Free Republic

Linda Wallace in a column in last week's Philly Daily News typifies the utter nonsense that is the modern "diversity" and "multicultural" movement, not to mention the modern hypocrisy on matters racial. Titled "The true value of A.I." (as in Allen Iverson), the third paragraph alone signifies how clueless Wallace is: In many ways, Iverson was a 21st-century barrier-buster. Like Jackie Robinson, the little guy with the big heart challenged America's racial biases. He was the first NBA player to wear cornrows, which prompted some to wonder if he was "too black." His off-court fashions came straight from music videos:...

Soldiers Die of Sunstroke Preparing for PRC Founding Celebration By chinafreepress.org (translation) Jul 12, 2009 - 2:10:47 PM Soldiers Die of Sunstroke Preparing for PRC Founding Celebration Boxun reports that in preparation for the military parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC on October 1, Beijing primary, middle, and high school students have endured temperatures over 100 degrees. Because it has been unusually hot in Beijing since late June, some soldiers preparing for the military parade have suffered from heat stroke and there have even been deaths, but the military has tightly censored reporting of...

An air-supported canopy over the Dallas Cowboys' practice field collapsed during a heavy thunderstorm Saturday afternoon, leaving one person critically injured and six others hurt, firefighters said. As many as 80 people may have been inside the facility when it was blown down shortly before 3:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. ET), said Mike Adams, a dispatcher for the Irving, Texas, fire department. Rescuers were continuing to comb through the wreckage beneath the fallen canopy, but, "Everyone as far as we know is accounted for," Adams said.

(May 2) - Cowboys special teams coach Joe DeCamillis was among 12 people injured when winds just shy of tornado strength ripped through the roof of the team's indoor practice facility during a rookie minicamp Saturday.

“In Step with the Truth of the Gospel” (Galatians 2:11-21)Was the Reformation about doctrine or about practice? Think about that for a moment. The Reformation of the church started by Martin Luther 491 years ago this week--was the Reformation about doctrine or was it about practice? The short answer: Yes. Both. Both doctrine and practice, that’s what the Reformation was about. That’s what the ongoing Reformation of the church is always about--doctrine and practice as they are intertwined and interrelated. You cannot separate the two. And that’s the way it always has been, going back to the earliest days of...

In February, a group of cardiologists in Gainesville, Ga., announced they were building a diagnostic heart center in an $18 million joint venture with the local hospital. Last month, they said the project was dead. The reason? Federal Medicare officials want to crack down on arrangements like the one that was planned in Gainesville, where doctors refer patients to businesses in which they have a financial stake. In recent years, many physicians have become wealthy by investing in magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, facilities, surgery centers and diagnostic sites -- and then sending their patients to them. A recent McKinsey...

CHICAGO - Attorney Judson Miner called Harvard to offer a job to a graduating student named Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) and didn't expect to be showered with gratitude. Still, he wasn't expecting the reception he got. "You can leave your name and take a number," the woman who answered the phone at the Harvard Law Review said breezily. "You're No. 647." That was 1991 and even then Obama — the Illinois senator now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination — was a hot commodity. As the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, Obama had his pick of...

Chicago Workers Practice Emergency Drill Friday September 8, 2006 3:46 AM By MICHAEL TARM Associated Press Writer CHICAGO (AP) - Thousands of people working in downtown high-rise buildings left their jobs early Thursday to test the city's response to a terrorist attack or other emergency. Participants, many with tennis shoes on their feet and water bottles in hand, left their offices and, under the direction of emergency teams, walked about five blocks to an assessment area. Once checked in, they were free to go. Officials said more than 3,000 people took part in the voluntary drill, which involved four properties...

The Coast Guard wants to do target practice, with live ammunition, on all five of the Great Lakes. Chief Petty Officer Robert Lanier, of the U.S. Coast Guard Ninth District, said the proposed target ranges would allow Coast Guard units to perform homeland defense exercises by firing at floating targets from cutters and small boats. Lanier said the Coast Guard has to be ready for anything. There would be specific times announced for the practice and boaters would be kept out of those areas. The proposal has many people concerned. Hugh McDiarmid Junior from the Michigan Environmental Council says so...

Good politics is usually defined as anything that gets votes for a candidate. Honest politics means telling the voters what you will really do if elected. The jury is still out on which sort of politics are practiced by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. For sure, he frequently uses sleight of hand and illusion to position himself in ways more compatible to most Californians than what he's really done. One example came when Schwarzenegger went before a bank of 16 television cameras to propose a "low-cost prescription drug plan" he said would lower the cost of needed medicines for millions of Californians....

8/18/2006 - MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers broke training camp Thursday and in an unprecedented move for the team, held its day-before-game walk-through at MacDill AFB, Fla. The Buccaneers, who play their second pre-season game against the Miami Dolphins Saturday, have a long-standing relationship and community partnership with the military here. "You guys have no idea what a great morale booster it is for you to come out and do this," said Col. Maggie Woodward, 6th Air Mobility Wing commander. "It means a lot that you think enough of us to do this." Friday's...

5/10/2006 - BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- Deployed Airmen, distributing humanitarian supplies, are taken hostage by enemy forces while visiting an Afghan village. It’s now up to the accompanying squad of security forces to rescue the Airmen and eliminate the bad guys. This is the scenario members of the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron were exercising here May 9 in the Army’s Military Operations in Urban Terrain, or MOUT, facility. The facility is custom-made for training and is designed to resemble a typical Afghan village, complete with buildings made of mud. Inside are a collection of high-tech cameras, video...

UDAIRI RANGE, Kuwait, May 3, 2006 – Training never stops in the push to ensure American soldiers and Marines are ready for duty in Iraq. As part of a training scenario at Udairi Range, Kuwait, actors playing an Iraqi policeman and drivers argue at a traffic accident while an American convoy waits to enter the village. The scenario gives a realistic look at what challenges lie ahead for the soldiers when they move north into Iraq. Photo by Jim Garamone  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Servicemembers polish their skills here just prior to deployment "up north." Earlier this...

A growing number of schools and community colleges in California are refinancing voter-approved bonds to raise extra cash, a practice many financial experts say puts an additional burden on taxpayers and may violate state law. The process, known as cash-out refunding, is similar to refinancing a home mortgage to lower monthly payments and take out equity in cash. It's popular because the school districts get extra money - frequently millions of dollars - without going back to the voters. Most use the money to cover construction cost overruns, but critics say California law limits the use of refunded bonds for...

Children should expect some of their lessons to be boring because life is not a "Disney ride", teachers said yesterday.Too often pupils and parents expected lessons to be "all singing, all dancing" when the reality was that some learning could be tedious and hard work. Zoe Fail, a mathematics teacher. thinks that children are not bored enough because their lives are over-stimulated. "Being bored encourages thinking skills and imaginative play," she said. "I remember being bored but I am not bored now because I know how to deal with it." Miss Fail, from Kent, told delegates at the Association of...

WILMINGTON, N.Y. - Swedish snowboarder Jonatan Johansson died Sunday after falling during a snowboardcross run down Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks. The 26-year-old Turin Olympics competitor lost control on one of his jumps during training for an International Ski Federation World Cup competition, according to U.S. Ski and Snowboarding Association spokesman Tom Kelly. A state police report said Johansson tried to correct himself but landed hard. An autopsy found the cause of death to be multiple internal injuries. Officials said Johansson landed within the course boundaries and was wearing a helmet. Olympic Regional Development Authority spokesman Sandy Caligiore said he...

Welcome Newcomers! This Sandbox is devoted to giving you a place to practice basic HTML, and to get some coaching. So, first things first: Go to michigander's [ HTML Bootcamp (Cyber patriot training)] and learn there how to change font color, font size, font face, and the like. THERE'S A WEALTH OF INFORMATION THERE NOT COVERED HERE (so as to avoid duplication). Learn there also how to post a link and an image, then come back here to practice. If you're having problems, folks will drop by occasionally to give you pointers and help you troubleshoot. So practice here...

12/28/2005 - PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Ore. (AFPN) -- More than 50 years after it entered the Air Force, aircrews are still finding ways to increase the capabilities of the KC-135 Stratotanker. Ten reservists from the 939th Air Refueling Wing here and four the 349th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., demonstrated the airplane has valuable medical-evacuation capabilities. The team practiced transporting patients with battlefield injuries during a three-day mission to Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay. The base is home to the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force. The medevac mission is just a few years old for the...

When I was a boy, my parents used to enjoy a comedian named Ronnie Graham. One of his jokes was, "The other day a cat came up to me and said, 'How do I get to Carnegie Hall?' and I said 'Practice, man, practice.' This other cat came up to me and said, 'Meow.' He was a real cat." We talk a lot in our movement about spiritual practices. I am a Religious Science Practitioner; the root word of Practitioner is practice. But why do we practice? Ernest Holmes said that a central concept of our movement is "Perfect God,...

On June 8, 2005, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited President Bush in the White House. Among the topics the two discussed were freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. Speaking from the Oval Office, Bush declared Turkey's democracy to be "an important example for the people of the broader Middle East."Turkey remains an important ally of the United States despite recent bilateral tensions over the Iraq war and its aftermath. Both Republican and Democratic administrations have valued Turkey not only as a strategic military partner in the Cold War but also, in recent decades, as a democratic outpost...