Free Republic

Those anticipating leadership and clarity from President Obama in last week’s address to Congress on health care reform were disappointed. He could have shown us that he had at last started listening to what most Americans were telling him and the Congress to do, and outlined proposals to address the weaknesses of the current health care system, the one that provides the highest level of care in the world. He could have endorsed several needed reforms, ones that Republicans support, which would change this Democrat crusade into a bi-partisan effort, changes like tort reform to lower malpractice and health insurance...

Muslims who are working to state the "Our Day Has Come"day of prayer at the U.S. Capitol have discussed views that include an Islamic takeover of the White House, from where they say President Barack Obama is providing their inspiration . . .

Is a three-wheeled vehicle an "automobile?" That question is at the center of a vigorous lobbying effort in Washington, that would help little car makers like Aptera qualify for a slice of the $25 billion loan program administered by the Department of Energy. Watch video: http://www.cardealerreviews.org/?p=118420

Text messaging is the new trend in well-run campaigns; collect a cell phone number and a campaign can get in touch with volunteers, donors and, eventually, voters. But some advice: Don’t buy your text messaging service on the cheap. If you do, you may share your service with ads for local bars, dating services or other establishments that may not square with your image. Hence the snickers when a political operative recently received a text message from the campaign of Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), he of Deborah Jeane Palfrey fame. Vitter’s camp went with a cheap service, and his message...

A year after a string of storms battered Haiti, South Florida Haitian leaders are stepping up efforts to press the Obama administration to activate a designation that would allow some 30,000 Haitians in the United States to seek employment. ``Our people need a work permit to continue contributing to this country and to provide for their families,'' said the Rev. Jonas Georges, a pastor at All Nations Presbyterian Church in North Miami Beach. ``It is a status that the president can say, with the stroke of a pen, `there it is.' '' Georges' plea came Monday at a news conference...

Michael Steele your letter to me saying, “.. I’m concerned you’re not taking an active role as a grassroots leader in fighting the Democrats’ socialist schemes..” is the last straw. I was in DC Saturday where were you? I’m sick of your feckless lack of leadership; I demand you get the hell out of the way. You’re not the champion of conservatism we need. You’re a timid mouse when we need a snarling lion. Your absence from our conservative TEA party slapped my face and you have the nerve to be “concerned” about me? You just don’t get it do...

Attribute to Lloyd H. Dean, President/CEO, Catholic Healthcare West SAN FRANCISCO--(Business Wire)-- "At CHW, we live everyday with the challenges President Obama outlined in his speech tonight - we see the real life effects of our broken health care system. The President has redefined the debate in a way that we can now bring a conclusion to this process. America needs a reform plan that controls costs and provides basic health care for the people in the country who don`t have it. Most importantly, we fervently agree that doing nothing is not an option. Congress and the President must act...

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli and Palestinian activists on Tuesday presented the most detailed vision yet of what a peace deal could look like — more than 400 pages crammed with maps, timetables for troop withdrawals and even a list of weapons a non-militarized Palestine would be barred from having. The manual has no official standing, but has generated interest among Israeli and Palestinian leaders and is meant to show it's still possible to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel, despite many setbacks, said those involved in the drafting. The plan's details illustrated the many obstacles that have to be...

Snipped "BELLEVILLE, IL (KTVI-FOX2now.com) - To call it a brutal beating is an understatement. A 17-year-old Belleville West High School student is attacked on his school bus twice in a matter of minutes – and it is all on tape."

Jeffrey Goldberg's well publicized interview with Israeli Premier Bibi Netanyahu showed that Bibi expects Obama to react strongly to rogue nations developing nuclear capability. The Prime Minister hinted that if Obama doesn't take care of Iran he must: “The Obama presidency has two great missions: fixing the economy, and preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu told me. He said the Iranian nuclear challenge represents a “hinge of history” and added that “Western civilization” will have failed if Iran is allowed to develop nuclear weapons. In unusually blunt language, Netanyahu said of the Iranian leadership, “You don’t want a messianic...

Here is video of Glenn Beck "On the Record" last night with Greta Van Susteren where he told her he will show new ACORN video later today that will "absolutely peel the skin off your face." Beck said "you haven't seen anything until you see the video that will come out tomorrow." Beck says this at the 3:42 remaining mark of the video. He talked with Greta about what has come out so far regarding ACORN, and made the point that SEIU (Service Employees International Union) is a sister organization of ACORN. Beck said these two organizations "surround the President...

The severed head of a cow was recently the center of attention in Malaysia as a group of more than 50 Muslim men gathered outside a state mosque and marched to a government office proudly carrying a cow's head as a symbol of protest while chanting the world-famous praise "Allahu akbar." The subject of the protest was as strange as the symbol called upon to represent it: The Muslim group was against the construction of a Hindu temple in their district. "I challenge the state to go on with the temple construction. I guarantee bloodshed and the state will be...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — General Motors’ new 60-day money back guarantee campaign seems to offer something for everyone — except taxpayers, the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) pointed out today. This Sunday, General Motors launched a new marketing campaign, ‘May the Best Car Win,’ and will offer car buyers a 60-day money-back guarantee. It was broadcasted on nearly every Sunday football game.

Domestic equities shook off the news from much of the rest of the world and ended the day up yesterday. The gains were modest, between a quarter and a half a percent, but that's much better than the near across the board losses the rest of the world suffered. This morning the three indices were bouncing from being up marginally to being down marginally until about ten minutes ago. Now, all three indices are up about one half a percent. The August producer price index just came out and it's up 1.7%. That was mostly up on the rise of...

The anti-Semitic blogosphere and many Arab and Muslim media outlets are aflutter in recent days over accusations of an international Jewish conspiracy to kidnap Algerian children and harvest their organs. Unlike the multiple conspiracy theories about Jews circulating among radical fringe organizations online, this one seems to be gaining momentum on mainstream Arab and Muslim Web sites. According to the story, first reported by Algeria's Al-Khabar daily, bands of Moroccans and Algerians have allegedly been roaming the streets of Algeria's cities kidnapping young children, who are then transported across the border into Morocco. From the Moroccan city of Oujda, the...

St. Andrew Kim Taegon, Korea's first priest and martyr Seoul, South Korea, Sep 15, 2009 / 12:10 am (CNA).- After two years of remodeling which included the addition of multimedia exhibits, the Korean Martyrs Museum-Shrine has reopened in Seoul.The Museum-Shrine, which contains rooms for liturgical celebration and prayer, was built in 1967 on the site in Jeoldusan where many of the Korean martyrs died from 1866 to 1873. Thousands of Catholics were killed in the fierce persecutions.The Shrine-Museum presents numerous historical documents, visual reconstructions, photographs and documentaries, Fides news agency reports.Archbishop of Seoul Cardinal Nicholas Choeng inaugurated the reopening...

What Nick Vujicic lacks in stature, he makes up for in faith. Vujicic, a 26-year-old man born without arms or legs, spoke about hope and faith in Jesus Christ to approximately 5,000 people at the Salt Palace Convention Center on Saturday night. Vujicic is using his unique situation to spread the message of being born again in Christ. An Australian native, Vujicic now resides in California where he runs his Christian ministry Life Without Limbs. “The world sees something special in a man without arms and legs,” Vujicic said. “I love being able to be used by God.” People’s reasons...

BELGRADE, Serbia – Serbia will have to lay off about one-fifth of its government employees — 14,000 people — to meet conditions set by the International Monetary Fund to receive more financial aid, the country's finance minister said Monday. Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic said Serbia aims to cut spending before the government resumes its talks with the IMF on Oct. 20. The IMF has postponed giving the Balkan country access to additional funds from a euro2.8 billion ($4 billion) standby loan granted in March, demanding details on how Serbia plans to finance its growing budget deficit amid the global financial...

The Roman Catholic bishop of Osnabrück in northern Germany has said that the 16th-century Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, offers a "positive challenge" to Protestant and Catholic churches. "It's fascinating just how radically he puts God at the centre," Bishop Franz-Josef Bode said in an interview with the German Protestant news agency epd, in connection with a service at Osnabrück's Lutherkirche earlier this month, during which he preached on Luther. Luther, said Bode, had rightly denounced failures in the Church and he had recalled the roots of faith. Bode described Luther as a "fascinating personality for both churches", noting that the...

Muslims who are working to stage the "Our Day Has Come" day of prayer at the U.S. Capitol have discussed views that include an Islamic takeover of the White House, from where they say President Barack Obama is providing their inspiration...