Free Republic

tran·scen·den·tal (trnsn-dntl)adj. 1. Philosophy a. Concerned with the a priori or intuitive basis of knowledge as independent of experience. b. Asserting a fundamental irrationality or supernatural element in experience. 2. Surpassing all others; superior. 3. Beyond common thought or experience; mystical or supernatural. 4. Mathematics Of or relating to a real or complex number that is not the root of any polynomial that has positive degree and rational coefficients

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Many Las Cruces residents are angry and feel disrespected after an East Mesa man has been flying a U.S. flag upside down underneath a flag with a swastika on it. The man responsible for flying the flags said it's not meant to disrespect anyone, but rather make a statement. Army National Guard Specialist Anthony Del Bozque said he had to go back and take a closer look at what he was looking at when driving by on Highway 70. “I wanted to go take it down, I wanted to go knock on his door and find...

He really is magic. In the time it took President Obama to speak 510 words, 17 million previously uninsured people got a visit from the Aetna Fairy. There are now more than 30 million American citizens who cannot get coverage. The man giving the speech was an identical twin of the man who just spent the entire summer reciting the phrase "47 million uninsured Americans" as if it were a mantra given to him by his guru. He'd scarcely begun when the "47" became a "30" and no one inside the "Cone of Unquestioning" noticed. Other than the Hope and...

Der Leader had this to say after his speech, it was not only found on his blog, but it was also sent via E-mail ... "Not the first, but the last" I just finished laying out my plan for health reform at a joint session of Congress. Now, I'm writing directly to you because what happens next is critical -- and I need your help. Change this big will not happen because I ask for it. It can only come when the nation demands it. Congress knows where I stand. Now they need to hear from you. Add your voice:...

Did Obama make it or break it this evening? Yeah, that's the been the big run-up to this speech tonight. This was supposedly a do or die situation for Obama. Our media placed a lot of confidence this last week in Obama's oratory skills but even they understand he's probably not going to get this done. I'll tell you what, I don't think many Americans actually watched this thing this evening. The majority of the country understands that this debate is already over. Obama had his chance and he basically blew it. They don't trust Obama on this issue. This...

In the parallel universe occupied by many left-of-center Americans, the increasingly controversial Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is a high-minded poor people’s group similar to crusading civil rights groups of the 1960s. They believe ACORN is a public-spirited organization that registers the poor to vote and encourages citizen involvement in morally uplifting projects and community development. They believe it spurs production of affordable housing, protects tenants’ rights, keeps unjustly exploited borrowers in their homes and rages against predatory lenders. They believe it fights for the rights of workers, immigrants and utility ratepayers. But it does so much...

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. ...charges of ...carrying a concealed weapon after a pocketknife was found in his shorts...

Giving themselves a standing ovation, aldermen eagerly jumped onto Mayor Richard Daley's Olympics bandwagon today, unanimously approving a measure that *** places the responsibility for cost overruns on taxpayers if Chicago hosts the 2016 Summer Games.*** The endorsement allows Daley to go to Copenhagen in three weeks and tell the International Olympic Committee that the council sent "a very strong message" of support for Chicago's bid, despite tepid public support for playing host and strong opposition to providing an unlimited financial guarantee. The 49-0 vote also put an end to a rare moment of vocal council dissent this summer when...

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I have been sitting quietly on the sidelines watching all of this national debate on healthcare. It is time for me to bring some clarity to the table by explaining many of the problems from the perspective of a doctor. First off, the government has involved very few of us physicians in the healthcare debate. While the American Medical Association has come out in favor of the plan, it is vital to remember that the AMA only represents 17% of the American physician workforce.

A few days ago Van Jones, President Barack Obama's adviser on ‘green jobs,’ resigned his post -- apparently in the middle of the night during the Labour Day holiday weekend -- after a series of astonishing comments he had made came to light. As the Wall Street Journal reported: Mr. Jones has been in the center of a maelstrom on conservative radio and television talk shows since a video surfaced last week showing him calling Republicans a vulgar epithet. Since then, other controversies have emerged, such as Mr. Jones saying black students would have never committed a massacre such as...

President Obama's healthcare address to Congress displayed the oratorical gift he once revealed to Harry Reid. But the gift has stopped giving. In an updated version of his biography, Senator Reid tells of a conversation he once had with then Senator Obama about a speech Obama delivered on President Bush's war policy. Reid said to Obama, "That speech was phenomenal, Barack." Obama replied, "I have a gift, Harry." On the campaign trail, Obama's "gift" was his strong suit. His go-to skill. The one that swooned crowds and evoked emotional dedication from his followers. After eight years of a president who...

The all-consuming debate over health care has effectively sucked all of the oxygen out of the policy world leaving little room for discussion, let alone action on other major elements of the progressive agenda—or so it would seem. The mammoth bills winding their way through Congress will certainly upend our health care sector, if they are enacted. Little known, however, are several provisions that will provide an enormous pay-off to one of the Democrat parties most loyal constituency—Big Labor.

President Obama's speech to Congress last night can be summed up rather easily. It was 40 minutes of boilerplate followed by a socko, emotional finish exploiting the death of Senator Teddy Kennedy. Which leads to this question: was Obama's finishing kick sufficient to achieve his goal of "reframing" the national debate on health care that hasn't been going his way? I don't think so. Obama didn't come close to offering a persuasive explanation of how he'd pay for ObamaCare. And that remains his biggest problem. He promises much, much more in guaranteed health benefits and says it will cost less....

US automaker General Motors has called a press conference on Thursday in Berlin to unveil its plans for the German unit Opel, the head of Opel's works committee told German television. The GM briefing would take place at 1230 GMT, Klaus Franz told the public station ZDF, following a GM board meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in the United States. GM negotiator John Smith was to inform the German government of the US group's decision before the news conference. Berlin still officially supports a bid for Opel by the Canadian auto parts maker Magna, backed by the Russian bank Sberbank,...

It's Gannett...you know the drill.

"The liquid bomb plot 'terror banker' still walking free in London as Yard chief accuses U.S. of rushing investigation" By DAILY MAIL REPORTER Last updated at 2:26 PM on 08th September 2009 SNIPPET: "And it also emerged today that a suspected key figure in the plot is still at large in Britain despite being pinpointed as an Al Qaeda financier with links both to the airline plan and the 21/7 bombers." SNIPPET: "Intelligence sources in the UK have indicated it was surveillance of Mohammed Al Ghabra, 29, who first led them to the airline plotters. He is suspected of being...

The problem with the healthcare debate is that it’s really not even about healthcare anymore. It has evolved. What was once a debate about the Utopian goal of covering millions more people with better care at less cost---a quixotic errand if there ever was one---has given way to the real show: will Obama crack if he fails? The healthcare debate has evolved into a test of wills between a petulant child trying to get his way long after his exasperated parents have said NO. Our young narcissist-in-chief gave a good speech last night, but no less was expected. He gives...

The shadowy internet group known as Anonymous has hacked into the prime minister's website to protest over proposed internet censorship reforms. An Attorney-General's Department spokesperson confirmed to ninemsn the Prime Minister's website was taken down at 7.25pm last night, but said the site was operational again "within minutes". "Visitors to the site received a service unavailable error," the spokesperson said in a statement. "There was no unauthorised access to site infrastructure." The Australian Communications and Media Authority's website was also affected. A message posted on the Inquisitor website by Anonymous stated that the action was in response to a federal...

As I watched the tea party protests and crowded town halls, I couldn't help but think of President Reagan. For millions of us, the dismal Carter era sparked a similar political awakening, and Ronald Reagan was the key. He wasn't the source of our new vision, but he knew the source and pointed the way. He understood the trials ahead, and regularly explained them to us. Back then, most young Americans – like so many today – didn't understand what had happened to our country. We didn't fully realize the nature of "liberalism" (especially those of us who were Democrats)...