Free Republic

The imam behind the proposed Islamic cultural center near ground zero in New York says the Islamophobic backlash over the project rivaled, if not exceeded, the anger felt toward the Muslim community after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 - and that if given the choice to do it over again, he would have never proposed building it near ground zero. In an interview with Christiane Amanpour aired Sunday on ABC’s "This Week," Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf said t

German claiming to be great niece of Konrad Kujau, who forged the Hitler Diaries, put his signature on fakes of his masterpiece copiesHe is known as the man behind what was arguably the most masterly forgery of the 20th century, the Hitler diaries. Now almost three decades after investigators rumbled Konrad Kujau's multimillion pound ruse, a woman falsely claiming to be his great niece has been convicted of forging Kujau forgeries and selling them to unwitting collectors. The bizarre tale, details of which unfolded in a Dresden courtroom during a two-year long trial, centred on 300 paintings obtained by...

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A federal official says Enbridge Energy Partners has until noon Tuesday to stop a leak from a Chicago-area oil pipeline. Sam Borries, on-scene coordinator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said Sunday that he misspoke earlier in saying Enbridge was ordered to stop the leak by Monday Excerpted per FR posting rules.

Kevin McCarthy, the veteran stage and screen actor best known for his starring role as the panicked doctor who tried to warn the world about the alien "pod people" who were taking over in the 1956 science-fiction suspense classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," died Saturday. He was 96. McCarthy died of natural causes at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Mass., said his daughter Lillah. During a career that spanned more than 70 years, beginning on stage in New York in the late 1930s, McCarthy played Biff Loman opposite Paul Muni's Willy in the 1949 London production of "Death of...

Allen Dale June, one of the 29 original Navajo code talkers who confounded the Japanese during World War II by transmitting messages in their native language, died Wednesday in Prescott, Ariz. He was 91.

"The top House Republican said Sunday that he would support legislation that extended tax cuts for the middle class but not the wealthy if that was the only option, an apparent concession to Democrats that was met with skepticism from the White House. Rep. John Boehner (R., Ohio), speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation," reiterated that he preferred extending the Bush-era tax cuts for all earners. But he said he would vote for a bill limited to middle-income Americans if all other options failed." .... A Boehner aide said the congressman would accept a compromise that doesn't extend the Bush...

... Since the 1960s, waves of "reform" haven't produced meaningful achievement gains. The most reliable tests are given by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The reading and math tests, graded on a 0-500 scale, measure 9-year-olds, 13-year-olds and 17-year-olds. In 1971, the initial year for the reading test, the average score for 17-year-olds was 285; in 2008, the average score was 286. The math test started in 1973, when 17-year-olds averaged 304; in 2008, the average was 306. To be sure, some improvements have occurred in elementary schools. But what good are they if they're erased by high...

Somewhere not too far from me, people are in line at the metro, but before I get in line, there is a possibility which needs to be examined. O'Donnell has now made national headlines, so has Tom Ross. His statements (especially the dogcatcher one) have inflamed people throughout the country. Discussions lean towards the fact that the GOP has turned against one of their own. So… what happens on Wednesday? Rumors have begun to circulate about what the Delaware GOP will do if O'Donnell wins. This now seems viable, so this should be examined. Will the proud, tall, strong, might,...

Mike Shaw, who was known in the wrestling world under various names, including Makhan Singh, Norman the Lunatic and Bastion Booger, and Klondike Mike, died of a heart attack on Saturday. He was 53.

I don't know about you, but when I paint fixtures with a sloppy broad brush, I make sure to wear my finest, most expensive designer shirts. Just like Michelle Obama.Below are photos of Michelle "Antoinette" Obama wearing a $207.90 t-shirt by Tom Binns and John Eshaya at a National Day of Service and Remembrance event at the Vinson Hall Retirement Community in McLean, Va. on Saturday.I suppose if she got paint on it she can claim it as a charitable deduction. The rich are just different from us.AP photosA woman lucky enough to have a job in the Obama economy...

The number of people in the U.S. who are in poverty is on track for a record increase on President Barack Obama’s watch, with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels that led to the national war on poverty.

High unemployment must be met with tax cuts for the middle class, the new chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers said Sunday, but the U.S. can't afford an extension of the Bush-era cuts for high-income earners. Austan Goolsbee declined to speculate what the unemployment rate might be at the end of the year, but told "Fox News Sunday" that the middle class shouldn't get squeezed by expiring tax cuts. "The president strongly believes that ... after a decade of astounding squeeze on the middle class that was followed by the worst recession in our lifetime ... you cannot...

Prime minister George Papandreou's attempt to offer austerity-weary Greeks a "message of hope" in a much-awaited speech last night was eclipsed by mass demonstrations and a shoe lobbed at him by an irate protester. As some 20,000 protestors took to the streets – launching what trade unionists have pledged will be an unprecedented winter of discontent – the socialist leader tried to persuade Greeks that belt-tightening efforts were not in vain. "Greece is engaged in a struggle of survival … in this battle, either we win ... or we sink altogether," he told the near-bankrupt nation in a keynote speech...

Plácido Domingo to be honored as this year’s Grand Marshal Also participating are: the dog behavioral specialist and best-selling author Cesar Millán, star of his Emmy nominated show“Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millán”, block- buster film actor Danny Trejo, television anchor Gabriela Tessier, living legend Mexican film star and world-class athlete actor Jorge Rivero, film, television, and comedy legend Eduardo Manzano, actor/singer Lorenzo Negrete, grandson of Mexican icon Jorge Negrete, from the South of France, international renowned flamenco guitarist Mario Reyes, “The Gipsy Man”, Venezuelan Pop Songstress Yesy Milano and Regional Mexican Banda heartthrobs Yolanda Pérez and Cesar Brizuela Mayor of...

Let me get this straight. We're going to be "gifted" with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a president who also smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke. What could possibly go wrong?

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Tea Party dream team of Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin held a 9/11 commemoration rally Saturday night. They shared somber remembrances of the terrorist attacks nine years ago, reiterated the “Faith, Hope and Charity” message from the last time they appeared together (at Mr. Beck’s massive “Restoring Honor” gathering in Washington on Aug. 28). They bashed the media. “Let me tell you, folks, it’s a brutal, leftist-dominated lamestream media world out there,” Mrs. Palin screamed to a cheering crowd of about 4,000 at a sprawling downtown convention center here. Lines snaked down the sidewalks for a...

Over the next two months, Organizing for America volunteers like you will talk to millions of voters about what's at stake this fall. Our Vote 2010 goals are ambitious -- but meeting them is the only way President Obama will be able to continue moving our country forward with strong allies in Congress. We know these one-on-one conversations are incredibly effective. In 2008, volunteers like you turned out millions of voters -- many for the first time. And in our increasingly fractured digital environment -- when so much competes for our time and attention -- conversations between friends, family members,...

Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician under threat of death from radical Islamists, gave a speech yesterday at Ground Zero that all Americans should pay attention to. You can watch a video of it here. (see also: Islam Continues to Strengthen Geert Wilders' Case) The text is as follows: Dear friends, May I ask you to be silent for ten seconds? Just be silent and listen. Ten seconds. And listen... What we hear are the sounds of life in the greatest city on earth. No place in the world, no place in human history, is as richly varied and vibrant and...

PICO RIVERA, Calif. (AP) - A man fell through the ceiling of a Pico Rivera shop on Saturday, landing in the arms of sheriff's deputies who were searching for the suspected burglar of three businesses. Excerpted per FR posting rules.

Lawsuits are very nasty business. So, too, is this kind of "reporting" by John McCormack at the Weekly Standard. http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/citing-mental-anguish-christine-odonnell-sought-69-million-gender-discrimination-lawsuit-again I suppose he just came upon this information and, of course, in the public's interest wants to get it out there 48 hours before the primary election in Delaware. He doesn't take any of this personally. No, no way. He just wants to make sure the truth is aired. Let's be clear about something. McCormack, et al, are doing all they can to hand the Delaware seat to a liberal. Should O'Donnell win Tuesday's primary, the Democrat will be trolling...