Free Republic

There is no less racism now than pre-Obama, and there is no less partisanship; there may well be more of both. I was wrong in thinking that these things might diminish, and while having voted against him provides a bit of comfort, it provides very little. That there is now even less sanity provides no solace whatever. Caligula, a Roman emperor, was clearly nuts; he probably suffered from schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses. However: [Those] who believe that Caligula was never mentally ill attribute his erratic behavior to being suddenly presented with immense responsibility, having had no previous experience...

My father, Ronald Reagan, battled successfully to simplify the tax code but his work has been largely undone. The arrogance of those who use the tax code to manipulate citizen behavior and Congressional ambitions for personal advancement have again corrupted the already destructive income tax system. It will fall to the American people to once again reject unfair taxation that favors the mighty at the expense of the public. These 237 years after the Boston Tea Party and 31 years after the tax revolt that contributed to the election of my father as President, America is again rejecting “taxation without...

That's what voters say, according to today's (Rasmussen survey:)Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 30% oppose the use of such techniques, and another 12% are not sure. There's this, too: Seventy-one percent (71%) of all voters think the attempt by the Nigerian Muslim to blow up the airliner as it landed in Detroit should be investigated by military authorities as a terrorist act. Only 22%...

WASHINGTON – August means beaches and barbecues. And for some, a chance to rally the troops for this fall's health care showdown. Senate postponement of work on health care until September gives interest groups on both sides an entire month to whip up supporters, and pushes off crucial votes on the overhaul effort until fall — when people are likely to refocus on the issue. Backers and opponents of President Barack Obama's top domestic priority plan to use Congress' August recess for intensive advertising and grass-roots campaigns in hopes that energized voters might influence wavering lawmakers. Even so, some political...

Fight crazy talk with sanityBy Clarence Page Published: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 5:16 PM EDT What is it about President Obama that drives some people crazy? Take, for example, his former pastor. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is back in the news again. This time he’s apologizing. He really did not mean to blame “them Jews” in an earlier interview for keeping him away from the president, he says now. He had meant to refer to “Zionists” and not all Jews. The sound bite in question occurred a day earlier. In a walking interview with a reporter for Virginia’s Daily Press,...

It is now over 5 month since the best President of this century has left office . Do I miss the years he was our President and Commander in Chief.? You betcha. Today, I will post photos from June 2001 and June 2002. snugs will post photos from June 2003. (She might do it tomorrow though instead.. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (Reuters) – The U.S. Coast Guard will require U.S.-flagged ships sailing around the Horn of Africa to post guards and ship owners to submit anti-piracy security plans for approval, a Coast Guard official said on Tuesday. The new requirements, which respond to a surge of piracy off the coast of Somalia, allow ship owners to decide whether to use armed or unarmed guards, Coast Guard Rear Admiral James Watson told shipping industry representatives at a maritime security meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The revised Maritime Security Directive, highly anticipated by the shipping industry, was signed on Monday...

A couple's obsession with Star Wars inspired them to theme their wedding on the blockbuster films – with the groom playing Han Solo and the bride Princess Leia.Duncan Thomson, 41, and Sammi Gardiner, 39, got married in an unusual ceremony surrounded by friends and family all dressed as characters from the sci-fi movies. In a pun on the films' famous phrase, "may the force be with you", they chose Monday as the date for the service, so they could bill it as "May the 4th be with you". The couple, from the Isle of Wight, even invited the movie's director...

Italy is to scrap its blacklist of dangerous dogs, replacing it with a law making owners more responsible for their pet`s training and behaviour, Health Undersecretary Francesca Martini said Tuesday. The new law, which will come into effect in April, will wipe clean the current list of 17 breeds which are considered potentially dangerous, including Rottweilers, pit bull terriers, bull mastiffs and American bulldogs. Under the current law, owners of these breeds are required to keep them muzzled in public places and ensure that they pose no danger to others, while failure to respect the law can result in the...

SEAN HANNITY PLEADS GUILTY (ALL CHARGES LIKE RUSH) SIMULTANEOUSLY AS RUSH LIMBAUGH: FOLLOWS CODE OF THE BUSHIDO AND COMMITS HARI-KARI ON AIR (MAR 3, Tuesday, March 03, 2009 Sean Hannity pleads guilty, incontestable and does not challenge the charges against him any further; says “he had substantive charges” and also why the federal authorities will find his finances out of order “rich people always find a way to stash their fortune?” Or it could be a paper trail of corruption and influence or some criminal organization. Could also be Client 23 and various reasons why he knew Rush was in...

Japanese scientists have made a dramatic break with the UN and Western-backed hypothesis of climate change in a new report from its Energy Commission. Three of the five researchers disagree with the UN's IPCC view that recent warming is primarily the consequence of man-made industrial emissions of greenhouse gases. Remarkably, the subtle and nuanced language typical in such reports has been set aside. One of the five contributors compares computer climate modelling to ancient astrology. Others castigate the paucity of the US ground temperature data set used to support the hypothesis, and declare that the unambiguous warming trend from the...

Rising unemployment has touched off a race among state governors to woo companies with tax breaks and financial incentives, even as budget shortfalls force cuts in education, health care and other services.

The latest issue of The Journal of Communication and Religion (November 2008, Volume 31, Number 2) contains an excellent analysis of the importance of opposite-sex parent relationships. The common sense conclusion is backed up with social science data and affirmed by a peer-reviewed scholarly article: girls need a dad, and boys need a mom. Not surprisingly, the study also found that communication is an essential building block for all family relationships — family interactions are the crucible for attitudes, values, priorities, and worldviews. Beyond the shaping and modeling of these essential personal characteristics, the family shapes an individual’s interpersonal system...

The Security Cabinet on Wednesday rejected a French proposal for a 48-hour suspension of the IDF offensive against Hamas to allow Paris the opportunity to mediate a cease-fire, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the proposal would be reconsidered when the time is right. "We didn't initiate the Gaza operation in order to end it while Israeli towns are still under fire, as they were before the operation." said Olmert. "Imagine if after a few days of the offensive we had declared a unilateral cease-fire and a rocket barrage had then hit Ashkelon" he continued. "Israel has shown restraint...

Can't take it anymore.

Dennis Kucinich is currently on the floor of the House presenting his bill to impeach President George W. Bush. C-SPAN, 8:00 PM 9 Jun 2008.

Good morning, and welcome to Super Duper Tuesday Week...It's also the culmination of Mardi Gras, and oh yes, there was a big football game of some sort yesterday...Hollywood Writer's strike is expected to end this week...

PING!

By Jeff Franks NEW ORLEANS, April 6 (Reuters) - Natural changes in ocean currents are to blame for increased Atlantic hurricane activity in recent years, not man-made global warming as many scientists believe, hurricane forecaster William Gray said on Friday. "I think the whole human-induced greenhouse gas thing is a red herring," Gray said in a speech at the National Hurricane Conference. Gray, whose annual forecasts for the hurricane season are closely watched, said the Earth has warmed the past 30 years, but that it was due to flucuations in ocean currents. He predicted a cooling off period would begin...