Free Republic

Tim Hawkins sings "The Government Can"

NGC 7771 Galaxy Group Credit & Copyright: Kent Biggs Explanation: Slide your cursor over the image to identify three members of this intriguing gathering of galaxies. Known as the NGC 7771 Group, they lie almost 200 million light-years away toward the high flying constellation Pegasus. The largest galaxy, barred spiral NGC 7771, is itself about 75,000 light-years across, but will someday find itself part of a larger galaxy still. As the galaxies of the group make repeated close passages, they will finally merge into one very large galaxy. Played out over hundreds of millions of years, the process is...

The politics of business is getting perilous for CEOs trying to traverse the ideological battle between capitalism and socialism. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey is under fire for offering free-market solutions to health care while GE CEO Jeff Immelt is benefiting from adopting a strategy in which the government is his partner. Indeed, the contrasting approaches to Obama’s political agenda offered by Mackey and Immelt illustrate the risks and benefits of dealing with the president’s statist policies. Whole Foods – the organic grocery retailer – is in the midst of a public relations crisis stemming from a commentary on health...

For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and CHANGE the customs Moses handed down to us. Acts 6:14 For 8 years we have been preached to how evil Oil Companies and Haliburton are. Ever since Michael Mooreon’s Fraudulent 911, how there is an evil Oil conspiracy that is being run by a shadow gummit that’s destroying our freedoms. The Oil companies have been the Boogermen for libs for so long that No Oil chants/bumper stickers have become cliche. If there is anything that the DNC stands for it is the absolute destruction...

At the memorial for Ted Kennedy at the JFK library in Boston, Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, talked about his friendship with the Democratic senator from Massachusetts, comparing their relationship to that of "two fighting brothers" and said that they were like the "odd couple." "It's a great honor for me to be here today to talk about a man I have so much regard for, so much reverence for -- with whom I've done battle for 33 years… and have enjoyed every minute of it," Hatch said. Hatch talked about running for office in Utah by saying...

The Tea Party Patriots are still angry about the direction this country is going in, but a rally in Sacramento left them feeling energized and exhilarated about their movement. More than 5,000 people attended Friday's rally in Sacramento, 168 of whom came from Nevada County on three buses. Demonstrators kept to the same themes: Smaller government, reeling in taxes and support for veterans, said Jackie Branson of Grass Valley. Similar protests took place Friday elsewhere in the country, and more are planned in coming days. “I don't know where this is going to go,” said Robert Steuber, another Grass Valley...

Here is audio of Gov. Mike Huckabee essentially making the powerful point that Sen. Ted Kennedy would not have lived as long as he did with brain cancer if he had not been able to seek the very best private health care available. Huckabee advocates that the best way to honor Kennedy's work for bringing health care to all is to make sure every American has access to the same "private health care" that Kennedy had. Huckabee also referenced the fact that Kennedy did not "go home to take pain pills" when he was diagnosed. Instead, he had a very...

Boots on Broadway to focus on military appreciation By Sonya Sorich - ssorich@ledger-enquirer.com God Bless Fort Benning Day, a military appreciation event that in the past has attracted more than 20,000 people, will not take place this year. It will be replaced by the Boots on Broadway Military Heritage Celebration, a first-time event scheduled for Oct. 24 on the 900 and 1000 blocks of Broadway. Richard Bishop, president of Uptown Columbus Inc., made the announcement Friday morning at a news conference about upcoming Uptown events. Similar events Like God Bless Fort Benning Day, Boots on Broadway will focus on military...

"I wrote this song with the great Phil Springer. Take a moment to listen to the words. You don't have to agree with everyone's politics...none of us agree 100% of the time. But you have to admire a lifetime dedicated to public service and improving the lives of others -- and that is just one of the many things that made Ted great. I think this song captures a small part of Ted's legacy of service. Listen to it and see what you think." So wrote Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Ut.) about his friend the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.). CLICK...

First Lady Hillary Clinton, in 1994, displays a pamphlet about her health care plan bearing an image of the "health security card" every American would supposedly receive.

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi journalist jailed after hurling his shoes at former President George W. Bush will be released next month after his sentence was reduced for good behavior, his lawyer said Saturday.

In the final episode of a record-breaking ratings week, Glenn Beck presented an inspiring music video produced by his staff on Friday. He simply entitled it "A 912 Music Video." From King George to the 911 Terrorists to the current attempt at a socialist takeover of our country by the non-representing Congress and Administration, WE have been underestimated. In each case, the purveyors of tyranny failed to recognize the will of the American people. After watching this video, you may be more inclined to name it "We Have Been Underestimated Before." Video: Glenn Beck - We Have Been Underestimated Before

A Dutch court has put a 13-year-old girl under state care for two months, stalling her bid to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. The decision by three Utrecht judges means Laura Dekker's parents, who support her plans, temporarily lose the right to make decisions about her. A child psychologist will now assess her capacity to undertake the voyage. Miss Dekker says she is happy with the ruling, but she will try to convince the authorities to let her set sail. "I haven't had the same upbringing as so many other children," she told the Dutch...

On March 1, 2003, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), the principal planner of the September 11 attacks, was captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. U.S. interrogators quickly went about the business of getting him to talk, and for good reasons. KSM's operatives were already here, inside America, planning attacks. Shortly after KSM was detained, an Ohio-based truck driver named Iyman Faris was arrested by the FBI. Faris had reportedly been under suspicion beforehand, but U.S. authorities suddenly determined that they had to arrest him. It turned out that Faris, an al Qaeda-trained sleeper agent, had been dispatched to the United States by KSM...

Rep. Charles Rangel claimed on mortgage papers that a Harlem brownstone was his principal residence -- even though he was living elsewhere at the time, The Post has learned. When the Democrat -- who is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee -- took out the mortgage in 1990, he said the property on West 132nd Street was his "principal residence," records show. But Rangel has been living since the 1970s in Harlem's Lenox Terrace apartment complex, where he improperly amassed four rent-stabilized properties. State law requires that rent-regulated apartments be the tenant's residence.

During last year's campaign, President Obama vowed to enact a bold agenda without raising taxes for the middle class, a pledge budget experts viewed with skepticism. Since then, a severe recession, massive deficits and a national debt that is swelling toward a 50-year high have only made his promise harder to keep. The Obama administration has insisted that the pledge will stand. But the president's top economic advisers have refused to rule out broad-based tax increases to close the yawning gap between federal revenue and government spending and are warning of tough choices ahead. Republicans are already on the attack,...

We've always suspected that fear of angering trial lawyers was the only reason President Obama refused to embrace tort reform as a crucial part of achieving his goal of reduced health care costs. Now we know for sure. A moment of candor by Howard Dean, the former chairman of the DNC and an enthusiastic backer of Obama's health reform initiative, confirmed our suspicions. "The reason that tort reform is not in the bill is because the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers in addition to everyone else they were taking on," Dean said...

The father of a Calgary man suspected of killing his ex-wife in California said his son is innocent and he plans to offer a reward for the capture of her killer. In a written statement provided to the Calgary Herald on Friday, prominent Calgary architect Dan Jenkins said his son Ryan did not kill Jasmine Fiore, 28, whose mutilated body was found in a Los Angeles suburb on Aug. 15."I understand that the police department is making progress in the case and once I am in better shape I intend to offer a reward for the capture of her killer,"...

On Tuesday the Guardian reported that the Obama administration is now making Israel an offer it can't refuse: In exchange for a government order to freeze construction for Jews in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, the administration will adopt a "much tougher line with Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons program." Israel should refuse this offer. What the Guardian account shows is an Obama administration looking to blame Israel for the failure of its policy of attempting to appease the likes of Iranian dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Come September, US President Barack Obama is going to have...