Free Republic

Santa just brought me an Amazon Echo Dot. Enjoying it so far, especially the Unlimited Music trial, which will play most songs I ask for pretty quickly. I’ve enabled the Fox News “skill” for my “Flash Briefing”, which gives me an updated news summary. Are there other news skills I should check out with a conservative viewpoint? Or other Alexa skills in general you think I should check out? Merry Christmas, - Joe

Hey folks, My kids in grade school are getting hit with global warming, including viewing Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" movie. Can anyone offer some very concise info from a source that won't get too-quickly-dismissed-out-of-hand? The teacher is convinced man-made global warming is a fact, backed by "scientific consensus". Again, this is for grade school, so KISS please! Thanks, -- Joe

I recently had the privilege of talking to Mark Steyn about the death of capitalist economist Milton Friedman, the current social crises facing Europe and America, and how the two subjects are related. Here's a sample: As Europe’s example shows us, “big government . . . enfeebles the citizenry.” We may not be as far along that path as Europe, but already the signs are clear as to what direction we’re going. Our government currently is experiencing what Steyn calls a “malign convergence . . . [between] Democratic defeatism on the one hand, and the so-called Republican realism on the...

My career has lasted twenty years and will roughly last another 20 more. Although a number of the ‘big’ questions / issues in my life – God, country, family, and home – are settled pretty well for me, work / life balance has not. I find it very difficult to find a position and company that strikes a good balance between work and the rest of life, while still paying reasonable well for my skills. Currently, I’m in an IT consulting company. They are doing well and growing. Although HR says it is trying very hard to have work /...

I never really have cared to ask this before, but I just discovered the new Treo I have does a pretty good job of playing streaming audio from the Internet. I know that internet streams from shoutcast.com and treobits.com will work... but I'm not that encouraged by the listings I've seen thus far. Most of it looks like leftist ramblings that couldn't make it on commercial radio. In any case, are there any recommendations from fellow FReepers for good conservative internet radio stations? Thanks, -- Joe P.S. If you have a Treo, Pocket Tunes Deluxe is the software that allows...

f all goes as expected at this Sunday’s Academy Awards, Brokeback Mountain will win in the “Best Picture,” “Best Director,” and perhaps even “Best Actor” categories. Even if it doesn’t do as well as expected, the film is already being hailed as a “breakout” event, a kind of cultural watershed of sorts—which it almost certainly is not. By “breakout,” I mean the idea, most famously advanced by New York Times columnist Frank Rich, that the movie would do well in the “heartland,” and that this, in turn, would signal an increased acceptance of same-sex relationships. As USA Today summarized it,...

MANCHESTER — A traveling conference advocating the heterosexual lifestyle came to the suburbs of west St. Louis County on Saturday. As gay-rights groups staged a peaceful protest outside the First Evangelical Free Church, conventioneers spent the day inside, mostly listening to speakers who say they were previously gay. Parents of gay and lesbian children got advice and could speak to counselors about what to do, short of accepting their child's behavior. "We suggest you decline an invitation to a civil commitment ceremony," Melissa Fryrear told a group of parents. Some busily took notes; a few others wiped away tears. "So...

I have to admit that although I'm an avid reader of current events, I have *not* been a good student of history. What I'd love to read now is History regarding Western Civilization and history on the United States. While I'm not particularly looking for a 'conversative' history per se, I am most definitely want to avoid PC history or revisionist history. (BTW, I remember years ago reading a revisionist history book on the U.S., slamming Christopher Columbus, Washington, and Jefferson. My naive, pre-FReeper days in the '80s!!) I'm cheap and enjoy reading things off the web, so a good...

"We have a special program in honor of our nation's veterans as well as active-duty military personnel and their families. You'll hear from two veterans of the war in Iraq who describe the gratitude the Iraqi people have expressed toward the U.S. military for freeing them from the brutal tyranny of Saddam Hussein. You'll hear what life was like under Saddam's oppressive rule as one Iraqi woman describes the stark contrast between living in fear and living in freedom. You'll also be touched by the sacrifices made by military families as you hear from a woman whose husband and sons...

The Battle Over Gay Teens What happens when you come out as a kid? How gay youths are challenging the right--and the left In May, David Steward, a former president of TV Guide, and his partner Pierre Friedrichs, a caterer, hosted an uncomfortably crowded cocktail party at their Manhattan apartment. It was a typical gay fund raiser--there were lemony vodka drinks with mint sprigs; there were gift bags with Calvin Klein sunglasses; Friedrichs prepared little blackened-tuna-with-mango-chutney hors d'oeuvres that were served by uniformed waiters. Billionaire philanthropist Edgar Bronfman Sr. was there; David Mixner, a gay activist and longtime friend of...

I didn't know much about Girls, Inc., other than the fact that several women managers I respected at work were active in supporting this organization. My understanding was simply that they were trying to help young girls grow up. Well, look at this list of links I saw today: Girls Incorporated supports a woman's freedom of choice http://www.girlsinc.org/ic/page.php?id=4.3.4 Convenient access to safe, effective methods of contraception http://www.girlsinc.org/ic/page.php?id=4.3.4 Girls and Lesbian, Bisexual, and Questioning Identities http://www.girlsinc.org/ic/content/lesbianbisexualgirls.pdf Free your mind: The book for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth and their allies. http://www.girlsinc.org/ic/content/sexualityresourcesgirls.pdf Girls and Sexual Health (with sexual orientation on page 3)...

Just asking... anyone see it? I'd like to know how any FReepers liked it. I read a ton of their comic books, esp. the John Byrne ones, many moons ago. So... flame on! -- Joe

Any recommendations for a good Internet filter? It should: - Stop my kids from seeing the bad web pages - Cause little or no problems with Windows XP - Cause little or no hassle with respect to the Windows XP multi-user, fast-switching feature I've tried NetNanny, CyberSitter, and McAffee software offerings, and have not been satisfied because of the problems they cause. Any recommendations? Thanks! -- Joe

WASHINGTON - By adopting religious views as political doctrine and legislation, the Republican Party is leading the country on a dangerous path that could trample the Constitution and lead to bitter division, says former Sen. John C. Danforth, a GOP stalwart. The political success Republicans have had in harnessing the energy of Christian conservatives doesn't justify the GOP becoming their voice, Danforth said in an interview Wednesday. "It becomes extraordinarily divisive and legislatures get themselves entangled with writing religious documents into legislative form," Danforth said. "It's exactly what the Constitution says we can't do and it's exactly what we can't...

Kudos to Rush in his coverage of the Terri Schiavo national tragedy. He has never been so openly pro-life. He has been a voice of reason amidst the hysteria, pointing out the important issues and facts surrounding Terri's situation, including the conflicts-of-interest involved and the problem of our runaway judiciary. Rush has faced lots of criticism from his own fan base and has held firm. And he has held on to importance of maintaining the rule of law, even in a system obviously broken and in dire need of repair. (IMO, getting rid of a lot of judges is the...

SOVO BLOG Ex-NFL star, anti-gay preacher, dies Former NFL star Reggie White died on Sunday at the age of 43. He was one of the National Football League's top defensive players for a decade. He was also a minister, which led to his nickname, the Minister of Defense. And, White made certain everyone knew his thoughts about gay people. White was invited to give a speech to the Wisconsin Legislature in 1998. Here are some of the highlights of that speech: White said the United States has gotten away from God, in part by allowing homosexuality to "run rampant." Homosexuality...

So who's going to give up something first on abortion -- Republicans or Democrats? One side has had a pro-life plank, the other a pro-choice plank, for a long time. My two cents -- the Dems lose more votes than they gain by identifying themselves so tightly with abortion rights. I'm not expecting to ever see the Democrats go so far as a pro-life plank, but at least they need to drop their current abortion stance. Your thoughts? -- Joe

Anyone see the movie "SuperSize Me"? While no doubt FReepers would have lots of qualms about the political and cultural views stuffed, er, down our throats while watching this movie, there's no doubt that there's an important message the movie does hammer home. America is getting a lot fatter. And it's going to kill more and more of us. As someone in his mid-forties, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that I see a LOT more obese people now than twenty years ago. The movies brings the growing elephant in the living room to our attention very well. Some...

I work for a Fortune 500 company, and I'm a pretty happy user here of Outlook. The only major problem with it is that we can only keep about 30 Meg of space on the central server for all of our Outlook items. So the big hassle is staying under this limit, and putting the email someplace where it can be quickly searched for later reference. I figured out a reasonable way to move lots of email to another one of my drives. But the problem is that it is VERY slow to search through these old emails. I've searched...

I'm asking as a devil's advocate... Why should I trust Free Republic? If someone pokes around here, can one reasonably discern what is truth vs. rumor? Can someone recognize here partisan conservative hype vs. unreported truth not covered by MSM? If Free Republic is reliable, how come? What's working here that is not working in media, or even other web sites? I have some of my own ideas, but I'm stirring the pot here to get your thoughts. I've been a Freeper for a few years now, and this week has been startling in terms of my own realization of...