Free Republic

Van Jones, the administration’s “green czar,” made news early Sunday after announcing he was resigning from his post at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. It’s normally a strategic move to announce unflattering news during a long holiday weekend, but Jones’ timing seemed to be at the behest of his critics. In recent weeks, several Hill Republicans have lobbed accusations that Jones was unfit to serve in the administration because of incendiary comments he made before assuming office in February. They also cited a questionable petition he signed in 2004 alleging the 9/11 terrorist attacks may have been the...

PHILADELPHIA — Students who are accepted into Penn State University's prestigious honors college get more than academic feathers in their caps. They get $3,500 annual merit scholarships. But given the tough economic times, the school is making an unusual request: Would parents consider donating that money back? The fundraising appeal for Schreyer Honors College leans on parents who have not applied for financial aid for their children, encouraging them to share their good fortune with needier students. It appears to be working. The first appeal to 75 families last year raised about $228,000.... Some schools and states have tightened criteria...

Civilian causalities from NATO bombings in Afghanistan represent: Deliberate war crimes Inadvertent but avoidable An inevitable byproduct of a just war Overblown Click on "English" - upper left - scroll down a bit - on the right.

"I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all ***the American kids*** went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning."

I just created a group on facebook; Western Mass 912 Project. When friends enter that into search bar nothing comes up. Does anyone have a clue what I did wrong? Thanx Bill

September 7, 2009 Mass murder at 30,000 feet: Islamic extremists guilty of airline bomb plot Philippe Naughton Three British Muslims were found guilty today of conspiracy to murder thousands of passengers and crew in an unprecedented airline bomb plot that could have proved as deadly as the 9/11 attacks. After a retrial at Woolwich Crown Court, jurors found the ringleader, Abdulla Ahmed, and two other men, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain, guilty of plotting to use liquid bombs to blow up airliners en route from Heathrow to the United States. Another defendant, Umar Islam, was found guilty of a more...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Every Thursday night, Lonnie Bishop and Lisa Case have a dinner date. For $5 each, the couple dines on fancy hot dogs served from a food truck parked outside their favorite wine shop in Los Angeles. The fire engine-red truck labeled "Let's be Frank" is part of a growing fleet of mobile food vendors that serve tasty and inventive fare, often organic. The trend has drawn entrepreneurs looking for opportunities in the recession and diners seeking cheap eats. The new vehicles raise the bar from the traditional "taco trucks" that sell mainly Mexican fare at construction...

Just got in from the Morristown New Jersey Tea Party Protest so here's a trip report. We left a little bit early because my Mother was with hubby and I and it was a little hot for her, so we left a little earlier then the scheduled ending event time. Parking was a little difficult so we had to go to a parking garage, lots of cars going in and license plates from New York and Pennsylvania also. The people were SO nice that we ran into, Conservatives really are a nice bunch of people. I spoke to someone in...

President Obama makes his school speech all about himself. Uses the word "I" 56 times. Text of School Speech Below.

Obama Appoints Equivalent of Holocaust Denier as Green Jobs Czar Barack Obama's "Green Jobs Czar" has already gone under the bus but it comes as no surprise--given Jeremiah Wright's statement to the effect that the United States deserved the 9/11 terrorist attacks, along with his blood libels of the United States and Israel (which he accused of developing an ethnic bomb to kill Arabs and Negroes)--that Barack Obama would appoint the equivalent of a Holocaust denier to a position of public trust and responsibility. Now Mr. Jones signed a letter sent by the infamous 9/11 Truth organization to former New...

This comes from both the Courier Journal and USA Today so you will have to follow these links to read the stories: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090907/NEWS01/909070318/Mother+mad+coach+took+players+to+church++School+district+says+trip+was+voluntary http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-09-07-kentucky-football-trip-baptisms_N.htm

Muslims objecting to arches depicting scenes of Afzal Khans killings, broke Ganesha Idols. In addition, there were infuriating incidents of throwing beef near the Maruti Mandir and the Jain Mandir. This was followed with the breaking of vehicles owned by Hindus and attacking Hindus with swords. In retaliation, the Hindus too became aggressive. On the third day after the riots, the Hindus tried to take out a rally but Police lathi charged innocent Hindus. On the following day of Anant Chaturdashi, the Ganesha Committees were firm on their decision to immerse the Idols only after re-erection of the arch depicting...

Senate Will Soon Consider Abortion Funding in DC, for Federal Employees Washington, DC -- The campaign to stop the massive expansion of taxpayer-funding of abortions through the health care bills isn't the only abortion debate that will take place in Congress as lawmakers return from their August break. They will also consider funding abortions in the nation's capital and for federal employees. Full story and action alert at: http://www.Lifenews.com/nat5433.html

Sarah Palin ignited a political firestorm when she worried that "death panels" would deny end-of-life treatment to her son with Down syndrome. In fact, ObamaCare would more likely see to it that people like Trig never even make it out of the womb. The outlook for children found to have disabilities in utero is bleak now -- because the medical-ethics establishment has spent decades pushing for their abortion. Thanks to advances in prenatal testing, it's now far easier to detect conditions like cystic fibrosis and spina bifida -- and our "best and brightest" overwhelmingly counsel parents to destroy the unborn...

Indianapolis, IN (LifeNews.com) -- Planned Parenthood of Indiana says it will close five of its 34 centers across the state due to changes in the way the federal government allocates family planning funds. The decision to close the centers comes after an expose' found two of them hiding instances of possible statutory rape.In Indianapolis, the abortion business is closing its center near Michigan Road and 86th Street.According to a press statement, Planned Parenthood will also close facilities in Anderson, Kokomo, Franklin and Shelbyville.The centers are closing despite the record amount of money the abortion business received from the federal government...

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station and Discovery shuttle are nearly finished packing up a huge canister full of rubbish that they will return to Earth in a few days time. The Italian-built cylinder - flew up aboard Discovery with seven tons of space station supplies and equipment. It will come back filled with a ton of scrap, surplus gear and completed science experiments. On Sunday, the 13 space fliers got the night off after a week of virtually nonstop work together. Astronaut Danny Olivas, who went out on all three spacewalks, said he was looking forward to gazing out...

.....We wear such amazingly effective political blinders, don’t we? It’s always "the city," "the county," "the state," or "the country," that pays for what we want and heels to our demands. Never Bob the struggling family man. Never Jill the single mom. Never anyone we know. Never anyone we have to explain ourselves to. Such is the cold, impersonal ugliness of statism, and the subtle, de-humanizing way in which it works itself into our consciousness. Statists never stop to think about the individuals they harm because, politically speaking, individuals either don’t matter to them or else escape their notice. They...

Brazil says negotiating for French fighter jets Associated Press|Sep. 7, 2009, 12:52 PM| PrintBRASILIA (AP) — Brazil's president says his country is negotiating with France for the purchase of 36 Rafale jet fighters. An announcement released by the office of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says negotiations have begun with Dassault SA because France has offered to transfer technology as well as selling the jets. Sweden's Saab AB and Boeing Co. of the U.S. also have been competing for the Brazilian contract, which is expected to be worth about $2.2 to $2.5 billion. The announcement comes as French President...

There is no more mystery about Van Jones. He was a passionate defender of cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal, a self-satisfied and described "Communist," a supporter of the destruction of the Jewish state, and a promoter of the theory that the Katrina tragedy was a white racist plot, and so forth. That's okay with Democratic chairman Howard Dean, and Obama's Environmental Quality Council head Nancy Sutley. (See Ron Radosh's current blog for chapter and verse.) This should surprise no one. The recent heads of the black caucus in the House -- part of the 120 member "progressive caucus" -- have all...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The campaign to stop the massive expansion of taxpayer-funding of abortions through the health care bills isn't the only abortion debate that will take place in Congress as lawmakers return from their August break. They will also consider funding abortions in the nation's capital and for federal employees.Early this summer, President Obama asked members of Congress to write the federal budget bills in such as way as to allow tax-funding abortions in the District of Columbia.The House complied and approved a bill that funds abortions in Washington and then the House Appropriations Committee voted largely...