Free Republic

Lakshmi('s)...mental age is said to be only around eight. She became pregnant after allegedly being raped in a government-run care home, and the state authorities petitioned the local courts to allow them to carry out an abortion. ... But then came the twist - her lawyers and several disability rights groups appealed to the Supreme Court. It overruled the original judgement - allowing her to have the baby she said she wanted to keep.

Newspaper Carrier Day is celebrated in the United States and honors Barney Flaherty, the first newspaper carrier (or paperboy) hired in 1833, as well as all current newspaper carriers. It is celebrated on September 4, the anniversary of Flaherty's hiring by Benjamin Day, publisher of the New York Sun.

Cass Sunstein, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), has advocated a policy under which the government would “presume” someone has consented to having his or her organs removed for transplantation into someone else when they die unless that person has explicitly indicated that his or her organs should not be taken. Under such a policy, hospitals would harvest organs from people who never gave permission for this to be done. Outlined in the 2008 book “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness,” Sunstein and co-author Richard H. Thaler argued that the...

WASHINGTON — In one fell swoop, President Barack Obama must regain the public's attention on health care, explain in detail exactly what he wants in a final deal, unify a restless Democratic Party, prod Congress to get him a bill and bring clarity to a bewildering debate. Vacation is over.

They think we're crazy. "They" are the sneering defenders of Barack Obama who can't fathom the backlash against the president's nationwide speech to schoolchildren next Tuesday. "We" are parents with eyes wide open to the potential for politicized abuse in America's classrooms. Ask moms and dads in Farmington, Utah, who discovered this week that their children sat through a Hollywood propaganda video promoting the cult of Obama. In the clip, a parade of entertainers vow to flush their toilets less, buy hybrid vehicles, end poverty and world hunger, and commit to "service" for "change." Actress Demi Moore leads the glitterati...

It has become apparent to many that never in our recent history have we had a President so full of himself that even the word "narcissism" can barely describe his ego and sense of destiny. He has now decided to give yet another speech to a joint session of Congress to make certain the broadcast networks will carry it in primetime. He evidently believes his delivery and charisma will create a revival in his poll numbers and support for his policies, particularly "health care reform". The word will be cleverly chosen according to focus group results and the assumption will...

Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been ridiculed, invaded and overexposed by the media. So, just who is she? A concerned voter wanted to find out. First to appear in Palin’s chart is Neptune in Scorpio in the Second house, making Palin a natural when it comes to large-scale financial management. She has an innate ability to envision an ideal world, even though the ideal may sometimes be out of reach. Consequent of this, Palin will enjoy successes, but suffer disappointments as well. Children and pets are an important aspect of life, as well as her strong religious faith.

Good morning to all of you gardeners. A couple of FReepers have sent me alerts to threads posted on FR that many of you gardeners might find informative or interesting. I have posted links to them below the Gardening Banner. Thanks to Freepers tubebender and Califreak.

President Barack Obama's planned speech to schoolchildren about the importance of studying hard and staying in school is angering some South Florida parents, who fear the nationally televised address will be more about politics than education. Despite an announcement by the White House that Obama's speech Tuesday will focus on the importance of hard work, setting ambitious goals and taking personal responsibility, some parents fear the event will turn partisan -- and they don't want their children exposed to it. Said one parent in an e-mail to Broward School Board member Stephanie Kraft: "I will not tolerate my children being...

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- A total stranger is accused of slapping a fussy 2-year-old in a Wal-Mart in Stone Mountain. Authorities say the girl and her mother were shopping at Wal-Mart on Tuesday morning when the toddler began to cry. Roger Stephens, 61, approached the mother and told her, "If you don't shut that baby up, I will shut her up for you." Moments later, Stephens grabbed the 2-year-old girl and slapped her at least four times and told the mother, "See, I told you I would shut her up." The child began screaming and Stephens walked away. Another shopper...

A New York surgeon who donated a kidney to his wife has gone to court to get it back after they split up. Dr Richard Batista, 49, gave up the organ eight years ago when his wife Dawnell fell ill, reports the Daily Telegraph. But he claims she repaid his kindness by having an affair before filing for divorce, and is demanding compensation for risking his life. "There's no deeper pain you can ever express than to be betrayed by the person you devoted your life to," he told reporters. His lawyer Dominic Barbara said he wanted $1.5 million in...

A not-nearly exhaustive look at some of White House green jobs adviser Van Jones' statements, delivered in text and audio.-- "Assholes" Berkely, Calif., Feb. 26, 2009: Jones took audience questions in Berkeley, Calif., during a lecture on energy issues. Van Jones: "Well, the answer to that is: they're assholes." Female questioner: I was afraid that that was the answer. Van Jones: That's a technical, political science term. And -- Barack O -- Barack Obama's not an asshole. So -- now, I will say this: I can be an asshole. And some of us who are not Barack Hussein Obama are...

John Kass the only conservative at the Chicago Tribune, AKA: Chicago Lib-une) has another great column today! chicagotribune.com No parents left behind when kids start singing John Kass September 4, 2009 It's really too bad those angry right-wing critics have forced President Barack Obama to change his plans to enlist America's schoolchildren in a "help the president" campaign. But I'm not giving up. It still is a great idea, the president of the United States and the Department of Education asking schoolchildren to write letters about how they can help. Yes they can! If the White House changes its mind...

Looks like the LATimes got the story of a clash between pro- and anti-Obamacare protesters totally backwards. This was the lede in a September 3, 2009 LATimes blog (scroll down to find it under "Man bites off man's finger at Obama healthcare rally"): "A 65-year-old man at a Wednesday night California rally supporting President Obama's embattled reform ideas had a finger bitten off during a scuffle with anti-reform protesters." The democraticunderground.com website jumped on the piece and it provokes a series of comments. The first one was, "1. Why are Right-Wings always ruled by Emotions and Never by Logic" Well,...

Besieged by leaks of several closely held secrets, the CIA has asked the Justice Department to examine what it regards as the criminal disclosure of a secret program to kill foreign terrorist leaders abroad, The Washington Times has learned. Two U.S. intelligence officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because of the sensitivity of the case, said the leak investigation involved a program that CIA Director Leon E. Panetta told Congress about in June and that surfaced in news reports just a month later. The vice chairman of the the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence declined...

Simply Unbelievable that they are not even covering this. The clown should have resigned yesterday, but pressure will mount this weekend. Even dems are saying the guy should go.....yet no coverage.

“As the Holy [sic!] Koran tells us, Be conscious of God and speak always the truth,” President Obama told his audience at the beginning of his much heralded speech in Cairo last week. It was a remarkable performance: not a single significant statement he made on the nature of Islam, or on America’s relationship with the Muslim world, or on the terrorist threat, complied with the quoted command of the prophet of Islam. Obama’s two immediate predecessors have done a lot of respectful kowtowing, of course. Bill Clinton declared before the United Nations in September 1998, “There is no inherent...

Now swallow your nice ObamaCare... it only tastes yucky for a second. No, don't throw it up! Now look what you did! Mommy will have to clean up after you. Again. Is there something disquieting about a president who only wants to spread love and compassion to all Americans -- or else? Or else he'll hate us forever? Or else he'll put us in jail? Or else he'll stamp his feet and cry? That's the feeling I'm getting. He is so intent on doing us all a big favor. ObamaCare is Just and Right and Compassionate --- and it has...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - September 4 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "I will; be thou clean." - Mark 1:41 Primeval darkness heard the Almighty fiat, "light be," and straightway light was, and the word of the Lord Jesus is equal in majesty to that ancient word of power. Redemption like Creation has its word of might. Jesus speaks and it is done. Leprosy yielded to no human remedies, but it fled at once at the Lord's "I will." The disease exhibited no hopeful signs or tokens of recovery, nature contributed nothing to its own healing, but the unaided word effected the...

What can American conservatives learn from Europe’s diverse healthcare systems? Unlike what many left-of-center analysts have claimed, the lesson to take away from European healthcare systems is not that the U.S. ought to implement a single-payer, government-run healthcare system. Although European healthcare systems are routinely portrayed as being “government-run”, most European healthcare systems contain powerful market mechanisms that enable them to deliver healthcare efficiently, which is why many European systems function fairly well, though most have significant problems. The stakes in the debate are high: no issue is more important to the future of the conservative movement in the U.S....