Free Republic

As the nation commemorates the 150th anniversary of its deadliest war this week, some historians say we're still fighting over some of the same issues that fueled the Civil War. "There are all of these weird parallels," says Stephanie McCurry, author of "Confederate Reckoning," a new book that examines why Southerners seceded and its effect on Southern women and slaves. "When you hear charges today that the federal government is overreaching, and the idea that the Constitution recognized us as a league of sovereign states -- these were all part of the secessionist charges in 1860," she says. 1. The...

"The country could, actually, absorb some more debt in order to get the economy going," George Soros told Bloomberg television over the weekend. Soros said the U.S. should spend money on building infrastructure or improving producitivity.

"The fact that it is acceptable to put a Confederate flag on a car *bumper and to portray Confederates as brave and gallant defenders of states’ rights rather than as traitors and defenders of slavery is a testament to 150 years of history written by the losers." - Ohio State Professer Steven Conn in a recent piece at History News Network (No, I'll not difnigy his bitterness by providing a link) This sounds like sour grapes to me. Were it not for the "losers" . . .

Do you have a blog on which you write about Catholic stuff? Do you read Catholic blogs? Do you comment on Catholic blogs? Are you planning on going to Rome for the Beatification of John Paul II? Are you pretty sure you're not going to get invited to the Vatican's blognic?Do you suspect that they found your work just a leeetle too ... err... forthcoming about the bishops, the Church, the state of things? Do you suspect that you'd probably be regarded as a "Taliban Catholic" blogger in certain circles? Or just don't think you can face hours of talks...

President Barack Obama will lay out his plan for reducing the nation's deficit Wednesday, belatedly entering a fight over the nation's long-term financial future. But in addition to suggesting cuts—the current focus of debate—the White House looks set to aim its firepower on a more divisive topic: taxes. In a speech Wednesday, Mr. Obama will propose cuts to entitlement programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, and changes to Social Security, a discussion he has largely left to Democrats and Republicans in Congress. He also will call for tax increases for people making over $250,000 a year, a proposal contained in his...

Please see the articles on George Soros' Bretton Woods conference in NH this past weekend. http://www.nhteapartycoalition.org/tea/2011/04/11/video-of-soros-protest/

The national average price for gasoline is still under $4 a gallon, but many Chicago stations are not far from the $5 mark. Nationally, prices have shot up 19 cents in the last three weeks to an average of $3.76 for a gallon of regular, according to the latest Lundberg Survey. But in the Chicago area, prices are generally $3.84 and above, according to a Web site that tracks the highest and lowest prices available. The Chicago gas station that first broke the $4 mark continues to lead area stations. The BP station in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood is charging $4.59...

Railroad executive William E. Gardner has been charged with two felony counts of violating campaign finance laws for reimbursing his employees for making donations in political contests, including last year's governor's races, sources said Monday.

Barack Hussein Obama is a fake and soon that will be an established fact. He was not born in Hawaii or any other part of the United States of America, nor was his father an American citizen. Both of these facts will disqualify him when they are proved. The trance he and his Party put America in is rapidly lifting and the nation’s eyes and ears are opening to well grounded charges that Obama is a fraud. Republican self identified TEA partier and proud “birther” Donald Trump, a man with the money and platform to deconstruct Obama’s web of lies,...

Why do most colleges require students to take a semester (sometimes two) of Western civilization? We want students to know about the history of our civilization because, amazingly enough, humans keep making the same stupid mistakes. The historian’s hope — well, at least this historian’s hope — is that students will recognize the stupidity of first century BC Rome, and fourth century BC Greece, and Weimar Republic Germany, and about nine zillion other moments in time — and not do it again! It’s probably a hopeless task, but I try. But there is another reason as well. The West...

mericans are not the only ones keenly interested in the words “money” and “dollars” this week. President Obama’s reported $1 billion re-election campaign is roaring to life, even as the White House carefully spins a delicate message of budget-minded prudence and bipartisanship for public consumption.

Listen Live: Sound Off Connecticut with Jim Vicevich 9 a.m. to noon ET (Daily Thread)Sound Off Connecticut is a popular conservative/libertarian call in talk show hosted by Jim Vicevich weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET. Although based in Connecticut, the show welcomes callers from all over the United States! This is your chance to sound off America! Call into the show toll free (800) 966-9842! Listen to the LIVE AUDIO STREAM at http://wtic.com - it's free and NO registration is required! If you're in southern New England listen over the air to WTIC 1080 AM, the 50,000 watt...

After reading Donald Trump's logic about why he thinks Barack Obama's presidency may be "the greatest scam in the country's history," we spent much of yesterday getting up to speed on the issue. Until yesterday, we actually hadn't looked at the birther question in detail, because we assumed it was just ludicrous conspiracy theory cooked up by folks who are desperate to do anything to have Barack Obama un-elected. SNIP SNIP do we really KNOW that Sarah Palin was born in this country? Or Donald Trump? Or Mitt Romney? A few weeks ago, Donald Trump made a big show of...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Pennsylvania SPCA is working overtime this morning, raiding homes across the city breaking up what officials are calling the largest dogfighting ring they’ve ever seen in this city. Officials say this dogfighting ring has been under surveillance for awhile. And late last night, early this morning, the Pennsylvania SPCA with Philadelphia police acting on a tip that fights were happening, raided a home on the 2600 block of Gerritt Street. Pennsylvania SPCA director of law enforcement, George Bengal says when they entered the house, there were around 25 people watching a fight in progress. “They actually...

Looks like we're moving to Washington this summer. What are the public schools like there (elementary schools, in particular)? Do they have a lot of social engineering? We're trying to decide if we should look into private schools or homeschooling instead. Thanks in advance!

Hundreds of bloggers have already made enquires about attending a special meeting being arranged by the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Social Communications on May 2nd, just after the beatification of Pope John Paul II. Officials say the meeting was proposed to establish a dialogue between the Church and the new media of blogging. “If we look today where culture is strongly formed and shaped, it’s the blogosphere. Bloggers have an enormous influence, ties an important community, its an important category, so its right that there to be a meeting of bloggers within the Church in order for the Church...

To encourage healthful eating, Chicago school doesn't allow kids to bring lunches or certain snacks from home — and some parents, and many students, aren't fans of the policyA Little Village Academy student cringes at an enchilada dish served at his school. Many students throw away their entrees uneaten and say they would rather bring food from home. The school, though, does not allow students to bring in their own lunches, unless they have a medical condition or a food allergy.

What is a man? For El’Jai Devoureau, this is not a rhetorical question. Mr. Devoureau, who was born physically female, is a man at the Motor Vehicle Commission, at the Social Security office, at home, at job interviews. But what about at the urinal?

The president has been criticised before for over indulging in golf and has racked up more than 60 games since he took office in 2008 - far more than his predecessor George W Bush did during his entire presidency. His critics also said he also played too much during the crisis into the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which created America's biggest environmental disaster. It seems playing the game is par for the course for American presidents. Golf Digest last year has ranked Mr Obama eighth, behind Bill Clinton but ahead of Ronald Reagan, who was known for...

One big victory by Republicans in 11th hour negotiations to avert government shutdown was a policy rider banning President Obama from closing Guantanamo Bay, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid confirms. The inclusion of the provision goes against a key campaign pledge of Obama’s and comes after Attorney General Eric Holder signaled the battle over the issue was lost several weeks ago.