Free Republic

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama this week will announce a series of actions to help the economy that will not require congressional approval, including an initiative to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their mortgages, according to a White House official. The actions come as Obama is facing resistance from Republicans to a $447 billion jobs package he has urged Congress to pass. The first of the initiatives will be unveiled during Obama's three-day trip to western states beginning Monday. He will discuss the changes in mortgage rules at a stop in Nevada, which has one of the hardest-hit...

Boston city councilor wants Citgo sign taken down Associated Press BOSTON -- A city councilor wants a landmark Citgo sign taken down in response to a speech in which Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez called President Bush "the devil." Citgo is a subsidiary of Venezuela's state oil company, and Councilor Jerry McDermott wants to replace the sign, which is visible from Fenway Park, with a U.S. flag. "Given the hatred of the United States displayed by dictator Hugo Chavez, it would be more fitting to see an American flag when you drive through Kenmore Square," McDermott told The Boston Herald. "I...

Much of the Venezuelan media has aggressively opposed Chavez's populist "Bolivarian revolution," though not without reason: The former coup-plotting colonel is well on his way to destroying what was once the most stable and prosperous democracy in Latin America. Some newspapers and television stations openly sided with attempts to oust the president via coup, strike or national referendum. Having survived all three, a strengthened Chavez is moving to eliminate critical journalists and create in Venezuela the kind of state-controlled media environment in which a minister of information is all-powerful. The first step was a new media content law, adopted by...

'THE DEVIL CAME TO THE UN YESTERDAY... Bush, I have the feeling you are going to live the rest of your days as a nightmare... We need a psychologist to analyze Bush... YANKEE IMPERIALISTS GO HOME'...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) _ President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday challenged the authority of the U.N. Security Council as Iran faces a deadline to halt its uranium enrichment and he called for a televised debate with President Bush on world issues. The Security Council has given Iran until Thursday to suspend enrichment, a process that can produce either fuel for a reactor or material for weapons. ``The U.S. and Britain are the source of many tensions,'' Ahmadinejad said at a news conference. ``At the Security Council, where they have to protect security, they enjoy the veto right. If anybody confronts them,...