Free Republic

Well if finally happened. My 71 year-old, life-long democrat mother, finally switched parties. This is a day I never thought would come and I'm so thankful to my brothers and sisters of this forum. This is not *subterfuge* (wink, wink) and is completely legit. Seriously. (I just wanted to use my nic in a post) Anywho, I have seen the "OFFICIAL VOTER INFORMATION" sheet the state of Florida sent to her. Incidently, all of the incidentals like date-of-birth and registration, new party affilitation and such, are listed straight down the middle of the page, with english on the Left and...

I once saw a list of analogies regarding the differing ideologies of communism, socialism, liberalism, democracy, republicanism, et al. It was a simplistic analogy concerning wolves and sheep. For example: Democracy is a system where 2 wolves and 1 sheep decide what's for dinner. Has anyone seen this list? Thank you.

Today In Music History - May 09 2005 - In what is billed as the first "descriptive music video," the clip for Stevie Wonder's "So What the Fuss" becomes available with an audio track from rapper Busta Rhymes in an effort to convey its storyline to blind and low vision fans. Rhymes' commentary is accessible by using the SAP (Second Audio Program) function on equipped televisions. 2004 - South African singer Brenda Fassie dies at the Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg. She is 39. She had been in a coma since April 26, after suffering an asthma attack. This led to...

MPAA Defeats TorrentSpy May 7, 2008 Thomas Mennecke A Los Angeles Federal court has rendered a $110 million judgment against Valence Media, the company which operates the now defunct TorrentSpy. This judgment represents the culmination of a lengthy decline for TorrentSpy, which was slowly strangled to death by the movie industry. “This substantial money judgment sends a strong message about the illegality of these sites,” said Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of the MPAA. “The demise of TorrentSpy is a clear victory for the studios and demonstrates that such pirate sites will not be allowed to continue to operate...

Why are conservatives happier than liberals?FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty: Conservatives are happier than liberals. A study published in the journal “Psychological Science” says it’s because conservatives are better at rationalizing inequalities. Regardless of someone’s income, marital status or church attendance, people with right-wing ideologies report greater satisfaction with their lives than those with left-wing beliefs. Researchers found that conservatives also score highest when it comes to the ability to justify inequalities. For example, a conservative might support the idea of a meritocracy – that if you work hard and perform well, you’ll move up the economic ladder… and if you...

I received a copy of this email from the building manager. It answers that age old question: How many Air Force acquisition program managers does it take to replace a light bulb. From: (Building Manager) Civ USAF AFMC 753 ELSG/OMSent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 12:24 PMTo: 753 ELSG Bldg 1607 OccupantsSubject: New Burnt-out Bulb Replacement ProgramThe IAP (Replaced Del-Jen) Civil Engineering Contract does not provide for burnt-out bulb replacement and it is considered an “Occupant” responsibility for all lights at 10 feet and below. Our ceilings are 9 feet. IAP will replace bulbs in stairwells.If you have any burnt-out fluorescent...

I DON'T KNOW WHO WROTE THIS BUT SHE/HE DOESN'T PULL ANY PUNCHES!!!!! McCain for President. I have always voted for the person and have not voted for anyone because some political party was telling me who I should vote for. We all know the choices by now and, that said, I do believe that the process of selecting a chief executive is deeply flawed. The words 'money' and 'special interests' come to mind, among many others. Here's the way I see it: Barack Obama, you are a fine public speaker. You are also an extremely liberal Senator from the State...

Pig humor with a moral, the moral is, a pig is a pig and beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

I am not sure when the ratings for 2007 were added to the site, but it had to be fairly recently. Ratings of note: McCain: 80 (This is up from his 65 in 2006, and close to his lifetime rating of 82.) Kyl: 100 Feinstein: 0 (Check out California's reps - - in that state, with few exceptions, a House representative is basically either a zero rat or a one-hundred Republican. It's the same with Colorado. Weird...) Shays (R): 20 Castle (R): 20 Isakson: 96 (This Georgia senator has been a pleasant surprise.) Durbin: 0 Obama: 7 Jindal: 88 (2007...

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2239342.htm Time for another round of Looney Lefty Bingo? 1. "Corporations are fighting this war for OIL!111!" 2. "Neo-cons, oh my!" 3. "sabre-rattling" 4. "Why shouldn't Iran be allowed to have unlimited nukes?" Did I miss any?

Since they first walked the planet, humans have either buried or burned their dead. Now a new option is generating interest — dissolving bodies in lye and flushing the brownish, syrupy residue down the drain.

May 8, 2008: The Palestinians are fragmenting into dozens of mutually antagonistic factions. The new West Bank police, organized by Fatah, has found themselves battling clan, political and religious militias. Hamas continues to support attacks on Israel, which comes down to several crude Kassam rockets fired into southern Israel each day, plus several attempts to attack Israeli troops guarding the border between Gaza and Israel. Hamas continues to insist that, long range, they will destroy Israel. Because of that, Israeli military leaders do not want to have any ceasefire with Hamas, believing it will be used to pile up more...

Saturday at Cumberland University This past Saturday, Hazel and myself were honored to receive an award at the commencement exercises at Cumberland University, a small school a few miles from our home in Lebanon, Tennessee, and I was asked to say a few words to the graduating class which I found to be respectful, attentive and appreciative. As I feel that the remarks contain much of my philosophy toward professionalism and our nation, I would like to share them with any high school or college graduates who happen to be reading this column and also with my regular readers, in...

Other than Time Warner's single-city foray into monthly data caps, consumption-based billing has mostly been little ISPs with little monopolies, and given the market, we thought it'd stay that way. Broadband Reports is, uh, reporting that now Comcast is mulling monthly caps (which Comcast's PR guy confirms, though not the details)—something like 250GB, and then $1.50 for every GB over that. According to their source, the idea has "a lot of momentum" and it'll start rolling out in the next two months. The other part is that they're going to start ramping up DMCA notices to pirate assholes, with a...

DAISETTA, Texas -- An isolated field in Liberty County sits several feet lower Wednesday after the ground caved in and left a sinkhole described as "the size of two football fields." At about 10 a.m., a dozen workers at the Deloach Vacuum salt water disposal company in Daisetta began noticing cracks in the ground. Shortly after that, there was a dramatic collapse creating the sink hole. Since then, the hole has continued to grow in size... =================================================== A massive sinkhole has opened up in south-eastern Texas in the US, swallowing up vehicles and oil field equipment. It is not clear...

This is a short video of an animated morning dove standing on a branch and it's coo.

There is a news report starting to make the rounds amongst the MSM on a study that claims to have discovered why conservatives tend to be happier than liberals and it is just the sort of bilge that the MSM loves to promulgate. We may see more of it over the next several days because, while it is titled “Conservatives Happier Than Liberals,” it is basically saying that the reason conservatives are happier is because they just don’t care about other people. This purported research claims to pinpoint the reason conservatives are happier and it is because they have theirs...

I apologize for the vanity, and hopefully this ends up in the right forum. My interest was really piqued though and I'm pretty sure there are a few folks here who can give me opinions. I was reading the Constitution this evening and noticed that the 24th Amendment states in part: "[Voting privlidges] shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax." The part of the Amendment which I found intriguing is the last three words, "or other tax". The Federal Income Tax, and...

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A Florida man is accused of ripping off his wife's prosthetic leg during a fight after leaving a sports bar. Officers in Port St. Lucie said they found a 29-year-old woman in a sport utility vehicle Tuesday night with a bruised eye and missing a leg and pants. "He ripped my leg off," the woman told police. Police then questioned the woman's husband, Luis Ramirez, 35, who said he was arguing with his wife after leaving a bar, TCPalm reported. He denied stealing her leg. The woman told police that Ramirez became possessed and started...

Think he'll have confetti too with the siren?