Free Republic

The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology issued an alarming report on swine flu last week. A typical front-page article about it began, "Swine flu could infect half the U.S. population this fall and winter, hospitalizing up to 1.8 million people and causing as many as 90,000 deaths." But the council's "plausible scenario" involving those alarming figures is based on three main assumptions, and all three are highly suspect...

Political momentum appeared to swing sharply against the public health insurance option prized by liberals Tuesday, on the eve of President Barack Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate on Tuesday signaled they are increasingly willing to pass healthcare reform without a public insurance option, even while Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) again insisted it must be included in a House healthcare bill. Following a White House meeting with the president and Vice President Joe Biden, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) gave few clues on what Obama would say. But...

Legislation introduced to ban 'czars' By Eric Zimmermann - 09/09/09 10:41 AM ET House Republicans have introduced legislation to stop the proliferation of so-called "czars". Introduced by Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), the "Czar Accountability and Reform Act," which you can read here, would prevent funding for any office headed by an "individual who has been inappropriately appointed to such position...without the advice and consent of the Senate." The controversy over appointed czars flared up in recent weeks when Republicans took aim at Van Jones, Obama's "Green Jobs Czar," who had made a number of controversial statements before being appointed to...

...All of this worries Cass Sunstein, author of Republic.com. A First Amendment scholar at the University of Chicago Law School, he fears that the Internet is contributing to a fragmentation of public discourse that is undermining democracy. For democracy to work, Sunstein says, it's important that citizens be exposed to many alternative viewpoints, occasionally encountering information that is unexpected or even jarring. They were more likely to get that exposure, Sunstein says, when they read the same newspapers and magazines, watched the same TV news, and spent more time in public spaces like parks, where they met people with contrasting...

BBC News anchor fails to pause with an amusing outcome... Click Here

Dozens of convicted Islamic terrorists are back on the streets after being freed early from jail. Taxpayers now face a multi-million pound bill to keep tabs on the dangerous fanatics as 20 are set free and another 75 terrorists are due to be released over the next few years. Among them are Muslim extremists jailed for offences including planning to kill soldiers, attending terror training camps and helping suicide bombers. Most of those convicted of terrorism offences received short fixed jail terms and were released after serving two thirds of their sentence. But because of continuing concerns about the threat...

Each of the following news reports does not provide a crucial piece of information, but simply assumes it. Can you spot what’s missing?...

If you tuned in to the soap "One Life to Live" this week, you may have noticed there's been a change of character. One character in particular. Actress Patricia Mauceri says she was fired and abruptly replaced for objecting to a gay storyline because of her religious beliefs. Mauceri played the recurring role of Carlotta Vega on "OLTL" for the last 14 years. But when she objected to how the writers wanted her deeply religious character, a Latina mother, to handle a storyline involving homosexuality, she objected. And for that she claims she was fired. Mauceri, 59, a devout Christian,...

CINCINNATI (AP) - The Cincinnati Bengals are suing 31 former players who filed workers compensation claims against the team in California. Unlike most other states, California allows for insurance payments to workers who can show they suffered trauma that compounded over a period of time.

Obama: I was too ambiguous on healthcare reform By Sam Youngman - 09/09/09 09:34 AM ET President Barack Obama said Wednesday he has left “too much ambiguity” in what he wants for healthcare reform, allowing his opponents to control the message. The morning before his address on healthcare to a joint session of Congress, Obama said he took a relatively hands-off approach “out of an effort to give Congress the ability to do their thing and not step on their toes.” That allowed “opponents of reform to come in and to fill up the airwaves with a lot of nonsense...

AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, serving humanity simply by showing up, and he’s not retiring until every American agrees with him, do NOT doubt him, with shrieks of joy at the mere mention of his name...

Petition that is being delivered today. They are every near their goal of 1.3 million signatures. They are VERY CLOSE to that number. They will be printing this and deliver it to Congress at 2pm today (on a gurney)! http://www.freeourhealthcarenow.com/

Obama didn't come up with the idea of pushing ideology through school children. The link is merely to the book seller site. Not actual text. Here's a bit from a review at The Militant: Youth must march in the vanguard, Guevara insists throughout, taking on the hardest tasks in every endeavor. That is the only road toward becoming leaders of other women and men—just as the officers in the Rebel Army won their stripes on the battlefield. Youth must learn to lead not only their peers, but revolutionists older than themselves as well. You must be a model "for older...

I had a really bad thought, and I want to post this for some discussion. I pray this weekend will be peaceful everywhere, but the potential for this scenario. Tonight, the Supreme Leader, His Obama-ness is giving a speech on his (party’s) Health Care takeoverReform plan. Her Highness, Empress Pelosi says she has the votes to pass this mess. They could have a vote as early as tomorrow morning on this. This Congress is known for passing stuff with little or no debate this year (Porkulus, the budget, etc.) The Senate could take this up as early as Thursday afternoon,...

Since hitting their lows back in March, financial markets have rallied in the wake of last year's financial crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is up 43 percent since March 9. But can it last? It could be all given up with this rate of government spending according to CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer. Cramer, responding to a viewer e-mail on his Sept.8 program, explained what a higher national debt would mean to the average citizen and investors in the near and long term. He said expect the market to go down and higher taxes eventually. ...more (w/video)...

'I never wear sunscreen', says former Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson as she reveals her ageing face By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 09th September 2009 Pamela Anderson cut a still enviable figure in a tiny yellow bikini as she and her boyfriend surfer Jamie Padgett enjoyed a day on the beach. And in the most unforgiving of bikinis she looked much younger than her 42-years...when seen from behind that is. But the same could not be said when she revealed her tired, lined face and it seems that she only has herself to blame. [Pic in URL] The 42-year-old revealed that she...

President Wants Bill Passed Soon While White House spokesman Robert Gibbs today refrained from telling reporters whether President Obama in his speech Wednesday night will set a deadline for passing health care reform, sources tell ABC News that in his private meeting with Democratic congressional leaders this afternoon the key word was urgency. The president told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that it is important for them to pass health care reform bills soon, the sources said. Both leaders told the president that despite the difficult rough and tumble of the legislative process...

Here is a video snippet from a BBC News broadcast where anchor Jonathan Charles didn't quite read the punctuation correctly on the teleprompter! Those periods and pauses can be critical! . . . (VIDEO)

banner only

Arrest warrants have been issued in Miami for 11 people suspected of falsifying information on hundreds of voter registration cards last year. The FBI and state authorities were making arrests Wednesday. The workers being sought were hired to register voters by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. Prosecutors say they were first notified by ACORN about problems with workers in June 2008. Republicans and conservative activists have accused ACORN of fraud in voter registration drives around the country. ACORN officials say the Florida case proves the organization is committed to an honest process. The case involved...