Free Republic

WEST PALM BEACH - A 13-year-old at the center of an abortion fight with the state was given permission Monday to terminate her pregnancy, but it was unclear whether she immediately underwent the procedure. Attorneys for the girl, known only as L.G. in court papers, said the abortion was scheduled for later Monday. However, the state Department of Children and Families appealed the decision, according to Maxine Williams, one of the teen's attorneys. "Since this is still in litigation, I can't speak to what's going on in court," DCF spokeswoman Marilyn Munoz said. Palm Beach Juvenile Judge Ronald Alvarez issued...

Is this the New Racism? Black woman civil rights lawyer in the tradition of a Fanny Lou Hamer, runs for DA in 2001 against white male incumbent, amidst charges of corruption from the political machine, which spawned him. Her banner- Justice not Politics. Media Ignores Her. Incumbent’s agent vows to crush her. He levels an unprecedented colossal election battle against her and supporters, a mosaic, mostly people of color. Supporters are harassed all hours of the night by his agents. An extraordinary 150 people are subpoenaed including her father who had been dead 13 years. Media Ignores Her. She is...

For 13 years Terri Schiavo has been in a coma - with her husband, her parents, the Christian right and now the president's brother locked in a bitter struggle over her fate. This week could see a final decision on whether she lives or dies. Suzanne Goldenberg reports from Florida The woman's eyes are open in the video. She slowly rolls her head along the pillow, keeping up a constant low moan, as a man's arm dangles a metallic balloon overhead. "Look over here, Terri," a male voice says. "Can you follow that at all?" The medical community and Florida's...

Watch the video www.StopBolton.org its cool

Knight-Rider) Charleston, S.C. -- Marianne Watson is your typical Daniel Island High School student. She likes shopping at the Galleria. She enjoys hanging out with her friends at Dancin’ Nancies on teen night. She is obsessed with singer Jack Johnson. But unbeknownst to her family, Marianne had a drug problem. Her friends knew Marianne abused drugs, but troubled teens very rarely know the trouble they are in until it is too late. And in the case of Marianne Watson, the trap she fell into was well hidden. Alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, LSD, heroin – Marianne knew to avoid these drugs. As...

It should be the best of times for American conservatism. Republican majorities in the House and Senate, a re-elected Republican president, an increasing number of Republican governors and a rightwards tilt in the judiciary. While the British Tories and German Christian Democrats flounder, America’s right seems to flourish. Well, that’s the cover story. Beneath the surface, however, American conservatism is in increasing trouble. The Republican coalition, always fragile, now depends as much on the haplessness of the Democrats as on its own internal logic. On foreign and domestic policy alike the American right is splintering. With no obvious successor to...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The state House passed a bill Thursday that could keep Terri Schiavo alive, less than 24 hours before the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube is scheduled to be removed. The Senate began debating a more limited version of the bill as lawmakers rushed to beat the scheduled removal of Schiavo's feeding tube. The legislative action was part of a last-minute flurry of attempts to save Schiavo's life. Congress was also considering legislation to move the case to the federal courts, Schiavo's parents appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Florida Circuit Court Judge George Greer scheduled a...

Mr. Bush's Stealthy Tax Increase President Bush is presiding over a big middle-class tax hike. As recently as 2000, only about one million taxpayers owed the alternative minimum tax, created by a provision in the federal tax code that is supposed to prevent multimillionaires from using loopholes to avoid paying their fair share. But by the time Americans file their 2005 taxes, some 3 million taxpayers will owe the alternative tax and by 2010, nearly 30 million taxpayers will be hit - among them, a staggering 94 percent of married filers who have children and make $75,000 to $100,000. Big...

Did the election kill objective campaign journalism? Jay Rosen, chair of the Journalism Department at New York University, calls it “The Contraption.” Thomas Lang, a correspondent for CampaignDesk.org, terms it the “automatic pilot approach to reporting.” Hunter S. Thompson labels it “the Objective rules and dogma,” adding that it’s “one of the main reasons American politics has been allowed to be so corrupt for so long.” More politely, A Free and Responsible Press, the influential 1947 report prepared by an all-star cast of 13 academics, referred to it as the means by which reporters pursue “a truthful, comprehensive, and intelligent...

Along with operating my own blog, I am also a contributing writer for Olbermann Watch. This site is dedicated to exposing TV's most slanted and least watched program: Countdown. As many of you know, Keith Olbermann ranted and raved about the exit polls for over a month and we were there to point out every inconsistency. USCountVotes (Kathy Dopp) has issued a report refuting the findings of the Mitofsky Exit Poll Report and has issued us a public challenge

How do you unite 500 million people who have fought each other for a thousand years? That is the biggest question for Europe today.  In spite of endless denials, the answer is beginning to look a lot like old-fashioned nationalism. In Europe, nationalism has a black reputation — and rightly so. It was always a kind of mass egomania, which led to repeated warfare, culminating in two world wars and the Cold War. France went wild over Napoleon around 1800 and ended up with 1.4 million dead young soldiers. Germany had Bismarck, the Kaiser and Hitler. Russia glorified Lenin and...

MOSCOW (AFP) - A top economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) slammed the government's takeover of the main asset of the Yukos oil giant as the "swindle of the year" and warned of growing state interventionism. In an unprecendented criticism of the destruction of Russia's top oil company by someone within the government, Andrei Illarionov accused the Putin administration of using "the money of Russian citizens" to strip Yukos of its core asset. "This year in the category of swindle of the year, the winner is the sale of Yuganskneftegaz to a mystery company (...)...

Here is a closer look at what a much-misquoted president actually says and how it compares with his predecessors. “I BELIEVE that God wants me to be president.” What? Did George Bush really say that? Does the president imagine he has a divine mission? Well, he was quoted to that effect by Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention. The full quote, however, does not quite sound as if Mr Bush is labouring to scrap the republic and replace it with a theocracy. “But if that doesn't happen, that's okay,” the president continued, “I have seen the presidency up close...

I've been reading Karl Popper's two volume work "Open Society and it Enemies". Here's the amazon.com link:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0691019681/103-5859654-8821426?v=glanceThe thread I posted at commongroundcommonsense.org, "In Defense of Open Society" was inspired by that work. I'd like to start a thread with the same name here because I see this as an important problem that crosses partisan lines. In a nutshell, the central question is this: how can we rationally institute changes in our society? Changes take place whether we consciously bring them about or not, and some changes are threatening to some people. Popper charts some of the philosophers who have tried...

I see fr is being sued for Scientology/Civil Rights. Apparently Jim Robinson is involved in a Lisa McPherson style assault and battery. Anyone know anything?

As a homeschooled individual, I think that the issue itself should be more publicized.

It was night, or either I was in a dark building, I'm not sure which, but for some reason in the dream, I kept thinking I was in school. A girl showed up who I have never liked, but just recently have started to be attracted to her, and in the dream, she was my girlfriend. I saw her walking towards me, then say something, and walked away, me following her closely behind. Then, my real girlfriend (the girlfriend I have right now) shows up, but in the dream, she isnt my girlfriend, and she gives me a long kiss....

To all good people of countries other than the US- WE are now officially a rogue nation- please don’t blame the citizens of the US as we have been taken over by Nazis. Trust us, we are more frightened than you. There is no possible way that Bush is the most popular president ever. There is no way that he won this election. It is a lie, supported by fraudulent elections and corrupt government officials. There is no popular support for Bush, only Bush freepers on the net paid for by homeland security to convince other nations and naive US...

You all took turns laughing because I am an extreme left, but I laugh at you because you people proved me right. You delete remarks for no other reason but you don't like the thoughts expressed, (though mine was left for assument) inactivate my account, and preach free speech for all. My words weren't for the purpose of starting a war, only to say, "hey, what do you think about this?" I didn't get one intellgent arugment. Name calling yes, insults yes, nothing thought provoking. So you cane prove me right yet again, and delete this post and inactivate my...

Exactly why are you retards happy that this Cokehead chimp is back? Do Conservatives like escalating budget deficits? I guess so. Do Conservatives like pointless wars initiated by lies? I guess so. You really must love outsourced jobs and a crappy economy. You are probably too stupid to realize how the country is now screwed. To hell with all of you.