Free Republic

Have you ever noticed that the Republican Party is always characterized by the Left as "The Party of Big Business" and that one of the typical media representations of Republicans is as the guy from the Monopoly game? You know the one: Rich Uncle Pennybags, or simply Monopoly Man. He's got a big mustache and is wearing a top hat, and a tux or a morning coat, vest, and striped pants, and he often carries a cane. That's wrong, biased, and a ,little silly, of course, but it is.......

NEW YORK – The imam leading the effort to build an Islamic center and mosque near the World Trade Center site said Monday that a resolution to the raging debate over its location is being examined. "We are exploring all options as we speak right now, and we are working to what will be a solution, God willing, that will resolve this crisis, defuse it and not create any unforeseen or untoward circumstances that we do not want to see happen," Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said during a question-and-answer session following a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations. He...

John Boehner appears to have softened his position on the issue of extending the Bush-era tax cuts. The House Republican leader on Sunday for the first time said he would support extending those reductions for the middle class but not the wealthy, if that was his only choice. Why is he saying this now? After all, the Bush tax cuts have been an item of contention on Capitol Hill all summer. Until now, Representative Boehner and other GOP lawmakers have been adamant that a tax-cut extension should include everyone. First of all, Boehner still says he believes a middle-class-only tax-cut...

In breaking news Terry Jones, pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center in Lakeland FL, has unaccountably become trapped inside an enormous helium balloon headed for New York City. There is mounting concern for the pastor’s safety, as the surrounding airspace has become dangerously congested with chase planes from the media, including one from MSNBC that actually appears to be firing on it. The news of this mishap was initially reported earlier today by a “close relative” of Jones, whose initial garbled report became intelligible when another unidentified voice (heard on the tape) counseled holding the handkerchief a little further...

Featured Term (selected at random):RENUNCIATION To give up something to which a person has a claim. Some renunciations are necessary by divine law; others are permitted and encouraged according to divine counsel. Everyone must renounce sin and those creatures that are proximate occasions to sin. In this category belongs the renunciation of Satan at baptism, either by the person being baptized or by the sponsor. Renunciations of counsel pertain to the exercise of such natural rights as material possessions, marriage, and legitimate autonomy or self-determinatino, sacrificed for love of God by those who vow themselves to poverty, chastity, and obedience....

Practitioner Who Killed Woman in Botched Abortion Faces Trial This Week Hyannis, MA -- The trial of abortion practitioner Rapin Osathanondh, who has been charged with manslaughter after killing one of his patients in a botched legal abortion, begins this week. Osathanondh did the abortion on 22-year-old Laura Smith, who died in September 2007 at his Women's Health Center abortion business. http://www.LifeNews.com/state5447.html

.............."Karl Marx, in his 1848 opus The Communist Manifesto, laid out 10 planks necessary to destroy a free-enterprise system and replace it with a system of pervasive, overarching government power and control. -SNIP-In 1963, according to according to Jeff Rense, an American version of the Communist Manifesto was entered into the Congressional Record. It listed 45 goals, among them: Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. Use technical decisions...

This is a heads up regarding Progressive Auto Insurance. You know who they are. They’re the ones with the clever television ads featuring the perky brunette actress all dressed in white. What you might not know is that the chairman of Progressive is Peter Lewis, one of the largest funders of the left in America . He’s your typical rich spoiled kid who took over the company from his father and apparently feels “guilty” for his success and now dedicates himself to making it impossible for anyone else to become wealthy. Between 2001 and 2003, Lewis funneled $15 million to...

What would Thomas Edison say? IBD editors: Eco-Extremism: A light bulb factory closes in Virginia as mandated fluorescents are made in China. It’s now a crime to make or ship for sale 75-watt incandescent bulbs in the European Union. Welcome to green hell. Thomas Alva Edison was a genius credited with the invention of many things — the phonograph, the motion picture, the incandescent light bulb, global warming. That last credit was given by those who rank light bulbs right up there with the internal combustion engine as ravagers of the planet.

They’re often infants or toddlers when they come to the United States, sneaked into the country by their illegal immigrant parents. They grow up in America. They eat french fries, hang out at the mall, speak Americanized English. They feel like U.S. citizens. But they’re not. And that’s a roadblock if these teens and young adults — who are considered illegal immigrants just like their parents — want to pursue a college education or military service. Proposed federal legislation — the Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act — would provide legal status to those who came to the...

On this 9/11 anniversary, the developer of the World Trade Center site has plenty to crow about. From the 38th floor at 7 World Trade Center, Larry Silverstein peers down on a flurry of activity below at Ground Zero. The sound of jackhammers and "beep, beep" of cement trucks filters into his corner office.

Austrian Finance Minister Josef Pröll felt tired but jubilant when he returned to his hotel on Place Jourdan in Brussels late last Monday evening. For hours on end, he and his European counterparts had been given a detailed presentation by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and his task force on how the shaky monetary union could be stabilized and crisis-ridden Europe could be put back into shape. The finance ministers listened attentively before going on to discuss the issue. But instead of rushing headlong into the usual squabbling session, a cozy feeling of harmony spread through the conference room....

The speed at which house prices fall over the next few months could depend less on mortgage rates and Americans' appetite for home buying than on how banks decide to manage the huge number of foreclosed homes they own or may take from delinquent borrowers in the near future. Unlike home owners, banks often are much quicker to slash prices to unload properties quickly. The upshot is that, the more homes being sold by lenders, the faster prices tend to fall. That pattern was clear over the past two years: Price declines that began four years ago accelerated rapidly in...

Yesterday an acquaintance of mine decided it was an appropriate time for him to start pushing his braindead “inside job” theories of what actually happened on September 11, 2001. I shut him down right away — and encourage NRB’s readers to be equipped to do the same It seems like a good time to revisit my “Crackpot Chronicles: Van Jones, Glenn Beck, Ron Paul, Rorschach, the Truthers, And Me” series. I’ve highlighted the 10 arguments. First published here on October 4, 2009. Coming up in multiple discussions of late has been the subject of “Conspiracy Theory.” Former Green Jobs Czar...

Crack dealer, car thief, Social Security fraudster, ILLEGAL ALIEN. Yet he is 'making a living' suing hundreds of small business owners under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Alfredo Garcia, who became paralyzed after getting drunk and falling out of an avocado tree, goes around all day - every day - looking for the most minor violations of ADA (or just filing false claims) in order to extort cash. How does an illegal alien felon even have standing to sue American citizens? Why was he never deported? Why is he not deported now? God only knows. It is just another story...

If you weren't there, or didn't see it streamed live, you need to watch this speech. Tito "The Builder" Munoz gave one of the best speeches yesterday and had the crowd fired up from the first few seconds until well after he had left the stage. [Click the link to watch the video.] "THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DO NOT BOW DOWN TO ANYONE!" "We only go on our knees when we pray to God!" My goodness. What a speech. Tito "The Builder" has a radio show on Radio VIVA 900 AM, "America Eres Tu" and it's in Spanish. He told me...

The Greenland government, increasing its independence from Denmark, has relaxed restrictions on uranium deposits. Australian-based Greenland Minerals and Energy now has a clear path to assess its Kvanefjeld rare earth elements, uranium and zinc deposit. An amendment has been made by the Greenland government to the standard terms for exploration licences under the country's Mineral Resources Act of 2009 that allows for, upon application approval, the inclusion of radioactive elements as exploitable minerals for the purpose of thorough evaluation and reporting. The amendment allows the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) to approve that comprehensive feasibility studies can be undertaken...

The NHFC is pleased to offer this Election Guide for U.S. Senate, Congress, NH Governor, Executive Council, State Senate and Representative races. Only those races (GOP or Democrat) in which there is an active primary are contained in this guide. [Snip] F Ovide Lamontagne (R) - Manchester Not only did he support legislation that would have eventually become a statewide gun ban, in the guise of creating so-called safe schools, but he continues to defend the flawed concept that prohibiting possession of firearms in any place will make that place safer. He also refuses to fill out a survey detailing...

Why do teens and adults self-mutilate? There doesn't seem to be clear cut answers. Some tie the self-mutilation to abuse and not just to physical abuse but also neglect. Some cutters have said that when they cut they can regain control of their anger. While no one appears to have pat answers to cutting, self-embedding and self-mutilation, no one denies that it is a troubling trend.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – In the largest US arms deal ever, the administration of US President Barack Obama is ready to notify Congress of plans to offer advanced aircraft to Saudi Arabia worth up to 60 billion dollars, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The newspaper said the administration was also in talks with the kingdom about potential naval and missile-defense upgrades that could be worth tens of billions of dollars more. [....] In its notification to Congress, expected to be submitted this week or next, the administration will authorize the Saudis to buy as many as 84 new F-15 fighters,...