Free Republic

The Obama administration seized headlines June 18 when the Defense Department stated that the United States would deploy ground- and sea-based missile-defense assets to protect Hawaii. This was a response to North Korea's threat to launch a long-range missile on July 4 toward the islands. However, new information suggests that the administration is bluffing and our defenses are inadequate to get the job done.

The inability to provide pithy summaries of their position frequently plague Conservatives and Libertarians in their endless verbal jousts with people of the Bolshevik Persuasion. Old school Editorial Commentator George Will provides us one of the best arguments to say “No” I have heard in quite some time. In short, to say “No”to mischief and inanity is both Constitutional and necessary and people who do so should be proud of their outlook and position. Thank You George Will! Say No And Be Proud!

Quiet Sun. (Space Weather Prediction Center) My colleague Ken Chang has written about the sun’s unusual stretch with 205 days this year without sunspots and a sleepy solar wind. Here are a couple of highlights: The sun has been strangely unblemished this year. On more than 200 days so far this year, no sunspots were spotted. That makes the sun blanker this year than in any year since 1954, when it was spotless for 241 days. . . . In another sign of solar quiescence, scientists reported last month that the solar wind, a rush of charged particles continually spewed...

Children in adult bodies want to live in Neverland. But Neverland doesn’t exist, and it never will. That’s why it’s called Neverland. In fiction, people who never grow up enjoy amusing adventures in which the dangers are imaginary. In reality, people who never grow up may enjoy themselves for a time, but sooner or later the all-too-real dangers they ignored catch up with them. And then their fantasy world will be lost to foreclosure, and their real world will become distinctly unpleasant, or even lethal. But then it will be too late.

There are fewer than 1,230 days until the next presidential election in 2012. That's 3 1/3 years, or 41 months, or 175 weeks. Anyway you break it down, it's quite a while. And in campaign politics, it's nothing short of a lifetime. News breaks in seconds these days, and the era of buckling down in anticipation of that single, inevitable campaign game-changer has been replaced by a new one, in which game-changers occur over and over and over again, frustrating and exhausting the campaign managers, press secretaries, publicists, strategists, spin doctors, and reporters for whom campaigns are more than mere...

His hips, thighs and shoulders were riddled with needle wounds — believed to be the result of injections of narcotic painkillers, given three times a day for years. And a mass of surgery scars were thought to be the legacy of at least 13 cosmetic operations. The examination showed the 5ft 10in star — once famed for his on-stage athleticism — had: PLUNGED to a “severely emaciated” 8st 1oz. It is understood anorexic Jackson had been eating just one meagre meal a day. Pathologists found his stomach empty aside from partially-dissolved pills he took before the painkiller injection which stopped...

The Lebanese army is warning people not to respond to recorded phone messages asking for information about missing Israeli soldiers. Lebanese have been receiving phone messages periodically for more than a year asking people to view a Web site or call if they have information on missing Israeli soldiers, including Ron Arad, whose plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986. The Web site, 10million.org, belongs to a foundation set up by the Israeli government and offers a US$10 million reward.

BARNEY'S BACKPosted: 3:31 am June 28, 2009 Rep. Barney Frank says that unless Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac relax their recent tightening of mortgage standards on new condominiums, the economic recovery could be threatened. That would be the same Barney Frank who famously boasted that the two federal agencies -- which lost billions by making improvident loans -- were "fundamentally sound financially and [can] withstand . . . disaster scenarios." Then came the disasters. But to Barney Frank, Fannie and Freddie are essentially taxpayer-funded social-service agencies whose mission is to turn all Americans into homeowners -- whether or not they...

Preliminary results of a study on presidential campaign donations shows that President Obama had more than 3.7 million donors compared with 827,000 who donated to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) And while Obama had a substantial lead over McCain in small donors -- $200 or less -- Obama also led in the number of individuals who gave at or near the legal limit of $4,600, researchers at Brigham Young University said. Donors gave Obama $700 million to Obama (sic) and $316 million to McCain. Donations from individuals giving $200 or less represented nearly a quarter ($178 million) of Obama's fund-raising total...

Jani's at the mercy of her mind The parents of a 6-year-old schizophrenic search for help against daunting odds for a patient so young and a case so severe. Shari Roan June 28, 2009 It's been a rough week. A few days ago, at UCLA's Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, 6-year-old Jani toppled a food cart and was confined to her room. She slammed her head against the floor, opening a bloody cut that sent her into hysterics. Later, she kicked the hospital therapy dog. Jani normally likes animals. But most of her animal friends -- cats, rats, dogs and birds --...

OMG Moment...David Gregory actually firing back at David Axelrod over the HuffingtonPost set up question on today's Meet The Press.

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A Hamas leader praised President Obama's "new language" toward the group. "It's the first step in the right direction toward a dialogue without conditions, and we welcome this," said exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in a televised speech Thursday in Damascus, according to news reports. Meshaal was referring to Obama's Cairo speech earlier in the month in which he stated that Hamas "does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have to recognize they have responsibilities." Meshaal said, though, that Obama was too sympathetic to Israel. “Obama spoke widely about the suffering of Jews and their...

What will probably be the highlight of your 4th of July celebration this year? A Weekly Poll.

Chief Justice John Roberts held a conversation with Judge Harvie Wilkinson at the Fourth Circuit's Judicial Conference in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Chief Justice Roberts oversees the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Topics included the decisions of the 2008-2009 term of the U.S. Supreme Court, which would conclude the next Monday, June 29, 2009.

Pope Benedict announced on Sunday that fragments of bone from the first or second century had been found in a tomb in the Basilica of St Paul in Rome, which he said confirmed the belief that it housed the apostle's remains. "This seems to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition that these are the mortal remains on the Apostle Paul," the pontiff said at St Paul's-Outside-the-Walls, on the eve of the Feasts of St Peter and St Paul celebrated on Monday.

Daily poll question: Should politicians be ousted from office if they break campaign promises?

As of this past Friday, Young Gun Conservative Radio is proud to announce, that with the unconditional support of our loyal fans, has reached its goal of $250 and is now an official sponsor of the Boston Tea Party on July 4th, 2009. We will be making an official announcement on Monday night’s show. Kender and I would like to show our gratitude to those who helped us, both financially philosophically, to make this happen. Thank you again and God Bless!

Iran continues to "interfere" in Iraq, including training insurgents and paying surrogates, the U.S. commander in Iraq told CNN on Sunday. But Army Gen. Ray Odierno said his mission is limited to providing security within Iraq, no matter the provocation from Iran or elsewhere. "I'm not authorized to do anything outside the borders of Iraq," he said on the CNN program "State of the Union." Iran's government has repeatedly denied fomenting violence inside Iraq. Despite some high-profile bombings and attacks in recent days, Iraq's security forces are ready to take over for U.S. forces this week to stabilize the nation's...

JUNE 29, 2009 Target: Hawaii Missile defenses for Oahu, but cuts for the rest of us. The Pentagon recently announced that it is repositioning ground-to-air radar and missile defenses near Hawaii in case North Korea decides to launch another long-range missile, this time toward the Aloha State. So at least 1.3 million Hawaiians will benefit from defenses that many officials in the current Administration didn't even want to build. But what about the rest of us? It's an odd time to be cutting missile defense, as the Obama Administration is doing in its 2010 budget -- by $1.2 billion to...