Free Republic

P>Jimmy Fallon, who was voted by his elementary school class as "Most Likely to Replace David Letterman," debuted last night in the spot vacated by the man who actually did take over, Conan O'Brien. It was pretty predictable stuff, right down to laughing at his own jokes before he even finishes them, but I enjoyed his interviews and hijinx with Bob DeNiro and Justin TImberlake. I wish him well.(See clips and such at these links: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29469658/ and http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/ )But I have to give him kudos for doing something during his monologue that others seem incapable of -- telling a joke that actually cuts at...

Five Dumbest Guns in Movies and Television #1: Rose McGowan’s M203 from Planet TerrorYou are a nuttier gun nut than me if you think a stripper with an M203 prosthetic leg is either hot or cool. It’s just dumb. Also, I realize this is science fiction/fantasy but how does she pull the trigger? Unquestionably, this is the stupidest gun in movie history. #2: Arnold’s Rail Guns from EraserRailguns exist now as experimental weapons; the Navy hopes to have shipboard versions some day. Railguns create an electromagnetic field on two rails. A conductive projectile completes the circuit, and something called a...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two prominent supporters of stem cell research said on Thursday they had reintroduced a Senate bill that would allow federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research, in anticipation of President Barack Obama's support for the work. Senators Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, and Arlen Specter, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said their bipartisan measure would allow federal funding for research using stem cells taken from human embryos left over from fertility treatments. "It is the same bill that both houses of Congress approved in 2007, but was vetoed by President Bush," they said in a statement. Obama...

Per the TenthAmendmentCenter.com, The Washington Times is reporting today how States are using the Tenth Amendment as one way to deal with federal mandates (excerpted): Worried the federal government is increasing its dominance over their affairs, several states are pursuing legislative action to assert their sovereignty under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution in hopes of warding off demands from Washington on how to spend money or enact policy. The growing concerns even have a handful of governors questioning whether to accept federal stimulus money that comes with strings attached. The sentiments to declare themselves legally independent from Washington have...

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An email ripe with racist slurs -- crudely presented as a mock debate between President Obama and Sen. John McCain -- sent by a member of Staten Island's Community Education Council to dozens of recipients, including other members of the public schools' parent advisory board, is stirring outrage among African American leaders, who anonymously received a copy of the offensive communiqué and plan to take action. The mock photo strip, sent Jan. 4 by Salvatore Ballarino, the borough president's appointee to the volunteer board, features cartoon-like speech balloons drawn out of McCain's mouth referencing lynching African...

One small federal agency "lost" over 2,000 items at an average cost of $3,128 per item in just one year... The Customs and Border Patrol agency is tasked with tracking things as diverse as goods coming into the country, as well as the entry of persons (both legal and illegal) into the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has a difficult time keeping possession of the very assets that enable them to do their job, items like computers, digital cameras, and night-vision goggles... The compilation of items extends up to 58 pages, and totals $7.1 million. No fewer than 171...

Who the heck would ever plunk good money down to read a book titled "The Governor" by Rod Blagojevich? That's the working title of Blagojevich's planned book, but it's a terrible title. That's why you readers are being enlisted to come up with a juicy, compelling title for our former Gov. Dead Meat's tell-all book, which was announced Monday. If your title wins, you'll get a prize, and I mean a real prize this time, something tangible. Because I'm writing the column, I get to go first. So how about this one: "Et Tu, DeLeo?"

Gordon: What gave rise to your concerns about the threat of Islamization here in the US? Hausman: I’ve always been aware historically that Islam is a triumphalism, supersessionist and supremacist way of life. Islam, in my mind, is not solely a religious philosophy, but a total and complete political-religious polity. As such, Islam directs every aspect of a person’s life with no tolerance or respect given anyone who will not “submit” to the will of Allah. If you will not submit, there are all sorts of consequences (e.g. special taxes, restrictions in terms of livelihoods and construction of houses of...

The dismaying message here is that President Obama's policies have become part of the economy's problem. * * * But after five weeks in office, it's become clear that Mr. Obama's policies are slowing, if not stopping, what would otherwise be the normal process of economic recovery. From punishing business to squandering scarce national public resources, Team Obama is creating more uncertainty and less confidence -- and thus a longer period of recession or subpar growth.

Much smarter than Obama.

I don't know if Newsweek is as eager to be rid of Israel as "The State of Islam" is these days or not, but on its interactive online map of the mid east, the news mag is featuring a map of Israel labeled as "Palestinian Territory." Once you click over to the Newsweek map, holding the mouse over the tiny red shape north of Egypt will bring up a popup map showing Israel clearly labeled as "PalestinianTerritory." Here is a screen shot of the current map on Newsweek's site: Of course, we all know that to be the shape of...

Armed to the hilt, they came from land and air, determined to restore order to Mexico's most violent city. Nearly 2,000 Mexican soldiers and armed federal police poured into the border town of Ciudad Juarez last weekend.

With his wife in a seemingly irreversible coma, Michael Smith brought his children to Bethesda North Hospital in Cincinnati to say goodbye to their mother before she was pulled off life support. But Lori Smith’s 8-year-old daughter Megan wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Instead, she said, “Mom, if you love us and you hear us, move your eyes.” “Lori moved her eyes, and that was the first sign that I knew Lori was there,” Michael Smith said. “I didn’t know if Lori was being mom for the last time or what, but God really gave us a miracle and brought...

I saw this bumper sticker a day or so ago and would like to order a few. Anyone remember where it was or how to order it? Thanks Freepers!

California Assemblywoman Diane Harkey accepted $16,600 in political contributions from real estate developers who had received loans from her husband's business, now under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The borrowers later failed to repay loans brokered by her husband's lending company, Point Center Financial Inc. of Aliso Viejo. The firm was accused of fraud last month in an investor lawsuit, and the company's owner has confirmed that Point Center is under investigation by the SEC. Harkey (R-Dana Point) said Monday that there was nothing improper with the developers' contributions and that she had no idea they had loans...

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Debbie Harris knew the military dog tag and small metal emblem of a Navy fighter squadron she recently found in the sand near her home on an Alabama beach belonged to a Blue Angels pilot who was killed when his jet crashed there a half-century ago. But she wanted to find out more about Cmdr. Robert Nicholls Glasgow and what happened , so she turned to her aunt and uncle, who live in Pensacola, home of the National Museum of Naval Aviation. Their search led them to the museum's director, Bob Rasmussen, a retired Navy captain and...

Professor Called Police After Student Presentation For CCSU [Cen. Conn. State University] student John Wahlberg, a class presentation on campus violence turned into a confrontation with the campus police due to a complaint by the professor. On October 3, 2008, Wahlberg and two other classmates prepared to give an oral presentation for a Communication 140 class that was required to discuss a “relevant issue in the media”. Wahlberg and his group chose to discuss school violence due to recent events such as the Virginia Tech shootings that occurred in 2007. Shortly after his professor, Paula Anderson, filed a complaint with...

A Buffalo, N.Y.-area financial institution that loans money to law firms to finance litigation was within its rights when it decided not to gamble on an attorney who used money he borrowed to play poker, a federal judge has ruled. Western District of New York Judge Richard J. Arcara ruled in Counsel Financial Services v. Melkersen Law, 08- cv-0156A(Sr), that Counsel Financial Services could call in just under $250,000 in outstanding principal on attorney Michael J. Melkersen's loan, plus $22,420 in outstanding interest and $3,923 in late payments. Melkersen argued that neither his card-playing, nor other personal uses of the...

Much comparative assumption has been predicated on the seemingly parallel situations in the two vastly different complexes of Serbia-Kosovo-Albania on the one hand, and Israel-Jordan-Palestinians on the other, thus warranting some elaboration that would put this intriguing matter to rest. This comparison is often resorted to by both sides of the divide, in both cases equally, invoking strikingly resemblant narratives and mirror-image arguments to justify each party’s cause. Furthermore, amazingly similar modes of development have been evolving in each complex, which may help to shed light upon each other and to evince once again the validity of the old adage,...

After nearly a decade of service in the West African Muslim nation, the Fultons, missionaries from an Assemblies of God church in Britain, experienced a string of difficulties, including a disagreement that led them to part with their local church. At about the same time, David reduced his role as an army chaplain and was assaulted by a man he described as a Muslim fundamentalist. "Now how [a growing extremist element] should be dealt with, I don't know," David wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "(I have suggested that we arm the Muslims with sticks and the Christians with machine...