Free Republic

On Monday we learned the Obama administration awarded a $25 million federal contract for work in Afghanistan to Checchi & Company, owned by Vincent V. Checchi a prominent Democratic campaign contributor. The Contract was awarded without entertaining competitive bids. Despite President Obama's long history of criticizing the Bush administration for "sweetheart deals" with favored contractors, the Obama administration this month awarded a $25 million federal contract for work in Afghanistan to a company owned by a Democratic campaign contributor without entertaining competitive bids The contract, awarded on Jan. 4 to Checchi & Company Consulting, Inc., a Washington- based firm owned...

SNIPPET: "During a meeting with Mauritanian President Muhammad Ould Abdelaziz, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that the elimination of Israel was a certainty, and that accomplishing this was up to the Islamic countries." SNIPPET: "It should be noted that Mauritania has uranium mines."

I have done fundraising and bundling for candidates and the GOP in the past, but I'm not familiar with this "money bomb" concept that both Scott Brown and Ron Paul's campaigns (among others) have been using. If you are or know someone who is, please let me know.

Warning: Indoctrination @ work Malcolm A. Kline, January 27, 2010 Although at first blush, polls seem to show that the youth vote mirrors that of society in general, a closer look at changing attitudes among college freshmen shows that they may be, as the liberals used to say, “a product of their environment.” “In December, the number of Americans identifying themselves as Democrats fell to the lowest level recorded in more than seven years of monthly tracking by Rasmussen Reports,” that polling firm revealed on January 3, 2010. “Currently, 35.5% of American adults view themselves as Democrats.” “That’s down from...

"There Is Only The Fight" An Analysis Of The Alinsky Model Hillary D. Rodham 2 May 1969 Excerpts: *snip*

Our monthly look ahead to the 2012 race for President is a good prism into the conundrum Republican voters face when it comes to Sarah Palin. She continues to be the darling of conservatives in the party with 79% of them holding a favorable opinion of her compared to 61% for Mike Huckabee and 60% for Mitt Romney. But when it comes to the general election match ups she loses 30% of the liberal/moderate Republican vote to Barack Obama compared to just 23% for Huckabee and 22% for Romney. It's a simple reality that Sarah Palin is less electable than...

Americans do not trust the major tv news operations in the country- except for Fox News. Our newest survey looking at perceptions of ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC News finds Fox as the only one that more people say they trust than distrust. 49% say they trust it to 37% who do not. CNN does next best at a 39/41 spread, followed by NBC at 35/44, CBS at 32/46, and ABC at 31/46. Predictably there is a lot of political polarization in which outlets people trust. 74% of Republicans trust Fox News, but no more than...

Socialized medicine through out the world has the following characteristics: • It leads to delays where, as in the case of Canada, patients wait for 17 weeks on average from the time a general practitioner indicates that something is wrong until one visits a specialist; • It leads to rationed care, where people not only wait for years for things such as hip replacements, but often find themselves forced to pay for such out of their own pockets in foreign countries; • It has a negative effect on mortality rates, as we see those who suffer from certain diseases such...

SNIPPET: "India is on heightened alert for new terrorist attacks by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Among the concerns, the Times of India reported, is that the LeT has acquired more than 50 hang-gliders, possibly for use in an air-borne terrorist attack." SNIPPET: "The use of hang-gliders by terrorist groups, although sounding like something out of a James Bond film, is not completely unheard of. On November 15, 1987, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—General Command undertook a similar attack aimed at Israel. The attack, known as the "night of the gliders" was undertaken by two PFLP-GC guerrillas with...

Blog: "Pep Talk On A Terrorist Supporting Forum" SNIPPET: "The person posting this doesn't want a reunion with Allah. He wants the other sorry bastards on this forum to splode themselves. Allah Akhbar indeed."

Ever wondered why the Iranian thug-in chief Ahmedinajad as well as many other Islamic officials don't wear neck ties? Here is the explanation from the Islamic Center of Beverly Hills. Yep, you read that right: Beverly Hills.

http://www.mndaily.com/2009/11/15/considering-afghanistan http://blog.buzzflash.com/mailbag/964 http://m.naplesnews.com/news/2009/nov/19/letters-editor-nov-20-2009/ http://baltimorechronicle.com/2010/010910Letters.shtml http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/18/seals-have-their-day-court-great-victory/ More at links. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22+I+wish+world+leaders+had+more+of+that+kind+of+weakness.”++mark+spivey&btnG=Search&aq=f&aql=&aqi=&oq=

SNIPPET: "Zakaria Amara, 24, the leader of the group - which planned to detonate truck bombs outside the Toronto offices of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Toronto Stock Exchange and an Ontario military base - was sentenced to life in prison on Monday. He will be eligible for parole in 2016 - 10 years from the day of his arrest." SNIPPET: "Another conspirator, Saad Gaya, 22, was sentenced on Monday to 12 years in prison." SNIPPET: "Amin Mohamed Durrani took part in a plot to establish an armed, Al-Qaeda-type terror cell in Toronto "and then to create some sort...

With Democratic fortunes declining nationally it should perhaps come as no surprise that Barack Obama has now hit his lowest level of approval yet in North Carolina. 44% of voters like the job he's doing to 50% who are unhappy with him. Obama's lower numbers are due largely to movement among independents. They've been pretty evenly divided about him through most of his first year in office but are now splitting against him by a 61/33 margin. As has always been the case most Democrats (73%) approve the job he's doing while most Republicans (88%) don't. Obama's health care plan...

You wouldn't know it from reading the blogosphere but liberal Democrats are actually pretty happy with the direction of their party right now. On our most recent national poll 76% expressed that sentiment. The other wings of the party are not that content- 58% of moderates say they like where the party's headed but only 39% of conservatives do. Those conservative Democrats unhappy with their party aren't complaining too loudly about it- they're just going out and voting for Republicans, as many of them did on Tuesday in Massachusetts. On the whole Democrats (60%) are happier with their party than...

Wall Street is reeling following the White House’s financial reform proposals. The News Hub panelists argue the merit of the effort.

FYI for all interested in writing / reporting / journalism: I have discovered that Examiner.com is a great place to publish articles and they are currently recruiting writers. Think of it as a blog, except that the articles are to be structured more akin to a newspaper. They pay their writers based on amount of traffic, # of subscriptions (basically, people signing in for email alerts), etc. To get a taste; here is my site. You can register with them here. As you register, you will see a section that asks if an Examiner referred you and that is where...

Fellow FReepers, I'm in need of a little help. I've been in an on-going debate with a family member who is an avid supporter of Obamacare. Earlier today I sent her a link to the story of the UFC fighter who equated the Canadian healthcare system to that of a third-world country. She replied with the usual lib-trash. I've gotten all that taken care of (in the debate sense of things), but I was wondering if some fellow had some numbers showing the approval ratings of the healthcare system in MA. Thanks in advance

SNIPPET: "Say hi to Abu Zubair's online home away from home. The man who's online writings were so convincing, that he changed Youssef al-Khattab's life. Or, if you want, just call him what I do: Hassan Khalid. How's Maryland, Hassan? Oh, wait, you mean you're NOT in London? ;-) In any event, he loves Osama bin Laden and thinks you should too."

Before the faltering economy hijacked the 2008 presidential race, President Obama's campaign was largely defined by his bold defense promises. He differentiated himself from then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries by his opposition to the Iraq War. Later, during the general election, he pledged to engage America's enemies, shutter the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, end enhanced interrogation techniques and establish a timeline to leave Iraq -- all of which earned him scorn on the right. But following through on his promises to break with Bush administration policy hasn't proved easy either, and Obama has been criticized on his left...