Free Republic

Is President Barack Obama’s citizenship still in question? State Rep. Ed Emery, a Lamar Republican who plans to run for the state Senate, thinks so, and says for that reason that he this week attended an event on behalf of his constituents. His attendance Wednesday at an event at which Orly Taitz, a California dentist and lawyer, continued to challenge Obama’s citizenship has Emery at opposites with House Speaker Ron Richard, a Joplin Republican, on the matter. “I don’t think it’s an issue,” said Richard, who is known for blunt reactions. “I’m not concerned about that. We have no jurisdiction...

Johnson City is looking to acquire federal funding that, if received, will not only fit into the planned renovations for Kiwanis Park but also expand accessibility of one of the city’s fire stations. On Thursday, the Johnson City Commission approved submitting a grant application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in hopes of getting a share of the $210 million the federal agency has available for fire station construction. Johnson City Manager Pete Peterson said in the grant proposal that the city is seeking $1.5 million and has proposed the city will put up a 10 percent match. The grants...

Members of Congress said Thursday that details of their expense claims wouldn't be posted online before mid-November at the earliest -- two and a half months later than the deadline previously set for publishing them in an electronic format for the first time. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the House Chief Administrative Officer to put information about expenses claimed by members of the House on the Internet "at the earliest date," in an announcement reversing a longstanding policy of providing the information only in books totaling about 12,000 pages a year. The chief administrative officer, a congressional employee, set an...

Senator defends U.S. overthrow of Zelaya. DeMint, a conservative Republican, described Zelaya as a "dictator in the style of Chavez," referring to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Senator Jim DeMint on Thursday defended the toppling of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, said that now is still the rule of law in the Central American country. Zelaya was overthrown by a military coup, after ignoring an order from the supreme court, seeking to avoid a constitutional reform, which according to many Hondurans, was to allow for re-election. DeMint, a conservative Republican, Zelaya described as a "dictator in the style of Chavez," referring to...

Sarah Palin said on Friday that she will not run for a second term as governor of Alaska and will transfer her responsibilities to the state's lieutenant governor. Palin to Step Down2:03The Alaska governor makes the surprising announcement the she will not be seeking re-election and will leave office by the end of the month. Courtesy Fox News.Read MoreText: Palin's statement Washington Wire: Is Palin's Resignation a Shrewd Move or Political Suicide? Washington Wire: Lt. Gov. Parnell Says Palin 'Felt Frustrated' Political Wisdom: Could the Vanity Fair Hit on Sarah Palin Actually Help Her? Speakeasy: HarperCollins to Go Forward With Palin...

I have received two different scam letters, supposedly from our troops in Iraq, one regarding so-called hidden buried loot from Sadam, and one regarding large sums of cash. I believe that I was targeted because I am a relative of an aviator killed during Operation Desert Strike. Has anyone else received similar letters? Is there a way to apprehend the perpetrators? The letter writers pretended to be U.S. troops, but the idiomatic expressions and general tenor of the letters were clearly written by those not steeped in American speech. I fear older recipients might be gullible enough to "help" the...

Photo courtesy of Oleg Volk) Two recent stories serve as reminders that while it’s great when the “good guys” win, there still can be a personal price to pay. Sugar Land, Texas – Working the night-shift as a computer technician paid off when James Arther awoke to his dog barking around noon. Alarmed by the barking, he retrieved his 9mm handgun just in case: "I opened my bedroom door and saw the guy," said James. "It looked like he was running towards me with a weapon like a screwdriver and I was scared." Arther shot the intruder once in the...

Sarah Palin has a facebook page with over 500,000 friends. It looks like some lefties are trying to hjack it by posting negative stories. I would ask that you all go there and post support for Sarah. Ignore the negative posts (such as Bobby Raza) and they will go away.

Thank you for contacting me to express your views about emissions trading. Emissions trading, also known as "cap and trade," is an effort to address global climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. An upper limit is placed on the total allowable emissions, and that limit decreases through time. Any company or group that holds an emissions permit will be limited to the amount of greenhouse gas it can emit, which is represented as an amount of credits. Over time, this cap will gradually decrease and allow less and less pollution. For those who stay below the cap,...

Parents were banned from attending an inter-school sports day to protect pupils from kidnappers and paedophiles. The host school said they could not prevent 'unsavoury' characters from sneaking in. More than 270 pupils from four local primaries took part in the East Beds School Sports Partnership Athletics Day at Sandy Upper School in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire last week.

ROME (AFP) — US President Barack Obama said in an interview published Friday he thought Pope Benedict XVI would "share my approach" on policy in the Middle East.Obama, who is due to meet the pope on July 10, told Catholic Italian newspaper Avvenire he was keen to discuss the situation in the Middle East with the head of the Roman Catholic Church."It is a subject I am keen to discuss with the pope, I think he will share my approach," said Obama, who will meet the pope after the G8 summit in the central Italian town of L'Aquila.Obama has made...

MOSCOW – Michelle Obama brings her superstar glamor to Moscow this weekend as she accompanies her husband on his summit with the Russian president. But the American first lady, who has wowed publics in the U.S. and Europe with her easy elegance and charm, will perhaps face a bigger challenge in winning over a Russian public that has scant respect for women who grab the limelight from their powerful husbands. In a country where a presidential candidate once quipped he'd sooner pack his wife off to a convent than allow her to dabble in politics, Russia still has trouble with...

The ACLU, not exactly known for being sympathetic to the right to keep and bear arms, is going to bat for a New Orleans man who had his gun confiscated. From the Associated Press: The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed the federal lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Errol Houston Jr., who was arrested last year following a traffic stop. The lawsuit says the district attorney's office declined to prosecute Houston but has refused to return his .40-caliber firearm. Why? After all: "Mr. Houston has done nothing wrong. There are no criminal charges against him. His firearm, which he...

North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles off its eastern coast Saturday, South Korea said, a violation of U.N. resolutions and an apparent message of defiance to the United States on its Independence Day. The launches, which came two days after North Korea fired four short-range cruise missiles, will likely further escalate tensions in the region as the U.S. tries to muster support for tough enforcement of the latest U.N. Security Council resolution imposed on the communist regime for its May nuclear test. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said three missiles were fired early Saturday, a fourth around noon...

TOKYO -- Japanese stocks fell for a third straight day Friday, dragged down by renewed pessimism over a recovery in the global economy following dismal U.S. employment report.The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average shed 60.08 points, or 0.61 percent, to 9,816.07. In the morning session, the index lost more than 100 points. During the week, the Nikkei lost 0.6 percent.

One of God’s Great "Don’ts" "Do not fret— it only causes harm" —Psalm 37:8 Fretting means getting ourselves "out of joint" mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say, "Do not fret," but something very different to have such a nature that you find yourself unable to fret. It’s easy to say, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" ( Psalm 37:7  ) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people. Is it possible to "rest in the Lord" then? If...

The most important lesson of his career is that there are limits to accommodation. In times of perplexity evangelical Christians ask themselves, "What would Jesus do?" Conservatives trying to regroup in the age of Obama might ask themselves, "What would William F. Buckley Jr. do?" ... The most important lesson of his career is that there are limits to accommodation. Buckley came to fame in the early 1950s after two decades of liberal Democratic dominance, the Fair Deal of Harry Truman having followed the New Deal of FDR. When Republicans finally recaptured Congress and the White House in 1952, it...

The Supreme Court heard five environmental law cases in the term that ended Monday, and environmental groups lost every time. It was, said Richard J. Lazarus, a director of the Supreme Court Institute at Georgetown University Law Center, “the worst term ever” for environmental interests. The court allowed Navy exercises using sonar that threatened whales off California. It limited the liability of companies partly responsible for toxic spills. It made it harder to challenge Forest Service regulations and easier to dump mining waste into an Alaskan lake. And it allowed the Environmental Protection Agency to use cost-benefit analysis to decide...

The Nantucket Tea Party will be one of more than a thousand such protest events to be held across the nation on Independence Day. The organizers were all set. They were given permission by the Town’s head of Park and Recreation. After the local paper publicized the event, some members of the Nantucket Park and Recreation Commission decided to forget about the First Amendment. One local official was quoted as saying “we don’t want politics on Main Street.” Apparently the head of Park and Recreation was overruled by the commissioners. The Nantucket Tea Party then got permission to use a...

While watching Sarah Palin's resignation speech, I thought, "Who is this amazing woman? What planet did she come from? Will there ever be anyone like her?" Once again, I was blown away by her power, grace, character and courage. The world is mourning the loss of a one of a kind pop icon. I mourn the loss of a one of a kind conservative leader martyred for the cause of conservatism. Though impossible for the pop icon, I pray Palin will be resurrected for 2012. The martyr of Palin has angered, energized, and elevated my commitment to fight for the...