Free Republic

HAVANA (AP) - Two Republican lawmakers promised Thursday to try to ease U.S. restrictions against Cuba, saying tourism and trade can do more to undermine Fidel Castro's hold on the country than current U.S. policy. Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona said he will attempt to get Congress to eliminate funding for enforcement of the U.S. travel ban against Cuba, allowing more Americans to travel to the communist island. "I don't think that the for the next four years we can maintain this policy," Flake told a group of international journalists. Referring to America's four-decade old policy of isolating Cuba, Flake...

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces. Good morning Troops!What's your favorite Quote?? Most of us have a favorite quote. Today is your chance to post them. Here's a few quotes from some famous folks you may be familiar with, or at least, have heard their names. Albert Einstein If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor. Albert Einstein I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. I dreamt I was in the Easter Parade! Tomkow the Great! Any fool can...

Union leaders have been among the most vocal opponentsof privatizing Social Security. Their opposition is some-thing of a mystery, because union workers would be amongthose who would gain the most if Social Security were trans-formed to a system of individually owned, privately investedaccounts. Because a privatized Social Security system wouldprovide a higher rate of return, union workers would receivefar greater benefits than they would under the currentSocial Security system. In contrast, traditional SocialSecurity fixes, such as raising payroll taxes, would severe-ly harm union workers.

I just read about the Support the troops rally this morning, and I was speechless. Americans like y'all represent the heart of each one of us here. I don't even know your names, but I know your hearts. After the long days are gone and the sleepless nights begin, I am comforted in the fact knowing my beautiful America awaits me in all her glory. No man can undermind the freedom we have fought for in the past, and continue to fight for today. May God Bless each and everyone of you tonight. Thank you again.

Here's your FREE 2005 Support the Troops Event material. "Bringing the troops home means bringing the war home, AGAIN." "Supporting the troops MEANS supporting the war." "Save America from terrorist appeasing socialists. Support the war. Support the troops. Support the president." "You don't believe in war. The terrorists do. What's a president to do?!" "No peace without freedom. No peace with genocidal dictators. No peace while tyrants breed terrorists." The posters are in PDF format and are presized for 18 X 24 prints. All you have to do is download the files to your own floppy disk, then take the...

***** San Jose/South Bay Rally *****SUPPORT THE TROOPS PRO AMERICA SPIRIT Celebrates our 2nd anniversary!!!!!!!!!!! JOIN US FOR A RALLY AND CARE PACKAGE DRIVE TO SUPPORT OUR TROOPS. WHEN: MARCH 19, 2005, 11:OO AM - 3:00 PM WHERE: corner of Stevens Creek and Winchester Blvds., San Jose We will be collecting items for care packages (check website for items) bring letters for our troops, or write them while you are there. We will be raising money for shipping costs in the form of monetary donations, any recyclable cans or bottles you may have around the house, (we recommend you...

Minnesota's system for calculating child support, now used for more than 265,000 children, is once again the focus of a proposed overhaul at the Legislature. A bill that would base child support levels on the incomes of both parents, not just the non-custodial parent's, passed its first hurdle Thursday when it cleared a Senate subcommittee.

I used to be a patriot. I still remember driving to work in a surreal fog on the morning of 9/11, awash in the emotion and pain of my recent separation from my ex-wife, ex step-daughter, and daughter. I was aghast when I heard the radio broadcast relaying that a plane had hit the WTC, and then further shocked still when the second impact was reported. I would alternate between extreme sadness for the victims and rage toward the perpetrators in the days that followed those heinous events, though the pain I felt I was sharing with the American community...

I was watching Fox News Magazine last night (Laurie Dhue) and they had the premier of country musician John Conlee's video "They Also Serve." Having just gone through a year with my son overseas, I found it a great tribute by another patriotic American. (Why does country music seem to breed patriots?) A few of the words I've been able to scribble down go: It's that unsung corps of warriors who stay behind and wait.... They also serve Those who stand and wait. Praying by the phone to learn their loved one's fate. They're still in the war Let there...

Applause in the Airport? Beyond the Beer Commercial ... It Happens ... It Really Happens By Matt Friedeman, PhD February 10, 2005 (AgapePress) - Rick from Winona, Mississippi, called my state-wide talk radio program this week. Sometimes, you get a phone call that ought to be read in the broader market. On the program that day we were discussing the report that some Europeans were disgusted with the Super Bowl commercial of American soldiers getting applause in an airport. The critics thought it too extreme in its patriotism and a possible incitement to further war. At any rate, Rick (he...

President George W. Bush, in his State of the Union address issued a not-so veiled warning to Iran, for pursuing its nuclear weapons program. Earlier this week, Condoleezza Rice also warned Iran while on her first European tour as secretary of state. A number of Washington think tanks are jumping into the fray, calling either for dialogue or more muscle to be applied. The Iran Policy Committee, a new Washington group of former Middle East experts, offers a third alternative to negotiations, which they say are getting nowhere, or the military option, which they view as adventurous. The IPC supports...

Senators, Representatives, honored guests, veterans. Welcome to the 2005 Veteran’s Awareness Day, sponsored by the Oklahoma Veteran’s Council. Thank you for allowing us this time to address you and speak of veteran’s issues in the State. I often am accused of being rather inflammatory in my speech. As an old Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant I have a tendency to be rather blunt and straightforward when I speak on issues I feel strongly about. So if I seem like a bull in a china closet, let me apologize in advance. I realize this time is valuable and limited so I will...

Iran sent North Korea a message of support that praised the Pyongyang administration for "protecting the peace." North Korea's official Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran's President, Mohammed Khatemi, send the Pyongyang administration a message saying that the Iranian government ad its people fully support the North Korean government and its people in their efforts to protect North Korea's security and peace. Khatemi also announced his support for North Korea's efforts to reunite the Korean peninsula. North Korea had announced it was withdrawing from nuclear disarmament multinational talks on February 10th. The Washington administration labeled...

In recent weeks, the Bush administration has toughened its stand against the fundamentalist Shiite Muslim government of Iran, calling it one of America's key enemies. But the administration has not yet presented a clear-cut strategy for dealing with Iran, instead hinting alternately that the solution may be European-led negotiations with Tehran, an Israeli military attack or a rebellion led by the Iranian opposition. The debate has echoes of the fight two years ago over Iraq, and some critics are saying the administration is making the same mistake -- relying on dubious intelligence sources to justify the case for overthrowing a...

GATESHEAD, England (AP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair said Saturday that securing U.S. support for tackling global warming was the crucial diplomatic challenge for the coming months. Britain has made the battle against climate change a priority for its chairmanship of the G-8 group of industrial nations this year, and insists countries can cut the carbon emissions believed to contribute to global warming without affecting economic growth. Washington, however, has rejected the internationally agreed Kyoto climate change accord on the grounds it would damage the U.S. economy. Kyoto comes into effect Feb. 16 with 136 countries signed up. During a...

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has sent a message of solidarity to Iran amid suspicions the reclusive communist state had boasted of having nuclear weapons to raise the stakes while U.S. attention is focused on Iran's nuclear programmes. North Korea declared on Thursday for the first time it possessed nuclear weapons and pulled out indefinitely from six-party talks on its weapons programme, saying it needed a defence against a hostile United States. The North's official news agency reported on Friday that two top officials had sent messages of congratulations to Tehran on the 26th anniversary of the Islamic Republic, which...

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts Many of the European “new democracies” strangely appear closer to Medieval Principalities (in terms of size and influence), than to the countries they would rightfully become. True most of them were born out of Mother Russia’s demise, so they do have that slight leaning (at best). Now, many of those “new” countries have been in existence for centuries and just reclaimed their rights to their own language, schools, religions, etc. More importantly many of them are racing to become members of the European Union. I have seen (first hand) how several of these new states...

SACRAMENTO — Polls are showing the Schwarzenegger administration and Democratic lawmakers that there is vast support among Californians for tax increases — a swift escape from chronic, multibillion-dollar deficit woes. But voters want to tax someone else, anyone else, just not themselves. That is why Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, despite continuing to explore the issue in internal polls, remains flatly opposed to increases in taxes as part of his proposed 2005-06 budget, according to aides and analysts. And that is also why majority Democrats — even Bay Area and Southern California lawmakers who just jointly and quietly introduced a major...

3 clips... these were all broadcast on Al-Fayhaa TV (Iraq/UAE) - from 1/23/2005 to 1/24/2005. The Iraqi people, for example, have probably seen this. They speak for themselves.... rtsp://s96wm.castup.net/server12/78512209-61.wmv?s=&rid=502040623463593&ct=US&rg=US&aid=214 rtsp://s96wm.castup.net/server12/34391421-61.wmv?s=&rid=502040625301930&ct=US&rg=US&aid=214 rtsp://s96wm.castup.net/server12/34391421-61.wmv?s=&rid=502040625301930&ct=US&rg=US&aid=214 Translation by MEMRI http://www.memri.org http://www.memirtv.org

SACRAMENTO (AP) - As Secretary of State Kevin Shelley faces multiple investigations into his performance in office, as well as calls for his resignation, a key constituency - California's 58 county elections officials - has been conspicuously absent in rallying support to him. County officials call Shelley's tenure as California's top elections official a disappointment, so many are standing on the sidelines as he struggles to keep his job. "The point of view I have is we're all disappointed in the way things have happened in the secretary of state's office under his watch," said Debbie Hench, registrar of voters...