Free Republic

ERIN McAULIFFE had a vision for this summer. A 20-year-old junior at Bowdoin College, she had lined up an internship at a New York publishing house and imagined stimulating days leafing through manuscripts, and evenings of sparkling conversation with friends at downtown cafes. She ended up starring in a real-life version of the movie “Adventureland” instead. In that recent comedy, a recent college graduate is forced by economic hardship to work at a suburban amusement park. Life is imitating art for Ms. McAuliffe. With her parents unable to help bankroll three months of unpaid work in Manhattan, she gave up...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 4 (UPI) -- A brutal gang war is being waged in and around Vancouver as the Canadian city prepares for the 2010 Winter Olympics, authorities say. Jim Chu, the chief police constable in Vancouver, said at least 18 young people have been killed in 2009 to date in gangland violence, including attacks in broad daylight, the Chicago Tribune reported online Saturday. "Let's get serious. There is a gang war, and it's brutal. What we have seen are new rules of engagement for the gangsters," Chu said. Pat Fogarty of British Columbia's Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit...

Michael Jackson fans are up in arms after a ghostly apparition was caught on camera at the late star's Neverland ranch. The image was captured whilst a camera crew filmed inside Neverland for a special edition of the Larry King Live show. A shadowy figure can be seen crossing one of the corridors and appears to have its head tilted forward causing some to draw comparisons with Jackson's posture. The alleged supernatural sighting is the latest in a string of bizarre Jackson rumours to sweep the internet following his death nearly two weeks ago including speculation that Jackson faked his...

Bipartisan Amdt Expected Tuesday to Stop Obama's Tax-Funded Abortions in DC Washington, DC -- Lawmakers from both political parties are working together to offer an amendment to a Congressional spending bill that includes President Barack Obama's request to fund abortions in the nation's capital. A House committee is expected to vote on the amendment on Tuesday. See http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5191.html ACTION ALERT: Calls needed ASAP to stop tax-funded abortions. Click link above for more.

Baton Rouge Independence Day Tea Party, posted at 9:42 am on July 6, 2009 by Laura The Baton Rouge Tea Party folks did a fabulous job on the Independence Day Rally. In spite of the brain-melting heat there was a turnout of around 500 people, according to an unofficial police estimate. Meaning I asked a cop and he took a wild guess. There wasn’t a good angle to get the entire crowd, but here are a few photos so you can judge the crowd size for yourselves. About 40 yards down from the steps was another crowd of 75-100 people...

This morning I started coughing and sneezing due to allergies. Grabbed the box of Over the Counter Allergy Medicine and it took forever to find the "Directions". I am tired of that nonsense.    New rule.   Every time I buy an OTC I am taking a  highlighter  to it so I know what I am suppose to take. 

Here is video of President Obama announcing a "joint understanding" he has signed with Russian President Medvedev that would reduce U.S. and Russian Nuclear Arsenals by one-third. Obama called the treaty he has signed a "legally binding agreement." Nothing was said about the U.S. Constitutional provision requiring the approval of the U.S. Senate to ratify treaties. . . . . (Watch Video)

Obamanomics may be bad for the country but the president's policies have been great for conservative authors. From the Politico As much as both men might hate to admit it, Barack Obama has been very, very good to Mark Levin. Levin is living the talk-radio dream: His three-hour broadcast is aired on more than 150 stations to more than 5 million listeners a day. And he has the hottest subject in the world: Obama. The president, Levin pronounces almost daily, is a failure, a liar and a “statist” who is trying to destroy individual freedom. The broadcaster is accompanied by...

It is melancholy to contemplate how the once loyal citizenry of our nation has become so infested by traitors. Indeed, I myself had not realized the extent of the corruption until this Monday last, the 29th of June, when the alarum bell was rung for all to hear by a source so impeccable, brilliant, perceptive, omniscient, and otherwise singular in merit as to eliminate all possibility of disputation. This of course, was the column appearing that day in the Times of New York, penned under the byline of none other than His Excellency Herr Professor Paul von Krugman, Nobel laureate...

Much has been made of how much the mainstream media is "in the tank" for Obama, but it also has to do with a need to boost ratings. From the Washington Post Even President Barack Obama, a gleam in his eye as he talked at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner two weeks ago, seemed to recognize the special relationship he's forged with TV networks in the opening months of his administration. "A few nights ago I was up tossing and turning and trying to figure out exactly what to say," he said. "Finally, when I couldn't get back...

GENEVA, Switzerland, July 5 /Christian Newswire/ -- Calvin 500, the international Quincentenary celebration of the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth (July 10, 1509), opened today at St. Pierre Cathedral in the old town of Geneva. Beginning with a welcome by Mr. Guillaume Taylor from the St. Pierre Parish Council, approximately 500 worshipers attended the opening convocations, featuring morning worship from Calvin’s time and a sermon on Philippians 3:8-12 by Dr. Sinclair Ferguson of the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina. The evening services featured Ugandan Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, much psalm singing, and a sermon by Dr. Bryan...

Featured Term (selected at random):SPECIES Appearances, especially those of bread and wine, after the Eucharistic consecration. The term "species" is used by the Council of Trent (Denzinger 1652) to identify the accidents, i.e., the size, weight, color, resistance, tase, and odor of bread, which remain exactly the same after transubstantiation. They are not mere appearances as though these physical properties were unreal. But they are appearances because after the consecration they lack any substance that underlies them or in which they inhere. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with...

The response to Sarah Palin's surprise resignation last Friday clearly reveals the limitations of the American political class, right, left, or what have you. There's an old academic joke, probably apocryphal, about Count Metternich, Austria's foreign minister during the Napoleonic era. While attending the Congress of Vienna, Metternich is sleeping off a banquet when one of his aides bursts in at three in the morning. "Your excellency! Count Nesselrode, the Russian ambassador, just died." Metternich jerks awake. "Died, you say? What a terrible thing! I was speaking to him only tonight... Uhh... send a message to the Tsar -- Austria...

The real-life romance of Twilight stars Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson is in turmoil after she told to a friend she believes she is pregnant with the actors child . The actress, who discovered she could be expecting last week, was so worried someone would discover her secret she sent a close pal to buy a pregnancy test kit. "Kristen asked one of her friends to buy the test because she was worried about someone seeing her at the drug store," an insider reveals exclusively to NW. "She's very nervous about the whole situation." The couple, who haven't even gone...

July 5, 2009 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - The Airborne Fishing Team once again wowed the spectators on the docks at Zeke's Marina - this time with their 132.9 pound Warsaw Grouper. Comments heard on the docks were "Holy Cow, that's a big fish", and "Oh My God".

Dear friends... Yes, our wounded and disabled veterans need help, our help. In fact, families of veterans who have been killed in action need help as well, as do families of veterans still serving. But what most people don't realize is the growing needs of our returning veterans. The unemployment rate for our returning veterans is at 25%, the highest rate of any group in America and that's a travesty of monumental proportion. Many people are aware of this and are willing to help but don't know where to start and this is the reason for this letter. Two companies...

Opposition leader Tzipi Livni on Monday questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In a highly anticipated foreign policy address at Bar-Ilan University last month, Netanyahu said he would be ready to agree to a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside Israel, a reversal of the premier's longstanding opposition to a two-state solution. In remarks to lawmakers at the Knesset, the former foreign minister accused the premier of paying lip service to the concept of a Palestinian state. In remarks to lawmakers at the Knesset, the former foreign minister accused the premier of paying lip...

American voters believe the economy is in trouble. According to Rasmussen. only 10% of adults rate the U.S. economy good or excellent while 55% rate it as poor. While 13% of men give the economy positive ratings, only 7% of women do the same. Investors agree, only 12% give the economy good or excellent ratings while 51% rate it as poor. Despite the fact that America believes that the Economy is in the dumps,voters do not want another stimulus.

Chris Clancy writes: This essay is a story about insurance, or rather, a story about a type of insurance policy which underwent a mutation. This mutation was not spontaneous – it was engineered. It was one of the biggest scams ever perpetrated. Paradoxically, the problem was that it worked too well and just got too big. I hope you stay with the story until its denouement. Maybe you’ll be gobsmacked. If it moves you to go out and start looking for suitable lamposts – then it’s understandable. When a business makes a loan to another party it can insure against...

What if you could buy a car for yourself, one for your spouse, and one for each of your kids, and still spend way less than you would on one average new car? Well, if you lived in China you could. This is not a toy, not a concept car. It is a newly developed single seat car in highly aerodynamic tear-shape road-proven real car. It is ready to be launched as a single-seater for sale in Shanghai in 2010 for a mere RMB 4,000 (US$600)! Interested? Wait till you learn that it will cruise at 100-120 Km/Hr with an...