Free Republic

Apple today released Safari 4.0.4 which is recommended for all Safari users and includes improvements to performance, stability, and security including: • Improved JavaScript performance • Improved Full History Search performance for users with a large number of history items • Stability improvements for 3rd-party plug-ins, the search field and Yahoo! Mail Detailed information on the security content of this update is here. Safari 4.0.4 is available via Software Update and also via standalone installers for Mac OS X 10.6.1 or 10.6.2, Mac OS X 10.5.8 or 10.5.7, Mac OS X 10.4.11, Windows Vista, XP and Windows 7ista. More info...

As the most gifted orator of his generation, President Obama finds speechmaking perhaps his most potent political tool. It propelled him to national prominence in 2004 and to the White House in 2008. And whenever he needs to calm economic fears or revive stalled health care legislation, he takes to the lectern. It may be too soon to reach such conclusions. The Democrats who lost last week, after all, had fatal flaws all their own. But the results do suggest that Mr. Obama’s addresses these days may not resonate quite the way they did. Speeches that once set pulses racing...

Whenever Ayn Rand met someone new—an acolyte who’d traveled cross-country to study at her feet, an editor hoping to publish her next novel—she would open the conversation with a line that seems destined to go down as one of history’s all-time classic icebreakers: “Tell me your premises.” Once you’d managed to mumble something halfhearted about loving your family, say, or the Golden Rule, Rand would set about systematically exposing all of your logical contradictions, then steer you toward her own inviolable set of premises: that man is a heroic being, achievement is the aim of life, existence exists, A is...

Disgraced CBS anchorman Dan Rather continues to make the rounds, trying to rehabilitate his image and paint himself as a man wronged by an overcorporatized, politically neutralized media structure. That's no longer surprising. But why would schools of journalism gloss right over his embrace of fabricated National Guard records in 2004? Viviana Aldous at The Daily Texan reported on Rather's Thursday appearance at the University of Texas in Austin: “Journalism continues to weather its profound changes as it transits into its digital future,” said Tracy Dahlby, director of the School of Journalism. “Rather has spent six decades getting the job...

Add Noam Chomsky to the growing list of people using the Nazi analogy lately. Speaking to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, he alluded to right-wing media as “substantive content — crazy content, but it does give answers,” and warned that if Americans weren’t properly educated about what was really happening to them, they could be in for a repeat of the Nazi takeover of Germany in the 1930s. Chomsky, an influential linguist and liberal activist, did give himself some wiggle room — he prefaced his comments by saying “I don’t want to press the analogy too hard,” and later...

On The MSNBC’s Ed Show Friday, Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL) discussed Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (video below) When asked for his response to “the response of the Republican Party, and how they’ve been so negative,” Grayson answered “I think I understand their disappointment, they’re not going to be winning the Nobel Peace Prize themselves anytime soon, they probably wish that there was a Nobel Prize for fear, a Nobel prize for hatred, a Nobel prize for racism, you know then they’d be in the running.” Although it is tempting to consider Grayson’s remarks as some feeble comedic attempt,...

President Jimmy Carter made a statement that the recent tone of disrespect towards President Obama might have a racial component. This immediately led to an emotional debate - yes, he’s right - no, he’s crazy - the lefties are trying to stifle legitimate debate by equating genuine disagreement with policies with racism and playing the race card. It seems to me that Carter has hit a nerve. Of course some folks disagree with some of President Obama’s policies and have a right to criticize and to express their point of view, and even to attempt to influence the direction of...

According to MSNBC's Chris Matthews, if Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford loses Tuesday, you can blame it on white conservatives. On Sunday morning, as he appeared in a segment hosted by Alex Witt, Matthews chided whites for an unwillingness to vote for black politicians, contending that "blacks vote for whites," but "whites don't vote for blacks." Matthews added that in states with large black populations, fear leads whites to become conservative Republicans. Matthews: "The larger the black population, where the whites are afraid historically, and in Deep South states, they tend to become very conservative Republican out of fear, whatever,...

It seems like all the dictators who started off by getting themselves elected "democratically" have followed similar paths. We can pretty much map them and see if a particular politician seems to have followed it. Formula for Dictatorial Success 1. While trying to get elected you must harp on how awful it is for people and blame this on the current national leader. You must blame corporations and their 'bought' politicians for every problem under the sun. 2. You must promise the voters something for nothing. Actually you must promise them everything for nothing. You must make them really believe...

Here is video of Karen Hunter and Amanda Carpenter on MSNBC talking about Joe Wilson shouting "you lie." Karen Hunter said that Joe Wilson has "Flip Flopped" on his view of illegals being covered by health care and that "I don't think it's about health care really that this discussion is hinged on" and "It is racism." She said "I've never seen in my history people yelling out in congress, and twittering on their blackberry, there's a level of disrespect here." (Video)

It is clear and not coincidence that FOX continues to attack and divide our nation along racial lines. We believe our country is beyond this type of attack and call on all Americans to demand that FOX stop its racist coverage.

A group of black newspaper publishers on Friday charged Republican Rep. Joe Wilson with racism for yelling, "You lie," at President Obama during his nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress. The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) has canceled a planned January conference in South Carolina, where Wilson is a representative, and joined an economic boycott of the Palmetto State started 10 years ago by the state NAACP in protest of the confederate flag waving from the Statehouse grounds. Wilson shouted his accusation Wednesday night in response to Obama saying that his health care reform plan would not...

According to MSNBC’s David Shuster on Friday, South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson shouting ‘you lie’ to President Obama was racism on display: “The fact that Joe Wilson is from South Carolina...it strikes a lot of people as awfully close to the idea that maybe there was some sort of racist or bigoted element there.” Shuster went on to add: “And especially then when you look up at the picture and you see older white men, all Republicans, sitting there. Just it gives off a strange vibe.” On Thursday, Shuster claimed that Republicans were: “...all white males with short haircuts. They...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYjp5zRbR6E

"Students, I as your Dear Leader command you to stay in school and learn about great americans like Van Jones. Follow his communist and marxist path to "help" me build a collective for all. Thank you."

Moe Lane has a disgusting post. Oh. it isn't disgusting because of what HE wrote, but because of the disgusting graphic that makes fun of tea party goers.

I don't enjoy Sean's radio show. It's too predictable, and he plays the nice guy too much. Any thoughts?

No matter how tedious a case gets, courtroom boredom should never be made manifest. Lord Birkett noted: “I do not object to people looking at their watches when I am speaking. But I strongly object when they start shaking them to make certain they are still going”. Recently, Clifton Williams discovered just how harsh the law can get for those who express their boredom in court too openly. Williams was in the Will County courthouse in Illinois where his cousin had pleaded guilty to a drugs offence. When Judge Daniel Rozak passed sentence at the end of the cousin’s case...

But because the birthers insist on spreading their vile falsehoods, they continue to generate media attention. Trouble is, the mainstream news reports of the birthers have failed to answer a key question in the story: Why? Why do birthers, despite clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, still insist that Obama is not eligible to be president? To be sure, some of these folks are simply not connected to reality and share a lot with those who believe the moon landing was faked or that 9/11 was a government plot. But the simple truth is that many birthers are simply...

Why of course that many protestors are racists, says Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Mark Finkelstein at Newsbusters has this exchange between Tucker and Crissy Matthews on Hardball (video here -- http://media.eyeblast.org/newsbusters/static/2009/08/209-08-07MSNBCHBTucker.wmv ): CHRIS MATTHEWS: Put 100 of these people in a room. Strap them into gurneys. Inject them with sodium pentathol. How many of them would say "I don't like the idea of having a black president"? What percentage? CYNTHIA TUCKER: Oh, I'm just guessing. This is just off the cuff. I think 45 to 65% of the people who appear at these groups are people who will...

Barack Obama was born in Kenya. His Hawaii birth certificate was forged. Fake birth announcements were planted in Hawaii newspapers in 1961. Take your pick of these crackpot ideas spread by the so-called birthers. All are false and have been debunked again and again by credible evidence. But because the birthers insist on spreading their vile falsehoods, they continue to generate media attention. Trouble is, the mainstream news reports of the birthers have failed to answer a key question in the story: Why? Why do birthers, despite clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, still insist that Obama is not...

Are you opposed to ObamaCare? Willing to attend a town hall to express your disapproval? Odds are good you're a racist. Just ask Cynthia Tucker . . . As Clay Waters has noted, Paul Krugman alleges that racist motives are at the heart of the town hall protests against ObamaCare. On this evening's Hardball, Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was willing to get specific, estimating that "45 to 65%" of the protesters are motivated by racism. View video here.

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is not pleased with some of his fellow racist mobs -- er, U.S. citizens -- as he demonstrated in his column on Friday, "The Town Hall Mob," on loud protests that have met some Democratic congressmen who support Obama's costly health care ideas.

Most of the people I am around on a day to day basis are good people. Some of them Republicans, some Democrats. Most of them have good values. Yet when the topic of Palin comes up. It is like the world turns upside down. Black becomes white and white becomes black. I have heard some people I deeply respect just totally rip into like she is evil. I even heard a woman I go to church with dis Sarah. They are so far gone in their opinion that I don't think they would ever vote for her. The funny thing...

THE World Health Organisation says swine flu has spread to nearly every corner of the globe, and admits it's still unknown how the virus will mutate in the northern hemisphere's winter. With the death toll still rising rapidly and countries rushing out new ways to check the spread of A(H1N1), the United Nations agency said it's only a matter of time before the pandemic which began in March affects every country. "The spread of this virus continues, if you see 160 out of 193 WHO member states now have cases, so we are nearing almost 100 per cent but not...

Let other capitals go all weak-kneed when President Obama visits. Moscow has greeted Mr. Obama, who on Tuesday night concluded a two-day Russian-American summit meeting, as if he were just another dignitary passing through. Crowds did not clamor for a glimpse of him. Headlines offered only glancing or flippant notice of his activities. Television programming was uninterrupted; devotees of the Russian Judge Judy had nothing to fear. Even many students and alumni of the Western-oriented business school where Mr. Obama gave the graduation address on Tuesday seemed merely respectful, but hardly enthralled. “We don’t really understand why Obama is such...

Wattsburg, Pa. — Vice President Joe Biden visited a small town on the outskirts of Erie today to talk to rural folks about federal stimulus money that can be used to expand broadband access to the Internet for rural areas that typically have poor connections. Apparently stimulus money and broadband are not all that interesting to the local folk here: Only around 100 or so people have showed up so far to hear Biden talk at noon at Seneca High School off Route 8 in Wattsburg. The room looked so sparse that about 30 or so chairs were removed by...

There was a tell-tale moment during Ed Schultz's repulsive rant on today's Morning Joe. In the course of alleging that Dick Cheney wants Americans to die in a terrorist attack, Schultz boasted: "I got a lot of support when I said that on the Ed program, I got a lot of support overnight when I said it again." [H/t reader Melody and Mitchell Blatt.] Translation: the ratings-starved Schultz will say pretty much anything if it garners him a few more eyeballs on the paranoid-lefty fringe. Here's Schultz spewing his bile . . . View video here.

Will he or won't he? Football fans waiting to hear whether Brett Favre will join the Vikings may soon get an answer. According to ESPN, Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress has set a deadline for Favre. He wants Favre to decide by the end of this week whether he'll commit to playing the 2009 season. The network reported that Favre may be reluctant to sign on for his 19th NFL season without knowing the results of the arthroscopic surgery recently performed on his throwing shoulder.

Former President George W. Bush recently said that what he missed most about the White House was the cooking of the top-notch chefs there and meeting with members of the military. Funny, Cindy Sheehan didn't make his list. No matter, he doesn't have to do without her absurd antics. She's bringing her roadshow to PReston Hollow this weekend to protest his actions as president. She crossed the line between principled crusader and crackpot long ago, so I shouldn't be surprised at this, and I wasn't the biggest fan of Bush's as his presidency wore on, but this makes me truly...

SINGAPORE — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates raised the idea of a tougher approach toward North Korea’s recent nuclear test in meetings here with Asian allies on Saturday, including the prospect of building up United States military forces in the region should six-nation diplomatic talks with North Korea fail, American defense officials said.

ALSO: # BULLETIN -- NORTH KOREA ABANDONS KOREAN WAR ARMISTICE.6 minutes ago from BNO Headquarters # BULLETIN -- NORTH KOREA SAYS IT WILL "USE ITS MILITARY" TO RESPOND TO SOUTH KOREAN DECISION.9 minutes ago from BNO Headquarters # BULLETIN -- NORTH KOREA CALLS SOUTH KOREAN DECISION TO JOIN ANTI-PROLIFERATION PROGRAM A DECLARATION OF WAR.10 minutes ago from BNO Headquarters

Recently, a friend of mine asked me what I thought about the chances of gay marriage becoming the norm in this country. Well, the state of Maine just signed the same-sex marriage bill into law, making it the fifth of fifty to do so as of this date. In addition, New Hampshire's legislature just voted to legalize gay nuptials and is awaiting the governor's signature. Meanwhile, the City Council of the District of Columbia took a preliminary step, voting 12 to 1, to recognize marriages between gay people certified in other states. Furthermore, similar legislation is pending in other states,...

A Milton police officer responding to a call Thursday from a man trapped in his house by a pitbull ended up shooting the dog when it charged him. A police report said that police had responded to numerous complaints regarding vicious dogs early in the week. The first call came Tuesday when two pitbulls killed rabbits belonging to Ricardo Martinez, 37. Fulton County Animal Control caught one of the dogs. The next day, the remaining dog chased Martinez inside his house when he came home from work, the report said. Officer Andrew Phillips said the dog reacted aggressively toward him...

In his inaugural address, President Obama proclaimed "an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics." It hasn't taken long for the recriminations to return -- or for the Obama administration to begin talking about the unwelcome "inheritance" of its predecessor.

Videotaped MSNBC interview with Governor Palin showing an operating turkey farm slaughter pen in the background. Horrors, doesn't she know that turkeys are people too?

One of the country's most outspoken conservative commentators, Ann Coulter, may have committed vote fraud. Records and lawsuits show that Coulter voted in Connecticut while living in New York. Records that have been dug up by private investigator Josephy Culligan showed that Coulter was entangled in a lawsuit over rent in 2003 while she was supposedly living with her parents in New Canaan, Connecticut. Property records, however, also show her owning an apartment in Manhattan while she voted in Connecticut. Last month officials acknowledged that such behavior would be wrong, but that they could not do anything unless someone filed...

Few supporters are answering President Barack Obama's call for nationwide house-party gatherings this weekend to build grass-roots support for his economic stimulus plan. A McClatchy survey of sign-up rosters for a score of cities across the country revealed only 34 committed attendees in Tacoma, Wash. , as of midafternoon Friday; in Fort Worth, Texas , only 54, and in Sacramento, Calif. , just 78. "Before the election, we would have had 500 to 800," said Kim Mack , 46, a Sacramento city-facility manager who's hosted house parties for political figures and causes since the mid-'90s. Even in Washington , policy-wonk...

WASHINGTON — Few supporters are answering President Barack Obama's call for nationwide house-party gatherings this weekend to build grass-roots support for his economic stimulus plan. A McClatchy survey of sign-up rosters for a score of cities across the country revealed only 34 committed attendees in Tacoma, Wash., as of midafternoon Friday; in Fort Worth, Texas, only 54, and in Sacramento, Calif., just 78. "Before the election, we would have had 500 to 800," said Kim Mack, 46, a Sacramento city-facility manager who's hosted house parties for political figures and causes since the mid-'90s. Even in Washington, policy-wonk capital of the...

<p>Racecar driver Danica Patrick was pulled over for speeding earlier this month in north Scottsdale.</p> <p>The popular Indy car racer was pulled over Dec. 9 in a gold 2007 Mercedes near 14700 N. 100th St. for going 54 mph in a 35 mph zone, police said.</p>

After 10 years and many thousands of replies, I am leaving FR. I don't really care, and I don't know why anyone else would. I am leaving before I am banned (again). Truth doesn't seem to matter on FR. I don't know if it is donations or sympathetic opinions that do, but I have been suspended twice when I followed the rules and the people who complained to the moderators didn't, yet the moderators sided with them. For the record, evolution is a fact and the Shroud of Turin is a fraud. I would prove it if the admin moderators...

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said today that U.S. automobile companies are being put at a disadvantage by government in competing against Volkswagen’s new auto assembly plant in Chattanooga. The union leader questioned why government leaders in Tennessee are willing to provide assistance to the German-based Volkswagen while the state’s U.S. senators declined to back a federal loan to help the Big Three U.S. car makers. Mr. Gettelfinger said that trying to equalize UAW pay with what foreign car makers pay in the United States, as urged by U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., is like comparing apples to oranges. In its...

"It's really been like you're going to a Ku Klux Klan rally," said Javis Odom, an Anchorage minister. "Gov. Palin is really showing her true colors on the national stage."..... . ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska's black leaders say they're not surprised to see Gov. Sarah Palin at the center of the controversy over injecting the race issue into the presidential campaign. Palin, Republican John McCain's running mate, has repeatedly insisted that Barack Obama's former preacher, the inflammatory Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is a legitimate issue even though McCain himself has said it's out of bounds. "She has no sensitivity to...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska's black leaders say they are not surprised to see Gov. Sarah Palin at the center of the controversy over injecting the race issue into the presidential campaign. Palin, Republican John McCain's running mate, has repeatedly insisted that Barack Obama's former preacher, the inflammatory Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is a legitimate issue even though McCain himself has said it is out of bounds.

We've all had some fun here on FR mocking the Dems for screaming "racism!" whenever McCain opens his mouth. But according to Fox, Obama just said that McCain's correctly calling The One's tax plan welfare "has disturbing racial undertones." This says several things. First, that Obama, not McCain,has jumped to certifying that blacks make up the vast majority of those who do not pay taxes. Second, that any criticism of Obama for any reason will continue to be met with cries of "Racism!" a cry that will be echoed by the Press Whores at the New York Times, etc. I...

05:27 PM CDT on Saturday, October 18, 2008 Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- As governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin has had an at-times testy relationship with black leaders in her state. They say they've been ignored in their eforts to get more minorities hired in her administration. Now, as the presidential election nears, Alaska's black leaders say they're not surprised to see the Republican vice-presidential nominee at the center of the controversy over injecting the race issue into the campaign. Palin has repeatedly insisted that Barack Obama's former preacher, the inflammatory Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is a legitimate issue even though...

I did not see this posted, apologies if it was: "I have received an unverified tip that certified copies of a Kenyan Birth Certificate (BC) for Obama were sent from Kenya, and have been received by three separate individuals. I am told that these documents are certified, with an embossed seal, and display the name of the hospital where Obama was born, as well as witness signatures."

Youtube video of Ron Paul speaking about this financial mess. The ONLY politician who has clue about this debacle.

The Democrats are resorting to their usual race- baiting. http://www.thebulletin.us/site/index.cfm?newsid=20157191&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=8