Free Republic

Just saw a news flash that the Iranian president is demanding the US pay for rebuilding Lebannon.

Sometimes I tend to daydeam about winning the lottery (I play $2, maybe 2 times a year). If I won, I'd of course help my family, friends and charities. My dream would be to buy multiple acres of wooded property-subdivide it and fence each section. One section would have a small lake (man-made if necessary)for those canines who love water; another a playground; one where dog-friendly dogs could romp together; other setions where dogs could run with their master. Plenty of kennels, a full-time vet, a home for abused and unwanted pets. People could bring their pets to this Canine...

There is absolutely no chance that the Democrats can win back the congress in 2006. That’s what this essay is about. If you think otherwise, you’re fooling yourself. It is time to stop even talking about a Democrat take over as a real possibilty because the energy and time involved would be much better used thinking about how to take more seats from the minority party. Last Labor Day I posted an essay describing the insurmountable problems the Democrats will face next year and in 2008, as they set about trying to re-take power. This second essay will outline these...

If the communities we live are have become an unreliable disaster for our kids we must redouble are efforts as parents. As a matter of fact maybe this should have been part one, as the individual family’s values shape the nature of the community (we could argue chicken and egg theory here). Now this next concept is pretty dramatic and complex, so hold on to your coffee. Here it is....More people need to make raising their kids the most important priority in their lives. This is not a revolutionary idea, but seems terribly hard for many folks to put into...

One must wonder? For a country that has depended for over decade on relief organizations to feed it's people after it's farming system collapsed years ago, All of a sudden to want to stop receiving aid for infrastructures, Must seem strange. Who really benefits from the infrastructures? It is already believed that the food aid doesn't even benefit the poor. As we can see, alot of Koreans are selling their food aid at markets, Alot of the food is being diverted to the soldiers and food rations have been cut many times since it's mostly the North Korean government who...

Alright. It's not necessary to do the obligatory "what are you watching CNN for anyway?" It's part of my job description. OK. I just need to vent amongst friends. This guy is quickly rising to the top of smarmy Libs. He is a poor Andy Rooney wannabe who accompanies Wolf Blitzer afternoons at CNN. His job description is to add insight and read e-mails answering questions he throws out. Of course, he picks his favorites to read. Everything designed to slime Bush. Not even a hint of objectivity. I just saw him ask, "what will be different with response to...

Heck, if the government really is going to spend $200 billion to rebuild New Orleans, they might as well rebuild it as the city of tomorrrow complete with kelp farms, electricity generated by tides, public transportation light as a cloud and efficient and almost noiseless, parks that are nice and safe and clean. It could be a proof-of-concept city for all those innovations you see in the middle of "Popular Science" that are always "just around the corner." I draw the line at dog-walking robots and the bubble dome (for now), but you get my drift, I suppose. Well, I...

Interesting observation forwarded to me; if you Google "failure", the top hit is Bush's whitehouse.gov bio. I do not think this is a result of their normal ranking system, as there are other known Easter Eggs in the engine. Not very appropriate, if you ask me...

ADA is good in theory and in theoretical principle. But, is complicated, costly, and impactical on many dimensions. How far should its reach be? How much cost can it be assigned (from society and government)? How much economic impact from this act is tolerable? What are the "States Rights" compromises that can be made in support of the ADA? It will be good to argue these issues in today's context, and especially in the context of SCOTUS nominations.

Did anyone see the following Red Cross Television ad ? I saw what I think has to be the most disgusting tv ad in Red Cross history. The audio is from memory and went something like this. I don't look like you. I don't watch the same television programs. I don't laugh at the same jokes. I don't eat the same food. But I will save your life. The video showed mostly white middle class people going about their lives, washing their car, walking their dog, etc. And at the end, the video displayed the Red Cross emblem along with...

Dear Senator, This letter is written in extreme opposition to the recently proposed regulations by the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division. A little historical background is needed to prove this opposition is correct. The background follows: The current Energy Crisis facing all Americans has roots going back at least 30 years (lack of newly built refineries), but this letter will dwell mainly on recent events, regulations, court cases, lack of legislative fortitude, and most particularly the apparent merging of philosophies between extreme environmental mega-organizations such as the Sierra Club & Natural Resources Defense council, et al and State and Federal...

Anyone realize the Winter Olympics are only a few months away? Does anyone really care any more? Liberal Point 1: Liberalism has caused the Olympics to lose their appeal. It used to be that when an athlete won the Gold, you could hear the chants across the country, "We're Number One!" Now, we are told to contain ourselves because we don't want to make others feel inferior, causing anger. I remember the Miracle on Ice. It let our battered nation give the finger to communism. Liberal Point 2: They split the summer and winter programs so they didn't get money...

To the happy few who may read this...I used to post here as Pat The Postman. Never insulted anyone. Just presented facts. Paid respect to everyone. Yesterday I participated in a highly interesting thread about the War On Iraq/Terrorism. Today I posted a link to an official report from the UK from the Chatham House, a deeply respected think tank, held in high esteem all over the world. And what happened? Well, all my posts were removed, and the thread about the Chatham House report was pulled within a minute. This is interesting. What's the matter? There is but one...

As a fan of this great program for nearly 5 years now, I think it's time for a shake up. Hume is without a doubt the best anchor on television and yes I know that many on the left would say "but he's so blatantly conservative". At least he admits his bias and doesn't run from it. He presents the news as a journalist and not as a talking head. Now, to the fun part. I'm a huge fan of the roundtable on Hume's show but I'm afraid the regulars have grown settled and boring. I'm not asking for a...

Democrats have filibustered many of Bush's Circuit Court nominees for over 2 years now. They have claimed that judicial nominees such as Owens, Brown and Pryor are just too extreme, out of the mainstream and unqualified to be put on the federal bench. Now it appears that they are going to do a 180 degree turn and allow an up or down vote on them. Weren't these judicial nominees of Bush just days and weeks ago unqualified and too extreme to be allowed an up or down vote? What has happened? That Democrats would lack the backbone to stick with...

Six months ago, Free Republic was riding high, and I was proud to be a part of it. It was coming off having blown the cover off of Dan Rather’s use of forged memos against the President. The President was well on his way to winning re-election. It was a great time to be a Freeper. However, things have changed. It started with the justifiable removal of ALIPAC. I supported that move by Jim Robinson, but the ugliness directed towards Alberto Gonzales. He was accused of everything under the sun, and Senator Mel Martinez was viciously attacked for speaking Spanish...

Ive held off responding to the many many FR posts on the Terry Schiavo debacle...until now. Im raising an issue regardng the 'rule of law' that I feel may not have been discussed previously on this forum. Im also offering up some personal comments...you can take them or leave them. I make a disclaimer up front that I am not a lawyer. The law, however, should make common sense to all of us citizens...whether we are lawyers or not. If I have questions or concerns...others may have them as well...so I invite legal experts to weigh in. Of course, I...

I have been writing to numerous people ever since September 11, 2001. That event changed me. Before September 11, 2001 I assumed our government knew what it was doing in the world and I never questioned anything it did, but after September 11, 2001 i started to think ,why would anybody hate us so much as to try to kill as many Americans as possible. My quest for the truth lead me to one very sobering conclusion.........our policies, even before our independence in 1776, has gradually created a world in which we do not realize what people around the world...

In an effort to stabilize loading threads, I have taken it upon myself to once again reiterate the proper procedure for posting pics. PUT THE DIMENSIONS(width and height attributes) IN THE IMG SRC HTML! Ahem, when you right click to get the properties for the pic, the attribute box also gives you the dimensions; wonder why? A typical IMG SRC link will look something like this: <img src="PIC ADDRESS" width="xxx" height="xxx" > Simple, huh? It's not difficult, so there may be some laziness going around??? Another pet peeve. I know some computers have the right click function disabled, so this...

The viewership for Bush-Gore(#1) in 2000 was 46.6 million. I'm thinking that number may have drifted down a little this year.