Free Republic

...the electors... will meet on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December. That is when the actual re-election of the president occurs. According to the 12th Amendment, for the Electoral College to be able to select the president, it must have a quorum of two-thirds of the states voting. If enough states refuse to participate, the Electoral College will not have a quorum... then the responsibility for selecting the president and vice president devolves to the Congress. The House of Representatives selects the president and the Senate selects the vice president. Since the Republicans hold a majority in the...

An Islamic cleric living in Europe reportedly has warned Muslim women not to get too close to bananas, cucumbers or other produce -- to avoid having “sexual thoughts.” The unnamed cleric, whose directive was featured in an article in el-Senousa, a religious publication, purportedly said that if women wanted to eat these foods, a third party -- preferably a male related to them, such as their father or husband -- should cut the items into small pieces before serving...

Previous research has found evidence of academic benefits to longer school years. This paper investigates one of the many potential costs of increased school year length, documenting a dramatic decrease in youth suicide in months when school is not in session. A detailed analysis does not find that other potential explanations such as economic conditions, weather or seasonal a¤ective disorder patterns can explain the decrease. This evidence suggests that youth may face increased stress and decreased mental health when school is in session....

Freep this poll. The question: Would you support a ban on handguns? "No" is already winning by 10 to 1. Let's try for 100!

Feds tell court they can decide what you eat 'Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to obtain any food they wish' Attorneys for the federal government have argued in a lawsuit pending in federal court in Iowa that individuals have no "fundamental right" to obtain what food they choose. The brief was filed April 26 in support of a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's ban on the interstate sale of raw milk....

It was early in 1945 when, as a war correspondent on Okinawa, I first came upon Shimabuku, the strangest and most inspiring community I ever saw. Huddled beneath its groves of banyan and twisted pine trees, this remote village of some 1000 souls was in the path of the 'American' advance and so received a severe shelling. But when an advance patrol swept up to the village compound, the soldiers stopped dead in their tracks. Barring their way were two little old men; they bowed low and began to speak. The battle-hardened sergeant, wary of tricks, held up his hand,...

Today's CNN poll question: Do you agree with describing the war on terror as a war on "fascism"? Currently answers are at: Yes 32% 7863 votes No 68% 16983 votes

Radio evangelist Chuck Baldwin, WorldNetDaily, and Whistleblower magazine have recently revisited findings by Christian opinion researcher George Barna that only 9% of born-again Christians have a Biblical perspective on life. “The problem with America’s Christianity today is that, for the most part, it doesn’t exist!” Baldwin said, in a June 1 broadcast. We should revisit these figures too. They first appeared in a Barna Update December 1, 2003: “A Biblical Worldview Has a Radical Effect on a Person’s Life.”[1] Barna defined a Biblical worldview as belief in eight propositions: Absolute moral truths exist. The Bible defines moral truth. Jesus Christ...

Gay & Lesbian Churches Promote Courtship Several leaders of the Metropolitan Community Church, have announced a courtship mentoring program to replace the random, sometimes destructive "dating" which has hitherto been the norm for romance among the gay and lesbian community. Courtship introduces supervision (sometimes, 100% chaperoning), and careful spiritual counselling, into the pair-bonding process, with romantic activities and emotions only allowed full sway after the success of the relationship is reasonably assured. The courtship movement had its genesis among the fundamentalist homeschoolers in the 1970's, but lately it has been spreading through other segments of Christendom. Its adoption by gay...

On August 31, 2004, Reverend Francine Lovell, Founder and President of End-Time Ministries located in Omaha, Arkansas, was preaching at a Bible Camp in the southwest of France. Lovell, who was born in Paris, felt led to preach on the subject of the Huguenots, the French Protestants, of whom nearly 2 million were either massacred or scattered among the nations of refuge. Because America was one of the most significant nations of refuge, the destinies of America and France -- she believes -- are bound forever. It is no coincidence that George Washington, America's first President, was a direct descendant...

"...Is it right to let the assault weapons ban expire?.." www.cnn.com

Mail arrives, telling me that by going to Mexico I have sold out, fled, abandoned the United States. I’m a coward, some of my correspondents say, and a traitor, just like Lord Haw Haw, Kim Philby, Jane Fonda. I’m probably a devotee of Quisling. (Actually I’ve never quizzled in my life.) (OK, OK, I’m sorry.) Anyway, they’re upset, which is irrational. They think that just because I went to Mexico, I left the US. They don’t understand. I didn’t leave the United States. It left me. It was a bait-and-switch operation. I signed on to one country, and they slipped...

By Pat Simms-Chamberlain, Immigration Chair, CFRW-Southern Division. At the LACFRW Meeting, June 25th, this chairman reported on "Social Security for Illegal Aliens", referring to my CFRW-Southern Division Immigration Report. I received shocking new information that was also presented at this meeting. Both reports are included here for your perusal. Officals at the State Dept. and Social Security Administration are furiously working behind the scenes to enact an agreement with the Mexican government to extend Social Security to Mexicans who worked here illegally or used false social security numbers. The idea of adding a billion-dollar annual burden to a Social Security...

As war with Mordor looms on the edge of the horizon, peace protestors gathered today before the Black Gate in a demonstration against the actions of Gandalf the Wizard and the Fellowship of the Willing. “We’re here because we believe that war is wrong,” said Eldohil, president of Elves for Peace. Pointing to the Dagorlad before him, he said, “This very place is a testimony to the uselessness and destruction of war.” Protestors carried signs that said “Peace for Middle-Earth” and “Who would Iluvatar kill?” Elsewhere Gondorians paraded through the streets of Minas Tirith in opposition to the Lord Denethor’s...

Call for creation of Darwin Day From Professor Simon Blackburn and others Sir, We, the undersigned, support proposals for the creation of a new public holiday, Darwin Day, on February 12. This is the birthday of Charles Darwin, one of the greatest British scientists and thinkers that ever lived. At a time when creationism appears to be gaining ground in English schools, the public celebration of Charles Darwin’s contribution to modern science could send out a clear message of support for scientific thinking. It will be the 200th anniversary of his birth in 2009, and we very much hope that...

The self-described liberal who compared his visceral distaste for George W. Bush to his feelings toward the lazy jock in high school has got it exactly reversed, although the high school analogy is a good one. The people I know who have a violent reaction to GW are generally folks who were members of the in-crowd at high school. They may or may not have been jocks, but if they weren't, they were members of the Honor Society or class leaders. They looked on everyone else with condescension and an ill-concealed attitude of superiority. The guys were the sort who'd...

It's open enrollment time for company health insurance, and once again I turn down a bargain because the provider our company selected, pays for elective abortion. Granted, I won't have an abortion myself (I'm male, anyway), but as long as I remain healthy enough that premiums exceed claims, I'd be funding other people's abortions. As a consequence, for years I've shelled out the bucks for private insurance with a non-abortion-providing company.... and even their policy is changing.... What to do? I don't want to pay into the abortion system if I can possibly help it, either directly or indirectly through...

POLICIES AGAINST WOMEN BRING HOMOSEXUAL PROBLEMS Repression of women creates Taliban dilemma AFGHAN NEWS SOURCE Guardian News Service Jonathan Steele reports from Kandahar, Afghanistan, on various attitudes to homosexuality among Taliban militiamen What happens to sexually active young men who do not see a female face for months at a time? In Kandahar, the home of the ultrapunitive Taliban militias who have forced all Afghan women to disappear behind the veil, it seems feeble not to raise the issue. The city had a reputation for homosexuality long before the Taliban seized power two years ago. In other parts of Afghanistan ...

Electoral college subversion is still possible... Don't stop intercession! Concession speech or no, we need to keep Dubya, Cheney, and their electors covered in prayer. It's too easy to relax now. Don't do it! Eternal vigilance AND PRAYER are the prices of liberty. Let's not drop the ball in the last few yards. On a purely secular note...Maybe the Republicans should make a legal team available to any and all Republican electors -- promising all legal help, including the immediate filing of lawsuits and felony blackmail charges, against any Democrat operatives that try to threaten them into switching. (Anyone with ...