Free Republic

When the mortgage bubble burst, Americans were “shocked” at how many Wall Street buccaneers had been gambling in a vast pyramid scheme with someone else’s money. Paper fortunes were made buying and selling questionable sub-prime mortgages on the silly assumption that such gargantuan inside profiting would always expand — even as the number of homebuyers able to buy overpriced properties was shrinking. Now after the recent crash in sub-prime mortgages and the stock of several investment firms, a trillion dollars in “assets” could be nearly worthless. An already indebted American government must restore some sort of trust to banks and...

Nearly 30 oil and natural gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico that suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Ike will take three to six months to repair, according to the federal agency that regulates energy activity in the basin. The Interior Department's Minerals Management Service said Wednesday that in addition to those 29 platforms, another 33 platforms sustained moderate damage and will take one to three months to fix. The agency said 1,450 of the Gulf's 3,800 platforms, ranging from small producers close to shore to deep-water facilities, were exposed to hurricane winds faster than 74 mph. ... The agency...

Al-Jazeera Host Dr. Faisal Al-Qassem: The Cold War is Back, What a Relief; Egyptian Liberal Kamal Ghobrial: Despite the Arabs' Hopes, No Cold War Russia's invasion of Georgia sparked discussion in the Arab press, as elsewhere, of whether the Cold War was making a comeback. In an August 23, 2008 article in the Qatari Al-Sharq daily, Dr. Faisal Al-Qassem, host of the popular weekly Al-Jazeera talk show "The Opposite Direction," wrote that the Muslims and Arabs had suffered from U.S. hegemony after the fall of the U.S.S.R., and that he therefore welcomed the return of the Cold War. In a...

India, Pak vow to take 'severe action' against terror 25 Sep 2008, 0631 hrs IST,PTI NEW YORK: Acknowledging that the peace process has been "under strain" in recent months, India and Pakistan on Wednesday announced that cross-LoC trade in Jammu and Kashmir will commence on October 21 and vowed to take "severe action" against any elements directing or involved in terrorist acts, giving fresh momentum for an "an early and full" normalisation of bilateral relations. Unveiling a slew of measures for a "peaceful resolution and saisfactory settlement" of all bilateral issues including Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at...

Iranian Research Center: Saudi Arabia Seeks to Topple Iranian Regime An article published by Iran Diplomacy, [1] an international relations and foreign policy research center headed by former Iranian ambassador to France (2002-2005) Mohammad Sadegh Kharrazi (brother of Iranian Foreign Relations Steering Council head Kamal Kharrazi [2] ), accused Saudi Arabia of seeking to topple the Iranian regime and to attain regional hegemony. The article also accused Saudi Arabia of suppressing its Shi'ite minority, "for whom Iran is a source of inspiration," and warned about the possibility of an intra-Muslim war in the region. Following are excerpts from the article,...

Mexico's state oil company says it is temporarily reducing oil production because U.S. refineries damaged by Hurricane Ike have canceled shipment orders. Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, says it has lowered its daily output by 250,000 barrels a day. But the company said this week that it expects production to be back to normal by week's end. Pemex produced an average of 2.75 million barrels a day in August, the latest available output figure. Hurricane Ike shut down or reduced work at more than a dozen refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Seven of those refineries process crude oil from...

ZOA: Some Jewish Groups That Opposed Palin Appearing At Anti-Iran Rally Ignored Urging Attendance At Rally NEWS RELEASE Zionist Organization of America Jacob & Libby Goodman ZOA House, 4 East 34th Street, New York, N.Y. 10016 (212) 481-1500 Fax: (212) 481-1515 email@zoa.org www.zoa.org September 24, 2008 Contact Morton A. Klein at: 917-974-8795 or 212-481-1500 Attn: NEWS EDITOR Left-wing Jewish Groups Subordinated Concern For Israel To Their Domestic Agenda SOME JEWISH GROUPS THAT OPPOSED PALIN APPEARING AT ANTI-IRAN RALLY IGNORED URGING ATTENDANCE AT RALLY The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has criticized the National Jewish Democratic Convention (NJDC) and J Street,...

Matthew Tryson Bryant, the 3-month-old son of Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Matt Bryant, died Wednesday. “I don’t have a lot of details,” coach Jon Gruden said after practice. “It’s just a horrible tragedy, and I can’t explain it.” Bryant, a seventh-year pro in his fourth season with Tampa Bay, kicked a winning field goal in overtime against Chicago last Sunday. Two years ago, he made the third-longest field goal in NFL history, a 62-yarder to beat Philadelphia. “The entire Buccaneer family is deeply saddened by this tragedy,” general manager Bruce Allen said in a team statement. “The Bryants have been...

Pakistan will prevail against terrorism By Asif Ali Zardari | September 25, 2008 THERE ARE MOMENTS in history that define nations, and also define men. For Pakistan, we have reached a critical crossroad that will determine the nature of our future, or if we will have one. I have the opportunity to help my people secure that future, by implementing the vision of my late martyred wife, Benazir Bhutto. Benazir gave her life fighting the terrorism and fanaticism that haunt the entire civilized world. I fight the terrorist threat in Pakistan not only as an elected democratic leader but also...

An indictment of greed! A case for more government intervention! Worst financial crisis since the Great Depression! Failure of capitalism! This list includes the "lessons" of the recent turmoil in the financial markets. Nonsense. Down with greed! Someone please produce the gun held to the temples of borrowers who put little or no money down, took out "teaser" rates, and then pleaded ignorance or victimhood when the lender -- as stipulated in the contract -- jacked up the rate. Lenders and borrowers expected government/taxpayers to somehow, someway, step in and shield them from the consequences of their decisions. This creates...

I was just thinking during my haze before the morning Joe kicks in. If the US Gov't, Bush and Congress thinks saving the faltering banks and such is of such high priority and the dollar looks to take a major hit then they should do what is right, temporarily suspend all non-essential government agencies to balance the books. No foodstamps, no welfare, no department of education, interior, no anything that is not pertinent to the stability to the nation.

THe democraps are pulling out all stops and steamrolling this 'bailout' through as if it was a republican issue that will win them the election. Why isn't it being called what it is? THE SINGLE BIGGEST SCREWUP IN THE HISTORY OF DEMOCRAT POLITICS Bawney Fwank is the leader of those who stopped this issue from being addressed years ago, when McCain proposed a solution. The mess was STARTED by democraps who insisted banks make loans to unqualified borrowers or risk federal investigation of their 'redlining' practices (otherwise known as EXTORTION) The EVIL BANKS are complicit only in that they knew...

Palestinian Crimes against Christian Arabs   By Manfred GerstenfeldInstitute for Global Jewish Affairs | Thursday, September 25, 2008 Under the Palestinian regime Christian Arabs have been victims of frequent human rights abuses by Muslims. There are many examples of intimidation, beatings, land theft, firebombing of churches and other Christian institutions, denial of employment, economic boycotts, torture, kidnapping, forced marriage, sexual harassment, and extortion. Palestinian Authority (PA) officials are directly responsible for many of the human rights violations. Muslims who have converted to Christianity are in the greatest danger. They are often left defenseless against cruelty by Muslim fundamentalists. Some...

NEW YORK (AFP) - LIFE magazine, the legendary but now defunct US magazine known for its prize-winning photos, is getting a new lease on life -- as a website. Time Inc., which owns the LIFE photo collection, and the Getty Images photo service announced on Tuesday the launch of a new website, LIFE.com, which will feature photos from the LIFE archives and Getty Images. > "Only three percent of the LIFE archive has been seen by the public," said LIFE.com editor Bill Shapiro. "This site will put everything on display. You'll be able to look at the biggest events of...

CAIR Files FEC Complaint over Obsession   By Robert SpencerFrontPageMagazine.com | Thursday, September 25, 2008 Despite the fact that the film Obsession contains no political content and was made well before the 2008 election cycle began, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, those paragons of Islamic moderation and honesty, would now have you believe that the national distribution of the DVD was an Israeli plot to elect John McCain. And they’ve filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging just that. According to MarketWire, “the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is urging the FEC to investigate whether the Clarion...

So much for a "stunt." John McCain got involved in the bailout negotiations after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Sen. Lindsey Graham yesterday that the bailout plan would fail unless McCain came in and brought balky Republicans aboard. That's what Bob Schieffer reported on this morning's Early Show. Schieffer account stands in stark contrast with the allegation by Dems like Barney Frank and their MSM cohorts that McCain's moves of yesterday were nothing more than a political "stunt." Here was Schieffer speaking with the Early Show's Maggie Rodriguez at 7:05 AM EDT today: BOB SCHIEFFER: I am told, Maggie, that...

Exploding energy prices? Yeah, yeah. Cratering home values? So what? Sinking dollar? Yadda, yadda, yadda. Rising unemployment? Big deal. Market crashing? Yawn. Wanna know what keeps me up at night . . . and should have you popping Valiums, too? When politicians all have the same thing to say about the economy, that’s what. To wit . . . match these sound-alike sound bites regarding the current financial crisis with the appropriate solon: A. “We have to have a 9/11 commission to find out what went wrong and to fix what's going to happen in the future so this never...

As you can imagine, there are many questions about what the effect of this crisis will be, but some aspect of our economic future are already set is stone. So I’d like to take a moment to tell you about some of the more certain consequences of our current circumstance, and how they will change the economic condition of New Jersey in future weeks and months.

U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement after news that the bans on offshore drilling and oil shale will expire on October 1st, American Energy Freedom Day. Senator DeMint also announced new legislation and released a letter to Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) urging him to allow consideration of his proposal that will expedite drilling leases, ensure states share in energy revenues, and prevent endless litigation from frivolous environmental lawsuits. American reserves offshore are estimated to hold over 20 billion barrels of oil and 97 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. And in the west, oil...

When choosing who to support in politics, different people have various standards. Some are single issue voters and won’t cast a ballot for a candidate who disagrees with them on a specific issue, such as eliminating secret ballot elections. Others choose a candidate based on specific areas of concern, like national security or fiscal responsibility. And still others may seek out candidates they believe most closely shares their values. This weekend, liberal, Hollywood Democrats are choosing to support the candidates they believe most closely represent their values. This Saturday, the Hollywood crowd is hosting a fundraiser for like-minded Senate candidates...