Free Republic

In the corporate world the first and most critical item for anyone taking over a troubled institution is determining where that company stands financially. Identifying and assessing cash on hand against negative cash flow, sorting out divisions that are hemorrhaging badly from those making a profit, and items such as outdated inventories that need to be written off against the costs of the products that are still selling—all of that is crucial information, needed immediately if not sooner. What the educated executive is looking for is where the company really stands on that given day. Only then can a baseline...

The point of this posting is to continue to systematically attack the notion that it is natural for two Koreas to exist and to continually eat away at all the justifications that South Koreans make in order to some how to ease their collective guilt as they lead their moderately wealthty lives as the other half of the nation continues to suffer (For more on how North Koreans continue to suffer see last week's issue of the New Yorker or what Professor Brad DeLong at UC Berkeley has noted to be last weeks "must read.") I do this under the...

Gibbs on MSNBC "It seem like this President has had to go to alot of fundraisers lately, he's played alot of golf lately, he's hung around with Geithner and Summers and the Paulson crowd, the whole New York rich guy scene.He's beginning to look like a Clinton, he looks like a typical Democrats now, hanging out, playing golf, going to rich people's parties, bringing people into the White House to go bowling, this whole thing begins to smell like the Clinton era, what happened to the change we can believe in?"

IFI Media Watch A little over a year ago, I wrote a column regarding the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services' (DCFS) supposed confidential hotline. The DCFS hotline itself was a means by which Illinois citizens could report cases of child abuse and/or neglect. I had a personal experience regarding the use of the confidential hotline which was disturbing, to say the least. I was aware of a family who lived near me in which children were exposed to an unhealthy environment according to anyone's standards. During a visit to the home, three children (all under the age of...

Want to see how Bill Clinton reacted when he found out Obama wasn't worried about yesterday's elections?

Lessons from the off-year elections: The president's influence is limited, independents rule, incumbents beware, issues trump ideology and, once more, "It's the economy, stupid."

Last night was an interesting evening indeed on the political front. As I’m sure most of you know by now, turnovers in New Jersey and Virginia seem to spell C-H-A-N-G-E in a way that conservatives can get behind it. But, being the communications-focused person that I am (did you catch my series on the messianic propaganda of Obama and Mao?), I really sat up and took notice of another interesting shift in the political winds that occurred last evening. ABC aired the premier of it’s new series, “V”—a contemporary remake of the big 80s hit. For those of you that...

"He was a conjurer. He was a magician."

On Nov. 3, 53 percent of Maine voters rejected a six-month-old law redefining the state’s definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. The next day, an AP article about the vote read more like a direct mail appeal for the Human Rights Campaign than a news piece. Headlined “Maine Voters Repeal Law Allowing Gay Marriage,” the article called the repeal of the legislation that granted marriage for same-sex couples a “stinging defeat” for the gay rights movement and focused almost exclusively on the reactions of gays and lesbians. Framed around the thwarted wedding plans of a lesbian couple, the article...

UNESCO Unhinged Malcolm A. Kline, November 4, 2009 Not content to merely soak up billions of tax dollars it cannot account for and excuse the actions of totalitarian regimes around the world, the United Nations has come up with guidelines for sex education in countries such as the one that hosts the UN. “In the guidelines, UNESCO tells teachers around the world to present abstinence until marriage as ‘only one of a range of choices available to young people’ in order to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases,” The Education Reporter reports. “The guidelines have children ages five to eight...

Finding Critics for Science Allie Winegar Duzett, November 4, 2009 There are many fields with rigorous critics; many writers make a living critiquing music, dance, art, and literature. At Accuracy in Media and other media watchdog groups, employees critique the claims of major news organizations. But one crucial field regularly goes without any public criticism: the field of science, and scientific discovery. “Science lacks for critics,” David Berlinski claimed at a recent Heritage Foundation Bloggers’ Briefing. “It is really remarkable that in the sense in which literature or dance or music has always entered public consciousness with a very rich...

The Ethics of War Sarah Carlsruh, November 4, 2009 The U.N. Human Rights Council released a September report on their fact-finding mission on Gaza, often referred to as the Goldstone Report because Justice Richard Goldstone headed the mission. This report’s goal, it stated, was to “investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that might have been committed” militarily during the winter 2008-2009 Gaza War. However, on September 16th Israel President Shimon Peres responded that it “makes a mockery of history.” Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Reserve Colonel Bentzi Gruber agreed with President Peres at an October...

Other than taking time for the Lord on a daily basis and learning to abide in Him, what else is important? As promised, here’s my list: 1. Time for my family: Yes, I homeschool, and yes, my kids are with me 24/7. So how much more time do I want with them?

And David Plouffe said Obama considered this guy for Vice President

I hope that Michael Steele and other GOP "leaders" were paying close atteniton to what happened here in Virginia and in New Jersey: Conservative Values Win In New Jersey And Virginia Governors' Races 84rules November 4, 2009

"V" takes on Obamamania. Clip at www.daveweinbaum.com.

This is how an American soldier is made. For 27 months, Ian Fisher, his parents and friends, and the U.S. Army allowed Denver Post reporters and a photographer to watch and chronicle his recruitment, induction, training, deployment, and, finally, his return from combat. A selection of photos from Ian’s journey are posted below.

When the Jordanians overran West Jerusalem in the 1948 war for independence, they massacred a Jewish population that had inhabited the Jewish quarter continuously for more than three thousand years and blew up ancient Synagogues and community buildings in order to expunge all trace of Jewish life there. Now Jewish people are referred to as "settlers" and Arab squatters are portrayed as "Palestinians". They are not "Palestinians", they are Arabs. They are of the same Arab tribes that compose a majority of Jordan. There was never such a thing as a "Palestinian" until 1968 - the name is the single...

Should we believe White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs when he claimed that President Barack Hussein Obama wouldn’t be watching last night’s election returns? Of course not. Why? Because unless Obama was intrigued by the Bowling Green at Buffalo nail biter, it was a slow TV night – except of course, for the election returns. OK thinks that like everything else about this administration, what we were told wasn’t what was going on behind the scenes. We think Obama & Co. anticipated last night’s results. In fact, we think several TVs were on inside the White House last night and that...

Insanity: electing the same kind of politician and expecting a different result. http://www.wiseandfrugalgovernment.blogspot.com/ "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Albert Einstein Albert Einstein said it. In California, we're living it. The map of California's district ten is an amoeba-shaped tribute to gerrymandering. Proof that when it is in their interest our legislators can put their heads down and color outside the lines. And in district ten they created a masterpiece, invading four separate counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano and Sacramento to gather a voter population with an 18% advantage of registered Democrats to...

Whenever government throws billions of dollars at the economy, one would certainly expect to find some jobs at the end of those dollars. President Obama has worked hard to convince the nation that the mega fiscal stimulus he signed into law produced some 650,000 jobs. This PR blitz is amazing in the face of an economy that has shed 3.4 million jobs since Obama was sworn in, the unemployment rate is pressing toward 10 percent, and the Obama jobs gap – the gap between where he promised we would be and actual employment — rises monthly. Political chutzpah aside, the...

This column is in answer to the linked NAACP objection to my column(s.) Below are the column in question and the letter. Please read both before perusing my response. http://www.daveweinbaum.com/column100109.html http://www.therolladailynews.com/opinions/letters_to_the_editor/x1340500084/NAACP-takes- issue-with-Weinbaum-online-column First I want to thank the NAACP for providing me with column fodder as this can be problematic on a weekly basis.

I'm amazed by the soothsayers: Ayn Rand, for instance, who warned us fifty years ago of the risk of dictatorship or civil war if collectivism persisted. Or economist Friedrich Hayek, who wrote in the 1940s that we'll become serfs if we move toward big government. However, what feels most prophetic lately is an obscure movie from the l970s called Little Murders. The writer, Pulitzer-Prize-winning cartoonist Jules Feiffer, predicted that the '60s would unleash a feral, primitive society. The movie has a checkered history. It started out as a play on Broadway in the mid-'60s that was such a bomb, it...

Ever since the left wing captured the universities and media, putative conservatives desiring media favor and intellectual respectability have been apologizing for conservatism's most popular and effective figures. These days, they want to distance themselves from the "anger" and "extremism" of such personalities as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. What they ought to be doing instead is taking lessons from Beck as he lectures in front of a blackboard, a fitting symbol for what has gone wrong. Conservatism is rising, and we have the intellectual and historical high ground.

With Republican victories in key positions in this month's elections, and because several respondents said one week wasn't enough time to prepare the proper protest, we've decided to extend the deadline for entries into the Dave Weinbaum Cyber Tea Party until November 30th!

For many months now, many of my posts have been, admittedly, overly lamenting the on “loss” of American culture. As a member of Generation X, perhaps I have often been very overly vitriolic in my opinion that life is just not as it once was in America. I recently watched my first few episodes of the series “Mad Men” on DVD. And the experience has been enlightening on my own view of American culture and cathartic of my own personal history. I must say, I am coming to grips with my own political views. And my watching a TV show...

ABC's new sci-fi thriller is "a barbed commentary on Obamamania that will infuriate the president's supporters and delight his detractors" as reported by Glenn Garvin for the Chicago Tribune: Imagine this. At a time of political turmoil, a charismatic, telegenic new leader arrives virtually out of nowhere. He offers a message of hope and reconciliation based on compromise and promises to marshal technology for a better future that will include universal health care. The news media swoons in admiration -- one simpering anchorman even shouts at a reporter who asks a tough question: "Why don't you show some respect?!" The...

The president's administration doesn't seem to think so. What do you believe? Is Fox News really NEWS? YES, NO or WHO CARES?

I made this as soon as I heard the remake of the old "V" mini-series goofs somewhat on Obama's galactic personality cult. Feel free to spread this virally and contribute your own versions. I could definitely see Michelle swallowing a few hampsters.

There is still confusion over whether Govenor Palin supports amnesty for illegal aliens. In this article read at Newsbusters, Palin does support a "pathway to citizenship" for illegal aliens. But what is not clear is if she supports a pathway to citizenship only "after" they return to their country of origin. And then, get in the back of the line to come to America "legally" for citizenship. Or, if she supports a pathway to citizenship while illegals are still here. Without first requiring them to return to there country of origin. Does anyone have an answer to that question? Excerpt...

Palm Beach, FL—Staying consistent in politics takes the constitution of a rhinoceros. Unfortunately, it is that rhinoceros which is so aptly destroying the Republican Party—a party that looks uglier flip-flopping than Barack Obama did flipping those Iowa pancakes. Not only does the Republican Party have any constitution, but it hasn’t shown any consistency on issues that really matter to the American people. And when it does show consistency, it’s for removing conservatism from the party. Colin Powell is a perfect example of just that—an individual that wishes to remove conservatism from the Republican Party. But the symbol of the Republican...

“I just thought I can’t do this anymore, and it was just like a flash that hit me and I thought that’s it.”

Conservative Republican candidate for Governor of Texas - Debra Medina - writes an op/ed taking Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to task for her longstanding opposition to pro-life issues. Medina says in part, "Conservative and pro-choice rarely fall in the same sentence, unless you’re referring to “conservative” gubernatorial candidate Kay Bailey Hutchison, of course. A long time Washington insider and clear adversary on pro-life issues, Senator Hutchison has had ample opportunity to rally against abortion, and she has failed."

Shackled Medicine Allie Winegar Duzett, November 3, 2009 Dr. Donald Palmisano of the Coalition to Protect Patients’ Rights spoke at a recent Heritage Foundation Blogger’s Briefing on the topic of health care reform. His contention? To Dr. Palmisano, “liberty is the absence of coercion.” And the current health care reform plan is all about coercion. Dr. Palmisano, a former president of the American Medical Association (AMA), briefly discussed some of the current problems with our health care system. He explained that under the current option, it is literally cheaper to just forgive co-pays of Medicare patients and illegal aliens, rather...

Starbucks Sabbath Allie Winegar Duzett, November 3, 2009 In recent years, the American family has been falling apart. Divorce rates have skyrocketed, as have births outside of marriage; non-traditional families are on the way to becoming the norm in society. Brad Wilcox spoke of the “unprecedented family revolution” in America at a recent Heritage Foundation event, Religious Practice and the Family: What the Research Says. This family revolution, Wilcox argued, has “undercut marriage as a fundamental institution” in American society, which matters because religion and familial stability typically go hand in hand. As Wilcox pointed out, “couples who share a...

Democrats said that the outing of a CIA agent, personnel, whatever, was bad, and said that someone's head in the Bush Administration had to roll. Democrats wanted Cheney, but didn't get him. When the New York Times outs Karzai's brother as supposedly being paid by the CIA to do who knows what, Democrats act as if it is no big deal. What gives?

Opaque Obama Sarah Carlsruh, November 3, 2009 In a Memorandum to the heads of his executive departments and agencies, President Barack Obama said that his “Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government” and will “work together to ensure the public trust.” But at an October 26th Judicial Watch education panel, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), argued that the Obama Administration’s decided failure to be open with the American people has caused them to begin to lose the public trust. Congressman Issa, ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, presented his views on...

“...the right which woman needed above every other, the one indeed which would secure to her all the others, was the right of suffrage.” Susan B. Anthony used those words to describe the cause she spent her life fighting for: the right of an American woman to cast a ballot for the candidate of her choice. Because of Susan B. Anthony’s tireless efforts and the courage and dedication of countless others, millions of American women will head to the polls today to exercise their right to vote. When we consider the sacrifices made to give us this right, there is...

Ann Coulter & FOX's Geraldo Rivera Debate Rush Limbaugh vs. President Obama War - 11/01/09

Lest we forget, Reverend Wright reminds us that a presidential acorn doesn't fall too far from its anti-Semitic, hate America, Marxist preacher.

Welcome to Obamaland was published in January 2009, just as the new president was taking office. It predicted that Obama would turn the American eagle into a sick turkey.

This is actually pretty good...

Several months ago, I wrote an article entitled, Gerry McGeough; An Omen of the Future. After that article, I was approached by Helen McClafferty of FreeGerry.com. Despite the fact that our ideas were diametrically opposed on the topic of the Irish Republican Army (I.R.A.), we began a conversation and she agreed to a short interview for this site.

President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave District of Columbia 20500 Dear President Obama, I am deeply concerned and angered by the unconstitutional, illegal, and tyrannical actions taken recently by the administration’s “pay czar”. While I personally am not financially affected by this action, I find myself repeatedly asking the question, “What country am I living in?”

The cannonballs ripped through the rock wall, sending bits of rock into Lieutenant-Colonel William Travis’ legs. He fell over against the cannons as the rock tore into him. It felt as though he had been stuck with hot needles, burning him as they pierced the flesh. “Fire,” he yelled, stammering to his feet. The cannonballs rocketed into the seemingly endless number of Mexican soldiers charging the Alamo. They were surrounded, and Colonel Travis didn’t know how much longer they would last. Could this be the end of the Republic of Texas? He wasn’t sure, and all that was left was...

Joe Biden drew a pitifully small number of people to an Owens rally on th eve of a special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District Monday, prompting the Weekly Standard's John McCormack to title his first blog post from the Watertown event "Biden Packs 'Em In": "There are maybe 250 people gathered (50 of them are with the media); Watertown has a population of 30,000. The event is open to the public--no one needed a ticket to get in--but the room is only about 65 percent full. The turnout suggests that Joe the Vice President might not connect with...

New York—In a stunning show of support for Rush Limbaugh, the National Football League™ has decided to sue Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson for $300 million in libel over his ousting in a bid to buy the St. Louis Rams. Sharpton and Jackson, who led the charge in spreading slanderous and libelous racist statements, are now going to have to pay for their thuggish tactics in agitating the mainstream media, the sports media and Americans in general. NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, is spearheading the lawsuit, realizing his egregious error in the generation of revenue that only Rush Limbaugh could’ve added...

CHICAGO (AP) — Nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and fallout from the current recession could push those numbers even higher, researchers say. The estimate comes from an analysis of 30 years of national data, and it bolsters other recent evidence on the pervasiveness of youngsters at economic risk. It suggests that almost everyone knows a family who has received food stamps, or will in the future, said lead author Mark Rank, a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis.