Free Republic

What makes an economy tick? What makes it grow? In 1890, Japan's average income was only somewhat higher than Mexico's and lower than Argentina's. Yet a century later -- despite the devastation left by World War II -- Japan's average income was nearly three times as great as Mexico's, more than twice as great as Argentina's and only modestly lower than that of the United States. From the late 19th century to the end of the 20th, Japan's economy managed to grow twice as fast as Britain's. How does a nation do that? Japan is not alone. In the early...

President Obama's planned Sept. 8 speech to the nation's students has sparked what I'd call an automated controversy. The controversy isn't that Obama has announced something controversial, but rather than he's announced something. Full stop. He would like to speak to children about "the need to work hard and stay in school," according the AP, and conservatives are screaming as though playing the tape backward will unveil the subliminal message "Capitalism is deeeaaddd" or "Organize your communityyyy" or something. I'm sorry, I've recently pledged to avoid offering caricatures of the opposition, but this time I'm really struggling to find an...

This is a letter from Congressman Ron Paul to his supporters. Please take the time to read it, and visit Debra Medina's website: www.medinafortexas.com She is currently on running as a Republican in the race for Texas Governor 2010. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Defender of Liberty, I would like to introduce you to a good friend of mine, Debra Medina. I have known Debra for over ten years and have always been impressed by her drive and commitment to principle. Debra has been a real defender of Liberty both in her home town of Wharton and across the state of Texas. Debra...

Why a flexible timetable to withdraw U.S. troops will best advance our national security interests. After nearly eight long years, we seem to be no closer to the end of the war in Afghanistan. In fact, given the current buildup of U.S. troops and the possibility that even more may be deploying soon, many Americans, and many Afghans, wonder what we hope to achieve—and when our service members will start to come home. We went into Afghanistan with a clear mission: to destroy those who helped to perpetrate the horrific 9/11 attacks. I voted to authorize sending our forces there...

It is the era of designer drinks: bubblegum martinis, vodka essences, caffeinated schnapps. You name it. In spite of all their flair and fun, when you sit down to really enjoy a drink for the craftsmanship and complexity, you really only have a few good choices, and they were usually created over a decade ago. For years I had been a wine guy (not whinny, mind you). I took the classes, began to dig into certain vintages and the regions and vineyards around the world, and I developed a taste for the European wines, which tended to be drier and...

The U.S. rate of unemployment has been rising since March 2007, when it stood at 4.4 percent. In 2007 it rose slowly, then in 2008 and 2009 much more quickly. In August 2009 it reached 9.7 percent. The increase in unemployment represents for most people the most troubling aspect of the current recession. However, during the past year, so much attention has been focused on the financial debacle in its various dimensions, and on the Fed’s and the Treasury’s efforts to deal with it, that the growing unemployment - now amounting to approximately 15 million persons - has become almost...

EAST Timor was John Howard's coming of age, the point at which the novice was transformed into a national security leader. This was Australia's most important military involvement since the Vietnam War. From this point Howard became a bolder prime minister. His actions after 9/11 cannot be comprehended without reference to East Timor. ..... The East Timor story is riddled with myths. Three of the benchmarks should be defined at the outset. ..... Second, the crisis became an example of Australian-American alliance co-operation and not the disaster often depicted...... The Risk of War: Australia took a deliberate decision that the...

Liberal Democrats in the House will get their wish: President Obama will meet with them face to face Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss health reform legislation. House Progressive Caucus co-chairs Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) requested a meeting "as soon as possible" in a letter to Obama Thursday, in which they reiterated their pledge to block comprehensive health care reform that does not include a public option and made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that they oppose the "trigger" proposal the White House recently floated. (Under that plan, a public health insurance plan would be created only...

Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R) leads both of his Democratic opponents in the battle to replace retiring Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), according to a new independent poll. Though he is known by fewer Bluegrass voters than either Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo (D) or Attorney General Jack Conway (D), Grayson leads both by slim margins. Grayson outpaces Mongiardo by a 45-41 percent margin, while he leads Conway 46 percent to 40, according to the Research 2000 survey taken for the liberal Daily Kos website.

Not all gardeners are no impact gardeners. Organic gardeners do their best to leave a positive impact on the environment. There are many ways of working toward leaving no impact. Here are just a few green gardening suggestions. Try to think of your own ways to leave no impact in the garden as well. Natural pesticides Organic gardeners are sure to use nature friendly pesticides that leave no impact on our water supply. This step will also protect beneficial insects such as honey bees and lady bugs. Go here for organic pesticide recipes. Barrier pest control Another good organic gardening...

Per Drudge...

The government announced today that unemployment hit 9.7 % a 26-year high. Although the White House will tell us that the rate of job loss is shrinking signaling the start of a economic comeback, that belies an understand of how companies lay people off. Usually the first layoffs are lower level employees, they make less money so companies have to lay off many of them to have a bottom line effect. As more layoffs are needed a company will start to get rid of the bigger salaries or else no one will be left to do the work. So even...

THE Afghanistan debate is increasingly focused on two words: troop numbers. Those numbers certainly deserve serious attention as President Obama decides whether to raise them even further this year. But in Afghanistan, as in past counterinsurgencies, it is important to remember that all troop numbers are not created equal. When it comes to indigenous forces, quality often matters more than quantity, and quality often declines when quantity increases. Current recommendations of American and Afghan troop strengths are, for the most part, based on the size of the Afghan population. Dennis Blair, the director of national intelligence, has produced figures using...

As First Lady Michelle Obama finishes the summer with the rest of the First Family at Camp David -- a post vacation vacation, following their Martha's Vineyard stay -- comes some FLOTUS news on three fronts, including a new jazz work inspired by her life. *A new jazz composition about Mrs. Obama had its world premiere in Chicago on Tuesday at the Spertus Institute. It was commissioned by the Jazz Institute of Chicago and won a rave review in the Chicago Tribune: "Though some minor flaws need to be addressed, Chicago flutist Nicole Mitchell's 'Honoring Grace: Michelle Obama' emerged as...

With the hard economic times comes the art of stealing cars/motorcycles/boats/campers for a living.No it is not a job that I want my grandchildren to share with thier schoolmates/friends.Most people look down on my proffession,but that is how I pay my bills.I try so hard to be professional about the job(not to bring embarassement to the debtors)I often spend many hours on the phone and knocking on the doors of the the people who promised the bank to pay!Sometimes they co-operate and give me the keys,other times I have to steal it like a thief in the night. Did you...

State Dept. awards 30 grants, but students stuck on islandCuban students who were supposed to travel to the States to study courtesy of U.S.-funded scholarships have been denied visa requests by the Castro regime, reported the Miami Herald. A total of about 30 students from the island were to be part of the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs scholarship program, which is available to students around the world who are interested in studying at an American university. Agricultural science, business management, and journalism were just a few of the fields students were encouraged to explore at...

Lifestyles of the hip and famous keep on rolling for the world-champion Chula Vista Park View Little Leaguers. The boys were bused to Burbank yesterday for an appearance last night on “The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.” Never mind that most of the 12- and 13-year-olds didn't know Conan O'Brien from Conan the Barbarian. “Nope,” said Park View second baseman Bulla Graft. “Never heard of him.” After O'Brien's monologue and Sandra Bullock's appearance to promote her new movie, up to the stage stepped all 12 players, wearing baby-blue T-shirts and gray baseball pants — and earning the audience's hearty applause.

*Sigh* Haven't been there in several months, thought I'd take a look. Top story: Meanwhile, over at the far right fever swamp called Free Republic, denizens are openly supporting the white supremacist British National Party: British National Party Forced To Admit Non-Whites. To: Steelfish You most certainly don’t have freedom of associaton in America. Well maybe if you’re non-white you do. 5 posted on September 3, 2009 8:18:55 PM PDT by American Silver Eagle [...] To: Steelfish Freedom of Association is supposed to be party of the Constitution but white people are currently not allowed to declare their neighborhoods “for...

From Andrea Shea King's website:Pamela Geller, publisher of the well-known and highly trafficked Atlas Shrugs website, was in Orlando FL this week for the hearing for Rifqa Bary, the 17-year old Ohio teen who converted to Christianity from her Muslim roots.Tonight Pamela joins us for a special Friday edition of the Andrea Shea King Show to give us the true story -- the one the mainstream media is not reporting -- about this young woman and the forces of evil arrayed against her. Rifka is fighting for her life. And for her faith.Listen live here!

The biggest problem with the Book of Mormon is that it exists, says Sen. Bob Bennett...The Republican senator from Utah is the author of "Leap of Faith," which was recently released by Deseret Book...Bennett didn't like the way the Book of Mormon was represented in media coverage leading up to the 2002 Winter Olympics... "The tenor of the articles that kind of started me on this was that no one of any intelligence could believe the incredibly outlandish story about angels and gold plates, that any person with the slightest bit of education would reject this out of hand," he...