Free Republic

All week on radio and TV Glenn asked the tough questions -- because our republic is being transformed before our very eyes. The time for silent dissent has long passed, and now the hard questions need to be asked. Maybe there are perfectly logical explanations for Obama's 'Civilian National Security Force' he wants funded as well as the military. But what is it? Who are the radical Czars in the White House, and why are they there? Does the President actually listen to Communist ideas? Here is the ENTIRE RECAP of this weeks shows -- the monologues, the questions, the...

I was out the other night when I found out something startling. Twitter still has no source of income. It "survives" because there's plenty of venture capital money available to carry it while it expands becomes more popular until someone finally figures out how to make money with the millions of users it has. There was a time when Google had the same problem. Everyone used the search engine but no one used it for the profitability of the search engine. Clearly, they figured things out as well. Facebook also has that problem. One in ten people on the planet...

Colleges and universities either prohibited by law from factoring race into admissions decisions, or those that prefer a subtler approach to admitting applicants based on race, do so by measuring personality, leadership qualities, life experiences, creativity, resilience, and other "noncognitive" factors. According to a story in the Wall Street Journal, some schools claim that using noncognitive assessments are improving minorities' odds of admission. No kidding? Northeastern University in Boston has gone so far as to develop the Torch Scholars Program to assess "leadership potential" and evaluate how an applicant has "overcome adversity." As expected, average SAT scores for the program's...

Arguably, today investors face the polar opposite of conditions that existed only a few months ago, with economic optimism, improving valuations and positive sentiment. To most investors, today the fear of being in has now been eclipsed by the fear of being out as the animal spirits are in full force. Bears are now scarce to nonexistent in the face of steady price gains in equity and credit prices. As if the movie is now being shown in reverse, the bull is persistent, stock corrections are remarkably shallow, cash reserves at mutual funds have been depleted, and hedge funds hold...

Patriarch Bob Schindler has passed awayjillstanek.com Jill Stanek I just received the sad new from Schindler family friend Bro. Paul O'Donnell that family patriarch Bob Schindler passed away early this morning in a FL hospital. Bob was 72 years old and died of heart failure. His health had been deteriorating somewhat, but his death was still unexpected. He was admitted to the hospital only yesterday complaining of shortness of breath. I'm so sad for this dear family, who has endured so much. Bro. Paul told me Bob was never quite the same after Terri was killed by denial of hydration...

The reason the free market works, and why it’s worth fighting for, can be easily seen by simply looking at the car buying (free market) process. In America, the buyer has the freedom to ‘talk’ and the freedom to ‘walk.’ That is, you can always - and I repeat, always - ask questions and kick the tires. If, heaven forbid, the buyer smells the “scent of lemons” on the ‘gem’ of a product being offered, he or she can take his or her money on down the road. That’s called freedom, and it has been the catalyst of improvements and...

A sex offender was shocked after being arrested for attending church. According to North Carolina law, a sex offender could be forced to serve 12 more years in prison for worship. James Nichols was convicted of attempted rape and taking indecent liberties with a young girl. After serving a six year sentence, Nichols was released in September of 2008. Upon the release, Nichols began attending the Moncure Baptist Church in Chatham County, North Carolina. In March of the following year, he was arrested on the property owned by the church for being within 300 feet of a building with a...

I would like to offer my condolences to the family of Sen. Ted Kennedy who passed away earlier this week, though I strongly disagreed with most of the values espoused by the late Democratic Senator from Massachusetts. With the praise of Kennedy for his service to the nation must come the facts regarding an individual who had deep flaws of character, but I will leave judgment regarding such matters to others. I am troubled concerning the rush by the far left to use Kennedy's death as a political tool. Liberal extremists--who now control both Houses of Congress and the White...

The N.C. Supreme Court says a 2004 law that bars convicted felons from having a gun, even in their own home or business, is unconstitutional. The state's high court ruled Friday in the case of Barney Britt of Wake County that the General Assembly went too far five years ago when it toughened restrictions on felons owning guns as part of a broad anti-domestic-violence bill. Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson said in a dissenting opinion that the decision could encourage challenges against state bans on felons and the insane owning guns. Britt was convicted of felony drug possession in 1979. He completed...

Here is video from Sen. Edward (Ted) Kennedy's Funeral Service in Boston today, where his grandchildren and younger nieces and nephews led the congregation in the "Prayers of the Faithful," or intercessions. As you will hear, they infused the prayers with politics, including the prayer that the "cause of his life to see every American have decent quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege," be realized. . . . . (Watch Video)

I just wanted to add some color to my recent post regarding why the NYSE TRIN indicator might be broken. Reader Brian adds a very interesting perspective, indicating that he's watched TRIN and C side by side and has seen a very strong correlation. When C flips from up to down (or vice versa), there is a corresponding huge move in TRIN. This could only be the case if a stock like C comprised a large share of total NYSE volume, which indeed seems to be the case, as noted by The Big Picture blog. Above I took C, FNM,...

Barbara Hunter, Asst Superintendent for Communications and Community Outreach, Fairfax County, VA School system: BMHunter1@fcps.edu, 8115 Gatehouse Road Suite 5100 Falls Church, VA 22042 Phone: 571.423.1200 Fax: 571.423.1207

Here is a video report on the fact that August 2009 has now become the single deadliest month in the War in Afghanistan since it started almost eight years ago. At least 45 U.S. Troops have been killed this month. As U.S. Troops continuing pushing further into Taliban strongholds, deadly "IEDs" (Improvised Explosive Devices) are taking their toll. IED attacks are up 114% in the last month. _________________________ Just as we infused Iraq with a "Surge" of troops, it is going to take a determined commitment to destroy the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it is doubtful Obama is...

Despite the fact that it’s misleading, a headline from the Associated Press article caught my eye last night… The fear-mongering title? “Millions face shrinking Social Security payments.” The harsh reality? This is exactly the prescription that America needs right now to restore long-run government fiscal prudence. Of course, “shrinking payments” isn’t really what the Associated Press meant… The article goes on to explain, payments are only shrinking because the actuaries of the program estimate that there won’t be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the next two years. Why? Deflation, of course! If only the Associated Press had hired...

OK, Here's what the GOP should do. Introduce their Health Care Reform Bill and rename it in Ted Kennedy's honor. After all, what Teddy said is not nearly important as what he did. After all, he had private health care (not public), could go to any doctor he wanted (not forced into being given a doctor), could use experimental treatment (and wasn't told that society couldn't afford his expensive treatment), and hung on for over a year after his diagnosis, (and wasn't told by Dr. Obama to just take a pill a year ago, do society a favor and die...

CALDWELL, Idaho – While the national media wonder what Sarah Palin’s doing and what she’ll do next, she’s holed up working on her book, her father said Friday. “Sarah’s been out of town for almost a month now,” said Chuck Heath,who is on a campaign swing through Idaho for GOP congressional candidate Vaughn Ward. “I don’t know exactly where she is, but she’s writing her book. She e-mails me quite frequently. She asks, ‘Oh, what happened on June 13, 1978?’ This is material for her book.” Palin, the former Alaska governor whose turn as John McCain’s running mate last year...

The mix of politics and religion can be an intoxicating cocktail. Just now, you can smell the incense everywhere, from Martha's Vineyard to Washington. For a left that obsesses over a wall of separation between church and state, when death comes and health care bills need rallies, there is little hesitation to break out the devotional smells and bells. But the loss of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, one of the most prominent Catholic politicians in the United States, a leading proponent of health care reform and major supporter of the president's agenda, should not obscure a pivotal fact: Barack Obama...

Just go to the blog and dig in. Best research to date all backed up with documents. Start w/Part 1, Rathke, ACORN, SEIU, the Tides Foundation, Oh My! The ACORN Hushup (Again). A MUST READ!

When the credit crisis struck last year, federal regulators pumped tens of billions of dollars into the nation's leading financial institutions because the banks were so big that officials feared their failure would ruin the entire financial system. Today, the biggest of those banks are even bigger. The crisis may be turning out very well for many of the behemoths that dominate U.S. finance. A series of federally arranged mergers safely landed troubled banks on the decks of more stable firms. And it allowed the survivors to emerge from the turmoil with strengthened market positions, giving them even greater control...

After losing to Rep. Hill in 2002, claiming the 9th CD in the presidential year of 2004, then losing to Hill again in 2006 by 110,454 to 100,469 (Libertarian Eric Schansberg polled 9,893), the Democrat was able to hang on to the seat in 2009 with a 61,000 vote plurality. Many believed that Sodrel was headed to the dustbin of Hoosier congressional politics. Not so fast, the trucking executive told HPI. “What I’ve told everybody was that I wasn’t prepared to tell them I wouldn’t seek the nomination, but I’m not prepared to tell them I will.” Sodrel is writing...