Free Republic

Boston's Hancock Tower and the coming commercial real estate crisis. ___ [The Hancock Tower doesn't seem like a place where several hundred million dollars can vanish in a few months. But that's exactly what happened at the 62-story building, now under its fourth owner in six years. In January, an aggressive young wheeler-dealer defaulted on a portion of the building's $1.3 billion mortgage just 24 months after buying it. In March, two firms that had purchased chunks of the tower's second mortgage for pennies on the dollar assumed control, essentially rendering up to $400 million of debt worthless. The Hancock's...

WASHINGTON — Obama aide Van Jones resigns as environmental adviser amid controversy over past statements.

(IsraelNN.com) Virulent anti-Semitic content thrives on a Dutch social media website used by nearly half of the entire population of Holland, according to a report released Thursday. Yet, many of the online instigators appear to be Dutch-speaking Arabs. Many of the online instigators appear to be Dutch-speaking Arabs. The report, produced by investigators from Yad VaShem, the Dutch-language Israel Facts Monitorgroup and the Network on Anti-Semitism based in the Netherlands, was provided to all the political parties in the Netherlands, as well as to members of the Dutch government. As the Internet is becoming an increasingly important and influential facet...

Afghanistan - A New York Times journalist visiting the site of the deadly Nato airstrike in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz was kidnapped along with his Afghan interpreter on Saturday, the provincial governor said. The journalist, who went to talk to villagers in Omarkhel village in the Chardarah district was kidnapped by Taliban militants, Mohammad Omar, the provincial governor, told the German Press Agency dpa. [...] A Taliban commander in Chardarah district confirmed to dpa that their fighters caught the journalist along with his translator in Easakhel village of the district on Saturday morning. He said the Taliban leadership...

CARACAS, Venezuela — Tens of thousands marched through Venezuela's capital on Saturday to protest what they call growing authoritarianism by President Hugo Chavez. A few thousand of the president's backers held a separate counter-rally to express support for the government's policies. Anti-Chavez protesters, many of them wearing white, filled the streets of Caracas, denouncing recent arrests of opposition members for alleged violence during protests and a new education law that critics fear could lead to indoctrination in schools. "It's very concerning because education is Venezuela's future," said 23-year-old engineering student Carlos Delgado, who also complained of soaring inflation and rampant...

NEW YORK: Former world number one Maria Sharapova was ousted in the third round of the US Open on Saturday, with US teen giant-killer Melanie Oudin eliminating the three-time Grand Slam champion 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Oudin, two weeks shy of her 18th birthday, will play for a berth in the quarter-finals against Russian 13th seed Nadia Petrova after her third upset of a top player in two Grand Slams. "I'm just so happy," the tearful teen said. "I just kept fighting as hard as I could. I tried as hard as I could. I just came in believing." The magical...

September 6, 2009                                 Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Is 35:4-7a Thus says the LORD:Say to those whose hearts are frightened:Be strong, fear not!Here is your God,he comes with vindication;with divine recompensehe comes to save you.Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,the ears of the deaf be cleared;then will the lame leap like a stag,then the tongue of the mute will sing.Streams will burst forth in the desert,and rivers in the steppe.The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water. Responsorial PsalmPs...

Van Jones is President Obama's green-jobs "czar," and a highly respected figure in his field. He recently invited the unflinching scrutiny of Glenn Beck when the group he co-founded, Color of Change, began pressuring advertisers to drop their support of Beck's Fox News show. In retaliation, Beck's supporters unearthed an old video a few days ago in which Jones refers to Republicans as "@$$holes." Yawn, right? What else you got? Well, plenty! It turns out this Van Jones character was either not vetted at all, or vetted but seemingly without any concern for the skeletons that turned up (which really...

VAN JONES CUT A CD... The CD starred Van Jones and cop killer Mumia abu-Jamal. Jones used his Ella Baker Center for Human Rights to found Freedom Fighter Music, the label WarTimes appeared on. WarTimes is also the name of an anti-war-on-al-Qaeda propaganda newspaper Jones helped organize. The album featured cop killer Mumia abu-Jamal. * * * * * Unbelievable! Barack Obama's wacky communist-Truther Green Czar who hated Bush, whitey and capitalism also spent some time in the music studio. While he was director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights Van Jones cut a vile CD against whites,...

LOS ANGELES — Matt Barkley's first pass at USC went for minus-2 yards. His first four series with the Trojans resulted in two fumbles, two punts and a 3-0 deficit to San Jose State. A typical freshman quarterback surely would have tensed up at this burgeoning Coliseum calamity. Instead, Barkley showed why coach Pete Carroll insists there's nothing ordinary about his teenage starter — although the Trojans will find out a whole lot more next week at Ohio State. Barkley passed for 233 yards after a slow start to his USC debut, and the No. 4 Trojans' fleet of tailbacks...

Remember last month with an unexpected drop to 9.4% Obama claimed his stimulus plan had saved us from "catastrophe?" Ooops! Spoke too soon!Here's the headline from August: Obama: We Saved Economy From 'Catastrophe' It's The First Drop In Unemployment Since Last Year; Strong Sign Recession Is Ending CBS News Aug 7, 2009 President Barack Obama is welcoming an improved national employment report, saying his administration has "rescued our economy from catastrophe."In an appearance on the White House Rose Garden, Obama applauded a Labor Department report earlier Friday saying that the jobless rate declined to 9.4 percent from 9.5 percent a...

Clearly this organization lost its way a long, long time ago... The NAACP, a once great human rights group, released a statement today in support of Barack Obama's communist-Truther, whitey-hating, Jew-hating, cop killer supporting, Green czar in the White House. Van Jones and killer Mumia al-Jamal released a hate-filled music album together. Instead, the NAACP is blaming Glenn Beck.

It was 4:30 in the morning on Sept. 5, 1972, when five Arab terrorists wearing track sweat suits climbed the six-foot six-inch fence surrounding the Olympic Village. Although they were seen by several people, no one thought anything was unusual since athletes routinely hopped the fence; moreover, the terrorists' weapons were hidden in athletic bags. These five were met by three more men who are presumed to have obtained credentials to enter the village. The Palestinians then used stolen keys to enter two apartments being used by the Israeli team at 31 Connollystraße.Israeli wrestling referee Yossef Gutfreund heard a faint...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — B.W. Webb had three interceptions and William & Mary shut down Virginia's new spread offense in a 26-14 win on Saturday.

In its essay "Lets Have It Out On Single Payer", the Treatyist argues that Republicans should go on the offensive on health care by introducing a comprehensive package to allow market forces to work in the health market. Democrats claim that the present health system is a free market failure. The fact is, the health insurance system is riddled with market distortions. Our free market plan is roughly as follows: 1. Get rid of non-risk "coverage" mandates that pervade health insurance. Health insurance should be for catastrophic risk. Routine medical visits and other "wellness" features belong in discount plans, not...

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan rejected accusations its army illegally modified American-made missiles to increase its land-strike capability, denying Sunday that it reconfigured anti-ship weapons in a way that could target India. The denial was in response to a news report that the Obama administration made a diplomatic protest to Pakistan's prime minister over the alleged alterations to the anti-ship missiles Islamabad bought in the 1980s. Nuclear-armed Pakistan is a key U.S. ally in fighting the Taliban and hunting down al-Qaida terrorist leaders along its northwestern border with Afghanistan. However, it's aggressive weapons development and antagonistic relations with giant neighbor India, also...

I just saw this advertised on Nickelodeon television. The Lefturds are working overtime to brainwash your children! Tune into Get Schooled: You Have the Right on Nick at Nite, NickToons, The N, all other MTV & BET Networks U.S. channels. Airdate: Tuesday, September 8 [8:00 PM EST] – teacher.nick.com Get Schooled: You Have the Right is a 30-minute special that highlights the education challenges and breakthroughs of well-know personalities The President of the United States Barack Obama, pop superstar Kelly Clarkson and 2009 NBA MVP LeBron James. This unprecedented education special tells the stories of three professionals who serve as...

VIDEO: Congressman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., has become a YouTube sensation for his passionate opening statement during a hearing about health care reform. The video has drawn more than 2.3 million views on YouTube.

Cherie Blair has revealed an unexpected upside to leaving Downing Street – her figure doesn’t get compared with that of Carla Bruni. Speaking of French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s wife, who was famously photographed from behind on the steps of a Spanish palace in April, Mrs Blair said: ‘I am very happy to not have been in Downing Street when Carla Bruni came on an official visit.