Free Republic

Beliefnet.com is holding a reader survey to pick the most inspiring person of 2005. Among the finalists is Alex Scott, a little girl who died of cancer last year. Alex was diagnosed with cancer two days before her first birthday, and as she got older, she became quite an activist: In 2000, when she was just four years old, Alex told her parents she wanted to raise money for cancer research. She chose a time-honored kid's project--a front-yard lemonade stand--but unlike most lemonade stands, she raised $2,000 in a single day. Soon, Alex's friends joined in to help, opening lemonade...

Few Democrats willing to stand up for statewide races By Jason Embry By W. Gardner Selby AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Sunday, December 04, 2005 On the eve of an election year when the governorship, a U.S. Senate seat and other statewide posts are on the ballot, the Texas Democratic Party last week was urging visitors to its Web site to get behind four hopefuls — including the mother of NFL quarterback Drew Brees — running for the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals. Activists insist that their focus on races such as the 24-county judicial contest is not a sign that the party...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2005 – Victory in Iraq will require the strength and courage of U.S. servicemembers, who by fighting terrorists in Iraq are defeating a direct threat to the American people, President Bush said today at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Speaking to the brigade of midshipmen, Bush said that although there is vigorous debate in Washington about the war in Iraq, the troops shouldn't doubt that the American people support them. "When you're risking your life to accomplish a mission, the last thing you want to hear is that mission being questioned in our nation's capital,"...

Good day Mr. President, With all due respect, sir, what in the name of the Almighty is wrong with you? And when I ask you this question I do believe I am speaking for the vast majority of those people who walked the precincts, sent down the checks, who cheered loudest when the Ohio results came in last year in November. I am talking about your supporters. Those of us who have and most likely will continue to stick by you until the day you finally return to Crawford three years from now. We are the ones who have kept...

CHICAGO - The political strategist who helped engineer former Gov. George Ryan's rise to power took the witness stand Thursday and in testimony laced with wisecracks began telling a jury how Ryan doled out state contracts, leases and favors to the well-connected. Scott Fawell waved to spectators and grinned broadly as he took his seat. He nodded to Ryan, saluted a newspaper reporter and made no effort to disguise his disdain for the prosecutors who put him in federal prison for graft. Asked by prosecutor Patrick M. Collins why he agreed to testify against his former boss, the 48-year-old Fawell...

NY TIMES CLAIMS EXCLUSIVE NEW DETAILS OF EVENTS SURROUNDING CIA LEAK, SOURCES TELL DRUDGE... DEVELOPING LATE OUT OF WASHINGTON... MORE...

CHICAGO (AP) - To the cheers of thousands of librarians, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama on Saturday called for the Senate to rewrite the USA Patriot Act to prevent investigators from scanning library records and bookstore sales slips. Libraries should be "sanctuaries of learning where we are free to read and consider what we please without the fear that 'Big Brother' may be peering over our shoulder," Obama said in the keynote address at the American Library Association's annual conference. Last week, despite a White House veto threat, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to restrict investigators from using the anti-terrorism...

ABORTION STAND HALTS CLINTON'S SHIFT TO MIDDLE By IAN BISHOP Post Correspondent May 6, 2005 -- WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is putting the brakes on her move to the political middle by opposing legislation that would bar helping underage girls cross state lines for an abortion without their parents' consent. Clinton — despite preaching moderation in recent speeches — will toe the Democratic line in the Senate in an effort to block a GOP-backed bill that just passed the House and makes it illegal for anyone to help a girl get a secret out-of-state abortion. "I don't believe...

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - A key witness in the case against a Marine officer accused of murdering two Iraqi civilians was abruptly taken off the stand Wednesday on suspicion of violating orders on giving interviews about the case. Marine Sgt. Daniel Coburn was testifying at a hearing in the case against 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano when the investigating officer, Maj. Mark E. Winn, read him his rights and told him he was suspected of violating orders from superior officers. Coburn left the courtroom after requesting a lawyer. Defense lawyers had complained that Coburn had given interviews about the case to...

The Liberal Agenda by The Readers of The American Prospect We’re taking suggestions: What does liberalism stand for? Anybody who's ever had to raise money knows the meaning of the phrase "elevator pitch": You're in an elevator with a potential moneybags, and you have, say, seven floors to tell him why he should write you a check. Well, we all know the basic outline of conservatism's elevator pitch: "We believe in freedom and liberty, and we're for low taxes, less government, traditional values, and a strong national defense." But what is liberalism's? We at the Prospect have, among us, attended...

California has repeatedly given new and improved retirement benefits to public employees. The question now has become what, if anything, it can take back. While the state has wide latitude in scaling back pension benefits for new workers, experts say, it faces far stricter limitations when it comes to current employees. Even some of the measures proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, which stop short of altering the basic pension formula in favor of steps such as encouraging workers to leave the retirement system, could trigger a legal challenge. California case law makes it clear that any changes to the pension...

Do we need any more evidence of how far Europe has fallen? In 1521 at the Diet of Worms, Martin Luther defied the pope with these words: "Hier stehe Ich. Ich kann nicht Anders. Gott hilf Mier. Amen." In English, that would be: "Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen." Today the poor man would have to say: "Here I sit." He could not do otherwise. The "sitzpinkler" movement, which started in Sweden a few years ago, has moved to Australia and Germany. I won't go into detail. You can figure it out for yourself. "Sitzpinkler"...

Do we need any more evidence of how far Europe has fallen? In 1521 at the Diet of Worms, Martin Luther defied the pope with these words: "Hier stehe Ich. Ich kann nicht Anders. Gott hilf Mier. Amen." In English, that would be: "Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen." Today the poor man would have to say: "Here I sit." He could not do otherwise. The "sitzpinkler" movement, which started in Sweden a few years ago, has moved to Australia and Germany. I won't go into detail. You can figure it out for yourself. "Sitzpinkler"...

WINNIPEG (CP) -- Manitoba drivers suspected of being high on drugs will be asked to perform a specific series of tasks, including standing on one leg while counting out loud, under new regulations approved by the NDP government. "The tests are, by nature, divided attention tests," David Greening, a senior Justice Department policy analyst, said in an interview. "(Police) can determine if a person is impaired by how they perform on the tests." The new regulations stem from amendments to the provincial Highway Traffic Act approved by the legislature last spring which are intended to crack down on motorists who...

MIAMI -- President Bush campaigned from one end of battleground Florida to the other Sunday, criticizing Cuba's Fidel Castro in a pitch to the state's Cuban-Americans and urging Republican supporters in Miami to help give him a second term. "If you believe America should fight the war on terror with all her might and lead with unwavering confidence," Bush said, "I ask you, come stand by me. If you are a Democrat who believes your great party has turned too far left in this year, I ask you, come stand with me."

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) In a rare open court hearing, three advocates of democratic reform appeared before a judge Monday on charges arising from their criticism of the kingdom's political and religious life. Saudi trials are normally held behind closed doors, but Monday's hearing was attended by about 200 people. The defendants Matrouk al-Faleh, Ali al-Dimeeni and Abdullah al-Hamed are charged with sowing dissent, creating political instability, printing political leaflets and using the media to incite people against the government, according to two political activists who attended. The activists, Abdul Rahman al-Lahem and Ibrahim al-Mugaiteeb, said the three asked the...

The Candidate With No Name By Andrew L. Jaffee, July 29, 2004 Home   Search   Forum   Terms ”Defeat Bush – VOTE In 2004!” I’ve seen more bumper-stickers with this platitude than I’ve seen ones that simply state, “Kerry/Edwards 2004.” While my liberal friends rarely mention Kerry and Edwards, they constantly remind me of how much they hate President Bush. This year, the politics of hate rule. The Left doesn’t even have a candidate. They are galvanized mainly by visceral hatred -- a hatred which stands on shaky assumptions, like the lies that Michael Moore sells as truths. In Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore insinuates that...

Spymaster pressed to stand down By Rachel Sylvester, George Jones and Michael Smith (Filed: 16/07/2004) John Scarlett, the intelligence chief accused of becoming too close to Downing Street in the approach to the Iraq war, was under pressure last night to withdraw as the next head of MI6. The Telegraph has learned that Sir Richard Dearlove, the outgoing chief of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, opposed him as his successor. He backed Nigel Inkster, his vice-chief, instead. John Scarlett: 'too much of public figure' "Dearlove was not happy with Scarlett's appointment," a Cabinet minister said. Senior Tories said that going...

9/11 panel: Don’t settle for political hay Sun-Gazette Editor Compared to the media spotlight on National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice’s testimony before the Sept. 11 Commission, the appearance of Attorney General John Ashcroft happened virtually under cover of darkness. There’s a curious relative quiet about the smoking gun Ashcroft dropped in the commission’s lap, in the form of a 1995 memo written by Jamie Gorelick — then the Clinton-appointed deputy attorney general and now a member of the Sept. 11 Commission — that reinforced the much-discussed “wall” between the FBI’s criminal investigations and counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism activities. Gorelick instructed then-FBI-director...

The world must stand shoulder to shoulder against terrorists, President Bush and Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said here today. At a press availability in the Oval Office, Bush said terrorist attacks are meant to shake the coalition's will. "They'll never shake the will of the United States," the president said. "We understand the stakes. And we will work with our friends to bring justice to the terrorists." Following the terrorist bombings in Madrid, Spanish voters elected Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero as prime minister. Zapatero, a critic of Spanish involvement in the coalition in Iraq, said he would withdraw...