Free Republic

Barack Obama, the Kingpin, is apparently set on a multi-pronged strategy to derail the U.S. economy, and Geithner, like any good comic-book henchman, is attempting to do his boss’ dirty work. First order of business: expand the power of the Dark Side… ahem, the Federal Reserve. In March, Geithner made it clear that he wished the Fed to be strengthened, but that it would not become the government’s primary regulatory agency. Now, in June, Geithner has revised his statement. On Thursday, the Treasury Secretary told the Senate Banking Committee that the Fed would become the government’s key regulatory police officer...

One of the most significant transformations in U.S. graduate education and the international market for highly-trained workers in science and engineering during the last quarter century is the representation of students from outside of the United States among the ranks of doctorate recipients from U.S. universities. In all but the life sciences, the foreign share of Ph.D. recipients now equals or exceeds the share from the United States. Students from outside the United States accounted for 51 percent of Ph.D. recipients in science and engineering in 2003, up from 27 percent in 1973. In 2003, doctorate recipients from outside the...

JOHN Stossel is telling his own network "Give me a break!" after it pulled his health-case insurance segment off the air to give more time to the death of Michael Jackson.

President Barack Hussein Obama held a "town hall" meeting at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, VA today (just off the Beltway) to drum up support for his socialized health-care program. Along with attempting to scare Virginians and Americans into accepting more government control over our lives (as well as even higher deficits), the Obama camp is trying to tug at our hearts. That, being the most publicized moment of the town hall, as Obama hugged Debby Smith of Appalachia, VA, who is suffering from cancer and says she doesn't have health insurance. If the moment seemed too perfect, that's...

Public schools are filled with eager, fresh-faced youngsters, and prisons contain many rough-looking adults with uninviting personalities. But put aside that difference and you find some important similarities between the two places -- government-run facilities where individuals are held for a specific number of years without their consent, at the mercy of their custodians. For years, the Supreme Court has been doing its best to further blur the distinction by giving public-school officials the same powers as the warden of San Quentin. So it was a mild surprise last week to learn there are some abridgments of freedom and invasions...

Some quotes of the day...a good read before you head out of the office for the 4th... “The fact of the matter is that the unemployment rate is much worse than the administration contemplated or that most people expected,” Economist Paul Krugman, to ABC’s Jennifer Parker “My rear end is on the line, just like yours. I’m the guy in charge of this deal. So if it doesn’t work, it’s me.” - Vice President Joe Biden, quoted in Time Magazine, on the success or failure of the stimulus package. "If you account for those who have given up looking for...

When buyers and sellers finally kick off this year’s upfront, several broadcast networks could well see pricing increases over last year, despite the weak economy and network television’s sinking ratings. But if they do, it's almost certain to be the last year for such gains. The networks have done a good job of explaining away the impact of DVRs on ratings, noting that in fact few users actually bother skipping through commercials. But that is about to change, according to one top researcher. As more and more users acquire and begin to use DVRs, ad skipping will become a far...

Bank of America Corp. says it will accept warrants issued by California’s state government through July 10. BofA says the state’s budget crisis prompted its decision. “To support our customers, while giving the state legislature additional time to pass a budget, we will accept California state-registered warrants — or IOUs — from existing customers and clients,” Charlotte-based BofA (NYSE:BAC) says in a written statement.

"President Barack Obama says that he can pay for his goal to provide health care insurance for every American without it. Why isn't that good enough for you?" Elder: Yes, the President says that he can "pay for" his goal of providing health insurance for every American without it. Care to bet on that? When government proposes a program, the ultimate price tag inevitably exceeds projections. In "Why Government Doesn't Work," libertarian Harry Browne wrote: "Most older people now find it harder to get adequate medical service. Naturally, the government points to the higher costs and shortages as proof that...

The head of a faith-based military academy for children in New Jersey is facing child pornography charges. Steven Baryla of Toms River is charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.

WASHINGTON — With lawmakers on Capitol Hill struggling to reconcile clashing views on overhauling the nation's health-care system, President Obama made a new appeal to the public Wednesday not to let Congress put off action on his top legislative priority. "In order to make it happen, I'm going to need ordinary Americans to stand up and say, now's the time," Obama said at a town-hall-style forum at Northern Virginia Community College in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Annandale, Va. "If Congress thinks that the American people don't want to see change, frankly the lobbyists and the special interests will end...

Question: What’s more frightening than a scientist being suppressed and silenced by power-hungry bureaucrats because his work jeopardizes their whole motivation to enact legislation for fighting man-made global warming climate change? Answer: Two scientists being suppressed and silenced. Not even the Soviet premiers and their politburos could have thought this up. Just days ago, EPA researcher Alan Carlin was forbidden by his own agency to publicize a report that would have put a crater-sized hole in the entire man-made global warming climate change theory that undergirds the C(r)ap and Trade Bill being pushed by Congress and the White House. That's...

A 71-year-old Albuquerque man says he fired a gun on his two adult sons after they refused to clean the stove. On Monday evening at a home near I-40 and Eubank, police say the father, Sammy Shannon, pulled a .38 revolver and fired at his sons after an argument about chores. Shannon doesn’t dispute that he fired the gun. He says it’s his form of discipline. The father says all he asked of his 22 and 29-year-old sons, who still live with their parents, was to do their chores. “They didn't want to, so they got smart,” Shannon said. That’s...

Green Car Journal: As a 'Moon Shot,' the Electric Car is a Challenging Mission The race to deliver electric vehicles to the market is on and competition is heating up. But like the Apollo Program, success is likely to be measured over many years and will come at great cost. San Luis Obispo, Calif. (PRWEB) July 2, 2009 -- As we mark the 40th anniversary of successfully landing a man on the moon this month, it's interesting to note the many comparisons that position electric cars as the next 'moon shot.' There are synergies at work since, after all, the...

"For the shields of the earth belong to God"(Psalm 47:9)

NEW YORK, NY July 02, 2009 —As of Wednesday, all three statewide elected officials have websites that help track stimulus funding, but none make New York's stimulus spending completely transparent. WNYC's Andrea Bernstein has more.The newest addition to the transparency canon comes from Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, whose www.openbooknewyork.com site allows users to track stimulus spending down to the name of the contractor -- but there's a hitch, where money passes through local goverments -- and billions of dollars do -- the money trail stops at the name of the city or county. Governor Paterson's site, www.recovery.ny.gov/, gives a visual map...

After enduring months of derision within Republican circles for her role as the party's 2008 vice presidential nominee and her uneven performance as a national figure this year, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is experiencing something of a rebound among the D.C. chattering class in the 48 hours since the release of a very tough profile on her in Vanity Fair magazine. In the wake of that piece -- a 9,800 word opus penned by Todd Purdum -- a number of operatives who worked closely with Palin during the 2008 campaign have reached out to the Fix to defend the governor....

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein told an FBI interviewer before he was hanged that he led the world to believe that his country had weapons of mass destruction because he did not want to appear weak to the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to declassified FBI documents released Wednesday. Hussein was quoted as saying that he was so concerned about radical Iranian leaders that he was ready to sign a security agreement with the United States guaranteeing protection from Iran.... Hussein also referred to Osama Bin Laden as a "zealot" and said that he did not deal with al-Qaida....

National NH Live Free Or Die Rally IS ON!!

Remember Cary Grant wearing a dress and wig in “I Was a Male War Bride?”The movie seemed far-fetched to audiences in 1949.But now male war brides are expected to crop up in barracks throughout the country.President Barack Obama has stated his intent to do away with the “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy of the United States military.Mr. Obama’s announcement was made during a meeting with 150 members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Coalition (LGBT) of the United Church of Christ."As I said before -- I'll say it again -- I believe 'don't ask, don't tell' doesn't contribute to...