Free Republic

Call him Ishmael. Call him a terrorist or a suicide bomber or anything else you want, but understand that he is willing -- no, anxious -- to give his life for his cause. Call him also a captive, and know that he works with others as part of a team, like the Sept. 11 hijackers, all of whom died, willingly. Ishmael is someone I invented, but he is not a far-fetched creation. You and I know he exists, has existed and will exist again. He is the enemy.

For three days, I couldn't find my fire on TV. And that's a problem -- before and after -- you've been evacuated from your La Crescenta home as I, my husband and my three children were in the early morning hours this weekend. As a television critic, I have spent hours watching endless news loops of Octomom coverage, Tim Russert memorials and the Sarah Palin watch. Less than two months ago, I sat through at least an hour's worth of overhead shots of a freeway emptied in anticipation of Michael Jackson's memorial procession. An hour. Of empty freeway. I have...

Back in October of 2008, when the subject of Obama's Constitutional eligibility to be president of the United States was just a blip on the radar screen of public awareness, I wrote an article about how easy it was to find my then -92-year-old mother's birth certificate. Frankly, I didn't think finding my mother's birth certificate was possible, given the fact that she had been born in a farmhouse in Storrs, CT, along with nine of her 10 siblings, to parents who didn't speak English. Despairing that she would never be "qualified" to receive the care [in a nursing home}...

Illinois FReepers attended Congressman Jan Schakosky's Healthcare Townhall meeting last night in Niles Illinois. Over 2,000 people attended and if you were not there by 5PM chances are you did not make it in. I have done some search on the bill and received a link for research that the Congression Research office had done that says illegal aliens are covered in Obama's Healthcare bill. Congressman Schakowsky denied that the bill covers illegal aliens and then stated that those who asked about the bill covering illegal aliens was really : Scare Tactics of the Right Wing! I will attach the...

The chief of the hospitals hardest hit by swine flu accused the state Health Department Monday of failing miserably to help prepare for the return of the virus . . . "The swine flu is our own Hurricane Katrina and we're getting no help whatsoever," said David Rosen, head of the MediSys Health Network, which runs Jamaica, Flushing and Peninsula hospitals in Queens and Brookdale University Hospital in Brooklyn . . .

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers are suggesting that U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy's widow, Vicki, could fill his seat despite her professed reluctance to take the job. "Whatever Vicki wants to do, I'm in her corner," Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd said Sunday, speaking to CNN television. Dodd noted that Vicki Kennedy, 55, had said she is not interested in succeeding her late husband, "but she could change her mind, and if she did, I'm for it. I think she'd be great." The longtime Democratic senator added: "I think she brings talent and ability to it and to fill that spot I think...

Recently I wrote about the trend in public schools to push an "if it feels good, do it" brand of sex education on our kids. Those who write the "health education" curriculum, oversee the lesson plans and have the greatest authority in education believe that there are no taboos, and no boundaries on a teenager's sex life. That they actually believe teens should engage in sex at all should be enough to cause outrage - but it goes much further than that. Dr. Miriam Grossman's new book, "You're Teaching My Child What?" documents how they seek to shape an entire...

(Reuters) - Internet auction and services company EBay Inc has reached a deal to sell its online telephony unit Skype to a group of private investors, the New York Times said, citing two people briefed on its plans. Andreessen Horowitz, a new venture capital firm headed by the Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen, is likely to be among the investors in the group, the paper cited the people as saying. London-based Index Ventures and Silver Lake Partners may also be involved in the deal, one of the people told the paper.

The clock is ticking on tax cheat Charlie RangelBy: Byron York Chief Political Correspondent September 1, 2009 It hasn't gotten much attention amid news of Ted Kennedy, Obamacare and the worsening outlook in Afghanistan, but an extraordinary situation is developing in the House of Representatives. With each passing day, it's becoming more clear that the powerful committee chairman in charge of writing America's tax laws is a financial wheeler-dealer, a serial asset-hider, and a tax offender. Rep. Charles Rangel has been in the House since 1971. He's as old bull as you get in the Democratic hierarchy, and he waited...

UPDATE Mmmmm....lookit the 100's of thousands of vocal townhallers. The WH policy to silence critics really worked (/snic). Watcha gonna do next, Obo? BACKSTORY Update on Recovery Act Lobbying Rules: New Limits on Special Interest Influence White House Blog FRIDAY, MAY 29TH, 2009 AT 5:35 PM Posted by Jesse Lee. An update from Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, in the spirit of transparency as always: I am writing with an update on the President’s March 20, 2009 Memorandum on Ensuring Responsible Spending of Recovery Act Funds. Section 3 of the Memorandum required all...

Naomi Wolf Discovers That Shrouds Are Sexy Women in chadors are really feminist ninja warriors. Rather than allow themselves to be gawked at by male strangers, they choose to defeat the “male gaze” by hiding from it in plain view.

Elected Democrats, suffering from plummeting approval ratings in polls and rowdy town hall meetings over healthcare in recent weeks, may endure double-digit House seat losses in 2010. Republicans might not win the 40 slots needed to give them a majority, but they could come close.

Garment of Praise Today's Scripture "Provide for those who grieve…a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor" (Isaiah 61:3, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria What are you wearing today? Not on your physical body, but what's covering your mind and emotions? Are you clothed with despair and disappointment? Are you wearing "heaviness"? If you've recently gone through a hurtful or disappointing situation, the Bible says there is a time to grieve. It's important to go through that...

Those of us who oppose a massive increase in the role the national government plays in health care ("ObamaCare") do so because we fear the immense and unsustainable national debt it would incur and because we are certain that medical care in America would deteriorate. But there is a bigger reason most of us oppose it: We believe that the bigger the government becomes, the smaller the individual citizen becomes. Here are five reasons why bigger government makes less impressive people. 1. People who are able to take care of themselves and do so are generally better than people who...

A secret Chinese directive calls for the destruction of six major house churches. China world mapThe directive was uncovered by China Aid Association (CAA). The secret order calls for the six house churches to be dismantled by the end of August. The churches are large, some with more than 1,000 members. Annee Kahler, a spokesperson for CAA, says the move is seen as the first step by the Chinese government to crack down on house churches in Beijing. She believes it will be tough for Christians to find other houses of worship. "In America we have a church on every...

Destined To Be Holy ". . it is written, ’Be holy, for I am holy’ " —1 Peter 1:16 We must continually remind ourselves of the purpose of life. We are not destined to happiness, nor to health, but to holiness. Today we have far too many desires and interests, and our lives are being consumed and wasted by them. Many of them may be right, noble, and good, and may later be fulfilled, but in the meantime God must cause their importance to us to decrease. The only thing that truly matters is whether a person will accept...

Why is this president always doing the opposite of what needs to be done? Instead of supporting Iranian protesters, he snubs them. Instead of snubbing the ousted Honduran would-be dictator, he invites him to Washington. Instead of leading the world, he apologizes to it. Instead of offering a new vision, he resurrects hoary clichés. Instead of promoting liberty, he bows to kings and hugs tyrants. Some think he acts like an enchanted prince; others think he’s a spoiled brat. But there’s a method to this madness; its logic should be obvious to anyone familiar with antiquated leftist clichés, which Barack...

HAVANA, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Talks aimed at resuming direct postal service between the United States and Cuba, which has been suspended for decades, are set to be held in mid-September in another sign of thawing U.S.-Cuba relations, Western diplomats said. (snip) The United States has approached Cuba before about resuming direct postal services but Cuba has insisted in the past that, among other things, this must be accompanied by a resumption of regular scheduled commercial flights between the two nations just 90 miles (145 km) apart. Currently, only charter flights are permitted under U.S. regulations. Cuba is also said...

Dr. Adams: I noticed you haven’t run a column featuring your hate mail in quite some time. What’s up with that? --Dave Congratulations, Dave! Your email is the lead-in for my latest hate mail column. I hope you enjoy it … even if you don’t hate me! --MikeTo be a Conservative one must have a mental disorder! A Conservative is defined as a person that has 2 perfectly good legs but has never learned to walk forward. --ArnoldArnold, most liberals wouldn't have learned to walk upright if stores hadn't started putting beer on the top shelf. --MikeMr. [sic] Adams, You...

Officials from the Federal Reserve Bank are touring the country—very quietly, it turns out—to gauge populist opinion of its handling of the current financial crisis and to garner support to increase its regulatory power to become the sole financial regulator in the country. I attended one such event in Des Moines, Iowa, which was hosted by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI). This group has been around for several decades and is aligned with a national organization called National Peoples’ Action (NPA). NPA claims to have been instrumental in passing the Community Reinvestment Act in the 1970s, which extorted banks...