Free Republic

A Wichita priest was arrested early Friday and jailed for sex crimes at a local park. Father Doug Campbell, 64, is the pastor at St. Jude Parish in North Wichita. The news spread very quickly Friday afternoon among parishioners at the church in the 3000 block of North Amidon. Father Campbell was arrested during a sex crimes sting at Oak Park. "I believe there was undercover and surveillance both used in this incident," said Wichita Police Captain Darrell Haynes. Campbell was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail at 4:40 Friday morning and posted bail. He was held on charges of...

Stephanie Kahn wanted to bask in her engagement for a few hours before diving into the task of calling aunts, uncles and good friends with the big news. And even before she could call them, she had a surprise party to attend, one that her fiance had set up for their parents and her "closest group of girlfriends." That party was when Kahn lost control of her news. Some of the guests took photos and were "uploading them on Facebook before I could even post anything," Kahn said from Smyrna, Ga., where she lives. "Of course the next morning I...

Two Canadian soldiers killed and five injured in an explosive device strikeCEFCOM NR–09.023 - September 6, 2009OTTAWA – Two Canadian soldiers were killed and five injured when an improvised explosive device detonated near their armoured vehicle in the vicinity of Dand District, approximately 14 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City at around 12:00 p.m., Kandahar time, on 6 September 2009. Killed in action was Corporal Jean-François Drouin from 5e Régiment du génie de combat serving as a member of the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment Battle Group based in Valcartier, Quebec. Killed in action was Major Yannick Pépin also from 5e...

Millions of Americans who shop at Costco receive the retail giant’s monthly magazine The Costco Connection. I have to confess however that my copy of the publication usually never makes it past the garage. Not so the recent August issue, which promotes on the cover a “Back to School” series of essays for parents and children. Since one of the essays promised to take on the issue of bullying, I decided to take a closer look. Bullies seem to be everywhere these days. From the schoolyard to the political arena thugs young and old have been learning that threats and...

The Easton Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People wants the State Theatre to cancel a talk by television bloviator Glenn Beck. Granted, Beck is a pompous little troll, has no self control on the air and will regret, over time, being defined as the man who called America's first black president a racist. But he is what he is, a TV talking head who is now being marketed as an entertainer. At any one moment he's no different than Bill O'Reilly, Keith Olbermann or Lou Dobbs. They all, to one degree or another, market degrees...

Hello everyone, I hope that you are enjoying a wonderful holiday weekend. I am new here and posting to get your thoughts on a piece that I have written recently regarding my take on the state of the nation from a historic and biblically submissive perspective. If this is your cup of tea, I would greatly appreciate your checking out the following excerpt and then, if you like, click on the accompanying link to continue reading and post your thoughts. I greatly appreciate any thoughts or feedback that you might provide. Thanks for your time and kind consideration! Here is...

The Iraqi Government has a problem, a problem partially of their making. They do not have an air defense capability and the US is departing soon. It takes years to build a legitimate air defense capability and Iraq does not have the time. Since 2006, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense has been briefing about a three phased series of five-year plans for Iraqi Security Force development. In May 2009, the Iraqi Minister of Defense stated that Phase 2 and Phase 3 will be delayed given current funding. - Phase 1 (2006-2010): Tactical Independence. This means the ability for the Iraqi...

NEW HAVEN — A couple who had their electric service under the name and Social Security number of the woman’s deceased infant have been charged with stealing more than $4,000 in electricity over about four years, police said. Felipe Cordero, 62, and the woman believed to be his wife, Lillian Cordero, 44, face numerous charges and were released on a promise to appear in court, although the date was not available. Felipe Cordero is charged with third-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit third-degree larceny. Lillian Cordero, in addition to those charges, is charged with falsely reporting an incident and third-degree...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer is preparing to introduce climate-change legislation that would significantly alter the course of the nation's energy policy. Passage of the bill would represent a defining moment -- both for the effort to curb global warming through pollution limits and for Boxer herself as she readies for what could be a tough 2010 re-election bid. The California Democrat and part-time Riverside County resident will attempt to shepherd the bill through a conflicted Senate by the end of the year, when world leaders are scheduled to hold climate-change talks at a United Nations summit in Copenhagen....

Do We Really Need A Green Job Czar? The Spanish government's renewable energy initiatives have destroyed 2.2 jobs for every new "green" job created, concludes a new study by economics professor Gabriel Calzada of King Juan Carlos University in Madrid. Calzada says American jobs will suffer the same fate if the United States similarly attempts to promote renewable energy at the expense of conventional energy sources.

After a month of the American people voicing unrelenting outrage to their elected representatives about the level of spending, debt and government intervention in their lives, a beleaguered and unpopular congressional majority returns to its haven of Washington this week. Incredibly, the first item on the Senate agenda is a bill to create a new and unnecessary government tourism advertising agency. Call it Fannie Travel. The $400 million Travel Promotion Fund, set to be created if the Senate passes the Travel Promotion Act (TPA) this week, is perhaps the perfect illustration of the disconnect between the American people and their...

Battling an intensely hot fire after a cargo truck crashed on a Wyoming highway, emergency crews were surprised to find themselves being shot at - by corks from exploding wine bottles inside. 'The corks were popping out of the bottles like the old Jiffy Pop (popcorn) we grew up with,' Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Scott Keane said, bringing an unnecessarily obscure cultural reference into proceedings. 'My trooper got hit in the arm with one,' he added.

In a last effort to give the Senate a bipartisan health care bill, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee circulated a comprehensive proposal on Sunday to overhaul the health care system and proposed a new fee on insurance companies to help pay for coverage of the uninsured. ... The proposal by Mr. Baucus does not include a public option, or a government-run insurance plan, to compete with private insurers, as many Democrats want. ... It remains to be seen how Mr. Baucus’s plan might mesh with any proposals Mr. Obama lays out as he tries to pump up support...

Bankers will see their pay-outs curtailed after G20 ministers agreed at the weekend to limit them to sucessful deals. The groundbreaking agreement has been designed to limit the negative economic effects of deals which go wrong and help the global recovery continue to take hold. The Chancellor Alistair Darling said the new clawback measures would mean financial companies are "focused on long-term sustainability and strength" and would result in staff not being "rewarded for reckless behaviour". However a plan put forward by the German and French governments to cap bankers' pay was rejected as a result of protests from the...

Americans have rarely seen war. Even during the World Wars, only a relatively small number of Americans saw war up close. Since the advent of television we have all seen war principally through the eye of the TV camera, reliant on others to sift through the information to present what they deem appropriate to see. One man decided that this was not good enough for him and changed how we understand war forever. Jake Rademacher is not some detached Hollywood actor seeking greater meaning in his life. He had two brothers in Iraq. Jake had wanted to attend West Point,...

When asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether Barack Obama had ordered the resignation of green czar Van Jones, White House senior advisor David Axelrod retorted: "Absolutely not -- this was Van Jones' own decision.” Axelrod’s answer is telling. His defiant tone suggests that the thought of firing Jones had never been entertained by President Obama, thus protecting Obama’s image among the radical left. On the other hand, Axelrod’s response might be the product of a special arrangement with Jones – a man who probably knows more than we do about some of Obama’s deepest convictions. Most disturbing however is...

Top 'terrorism suspect' freed: report LONDON (AFP) – The government has released a man it considers a top dangerous terrorist suspect from virtual house arrest, possibly to avoid disclosing secret evidence against him, a report said Monday. The unnamed man has been closely monitored and his movements severely restricted since 2006 because of his alleged links with Islamic terrorists, although he has never been charged, the Times said. His control order, which confines him to his home for 16 hours a day, was revoked last week and his electronic monitoring tag removed, despite government claims that he remains a threat,...

Monday will be a nice day off. The kids will enjoy it and we can have some family time. Whether I work or don't work, however, the day is not for me. It is not for most of us. It is a holiday to celebrate unions. For me I guess it will be like it is for an atheist on Christmas Day. For most Americans it is just a day off. Union membership in the private sector is so low that we are unlikely to even think about it. (Again, it is like Christmas - a lot of people celebrate,...

Freepers, here is a poll that needs FReeping,entitled "Poll: Should Obama's speech be aired in Asheville and Buncombe schools?" on a lefty blog.