Free Republic

The Gift of Language - Theodore Dalrymple No, Dr. Pinker, it’s not just from nature.Now that I’ve retired early from medical practice in a slum hospital and the prison next door, my former colleagues sometimes ask me, not without a trace of anxiety, whether I think that I made the right choice or whether I miss my previous life. They are good friends and fine men, but it is only human nature not to wish unalloyed happiness to one who has chosen a path that diverges, even slightly, from one’s own. Fortunately, I do miss some aspects of my work:...

Growing income disparity doesn’t presage a new labor movement at home — but it may signal more terrorism for us abroad. In 1914, Henry Ford paid his factory workers $5 a day, twice the going rate, with the aim of creating a broad middle class able to buy the cars they were building. Today, that project isn’t faring so well: The Economist reports that in the U.S. “the gap between rich and poor is bigger than in any other advanced country.” And it’s growing. According to the Congressional Budget Office, from 1979 to 2001, the after-tax income of the...

For more than a decade, the Democratic Party -- the self-proclaimed party of the middle class -- has consistently lost the middle class at election time. In 2004, voters with family incomes between $30,000 and $75,000 went for Bush by 6 percentage points, while Congressional Democrats lost this group by 4 points. Among white middle-class voters (one-third of the electorate), Bush won by 22 points and Congressional Republicans by 19 points. What's the matter with the middle class? Democrats like to pin their defeats on national security and culture issues alone, but the progressive economic message is also to blame....

Singer Steve Nicks is doing her part to support U.S. troops by donating hundreds of iPods to soldiers wounded in Iraq. The former Fleetwood Mac star regularly visits soldiers at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. She explains, "I refuse to be pulled into the politics of war. But once these soldiers sign up, go to war and come back to a hospital, I will do whatever it takes to make them better." Nicks has provided iPods loaded with her music, along with fellow artists Aerosmith and Elvis Presley. She has also sent baby clothes to war widows,...

Jethro Tull's soloist: Show must go on Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull's soloist and flutist, is still planning to come to Israel. 'I don’t think any of us should succumb to terror, I am afraid of coming to Israel but I am also afraid to cross the street' Sagie Ben Nun Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull's soloist and flutist since 1967, is due to appear in Israel on October 16th, 2006 for the fifth time. Anderson will be playing in concert with the Raanana Symphony Orchestra set to take place at the city's famed amphitheatre. As of now, it doesn’t appear as...

LEVITTOWN, Pennsylvania (June 6) - A deal is being negotiated that would allow a high school's class president to participate in Friday's graduation ceremony despite concern that he could be targeted by a gang. Tyrone Lewis, 18, had been scheduled to be one of the speakers at the Truman High School commencement ceremony, but police were worried that he could be targeted by a gang from Trenton, New Jersey, because his sister had testified in a murder trial. Lewis had been barred from the ceremony. Dave Truelove, the Bristol Township School District's solicitor, confirmed Tuesday that talks are in progress...

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A soldier said he was only showing his gratitude when gave his Purple Heart to a 13-year-old student being honored for winning a contest for writing letters to American troops. "It's important what these children do for us in sending these letters," said Staff Sgt. Phillip Trackey, after giving away the medal he received for injuries in Iraq. "The letters mean so much to us. So I thought this was a big way of giving something back to them." Trackey and a group of fellow Fort Drum soldiers were attending a ceremony Thursday at West Genesee Middle...

Iraqi Signal School students salute the Iraqi flag during a graduation ceremony at the school in Taji, Iraq, May 13, 2006. Students from all Iraqi services and the Ministry of Defense attend the school to learn communications skills. Multiational Security Transition Command—Iraq photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Rick Brown Iraqi Signal School Graduates Latest Class A move to a larger facility this summer will enable the school to expand its class size from 120 students at present to as many as 300 students. By U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Rick Brown Multiational Security Transition Command—Iraq CAMP FALLUJAH,...

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2006 – The top U.S. military general told members of The Citadel's graduating class accepting commissions into the military on May 6 they're serving their country in its time of need and offered them his own personal formula for leadership success. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, , addresses the 397 graduates at The Citadel for their May 6 commencement in Charleston, S.C.. He told them that their country, at war, needed them. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Cherie Thurlby, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "Your country needs you. We...

One of Germany's crack new fuel-cell-powered submarines has set a world record with a two-week-long dive, the German Navy said Wednesday. The trip by the U212A-class sub with a crew of 27 from Eckernfoerde in Germany to Rota in Spain involved the longest period that any non-nuclear vessel had ever spent under water. The navy did not say what the previous record had been. US and Russian nuclear submarines can stay under water for longer. Germany, which has no nuclear weapons and no nuclear-powered ships, developed the high-tech hybrid-powered submarines to replace diesel-electric vessels that need to surface more often...

Corpus, Christi, Texas (April 27, 2006) - Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Juan M. Rubio, of San Angelo, Texas, was awarded the Silver Star Medal for conspicuous gallantry against the enemy on Jan. 1, 2005, while serving as a Marine platoon corpsman in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Medical Corps, Commander, Navy Medicine East and Commander, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Va., Rear Adm. Thomas R. Cullison, left, made the presentation in front of the Naval Hospital on board Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. U.S. Navy photo by Mr. Bill W. Love (RELEASED)

The Navy's submarine force is in trouble. A shrinking number of boats is struggling to meet steady demand from regional commanders. Meanwhile, the cost of the only U.S. submarine currently in production, the super-high-tech Virginia-class attack boat, has risen to $2.3 billion apiece. At that price, the Navy can afford to buy only one per year. Do the math: since attack boats last only 30 years, building one boat per year means your fleet is eventually going to shrink to 30 boats from the current 55. Long-range plans call for 48 attack subs, so how is the Navy going to...

Afghan National Army Maj. Gen. Mohammad Mangal (right) congratulates Afghan National Army Col. Fatah, who graduated from the intermediate-level operator and field-level tactical radio maintenance class. Fatah also was recognized as an exceptional performer. Courtesy photo Afghan Army Graduates Radio Operator Class The class was taught in English, but the Afghan soldiers – aided by interpreters and student leaders – led the class in team exercises and design problems. By Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan KABUL, Afghanistan, April 12, 2006 — The Afghan National Army recently graduated 28 students from its first intermediate-level operator and field-level tactical radio maintenance class at...

CARLISLE BARRACKS, Pa., March 27, 2006 – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told senior officers at the Army War College here today that the American people must stay resolved in fighting terrorism. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld speaks to students and faculty at the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks in Carlisle, Pa. The institution educates future senior leaders of the Army and joint, interagency, intergovernmental and multinational communities. Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, USN   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "It's up to us, military and civilian, to commit ourselves to patiently...

RAMADI, Iraq, March 25, 2006 – One newly graduated 196-member Iraqi police unit returned here for duty yesterday, while another group -- about 220 Iraqi police recruits -- left here and arrived safely at the Baghdad Iraqi Police Basic Training Academy yesterday. The Iraqi police unit, made up of 196 Iraqis known as the Sons of al Anbar, successfully graduated from the Baghdad Police Academy on March 23. This Iraqi police class left Ramadi for the Baghdad Police Academy on Jan. 13, and they represent the first trained group of Iraqi police officers to graduate and secure the neighborhoods of...

Did you hear the one about the high school teacher in Colorado who compared President Bush to Adolf Hitler? We're not joking. Read about what social studies teacher Jay Bennish told his class at Overland High School the day after Bush' state of the union address. Using an MP3 player, a student recorded Bennish's remarks about Bush's speech: "Sounds like a lot of things that Adolf Hitler used to say. We're the only ones who are right, everyone else is backward, and our job is to conquer the world." Bennish's criticisms of Bush and U.S. foreign policy – during which...

3/6/2006 - ROME, N.Y. (AFPN) -- Forty men and women from across the country will focus on a futuristic "cybercraft" as they participate in the 2006 Class of the Advanced Course in Engineering Cyber Security Boot Camp. A joint selection committee of Syracuse University and Air Force Research Laboratory officials reviewed the credentials of applicants and identified 40 candidates who will make up the class of 2006, comprised of 36 new students and four returning graduate assistants. The profile of the 36 students of the ACE 2006 class includes 33 men and three women who attend colleges in 22 states...

Venezuelan middle class flees Chávez rule of hate By Sophie Arie in Caracas (Filed: 05/03/2006) Venezuela's once-thriving middle class is packing its bags and fleeing the country, afraid for the future as the socialist president, Hugo Chávez, calls on the slum-dwelling masses to rise up and seize wealth from those better off than themselves. Growing numbers of professionals, business owners and shopkeepers are fed up with the climate of hostility that the Left-wing president has encouraged in his effort to boost his populist credentials. President Hugo Chávez María Carolina García was blowing up helium balloons in her party-decorations shop in...

Today, President and Mrs. Bush traveled to Atlanta, Georgia today to attend the funeral of Coretta Scott King at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. The President spoke from the heart, showing his class and character in honoring Mrs. King, in contrast to the petty political digs of others who spoke. For a complete reading of the President's remarks, go HERE. Last evening the President and First Lady hosted The Dance Theatre of Harlem with a dinner in the State Dining Room followed by a dance performance in the East Room at the White House, where he made remarks, and himself...

First Iraqi Cadet Class Wraps Up Officer Training The group is the first class to complete the basic officer training course under the new Iraqi army. By U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Mark Woodbury Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2005 — The Iraqi army will mark another first this week with the expected graduation of 77 cadets at the Iraqi Military Academy at Ar Rustamiyah. The group is the first class to complete the basic officer training course under the new Iraqi army. The 42-week course focuses on developing leaders of soldiers from all backgrounds and...