Free Republic

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – Military officials say they're investigating why an upstate New York man was told his son had been killed in Afghanistan when the soldier was alive and well. Ray Jasper of Niagara Falls says he was camping Sunday when he received a call on his cell phone from a woman who said she was a military liaison. He says the woman told him his son, Staff Sgt. Jesse Jasper, was killed in action Saturday.

With the passing of Walter Cronkite, Mr. Brokaw is considered perhaps the new "dean" of journalism. As such the former NBC News anchor is periodically summoned forth to assess the current world, an occasion that presented itself recently on the venerable NBC Sunday newser Meet the Press. Sitting cheek by jowl with New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, Brokaw joined him to riff on the Internet and the state of journalism today, an opportunity occasioned by the resignation of Van Jones, he of the Truther brigades (and much more) and the Obama White House. Mr. Jones' resignation was prompted by...

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration supports extending three key provisions of the Patriot Act that are due to expire at the end of the year, the Justice Department told Congress in a letter made public Tuesday. Lawmakers and civil rights groups had been pressing the Democratic administration to say whether it wants to preserve the post-Sept. 11 law's authority to access business records, as well as monitor so-called "lone wolf" terrorists and conduct roving wiretaps. ... As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama said he would take a close look at the law, based on his past expertise in constitutional law....

Here is video of Fox News' reporting on the Senate vote to refuse Housing funds to ACORN. It passed by a vote of 83-7. They show the seven Senators who voted to protect ACORN: Roland Burris, Bob Casey, Dick Durbin, Kirsten Gillibrand, Pat Leahy, Sheldon Whitehouse - Six Democrats and one Independent (Socialist Bernie Sanders). Megyn Kelly commented in particular on these Senators. . . (VIDEO)

The President just finished a rousing speech to the AFL-CIO today and was given a standing ovation for his address on government run health care with a public option. There was no bi-partisan talk here, just plain and simple “Obamaspeak” to a friendly audience. He is speaking to an important core constituency here and must produce for them. Organized Labor is highly in favor of a government takeover of the health care system and wants the public option in the bill. It's one of the main reasons they helped put Obama in office. You would too if you had thousands...

A theological analysis. Folks, as previously reported, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S., through its “Churchwide Assembly,” last month adopted several resolutions that validated cohabitation as an acceptable Christian lifestyle, affirmed the moral goodness of stable same-sex relationships, and removed any impediments for homosexual persons in same-sex relationships to freely exercise the pastoral ministry within the ELCA. I termed these moves a falling into “abject apostasy” or abandonment of Christian teaching. I haven’t changed my mind but in fact, my stance has hardened. Now, I am sure that many will dismiss my...

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (WSVN) -- Police have identified the student stabbed to death at Coral Gables Sr. High School after an altercation with another student. Tuesday afternoon, after the organized dismissal of students from the school, Miami-Dade Police Detective Rebeca Perez announced that Juan Carlos Rivera, 17, a 10th grader at the school, died as a result of a confrontation with another student on campus, who police have not identified. She did not release many more details beyond that. "The cause of death is under investigation at this time," she said. "It occurred on school property during the time between...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Missouri: Warren County Commission to Consider New Outdoor Youth Shooting Range on Monday, September 21!   Monday, September 14, 2009   On Monday, September 21, the Warren County Commissioners will consider allowing a new outdoor youth shooting facility to be constructed.  If approved by the Commissioners, the new range will be located in the southern part of Warren County and will provide new opportunities for youth-oriented shooting sports in the area.  This range will give young, novice shooters the opportunity to learn proper firearm safety, hone their skills, and exercise their Second Amendment...

“La la la. I can’t hear you.” That’s what la-la liberals spent the entire weekend saying when confronted with the reality of the September 12 march on Washington. Confronted with an oncoming tsunami, many on the left spent the weekend quibbling over how many drops of water it contained. Others ignored it completely. While liberal bloggers were claiming there were mere thousands of conservative marchers in DC, rather than a million, they refused to address the political ramifications of the protests. They used the equivalent of my child’s favorite method of tuning me out when I am telling her grandmother...

I spend much of my time trying to read news articles and visit various web sites that have these new (expanding) advertisements. Some have click out boxes others do not. I spend a lot of time trying various techniques to get rid of those ads so that I can read the articles I am researching. Is there some technique to make them disappear? Better yet - Is there someone who one can complain to to get rid of that style of ad? Many are subscription only and I see no reason to subscribe just to complain that I can't read...

This past May, a fossil nicknamed Ida was loudly heralded by the evolutionary scientific community as the long-sought-after “missing link” that supposedly proved ape-to-human evolution. Directly following the unveiling, ICR News reported reasons why Ida, in fact, linked nothing, being merely an extinct variety of lemur.[1] ICR News also predicted what has now occurred with Ida’s popularity campaign, stating, “After further study, however, this claim will be quietly rescinded.”[2] Ida has been surreptitiously...

BELLEVILLE -- A Belleville police spokesman now says an incident where a white student was beaten by teen black assailants on a bus “may not be racially motivated.” “It was premature on my part,” said Belleville Police Capt. Don Sax. “It was my personal and emotional comment after only seeing the video briefly.” Sax said police interviewed the 17-year-old Belleville West High student. However, he said he was unaware of what the student told police. Some of the students on the bus yesterday during the incident cheered the beating, the video shows. Sax said a formal statement would be made...

Philadelphia police said a man out buying drugs flagged down officers after he couldn't find the car he'd parked with his 6-year-old stepson inside. The man, 31, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person. Police said the suspect had driven from Lehigh County to Philadelphia to buy drugs before he flagged down a police car around 4:30 Saturday morning. Authorities said he explained that he couldn't find the car with the boy inside.

LUCASVILLE, Ohio – A lawyer for a condemned inmate in the state death chamber says execution team members have taken a break after struggling to access the inmate's veins. Attorney Tim Sweeney says the team is having trouble inserting IVs into the arms of 53-year-old Romell Broom. Broom is sentenced to die for raping and killing 14-year-old Tryna Middleton in Cleveland in 1984. It was the second delay of the Tuesday execution, originally scheduled for 10 a.m. Broom entered the death chamber shortly before 2 p.m. after losing a last-minute appeal request. In 2005, an execution was delayed for more...

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed on Tuesday to provide senators with his thoughts on a controversial law prohibiting openly gay people from serving in the military. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) won a promise from Adm. Mike Mullen that he would provide his take on the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” before the Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing this fall. In prepared answers for his confirmation to a second term as the nation’s top military officer, Mullen did not express any opinion on repealing the law. President Barack Obama promised to repeal the law...

NEW YORK - Your shower may not be getting you as clean as you think with a U.S. study finding many showerheads are dirty and may be covering you in a daily dose of bacteria that could make you sick.

"I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side... Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.” — Robert C. Byrd, in a letter to Sen. Theodore Bilbo (D-MS), 1944 Within the democratic party sits a former high member of the actual KKK. That's not taking a shot at someone, that's fact. The Congressional BLACK Caucus is saying that not punishing Joe...

Dmitry Medvedev says he would not rule out running again for president in 2012 elections, keeping up the uncertainty about the future political intentions of Russia's ruling duo. Mr Medvedev's refusal to dismiss the idea of a second term came amid frenzied speculation about the intentions of strongman prime minister Vladimir Putin, who many believe is plotting a return to the Kremlim. "Some time ago I did not intend to stand for president," Mr Medvedev said today, referring to his emergence from relative obscurity to sweep the 2008 polls. "But fate worked out that way and therefore I'm not going...

By documents obtained by AWF staff, we have learned that Kansas is using state resources and taxpayer dollars to collect healthcare providers names, addresses and phone numbers for the SEIU. Outraged, the AWF sent the following letter to the Gov, the two Senators from the state and former Gov Sebelius demanding transparency of this effort and called on the Gov. to condemn this practice... ------> Please check out the full action alert at WorkerFreedom.org

Former U.S. Congressman Rick Lazio said today that will run for governor of New York. Lazio, a Republican, will make a formal announcement on Sept. 21 in Albany. He will then spend the week traveling around the state, meeting with voters. Lazio, 51, served part of Long Island in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993-2001. In 2000, he unsuccessfully challenged Democrat Hillary Clinton in the race to fill one of the state’s two U.S. Senate seats. Lazio is currently a managing director at J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), focusing on client relations and public policy issues. He lives downstate....