Free Republic

The Plymouth settlers ("Pilgrims") set apart a holiday immediately after their first harvest in 1621. They held an autumn celebration of food, feasting, and praising God. The Governor of Plymouth invited Grand Sachem Massasoit and the Wampanoag people to join them in the feast. Evidence to support that claim came from diaries of Plymouth. National Thanksgiving Proclamations proclaim thanks for God’s providence in the events of the nation and, as President Washington explained in his Thanksgiving Proclamation, “for the many signal favors of Almighty God” in the lives of the people. As congress recognized the importance of Thanksgiving observance, President...

All-Star Lou Brissie Soldiers OnAUGUSTA, Ga. -- Painkillers could ease the 63-year-old ache. It is hidden under a pair of sensible slacks, a firm handshake and a wrinkled smile. Lou Brissie doesn't talk much about the leg. Every day is a good day, he says. When the infections set in and creep through his bone marrow, Brissie rests. When the scar tissue dries and cracks, he rubs on cocoa butter. But painkillers? They cloud the mind, and that is the one body part still intact. "I have a card," Brissie says as he reaches into his tan Members Only jacket....

Like a great battleship at sea, the US industrial and export machine is slowly turning around. Within a couple of years, its big guns will be sweeping the world again, ready to silence pious talk about America's trade deficit - and to menace chunks of Europe's manufacturing base. The fast-inflating economies of China, emerging Asia and Eastern Europe will be reminded globalisation cuts both ways. Jobs can flow from Shanghai to Los Angeles.

<p>NEW YORK (AP) -- It's among the most divisive questions in the realm of adoption: Should adult adoptees have access to their birth records, and thus be able to learn the identity of their birth parents?</p> <p>In a comprehensive report being released Monday, a leading adoption institute says the answer is "Yes" and urges the rest of America to follow the path of the eight states that allow such access to all adults who were adopted.</p>

<p>NEW YORK - Norman Mailer, the macho prince of American letters who for decades reigned as the country's literary conscience and provocateur with such books as "The Naked and the Dead," died Saturday, his literary executor said. He was 84.</p>

HONOLULU - Television bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman's show has been pulled from the air indefinitely by A&E, two days after a private phone conversation in which the reality star used a racial slur repeatedly was posted online. "In evaluating the circumstances of the last few days, A&E has decided to take 'Dog The Bounty Hunter' off the network's schedule for the foreseeable future," the network said in a statement Friday. "We hope that Mr. Chapman continues the healing process that he has begun." A&E officials said the series, one of the network's top-rated programs, has not been canceled. Chapman,...

As I speak on Christmas Eve over the radio to the American people, I am the spokesman for the homeland to all our soldiers who are far from home during this war Christmas of 1942. I know that countless people envy my ability to speak over the aether to millions of Americans in many lands and continents. How many men and women, fathers, sons and daughters, wish they could stand in my place and greet their sons, husbands, brothers, or fathers! How many soldiers and Americans abroad wish they could step to the microphone and speak to their mothers, fathers,...

<p>Fallout from the credit squeeze spread on Wednesday as Merrill Lynch fired several top executives and Deutsche Bank announced billions of dollars in losses.</p> <p>Shares in Deutsche and other banks rose as investors welcomed the clarification of the extent of the losses. But the Merrill departures underscored the tumult taking place behind the scenes as banks seek to recover from the turmoil in the markets.</p>

Federal employees wasted at least $146 million over a one-year period on business- and first-class airline tickets, in some cases simply because they felt entitled to the perk, congressional investigators say. A draft report by the Government Accountability Office, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, is the first to examine compliance with travel rules across the federal government following reports of extensive abuse of premium-class travel by Pentagon and State Department employees. The review of travel spending by more than a dozen agencies from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006, found 67 percent of premium-class travel by executives or...

Having a large number of children is bad for parents' health - particularly that of mothers, a study suggests. US researchers looked at 21,000 couples living in Utah between 1860 and 1985, who bore a total of 174,000 children. It was found the more children couples had, the worse their health and the more likely they were to die early. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science study is historical, but the experts say it helps explain both the menopause and modern family planning. In other species, the high physical costs of bearing and raising offspring explain why having...

Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who has long identified himself as an Episcopalian, said this weekend that he is a Baptist and has been for years. Campaigning in this conservative, predominantly Baptist state, McCain called himself a Baptist when speaking to reporters Sunday and noted that he and his family have been members of the North Phoenix Baptist Church in his home state of Arizona for more than 15 years. "It's well known because I'm an active member of the church," the Arizona senator said. While McCain has long talked about his family's and his own attendance at the Arizona...

Top General Acknowledges Iraq Mistakes Friday, September 14, 2007 WASHINGTON - The U.S. military's top general acknowledged Friday that he made mistakes in his early Iraq war strategy but said he still has no doubt that invading the country was the right decision. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, retiring chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and one of the war's military architects, said he overestimated the ability of the Iraqi army to hold together after the invasion, and as a result underestimated the number of U.S. troops that would eventually be needed to fight the war. Offering a blunt assessment...

'Very violent' gang in state Saturday, September 08, 2007By DAVID BREWERTimes Staff Writer david.brewer@htimes.com 3-day crackdown in 5 northeast counties results in 355 arrests BOAZ - One of the country's most dangerous gangs is believed to be behind drug dealing and other crimes in DeKalb and Marshall counties, according to law enforcement officials. At a news conference Friday in Boaz, Assistant FBI Director Kenneth Kaiser said the El Salvador-based gang MS-13 has a presence in the area. "We have a major concern about them," he said. "They are a very violent, prevalent group." Advertisement Kaiser joined FBI agents and local...

House approves $460B Pentagon budget By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 28 minutes ago WASHINGTON - The House approved modest changes to President Bush's record Pentagon budget proposal early Sunday, but Democrats signaled plans to resume a more contentious debate over the Iraq war after the August recess. ADVERTISEMENT The House's $459.6 billion version of the defense budget, approved on a 395-13 vote, would add money for equipment for the National Guard and Reserve, provide for 12,000 additional soldiers and Marines, and increase spending for defense health care and military housing. The adjourned until after Labor Day minutes...

According to MSN.COM it looks like "Sicko" has Died Hard as an animated Rat and Bruce Willis delivered a death blow to the Blowhard we love to hate. "Sicko" will barely hang in the top 10 on it's opening weekend with less than 5 million dollars. Bad subject matter for movie goers, let alone people are onto his shtick Loving it!

After trying for 30 minutes to bring two-week-old Woody Lander back to life, doctors decided there was nothing more they could do and called in his parents to say their tearful farewells. A nurse passed Woody to his heartbroken father and gently pulled a tube from his mouth so they could kiss him goodbye. It was then that the miracle happened. The lifeless baby suddenly coughed and moved. Nurses immediately grabbed Woody back, re-attached the tubes and lifesaving equipment and he came back to life in front of his astonished parents. No one has been able to explain why Woody,...

Scientists have unearthed remains of a primate that could have been ancestral not only to humans but to all great apes, including chimps and gorillas. The partial skeleton of this 13-million-year-old "missing link" was found by palaeontologists working at a dig site near Barcelona in Spain. Details of the sensational discovery appear in Science magazine. The new specimen was probably male, a fruit-eater and was slightly smaller than a chimpanzee, researchers say. Palaeontologists were just getting started at the dig when a bulldozer churned up a tooth. Further investigation yielded one of the most complete ape skeletons known from...

...But the budget President Bush will send to Capitol Hill on Monday will have a sharper edge than usual. More than an ideological blueprint, it will be a drawing of battle lines. ...The Democratic takeover of Congress, the approaching expiration of the Bush tax cuts and a new consensus that the budget should be balanced by 2012 all point to a coming showdown over fiscal policy. The White House has promised that it will lay out a realistic path to a balanced budget that doesn’t require an increase in tax rates. But Democrats aren’t buying it. “It is a little...

In an exclusive interview with ABC News in Baghdad, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., called the situation in Iraq "heartbreaking" and said she doubts Congress and the American people believe the mission here can succeed.

For the first time since the American Revolution, the United States is fighting a protracted war with an all-volunteer force. The strain on both the military establishment and individual service members is readily apparent. But although there has been considerable concern that an all-volunteer approach could not possibly fill the ranks in wartime, both recruiting and retention of military personnel have remained strong during more than three years of American military operations in Iraq. To be sure, the active-duty, reserve and National Guard components of the military have missed a few recruiting goals, but overall numbers remain solid. Retention rates...