Free Republic

Bush will be the first president not to benefit from one former lifetime benefit: Secret Service protection. "He'll be the first one to receive it for 10 years," said Malcolm Wiley, Secret Service spokesman. Congress changed the law in the 1990s so that any president elected after Jan. 1, 1997, and his or her spouse will receive the federal protection for only 10 years.

WASHINGTON -- Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon E. Panetta has told lawmakers that CIA officials misled Congress "for a number of years" since 2001, according to a letter released Wednesday from six Democratic lawmakers. The lawmakers say the CIA also withheld information about unspecified "significant actions." The letter didn't identify when Mr. Panetta made the statements or to what they referred. "This is similar to other deceptions of which we are aware from other recent periods, " the letter continued. CIA spokesman George Little said "it is not the policy or practice of the CIA to mislead Congress." Mr. Little...

If you search for Elvis Presley in Wikipedia, you will find a lot of text and a few pictures that have been cleared for distribution. But you will find no music and no film clips, due to copyright restrictions. What we think of as our common cultural heritage is not “ours” at all. This was never the intent. Copyright was meant to encourage culture, not restrict it. This is reason enough for reform. But the current regime has even more damaging effects. In order to uphold copyright laws, governments are beginning to restrict our right to communicate with each other...

Political correctness has come to the economic crisis bailout. The Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC announced today the firms it has pre-qualified for the Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program ...

While even the best radio talk shows occasionally take an oddball caller, Al Sharpton's program operates in a whole different universe. No conspiracy theory is too wacky for our buddy Al! His lack of objection says it all.

The modern definition of gaffe is “the accidental act of a politician telling the truth.” Steny Hoyer gives us a demonstration in his assessment of the health-care reform bill his party is pushing in both chambers of Congress. The bill will get plenty of support as long as no one actually bothers to learn what it does: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday that the health-care reform bill now pending in Congress would garner very few votes if lawmakers actually had to read the entire bill before voting on it.

It was assumed he was called "King James" because he reigns on the basketball court. But maybe LeBron James earned that nickname due to his tyrannical ways (in dealing with embarrassment). On Monday, Jordan Crawford, a sophomore at Xavier (by way of Indiana), reportedly dunked on LeBron during a pick-up game at the LeBron James Skills Academy. Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com wrote that one high school player said, "it was bad". (We can only assume he meant "bad" in the Michael Jackson sort of way.) LeBron must have agreed, because he had Nike officials confiscate the two videos that were...

U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., wants to nix the rest of the $787 billion federal stimulus plan championed by the Barack Obama administration. Kyl said the Obama stimulus has been slow to jump-start the U.S. economy, federal money is not getting into so-called “shovel ready” projects and the U.S. economy will have recovered by the time the taxpayer money flows. “Many experts also warned that government spending of such magnitude couldn’t be disbursed in a timely way, and now it’s clear that most of the stimulus money hasn’t even been put to use. According to the White House Web site,...

Health Care: Having been on the receiving end of a letter-writing campaign, we are acutely aware that many are concerned about the plight of the uninsured. Too bad they're not similarly aware of the facts."It is no longer acceptable to have over 46 million Americans without health care," says one of the letter writers, touching on the recurring theme that it's somehow immoral to let a part of the population go without medical insurance. The debate over the uninsured generates a lot of heat. That's why more than 50 letters supporting the White House's public option plan were e-mailed to...

North Shore Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk today said he's edging toward a run for U.S. Senate now that Democrat Lisa Madigan opted not to run. "It's obviously more likely. But I'm still talking to supporters and friends," Kirk told the Tribune. "It's a direction that I've been looking at hard. But I'm not going to make an announcement today." But a Republican source said Kirk told U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas that he will run for Senate. Cornyn heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Today, Kirk started calling top colleagues to seek advice about whether to run for...

L'AQUILA, Italy — The Secret Service is confident it can get President Barack Obama out of harm's way if there is any earthquake aftershock large enough to threaten safety at a summit meeting in Italy, a top aide said Wednesday. “They wouldn't let us do anything that put anybody in danger,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said as Air Force One flew to Italy from Russia. “And obviously there's plenty of planning, plenty of planning on what to do if by chance something were to happen.” After a stop in Rome, Obama was heading about 50 miles East to...

I just can't figure out the popularity of summer sausages. They are absolutely HIDEOUS. The first time I tried one I thought it would be like a variant of salami. It wasn't even close. It's not just that I hate the taste of summer sausage, it is also that it doesn't taste the least bit natural. It's like eating a chemical concoction of something artificial. Besides feeling absolute disgust in that particular food product, I also have a feeling of amazement. Amazement that there are actually people who eat that horrid chemical laden stuff. Amazement and curiosity. Curiosity as to...

Infectious disease carried by Homo sapiens was responsible for the demise of the Neanderthal, according to a new theory Scientists seeking to uncover the mystery of what happened to the Neanderthals should look to the modus operandi of another great... Scientists seeking to uncover the mystery of what happened to the Neanderthals should look to the modus operandi of another great die-off 30,000 years later, argues a Danish expert in an article submitted to the Journal of Archaeological Science. In the article, professor emeritus Bent Sørensen of the University of Roskilde wrote that disease carried by Homo sapiens migrating out...

I didn’t come up with the term “Armed and Female.” Paxton Quigley did. She’s a neat lady. I know her, trained her, taught with her, and have the privilege of recommending her book to people, because it’s an absolute manifesto for women who take control of their surroundings. In fact, I borrowed the title just to get your attention. Which, now that I have it, shall be directed to the concept of women and defensive firearms. I remember one of my first female students. She was in her sixties, an accomplished academician and author with strong roots in what was...

Diplomacy: Outsourcing U.S. foreign policy to the OAS may sound good, but the reality remains that all nations, including ours, have interests. That may be why the U.S. is now shifting to a more workable stance on Honduras.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday announced a realistic plan to resolve the Honduras crisis by forging a deal with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to mediate a solution to the issue of who rules the Central American country. Acting after meeting with ousted President Mel Zelaya, who was thrown out June 28 in a constitutional process, her initiative shows just how...

Prince Charles warned Wednesday of environmental catastrophe, saying the world must "urgently confront" pressing green issues to avoid destroying "our children's future." Charles, the heir to the throne, warned that today's consumer society comes at an enormous cost to the planet and we must "face up to the fact" that it was no longer sustainable. He also said that preserving and maintaining the world's ecosystems was inextricably linked to the economic well-being of nations. The prince, who has campaigned on safeguarding the rainforests and is known for his strong environmental views, set out his vision for tackling the threats facing...

The Dow, S&P and Nasdaq each gained Wednesday, led by commodity stocks; Alcoa is poised to report earnings after the bell. Oil fell on economic fears as some called for controls on speculation-driven prices. Art Cashin, director of floor operations at UBS Financial Services, offered CNBC his stock-market outlook. Cashin reiterated his belief that another government stimulus package would be useless — because the first package was "part illusion, part hoax." And now that the economy's problems seem to be continuing, "the fire extinguisher's empty," he said. Cashin believes the current stock rally will be short-lived. Dow 30 Stocks in...

Below is a letter Obama sent to Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu, Hawaii at a Centennial Dinner on 01/24/2009 which was read by Rep. Neil Abercrombie. Obama clearly references this hospital as his hospital of birth.

I saw it mentioned on another thread that a rubber stamp asking "Where is the birth certificate" used on currency might get a buzz going. Of course that are many other messages that might be effective too. "The deficit is rising xx dollars every day", Are you better off now than you were on 1/20/09" and many others come to mind. While I am not suggesting that anyone actually deface dollar bills since this is illegal, there must be great creative people here on FR that can come up with other ideas. One for example might be writing a message...

Hundreds of Tucson airmen are headed to Afghanistan to help shore up the U.S. military's renewed focus on the region. About 300 pilots, aircraft mechanics and support personnel from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base are due to leave by week's end for a six-month tour overseas. A squadron of D-M's A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jets will lead the way, departing first. The jets will be followed a day or two later by remaining personnel from D-M's 354th "Bulldogs" Fighter Squadron and the 355th Maintenance Group. The units, both part of the base's 355th Fighter Wing, operate and maintain the A-10. The...