Free Republic

A review of travel and financial records showed that Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina did not spend public money improperly while conducting an extramarital affair, the chief of the State Law Enforcement Division said Thursday. Since Monday, the governor’s continuing revelations about the affair, including his admission that he had seen his lover more times than he initially acknowledged, have stepped up calls for his resignation and heightened support for an investigation into his travel records. The chief of the State Law Enforcement Division, Reginald Lloyd, said that the review of Mr. Sanford’s records was not a criminal inquiry,...

Roman Catholicism and Genesis A review of The Doctrines of Genesis 1–11: A Compendium and Defense of Traditional Catholic Theology on Origins by Fr Victor P. Warkulwiz The Catholic Church’s belief about Genesis 1–11 has been in a muddle for a long time—ever since uniformitarianism and evolution came on the scene. This situation is similar to Protestant churches, sadly for both liberal and conservative ones. Within the ‘traditionalist’ churches, this book is a welcome addition to the book Genesis, Creation and Early Man by the Russian Orthodox heiromonk Seraphim Rose,1 who documented that the Church fathers of Eastern Orthodoxy from...

Are Americans Really This Stupid? Recently, my wife and I were invited to “Grandparents’ Day” at one of our grandkid’s Jewish pre-school. The kids were rounded-up and as a group sang several songs, most pitching the Global Warming Hoax or Multicultural Diversity. Then we were invited back to the classroom for an informal session talking with teachers and watching the kids play. Our grandson stood under a Rainbow Coalition poster for a picture and then joined others around the big Lego box. Our grandkid is talented and builds some impressive stuff with these colorful blocks and shapes. He knows I...

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) inserted a last-minute 310-page amendment into the cap-and-trade climate change bill just hours before the bill reached a House vote last Friday evening, and the amendments included indecipherable provisions for something called a “central procurement state.”

The dominant explanation by mainstream newspaper journalists as to how California got into the budget mess it is in seems to center around a notion of stingy taxpayers (e.g., Prop 13, two-third vote rule to raise taxes, etc.). But such explanations omit any consideration of Parkinson's Law in the historical context of the huge windfall of taxes generated by the Real Estate Bubble. British naval historian and former Civil Service employee C. Northcoate Parkinson wrote a classic book in 1957 titled Parkinson's Law: The Pursuit of Progress which humorously but seriously detailed how bureaucracies grow especially when their stated mission...

WANA - Taliban local commander Mullah Nazir has offered to remain peaceful if the government does not extend military operation against militants up to Wana region. The offer was made through a traditional Jirga of Ahmadzai (Wazir) tribe yesterday. Leading tribal elders from all sub-tribes of Ahmadzai tribe Thursday met Political Agent Syed Shahab Ali Shah in his office. Earlier, the Jirga members had held a detailed meeting with Mullah Nazir. Nazir assured the Jirga to remain peaceful for a period of three months.Mullah Nazir is one of three top militant commanders of the area and his decision could be...

While Christianity is oppressed across the Islamic world, mega-pastor Rick Warren will be spending this Four of July with his Islamist buddies. Buddies who have ties to Hamas. Also on the guest list is Brooklyn Imam Siraj Wahhaj who is no friend of America or non-Muslims. In September 1991 Wahhaj stated the following:

We note a growing movement against interfering and over-instrusive government these days, and that movement is embodied by the TEA (”Taxed Enough Already”) Party phenomenon. A quick check of the national TEA Party movement’s website — and the Tea Party sites in various states — reveals that literally thousands of these parties are going to take place across the United States on July 4th, the 233rd anniversary of the country’s declaration of independence from its colonial masters, the British. We have to say that this growing movement — which at its heart seeks to rein in out-of-control government spending at...

As the Iranian government’s murderous repression of the Iranian people continues, critics right and left agitate over the deafening silence of an American president who, as a candidate, derided the Bush administration’s ambitious democracy promotion as too timid. They speculate as to why Barack Obama won’t speak out: Why won’t he condemn the mullahs? Is he daft enough to believe he can charm the regime into abandoning its nuclear ambitions? Does the self-described realist so prize stability that he thinks it’s worth abandoning the cause of freedom — and the best chance in 30 years of dislodging an implacable American...

The jobs problem creates a number of political problems for the White House. First, it bolsters the “no” party which inveighed against the stimulus and predicted, quite correctly, it would do nothing to put people to work. Republicans who voted against the stimulus and opposed it as a giant waste of taxpayers’ money look rather smart. Second, the skyrocketing unemployment figure creates further doubts about the viability of the cap-and-trade plan. Those 44 Democrats and all but 8 Republicans who voted against the bill, in large part because imposing a huge energy tax and new regulatory regime on American businesses...

It's often a topic of discussion among professors in the field of psychiatry and related fields. There is a growing influence by the pharmaceutical industry on research provided on it by those in academia. Often, junkets and seminars are paid for University psychiatry professors by the drug companies. In fact, the relationship is so close that it's unclear just how much the research these academics do on the drugs that pharmaceuticals develop. In fact, the relationship has gotten so cozy that their role as watchdog over the industry has likely been totally compromised.

Paris, France (AHN) - Algerian singer Cheb Mami (real name Mohammed Khalifati) has been sentenced to five years in prison for an alleged plot to force his then-girlfriend to have an abortion. The trial took place in France, where the unnamed woman lives. Mami, a successful rai singer who has brought the art to the world stage, admitted in open court that he never wanted the child, but claimed his manager was behind the abduction and botched abortion. Mami was indicted in 2006, but skipped bail and avoided prosecution for years. On Monday, he returned to France, saying he wanted...

This morning I realized I forgot to buy bread so since it was nice morning, I walked down the street to the Latino grocery store. It was actually nicer than my usual grocery store - smaller, but neat and clean, all the check-out stands were open, and I was the only white person in there. Now that isn't unusual at my regular grocery store, but there people don't stare at me. Anyway, I was blown away by the produce and meat sections. Everything looked really nice (as opposed to my regular grocery store) and I didn't know what half of...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Gay and lesbian Mennonites dressed in bright pink have gathered with others outside the church's biannual convention in Columbus to criticize its leaders for trying to push them out.

The United States Marine Corps is taking it to the enemy in Afghanistan as we speak: Thousands of US Marines stormed into the Helmand river valley under cover of night yesterday, the opening phase of Barack Obama’s new high-risk strategy in Afghanistan. In Operation Khanjar, or Strike of the Sword, hailed by one commander as a “D-Day moment”, 4,000 Marines entered the lower Helmand river valley, hoping to do in hours what British troops have failed to do in three years. It is part of a massive surge ordered by Mr Obama, doubling the number of American troops and flooding...

GAFFNEY, S.C. -- FOX Carolina has confirmed with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office that the four recent slayings in Gaffney are connected. The Cherokee County Coroner released the name of the fourth victim early Friday morning. Stephen Tyler, 48, was shot and killed at his business -- Tyler Home Center -- on Thursday night. Tyler's 15-year-old daughter was also shot in the head and was transported to an area hospital. There is no word on her condition. The shooting of the Tylers is only the latest incident in a violent spree of shootings. On Saturday, a peach farmer was killed....

INDEPENDENCE DAY should be the proper name for this most wonderful holiday. The name 4th of July is just another 3 day weekend for sales. This AAR covers two weeks as you can see. Better Late than never. Plus one on my few projects has a deadline that keep me busy the last two weeks. It is under control so I have some time to write the AAR. Week 180 roll call of our 9 Patriots included Sophia, Legionnaires Dave (Army WWII) and friend Janet, and Halsey, (USMC - Korea), Lurker Bill, and FReepers Cindy_True_Supporter, Eager, Fraxinus, NewEnglandPatriot, [Mrs] Trooprally,...

There is no area in which Republicans have further strayed from our traditions than in foreign affairs. Generations of conservatives followed the great advice of our Founding Fathers and pursued a restrained foreign policy that rebuffed entangling alliances and advised America, in the words of John Quincy Adams, not to "go abroad looking for dragons to slay." Sen. Robert Taft, the stalwart of the Old Right, urged America to stay out of NATO. Dwight Eisenhower was elected on a platform promising to get us out of the conflict in Korea. Richard Nixon promised to end the war in Vietnam. Republicans...

A judicial council on Thursday admonished the chief judge of the nation's largest federal appeals court for having "sexually explicit photos and videos" on his personal Web site, but decided against any further punishment.

Dear Governor Palin, You’re blowing it. We haven’t met, but you might remember I was one of the first columnists to tout you for John McCain’s running mate. I cheered you mightily when Senator McCain selected you, and I still believe that you were the smartest choice he could have made given the obstacles before him. I’m also assuming you want to run for president some day. There’s a reason why the Left and much of the media establishment hated you from day one. Some hated you out of the fear that you might stop Barack Obama’s unfolding coronation. Others...