Free Republic

The "war on terror" is back — at least, briefly. After the Obama administration banned the phrase "war on terror," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs resurrected it Monday when speaking about a expected new report about troop levels in Afghanistan. "You can't under-resource the most important part of our war on terror, you can't under-resource that for five or six or seven years … have that turn around in just a few months," he said. Mr. Gibbs was saying that President George W. Bush's administration had not given adequate resources to the Afghan campaign, and noted that despite new...

All signs now point to the United States being entrenched in a deep recession. It may be some time before things turn around, and because of that Americans will likely suffer serious side effects from the extended recession. Financial effects of recession are fairly well known and include things such as job losses, and increases in foreclosures and bankruptcies. But not all of the side effects of recession involve finances.Food Budgets Tightening One of the first places families look to cut their budgets is food. After all, some could argue that food and categories such as utilities, both budget categories...

It’s not quite as bad as it looks, but it’s plenty bad. Since last month, he’s down 13 points among Democrats, nine points among liberals, and 18 points among voters 18 to 29. No public option, no peace? Pollster John Zogby: President Obama is now firmly between a rock and a hard place. Democrats want a strong healthcare reform bill with a public option. Republicans and more conservative Democrats do not agree. If Obama fails to get a bill that his base supporters want, the entire Democratic Party risks alienating them; especially 18-29-year-old First Globals, who could very quickly become...

The Law: If there's any doubt Ecuador's $26 billion lawsuit against Chevron is nothing but a scam to shake down Big Oil, check out a new video of Ecuadorean operatives who prove how justice works in that country.Chevron, which has been battling the most expensive lawsuit in history from Ecuadorean environmental radicals, released a video Monday showing the "political coordinator" from Ecuador's ruling party telling a couple of contractors that he'd be glad to get them contracts to remediate rain forest pollution — for a $3 million fee. See, the fix was already in that an Ecuadorean judge would rule...

OK.... The following is a direct quote from Clause 8, Rule XVI of the rules that control how Congress is to consider legislation. Readings 8. Bills and joint resolutions are subject to readings as follows: (a) A first reading is in full when the bill or joint resolution is first considered. (b) A second reading occurs only when the bill or joint resolution is read for amendment in a Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union under clause 5 of rule XVIII. (c) A third reading precedes passage when the Speaker states the question: ‘‘Shall the...

A Phoenix-area pastor has started to draw protesters to his congregation after he delivered a sermon titled, "Why I Hate Barack Obama," and told his parishioners that he prays for President Obama's death. Pastor Steven Anderson stood by his sermon in an interview with MyFOXPhoenix, which reports that the pastor continues to encourage his parishioners to join him in praying for the president's death. "I hope that God strikes Barack Obama with brain cancer so he can die like Ted Kennedy and I hope it happens today," he told MyFOXPhoenix on Sunday. He called his message "spiritual warfare" and said...

Via Mediaite. I’m guessing the answer is no, for the simple reason that The One gets nothing from doing so except a pounding political headache. Why would he okay it given the suspicions that he’s soft on terror? A better question: If he didn’t sign off, do the Brits have little so esteem for him that they’d do the deal anyway? Frum wonders. We do know that the British kept the U.S. briefed well enough for American diplomats to protest the looming U.K./Scottish decision. At the same time, we read in the British press that U.S. officials indicated that they...

But of course it is. One sure way to determine the state of the Obama Aministration’s policies is by the thickness of it’s political skin. Fun to watch because Gibbs gets sooooooo irritated. At today’s WHPB CBS reporter Chip Reid I believe, asked Robert Gibbs to explain why things seem to be getting worse since the President announced his new strategy (increased troop levels, unmanned drones in Pakistan, and taking the fight to the poppy farmers as well as AQ) for Afghanistan. Gibbs response grew testiier by the minute … but it didn’t take long to blame the whole thing...

There were 8,346 outstanding foreclosure auction notices in Orange County at the end of July, up 12% from June and more than double the year ago total, reports ForeclosureRadar.com. I previously blogged the July total (it has been revised slightly), but I now have a chart showing the rise in active notices of trustee’s sale (NTS) since the credit crunch got serious in September ‘06 (click on it twice for larger image.). An NTS is filed on a home loan after a notice of default and it announces a property will face a foreclosure auction to pay off debt owed.

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Traficant to be released Wednesday By Michael O'Brien - 08/31/09 05:09 PM ET Former Rep. Jim Traficant (D-Ohio) is scheduled to be released from a federal prison on Wednesday, after having spent seven years stemming from a corruption conviction. The bombastic former lawmaker will be released Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. He was convicted in 2002 of bribery and racketeering, as well of charges of improperly using his congressional staff.

This video is so...sooooo.....stoooopid! Yet so dangerous. It shows how brazen the left is about anti-capitalism. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO

Media Malpractice: Among the many encomiums that the mainstream media showered on the late senator from Massachusetts, something was curiously missing: the link between Sen. Ted Kennedy and the KGB.Shortly after the Soviet archives were opened up following the collapse of communism in 1991, Tim Sebastian, a reporter for the London Times, came across a strange memo. It purported to detail how in the 1984 political season Kennedy tried to enlist the aid of the Soviet regime, then headed by former KGB chief Yuri Andropov, to get President Reagan defeated. When we first heard of this, we thought it must...

This is the Trio Zero dollar bill - Pelosi, Frank and Reid (Dodd in the background smiling). So far we have 10 different Zero dollars created - political artwork - for you to print out, and use in the fight against Obamacare. The latest example (front and back of the bill) is here, and below that is the link to the archive of about 10 or so different bills you can use. Keep passing them out. They were made to not resemble actual bills but be able to be the same size as regular bills (don't want counterfeit charges tossed...

After nearly a six-month lull, Wall Street is getting back into the business of financing new wind farms. Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. have invested $100 million each to finance separate wind farms this month, taking advantage of a brand-new federal program that is paying substantial cash grants to help cover the cost of renewable energy investments. Bankers say this is the beginning of an active pipeline of new wind-farm financing, as well as investment in large solar installations and geothermal facilities. Project developers and Wall Street appear to be viewing the federal cash grant program as such a good...

A friend of mine in the SF Bay Area just received the following: From: My.BarackObama.com [mailto:info@barackobama.com] Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 5:21 PM To: XXX XXXXXXXX Subject: Signup Confirmation: Bay Area Congressional Send Off Rally for Health Insurance Refrom This email is to confirm your signup for the following event: Bay Area Congressional Send Off Rally for Health Insurance Refrom You can view the details of this event at any time by going to: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpfkrv Attending: Wednesday, September 2 - 2 hours Time(s): Wednesday, September 2 from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Location: San Francisco City Hall Plaza 1 Dr...

Young British Muslims angry with police and media Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:22pm EDT By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - Many young British Muslims feel demonized by the police and the media and say they have come under pressure to prove their loyalty since the September 11 attacks and the 2005 London bombings, a study has found. The report for the Policy Research Center, an Islamic think tank, was intended to give young Muslims their own voice to counter assumptions made by outsiders. It said young Muslims had been portrayed in the media as a threat to society and often...

VICTORIAN Water Minister Tim Holding has been found alive. Sky News reports a news helicopter has spotted Mr Holding and reported his location to police. Police confirmed the report and the fact that Mr Holding was alive.

Catholic Medical Association withholds support of end-of-life bill Fearing a new, if subtle, pressure to die, the Catholic Medical Association is withholding support for proposed federal legislation promoting discussion on end-of-life options between doctors and patients. Other groups — like the Catholic Health Association, Providence Health and Services and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization — are backing the idea, which is intended to improve care of the dying. Section 1233 of the House health reform package was originally introduced in April in a bill by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. It would require Medicare to reimburse doctors for addressing...