Free Republic

The Democratic Party struggled at the national level throughout the 1970s and ’80s — all but shut out of the White House — because it was defined by its most extreme elements: war protestors, loony peaceniks, angry black activists, crime apologists, etc. It took years of concerted effort by the Democratic Leadership Council, Bill Clinton and others to reclaim the Democrats’ reputation as reasonable and pragmatic. The Republican Party of today is stuck in the same place, defined by Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, birthers, tea partiers and Joe Wilson. John McCain fell into the trap of being defined by the...

The US banking system will lose some 1,000 institutions over the next two years, said John Kanas, whose private equity firm bought BankUnited of Florida in May. “We’ve already lost 81 this year,” he told CNBC. “The numbers are climbing every day. Many of these institutions nobody’s ever heard of. They're smaller companies.” Failed banks tend to be smaller and private, which exacerbates the problem for small business borrowers, said Kanas, who became CEO of BankUnited when his firm bought the bank and is the former chairman and CEO of North Fork bank. “Government money has propped up the very...

Call it the third green wave. It is a much smaller migration than its predecessors - the historic westward flow that gave Boston its Irish identity, and then, in recent years, the return home of thousands of Irish emigrants seeking to ride the Celtic Tiger, the roaring Irish economy. But now, with Ireland deep in recession, far deeper even than ours, thousands of its residents are again heading abroad; nearly twice as many people left Ireland in 2008 as four years earlier. And some of them are heading to the United States for the second time

Seems United Airlines damaged a musician's guitar(s), and the musician spent a frustrating year seeking compensation. After a year of "No" from United, he posted a very funny, well produced music video.United Breaks Guitars

US diplomats are working to ensure the safety of deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and his family as they press for restoration of constitutional law and his presidency. President Barack Obama called Sunday for "all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter" as the Central American crisis unfolded. For those conditions to be met, Zelaya must be returned to power, US officials said

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- United Airlines operator UAL Corp. said Thursday that it has sent a proposal request to Boeing Co. and Airbus, as the carrier plans to begin replacing its wide-body fleet. In a letter to employees, Chairman and Chief Executive Glenn Tilton said the request could result in a "significant" number of new planes. At the end of 2008, UAL owned 80 wide-body jets and leased an additional 34.

The United Nations, which aspires to protect human rights around the world, is struggling to deal with an embarrassing string of sexual-harassment complaints within its own ranks. Many U.N. workers who have made or faced accusations of sexual harassment say the current system for handling complaints is arbitrary, unfair and mired in bureaucracy. One employee's complaint that she was sexually harassed for years by her supervisor in Gaza, for example, was investigated by one of her boss's colleagues, who cleared him.

Dismantling the United States Dear Editor: So many writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statue of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry. Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer. In 1900 when there was a rush from all areas...

However, at Maryland-based First United Corp.'s annual meeting of shareholders yesterday, one banker spent a considerable amount of time trying to set the record straight about who's responsible for the nation's economic woes, and -- more to the point -- who's not. (A slideshow of the presentation may be found here in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.) For those keeping track, the government gave First United a $30 million infusion of capital on Jan. 30. The bank got the money through the Treasury Department's Capital Purchase Program -- part of TARP -- in exchange for 30,000 shares...

Airline Says Overweight Travelers Will Need To Buy Extra Seats Or Be Denied Entry To Planes. Chicago-based United has instructed its customer service representatives at O'Hare International Airport ticket counters and gates to be extra vigilant beginning Wednesday for passengers they deem to be overweight. Those unable to comfortably fasten a safety belt with one extension or sit comfortably with armrests down will be denied boarding unless they purchase an extra seat, even if they can be placed elsewhere in the aircraft next to an empty seat. If no empty seat exists, the passenger will be forced to take a...

Financial crisis sparks concern over climate change funds - U.N. 19 Feb 2009 16:52:00 GMT Written by: Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI (AlertNet) - Funds pledged by rich countries to help developing nations adapt to the impacts of climate change are at risk from the global credit crunch and economic downturn, the United Nations has warned. Deirdre Boyd, country director for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in India, told AlertNet financing must be made available to help countries like India deal with hazards caused by global warming, such as rising seas and melting glaciers. But she warned the global financial...

The title of this article is most assuredly not what one would think it to mean. It is a title intended to get people interested that would not normally frequent a “conservative” news outlet or a “conservative” source of political thought. Be that as it may, the article is a repost of my article from another location originally written in November of 2007. So, without further ado and after reading Tony Magana’s article here at American Daily Review (“Strong Evidence President Obama Moving Towards Socialism”) which, inspired the reposting of this coming piece, read on. The article is as appropriate...

On Inauguration Day, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, in a New York Times ad ("An Invitation to a New Partnership"), told "Dear President OBAMA" that Muslims "have compelling strategic and moral reasons to cooperate and peacefully co-exist with the United States in particular, and with the West in general." Many Muslims here and elsewhere want that partnership; but some, jihadists in the name of Islam, disagree violently. In its address to our new president, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (which has permanent status at the United Nations) made no mention of its own strategic skills that resulted, on...

First Trial Opens At International Criminal Court Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga at a 2007 hearing in The Hague January 26, 2009 (RFE/RL) -- The first-ever trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the world's first permanent war-crimes tribunal, has opened in The Hague. Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga is in the dock on charges of recruiting children as young as 10 years old to become soldiers in his country's bloody internal conflicts. Lubanga denies that he used underage fighters in the military arm of his Union of Congolese Patriots, and he says he was waging a violent campaign only...

U.N. messin' with guns Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) instructed United Nations Ambassador nominee, Susan Rice, to ensure she preserves the gun rights of United States citizens while serving as U.S. representative to the U.N. “As our nation’s top representative to the United Nations, the next United States U.N. Ambassador has an important responsibility to defend and protect our citizens’ second amendment rights from international gun control.” An “Arms Trade Treaty” that could threaten U.S. citizens’ right to keep and bear arms doesn’t recognize a county’s sovereignty has been introduced in the U.N. The treaty could impose restrictions on gun ownership...

Robert MorleyColumnist The United Ponzi States of America January 20, 2009 | From theTrumpet.com If you thought Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was bad, don’t look now, but you’re in one. Robert Morley Anyone can work a simple swindle. But you need to be a special kind of con man to bilk billions from otherwise intelligent people. Bernard L. Madoff was one such man. Charles Ponzi was another. But the biggest fraud and scam master of all goes by the name of Uncle Sam. Just what does a person have to do to make his name synonymous with fraud? Charles Ponzi, the...

Seniors may think they save money when they buy AARP insurance, but if they take the trouble to compare competing products, they may be paying twice as much. AARP brought in nearly half a billion dollars in 2007 from fees insurers pay for AARP endorsement. It also gained about $40 million from holding the clients’ premiums for a month and investing them. The revenue helps pay down the $200 million bond debt that funded the organization’s brass and marble headquarters in Washington, D.C.—which is closed to visitors, purportedly so staff can work. Royalties and fees now constitute about 43% of...

HOME-SCHOOLING: U.N. treaty might weaken families Michael Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association (Courtesy of hslda.org) One of the issues American families could face this year is the ramifications from a treaty called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). You may ask, "How could a treaty directly affect internal decision-making by American families?" We generally think of treaties as agreements affecting international relations between countries. The U.N., however, has initiated treaties that not only affect international relations, but also the domestic relations of member nations as well. These treaties, sometimes called "conventions,"...

U.S. pledges Palestinian aid WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The United States will contribute $85 million to the United Nations agency providing aid to Palestinian refugees. The State Department announced Tuesday that $25 million of the funds would go to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East's Emergency Appeal for the West Bank and Gaza. Those funds will be used for "urgently needed food, medicines, and other critical humanitarian assistance," according to a statement. The other $60 million will be given to UNRWA's General Fund, which "will support the provision of basic and vocational education, primary...

I would be remiss if I didn't point you to Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's op-ed in today's Chronicle, making an economic case for U.S. investment in green jobs. Here it is, in full: Amid the pressures of the global financial crisis, some ask how we can afford to tackle climate change. The better question is: Can we afford not to? Put aside the familiar arguments - that the science is clear, that climate change represents an indisputable existential threat to the planet, and that every day we do not act the problem grows worse. Instead, let us make the...