Free Republic

QUINCY — The federal “cash for clunkers” program succeeded in bringing customers back to new car lots after a long absence, but most people are still driving the car they had. Increasingly they are driving to their local mechanics to make sure those cars last even longer. That is good news for the independent automotive repair industry because car owners are now willing to spend their money on repair work rather than take on new car payments, and they are saving on those repairs at independent shops. But while consumers appear content to keep their older cars on the road,...

When Kortnie Murphy shows pictures of her daughter, she looks like a normal three-year-old girl. The little girl's name is Natylee Murphy, and the pictures are some of the last memories Kortnie has of the way her daughter used to look. Last week, Natylee came face to face with "Tank." The dog's owner describes him as a pit bull. "Tank" attacked Natylee at a relative's home in Montgomery County. Sheriff's deputies say it happened when the little girl wanted to help her aunt feed several dogs in the backyard. Investigators believe she wandered up to "Tank" while he was eating....

Oh, dear reader, where do we begin? A few days ago, I reported that one of Maine's GOP Senators, Olympia Snowe, had advised the president that there would be "no way" a healthcare overhaul that included any form of government run healthcare would pass the Senate. I continue to doubt her loyalty to the party, which I believe to be demonstrably shaky at best, but it seems she's just not all that willing to risk her career to serve her White House masters. Yesterday she announcecd she would not support the bill coming out of the Finance Committee, otherwise known...

Listen to link: White people don't want to pay taxes to help Black kids; Blacks in L.A Treated Like Bosnia; and it just keeps going!

Henry Gibson, a wry comic character actor whose career included "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," "Nashville" and "Boston Legal," died Monday at his home in Malibu after a brief battle with cancer. He was 73.

Court sets execution date for Washington, DC sniper mastermind A Virginia judge has ruled that the mastermind behind the 2002 sniper attacks in Washington, DC that left 10 people dead will be executed on November 10. John Allen Muhammad is expected to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and ask Governor Timothy M. Kaine for clemency. Muhammad was sentenced to death for the slaying of Dean Meyers, one of 10 people shot to death during a 2002 rampage that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area. uhammad and teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo killed six people in Alabama and Louisiana before moving...

Watch this BRAND NEW VIDEO of Rifqa Bary (transcribing right now with Ken's help). This was before she had to run, before the summer 2009 when her dad had promised to kill her if she "had Jesus in her heart". Watch it, it's very ..........revealing. All Exclusive Atlas Rifqa coverage here. (vid hat tip Dutch) Rifqa: I am sixteen and I love Jesus, I'm crazy how I found the Lord but, people were blown away but, my parents are Muslims, radical, radical Muslims. You guys don't know the history of Islam, it's really hostile towards Christianity and the mere word...

The Washington Times is reporting: ACORN, calling the actions of some of its employees "indefensible," has suspended advising new clients as part of its service programs and is setting up an independent review to see what happened. ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said in a written statement that she was "ordering a halt to any new intakes into ACORN's service programs until completion of an independent review." The actions were taken, she said, "as a result of indefensible action of a handful of our employees." [...] Lewis continued: "We have all been deeply disturbed by what weve seen in some...

Gibbs blasts GOP critics of Obama czars By Sam Youngman - 09/16/09 03:59 PM ET White House press secretary Robert Gibbs fired back at GOP critics of White House czars on Wednesday. Gibbs said GOP “silence was deafening” on the issue of czars during former President George W. Bush's administration. Republicans didn’t raise the issue, he said, when Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) pushed a Y2K czar or when Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) called for a manufacturing czar. “You've read Sen. Bennett was pushing for a Y2K czar that he didn't think was powerful enough,” Gibbs said. “You've seen Lamar Alexander...

Apparently there was an ACORN office in Philadelphia that actually did the right thing and threw the "pimp and prostitute" out of the office and even notified the police. Of course, this story will probably get more mainstream media coverage than any of the other ones, but still - funny how it becomes news when they actually do what they should do. So pardon the 'vanity' but I made my own little youtube parody about this. Hope you like it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1ByQ-VN9Bk

That’s the official liberal/Democratic response. They’ve toyed with it and used it here and there since you started to speak out, but now after somewhere between 1.5 million and two million of you showed up in Washington D.C. this past Saturday they are going to beat you over the head with this. Representative Joe Wilson is now a “racist”. Doesn’t matter what he actually believes or what he’s done in his life. He’s a racist. Why? He disagreed with Barack Obama and shouted out “You Lie” during the President "Always Ready for Primetime" Obama's address to Congress. Never mind that...

We're all learning more details about the apparent suicide of politically connected contractor Christopher Kelly. He pleaded guilty to corruption charges, was facing years in federal prison and had the option of telling federal authorities about city airport contracts and his buddy, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But today, readers get their writes on Kelly, a self-inflicted victim of corruption the Chicago Way. John, I have known Chris since early days in Champaign, during college, and thereafter. Chris drank in college (like most college students) but has been a strict non-drinker for at least a decade, perhaps two. Chris would rather...

Akron's Republican mayor has resigned from a national organization opposing illegal weapons after the National Rifle Association launched a mail campaign labeling him "anti-gun." Mayor John McBeth joined Mayors Against Illegal Guns several months ago, but he announced at a borough council meeting this week that he has left the group following an NRA mailing and a flurry of phone calls from concerned constituents in early September. McBeth said he was looking for new anti-crime ideas when he joined the 450-member association, which combats illegal gun possession and is not opposed to legal gun ownership. "It's not an organization that's...

The Laffer Curve is a simple idea: a government can’t raise taxes forever and expect to increase revenue along the way. Eventually you’re taking so much in taxes that people don’t have any reason to earn income. The argument is simple (and correct): if you have zero tax rate you get zero tax revenue. If you raise taxes just a bit, nobody will be discouraged from working, and you will collect some amount of revenue; therefore, the curve of revenue versus tax rate starts at zero and initially rises. But if the tax rate is 100%, nobody has any reason...

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline)-- U.S. Sen. Max Baucus on Wednesday unveiled his $856 billion much-anticipated plan to overhaul the nation's health care system. Baucus, the Democrat from Montana and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, introduced his 10-year-plan with no support from Republicans, whom he has been courting.

San Bernadino News Release at the link.

WAKE UP AMERICA, GET OUT OF THE FETAL POSITION AND MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD. Welcome to the GLENN BECK television thread...Shake the cobwebs out of your brain...We are another day closer to the REVOLUTION! All comrades, infidels, sick twisted freaks and lurkers are welcome and are encouraged to participate in the thread!

A House ethics panel said it is investigating allegations against three lawmakers, including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Jackson allegedly launched a "public campaign" to be appointed to President Obama's former Senate seat in Illinois. But the Justice Department asked the panel defer investigating the matter because of a criminal indictment against ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and its investigation into "the facts surrounding Rod Blagojevich's consideration of multiple candidates to fill the Senate seat," the House ethics panel said in its statement. Because of that request, the investigation will be deferred, the statement said, but "the committee will continue to monitor...

Hey, you know who hates America? Eva Longoria Parker, that’s who. At least, the reading choices she promotes on national broadcast TV seem to indicate it. The “Desperate Housewives” star–whom America made rich beyond her wildest dreams–was interviewed on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” last night. For some strange reason, the Kimmel show–which usually posts video of interviews on YouTube–hasn’t posted video of this one. During the interview, Longoria Parker–who has already come out in favor of ObamaCare (saying America is racist against minority children without it) and amnesty for illegal aliens–disclosed that she is getting a Masters Degree in Chicano...

I am serious. Straight to the chase, hoping to provoke a lively discussion. Why do we consider suicide a selfish act? Let's bypass if we can all the religious aspects of it. We already know the answer of the Christian texts - it's a cardinal sin, a no-no, a bummer to Saint Peter and all the Marching Saints. Let us say you have experienced a series of catastrophic (to you) defeats, one after another, your life has become a country and western song waiting to be written. Let us say that these deafeats are all affairs of the heart -...