Free Republic

I grew up in the era of headlong evangelism by the LDS church. We were out to convert the world. Back then, it was "every young man on a mission" and "every member a missionary." The church didn't just leave it to our imagination how to accomplish this. Full-time missionaries were expected to memorize verbatim an entire series of official gospel "discussions." Regular members were exhorted to ask acquaintances, complete strangers, or anyone who held still for five seconds, "What do you know about the Mormon Church, and would you like to know more?" I did the first one on...

New York, NY (CNS) - The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently announced that they are seeking the rights to Michael Jackson's 1972 hit song "Ben" about a boy and his pet rat. They would like to use the song to raise attention on the plight of rats used in laboratory experiments. Tracy Reiman, executive vice president of PETA, said in a statement released on Tuesday, "Michael Jackson's hit has always been a moving testament to the power of empathy for animals." She added, "If more people could be inspired by his song to stop supporting the cruel...

Denver, CO (AHN) - A Colorado company is selling caskets made from banana sheaves, bamboo or pandanus that decomposes together with the body as a way of promoting ecologically-friendly burials. The so-called Ecoffin, short for eco-friendly coffins, of Ecoffins USA takes six months to two years to biodegrade. The company's marketing director, Joanna Passarelli, said the Ecoffins is better for the environment than cremating bodies, according to Foxnews.com. Ecoffins USA sold $40,000 worth of such caskets last year. The lowest price for an Ecoffin is $800. In an interview with Denverpost.com last year, Passarelli said Ecoffins got more response from...

On Fox News Sunday this morning, Weekly Standard editor, and FNC contributor, Bill Kristol predicted Sarah Palin’s path to the White House in 2012. He predicted that Palin would become a leader of conservatives, the leader of the GOP, and then president, just like Obama did. According to Kristol, Palin is just like Obama. Here is the video courtesy of Think Progress: (VIDEO AT LINK) Kristol said, "Barack Obama ran for Senate in 2004, was elected to the Senate and the moment he was sworn in began running for president of the United States. He had no Senate leadership record...

WASHINGTON, July 5, 2009 – Additional American troops in Afghanistan are making it possible to institute the new strategy in the country, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today. Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union program, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said Operation Khanjar, which means Strike of the Sword, will challenge the Taliban and al-Qaida in the Helmand River valley in southern Afghanistan. The area has been a terrorist safe haven and which has most of the opium poppy cultivation in the country. “This is really the most concentrated area for opium growing and we expect...

Serenaded by the white goddess: Photographer Willy Vanderperre does a graceful and magnificent job capturing Austrian model Iris Strubegger as an icy marionette, pale of form, cool of beauty, existing in a dreamy realm of her own for V #60. A Touch of Class indeed.

I live in a condominum in Diamond Bar, CA (aboyt 30 miles east of Los Angeles. I actually find the area to be a majority conservative (our Congressman, State Senator and State Assembly man are Republicans), but we do have a good number of leftists around.

Boston Independence Day Tea Party

Click link for video and details. Wreck occurs at 1:10 mark.

Jonah, you're missing the point. Those maggots are part of the treatment: The treatment for the cancer appeared to be working, but the bedsore continued to get worse despite attempts to treat it with "maggot therapy" in which maggots are used to clean out the wound

In an interview today on Fox News Sunday, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) asked “Where are the jobs?” after unemployment has risen again – to 9.5 percent – even after Washington Democrats promised that the trillion-dollar “stimulus” spending bill would create jobs immediately.

Capt. Dorothy Watkins and Spc. Joshua Watkins, both of Hazleton, Pa., are deployed to Camp Taji, a base camp north of Baghdad, with the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard. Photo by Jon Soles, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. TAJI — One Pennsylvania National Guard Soldier has two ways he can address Capt. Dorothy Watkins. He can call her ma'am or he can call her mom. Spc. Joshua Watkins and his mother, Capt. Watkins, are both serving here with the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division. The mother and son from Hazleton, Pa., are...

As I write this, the ousted president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, is reportedly aboard a plane, trying to return home. The Honduran military has reportedly been ordered to stop him. Zelaya was ejected by his fellow Hondurans after he made a shady play to revise his country’s constitution to keep himself in power. Appropriately, for someone who already belongs to the thuggish club of pals of Venezuela’s would-be president-for-life, Hugo Chavez, Zelaya — according to the AP – is traveling in a Venezuelan jet. And accompanying him is the last thing Honduras, or any other other embattled democracy needs: The...

One great fringe benefit of the Tea Parties is that they are driving the DUmmies absolutely NUts as you can see in this THREAD, "You dumb f*cking ignorant ass rednecks." Reading this thread by DUmmie Horse with no Name is like watching a public scream for mental health help. The deranged DUmmie is ANGRY that the Tea Parties are calling attention to Obama's FAILED economic policy. Of course, this DUmmie, and the others, are continuing to BLAME BUSH even though unemployment numbers during his presicency never came anywhere near 9.5%. Sorry DUmmies but Porkopulous did NOT work and they...

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was concerned about the unintended consequences of an Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. That's a sharp departure from comments that Vice President Joe Biden made earlier today.

Link

Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher (right) and Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher share some laughs with U.S. servicemembers during a National Football League coaches USO tour of Iraq, at Al Faw Palace, Baghdad, July 2. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Edwin L. Wriston, Joint Combat Camera Center – Iraq. KIRKUK — It was a long line for Soldiers and Airmen, but awaiting them at the end were legendary NFL coaches ready to sign photos, shirts or anything else you could scribble a signature on. The coaches, who included New York Giants’ Coach Tom Coughlin, Baltimore Ravens’...

What everyone knows: Most of America knows (beyond any reasonable doubt) that Barry Soetoro (aka Barack Hussein Obama) is not Constitutionally eligible to hold the office of President of the United States (POTUS) and Commander in Chief (CinC) (per Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of the U.S.). Most of America also knows (beyond any reasonable doubt) that the members of Congress (all 535 of them), the Federal Courts, the Supreme Court, and ALL the Media (including FNC) are either ‘in the tank for’ or ‘paid off or intimidated by’ the illegitimate, criminal and Treasonous presumed President and Commander...

First Online Citizen’s Grand Jury The following month, using the power of the government-developed internet (how ironic), the world’s first online Citizen’s Grand Jury was launched by American patriot Bob Campbell of AZ, and the www.AmericanGrandJury.org was born. The first group of 25 vetted and sworn jurors studied the evidence online for a week, and on 29 April they voted a ‘True Bill’ of Presentments of Fraud (eligibility) and Treason against the defendant: presumed president of the United States, Barry Soetoro, aka Barack Hussein Obama. This was followed by 6 more online Grand Juries (to date, June 24, 2009). All...

WASHINGTON - Vice President Joe Biden said the Obama administration "misread how bad the economy was" but stands by its stimulus package and believes the plan will create more jobs as the pace of its spending picks up. Biden, in an interview airing Sunday on ABC's "This Week," said the nation's 9.5 percent unemployment rate is "much too high." "The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures and most of the blue chip indexes out there," Biden said. "We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery...