Free Republic

MOSCOW, July 6 (RIA Novosti) - Sexual minorities have dropped plans for a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Moscow during President Barack Obama's visit, citing security concerns, Russian media reported on Monday. Activists had intended to gather near the embassy on Tuesday, the second day of Obama's visit to Moscow, to protest against bans on gay pride parades in the Russian capital and to demand that same-sex unions be made legal in the country. Organizers cited heightened security measures during the American leader's first visit to Moscow on July 6-8 as a reason for calling off the action. Moscow...

Chrysler Group LLC, which emerged from bankruptcy last month by selling most of its assets to a company led by Italy's Fiat Spa (FIA.MI), completed its board of directors with the appointment of five new members on Sunday. The Fiat tie-up was a key step in the Italian carmaker's ambitious plan to create a global player to ride out the worldwide auto sales downturn. In addition to Fiat, Chrysler Group LLC is owned by a union-aligned trust and the U.S. and Canadian governments in taking over the best parts of Chrysler. The automaker's nine-member board has three directors appointed by...

Poll: Americans becoming more conservative @ 10:56 am by Eric Zimmermann Americans' political ideology is shifting rightward, a new Gallup poll finds. 39% of respondents say they have become more conservative in the last few years, compared to 18% who have become more liberal. 42% have not changed. Here's the breakdown based on party identification: How does one square this poll with the results of the 2008 election, which Democrats more or less swept? First, look at the specific issues. Gallup tests the ideological trend by examining opinion changes on a number of policies. Americans have indeed become more conservative...

I continue to receive messages from Honduran citizens upset at the international media for their distorted coverage of the situation in the Central American country. The people support the ouster of Manuel "Mel" Zelaya, who is considered a puppet of Venezuelan Communist ruler Hugo Chavez. They are mystified that an American president would want to return this Chavez puppet to power in Honduras. One Honduran wrote: "The recent action taken by our Congress is highly supported by several organizations in support of peace and democracy: the State General Attorney, the Supreme Court, the Armed Forces, the private organizations and especially...

I’m madder than an Eskimo with a busted mukluk! Sarah Palin resigned as governor of Alaska on Friday, and I still can’t get over it. I can’t believe her red high heels won’t be clicking across our national stage anymore. I’ll never see the light flicker off her glasses again, or hear her chirpy voice, or watch her bouncy hair blow in the wind like she was the smart Charlie’s Angel. So let me get this straight: Sarah Palin resigned but Mark Sanford is staying put, Al Franken is Senator and Jesse Jackson’s still not in jail? It’s all a...

I have just received the American Community Survey form from the Census Bureau. This is the replacement for the 2010 long form and is being given randomly to a certain number of households. My knee jerk reaction was to chuck it and wait for my official Census Form to come in order to only give my name, rank, and serial number. However, I started looking at what my answers to the questions would be (ie. Caucasian, US citizen, Suburban driving, self-employed professional, non-grandchild rearing, enabled not disabled) and started to think maybe my lifestyle needs to be counted. What do...

Obama, Medvedev Call for Cut to 1,500-1,675 Nuclear Warheads Title only - story to follow

The invasion of Afghanistan is certainly a campaign against terrorism, but it may also be a late colonial adventure....[ snip ] Afghanistan has some oil and gas of its own, but not enough to qualify as a major strategic concern. Its northern neighbours, by contrast, contain reserves which could be critical to future global supply. [ former US Vice President Remarked ]: "I cannot think of a time when we have had a region emerge as suddenly to become as strategically significant as the Caspian." But the oil and gas there is worthless until it is moved. The only route...

LOS ANGELES -- Michael Jackson's family wants a judge to delay a hearing Monday to designate two men listed in the pop superstar's will as temporary administrators of his estate so that they can look deeper into his affairs, a person close to the family said. The family also wants the additional time to wait and see if another will emerges, as well as to accommodate Jackson's memorial service Tuesday, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly. The person said Sunday that the family wants the delay in...

Concerned.

Note that this article was originally published on May 29, 2009Congress is considering the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade legislation and guess what? It’s  stuffed full of unpleasant surprises for the unwary. But thank goodness for the eagle-eyed folks at the American Energy Alliance, who spotted this little gem on page 781 of the mammoth 946-page bill:   “Title IV, Subtitle B, Part 2, Section 426, of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 states: ‘An eligible worker (specifically, workers who lose their jobs as a result of this measure) may receive a climate change adjustment allowance under this subsection for...

Rush is taking the week off, and so is the official introduction. }:-D I unfortunately do not know yet who his substitute will be. Anyone who didn't hear, read, or see Rush's reaction to Governor Palin's resignation, I've linked it Here.

Hi Alaska, I appreciate speaking directly to you, the people I serve, as your Governor. People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine. I want Alaskans to grasp what can be in store for our state. We were purchased as a territory because a member of President Abe Lincoln's cabinet, William Seward, providentially saw in this great land, vast riches, beauty, strategic placement on the globe, and opportunity. He boldly looked "North to the Future". But he endured such...

Steven MalangaThe City’s Finances: Budget-Cutting Made Simple Balancing the books doesn’t take genius, just political courage. 6 July 2009 Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that balancing New York City’s budget in tough times requires “shared sacrifice,” by which he means combined tax increases and spending cuts. Yet as is often the case in New York, the biggest sacrifice is expected of taxpayers—this time, nearly $1 billion in tax hikes on top of what is already the heaviest tax burden among major cities in the nation (see “Life in Taxopolis,” coming soon). The city’s budget-cutting, by contrast, is exceedingly modest. In...

Read Obama's Lips; No new taxes on the Middle Class! Yeah right! So how does one defend the indefensible? Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs does it by a number of amateurish debating ploys when asked if his boss will break his word and raise taxes on the middle class. He defects, he demeans and he obfuscates. Some say that his antics are down right arrogant. Interestingly enough he has not had to defend his boss against a hostile press like the anti-Bush press. No on the contrary Obama’s press has been an awestruck and worshipping press. But apparently things are...

Monday, July 06, 2009 One Party Left Behind [Denis Boyles] Good news for conservatives is bad news for all those Republican-party types trying to make the GOP more liberal — at least if Gallup's right in their annual "ideology" review: Despite the results of the 2008 presidential election, Americans, by a 2-to-1 margin, say their political views in recent years have become more conservative rather than more liberal, 39% to 18%, with 42% saying they have not changed. While independents and Democrats most often say their views haven't changed, more members of all three major partisan groups indicate that their...

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote to members of the House Appropriations Committee yesterday urging them not to fund abortions in the District of Columbia. Last week the House subcommittee that is considering the Financial Services appropriations bill for 2010 voted to permit direct public funding of abortion in the nation's capital. Cardinal Rigali said that the subcommittee's action "effectively nullifies the Dornan amendment," which for a total of 18 years has prevented public funding of elective abortions in the...

Jackie Kennedy had a four-year love affair with Bobby Kennedy that began not long after JFK's assassination and grew so intense that when RFK was gunned down, it was she -- not his wife -- who instructed doctors to pull the plug, an explosive new book claims.

Why Marriage Is Only Between A Man and A Woman “The truth does not require your belief in it to be so.” -Spike Spencer To understand why marriage must be between a man and a woman we first must understand some basic eternal truths. 1. We are all literal children of Divine parents. “. . . And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air;”1...

I had a rather lively day yesterday commenting on various sites with liberals. My personal favorite was in response to an article entitled “Vegans glad to see Palin go.” I wrote something like – “It’s a non sequitur to assume that vegans are liberals. I’m vegan, yet conservative.” He was kind enough to respond, albeit in a bit testy yet controlled way. He said that he couldn’t understand how I could be vegan and support Palin, and further that he didn’t see how I inferred from his article that all vegans did not like Palin (or were liberal – I...