Free Republic

On Thursday’s broadcast of Bloomberg TV’s “Bloomberg Markets,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona responded to criticism of President Joe Biden’s student loan program that it’s not fair to people who paid back their loans by saying that “If something happened where my neighbor needs help to get back on their feet, me feeling that they shouldn’t get help, that’s un-American.” Bloomberg host and reporter David Westin asked, [relevant exchange begins around 9:45] “[D]o you have some sympathy for people who say, I paid back my loans and I didn’t get this kind of break. It’s not quite fair?”

Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, is calling on his colleagues involved in bipartisan talks on gun reform to “do the right thing” following last week’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas. When asked by CNN “State of the Union” co-anchor Dana Bash on Sunday if lawmakers would take action following the shooting in Uvalde that left 19 students and two teachers slain, Durbin said the photos and stories of the victims have been “compelling” for lawmakers.

Cleaning out years of projects and student art from her classroom was an emotional process for Teri Cowan, but she felt it was her only choice. Cowan worked for the Ector County Independent School District for 23 years, 13 of those years teaching Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate sophomore English at Odessa High School. She was teacher of the year for the 2010-11 school year at the high school and secondary teacher of the year for ECISD for the 1995-96 school year. As well as volunteering as the National Honor Society, prom and class council sponsors. Tuesday, Jan. 17, was

It might have been Mitt Romney’s most revealing moment in all the Republican debates. Badgered by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who was continually interrupting him, Romney appealed to CNN moderator Anderson Cooper to reassert the rules of the debate: “Anderson?” That one-word plaint could stand for all of Romney’s straight-arrowness. It is a virtue and a curse. “Scandal” and “Romney” are two words you expect never to have to see in a sentence together. He’s every bit as upstanding as you would expect from a former Mormon bishop, a father of five and grandfather of 16. Romney is a familiar...

Sacramento -- Attorney General candidate Kamala Harris is battling increasing criticism of her performance as San Francisco district attorney both at home and on the campaign trail with only eight days left before the primary. On May 20, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo ripped into Harris, saying she violated defendants' rights by failing to disclose to defense attorneys damaging information about a police drug lab technician who's under investigation for allegedly skimming cocaine from evidence files. Problems intensified for Harris last week when The Chronicle disclosed that a toxicologist at the San Francisco coroner's office had been labeled...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's army of canvassers fanned out across the nation over the weekend to drum up support for his $3.55 trillion budget, but they had no noticeable impact on members of Congress, who on Monday said they were largely unaware of the effort. "News to me," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, a House Budget Committee member, of the canvassing. Later, his staff said that his office had heard from about 100 voters

Nature, it should be pointed out, always bats last. This is true even in Florida, where, as novelist Carl Hiaasen makes clear, life is more than a little surreal, and where three people were recently attacked and killed by alligators in less than a week. Previously, 17 people had died from alligator attacks in Florida since 1948. There is no record in the United States of three fatal alligator attacks in one year, much less in one week in one state. So something clearly is going on in Florida. Yesterday, as if to emphasize Hiaasen's point, an alligator walked through...

In the leak scandal that led to five indictments for a top-level White House official, reports this week cite that former US Central Intelligence Agency employee Valerie Plame was allegedly following Iran's nuclear activities before her identity was revealed. Democrat Party Senator Frank Lautenberg, in a letter to CIA Director Porter Goss, asked for an evaluation of the harm outing Plame has caused. In the letter, the Senator reminds Director Goss of recent news stories which report that before Plame was outed, she participated in intelligence works on the Iranian nuclear dossier, and her subsequent outing gravely jeopardized the US’...

HONOLULU - Legendary Hawaiian crooner Don Ho on Thursday said he's feeling much better and may return home to the islands within a few days. Ho, known for his signature tune "Tiny Bubbles," remained at a Thailand hospital recovering from an experimental stem cell procedure on his ailing heart. He was moved out of intensive care Wednesday. "I'm feeling much better and I'm so happy I came up here to do it," the 75-year-old Ho said in a statement. "I'm looking forward to coming home." A Thursday photo released by his Honolulu publicist Donna Jung shows a shirtless, baseball cap-wearing...

The Ecstatic HeresySeeking a superficial unity, some denominational leaders opt for feelings over facts.By Robert Sanders | posted 10/08/2004 9:00 a.m. The conflict in the mainline churches is ostensibly about sexuality—specifically, homosexuality. But more than sexuality is at stake. The faith itself, the Christian faith, is being invaded by false teaching. Theologically, this heresy is rarely articulated. Rather, it works by feeling, an ecstatic sense that transcends petty verbal differences. Consider these three quotations: The Dammann case does reveal continuing differences in the United Methodist Church concerning the issue of homosexuality. The Council of Bishops is painfully aware of this...

That sinking feelingAs we continue to defy the Kyoto Protocol, the islanders of the South Pacific watch anxiously as the rising waters wash away their future. Now they are joining forces to fight the tide By Charles Arthur 06 January 2004 It's possible that Kiribati has failed to make much of an impression on many people. The most easterly island in the world, it reached its apotheosis in popular recognition at the start of this millennium, when wealthy travellers flocked there in order to see the first sun rise on a new century. The chances are the island will fail...

Feeling emotional? It may be your cat's fault September 23 2003 at 02:33AM Prague - Kicking the cat may be a metaphor about venting frustrations on the innocent family feline, but could it be that Snowball really is to blame? Czech scientist Jaroslav Flegr of Charles University in Prague said his research showed a parasite called toxoplasma gondii in cats, rabbits or raw meat, may make women reckless and friendly while making men jealous and morose.Just contracting the bug might not be life-threatening but infected women behind the wheel can be fatal, and those out for a stroll may be...

Sound of silence gives you that eerie feeling September 12 2003 at 04:36PM London - The haunted feeling given off by certain buildings is the result of low frequency "infrasound" vibrations, according to a team of British scientists who have conducted a series of experiments in a concert hall. Richard Wiseman told a conference in the northern English city of Manchester on Monday his tests showed extreme bass sounds, like those emitted by some church organs or from the wind on windows and chimneys, could have a profound effect on feelings. "It makes people feel extremely strange, even though they...