Free Republic

If you thought SuperBowl 2009 was the greatest ever, you'll love our exclusive video of the action plus some vid of the great halftime show. Also, tax dodgers and why we all should just refuse to pay our taxes, damn it! Finally, Jonbenet case reopened? I've got an interesting hunch why. Many more thoughts from The Wise I.

"Jesus knew their thoughts..." Matthew 12:25 Jesus was getting ready to heal the man with a demon, and the Pharisees were indignant. They said he could only drive out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Earlier in the chapter the Scripture states that these same Pharisees were plotting on how they might kill Jesus. But Jesus knew their thoughts. He knew what caused them to get to this point. He knew the anger and frustration they must have felt at someone trying to “muscle in” on their territory, so to speak. He knew who was behind their vile thoughts...

Yes, yes, I know it's a vanity post! To those who are offended, please stop reading. For the rest of you, here it is... 1. The freeway overpasses into downtown Minneapolis were littered with Obamaniac sycophants waving large signs AND American flags! I rolled down my window and extended a middle finger several times as well as yelled out "Fu**ing Losers!". Yes, it was senseless and immature - and no, I'm not sorry. 2. I got a robo-call last night from Ashwin Madia's (aka Ashtray Madhatter's) campaign. He's a Dem running in the 3rd Congressional District. I live in the...

This is an animation of a red-shoulder hawk and what he might be thinking about people staring at him.

Electrodes were planted in the part of the brain which controls speech Scientists say they may be on the brink of translating into words the thoughts of a man who can no longer speak, after a pioneering experiment. Electrodes have been implanted in the brain of Eric Ramsay, who has been "locked in" - conscious but paralysed - since a car crash eight years ago. These have been recording pulses in areas of the brain involved in speech. Now, New Scientist magazine reports, they are to use the signals he generates to drive speech software. Although the data is...

Amed Mamood is from Iraq. He's not Arab, but Kurdish. He came to the U.S. 26 years ago as a graduate student. He earned a PhD and has owned the Sunrise Café for the last nine years. He watched the president's address and feels the same way he always has: in support of President Bush. "A part of this war is fighting terrorism. If we don't stop them at that part of the world, they're going to end up in this country." He left Iraq when he was 22 and believes it can be free, but not united under one...

On the Origin and Nature of Things THE CELEBRATED PRAYER of the great German astronomer, Kepler, has been a benediction to many: "O God, I thank Thee that Thou hast permitted me to think Thy thoughts after Thee." This prayer is theologically sound because it acknowledges the priority of God in the universe. "In the beginning God" is undoubtedly the most important sentence in the Bible. It is in God that all things begin, and all thoughts as well. In the words of Augustine, "But Thou, O Lord, who ever livest, and in whom nothing dies, since before the world...

It seems that the battle line of public sentiment has been drawn right down the middle of one simple question. Believe it or not, the debate actually hinges on whether or not people believe that the threat to this country, and our way of life, is real. If you believe we are at risk, the survival instinct tells you to do something about it. If you don’t believe there is a threat, you go about lazily lapping at the watering hole while the lion continues to creep up in the brush. There are those out there who say that we...

California is a very hard state in which to elect a Republican to statewide office. And by that, I mean ANY Republican. With occasional exceptions, we have seen Republicans of all stripes – conservative, moderate, liberal – lose at the polls to the most outrageously socialist Democrats. I can throw out Tom Campbell, Bill Jones, Matt Fong and Bruce Herschensohn (pictured) as examples of GOPers of all stripes who have lost – and these are just nominees for the United States Senate. We can debate the reasons for the losses, but I am just trying to illustrate that electing a...

In 1945, Winston Churchill was swept from office in a devastating election defeat just days after leading England safely through World War II. As he watched in morose silence as the results rolled in, Clementine sat beside him, patted his knee and said, “If you ask me, Winston, it’s a blessing in disguise.” Churchill growled, “At the moment, madam, it is very well disguised, indeed.” I’m not going to pretend that Tuesday’s election was anything other than what it was: an unmitigated and stunning defeat of some of the most basic principles of good government ever put to a vote:...

What do you know about Veterans Day, which is Friday, or what does Veterans Day mean to you? This week's answers come from seniors in Ruth Erickson's Advanced Placement government class at Canyon del Oro High School. Veterans Day was originally Armistice Day, to celebrate the end of the First World War on the 11th day of the 11th month. After World War II, the country had just gone through another big war, and they wanted a day to remember both. They turned Armistice Day, which remembered only one event, into Veterans Day to recognize all members of the American...

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 7, 2005 – The approaching anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States gives Americans cause to think about things that happened before, during and after that day, the Army's chief of public affairs told an audience here Sept. 6. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks told the Boulder Valley Rotary Club it's important to "reflect on the circumstances that led up to 9/11, what we faced on 9/11, and what we continue to face today." The general said he's reminded of Sept. 11 every day when he gets to his office, which is about...

On any given Sunday, 100 million households from Australia, Europe, and across the USA will tune in to view Joel Osteen broadcasting from the 30,000-member Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Rated as the #1 inspirational television program by Nielson Media Research, Joel Osteen is preaching a message that certainly seems to be touching home with people all over America. In his much respected best selling book, Your Best Life Now-7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential, Osteen outlines a seven-step process for effecting profound change in your life. He speaks in terms of the positive in everyday life. Expect...

Scientists say they have been able to monitor people's thoughts via scans of their brains.Teams at University College London and University of California in LA could tell what images people were looking at or what sounds they were listening to. The US team say their study proves brain scans do relate to brain cell electrical activity. The UK team say such research might help paralysed people communicate, using a "thought-reading" computer. In their Current Biology study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, people were shown two different images at the same time - a red stripy pattern in front of...

Ronald Reagan kept a diary -- handwritten, blue-inked reflections and observations of nearly every day of his eight years in the White House -- and now it will be published, executives of HarperCollins and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation announced yesterday. The existence of the five leather-bound volumes embossed with a gold presidential seal was not a secret. Key entries were quoted in the press during the investigation into the Iran-contra arms sale controversy in the mid-1980s: "I agreed to sell TOWs to Iran" -- Jan. 17, 1986. Reagan drew on the diary for his 1990 memoir, "An American...

Wednesday, April 13, 2005 Fog... At 6:30 a.m., on a cool Spring morning, I set out to take my youngest child to school. I say child as though he is still in fourth grade - but the truth is - more a young man, at the tender age of sixteen - now worrying about his driver's license and of course, a girl. I get him safely to school - after maneuvering through the foggy back roads of our home county - luckily I know every bump in the road, and the car sort of steers itself. He is busily talking...

This is sort of a quiet time of year for most people. Most news organizations do that tired old “that was the year that was” review, telling you all the stuff that you went through in the previous twelve months, as if your attention spans had been MTV’d down to around the goldfish level. You’re still sorting through all the wrapping paper you used at Christmas, hoping that your local Earth Liberation Front cell doesn’t get back at you for your blatant destruction of the forests by burning your house down. You’re still recovering from having relatives come and visit...

While I was waiting in line to be processed after my arrest at the Republican National Convention, a NYPD officer walking alongside sneered at an obnoxious, verbally abusive protester, "Remember, we're the heroes." It does nothing to denigrate the very real risks these officers take to say there was nothing heroic about arresting hundreds of people for standing more than four abreast on the sidewalk. In other words, heroism one day does nothing to dismiss a misdeed the next. There are no little yellow "get out of jail free" cards outside of Monopoly. The power that comes with a badge...

I found these comments all posted through out the internet. I found them... inlightening. We managed to get rid of Daschle, opening up a window of opportunities for Democrats to get a real Democrat in as Minority leader. But if you were wondering what direction the Democrats are planning to go, well, they've sent us a signal and selected Harry Reid of Nevada as Senate Minority leader. Republicans might find it hard to pigeonhole Reid as a liberal since his anti-abortion, anti-gun-control views are contrary to Democratic dogma. He was among the minority of Democrats who voted for a ban...

9/11/04 - MY THOUGHTS Today is the third anniversary of September 11, 2001. Much has happened in the past three years to the world and to us, individually and collectively, as Americans. On that beautiful autumn day we were attacked and we trembled. We were blinded by our fear and we cried out. We rose up from the smoke and rubble and responded with the strength of unity. The towers crumbled, the Pentagon was in flames and Flight 93 was forced to the earth with the words, "Let's Roll!". There were no survivors on those planes that were turned into...