Free Republic

Vice President Joe Biden urged Democrats on Wednesday not to underestimate Tea Party candidates, saying that if progressives didn't get energized for the November election, there would be serious consequences for "the things we care most about." In an interview on "The Rachel Maddow Show" on msnbc, Biden said he was taking victories by Tea Party-backed candidates in GOP primaries "very, very seriously." "I wouldn’t sell short these candidates," Biden said, adding that he expected money to pour into such races as the one for his old Senate seat in Delaware. In that GOP primary, Christine O'Donnell defeated veteran Rep....

Does America engage in massive and widespread violations of human rights? The Obama administration thinks so. That's the takeaway of the "Report of the United States of America Submitted to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights." The introduction says it "gives a partial snapshot of the current human rights situation in the United States, including some of the areas where problems persist in our society." What human rights problems? One is the higher unemployment rate for blacks (15.8 percent) and Hispanics (12.4 percent) compared with that of whites (8.8 percent). Unemployment is directly related to education. Blacks and Hispanics...

September 16, 2010Memorial of Saint Cornelius, pope and martyr, and Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 11 Cor 15:1-11I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,of the Gospel I preached to you,which you indeed received and in which you also stand.Through it you are also being saved,if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,unless you believed in vain.For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;that he was buried;that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures;that...

From the Daily Mail: Michelle Obama thinks being America’s First Lady is ‘hell’, Carla Bruni, [France's First Lady], reveals today in a wildly indiscreet new book. Miss Bruni reveals that Mrs Obama replied when asked about her position as the U.S. president’s wife: ‘Don’t ask! It’s hell. I can’t stand it!’ From the Chicago Sun Times: April 23, 2009 - [excerpt]: Michelle Obama celebrated "take your child to work day" at the White House by taking questions from kids of White House staffers: Q If you had to choose a job in the White House for a day, what would...

The Obama administration is signaling it plans to take a tougher stance with China on trade issues, including demanding that Beijing move more quickly to reform its currency system. As part of that new approach, the administration filed two new trade cases against China before the World Trade Organization and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said China must move faster to allow its currency to rise in value against the dollar. In testimony prepared for two congressional hearings on Thursday, Geithner criticized a variety of Chinese economic policies from Beijing's currency system to what he said was rampant piracy of U.S....

The case began when a teacher confiscated the cell phone of a 17-year-old senior for a violation of the school's use policy. The principal "found" explicit photos, which he turned over to law enforcement. Wyoming County District Attorney, responded by targeting 13 girls and three boys with threats of felony charges if they did not agree to take a class on the dangers of sexting…

One of the many words that sound so attractive, to people who do not think beyond the word, is "disarmament." Wouldn't it be better to live in a world where countries were not armed to the teeth, especially when they are armed with nuclear weapons? Of course it would. But the only country we can disarm is our own. The only countries we might be able to persuade to disarm are countries that intend no harm in the first place. Those countries that do intend to harm others-- and we know all too well that they exist-- would be delighted...

Last year, documentary director Karen Price, daughter of Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), chronicled the 2006 Democrat house takeover in a revealing film called “HouseQuake.” While the documentary followed a handful of Democrat nominees as they ran for Congress, it focused more on the tactics of then-House campaign strategist Rahm Emanuel. It’s a solid documentary, but the film is really less of a story and more of a campaign study guide. As the New York Times said of the film last year, “For Republicans, it may be a lesson in how they can do to Mr. Emanuel what he did to...

In tonight's sneak peek premiere of Jimmy Smits' Outlaw, a case inspires conservative Supreme Court Justice Garza to shed his cape and step down from the bench to get back into the ring. Armed with insider knowledge, Smits, the gambling womanizer, vows to take on the nation's biggest and most controversial legal cases and make a difference. Fans who think they know what to expect from a Jimmy Smits vehicle may want to tune into tonight's sneak peek of Outlaw on NBC. Judge Cyrus Garza has Smits' swagger and good looks, but this is a whole new game for the...

Michelle Obama thinks being America’s First Lady is ‘hell’, Carla Bruni reveals today in a wildly indiscreet new book. Miss Bruni reveals that Mrs Obama replied when asked about her position as the U.S. president’s wife: ‘Don’t ask! It’s hell. I can’t stand it!’ Details of the private conversation, which took place at the White House during an official visit by Nicolas Sarkozy last March, emerged in Carla And The Ambitious, a book written in collaboration with Miss Bruni.

The problem is that we are spending so much time with contrived entertainments that we tend to become addicted to exciting electronic images. Worse, we become addicted to excitement itself, and we have difficulty distinguishing artificial images from reality. When I was a kid, I looked out the car window when my family went for a drive. The view of small towns and farms wasn’t exciting. But there was nothing else to do, so I got used to not being excited all the time. I learned about the lives of ordinary people. I learned to see the farmer in bib...

(Reuters) - Florida Governor Charlie Crist's strategy of taking the best ideas from Democrats and Republicans in his campaign as an independent for a Senate seat is failing. The slight edge Crist held over Republican "Tea Party" favorite Marco Rubio in August has evaporated and turned into a wide deficit as he courts what appears to be a fast- shrinking moderate vote. A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Wednesday showed Rubio far ahead in the three-way race to succeed Republican Senator George LeMieux, with support from 40 percent of likely voters. Crist had 26 percent while Democrat Kendrick Meek had 21 percent....

"Numerous irregularities" in the elections conducted by the Philadelphia County Republican Committee have led the state Republican Credentials Committee, in an unanimous vote, to declare the seat of Philadelphia County party chairman vacant until a new election is held.

President Barack Obama's brand of compulsive campaigning only works when he has an enemy to attack. Without his immature attempts at sarcasm and ridicule, personal insults and finger pointing, all he has left is his record of abject failure and plummeting job approval rating. But in this election cycle the only enemy left for him to attack is the majority of the American people.

Progress of waves through open sea sends vibrations that magnify with height up the entire atmospheric column. The signals of GPS satellites could be used to monitor tsunamis as they sweep across the ocean. In the most detailed study to date of the effect, scientists have shown that even though open ocean tsunami waves are only a few centimetres high, they are powerful enough to create atmospheric vibrations extending all the way to the ionosphere, 300 kilometres up in the atmosphere. The finding, the researchers hope, could hugely improve tsunami early-warning systems. In a study published online on 1 September...

I'm thinking about moving to New Hampshire with the Free State movement (

I remember when I moved to Palm Beach County Florida back in 1996, I soon started attending REC meetings (Repub Executive Committee of PB County) and got involved in politics later by hosting talk radio programs on a couple different stations. It didn’t take me a long time to get to know about our popular star Congressman Mark Foley. I soon discovered that his proclivities were widely rumored among Republicans within the party. Despite them knowing about his character flaws... (contibued)

On the 223rd Anniversary of the Signing of US Constitution, join Us in a Ceremonial Re-commitment to Our Founding Document! We the People 2010 Friday, September 17, 2010 7-7:30 PM Independence Mall 5th and Chestnut Streets Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Honored Guest: Actress Janine Turner, Co-Chair Constituting America. Special Guest: We the People 9.17 Contest Winner Featuring: White Hall Guard Fife and Drum, Reading of the Preamble and Bill of Rights Sponsored by the Independence Hall Tea Party Association

Mayor Richard Daley today called for an end to a high-profile federal education program that was the brainchild of the Obama administration and his own former Chicago Public Schools chief. The mayor also said Chicago school officials should have been more involved with Illinois' failed bid to qualify for the money in the Race to the Top program. "We should end it. We should end it," Daley said of the program, in which states vie for funding by promising various reforms. "They are just political slogans."

On Clare of Assisi "The Whole Church Is Indebted to Courageous Women" VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 15, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today at the general audience held in Paul VI Hall. * * * Dear brothers and sisters, One of the most beloved saints is without a doubt St. Clare of Assisi, who lived in the 13th century and was a contemporary of St. Francis. Her testimony shows us how the whole Church is indebted to courageous women rich in faith like her, capable of giving decisive impetus to the renewal of the...