Free Republic

Shock waves were sent through both our economy and our political apparatus yesterday. They were swift and significant and in fact, no one has yet fully determined these shock waves. These shock waves occurred after the release of June's employment data. The June numbers showed job losses of 467,000. This number is important on several different levels. First, the number is awful in its own vacuum. Second, the jobs numbers were improving for four months in a row. June broke that mini streak. So, where is our economy? Not only are we losing an extraordinary amount of jobs but it's...

"Only a small part" of the nation's $787 billion economic stimulus had been spent through the end of last month, according to congressional analysts, despite the Obama administration's boasts Wednesday that the plan is a big success. "One hundred days later, we are already seeing results," President Barack Obama said during a visit to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada . "Across America, recovery is under way," Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement accompanying a 28-page progress report. However, Douglas Elmendorf , the director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office , was more cautious in his "State of...

After nine months of explosive monetary and fiscal stimulus, you'd think economic recovery would be upon us. But the June jobs report tells a much different story.

“Last week, four Southern Baptists were arrested for plotting to blow up St Patrick’s Cathedral. The men, who became born-again Christians in prison, wanted to kill and terrorize Catholics.” If that was the opening paragraph in a newspaper story you were reading, your gut reaction would be – huh? Baptists don’t do things like that in the name of their faith. Neither do Catholics, Presbyterians, Seventh Day Adventists or Mormons. But when we read the headline in a May 21st New York Times’ story -- “4 Accused of Bombing Plot at Bronx Synagogues” -- it was ho-hum stuff. It wasn’t...

The Obama administration is planning to use the National Security Agency to screen Internet traffic between government agencies and the private sector, the Washington Post reported Friday. The project was first initiated by the previous administration of president George W. Bush and was due to be set in motion in February. The aim is to protect the government computer network from attacks from outside, the Post said quoting Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The death of a major cultural figure is always a time for taking stock. This is true in part because an entire generation, now aging, helped to create their self-image in the reflection of that figure - and thus that individual represents a powerful source of nostalgia. At the same time, subsequent generations, who may have never seen that figure in his or her prime, still recognize him or her as emblematic of an era now gone, but perhaps better than the present. So it is with Michael Jackson. Given what we already know about what kind of shape the...

It took the Obama administration eight days to figure out whether Iranians being gunned down for protesting a fraudulent election and demanding basic civil liberties deserved to be acknowledged by the President of the United States. It took the O-Team less than eight hours to side with Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega over the ouster of Manuel Zelaya in Honduras.

We've done a lot of polling recently (I took this poll) on how people get their news and what sources they most trust. We wanted to find out more about why the Internet is in rapid ascendance, while newspapers are on the media endangered species list. (snip) When it comes to newspapers and how they have been impacted by the Internet, there is a consistent and significant ideological factor. Conservatives and Republicans don't like or trust newspapers, and Independents are not big fans either. However, if all Americans were liberals or Democrats, you would be buying newspaper stock.

Throughout most of the two hundred and thirty three years since that first Independence Day, a significant number of Americans have indulged in the luxury of ignoring the entire political scene, caring not whether the particular administration in power leans left or right. This was mainly due to the forethought of the founders, who in their wisdom established binding limits on the actions of government through the Constitution. Therefore, regardless of who held the reins of power, deviations in the direction of the country would probably remain within safe perimeters. Unfortunately, this relative safety inherent in American life eventually led...

...snip Frank Lombard The question was raised by Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House, today immediately after a very short news briefing when only a handful of the dozens of reporters in attendance were able to ask questions. In a one-minute encounter after the briefing, Kinsolving was able to ask Gibbs, "Why has there been no presidential comment on the AP-reported Frank Lombard case?" Gibbs responded: "What is the Frank Lombard case?" Explained Kinsolving, "WND and (Rush) Limbaugh also reported that Lombard, who is Duke University's associate director of the Center for Health Policy, has been arrested after...

First the mass protests were suppressed by force, then came the mass arrests. Three weeks after Iran's disputed presidential election, scores - possibly hundreds - of opposition supporters and prominent reformists remain in prison. Their families have had little or no information about their fate. Most are too worried to speak to the press now. They describe a climate of terror in Tehran. But I met one woman at her university here in England who wanted to tell me what had happened to her husband. She only asked me not to use their real names. Ali, as I will call...

VYSELKI VILLAGE (Krasnodar Territory), July 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is ready for effective cooperation with the new U.S. administration led by President Barack Obama, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday. "We are ready for effective cooperation, and we expect a lot from the new U.S administration. All signals that we have received so far from Washington have allowed us to hope for positive dialogue," Putin told reporters on the eve of Obama's visit to Russia on July 6-8. Putin said the visit will focus on the strengthening of dialogue between the two countries. "We need it and...

A Pennsylvania pastor rejected by the state's House of Representatives will pray in the Senate instead. The pastor is Gerry Stoltzfoos of Freedom Valley Worship Center in Gettysburg. He was asked to pray before the House by his own representative and sent officials a written prayer on their request. "I wrote the prayer and sent it to them and they sent back a very short rejection notice," he recalls. "So I wrote back, 'I'm curious as to why.' And they said it had an offensive word. Can you tell me what the word was?' And they came back and said...

July 1, 2009 Dear William, Thank you for contacting my office about cap and trade legislation. I appreciate hearing from you about this important issue. I certainly appreciate the importance of keeping consumer energy rates as low as possible during these difficult economic times. I worked with my colleagues to include weatherization assistance funding and homeowner tax credits for efficiency and renewable energy projects in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. However, I feel strongly that Congress must act swiftly to curb the greenhouse gas emissions driving global climate change. In New Hampshire climate change is already altering the beautiful...

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Update by Mel: Fred Malek writing at RedState: I have known many political leaders over four decades including all Republican presidents and VPs. I have come to know Sarah Palin over the past year and can state unequivocally that she is smart, curious, hard working, charming, and effective. She also has something her detractors clearly lack – a sense of honor and loyalty.

Last week, I came across this nauseating item while perusing one of my favorite blogs, Gateway Pundit. The fact that it was posted by a Democratic party operative speaks volumes about the character (or lack thereof) of today’s Donkeys, for whom Palin Derangement Syndrome is apparently an incurable affliction. The self-proclaimed champions of “choice” sure are angry with Sarah Palin for going with the “life” option, thus the superimposition of the face of pro-life talk radio host Eddie Burke on baby Trig’s body. As a commenter explains: “He (Eddie Burke) once called pro-choice women ‘baby killing maggots’, so his face...

Are you ready for a FReepathon? This is going to be a great quarter for us! First a nationwide Independence Day Tea Party, then we'll be caravanning across country on the Tea Party Express culminating at the 9-12 March on Washington and National Tea Party in DC, then the First Annual Free Republic National Convention! It's time we stand up and loudly say NO to the Marxist B. Hussein Obama before he completely destroys our country and replaces freedom with socialism! The guy thinks he's a dictator and he's running amok without even seeking the approval of the congress or...

Although Mayor Bloomberg has stated that Islamic holidays will not be added to the NYC school calender, Muslims have not given up. Will the mayor cave in and reverse course?

“Marriage is a cultural thing.” So began a very good sermon that I recently heard. My mind was set in rapid motion as I considered the raging arguments that are now taking place all over the country. What is marriage? How should we codify marriage in the laws of our land? The discussions become very sticky when our gay friends enter the debate and ask for equal treatment under the law. The exchanges become very heated when a participant demands that we turn to the Bible for answers that will once and for all settle the issues. Many well-meaning people...