Free Republic

The government wants to control when and how you die, what you can access online and, frankly, pretty much everything else you do in your private life. So said hundreds of people Monday at a gathering billed as one stop on a nationwide tour that will culminate with a humongous event in Washington, D.C., intended to let the big shots on Capitol Hill know who's really in charge. "I'm scared," said one of those hundreds, Patricia Somers, 62, who traveled from Thousand Oaks, Calif., to Las Vegas, the closest tour stop for the Tea Party Express. "We're losing so much."...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 2009 – Iraqi security forces have undertaken a broad self-assessment in the wake of series of deadly attacks in the Iraqi capital last month, a U.S. commander there said today. A wave of truck bombings in Baghdad killed at least 100 people and injured more than 500 others in a deadly Aug. 19 assault that exposed a lapse in security, according to U.S. defense officials. “The Iraqi security forces, as a result of that, have done a great deal of introspective assessing, to make sure that they understand how they can mitigate that from ever happening again,”...

Taxes: With so many bad ideas rolling around Washington these days, what's one more? Democrats and their union allies think slapping a tax on investment trades is a good idea. In fact, it's a recipe for a meltdown.Given the turmoil in the financial markets in recent years, you'd think mature adults would realize that destabilizing tax hikes would be out of the question. Yet the AFL-CIO and congressional Democrats are proposing a one-tenth of 1% tax on all stock trades as a way to pay for things like infrastructure. This so-called Tobin Tax — named for Nobel prize winner James...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Sept. 1, 2009 – With Iraqi forces now handling security in Iraq’s cities and towns, coalition forces get fewer chances to immerse themselves in Iraqi culture. Some hope that will change with the opening of an Iraqi bazaar here this month. “We want to get to a point where we give the feel of what a traditional bazaar is in Iraq,” said Army Capt. Andrew Nathan, a civil military operations officer with the 34th Infantry Division. “The business group that is setting this up is creating an ambiance of a bazaar or an oasis. It’s...

Who knew Kevin Federline was an environmentalist? Britney Spears' ex-husband removed his shirt for a swim this weekend, and the resulting reflection of UV rays contributed to a measurable decrease in the Earth's average temperature.

House energy panel asks 52 companies to cough up info on everyone who makes more than $500,000 a year. Insurers cry foul. Does health CEO pay matter? WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- Earlier this year, public outrage boiled over with news of eye-popping pay to top executives on Wall Street. White House officials later acknowledged they had misjudged the velocity and volume of furor triggered by "bonusgate," which raised the profile of corporate executive pay. Could that happen now in health care? Some of the known salaries are pretty big. Last year, the head of Cigna (CI, Fortune 500) made $11 million...

June 28, 2006, 7:12 a.m. Bears a Close WatchChina knows our next Treasury secretary well. By Frank Gaffney Jr. As the Senate Finance Committee considers President Bush’s nomination of Henry Paulson to be the next secretary of the Treasury, the question is not whether he will be confirmed. That seems assured, as senators in both parties behave like star-struck groupies in the presence of a Wall Street “master of the universe,” whose net worth, from his time as a senior executive of Goldman Sachs, is estimated to be on the order of $600 million. Rather, the question is: Will any...

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 1, 2009 – In the Army’s celebratory Year of the Noncommissioned Officer, Dremiel Byers stands out. Byers, who recently joined the ranks of the senior NCOs with his promotion to sergeant first class, will represent the Army on Team USA at the 2009 World Wrestling Championships. Army World Class Athlete Program Greco-Roman heavyweight wrestler Sgt. 1st Class Dremiel Byers, left, a 2002 world champion, is scheduled to compete for Team USA at the 2009 World Wrestling Championships Sept. 27, 2009, in Herning, Denmark. U.S. Army photo by Tim Hipps  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Byers is...

Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been privately talking with friends about a possible comeback, and is considering a run for statewide office next year, several sources told The Post. Less than 18 months after he left Albany in a prostitution scandal, Spitzer has held informal discussions in recent weeks about the possibility of making a bid for state comptroller or the US Senate seat currently held by Kirsten Gillibrand, sources said. The hooker-happy Democrat has also discussed his own halfway-decent poll numbers in recent surveys, which have shown him more popular than Gov. Paterson, whose own numbers have tanked.

Philadelphia is taking out a short-term loan to help with cash flow as Pennsylvania's budget crisis continues. Mayor Michael Nutter announced Tuesday the city will take out the $275 million loan from JP Morgan Chase. The loan comes with a 3 percent interest rate if paid in full by November 30. On December 1, the interest rate increases to 8 percent. Mayor Nutter expects the city will re-finance the loan at a lower interest rate in the public markets – once Pennsylvania's budget crisis is solved.

A highly influential Shi’a religious leader, with whom Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regularly consults, apparently told followers last month that coercion by means of rape, torture and drugs is acceptable against all opponents of the Islamic regime ...Mesbah-Yazdi is considered Ahmadinejad’s personal spiritual guide. A radical totalitarian even in Iranian terms, he holds messianic views, supports increasing Islamization, calls for violent suppression of domestic political opponents, and, according to the ITIC, “declared that obeying a president supported by the Supreme Leader was tantamount to obeying God.” Asked if a confession obtained “by applying psychological, emotional and physical pressure” was “valid...

A Florida contractor hired by the Housing Authority of New Orleans to oversee its finances embezzled more than $900,000 during the past three years, according to charges filed Monday by the U.S. attorney's office. Separate public records show that during the same time period the fiscal manager, Elias Castellanos, 43, bought a $1.6 million mansion in Davie, Fla., just north of Miami, and five late-model cars -- including a Lamborghini Gallardo worth more than $200,000, a Ferrari F430, a Porsche 911 and two Mercedes-Benzes. Federal prosecutors charged Castellanos with one count of embezzlement Monday through a bill of information, indicating...

More Hope and Change... Yeah. So much for all of that "grassroots" nonsense. A Health Care for America Now (HCAN) organizer is caught on tape outside a town hall meeting handing out pre-printed signs to the Obamacare supporters. Recorded on August 31, 2009 outside Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) town hall meeting on health care in Skokie, Illinois. Rep. Schakowsky and HCAN should really try a little harder to hide their astroturfing.

World Famous Fish Taco Rubio's originl Baja-style Fish Taco since 1983. Crispy beer-battered fish, shredded cabbage, mild salsa...... slice of lime.

From wikipedia: Godwin's Law (also known as Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies)[1] is a humorous observation made by Mike Godwin in 1990 which has become an Internet adage. It states: "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."[2][3]Godwin's Law is often cited in online discussions as a deterrent against the use of arguments in the widespread reductio ad Hitlerum form. The rule does not make any statement about whether any particular reference or comparison to Adolf Hitler or the Nazis might be appropriate, but only asserts that the likelihood of...

Smells like this is being driven more by anti-incumbency fever than anti-Democratic fever, but we’ll take it any way we can get it. Throw the bums out: The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 43% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 36% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent. That represents the lowest level of support for Democrats in recent years, while Republicans have tied their highest level of support for the third straight week. The previous low for Democrats over the past year was 37%… Throughout the summer of 2008, support for Democratic...

In the midst of public outcry over the decision by Scottish authorities to free Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, convicted in 1991 for his involvement in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, the anniversary of an older case of state-sponsored terrorism, the shooting down by KAL 007 by Soviet jet fighters in 1983, is almost forgotten by the media and public. When a bomb planted by Libyan terrorists tore Pan Am flight 103 from the sky on December 21, 1988, 270 people — 259 of them on the plane and 11 more on the ground — were killed....

New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- A new report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has been roundly criticized since its release. Now, a new analysis of the 94-page documents finds the UN agency is calling for children to promote abortions across the globe.The analysis finds children are not only told about abortion and where to obtain one but encouraged to be trained to “advocate” the pro-abortion position.The report, entitled International Guidelines on Sexual Education, is filled with advice for sex education instructors to advance the abortion agenda. It calls on making children as young as...

The relationship between President Obama and Factcheck.org has been on my mind recently as I’ve been preparing an exhaustive (and exhausting) research report pertaining to the issue of whether the President of the United States is currently a citizen or national of any other country besides the US. As far as I can tell, President Obama himself never publicly stated during or after the election that he isn’t a Kenyan citizen In a now famous report, Factcheck.org, in response to a story originally published in The Rocky Mountain News, attempted to lay rest to allegations that Obama was currently a...

Fifty-seven Percent (57%) now oppose the war in Afghanistan. The biggest change has come from Democrats. Almost three quarters of Democrats now oppose the war. Perhaps Americans sense a lack of commitment from President Obama. Shadow Government had this to say, "There are few things more toxic for effective civil-military relations in wartime than the military believing that their political commanders are not serious about seeing the conflict through to a successful conclusion."