Free Republic

When I hear businessmen speak eloquently about the "social responsibilities of business in a free-enterprise system," I am reminded of the wonderful line about the Frenchman who discovered at the age of 70 that he had been speaking prose all his life. The businessmen believe that they are defending free en­terprise when they declaim that business is not concerned "merely" with profit but also with promoting desirable "social" ends; that business has a "social conscience" and takes seriously its responsibilities for providing em­ployment, eliminating discrimination, avoid­ing pollution and whatever else may be the catchwords of the contemporary crop of re­formers....

In this brief clip from Donahue, economist and conservative rock star Milton Freidman makes the case that we need to make today. Again and again and again.

An unannounced visit to the state Capitol by former Republican Rep. J.C. Watts has lawmakers talking about the possibility he could be setting the stage to run for governor. Watts, who came to the Capitol Monday, surprised a delegation of the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce last week by saying he is considering the race and will make a decision in 45 days.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKAo9qgkz3Y In the above video's comment section, I was confronted by "romeomoon2", who claims 29 years of military service, yet when I asked for his MOS (mine is 19E), he did not do so, and in fact posted a FAKE mos "1369". I was unsure who to contact, so I sent this to you. If this is not in your perview, plz forward to the appropriate department. Thanks in advance, James Paul vonHelton aka Irvin Eugene Helton Jr 1/7th CAV, 1CD Ft Hood, Tx (inactive)

Reporting from Jerusalem -- Two U.S. officials are being dispatched to Syria for exploratory talks, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday, in a new signal of the Obama administration's determination to reach out to longtime adversaries. Clinton, in Jerusalem for her first talks with Israeli officials, described the upcoming meetings with the Syrian government as "preliminary conversations" intended to examine whether Damascus is serious about a new relationship with the United States. She told reporters in a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that though the outcome is uncertain, "it is a worthwhile effort to go...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Senate Democrat said Tuesday he would consider taxing U.S. workers on their employer-sponsored health insurance to help pay for extending coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. "I think that tax provision should be on the table," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, who will play a major role in writing the legislation to revamp the U.S. healthcare system as promised by President Barack Obama. "It's too aggressive. It skews the system," he said of the tax benefit.

olddotter writes "A 24-page paper on a reverse brain drain from the US back to home countries (PDF) is getting news coverage. Quoting: 'Our new paper, "America's Loss Is the World's Gain," finds that the vast majority of these returnees were relatively young. The average age was 30 for Indian returnees, and 33 for Chinese. They were highly educated, with degrees in management, technology, or science. Fifty-one percent of the Chinese held master's degrees and 41% had PhDs. Sixty-six percent of the Indians held a master's and 12.1% had PhDs. They were at very top of the educational distribution for...

The following was forwarded to me [Phil] by a contact with the Plaintiffs, Mr. Ankeny and Mr. Kruse, of Ankeny v. Daniels; it’s a fascinating “fly on the wall” account of the latest hearing in the eligibility saga: Thursday, February 26, the Elector Suit in the State of Indiana came up for a motions hearing. Counsel for the Governor had filed a motion to dismiss on the basis of mootness (all statutory requirements had been completed, too late for remedy), lack of subject-matter jurisdiction (failure to state a claim upon which the Court or Governor could grant relief) and laches...

Barack Obama, following in the footsteps of someone he so greatly models himself after, is on a path to nationalizing the banks, which, as did the "great" FDR, will once again serve to destroy the basis for our money. It should come as no surprise now that, once again, the people who know better are running for the hills.

WASHINGTON will become only the second US state to allow assisted suicide as its new "death with dignity" law takes effect. Under a ballot measure passed during November elections, physicians in the northwest state will be allowed to write prescriptions for lethal doses of drugs for terminally ill patients who have less than six months to live. Only one other US state - Oregon - has similar legislation, although a court in Montana recently ruled that terminally ill patients had the right to seek physician-assisted suicide. Supporters of the new Washington legislation, made possible by a 2006 US Supreme Court...

Brigham Young University has denied an appeal to award a diploma that the creator of a Mormon beefcake calendar says he earned. Chad Hardy's diploma was withheld by BYU last fall after he was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns and runs the school. Hardy was excommunicated during the month between completing his courses and graduation ceremonies. Hardy appealed and met with Dean of Students Vernon L. Heperi on Feb. 13. In the meeting, Heperi sought to determine whether Hardy's life is guided by the school's honor code, which reflects the values of the...

Ambassador Charles W. "Chas" Freeman Jr.'s nomination as chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC) has quickly become the Obama administration's most controversial appointment to date. Mr. Freeman's two post-government activities involved being a de facto employee of Saudi Arabia. In exchange, he received lavish support for his Middle East Policy Center (MEPC) and lucrative contracts for the consulting firm he founded to guide international companies into finding royal family-connected partners within the Saudi elite. This raises the reasonable questions as to whether Ambassador Freeman acted as an unregistered Saudi agent. This role has created significant concern about his impartiality...

Virginia at last is considering asserting her rights under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution. HR61 was introduced 2/26/09, by Peace, Fralin, Byron, Cline, Cole, Gilbert, Landes, Lingamfelter, Marshall, R.G., Morgan, Ware, R.L. and Wright. Text of the bill: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?091+ful+HR61. In doing so, we join the majority of states that has felt it necessary to take back the powers currently being usurped by the federal government. The government's favorite tactic of expanding power by creating constituencies dependent on federal largess is evident on every slimy page of the stimulus bill. The ultimate goal is behavior control, where the feds impose...

Former Taliban members are all better now because of the iphone???

University of Arizona scientists have uncovered a curious case of missing asteroids. The main asteroid belt is a zone containing millions of rocky objects between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The scientists find that there ought to be more asteroids there than researchers observe. The missing asteroids may be evidence of an event that took place about 4 billion years ago, when the solar system's giant planets migrated to their present locations. UA planetary sciences graduate student David A. Minton and UA planetary sciences professor Renu Malhotra say missing asteroids is an important piece of evidence to support an...

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March 3rd event will bring leading experts from U.S. and abroad to Capitol Hill.Embargoed: February 18, 2009, 6:00 a.m. EST Contact: Ben Edwards Email:Bedwards@cgdev.org, Tel: +1 202 416 0740 Further information available at www.usclimatesymposium.comWASHINGTON, February 17, 2009 - U.S. legislators and business leaders will meet with experts on climate change economics and policy at the Capitol building in March to discuss the challenges and opportunities for U.S. leadership on climate change, it was announced today. U.S. and international policymakers will join climate experts for the one day bipartisan and bicameral event. The cosponsoring Senators to date are Senators Bingaman (D-NM),...

Alleged fraud Madoff is giving up rights to his business - and company artwork and entertainment tickets....to recover assets for Madoff's clients....... a court-appointed trustee told a federal judge Madoff should voluntarily hand over "all of his rights, title and interests" to the firm's property and other assets. Lawyers for Ruth Madoff asserted her $7M Manhattan apartment and $62M bank accounts were unrelated to the alleged fraud. The trustee also seeks control of Primex Holdings LLC, a digital trading firm operated out of Madoff's Midtown headquarters.

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 3:51 pm Transatlanticism President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Gordon Brown walk along the colonnade between the residence and the West Wing of the White House. (White House photo 3/3/09 by Joyce N. Boghosian)   "Where are the Brits? They're over there," President Obama said, playfully, during a press Q&A following a meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "In fact, they're everywhere," Prime Minister Brown replied. And in that spirit of Anglo-American equity, the President and Prime Minister took questions from reporters from both sides of the pond. "I think that there are a set of shared values...