Free Republic

In January 2009, I wrote that the housing crisis was mostly a consequence of the private sector. Why? US Agencies appeared to be responsible for only 20% of all subprime, Alt A and other mortgage exotica. However, over the last 2 years, analysts have dissected the housing crisis in greater detail. What emerges from new research is something quite different: government agencies now look to have guaranteed, originated or underwritten 60% of all “non-traditional” mortgages, which totaled $4.6 trillion in June 2008. What’s more, this research asserts that housing policies instituted in the early 1990s were explicitly designed to require...

No one has silenced you I’ve gotten so sick of these fence sitting celebrities making comments about the President then bitching because no one wants to buy their records or go to their shows. I had to address the Dixie Chicks on their own site dedicated to “Free Speech.” I thought long and hard about registering and posting on this site as I do not agree with the political views of these women. No doubt many people like myself who have chosen to do so will be mis-represented when these women boast of the amount of people flocking to their...

April 27, 2006 -- People in the U.S. are breathing cleaner air than a year ago, but there's still plenty of room for improvement. So says the American Lung Association's (ALA) "State of the Air 2006." The annual report focuses on particle pollution (soot) in the air, as well as ozone levels (smog). Last year's winners and losers for year-round soot pollution didn't change. Cheyenne, Wyo. still has the least year-round soot pollution, while the Los Angeles area has the most year-round soot pollution, according to the ALA. Sooty air showed a "general decline" since the ALA's 2005 report, largely...

LOS ANGELES -- The climate on Mars is showing a warming trend and recent images have shown the first evidence of seismic activity on Earth's neighbor planet, scientists said today. New gullies that did not exist three years ago have been pictured on a Mars sand dune -- just another of what scientists say are surprising discoveries found by cameras aboard the 8-year-old Mars Global Surveyor that are changing notions about the climate and formation of Mars. "To see new gullies and other changes in Mars surface features on a time span of a few years presents us with a...

The Book of Matthew has been under attack since the beginning of the alleged "New Thinking" of the late 19th century. It was about that time that it was decided that Matthew wasn't an eyewitness account of the life of Christ, but rather that Matthew was a later forgery. These alleged New "Thinkers" decided that Matthew wasn't the author, eventually assigning authorship of the book to a mysterious author, or group of authors, collectively known as "Q" from the German word "quelle," meaning "source." The New "Thinkers," after much exhaustive study, concluded the following: Most of what Jesus said, He...

The emerging "hydrogen economy" took a hit recently when a report by Cal Tech scientists concluded that hydrogen's widespread usage could cause significant damage to the ozone layer. It was a rather surprising finding for a substance touted as an environmentally-friendly replacement for fossil fuels. According to the study, if hydrogen replaced fossil fuels, it could be assumed that 10% to 20% of the hydrogen would leak from pipelines, storage and cars. Accordingly, more hydrogen molecules would rise into the stratosphere, where they would eventually form water. "This would result in cooling of the lower stratosphere and the disturbance of...

We need a goal, the Pentagon construction worker told W. Lee Evey. It was a few weeks after Sept. 11, and Evey, the head of the Pentagon renovation program, was walking through the area demolished by the hijacked plane and blackened by fire when a group of laborers stopped him. "We've all been talking about it, and we think the goal ought to be that you move people back within a year," their leader said. "Not everybody, that's probably impossible, but some reasonable number."...

Although Earth and Venus are very similar in size, mass and density, Venus is enshrouded in a thick layer of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid that traps heat in and leads to extreme warming. This has made the planet hotter — much hotter. Average temperatures on the cloud-choked planet average about 800 degrees Fahrenheit. The inferno-like conditions on Venus have led some to call it "Earth's evil twin." Researchers believe there is much we might learn about our own planet through Earth's darker, hotter twin and this week scientists from the European Union and NASA are meeting to discuss possible...

USAF B-52's are reorganizing Afghanistan's landscape. New town names include: 1. Wherz-myroof 2. Mykamel-izded 3. Oshit-Disisabad 4. Waddi-El-Izgowinon 5. Pleez-Ztopdishit 6. Kizz-Yerass-Goodbi 7. Ikantstan-Disnomore 8. Wha-Tafuk-Wazi-Tinkin 9. Myturbin-Izburnin 10. Imma-Dedshmuck

It is a matter of public record that the bin Laden family has vociferously disavowed their wayward 17th child. And who could blame them? No mere wanton wastrel, the world’s most wanted man has brought great shame upon this wealthy family. Even worse than shame, though, Osama’s actions have endangered the clan’s coffers. So it is not surprising that the bin Ladens have cut ties to "the evildoer," as George Dubya likes to refer to him. Or did they? A web domain registered to the Saudi Binladin Group (the megabucks corporation uses the alternate spelling of the family name) raises ...

Many Americans erroneously belief that the primary intent of the terrorist was to create a huge media event that would frighten Americans and disrupt the normal operation of the country. They are wrong. This was first an act of pure hatred. The so-called terrorists wanted to kill as many Americans as possible. If they could have killed 500,000 or 5,000,000 or 50,000,000, they jubilantly would have. They will try again, this time emboldened by their success and strengthened by a massive influx of resources from vast numbers of like-minded people, organizations and countries. Our enemy will endeavor to kill far ...

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the Professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well. Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law,(gascools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following: First, we need to know how the mass ...

In a little-known section of the campaign finance laws, oil companies are completely exempted from spending restrictions. They alone can donate as much money as they see fit, directly to candidates, in thinly disguised "issue advertising," or coordinated expenditures. And spend they do. Year in, year out, oil companies lavish billions of dollars on advertisements promoting their pet politicians and sponsoring vicious negative attack ads on the politicians they oppose. It is no accident that the very first bill taken up by the U.S. Senate would extend the oil companies' restrictive covenant prohibiting others from competing with these enormous, vile, ...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2000 November 19 Our Dusty Universe Credit: DIRBE Team, COBE, NASA Explanation: What's black & white and red all over? Add our universe to this list. Adrift in a vast sea of darkness are not only familiar bright stars but dust that glows predominantly in far-infrared light. This cosmological dust was recently discovered in data taken previously by the COBE satellite, and visible as a diffuse glow visible ...

Nonfiction Bestsellers The most popular Nonfiction titles among Amazon.com customers. 1. Drudge Manifesto by Matt Drudge Usually ships in 24 hours New American Library Hardcover - 256 pages (October 2000) Click here for more info List Price: $22.95 Our Price: $18.36 You Save: $4.59 (20%) Avg. Customer Review: Washington Post "Matt Drudge is the buzz of the media-industrial complex." Read more 2. The O'Reilly Factor : The Good, the Bad, & the Completely Ridiculous in American Life by Bill O'Reilly Usually ships in 24 hours Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub (Trd) Hardcover - 224 pages (September 2000) Click here for more ...

CNN is abuzz with talk that its president Rick Kaplan will be booted for letting the once mighty news channel lose nearly a third of its viewers in a year. Rumors at CNN headquarters in Atlanta also held that Kaplan's own boss, CNN Chairman Tom Johnson, also was under the gun over the ratings slide. "Six months ago I would have thought Kaplan would go and that Tom would stay, but now I don't know," said one CNN source. CNN had no immediate comment. Kaplan was under pressure last year for being at the center of two of the network's ...

A Small Miracle Fetal Surgery Done in Uterus Aims to Save Baby’s Life     For the past two decades, Harrison and his colleagues have been researching and performing groundbreaking fetal surgery. (ABCNEWS) RealVideo (download RealPlayer) Jan. 26 — After a routine ultrasound, Kristin Amen and Tony Garcia got the news all expectant parents dread to hear — there was something very wrong with their baby.      The test revealed their unborn daughter, already named Analisa, would be born with a diaphragmatic hernia, a birth defect that prevents normal lung development. She would most likely die shortly after birth.     Not satisfied ...

For the second time in a week, Democratic insiders have tipped reporters that former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes has suddenly turned up sporting two big shiners. Ickes, a street-wise scrapper who now plays political guru for Hillary Clinton's New York senate campaign, was spotted recently at a funeral for the mother of a well-known Democratic consultant. He was wearing shades the whole time, reports Deborah Mitchell for the New York Sunday Daily News. "At first, one mourner assumed that the battle-scarred pol was distraught at the sudden death of his friend's 94-year-old mother. But it turned ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - China is close to fielding a revolutionary new antiaircraft early-warning defense system that worries U.S. intelligence analysts because it could defeat current Air Force tactics against enemy air defenses, Newsweek reported on Sunday. The technology, which could detect U.S. stealth aircraft, including the F-117 bomber and perhaps even the futuristic F-22 fighter, has so alarmed the defense community that top military and industry experts have been called to a secret meeting in December to discuss the strategic implications, the magazine said in its Dec. 6 issue hitting newsstands on Monday. "Everyone is wondering about the cost ...

A Boeing 767 passenger plane disappeared about 60 miles south of Nantucket after taking off from JFK Airport in New York, the Coast Guard says. The FAA lost contact with the plane, which was headed to Cairo, Egypt.