Free Republic

I had to take a time out to send a little message to my friend Jack Cafferty at CNN. He has a blog post focusing on Van Jones and asking if the White House should have so many czars. SNIP The conservative attack on Jones, a swift-boating and a smearing that left Jones with a new national identity to build from. Yes, he's got to overcome the YouTubing he's gotten and he can do this with, well, new videos. Van's not the radical he was in the past, but you know what, Sean Hannity's not cavorting with the White Supremacist...

It's been a week of change for Caster Semenya, the South African runner at the center of a gender controversy at last month's world track championships. First, one of her South African coaches quit the team in shame for not telling Semenya that she was being subjected to gender tests. (Semenya had thought she was taking a doping test.) Then, Semenya appeared on the cover of South Africa's You magazine with a complete makeover designed to silence critics who insist she is a man. For the shoot Semenya sported a less ambiguous hair style, a designer black dress, jewelry, makeup...

MADEIRA BEACH — A 41-year-old man who witnesses said had been drinking since 9 a.m. was arrested Monday afternoon after authorities say he created a disturbance by pretending to drown and throw jellyfish on teenagers. Keith Edward Marriott, of 100 154th Ave. in Madeira Beach, faces charges of disorderly intoxication and carrying a concealed weapon after a pocketknife was found in his shorts. Marriott repeatedly submerged himself and floated to the surface, then he started throwing sea creatures.

Father-son time T.K. cuddled with his son for hours, telling boyhood stories of pranks and adventures and father-son trips. He carried Thomas into their garage to show him all his tools and walked barefoot with him in their front yard to let him feel the breeze and smell fresh-cut grass and hear the songbirds. On Wednesday morning, T.K. saw a neighbor walking a miniature collie past the Lauxes' two-story, brown brick home. He took Thomas out to introduce him to the middle-aged stranger and his dog. He knelt down to let Thomas see the collie. He teared up as the...

For federal contractors, it is time to start checking whether employees are able to work legally in the United States.Beginning Tuesday, the U.S. government was requiring federal contractors to use the E-Verify system to check the immigration and citizenship status of the people they hire and assign to new federal contracts."Don't panic about this. You do have time, but the time will pass quickly, so vigilance is important," Bonnie Gibson, a partner with New York-based Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy law firm, told hundreds of contractors who dialed in to a conference call last week for an explanation of...

September 8, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - True love consists in presenting the saving truths that the Lord has entrusted to His Church with clarity and precision, without any concessions to the spirit of the world. This duty is not only incumbent to the Hierarchy, but to all Catholics and in particular to the persons who have a position of social and political leadership; they have to manifest these teachings and, more importantly, their lives have to be lead in coherence with those teachings. There is no doubt that example and coherence of life are much more eloquent than a thousand words....

I've been looking for some reasonable estimates. Someone just called me to see if I was going, which I am, and said that it could be a million plus. Personally, if we get 50,000 plus marching on Saturday I'd be very happy.

Deal has U.S. taxpayers subsidizing British distillery on St. Croixby Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten/Los Angeles Times Tuesday September 08, 2009, 6:00 AM With little fanfare, a deal is moving forward to direct billions in U.S. tax dollars to an unlikely beneficiary -- the giant British liquor producer that makes Captain Morgan rum. Under the agreement, Diageo of London will receive tax credits and other benefits worth $2.7 billion over 30 years, including the entire $165 million cost of building a state-of-the-art distillery on the island of St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, a U.S. territory. Virgin Islands officials say...

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Here is video of Glenn Beck's opening segment today, where he reacted to the resignation of Van Jones over the weekend. Beck hammered Van Jones all week last week, exposing his radical views. The second video is a later segment in the show today where Beck said bluntly the Left is already trying to destroy him. He said he is a recovering alcoholic, and that he has done some bad things in his life. But he had a "pivot point" in 1995 and took four years to make major changes in his life. It is clear Beck is expecting all...

Republicans want President Obama to hit the "reset" button on health care reform when he addresses Congress Wednesday night. But if the president's fiery speech to the AFL-CIO Monday is any gauge, he's planning to crank up the volume instead. In doing so, the president will be upping the ante in the debate, effectively hinging progress on his own magnetism and talent for persuasion -- rather than the merit of the policy proposals he's left up to Congress since taking office. The question in the coming weeks will be whether that magnetism will be enough to overcome public discontent and...

A report released Sunday says two of five working-age Californians do not have a job, underscoring the challenges in one of the toughest job markets in decades. A new study has found that the last time employment levels among this group were this low was February 1977.

Fellow liberals, let's be honest with ourselves. For weeks, the race-baiting right-winger Glenn Beck and his ilk had been gunning for Van Jones, a highly respected White House adviser on green jobs whose former organization, Colour of Change, is a leading force behind an advertiser boycott of Beck's programme on the Fox News channel. Beck and company not only won, they won cleanly: they discovered that, in 2004, Jones had signed a petition calling for a probe into whether the Bush administration might have had something to do with the terrorist attacks of 11 September, 2001. The petition called "for...

41 Catholic priests have been issued a formal warning by the Vatican for signing an open letter approving the removal of food and hydration of helpless patients like Eluana Englaro. Five months ago, in a letter composed by Fr. Paolo Farinella of Genoa, the group complained that a living wills law being prepared by Prime Minister Berlusconi's government excluded the possibility that food and hydration could be withdrawn from patients by doctors to bring about their deaths. Farinella, the author of the article "The right to live a duty to die," is a well-known supporter of euthanasia. Published by Micromega,...

- Satire - dear presadint obama, how r u? i hope ur ok. thx 4 speaking 2 us in schl 2day. ms smith sed u wanted 2 no how u enspire us. well its alot! 1 thing u enspird me is 2 get better grades. i told ms smith it ain fair some kids get better grades then others. ms smith is cool she just outta collaj so she sed ok whacha gonna do. i sed we need a grade zar. i dont even no what a zar is but i lernt it from u. ms smith sed thats a...

. The president's progress with the battered economy has been both praised and criticized. How well are his efforts measuring up with you? Extremely well. We are undoubtedly moving in the right direction. Fairly well. There's still a long way to go. Not well at all. His plans are hurting more than helping. Not sure/No opinion.

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. -- Police in Shippensburg, Cumberland County are warning residents and college students about a prowler who is targeting young women as they sleep. The man enters homes of young women through unlocked doors or windows and watches them while they sleep, police said. He is described as white between 30 and 50 years old with a medium build.

BORN IN THE USA? Shocker! Judge orders trial on eligibility issue Arguments planned Jan. 11 for challenge to Obama Posted: September 08, 2009 4:42 pm Eastern By Jerome R. Corsi © 2009 WorldNetDaily Is this the footprint of baby Barack Obama? A California judge today tentatively scheduled a trial for Jan. 26, 2010, for a case that challenges Barack Obama's eligibility to be president based on questions over his qualifications under the requirements of the U.S. Constitution. If the case actually goes to arguments before U.S. District Judge David Carter, it will be the first time the merits of the...

Obama to seal US-UN relationshipBy Harvey Morris at the United Nations Published: September 8 2009 19:59 | Last updated: September 8 2009 19:59 Barack Obama will cement the new co-operative relationship between the US and the United Nations this month when he becomes the first American president to chair its 15-member Security Council.The topic for the summit-level session of the council on September 24 is nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament – one of several global challenges that the US now wants to see addressed at a multinational level. EDITOR’S CHOICE Norwegian criticises UN chief’s performance - Aug-20 UN criticised over...