Free Republic

The history of human knowledge as it relates to the human body is a fascinating and terrible thing. In every age, the ability for physicians and other medical practitioners to effectively treat wounds or combat disease has been constrained by the technology – or lack thereof – available at the time. In the past, people often died from illnesses or injuries that are quite treatable today. Over the centuries, we’ve come a long way. Our understanding of human physiology and biology has enabled us to improve quality of life and extend life expectancy beyond anything our ancestors could have imagined.Despite...

Whether the name of Richie Urso ever makes it into the corruption trial of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich next June is anybody's guess. You've probably never heard of Richie Urso. But the FBI sure has heard of him. His is a classic Chicago story, about a beefy yet charming guy born on Grand Avenue, who got in trouble with the law as a kid, only to make political friends and become extremely wealthy. He was arrested once for jewelry theft in the '60s by the Outfit's top Chicago police detective, William Hanhardt. Urso's alleged partner in the theft was the...

To the extent that art really does imitate life, every American owes it to themselves and to our troops to see the blockbuster film, Lone Survivor. Panned by cynical elites as "shameless war-porn," in reality this movie portrays the heroism and sacrifice of four members of Seal Team 10 during a mission gone bad in the mountains of Afghanistan in 2007. Operation Redwings was designed to track the location and movements of an Afghani terrorist, Ahmad Shah, with the ultimate goal of taking him out. The mission was compromised when a group of goat herders stumbled across the Americans and...

“We are bound by an inescapable garment of mutuality: Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail, 1962After the American colonists’ petition to King George III for political representation in Parliament was rejected, Thomas Jefferson drafted a declaration of independence from England that will forever be celebrated for its proclamation that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, key among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. For over two centuries this declaration has formed the bedrock of America’s consciousness. The...

On February 22, 2010, nine months after President Obama signed the legislation, new credit card rules designed to protect consumers from the unscrupulous and manipulative tactics of credit card companies went into effect.  The legislative momentum that led to the passage of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (Credit CARD) has been building for years, and was thrown into overdrive by the economic meltdown of 2008.  Countless Americans who felt they had been duped by greedy mortgage brokers and cheated by reckless Wall Street fat cats were only too happy at the prospect of throwing the legislative book...

Unless you've been living under a rock or were recently abducted by aliens, chances are you've heard about Tiger Woods' humiliating exposure as a serial adulterer and the resulting damage to his marriage and career.  The Woods scandal has filled the front pages and dominated the airwaves, inviting commentary from pundits from CNN to ESPN to TMZ.  While folks like Dennis Rodman and Hugh Hefner are speaking out in defense of the golfer - justifying his plight by blaming the pressure of fame or mocking the concept of marital fidelity - it's clear to most people that Mr. Woods' marital...

"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." --Thomas Jefferson The principle of "informed consent" is well established in American law and life. Whether preparing to undergo surgery or take out a loan, consumers have a right to full disclosure of the risks and consequences associated with the transaction. Only after the consumer has reviewed such information and been informed of the relevant facts can he be deemed to have given his consent to proceed. Imagine, then, going to the hospital for major surgery, only to be...

President Obama attempted to allay the concerns of pro-life advocates last week by assuring Americans that federal funding for abortion will not be included in "his" health care reform plan. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius sought to reinforce this sentiment in a recent interview: "Well that's exactly what the President said and that's what he intends that the bill he signs will do.... I think the legislative language will reflect what the President has just said." What's going on here? Either President Obama has experienced an epiphany regarding the sanctity of human life at every stage of...

If actions speak louder than words, what do recent events at a New York state Walmart say about the state of American culture?  On "Black Friday," two thousand people burst through the doors of a Walmart store in Long Island at five a.m., trampling an employee to death in a mad dash to get to sale items before the person next to them.  Signs of America's rampant consumerism have existed for decades, but this tragedy takes the cake. With only minutes to spare before the discount store opened, the crazed crowd pushed through the doors, knocking Jdimytai Damour down and...

"You are the light of the world.... let your good deeds shine before men, that they may see your deeds and praise your father in heaven." Matthew 5:14,16 (NIV) Sarah Palin's pick as John McCain's running mate has provoked predictable paroxysms from the Left about her religion. Crack investigative reporters have leveled a slew of accusations that Governor Palin's faith is a dangerous influence on her politics. The Chicago Tribune breathlessly reports that she has "labeled the U.S. mission in Iraq a 'task that is from God,'" and that she (gasp!) "argued that public school students should engage in a...

"Here ruining people is considered sport," so concluded Vince Foster in what many believe was his suicide note. "Here" is Washington D.C., and the instrument of ruination is the politics of personal destruction. Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin is the latest person to find herself in the crosshairs of those aiming for her ruination. Her offense? She accepted Senator John McCain's invitation to be his running mate for the 2008 Presidential election. This historic milestone of a woman running on the Republican ticket was soon transformed into histrionics. Any real analysis of Governor Palin's public record was jettisoned in favor of...

When it comes to getting a good education, apparently, there's no place like home. When homeschooling first came into prominence in the late 1980’s many viewed it with skepticism, but it has proved itself over and over the past two decades. Whether the average homeschooled student is getting as good an education as the average public school student is no longer a question. The verdict is in. The results of numerous studies show the average homeschooler is receiving a better education than the average public or private school student. In a 1997 study, Strengths of Their Own, Dr. Brian Ray...

"You will always have the poor among you..." In those words Jesus stated a simple fact that has held true through the centuries. In every society, no matter how rich and bountiful, there have always been impoverished people. These people evoke our concern and sympathy. We want to help them, but how? No society has ever overcome poverty. In the US today, the question of how to help the poor is particularly controversial, with two partisan sides struggling vigorously to promote their own answers. The liberal camp argues that government is the best entity to help the poor at home...

Religion has always held a prominent role in American life—never more so than at our founding. The quest for religious liberty animated our forefathers to abandon their homes, traverse vast oceans in flimsy boats, and endure innumerable hardships in a foreign land—all to worship God in accordance with the dictates of their conscience. They chafed at the ecclesiastical strictures imposed by the Crown and yearned to interact with their Maker on their own terms. Belief, they felt, ought to be the province of individuals, not government. When the Constitution of the new republic was finally forged, the Framers took great...