Free Republic

PORTLAND — When Gary Moody pleaded no contest to trespassing in 2005 for hiding in a pit toilet on White Mountain National Forest property in New Hampshire, a judge urged him to seek help for whatever had driven him to climb down there. According to a new complaint, Moody didn't get the message. The 49-year-old Pittston man is charged again – this time in federal court – with climbing into a pit toilet in the White Mountain National Forest. Authorities say a 9-year-old boy saw Moody climbing out of a toilet at the Hastings Campground on Memorial Day and two...

Marc Armbinder of The Atlantic is reporting that President Obama will be unveiling his own healthcare plan in the coming week as a way to kick start the debate back in his favor. One of the easy digs against Obama until this time has been that he not only had nothing to do with the various plans floating around Congress (at least three bills thus far) and, worse, that he hasn't seemed to really know what is in any of them. Now Obama is about to offer his own plan. Some of it will be ideas already in play and...

My friends across the aisle always tell me that Democrats love America and are as patriotic as anyone on the right. Unfortunately for them, it is hard to believe that their party is on the same all-American page as the rank and file especially since Nancy Pelosi’s Democrat controlled House of Representatives tried to get rid of the patriotic music that is traditionally played on the House telephone “on hold” system. House Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Beard decided to rid the world of John Phillip Sousa, God Bless America, the Star Spangled Banner, and any other sort of patriotic tunes...

The following is a memo from ABC News president David Westin to ABC News staff today: Today, Charlie Gibson announced to his colleagues at World News that he has decided to step down as anchor effective at the end of this year. I attach below Charlie's full email. I have asked Diane Sawyer to serve as the next anchor of World News, and she will assume that position in January. -snip-

This one likes 'em young. Way too young. A 26-year-old therapist from Kids Hope United in Lake Villa had sex with a 14-year-old boy she counseled, say authorities, who've placed her in county jail today in lieu of $200,000 bond. Cops charged Cori Rivelli, of the 800 block of Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville, with one count of criminal sexual assault. She's due in court Tuesday. The kiddie creep allegedly bedded the boy on more than one occasion over the summer at her Libertyville apartment. After driving him from the residential facility to see his parents in Peoria, she brought him...

Video taken from inside a city bus shows a Wisconsin state lawmaker running a red light and smashing into a bicyclist. Rep. Fred Clark, a Democrat, was ticketed by Madison police for running a red light on Aug. 18. The video was released this week by Madison Metro.

Writer for the Washington Post Dan Balz writes After a Bruising August, Time for Obama Team to Regroup. To coin a popular phrase "duh". I suspect Mr. Balz will eventually do a follow up article letting us know that the world is indeed not flat. Obama won the votes of the American people based on a soundbite platform of change. What TeamObama didn't anticipate is the American people pounding on the doors of legislators looking to collect. Nearly every Gallup Poll done within the last few weeks shows Obama's approval rating falling at a rate that should make Rahm Emmanuel...

Monday August 31, 2009 Reflections on the Kennedy Funeral Commentary By Steve Jalsevac August 31, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - I am not dismayed or downhearted, just amazed at the depth of human weakness and self delusion revealed by the Kennedy funeral. Let me explain, and also urge what should be the attitude of pro-life people be to this event.It was a fascinating funeral with many touching moments and fine speeches. Ted Kennedy was shown to have presented in many ways a very attractive image - an exceptionally generous person, a good father, a faithful friend to many, an accomplished man of the...

The trailer for the latest title in the Grand Theft Auto series -- -- The Ballad of Gay Tony -- has been released, and players will assume the role of Luis Lopez who is the right-hand man to entrepreneur Gay Tony who runs a gay nightclub: Like most characters in the GTA series, Tony has a criminal past, having been arrested for tax evasion, cocaine possession, and public lewdness. He's been in rehab 5 times. Tony had a lover named Evan Moss, but he was killed during a mob mission in a previous installment of GTA. 'The Ballad of Gay...

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Former Ohio Rep. James Traficant walked out of a Minnesota prison Wednesday morning after serving a seven-year sentence for bribery and racketeering. The nine-term Democrat from Youngstown left the Federal Medical Center in Rochester and stepped into a waiting cab. Traficant, who wore a gray T-shirt, white shorts, white knee-high socks and had his famously wild hair pulled back, ignored a reporter's shouted question. He faces three years of probation. He hasn't said whether he will retire or try to return to public life.

I thought I had seen it all when it comes to dumb. I was wrong. video at site This is idiotic. Let's count the ways: A "strong regulator" eh? You mean like the FHFA? Fannie and Freddie had a so-called "strong regulator" that nonetheless allowed them to lever up at 80:1 (or 200:1 depending on how you looked at their books) which was clearly outrageous on its face and led to their demise. That same "strong regulatory framework" had Fannie and Freddie buying other-than-actual-prime paper. It detonated. Any questions? Fannie and Freddie turned into revolving-door agencies with the government, winding...

Washington, DC -- Justice John Paul Stevens could become the next Supreme Court justice to retire if the speculation that has started today is correct. Stevens has hired just one law clerk for an upcoming Supreme Court session, which observers say is an indication he could be considering a retirement bid.

Feminist author Naomi Wolf took issue with Jamie Glazov's post about her: Naomi Wolf here. Mr Horowitz, you and I have met, and I am simply appalled at this misrepresentation. I am writing to ask strongly that you remove this falsehood from your site and correct the record. Ms Chesler’s piece is factually inaccurate as is this. I have never said any such thing. I do not find the burqa `sexy’ and do not wish to institutionalize it and it is shameful that you and she would traduce discourse with these kinds of falsehoods. In my original piece — which...

In a phenomenal demonstration of frankness and true economic assessment, the head of the China Investment Council, Lou Jiwei, who controls China's $298 billion sovereign wealth fund, admits the ponzi nature of today's markets: Both China and America are addressing bubbles by creating more bubbles and we're just taking advantage of that. So we can't lose. Indeed, they can't lose thanks to the criminal silence on behalf of Mr. Jiwei's US financial counterparties. It doesn't get any simpler than that folks. Keep in mind Madoff was thrown in jail for a few hundred years for much less: what's $55 billion...

John H -- Opponents of health insurance reform have power. Some reap huge profits from the status quo. Others take large campaign contributions from those who profit. So they'll do anything to keep the current system in place. When fact-based arguments don't work, they attack President Obama with outlandish lies about a government takeover and euthanizing the elderly. And once that doesn't work, they'll go even further. We don't know what they'll do next. What we do know is that we'll have to be prepared for anything -- ready to set the record straight, ready to make sure the media...

From the beginning, Democrats needed to come up with a viable explanation for the anger and frustration exhibited at town halls. That's because if that outrage was rooted in down right disapproval for their health care bill that would indicate a wholesale rejection of the bill in general. So, immediately, this was called a "mob". It was insinuated that nefarious forces were behind the demonstrations. On top of this, people claimed that the protesters were acting with poor manners. Instead, they should ask their questions quietly

Podhoretz asks: Why are Jews liberals? Buzz up!17 votes Send Email IM .Share Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Twitter Yahoo! Bookmarks .Print .. AP – FILE - In this June 23, 2004 file photo, Norman Podhoretz is shown after receiving the Presidential Medal … .By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer Hillel Italie, Ap National Writer – Wed Sep 2, 7:02 am ET NEW YORK – Norman Podhoretz, the neo-conservative and former Commentary editor, is a stocky, confident man whose book-filled Upper East Side apartment features a bronzed wall image of Teddy Roosevelt with a bold-faced statement from...

We have known for many many years that the left has infiltrated our schools, especially at the university level, and have made life difficult for kids...or for that matter teachers...who have a conservative bent. But this is just creepy. It's a letter from the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan letting our K6 and under kids know that Obama will be speaking to them on September 8th: The President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning. He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and...

“No bank must grow to a size that puts it in a position in which it can blackmail governments.” - German Chancellor Angela Merkel (August 31st, Bloomberg) “These excesses cannot be allowed to be repeated as if nothing has happened.” - French President Nicolas Sarkozy (August 31st, Reuters) It didn't qualify as a news story when I repeatedly characterized the $10 trillion in hand-outs, loans and guarantees which the U.S. financial crime syndicate squeezed out of the U.S. government as “blackmail”. However, when the chancellor of Germany makes that same observation, it suddenly becomes newsworthy. With the G-20 poised to...

It brings me no pleasure to address a habitual liar, potential nude pin-up model, and puppet to Obama minions Rex Butler and Tank Jones, but Levi Johnston's (or is it Ricky Hollywood?) foray in to the world of essay writing deserves to be taken in proper context. Pretending for a moment that Levi actually wrote that essay, any reasonable and objective person will dismiss its contents after a simple review of his credibility. By his puppetmaster's own admission, Levi's out to cash in on the Palin name: This is the cards that was dealt to him. So now what do...