Free Republic

...Pfleger has also agreed to serve as the archdiocese's representative for "newly developing anti-violence initiatives that will include a particular focus on issues surrounding gun violence," the archdiocese said.

The no's came from both sides of the aisle. Two Illinois Democrats and three Republicans voted the deal down. ... Jackson Jr. voted against the bill saying the cuts will do nothing to get Americans back to work. Evanston Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky says she couldn't vote for a bill that opens the door to entitlement cuts and does not include tax increases for the wealthy. "I really couldn't in the consciousness do this, which raises $1 trillion in spending cuts[?] of the middle class, the poor, seniors, while millionaires and billionaires are still not asked to pay a single penny,"...

Day by day our President says a lot of things. In mystical moments when he is making use of his Gift off the Prompter, he sometimes tells you something very important to hear, but that something floats right over your head like a forgotten name. This happened today at his presser:And this is not something that I am making up. This is not something that Tim Geithner is making up. We're not out here trying to use this as a means of doing all these really tough political things. I'd rather be talking about stuff that everybody welcomes -- like...

Breadand Circuses. "… Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses"Juvenal, Satire 10.77–81

Chemical fire, some evacuation near Sheffield (Illinois)Residents of Sheffield and Wyanet awoke this morning to a large, black cloud of smoke emanating from Euclid Chemical near Hennepin Canal State Parkway state park. The fire was not showing signs of getting smaller at 9:30 a.m. As of about 10 a.m., authorities were asking residents in an area east of Route 40 and west Princeton for several miles to stay indoors and keep windows closed. At 9:20 a.m., police closed U.S. 6 and U. S. 34 between Wyanet and Route 40 in addition to the earlier closing of Route 40 from the...

OK. Clock on my laptop switched to Sept 12 a while ago, and I notice the posts on FR are showing up as Sept 12. Somebody stealing Sept 11?I did take a nap - did I sleep through a day? Oh no...

Obama on Monday told residents in Theodore, Alabama, that “it’s going to take time for things to return to normal.” “This region that’s known a lot of hardship will bounce back just like it’s bounced back before. We’re going to do everything we can, 24/7, to make sure communities get back on their feet. “And in the end, I am confident that we’re going to be able to leave the Gulf Coast in better shape than it was before.”

CBS radio reporting new action at Detroit Airport.

Wind turbine plan scrapped by University of Illinois By Christine Des Garennes The University of Illinois has canceled its plans to build wind turbines on campus, citing the university's "deteriorating fiscal condition."A contract for GE to build and deliver a 1.5-megawatt wind turbine for the South Farms was sent last week to the university from GE, but university officials did not sign it.Chancellor Richard Herman on Thursday notified GE and student leaders of the university's decision to halt the project. ..... "In the fiscal situation we're in, we need to be looking for things that have immediate cost savings," Warner...

In another bit of interesting ad-libbing, Obama hit John McCain and Sarah Palin for making a "virtue out of selfishness," and embellished a bit on his "peanut butter and jelly" push-back from yesterday against McCain's efforts to paint him as a closet socialist. Speaking of Obama's desire to roll back the Bush tax cuts on the very rich, Obama said: "John McCain and Sarah Palin, they call this socialistic. Y'know, I don't know when they decided they wanted to make a virtue out of selfishness. Y'know, the next thing I know, they're gonna find evidence of my communistic tendencies because...

At precisely five minutes before high noon on March 6, 1970, the emergent radical-fringe bombers the Weather Underground had a terrifying and lethal showdown with its own cackhandedness. In a townhouse on leafy, prosperous West 11th Street in Greenwich Village, close by houses once occupied by Poe, Melville and Whitman, there was, at 11.55am, a series of horrifying explosions; first one, then two more of equally shocking force. The detonations collapsed the three-storey house in on itself, leaving a ragged hole in the street's facade, as though a tooth had been torn from a smile.... What police found inside the...

Today Obama said there is a fire, and we've got to put it out. (Article posted in comments section of this post) Not every fire is conquered with the same method. Every cook knows not to throw water on a grease fire. A little snip of an article about different thype of fire extinguishers. I'm sure Freeper Firefighters could give better examples.The extinguisher's A designation means that it's rated to put out fires of ordinary combustibles such as wood and paper. The B designation means that it will extinguish blazes stemming from flammable liquids such as grease, oil and gasoline....

Barack Obama turned his gaze yesterday towards the economic storm gathering around ordinary Americans as he began trying to navigate an election landscape transformed over the past ten days by Sarah Palin. The Democratic nominee, whose presidential bid has often been dominated by his compelling life story, said that he had developed a distaste for personality politics. “You know, this whole résumé contest is not what the American people are looking for,” he said. “I have to make it clear what is at stake in this election.”

Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife From Amazon This massively documented study of Nazi cinema...notably succeeds in analysing how Nazi films created a dreamworld that seemed neither realistic nor fantastic, but agreeable and persuasive--indeed closer to Hollywood than to Stalinist cinema. Above all, [Rentschler] stresses how films belong to a German cultural continuum, reaching into the present. Fifty years after Siegfried Kracauer's landmark book From Caligari to Hitler, this is the study that's long been needed of the movies' most disturbing triumph. (Sight and Sound ) Fifty years after Kracauer's monumental 'From Caligari to Hitler' comes the next...

Been listening to the police scanner out of Denver this afternoon. Parade underway. Poo and pee bags were unleashed. Police told not to respond. Halted the parade for a bit but they are underway again.Listen here.It is pretty interesting at times. Not sure if this belongs in breaking news, but thought others might like the link.

Hey brother Barack, forget about how well McCain lives, can you spare a room in your mansion for me?

Sometimes it seems that the folks at Google News have an agenda. Nah, I'm probably just toosensitive.This is a screen capture from this morning. The linkable picture was a dead link. They must not have enjoyed the rising Republican poll numbers...Just found it an interesting choice of headline/picture combo.A_R

ZCZC SPCPWOSPC ALL WOUS40 KWNS 221624 ARZ000-ILZ000-MOZ000-OKZ000-230030- PUBLIC SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1124 AM CDT FRI SEP 22 2006 ...NUMEROUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED OVER PARTS OF THE OZARKS INTO THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA IS FORECASTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW STRONG...LONG-TRACK TORNADOES OVER PARTS OF THE OZARKS INTO THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE THIS ACTIVITY INCLUDE WESTERN...CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ARKANSAS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SOUTHERN...CENTRAL AND EASTERN MISSOURI EASTERN OKLAHOMA SURROUNDING THE MODERATE RISK...

The Islamic Jihadists have established extensive networks in Europe to cause trouble for India bound passenger jets. International travel experts call for avoiding Europe as any stop while travelling from US or elsewhre to India. The Pakistani jihadists are targeting these planes. Any plane originating from Europe to US or India or Israel can be dangerous. US Northwest Airlines plane bound for Mumbai was turned back to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Wednesday accompanied by Dutch fighter planes due to worrying passenger behaviour, officials said. According to media reports, "Northwest flight number 42 from Amsterdam to Mumbai with 149 passengers returned...

Smoking Could Be Banned In All Public Places (AP) SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Smokers, beware. Illinois lawmakers are considering a statewide ban on smoking in public places, like restaurants, bars and bowling alleys. Health advocates say smokers shouldn't inflict their smoke on employees and other customers. One expert says a waitress who breathes second-hand smoke for eight hours has essentially smoked a pack of cigarettes. But business groups oppose a ban. They say customers can vote with their feet and choose whether to go to places that allow smoking. They also note that it was just a few months ago that lawmakers...