Free Republic

After reading Sunday’s Herald, I’m thinking seriously about becoming a deadbeat. And you know what? I feel great about it! That’s because I read in Sunday’s Herald how people who owe more on their homes than they are worth should just stop making their payments. Better still, we shouldn’t feel any guilt about it, or any sense that we’re “doing something morally wrong” either. That’s according to liberal academic Brent White of the University of Arizona. (How liberal? He’s argued that patriotic activities like the Pledge of Allegiance don’t belong in public schools.) In a new academic paper White says...

By Michael Peabody The other day someone sent me a link to an “Antichrist Decoder” that has been posted online by an otherwise reputable Christian ministry. You can type in anybody’s name and the program will calculate the value of the name in Roman numerals. After checking my name to make sure that I was not the Antichrist I looked at the other names that people had plugged into the decoder and learned that Barack Obama is not the antichrist, neither is Barack Hussein Obama. Ronald Wilson Reagan’s name doesn’t add up to 666 even if you type in two...

If you had to personally pay for a mammogram, would you rather pay $325 or $168 assuming there is no qualitative difference? If you needed an anesthesiologist for a surgical procedure, would you rather pay $1,200 or $688, and it’s for the same anesthesiologist? If you required surgery to reduce a fractured elbow, would you rather pay operating room and hospital charges of $19,000 or $14,000 for the same facilities? For that matter, would you rather pay the surgeon $4,000 or $3,200? Of course, if you are not paying the cost, you probably don’t care at all. Those are the...

It looks like Andrew Sullivan is taking a break from daily blogging. His assistants and other assorted bloggers are taking his place in manning the Daily Dish. Chris Bodenner highlighted the thoughts of two readers on “The Value of Shi**y Work.” The sentiment of this is one that I find really, really annoying: To the people who say that the unemployed should accept menial jobs, I would say… why should I? Speaking from personal experience, I put in 4 years getting an undergraduate degree and 2 years getting a professional certification so that I wouldn’t have to work in a...

If you ask Dr. Steven Spady, there are two important words missing from the nation’s conversation about health reform: “personal responsibility.” But Spady, a 54-year-old emergency physician in rural Kentucky, can’t talk about the topic right now. He’s too busy caring for people who he says don’t take care of themselves. “I just had to go take care of man that left our hospital this morning and now has gone and got drunk and will suck up more health care dollars,” Spady wrote in a hurried e-mail late on a recent weeknight. That same day, he cared for a 358-pound...

Children in adult bodies want to live in Neverland. But Neverland doesn’t exist, and it never will. That’s why it’s called Neverland. In fiction, people who never grow up enjoy amusing adventures in which the dangers are imaginary. In reality, people who never grow up may enjoy themselves for a time, but sooner or later the all-too-real dangers they ignored catch up with them. And then their fantasy world will be lost to foreclosure, and their real world will become distinctly unpleasant, or even lethal. But then it will be too late.

This week, he decided to take another shot at Tiger Woods, complaining yet again that Tiger doesn't do enough to promote social justice for minorities. In his recent interview for HBO's Real Sports, he said: "He'll run over you, he'll kick your ass, but as an individual for social change, or any of that kind of s*** Terrible. Terrible. Because he can get away with teaching kids to play golf, and that's his contribution. And in the real world, man, I can't teach no kids to play golf and that's my contribution, if I got that kind of power."

She's young, beautiful, articulate, patriotic, Christian, and most importantly, courageous. To many on the left however Carrie Prejean, the current Miss California, is a bigoted, shameful, and intolerant homophobe. What Carrie Prejean represents, in other words, is a modern day inkblot test of inestimable value to America's frustrated and exiled GOP. If there was ever a time in this modern day Alice in Wonderland cultural climate for conservatives to take a stand on something and shake the political world upside down, that time is now. What can Carrie Prejean do for America and the GOP? For starters, she can drive...

This past election showed that Republicans in America are in trouble.  The culprit may simply be the public's fatigue with an eight year Republican administration (not to mention the fact that McCain ran a singularly inept campaign).  President Obama's startling ascendency, though, a career trajectory that took place despite the absence of any meaningful resume and the presence of some very eyebrow-raising associates, indicates that the Republican Party's problems run deeper than fatigue and campaign ineptitude. So let's start with a question:  When was the last time America had more registered Republicans than registered Democrats?  1955?  1928?  I don't know...

Debt Day comes early this year. Unfortunately, it's nothing to celebrate. The symbolic "holiday," which falls on Sunday, marks the point in the fiscal year when government spending exceeds revenue. In other words, the government will stop making money and start borrowing on Sunday. And it's coming earlier than ever, according to House Minority Leader John Boehner, who's pointing to Debt Day as yet another symptom of a government he says is spending too much, borrowing too much and taxing too much. Last year's Debt Day fell more than three months later, on Aug. 5. "All the revenue for this...

Our President is working a list of nations he feels we’ve offended and he’s apologizing. Ultimately, that behavior will bite him back. Significant apologies drag sea anchors called consequences. You accidently bump into someone in an elevator and say “I’m sorry.” No consequences, unless they’re psycho. You accidently run over your neighbor’s cat and say “I’m sorry.” There may or may not be consequences, depending on your relationship with your neighbor. You drive drunk and cause an accident injuring others. “I’m sorry” doesn’t ease the consequences. As President Obama apologizes across the globe, eventually some recipients of his apologies will...

Polls show that the public is both nervous and angry as political leaders throw together massive financial bailouts. We instinctively know that high levels of public debt are dangerous for our future whether we voted for Obama or McCain in November. Concerned citizens want a sustainable recovery we can believe in not an inflationary quick-fix. We cannot have confidence in economic stimulus and bailouts that look, sound and smell like a giant Ponzi scheme. We have to begin by stipulating that government and many companies and individuals have been living beyond their means for quite some time. There was too...

BAGHDAD — The Sons of Iraq, security volunteers credited with helping reduce violent attacks and terrorist influence across the country, marked two major milestones Wednesday. Coalition forces completed the final transfer of Sons of Iraq members to Iraqi control, and the Government of Iraq secured the funds to pay back-wages to Sons of Iraq in four provinces. “These are big wins, and they affirm the Government of Iraq’s commitment to the Sons of Iraq,” said Col. Jeffrey Kulmayer, chief of reconciliation, Multi-National Corps – Iraq. The Sons of Iraq, numbering about 92,000 in nine provinces across Iraq, began in 2006...

Guess what? There's a one-ingredient recipe for healthier kidsWe’re fat. Really fat. And it’s not just us—it’s our kids, too. Have you seen them? They’re enormous.According to the mantra of obesity experts, however, it’s much like Robin Williams (correctly) told Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting: It’s not your fault. No, it’s not your fault, it’s not our fault, it’s not their fault. Unless “they� are restaurateurs, in which case it is their fault. That’s especially true for chain restaurants—the ones selling McAnything, blooming onions, and the like. They’re killing us by the greasy mouthful.And because it’s their fault, these...

FOR a guy who talks so much about wanting a new era of re sponsibility, President Obama spends an awful lot of time blaming Republicans for all the wild and reckless spending he crammed into his own budget. After running a campaign against the $1 trillion deficit he "inherited" from President Bush and the Republicans, Obama quickly matched it. During his first 50 days in office, he and his Democratic-controlled Congress spent $1 billion an hour. Under Obama's proposed budget, the overall national debt doubles in five years and triples in 10. Not exactly "moving from an era of borrow...

As anticipated, President Obama recently unveiled his proposed solution to America's educational tribulations, namely greater early childhood intervention, merit pay for teachers, more charters and national standards. Though this smorgasbord differs in details from his predecessor's No Child Left Behind, it is actually a quite similar restaurant-like order from the identical menu. And just as eateries typically have a common theme, e.g., Italian, so does this education carte du jour: Regardless of what is selected, learning is never the student's responsibility. Like a patient undergoing brain surgery, today's student lies passively while experts labor to insert knowledge, and to continue...

President Obama has mastered the art of employing rhetoric that makes it sound as if he's doing something uniquely virtuous and heroic when in reality he's doing stuff that political leaders often do. We've seen this with the way he touts bipartisanship while being unwilling to offer real compromises or the way he proclaims he isn't hiring lobbyists when he actually is. But he took this practice to more absurd proportions today when his big Harry Truman "buck stops here" moment was woven together with other statements blaming everybody but his administration for the handling of the AIG bonuses and...

"Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" Patrick Henry...

After watching President Obama’s address to the joint session of Congress and Governor Bobby Jindal’s Republican reply, it’s clear that Americans have two very different definitions of what it means to be “responsible.” President Obama and his Democratic friends are spending like they’re playing with Monopoly money. His lofty rhetoric and reassuring phrases have no resemblance to the reality he’s creating. He challenges Americans to “take responsibility for our future once more….our job is to govern with a sense of responsibility…there’s no bailout for dishonest lenders who acted irresponsibly or for folks who bought homes they knew from the beginning...

My studies as a scholar of twentieth-century European history, both in undergraduate and graduate school, coupled with my study of the Book of Mormon and modern-day politics, have led me to conclude that the need for individual righteousness and responsibility was never greater. Why do people want a king? Why do people inevitably gravitate towards a strong central government? For centuries the European nations were held in the thrall of the "divine right of kings." They truly believed that kings were foreordained in heaven and that to go against their king was to go against God. For the most part,...

I Am Responsible.For working 80 to 100 hour work weeks.Employing people and giving them a chance for better things.Retiring early...then going back to workRolling the dice and opening a new businessRefusing government money.Making my little business profitable.

While I love my own brother, I just don’t understand Wall Street. My brother (an investment banker) and I had a heated conversation on the “bailout” and the bonuses that have been paid to the investment bankers that have utterly failed on Wall Street. And I just don’t understand the argument...

Six years ago I wrote a book called "Uncle Sam's Plantation." I wrote the book to tell my own story of what I saw living inside the welfare state and my own transformation out of it. I said in that book that indeed there are two Americas. A poor America on socialism and a wealthy America on capitalism. I talked about government programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8 Housing, and Food Stamps. A vast sea of perhaps well intentioned government programs,...

Remember the WTC, Pentagon and Flight 93!Good evening. First full week of O administration coming up. The discouraging details of the Congressional "stimulus" package are likely to dominate the news, at least from our point of view.Rumors of Justice Stevens's retirement stir Washington, and conservatives will be tuned into Rush Limbaugh's show for sure Monday to hear him primed and ready to address O's comments Friday.

I keep waiting for that moment when Barack Obama - President Obama - tells the American people that there is a price to be paid for the many proposals he has offered. That moment has yet to come.Obama's inaugural speech did tell America that it is time to set aside childish things, that greatness must be earned, and Obama bristled at the notion that "the next generation must lower its sights." But as usual, he failed to tell voters anything they might not want to hear. So began the "new era of responsibility."You can counter that most inaugural speeches don't...

Remember the WTC, Pentagon and Flight 93!Good evening everyone!As coverage of the inaugural activies reaches a crescendo of epic (& disturbing) proportions, let's pause a moment to wish Pres. Bush and Mrs Bush a safe journey home and a peaceful, rewarding life in retirement.

Good evening!We're down to the last few days of the Bush Presidency. Who among us doesn't have some concern about our nation's security in the months ahead? And will those who criticized the President so constantly on this front not come to recognize the margin of safety he gave us?Israel continues to destroy Hamas terrorist sites and agents in Gaza,sadly, much to the world's apparent dismay and loathing.

Good evening, and welcome to the new week's thread.P-E Obama must find a replacement for Bill Richardson, Sec-Commerce designate, who withdrew his name Sunday.Israel continues its incursions and attacks on Palestinian terrorists, AKA Hamas, in Gaza.And many of us regroup after a busy season with Family and Friends in December.

Good morning! The weekend theme: TURMOIL...in the MidEast and among the Dems. One is extremely dangerous and consequential, and the other is at least entertaining to us conservatives

Good evening. As Arctic temps and snow grip much of the country, I pray for all those who travel and have to spend time outside. Also remember the many affected by the economic woes this season...anecdotal stories we're all hearing bring the statistics to life, and add a somber theme to the time which is usually so joyful.

The headline on BostonHerald.com yesterday read: Monday morning shooting shocks Codman Square. “Shocks?” Really? With all due respect to the Herald’s editors, is anyone really “shocked” by a shooting in Dorchester? The last time I recall “shock” over a Dorchester shooting was when 8-year-old Liquarry Jefferson was accidentally shot by his 7-year-old cousin. Even then, the “shock” factor was diminished by the tragic fact that he had more criminals in his immediate family than Michael Corleone. “Shot in Dorchester” ranks on the Shock-O-Meter somewhere between “Celtics Win At Garden" and "Pregnant Teens in Gloucester." And besides, this is America. We...

Good evening and welcome to the new week's thread...P-E Obama is expected to announce his "Economic Team" today - Monday, and - hold on to your wallets - heavy spending plans to "boost" the sagging economy.Meanwhile rumors swirl around the kind of deal he has struck with Hillary about the State Dept. job.On all fronts...we shall see...

So, the voters of the United States have spoken. They have chosen – or we have chosen because it is important to treat the presidency with respect, something the Progressive-Left wouldn’t have understood until now – a 47-year old multiracial man, who had a decidedly “Progressive” upbringing, who taught community activist organizations to pressure financial institutions into embracing bad business practices, whose records when in the Illinois Senate were destroyed and who started campaigning for the presidency almost from the beginning of his US Senate career. Congratulations, President-Elect Obama. You pulled it off. We, as a people, chose Obama, questionable...

Dear BullionVault user, It's been a few months since I wrote. Here are some thoughts on the credit crunch, and an important bit about our own banking arrangements here at BullionVault. ========== The Crunch ========== Britain's Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, says the current mess is the fault of "irresponsible" bankers. Well, he would say that, wouldn't he? Let's not forget that Mr.Brown claimed the credit for 10 years of unbroken growth. For those 10 years he copied Alan Greenspan by holding interest rates unusually low to encourage investment and demand, which is a near-sighted economist's way of avoiding mild recessions....

Despite the vote by the House of Representatives yesterday, the fact remains that America desperately needs a bailout - a massive rescue plan for an institution vital to our nation and its economy. My bailout target? Personal responsibility. America is experiencing a collapse of the ethics market. Belief in the notion that people should be responsible for their own actions, or pay their own bills or keep their promises has plummeted. It’s time to pump moral and ethical capital into the idea of individual responsibility. Is it any wonder that Wall Street is waiting for a bailout? After all, we’ve...

There is a frightening penchant in today’s gradually feminizing America for people to abandon their God given ability to think and reason. True authority – the kind that summons respect, reverence and even a touch of fear – is being pushed aside, condemned as antiquated patriarchal nonsense, for more “progressive” methods of trying to maintain order. Thus, authority itself is emasculated, common sense is effectively castrated and unintended consequences create new difficulties where there should be none. In New York City, for example, students are not permitted to carry their cell phones into school with them (except in very specific...

Good morning!The Dems' Crazy Convention gets underway. How much of it can you stand to watch? I need a volunteer to watch my share...let me think of some inticement for this huge sacrifice...Fay - the Storm which Won't go Away - continues its tour of the South.

Biden and reporter on CSPAN 1988. Know your responsibility and IQ:)

Call it the “Extreme Rake-Over: Taxpayer Edition.” Three years ago, Patricia and Milton Harper were handed the keys to their brand-new, 4BR dream home on ABC-TV. When Ty Pennington handed them the keys, he also gave the Harpers $250,000 to cover taxes and maintenance for the next 25 years. Three years later, the home is in foreclosure and scheduled for auction - another “casualty” of the mortgage crisis. A free house, a sack of dough, and the Harpers still managed to get $450,000 in debt and lose their home? They are the poster couple for the $300 billion mortgage bailout...

“We have sort of become a nation of whiners. You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline," Phil Gramm told the Washington Times in an interview last week. "You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession." And then he walked away from the microphone. You know what else could be said? We also have a bunch of leaders who thrive on image and political correctness to guide their words and decision making. Since when is it not alright to say what you think or tell the truth? Since now! What was...

A few nights ago, I had occasion to attend an event at a conservative organization here in Phoenix. I will not say which organization, but I have it on good authority—and observed for myself—that the organization is slowly being taken over by libertarians.In many ways, conservatives and libertarians draw from the same ideological well: 18th century classical liberalism. We have much in common when it comes to the notion that government should be limited. Of course, it's a matter of degree; conservatives see a need for a small government, to be sure—but not quite so small as the libertarians.We...

Sen. John McCain on Tuesday brushed off skepticism from economists and insisted he could balance the budget by 2013 by keeping taxes low and curbing spending. "We're going to restrain spending, we're going to have the economy grow again and increase revenues. The problem is that spending got completely out of control," McCain said on CNN's "American Morning." McCain is in favor of extending the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire in 2010. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has projected that by extending the cuts, which McCain originally opposed, and including the additional cuts McCain has...

Good morning. It's good to be home on this Father's Day with my girls, and it's an honor to spend some time with all of you today in the house of our Lord. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus closes by saying, "Whoever hears these words of mine, and does them, shall be likened to a wise man who built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock." [Matthew 7: 24-25]...

Barack Obama asks fathers to take responsibility By Alex Spillius in Washington Last Updated: 12:51AM BST 16/06/2008 Senator Barack Obama has called on black American men to accept their responsibilities as fathers and to stop "acting like boys instead of men". Barack Obama speaking at the Apostolic Church of God In a Father's Day speech at a black church in his home city of Chicago, the Democratic presidential nominee listed the disadvantages faced by single parent families in the community, and urged men to realise that their responsibility as a father does not end at conception. "If we are honest...

I'm a Chinese and live in Beijing. You may heard about a massive earthquake stroke Sichuan province last month. In this natural disaster, one my fellow people, exactly a teacher, ran before his students and declared his view of personal liberty and freedom regardless his teacher indentity. His allegation has triggered a extensive discussion on humanity and teacher, as a publice servant,responsibility. I know that personal liberty is well developed and protected in US. But, and the same time, US is a country regarding public responsibility especially for those paid by the taxpayers to do their civil job. I came...

City: Mom's claim stinks By Alexandra Fenwick Staff Writer NORWALK - A New York woman who took her family to visit the Maritime Aquarium has filed a $100 claim against the city, saying her child's shoes, along with the entire outing, were ruined when her 1-year-old stepped in dog feces early last month outside the Maritime Garage. Norwalk officials will deny the claim, city attorney M. Jeffry Spahr said. "The official response is her claim is denied and poop happens," he said.

Parents 'abdicating responsibility for their children' By Graeme Paton, Education Editor Last Updated: 1:13AM BST 05/05/2008 Parents are “abdicating their responsibility” by leaving children in school for up to 10 hours a day, according to a leading head teacher. Extended schools open to 6pm, providing 'wraparound' childcare to help mothers return to full-time jobs Some mothers and fathers “dump” pupils at breakfast clubs and pick them up late in the evening because of the demands of work, said Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers. Britain’s so-called “back to work culture” - which has also prompted...

Pop star Britney Spears has been involved in a minor road accident on the Ventura Freeway in Los Angeles. The 26-year-old was driving her Mercedes through slow-moving traffic when she struck a Nissan which had stopped in front of her, police said. The Nissan bumped into another vehicle but there was no damage and nobody in any of the cars was injured. Officers from the California Highway Patrol went to the scene but no charges will be brought, a spokesman said. This is not the first time that Spears has been involved in a traffic accident. Last August she escaped...

THERE IS NO question that the federal government plus many lenders and financial professionals shoulder a lot of the blame for our current economic crisis. But many of the individuals who are overloaded with debt need to take responsibility for their bad choices, too. Take credit card debt, for example. Certainly there has been a tremendous push -- for decades -- by financial institutions to get people to view credit cards as indispensable. And consumers gladly went along with no complaint, using other people's money until life's hardships -- a job loss, illness or divorce -- got in the way...

Good morning!Nervous investors will continue to watch the markets this week.Last full week of spring training is here.Surveys of the flood-damaged Midwest continue.