Free Republic

If you thought that Al Gore invented the algorithm you are wrong. The method was named after Al-Khwarizmi (780-850)one of the fathers of the algebra, which is named after his book, Kitab al-Jabr. Al-Khwarizmi is featured here on a USSR postal stamp. President Obama apparently believes we don’t respect enough the achievements of the Muslim world which is weird because we still call the thing algorithm, don’t we? We still call our numeral system Arabic despite the fact that the Arabs do not use it anymore. Here are more everyday tributes to the Muslim science and achievements: admiral, albatross,...

It is no wonder Russia is hurrying to complete the spy-swap the Obama administration is offering. This is no swap. US will be handing over spies and Putin will be sending here his political prisoners. Igor Sutyagin is no spy. In 1999 he was a researcher for the USA Canada Institute. The Russian Federal Security Service (the former KGB) has claimed that Mr. Sutyagin violated a secret Ministry of Defense decree on secrecy. He was preparing a research for a private firm on the Russian economy. According to Human Rights Watch 2004 report: A worrying change since Putin’s reelection is...

‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ movie was released on March 19, 1921, but the classic poster of the silent film ended up as a backdrop of the ‘burger and fries’ meeting between the presidents of the USA and Russia in 2010. Some argue the poster representing the art in Germany between the two World Wars was an odd choice for a photo-op. Others believe that the movie about mad-men murderous horror dreams was a nice touch. Most likely some innocent aid did not pay attention to details. In case somebody in the White House is collecting ideas about posters...

Alleged spy Anya Chapman and dad Vasily Kushchenko worked for a high profile Russian PR firm. The 4 Vlast (the Forth power) is the owner of the Mrs. World-Russia brand. In fact Vasily Kushchenko is listed as contact person for the Mrs World-St. Petersburg edition of the pageant. The President of Mrs. America and Mrs. World pageant is an American: David Marmel. Here is what he said at a press-conference before the event in St Peterburg: I am Russian by origin; my father and mother were born in Russia. Although I grew up in America, I always felt like I...

This makes me think that at some point Barack Obama is preparing to take the insanity plea. Take this: Now, stopping illegal immigration must go hand in hand with reforming our creaky system of legal immigration. We’ve begun to do that, by eliminating a backlog in background checks that at one point stretched back almost a year. That’s just for the background check. People can now track the status of their immigration applications by email or text message. No kidding! What’s next? Get your background check on ‘Twitters’? But President Obama is above the background checks. After all he himself...

While waiting for more details in the new Russian SpyGate and the money-laundering that was involved I remembered 1992 soviet movie about the cooperation between the KGB and the CIA in the world after the cold war. ‘Weather is good on Deribasovskaya, It Rains Again on Brighton Beach’ begins with the following dialog between Gorbachev and Bush 41: Gorbachev: Good evening Mr. President. Bush: It is still morning here, Mr. President. Gorbachev: let’s hope this is the only difference between our countries… Bush: Our tax-payers are protesting. They worry about the activities of the Russian mafia in the USA. Gorbachev:...

The Greatest Economist of All shall remain unnamed for it is not recommended to say his name in vain. There are roughly ten principles that the Greatest Economist of All set in stone. May be if We the People start to follow them our economy may start to prosper. Don’t idolize other economists, no matter what their name is: Marx or Hayek, Soros or Bernanke. You shall not bow down to them or worship them for you may cause generations to come to suffer. Don’t use his name to pass laws that the Greatest Economist of All did not...

According to the rules of engagement the Sons of Sam only attack if you attack them first. May be for the next World Cup this needs to be changed. Go ahead and shoot from the beginning. When General Petraeus is done with Afghanistan he may counsel Team USA on how to change to rules of engagement. It is no coincidence Ghana is the last team standing from the continent hosting the tournament. The Black Stars have four Africa Cup of Nations trophies. The team was the youngest during the World Cup 2006. Now the youngsters are all grown-ups and shining....

The Republican Whip in the House Eric Cantor posted the proposals for spending cuts for the week on his YouCut web page. The public is encouraged to vote and the winning idea will be voted on the floor – for real. Over 1,000,000 votes were cast already. Every time you bring a YouCut item to the House floor you cast a vote for Washington to change and stop the ridiculous spending. Because you asked the “best of the seconds” – all of the previous weeks second place finishers are once again up for a vote. - Consolidate and Reduce Funding...

It is amazing to see how happy and glowing Barack Obama is every time he has talks with Russia. It is nauseating! America just got over the fact that he took his daughters on a trip of all places to Moscow the first time he step foot there. What kind of American father-in-chief takes his kids on vacation to Russia? What do you tell the kids: Here is Kremlin; some of the worst dictators and mass-murderers in the history of the world walked in these hallways? Did Obama explain this to his kids? They looked pretty happy running in...

The new US government Fatherhood.gov is full with helpful tips: Take Time to Be a Dad Today Tips Bake a cake, cupcakes, or cookies with your children. Following directions and measuring ingredients help improve children’s reading and math skills. What a sweet way for children to learn while spending time with you. Let’s see how this would work: OK, honey, go relax; I am planning to have some Dad-time with the boys. We’ll bake some cup-cakes. What is that thing in the jar? Which one is the sugar? It doesn’t say ‘sugar’ on it! Don’t worry, I got that. We...

The Director of the National Security Janet Napolitano believes her immigration policy is adding “smart” to the “tough”. First we have dispensed with the rhetoric and we’ve just gotten to work. Now for too long we heard bumper sticker slogans about being tough, but looking tough just doesn’t get the job done. We decided that we needed to add some smarts to toughness and make some changes to build a coordinated and comprehensive strategy. You can see the video here. After learning about the new national “Add Smart to the Tough” strategy on border security the folks at the...

The war in Afghanistan is bigger than one general and is bigger than one President. It was not easy for President Obama to realize the general he personally picked did not leave up to the standards for leadership. It was not easy for him to appoint the hero from the evil Bush years that gave us the success in Iraq: General Petraeus. But Obama, The Commander-in-chief, made the right decision. Now the US President has to find the courage to recall the other member of the dysfunctional team: the US ambassador to Afghanistan Eikenberry, who is equally responsible for the...

90 min Landon Donovan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was meant to be! The tension on the field was exceeding the one in the White House today where the future of General McChrystal and the fate of the Afghan War were decided. One of the most attractive games in the World Cup so far – shot were flying left and right, hitting occasional crossbar and putting the goalkeepers to test. In the first half of the game Team USA had more shots toward the Algerian target than for the whole match with England. On the soccer field USA and the Arabs managed to...

As if the White House behavior on the war in Afghanistan wasn’t erratic enough – General McCrystal jumped into the mess with a dopey interview for the culture icon Rolling Stone. It was clear even in 2009 that the US Commander on the ground in Afghanistan is not on the same page with our ambassador in the country. Remember how Karl Eikenberry, decided to weigh into the madness opposing sending more troops to Afghanistan when President Obama was dithering on the new strategy?. Second comes the question: which one of the two generals in Afghanistan is in charge –...

‘48 hours before the match Algeria – Unites States’ is the title of the Algerian newspaper La Tribune yesterday morning capturing the mood before the final game in group C of the World Cup soccer between the Desert Foxes and the Sons of Sam on Wednesday, June 23, 10 am ET. According to the paper: The two teams have no room for calculations: only a win will lead to the next round. This situation clearly gives advantage to the Americans who are very focused on the offensive. This is clearly not typical for the Algerian eleven who under the...

Here is a secret:if you live in America: your child has a better chance to be rich and have a yacht than to become a President of the USA when he/she grows up. At least 5% of the Americans are very, very rich – and only five of them worked as POTUS. The American dream is to work hard and collect the fruits of your labor (for many that means to become famous and rich, but it is not necessary). The pinhead CEO of BP Tony Hayward should be prosecuted like everybody else if he committed any crimes – including...

On April, 1 – fools day - President Obama said the following talking about the US health care: After I signed the bill, I looked around. I looked up at the sky to see if asteroids were coming. I looked at the ground to see if cracks had opened up in the earth. You know what, it turned out it was a pretty nice day. Birds were still chirping. Folks were strolling down the street. On April, 15 President Obama was still laughing: So I went to NASA today and I asked some of the guys. I said, are...

The Republican Whip in the House Eric Cantor posted the proposals for spending cuts for the week on his YouCut web page. The public is encouraged to vote and the winning idea will be voted on the floor - for real. - Prohibit Hiring New IRS Agents to Enforce the Health Care Law Savings of $5 billion to $10 billion over 10 years- Terminate Exchanges with Historic Whaling and Trading Partners Program Savings of $87.5 million over ten years- Terminate Taxpayer-Subsidized Political Party Conventions Savings of approximately $33.6 million every four years ($67.2 million over ten years) - Require...