Free Republic

Britain will face a serious energy crisis unless plans to build new nuclear power plants are speeded through without having obstacles placed in their way, the Government will warn next week. Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, will give the go-ahead for a new generation of power stations and explain how new planning guidelines will speed up the time it takes for them to come into operation. In a major series of policy statements on Monday Mr Miliband will say that “saying no” to nuclear is no longer an option.The move is certain to arouse opposition in Labour...

Health Reform Passes a Big Test, With Obama’s Aid CARL HULSE; ROBERT PEAR November 7, 2009 WASHINGTON — President Obama exhorted Democrats on Saturday to approve a sweeping overhaul of health care and to “answer the call of history” as the House began debating legislation that would transform the nation’s health insurance system. Democrats quickly took a significant step toward passage of the plan by surmounting a key procedural hurdle in approving the rules for debate. Despite a sharp party divide over how strictly to limit spending for abortions, leading Democrats were increasingly confident they had locked up the necessary...

Breaking News: Military Releases Names of Dead in Fort Hood Shooting

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri will announce a new national unity government to include Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah in the next few days, politicians said on Saturday. Lebanon has been without a functioning government since Hariri led his coalition, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, to victory in a June parliamentary election against Hezbollah and its allies. Politicians from both sides said Hariri had now clinched a deal with the opposition on the new government's make-up. A government acceptable to all main parties is seen as key to maintaining stability in a country facing sectarian...

Thousands of people filling the sidewalks and spilling onto Tully Road had arrived early Saturday morning to receive one of 5,500 doses of coveted swine flu vaccine. "There's no way there's enough," said George Reis, who was helping with crowd control. "They keep coming."

From Cantor's office: Below is a list of 31 Democrats, from coast-to-coast & north to south, who have listened to their constituents and joined Republicans in a bipartisan fashion to oppose Speaker Pelosi’s trillion dollar plus overhaul of the nation’s health care system (Updated is bold): 1. Rep. John Adler (NJ) 2. Rep. Brian Baird (WA) 3. Rep. John Barrow (GA) 4. Rep. Dan Boren (OK) 5. Rep. Rick Boucher (VA) 6. Rep. Allen Boyd (FL) 7. Rep. Bobby Bright (AL) 8. Rep. Travis Childers (MS) 9. Rep. Artur Davis (AL) 10. Rep. Chet Edwards (TX) 11. Rep. Bart Gordon...

Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas, attended the controversial Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. His mother's funeral was held there in May that year. The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations.

A Glimpse into the Future By Norma Zager “Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parent, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers” Socrates(470-399 B.C.) Despite the constant egregious flow of rhetoric from our obnoxious politicians, the voice of reason occasionally emerges like a small flower through the weeds in surprising places. Last evening in my university classroom, I was taken by the fresh bloom emerging through the dense grass of our all-too-common uncivil social discourse. Although narcissistic politicians would have us all believe the American people condone their vision for future generations, I was quite hopeful to hear the...

A senior police chief spoke out tonight about the worrying rise in gang rapes, as disturbing figures showed almost 100 attacks in the capital within the last year. Meanwhile the age of victims has fallen, with 64 per cent aged 19 or younger in the last financial year compared with 48 per cent in 1998-9. The Metropolitan Police has commissioned research from Dr Miranda Horvath, a lecturer in forensic psychology at the University of Surrey. She is focusing on the 'cultural context' of gang rape and speaking to officers from forces across Britain and the United States. Jennette Arnold, who...

SEATTLE - The suspect in the shooting death of a Seattle police officer was "a lone domestic terrorist" whose apartment was a virtual arsenal of bomb-making materials and weaponry. (snip) There also is evidence that the suspect, Christopher M. Monfort, 41, of Tukwila may have been planning to escalate his activities in the coming days if he had not been caught. (snip) In addition, there have been reports of loud explosions in the area around Monfort's apartment complex in the past three months. Those blasts may have been experiments by Monfort and may indicate that he planned a larger-scale terrorist...

Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000...

> "That is one of the great advantages of the British health system," said Dr. Steve Field, president of the Royal College of General Physicians. "We have a list of all the names of patients who qualify to be vaccinated." >

Bill Would Restrict Veterans’ Health Care Options Buyer and McKeon Offer Amendments to Protect Veterans and TRICARE Beneficiaries Washington, D.C. — Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Steve Buyer and House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Howard P. “Buck” McKeon offered three amendments to the Pelosi healthcare bill that would protect America’s Veterans and military TRICARE beneficiaries. The healthcare legislation, which is expected to be voted on in the full House in the coming days limits veteran’s and service member’s health care choices and places veterans and military health care unnecessarily at risk by not clearly excluding military...

BBC interview by Gavin Lee with a member of the Killeen, Texas mosque outside Ft Hood, the Islamic Community Center of Greater Killeen, where Malik Nidal Hasan was currently attending. In the interview, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nrvhp#p0051bjj mosque member "Duane" not only refuses to condemn Hasan, but justifies their murder because "they were troops who were going to Afghanistan and Iraq to kill Muslims". Duane : "I'm not going to condemn him for what he did. I don't know why he did it. I will not, absolutely not, condemn him for what he had done though. If he had done it for selfish...

     Almost a month ago, I pointed out that Mayor Bloomberg's gun show "sting" operation may itself have broken federal gun trafficking laws.At the time, I urged readers to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) to inquire as to whether or not Mayor Bloomberg's "investigation" was itself being investigated for possible  criminal activity, and to request that such an investigation be initiated.Yesterday, I received a response, of sorts: Thank you for your e-mail inquiry to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). We are sorry for the delay in responding.  Please go to the...

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The far right’s star House member just hit the headlines with a rowdy health-care rally on Capitol Hill. Benjamin Sarlin reports on the Democrats lining up in Minnesota to send Michele Bachmann into early retirement. Michele Bachmann took her paranoid campaign against the White House to new heights on Thursday, leading a mass protest inside the Capitol itself that led to multiple arrests. Antics like these have made her one of the breakout stars of the Republican Party in the Obama era, drawing praise from Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and even George Will. But her stunts have also made what...

Republicans are now using robocalls, urging voters to call their congressman to express their concerns about Pelosi's health care legislation, in the following House districts, grouped by position:

An Army major behind the murders of 13 US soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, expressed sympathy for suicide bombers and support for terrorists waging war against US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Police shot and wounded Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist, after he went on a killing spree outside a readiness center for troops preparing to deploy to Iraq. Hasan, a Muslim American, opened fire with handguns on soldiers at the center. Eleven US soldiers were killed and 31 more were wounded before Hasan was shot by members of a SWAT team and detained by police. Initial reports indicated...

"The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it." -Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood"[Our goal is] to be ready as educators and parents to help young people obtain sex satisfaction before marriage." -Dr. Lena Levine, colleague of Margaret Sanger and medical secretary of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in the 1930s"We are not going to be an organization promoting celibacy or chastity." -Faye Wattleton, President of Planned Parenthood from 1978-1992This summer, one of America's largest community organization networks was "busted" thanks to the efforts of two college kids...

WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Less than two weeks before the release of her memoir "Going Rogue," former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was on message during a Friday night speech to anti-abortion activists at State Fair Park. "Let’s simplify: We’re pro children," Palin told thousands of people who attended a $30-a-ticket fundraiser for the Wisconsin Right to Life Education Fund. In a personal and passionate speech, Palin lauded the state’s anti-abortion movement for legislative advances achieved over time. "We were told to sit down and shut up," Palin said. "Wisconsin, you went rogue." Palin spoke movingly of her youngest son, Trig,...

My son just recently returned from Iraq. His screen name is hollywoodusmc. He's looking at this post now so please welcome him. Thanks all.---optiguy

In an historic effort to develop the U.S. military to military relationship with the People’s Republic of China, Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, commander U.S. Strategic Command, hosted Gen. Xu Caihou, one of two Vice Chairmen of the PRC’s Central Military Commission.

Thirteen dead and 28 wounded would be a bad day for the U.S. military in Afghanistan and a great victory for the Taliban. Brave soldiers trained to kill America's enemy abroad were killed in the safety and security of home by a man who believes in and supports everything the enemy does. And he's a U.S. Army major. And his superior officers knew about his beliefs but seemed to think this was just a bit of harmless multicultural diversity - as if believing that "the Muslims should stand up and fight against the aggressor" (i.e. his fellow American soldiers) and...

Lost Charlie Chaplin film bought on eBay for $5 A lost Charlie Chaplin film has been discovered in a can of nitrate film bought on eBay for £3.20 ($5). Morale Park from Henham, Essex, purchased the tin simply because he liked the look of it. He was amazed to discover its fragile contents: a previously unknown seven-minute film Chaplin film called Zepped. His interest was piqued, he said, when he could not find any mention of it on the internet. The film features footage of Zeppelin airships flying over England during the First World War, and out-takes from three pictures...

Fort Hood shooting: Texas army killer linked to September 11 terrorists Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam said to be a "spiritual adviser" to three of the hijackers who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001. By Philip Sherwell and Alex Spillius Published: 8:17PM GMT 07 Nov 2009 Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas Photo: GETTY Imam Anwar al-Awlaki The radical Imam Anwar al-Awlaki, accused of supporting attacks on British troops Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers...

The White House is accusing Fox News of not being a legitimate source of news, calling them biased, etc. They have tried to block Fox reporters from news conferences, etc., NPR has put a survey online for us to voice our opinion. If Fox loses this poll you can bet Obama will mention it as support for his attack on Fox. Let's show them how we feel about honest conservative news reporting. To vote log onto: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/10/in_white_house_vs_fox_news_war.html Then ... forward this to everybody !

Energy-efficiency investments Tangible gains still ahead for $25 billion initiative In Baltimore, the 300 block of East 23 1/2 Street is getting patched up in time for winter. One economic stimulus program is paying to insulate 11 rental rowhouses, another is paying for furnaces and a third is covering the cost for reflective roofs to be installed by prison inmates in a job-training program. The block is part of one of the biggest initiatives ever undertaken by the federal government, a nationwide push to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. But as the national unemployment rate crosses into the double...

I got caught up in some traffic on I-66W and I tuned in to WTOP for a traffic report. Instead, WTOP reporter Nathan Roberts was talking to some General who kept referring to sailors in the Coast Guard as "Coast Guarders". Nathan Roberts was clearly trying to convince everyone that not only was Hasan's religion not a factor, but also it wasn't even certain that he was the shooter since he stressed that Hasan was only the "alleged" shooter.

FORT HOOD (November 7, 2009)--A Muslim leader in Killeen says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist suspected of going on a shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood, asked him for advice on what he should tell soldiers who had concerns about going to fight Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. Osman Danquah, who is a co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, said he had a bad feeling about Hasan after the two talked twice in late summer. He told The Associated Press Saturday that Hasan regularly attended services at the mosque in his uniform. Danquah said Hasan never...

tennessean.com cannot be posted due to copyright complaint.

A year after his election Obama finds it increasingly difficult to blame the sour economy on George W. Bush or offer reassurances that jobless Americans will soon find work. Never mind that the economy itself grew in the last quarter, that the recession, as measured by the precise formulas used by economists, is over and that the number of jobs lost in October was less than one-third the number of job losses at the start of his presidency. Those claims about the recession's end do not convince people who remain painfully aware of the unemployment rate. At 10.2 percent, October...

I don’t claim to be knowledgeable about US Immigration law, but I do know the process, the legal one that is. I met my wife while she was attending a medical convention on Down syndrome in New York. She is from Brasil and was here on a visitor visa. As they say, the rest is history. What I know about the legal immigration process came from personal experience that eventually saw my wife become a naturalized American citizen after nearly nine years of filing forms and jumping through hoops. One form in particular caught my attention. I don’t recall the...

Obama's Frightening Insensitivity Following Shooting A bad week for Democrats compounded by an awful moment for Barack Obama. President Obama didn't wait long after Tuesday's devastating elections to give critics another reason to question his leadership, but this time the subject matter was more grim than a pair of governorships.Photo CBS News via Drudgereport. After news broke out of the shooting at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, the nation watched in horror as the toll of dead and injured climbed. The White House was notified immediately and by late afternoon, word went out that the president would speak...

MARION, Ala. — The sign going on the front door at the Perry County courthouse reads: "Closed for the Obama Holiday." The rural, mostly black county has proclaimed Monday as an official holiday celebrating the election of the nation's first black president, Barack Obama. It's one of Alabama's poorest counties, but it's sparing little during five days of festivities.

The protesters aren’t only trying to weaken the regime. They are desperately trying to get Western attention. They know that the celebration of an attack on Americans will gain at least some attention from the Western media, and they sought to use that opportunity to show the true face of Iran. The apology by the Green Movement for the hostage-takings is another remarkably bold act of defiance of the regime that strikes at the Islamic Revolution’s earliest days and can only be interpreted as a way of gaining American attention. As is the case with other peoples fighting for their...

A heavily pregnant woman and her fiance have gone on the run after social workers threatened to take away their baby at birth. Kerry Robertson, 17, and Mark McDougall, 25, had been told that she was not bright enough to raise their child and that they would have to give him up. It was another blow for the couple, whose wedding this year was halted just 48 hours before the ceremony in a row over whether Miss Robertson was intelligent enough to marry.   Miss Robertson, who is 29 weeks pregnant, has since been told the couple will be...

The American Society of Medical Doctors (ASMD) today released a nationwide, nonpartisan poll* of physicians showing that: 70 percent of specialty doctors oppose current Congressional and White House proposals for health-care reform; 66 percent believe that a government-run health insurance plan would restrict doctors' ability to give the best advice and offer the best care possible to their patients; and More than 60 percent would not accept new patients with government insurance (including 27% who would not accept any patients on the new government plan). Chairman of the ASMD, Alfred O. Bonati, M.D., said that, "As a physician, the results...

President Barack Obama said Friday that flags at the White House and other federal buildings will be flown at half staff until Veterans Day in recognition of the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.

Some votes critical in determining the Seattle mayoral race may not get counted until next Tuesday. Vandals tried to get at a ballot drop box in Tukwila in the early morning hours after the election. "The metal cover plate that we seal the ballot drop box with at 8pm on Election night was ripped off," said Kim Van Ekstrom, with King County Elections. Ekstrom said the ballots themselves weren't tampered with because the box's design doesn't allow access unless you have the keys. The question is whether anything was slipped in that shouldn't have been. "They were in the process...

Drinking the Kool-Aid on MSNBC wasn't enough, even for CNBC's Jim Cramer, to escape the reality that Obamanomics isn't working. Back on October 12, Cramer, to his credit, knew there were some problems with the $787-billion stimulus passed earlier this year. However, he felt it was necessary to pledge his admiration for President Barack Obama, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. But, Matthews asked Cramer if there would be something tangible to back up that praise. "OK - let me ask you the question," Matthews said on MSNBC's Oct. 12 "Hardball." "Let's talk about how we...

Some NYC Freepers need to find these (&$! and give them what for. Get the puke bucket.

A manager at a Massachusetts retail store claims he was unjustly fired after he told a colleague he thought her impending marriage to another woman was wrong.

The health care bill in the House, H.R. 3962, is in desperate need of votes, and pro-life congressmen are sitting on their hands demanding the legislation have stringent pro-life language which would keep federal money from funding abortions. Similar to the Hyde Amendment, which bars tax-payer money from funding abortions under the Department of Health and Human Services programs, the Stupak-Pitts amendment would accomplish the same under H.R. 3962

Let's face it, Pelosi is going to stip this language out in committee. She offered it to push the bill along the process. If the Republicans kill the Amendment they might stop the bill today. It also puts the blue dogs in even more of a quandry to vote yes or no without the abortion provisions.

The American Medical Association House of Delegates drew up a resolution last night which would withdraw their support of the House health care bill. Members are likely to vote on whether or not to withdraw their support of the bill earlier in the week. This action is a result of members within the organization who revolted, when the AMA initially gave the the healthcare legislation its endorsement. President Obama touted the endorsement of the AMA and AARP on Thursday at the White House.

<p>Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama Saturday said members of the House of Representatives face the chance of a lifetime as they consider legislation on health care reform.</p> <p>In a meeting with the House Democratic leadership, the president said he told lawmakers "that opportunities like this come around maybe once in a generation.</p>

Barack Obama's reaction to bad news is to play it so cool that Americans yearn for a bit more drama - and some even for his predecessor, writes Toby Harnden in Washington. During the election campaign, Barack Obama's cool detachment was a winning quality, the "No Drama Obama" a welcome contrast with the "Mr Angry" John McCain, never mind the hot-headed "I'm the decider" President George W Bush. A year into his presidency, however, Mr Obama seems a curiously bloodless president. If he experiences passion, he seldom shows it. It is often anyone's guess as to whether an event or...

Oh, how the tables have turned.Nervous Democrats are on defense and emboldened Republicans sense opportunity heading into 2010 and the midterm elections. It was just three years ago that the GOP lost the House and Senate as well as governors' races in a cross-country Democratic wave.Now, with most states under their control and comfortable majorities in Congress, Democrats must protect far more seats than Republicans: 19 governors' mansions, 17 Senate seats and as many as 60 House districts in moderate-to-conservative regions and swing-voting areas.At this point, Democrats must do it in a more troubling political environment than in 2006 and...

his morning at about 6:00 am, I drove by the day labor center and the Lake Forest Home Depot. All was quiet. I returned at 9:00 and there were four people at Home Depot. I forgot the phone numbers Lake Forest Bob gave us, so I got the manager and politely reminded him that when Home Depot moved to Lake Forest, they agreed not to allow day laborers to loiter on the property. He confirmed this and called the police and the four were told to leave the Property. I then returned to the street site and stood among the...