Free Republic

7 more banks fail as FDIC seeks stronger rules for buyers of failed banks. BY STEPHEN MANNING and DAVID PITT WASHINGTON (AP) -- Six Illinois banks and one bank in Texas were shuttered Thursday as government regulators proposed new rules for private equity firms seeking to take over failed banks. That brought the number of U.S. bank failures this year to 52. That's more than double the 25 which failed in all of 2008 and the three closed in 2007. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of all seven. The total cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund from...

Police seeking record aid to avoid layoffs Departments say nearly 40,000 cops could lose jobs without federal help July 2, 2009 WASHINGTON - The nation's police departments are clamoring for an unprecedented amount of federal aid to forestall big local tax hikes or the possible layoff of nearly 40,000 police officers — enough to staff the entire New York City Police Department. When President Barack Obama signed the huge economic stimulus bill earlier this year, $1 billion was set aside to help local and state police avoid layoffs or keep their police academy classes intact. The response has been staggering:...

A Puerto Rican civil rights organization advised by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor campaigned against seating conservative Robert Bork on the high court in the late 1980s, according to new documents that shed light on the group that's become a key focus of Republicans questioning Sotomayor's fitness to be a justice. The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund officially opposed Bork, whose nomination by President Ronald Reagan was rejected by the Senate in 1987, "because of the threat he poses to the civil rights of the Latino community," its president reported in one of several documents from the group...

anta Rosa County, FL – Liberty Counsel filed a motion to intervene on behalf of Christian Educators Association International (CEAI) in a lawsuit filed earlier this year by the ACLU against the Santa Rosa County School District. The ACLU filed suit, claiming some of the teachers and administration endorsed religion. The School District attempted to settle the suit by joining with the ACLU and presenting the court with a Consent Order, which essentially bans all employees from engaging in prayer or religious activities, whether before, during, or after school hours. Without any legal argument or briefing, the judge signed the...

Obama's biggest character flaw James Lewis The President of these United States recently expressed his love for "the Urdu poets," a piece of inspired BS that nobody in their right minds believed for a second. But then the P was narrowcasting to Pakistan, he thought, and Americans weren't supposed to be listening. Yet character is revealed in those little snippets of Obama's mind -- his glorious fantasy life, his everlasting hope that somebody will fall for another piece of schtick, and his essential fraudulence as a human being. Obama's biggest audience is himself, and no doubt he preened and pranced...

That's the Obama administration's "stimulus" plan, which mainly stimulated Democratic constituencies with great gobs of pork. The web site Innocent Bystanders has done a service by plotting the actual unemployment rate against the Obama administration's prediction of what would happen with and without the "stimulus." Here is the latest, updated through June; click to enlarge: The administration's forecast provides a benchmark against which we can judge the success or failure of the $700 billion porkapalooza. The result is obvious: it was a failure. The best thing Congress could do is to cancel the rest of the program--the large majority that...

The most insidious part of Obamacare is the backdoor taxes, and defacto control of our healthcare by the nanny state that President Obama’s plan is loaded with. And here is another one that is not getting much play. Employers would be socked with requirements to pay for 72.5 percent of the cost of insurance premiums for their full-time employees under the plan being considered in the House. They would also be required to pick up an as yet determined percentage of the insurance plans for part-time employees, as well. This alone will insure that part-time jobs across the nation are...

To say that people in Latin America are sensitive about military coups would be an understatement. Due to the often tumultuous and bloody histories of their respective countries, they have a strong aversion to anything that looks like military interference in civilian politics. Recent events in Honduras have struck many Latin Americans as a return to the bad old days when power-hungry generals routinely dislodged elected officials and stomped on democracy. Yet upon closer examination, the removal of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya bears very little resemblance to traditional Latin American military coups. Indeed, it was not really a "coup." Rather,...

The end of the longest recession in recent history got pushed further off last month as employers eliminated nearly a half-million more jobs, unemployment rose to its highest level in 26 years and wage growth came to a standstill. Thursday's news from the Labor Department triggered a dive in the financial markets and cast a cloud over President Obama's legislative agenda amid sinking approval ratings for his handling of the economy. For ordinary workers, the report renewed worries about record rates of job losses, shrinking wages and home seizures, despite what now appears to have been overblown hopes this spring...

Congratulations, Hondurans! Many of us wish we could have done what you are doing before the Marxist thugs working for Castro and Chavez enslaved our countries.

Public Support for Sotomayor Falls After Supreme Court Reversal Wednesday, July 01, 2009 A heavily publicized U.S. Supreme Court reversal of an appeals court ruling by Judge Sonia Sotomayor has at least temporarily diminished public support for President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on the two nights following the Supreme Court decision, finds that 37% now believe Sotomayor should be confirmed while 39% disagree. Two weeks ago, the numbers were much brighter for the nominee. At that time, 42% favored confirmation, and 34% were opposed. Rasmussen Reports has been tracking this question...

To say that people in Latin America are sensitive about military coups would be an understatement. Due to the often tumultuous and bloody histories of their respective countries, they have a strong aversion to anything that looks like military interference in civilian politics. Recent events in Honduras have struck many Latin Americans as a return to the bad old days when power-hungry generals routinely dislodged elected officials and stomped on democracy. Yet upon closer examination, the removal of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya bears very little resemblance to traditional Latin American military coups. Indeed, it was not really a "coup." Rather,...

Blanche Lincoln, AR 45% Public Policy Polling, March Barbara Boxer, CA 48% Survey USA, June 12-14 Michael Bennet, CO 34% Public Policy Polling, April 24-26 (trails Rep. Beauprez) Christopher Dodd, CO 37% Quinnipiac, April (trails several) Roland Burris, IL 17% Public Policy Polling, April 24-26 (likely to lose primary) Harry Reid, NV 34% Mason-Dixon, June 18-19 Kirsten Gillenbrand, NY 24% Marist (disapproval rating also below 50%) Byron Dorgan, ND (only poll in this red state was commissioned by DailyKOS) Also in possible danger but above 50% approval: Daniel Inouye, HI leads Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, but he'll be 86, and...

“You know, there’s nothing more interesting than seeing a bunch of racists become confused and angry at a speech,” began Janeane Garofalo in her interview with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann Wednesday. “Let’s be very honest about what this is about,” she continued, “it’s not about bashing Democrats, it’s not about taxes, they have no idea what the Boston Tea Party was about.” “That’s right,” agreed a grinning Olbermann. “They don’t know their history at all,” the actress from such films as Mystery Men and, more recently, the acclaimed television show 24 ranted. “This is about hating a black man in the...

Swine flu cannot be stopped as 100,000 new cases per day feared David Rose More than 100,000 swine flu cases could be diagnosed every day by the end of next month, the Health Secretary has warned. Britain has moved past the stage of trying to contain the spread of the virus and into the “treatment phase”, Andy Burnham told the House of Commons. Cases of the H1N1 virus were doubling each week in Britain and could reach six figures daily by the end of August if current trends continued, he added. Anyone with flu-like symptoms will be advised to stay...

LISTEN TO THE REAL REVEREND JESSE ON THE INTERNET OR A RADIO STATION IN YOUR AREA......BOND Action, Inc...Educating, Motivating and Rallying Americans! The Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show Streamed live online from 6-9 a.m. PST / 9-12 a.m. EST. Call in the same times usually. For Live Questions or Comments Call 1-888-77-JESSE(5-3773) You can email comments and questions to radio@bondaction.org For more information on getting The Jesse Lee Peterson Show picked up on a station in your local area call Ermias Alemayehu at 1-877-WE ACT77 (932-2877)

In an effort to understand a Marxist bent on an end run at ‘global social justice’ we might define the words “freedom” and “justice”, relative to the following postulates: 1.) Marxism and Freedom are mutually exclusive -a given. 2.) “If you have socialism, you only require justice”. (A Presumed Tenant) On to the definitions…. Freedom is: Pretty simple. Everything (including opportunity) that is not restricted by law/code/agreement and that doesn’t infringe upon, nor unduly burden, others. * Note here that attacks on the word have been rather fruitless; hence the Democrats, Liberals, and Progressives have stopped using the word in...

Guess thats why they say reading is fundamental. This guy is headed to a roast and he's the pig. Wonder if he stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Just think of the advertising potential. Just one note to this guy dont accept any White House invitations be very very careful.LOL

MOSCOW, July 2 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow will discuss a new arms reduction deal with Washington only in connection with U.S. plans for a missile shield in central Europe, the Russian prime minister's spokesman said on Thursday. Russia and the United States have been involved in comprehensive talks over a new nuclear arms reduction deal to replace the START 1 treaty, which expires in December. Russian and U.S. experts agreed to report the results at the Russian-U.S. summit in Moscow in July. "This link is well-grounded and we have explained our position on this issue to our American partners during...

Public Opinion on Jong Woon Uniformly Negative By Jiro Ishimaru, Representative of the Osaka office of Asia Press [2009-07-02 15:53 ] Jiro Ishimaru, who has been collecting news material along the North Korea-China frontier for more than a decade, visited the border regions again in mid-June. He met with nine North Koreans who were heading back to North Korea after concluding their private business. Ishimaru, the Representative of the Osaka office of "Asia Press,” subsequently wrote up what the North Koreans had told him, specifically about their view of Kim Jong Woon’s succession and the latest complications following the apparent...