Free Republic

ASPEN, Colo. — A man was attacked by a large black bear in his Aspen home in the latest in a string of violent encounters with the animals this summer in the mountain community. Colorado Division of Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton said the man had gone to the first floor of his home to check on his three barking dogs when the bear struck him in the head.

Yes, this is a vanity, but I seriously want to know the answer to this question: Where was then-state-senator Barack Obama on September 11, 2001? Not looking for a smart-aleck answer. This is a serious question for which I hope there are serious answers.

Members of Free Republic hold candles in memory of those lost on 9/11 and in defense of our country. On Saturday, all of us here in Washington will be marching for all of you who could not be here. God Bless America We The People...

The Boston Globe is having a poll, up or down on Joe Wilson. Second page. Cast your vote! Representative Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, interrupted President Obama Wednesday night, yelling "You lie," in the middle of Obama's health care address. Wilson apologized to the president for his outburst. Was this an up or down week for South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson? Yea, an up week. He stood firm against an overreaching president. Nay, a down week. His foolish outburst has so far netted over $100,000 for his 2010 Democratic opponent.

Joe Lyles, a DailyKos diarist, former ACORN staffer and filmmaker who goes by the handle "Conceptual Guerilla" is in D.C. already with miles of tape, planning to embarrass 9/12 Project participants. Lyles also works with Organizing for America the Obama Campaign-cum-activist group. He is slippery in a Thom Hartman sort of way (changes subject abruptly when you refute a point to try and take you off guard, etc), and has also used very selective editing, in an attempt to embarrass Conservatives. My advice: say "thank, but no thanks". Or better yet...tell him your girlfriend is a prostitute and you'd like...

PORTER, Texas -- A 3-year-old girl was critically injured Thursday when she was attacked by a pit bull in Porter. The child was visiting her aunt's house on Sweet Gum near Live Oaks. She went in the backyard to help feed her aunt's three dogs and that's when the pit bull attacked, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department. The little girl was taken by Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital. She's being treated for multiple puncture wounds and is in critical condition, according to Detective Mike Landrum.

Afghanistan Bar to the Distinguished Service Order (DSO*) Brigadier Gordon Kenneth MESSENGER DSO OBE, Royal Marines Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) Lieutenant Colonel James Andrew John MORRIS, Royal Marines Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Desmond CAVANAGH, The Rifles Officers of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) Lieutenant Colonel Alan LITSTER MBE, Royal Marines Lieutenant Colonel Charles Richard STICKLAND, Royal Marines Wing Commander James Peter GRINDLAY, Royal Air Force Brigadier Mark Julian HALLAS ADC, Late Intelligence Corps Lieutenant Colonel Alan Stewart RICHMOND, 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards Members of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE)...

With today the final day of the Legislature's session, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislative leaders are pushing hard for passage of a law that would require that 33 percent of the power used in California be from renewable energy sources by the end of 2020. The main sticking point is over a bizarre proposal that all this power be generated in-state, even though California is fully integrated into a regional grid that helps keep reliability up and costs down. Our concern is much broader, however. A strong case can be made that the state, the nation and the world...

CABLE NEWS RACE THURSDAY NITE, SEPT 10 FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,609,000 FOXNEWS BECK 3,340,000 FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,986,000 FOXNEWS GRETA 2,522,000 FOXNEWS BAIER 2,362,000 FOXNEWS SHEP 2,040,000 MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,573,000 MSNBC MADDOW 1,164,000 CNN KING 965,000 MSNBC HARDBALL 882,000 MSNBC SCHULTZ 734,000 CNN COOPER 691,000

With a political arms race in full force, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) has raised almost $750,000 in less than 48 hours since his shout of "You lie!" to President Obama during the Wednesday address to Congress, almost matching the Internet-fueled haul of his likely Democratic opponent. A senior GOP official said Wilson, who apologized to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel after the health-care speech but has since refused a more public apology, has turned his own previous sleepy campaign machine into an Web-friendly effort. Just as liberals have poured cash into the campaign of Rob Miller, who lost...

What can you say on a day like today except: to hell with Islam! It's truly something to be hated. It needs to be destroyed. This rancid, wretched, repellent, reptilian religion should be rudely crudely slam-dunked into the dustbin of history. Today is a day of remembrance. It ought to be a Day of Rage. Today we all quietly reflect. But we ought to loudly retaliate. For the sake of "remembrance," why not knock off a few hundred religious and political leaders in Saudi Arabia and Iran? Then we could quietly reflectively glory in it. The ambitious and loathsome philosophy...

Yesterday, the Senate voted 63-35 to invoke cloture on the nomination of animal rights activist Cass Sunstein to be the nation’s new “regulatory czar,” which means the Senate can proceed with a vote to confirm him. The vote will likely occur before the end of the night. Obviously troubling is Sunstein’s apparent devotion to Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation (and the philosopher whom radical PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk calls her life’s inspiration). Singer is infamous for his belief that it’s permissible to kill newborn children since they’re supposedly no more special than a dog.On the Fox News Channel yesterday,...

The average June-August 2009 summer temperature for the contiguous United States was below average – the 34th coolest on record, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. August was also below the long-term average. The analysis is based on records dating back to 1895. U.S. Temperature Highlights – Summer For the 2009 summer, the average temperature of 71.7 degrees F was 0.4 degree F below the 20th Century average. The 2008 average summer temperature was 72.7 degrees F. A recurring upper level trough held the June-August temperatures down in the central states, where...

The Taliban LOVES Obama, and why shouldn't they?! Obama's new Rules of Engagement (ROE) as Commander-in-Chief provide that protecting Afghan civilians is now to be our military's TOP priority, so that our troops, when fired upon, can NOT return fire if there is a possibility of civilian casualties. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has implemented Obama's new ROEs and made protecting Afghan civilians his top priority. How can you fight a war when the objective is no longer to win?? So, with our enemies now having the benefit our TOP SECRET interrogation technique manuals...

A teenager faces seven years in prison after being ordered to stand trial for organising her own home abortion in the first such prosecution in Australia in over half a century. see link to story in post below

You can read the NY Times op-ed here for yourself: just another example of a Birkenstock brown-shirt who believes he knows what’s best for you. A brief summary: the author, Mr. Michael Pollan, a journalism professor from Berkley, California, openly argues that the state should tell you what to eat and drink. He also writes optimistically on the potential for a beautiful, utopian American future, one in which insurance companies and the state work together to tax fast foods and soda (as they’ve teamed up against tobacco) out of existence. The reason for such Darth Vader visions of America’s future?...

France will next year become the largest economy to levy a carbon tax, but will introduce it at a low starting rate to try to pre-empt a backlash from an already heavily taxed public. President Nicolas Sarkozy, who will unveil details of the tax on Thursday, hopes the move will underscore France’s environmental credentials ahead of December’s Copenhagen conference intended to draw up an international agreement for emissions reductions after 2012.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran's supreme leader told the opposition on Friday they would face a harsh response if they drew their "swords" against the ruling establishment. The warning from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered at Friday prayers three months after a disputed poll that led to widespread unrest, was a clear message he would not tolerate any threat to Iran's clerical system of government. "Resisting the system and taking out the sword against the system will be followed by a harsh response," he told worshippers in a sermon broadcast live on state television.

President Barack Obama on Friday slapped punitive tariffs on all car and light truck tires entering the United States from China in a decision that could anger the strategically important Asian powerhouse but placate union supporters important to his health care push at home. Obama had until Sept. 17 -- next week -- to accept, reject or modify a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling that a rising tide of Chinese tires into the U.S. hurts American producers. A powerful union, United Steelworkers, blames the increase for the loss of thousands of American jobs.

Tea Party Rally Sparks Dispute Over Potential Turnout A top aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned fellow Democrats in a memo obtained by FOXNews.com that up to 2 million people may attend. But conservatives believe Democrats are playing an expectations game to claim the event was a failure. FOXNews.com Friday, September 11, 2009 Democrats are sounding the alarms over the potential turnout at a planned protest in the nation's capital Saturday by opponents of President Obama's domestic policies, but protest organizers say the Democrats' numbers don't add up. The demonstration is part of the Tea Party Movement and the...