hosts would have trouble succeeding at FNC if they were Muslim...

KILLEEN, Tex. — Leaders of the vibrant Muslim community here expressed outrage on Friday at the shooting rampage being laid to one of their members, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who had become a regular attendee of prayers at the local mosque. But some of the men who had befriended Major Hasan at the mosque said the military should examine the policies that might have caused him to snap. “When a white guy shoots up a post office, they call that going postal,” said Victor Benjamin II, 30, a former member of the Army. “But when a Muslim does it, they...

OWA CITY, Iowa – Charges have been filed against three men accused of beating a man who sleepwalks after they found him asleep in one of the men's apartment. Iowa City Police Sgt. Troy Kelsay said the 21-year-old victim who was not identified, suffered injuries over most of his body.

James David Manning wants to know why Michelle Obama was disbarred .

You've had it. Maybe with AT&T. Maybe with Apple's crushing, dictatorial grip strangling the App Store. Whatever the reason, you're going to Android: Land of freedom, carriers not named AT&T, and the great Google. Here's what you need to know.It's All in the Google Cloud Android phones don't sync with your computer. That's because they don't have to: Your contacts, calendar and mail are all kept up in the great Googleyplex. Unfortunately, Google's Contacts manager, while it's gotten better, is kinda crappy, and all of your Contacts are beamed down to your phone from there.So even after you get the...

For NATO combat troops, Iraq and Afghanistan differ in several important ways. For one thing, nearly all the fighting is out in the countryside. In Iraq, most of the combat was in urban areas. Moreover, Afghanistan has many very different rural environments. There are heavily populated (by farmers living in villages or clan compounds) river valleys, deserts (often not far from the river valleys), and mountains (both barren and forested.) Some of the mountains are very high, but most are similar to the American Rockies. The other big difference is that the Pushtun tribesmen, that comprise most of the Taliban,...

The fact that someone could go through -- at government expense -- an undergraduate education with ROTC, then medical school at a US military institution, and remain a traitor to the United States is a significant warning. A very significant warning that the idea of Political Correctness has consequences we can't afford. Corruption of the Legions is one danger the Republic cannot endure. The Legions remain faithful; but for how long when their officers are no longer faithful? Hassan had been through ROTC and a US armed forces medical school as a commissioned officer. Why was his failure of loyalty...

SEOUL, South Korea – A woman in South Korea who tried to pass the written exam for a driver's license with near-daily attempts since April 2005 has finally succeeded on her 950th time. The aspiring driver spent more than 5 million won ($4,200) in application fees, but until now had failed to score the minimum 60 out of a possible 100 points needed to get behind the wheel for a driving test. Cha Sa-soon, 68, finally passed the written exam with a score of 60 on Wednesday, said Choi Young-chul, a police official at the drivers' license agency in Jeonju,...

<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Michael Jackson's father is seeking an allowance from his son's estate to help cover expenses that exceed $15,000 a month, according to court documents filed Friday.</p> <p>The request seeking an unspecified amount for Joe Jackson was filed by lawyer Brian Oxman, who said there was no apparent reason for the administrators of the estate to not seek an allowance for the 81-year-old Jackson family patriarch.</p>

James David Manning, PhD is disappointed with Rush Limbaugh . Rush never heard of Philip Berg or Larry Sinclair ?????? Check out other new videos while visiting the Atlah site .

Islam is "not responsible" for the bloodbath at an army base in Texas where Muslim-American army Major Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly gunned down 13 people, the prayer leader at the mosque where the officer regularly worshipped said Friday. "We offer our condolences and prayers to the families that have a person who died," said Imam Mohammed Abdullahi over loud-speakers that carried the weekly Muslim prayer to several hundred worshippers gathered at the mosque.

Morning Meeting host Dylan Ratigan on Friday appeared uncomfortable discussing the faith of the Muslim shooter who killed 12 people in Texas. In a tease for a segment on the subject, he noted that Major Nidal Hasan is being "described as a devout Muslim, mortified at being deployed to Iraq. Did that drive him to allegedly commit murder?" Ratigan quickly added, " And who cares what his religion was?"

Scene 1: The White House Rose Garden. The President of the United States is standing before a crowd of amateur astronomers, students and teachers, with his science adviser by his side. In front of him: a telescope. The president bends down and presses his eye to the eyepiece. Flashbulbs pop. Scene 2: Kennedy Space Center. The Ares 1-X rocket sits on the launch pad, ready for its first test flight. More than 300-feet tall but fewer than 20 feet in diameter, it looks as precarious as a flying chopstick, but tomorrow's astronauts might ride a rocket like this one to...

A T-shirt a day has kept unemployment at bay for an American man who is making about $85,000 a year by selling advertising space on his torso. Jason Sadler, 26, a former marketing professional from Florida, founded his own company, www.iwearyourshirt.com, in 2008 with the idea to wear a T-shirt supplied by any company and then use social media tools to promote the firm. For his human billboard service, Sadler charges the "face value" of the day so January 1 costs $1, while December 31 costs $365. Sadler said this may not sound like a lot but it adds up...

Conan has William Shatner read Levi's tweets as hip poetry. Conan said the tweets were real, but turns out they were fake. Link

How many Americans would you estimate are involved in one group or another in some way, shape or form to take our country back (i.e. FR, 912 groups, tea party goers, members of groups like ResistNet, etc.)

Long story short. I am looking to get a new cordless phone that is bluetooth enabled. This way I can link my cordless phone and my cell phone (i.e. when at home, and without having to do call forward, I can get the cell phone calls on my home phone). I know the Vtech DS6321 is the newest model that I know of that does this, but has one drawback, or is missing one feature that I need. Call Blocking on the phone. My current cordless phone has call blocking on it (Panasonic KX-TGA740), but none of the other features...

The gunman who killed 12 people today at Ft. Hood appears, based on current media reports, to be Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan who was listed as a participant in a Homeland Security Policy Institute's presidential transition task force last year. The task force was not officially affiliated with the White House. It was a project of the Homeland Security Policy Institute, an independent thinktank housed at George Washington University, aimed at drafting policy recommendations for the incoming Obama administration.

Why did you stop? Well, I was recompiling my kernel and got a segfault...Mavizen has decided to offer a new electric bike based on the previous winner of the TTXGP so that other teams can have a solid foundation to build on for next year. The TTX02 is based on the KTM RC8 with a Agni powerplant. The twist is that they call it a "laptop on wheels" because of all the electronics it packs on top of what is strictly required to control the electric motor (dash-mounted computer that runs Linux, has wifi connectivity and a web-server, etc)....

Here is video of Larry King talking with Dr. Phil and a couple of veterans about the Ft. Hood shooting. Veteran Tom Kenniff said "with all due respect to Dr. Phil, having been through the war in Iraq and having seen what these soldiers go through, with respect to this incident, I need to take a giant step back from all the psychobabble I've been hearing for the past few hours." Kenniff said "this looks a lot less like PTSD and a lot more like terrorism."

SPOKANE, Wash. -- A Volkswagen van stolen 35 years ago in Washington state has been found in a shipping container at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport. Customs agents found the 1965 van on Oct. 19 when they opened a shipping container bound for The Netherlands, The Spokesman-Review newspaper reported. They ran the vehicle identification number and discovered it was listed as stolen. Law officers said the van, which is in great shape, was stolen from an upholstery shop in Spokane on July 12, 1974 -- while Spokane was hosting the 1974 World's Fair. Authorities have not been able to find...

An army major accused of firing on and killing fellow soldiers in Texas is a US-born Muslim. The reasons for the shooting are not clear, but Major Nidal Malik Hasan was reported to be unhappy at alleged racial Major Nidal Malik Hasan is a career soldier with some 20 years experience, who had trained as a psychiatrist and treated troops returning from combat. He is also reported to be a devout Muslim, who attended daily prayers at a mosque and was seen on the morning of the shooting wearing traditional Arabic dress as he shopped for groceries. His relatives said...

U.S. Army Pfc. Michael Pearson wasn't much with words, his older brother said through tears, but when he picked up a guitar he let his music speak for him. "He was a genius as far as we were concerned," Kristopher Craig told CNN affiliate WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois, late Thursday, reeling from the news that his 21-year-old "little kid brother" was among the 12 soldiers and one civilian killed in a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. Pearson grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois, with two brothers and a sister. "He was really living his life playing guitar," Craig said. "When...

We don't look at either of these gubernatorial races . . . as something that portends a lot for our legislative efforts," insisted White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Tuesday, as New Jersey and Virginia voters gave Democrats a thumping. Unfortunately for the White House, its opinion no longer counts. On Jan. 20, Barack Obama began a race against time. The White House knew its liberal agenda would prove unpopular in many parts of the country represented by Democrats. So long as the president looked strong, those Blue Dogs and freshmen and swing-state senators would stick. Show them any...

Robert Zemeckis’s A Christmas Carol opens today to a chorus of negative reviews and a rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A particularly harsh assessment comes from Joe Morgenstern in The Wall Street Journal: To put it bluntly, if Scroogely, Disney’s 3-D animated version of “A Christmas Carol” is a calamity. The pace is predominantly glacial—that alone would be enough to cook the goose of this premature holiday turkey—and the tone is joyless, despite an extended passage of bizarre laughter, several dazzling flights of digital fancy, a succession of striking images and Jim Carrey’s voicing of Scrooge plus half a dozen...

How many times will he say "I" How many times will he say "Me" How many times will he say "Mine" How much total time (as a percentage) will he spend on yesterdays tragedy? How much total time (as a percentage) will he spend on topics other than the tragedy?

A Lehigh Acres man was arrested in Collier County Monday on charges of Indecent Exposure in Public after he allegedly exposed himself to two women in a Walmart parking lot. The incident occurred at 5420 Juliet Blvd. in Naples. According to a Collier County Sheriff’s Office report: David Todd Napodano, 42, told investigators he was found naked in his van because he had “explosive diarrhea” and was using his underwear to clean himself. The victims told investigators they were looking for their vehicle in the parking lot when they saw Napodano naked in his van and exposing himself to them.

Here is video of Fort Hood Shooter Major Nidal Malik Hasan on security camera video from earlier today in a convenience store. He is dressed in Muslim clothing in the security camera video. The video says there was a Mosque nearby.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved climate change legislation Thursday with no Republicans voting for the bill or even participating in the process. With Republican boycotting the proceedings, Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) relied on a little used interpretation of committee rules to move the legislation. Traditionally, two minority members are required to conduct committee business.

A California-based team of engineers has snagged a $1 million NASA prize by winning a pitched competition to fly homemade rockets on mock moon landing missions. Masten Space Systems of Mojave, Calif., successfully flew its rocket Xoie (pronounced Zoey) twice within a set time limit to qualify for the top Level 2 prize in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, a NASA-sponsored contest to build mock lunar landers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military needs to deepen dialogue with China to better understand the intent of its space programs, a U.S. general said on Tuesday, after a Chinese commander announced plans to develop offensive military capabilities in space. General Kevin Chilton, head of the Pentagon's Strategic Command which coordinates U.S. military operations in space, said China-watchers had been "absolutely amazed" by the country's advances in its space programs over the past decade.

PANNITHITTU, India -- In this seaside village, the children of farmers and fishermen aspire to become something that their impoverished parents never thought possible: astronauts.

Nov. 3, 2009 -- Aluminum and water is usually a boring combination, but light a mixture of nanoaluminum and ice and the results are explosive. Scientists from Purdue University have created a new, environmentally friendly solid rocket fuel that recently sent a rocket screaming 1300 feet into the air using seven inches of nanoaluminum and ice. The new fuel could power missions to the moon or Mars while dramatically reducing the amount of on-board fuel.

Space explorers have yet to get their hands on the replicator of "Star Trek" to create anything they might require. But NASA has developed a technology that could enable lunar colonists to carry out on-site manufacturing on the moon, or allow future astronauts to create critical spare parts during the long trip to Mars.

Virgin Galactic's proposed LauncherOne rocket may orbit a new mini satellite designed specifically for the launch vehicle to increase the payload's useful mass for power, propulsion or instruments. In conventional rockets adaptors integrate a spacecraft with the launcher but that means useful payload mass is reduced. A decision about a LauncherOne specific satellite could come following internal studies or Virgin Galactic's expected mid-2010 request for industry proposals.

Just days after $1.65 million was won in a NASA-backed rocket contest, it looks as if big money will be awarded in the $2 million Power Beaming Challenge as well. Like the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, the Power Beaming Challenge is part of NASA's Centennial Challenges, a program aimed at encouraging new technologies that could be adopted by the space agency for future exploration. This particular competition could eventually lay the groundwork for future space elevators - but power-beaming technology is likely to be put to work even if those space elevators are never built.

Peter Diamandis, CEO of the X Prize Foundation, wants to use our competitive instincts to make the world a better place. After handing out $10 million to the first private team to achieve suborbital space flight, he's extended his X-prize concept into earthly realms such as automotive engineering, genomics and health care. And while he still sends billionaires to the International Space Station as managing director of the firm Space Adventures, he's lately teamed up with futurist Ray Kurzweil to create the Singularity University, where young entrepreneurs are trained to think about global issues. Ivan Semeniuk spoke with Diamandis about...

Archaeologists claim to have found the oldest known artefact in the Americas, a scraper-like tool in an Oregon cave that dates back 14,230 years.

The Obama adminstration must react responsibly to China’s declaration that military operations in space are inevitable, a top China expert says. “How will the US react to Chinese diplomatic efforts in light of the PLA’s blunt statements on space warfare? This is something the Obama administration has to take into account,” said Dean Cheng, China specialist at Washington’s Heritage Foundation. “Are we going to see outrage, any meaningful reactions to the Chinese statements or again that it was someone speaking out of school and we just aren’t sure.”

When scientists search the heavens for habitable worlds beyond Earth, they don't necessarily know what to look for. A new study has found that the most probable place to find intelligent life in the galaxy is around stars with roughly the mass of the sun, and surface temperatures between 5,300 and 6,000 Kelvin (9,100 and 10,300 degrees Fahrenheit) - in fact, stars very similar to our own sun.

Pull me up, Scotty. At least one team has qualified for part of a $2 million prize up for grabs in this year's Space Elevator Games, a NASA-sponsored contest to build machines that can climb a cable in the sky – precursors for a futuristic transit system to space. On Wednesday, an entry by the Washington state-based team LaserMotive climbed a 3,000-foot (900-meter) tether suspended by a helicopter at a speed of about 8 mph (13 kph). The feat was the best performance yet of a miniature space elevator prototype, though still a long shot away from what would be...