Free Republic

My parents are in their upper 80s and since the beginning of this pandemic have been wisely isolated in their home, a self-imposed house arrest. That’s close to a year now. Zoom calls with their children and particularly their grandchildren have been a poor substitute for the contact they need. My kids have missed bonding with them, a loss which could ripple through their lives as the years go on. My folks have gone without the greatest joy of their lives, time with family. And the caretakers they need to come to their home have been severely limited. If family...

When a trainload of tanks, guns, and other military hardware supposedly seized from the Syrian battlefields pulled up at Kursk railway station on a cloudy afternoon this week, a jubilant crowd was there to greet it. An orchestra belted out Soviet war songs. A state-funded paramilitary youth movement performed a dance for world peace. A World War II veteran in battered shoes lauded Russia's armed forces. And officials in slick suits delivered the obligatory praise for the president and commander in chief, Vladimir Putin. "The next generation must understand that the enemy is not far away," said Acting Regional Governor...

We are, I fear, slowly moving from “the affluent society” toward a “spoils society.” In 1958, Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith published his bestseller, “The Affluent Society,” which profoundly influenced national thinking for decades. To the Great Depression’s survivors, post-World War II prosperity dazzled. Suburbia offered a quiet alternative to crowded and noisy cities. New technologies impressed — television, frozen foods, automatic washers and dryers. Never, it seemed, had so much been enjoyed by so many.

In the brand new “Mondays with Trump” segment of Fox & Friends, potential Republican candidate for President and consistent headline seeker Donald Trump called in and shared his thoughts on the latest topics in the news. Proving that anything goes in the segment, Trump discussed everything from promoting Celebrity Apprentice in one moment, to his plans for Iraqi oil in the next. Trump spoke highly about Republicans Paul Ryan and John Boehner and their efforts to get the federal budget under control. Yet on a lighter and more entertaining note, Trump commented on reports that Oprah Winfrey desires having him...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – In this town along the road to the Afghan border, you can buy U.S. Army gear, computers and manuals instructing soldiers how to avoid roadside bombs. Traders are coy about where their stock comes from, but much is stolen from trucks carrying military supplies into Afghanistan. Not only does the trade include materials of potential value to insurgents, it also illustrates the challenges of securing supply lines into landlocked Afghanistan, a task underscored in recent days by the closure of the main route through Pakistan and subsequent fiery attacks on convoys.

Jefferson City, Mo. (AP) -- Fertilized with federal stimulus money, 100 new wind turbines have cropped up among the soybean fields of northwest Missouri, and they're generating some high-voltage sparks in Missouri's U.S. Senate race. That's because the Lost Creek Wind Farm, which received $107 million in stimulus money, was developed by a company run by Tom Carnahan — the younger brother of Democratic Senate candidate Robin Carnahan and U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan. Vice President Joe Biden highlighted the project during a visit to Missouri in April 2009. Two weeks ago, the White House included it on a list of...

“Economic Stimulus” Designed to Aid Anti-gun Radicals The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the far left anti-gun group under investigation for voter fraud, could be eligible to receive millions, if not billions of dollars from the economic bailout bill that passed out of the House of Representatives yesterday. ACORN was an aggressive supporter of Barack Obama who had served as the group’s legal counsel and even trained ACORN in “community organizing” in the presidential election. The Obama campaign even paid the group $800,000 for “voter turnout,” the very activities that came under scrutiny by the FBI. In...

ANNAPOLIS — Gov. Martin O'Malley is continuing his public attempts to fire high-ranking Maryland officials, including those he has deemed disloyal to the administration. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, now has enough votes on the Maryland Stadium Authority board to oust longtime Executive Director Alison L. Asti, former board Chairman Robert L. McKinney said yesterday. He said Miss Asti, a 13-year authority employee, is being punished because "she didn't play ball with the O'Malley folks" and that the attempt to fire her is "nothing but a vendetta." Mr. O'Malley has pushed for new leadership at the authority since an audit in...

The Independent cannot be posted. So here is the link. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2132569.ece