Free Republic

Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) failed today to address rumors that Nevada Senator Harry Reid will step down next month as Senate Minority Leader. Reid has been stung by revelations that his political action committee (PAC) accepted more than $60,000 in contributions from Indian tribes linked to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Appearing on CNN's Late Edition, Biden avoided discussing either the Reid situation or any upcoming changes in Senate Democratic leadership. Reid is no stranger to scandal, having been the subject of a 1979 Justice Department probe into allegations that Reid — then Nevada Gaming Commission chairman — had received bribes...

After reading all of the crap that people have been saying regarding Adult Private Social Clubs, I felt that I had to post an article and give my opinion. I am sick and tired of all the religous groups that are saying that there are drugs, prostitution, minors, non-consenting people, and just immoral people at these clubs! First of all, who do these people think they are to decide what is morally right or wrong for me? I believe that I have a good set of morals. I am a law abiding, tax paying citizen, I work full time and...

Fox is reporting that the Alito floor vote in the Senate is being pushed into next week by the Dems. This is, by my count, the second or third time the Dems have broken their word re. the Alito nomination. The Libs are still seeking support for a filibuster. Fox projects a 10-8 vote for Alito in committee and a bare majority vote by the full Senate. This would, of course, givew the Dems the 41 votes they need to sustain a filibuster. No word yet in Frist's feelings about his latest tactical loss. (We definitely need new Congressional leadership).

ALBANY, N.Y. - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton remains strong for her re-election bid this year, and a majority of New York voters think she would make a fine president, a statewide poll showed Friday. New Yorkers are not nearly as well disposed to the notion of Republican Gov. George Pataki running for president, according to the poll. Pataki, who is considering a run for the White House, announced in July he would not seek a fourth, four-year term this year. The poll, from the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, found Democrat Clinton sporting 2-1 leads over her best-known potential challengers for...

Oh, Canada -- you're not really going to elect a Conservative majority on Monday, are you? That's a joke, right? I know you have a great sense of humor, and certainly a well-developed sense of irony, but this is no longer funny. Maybe it's a new form of Canadian irony -- reverse irony! OK, now I get it. First, you have the courage to stand against the war in Iraq -- and then you elect a prime minister who's for it. You declare gay people have equal rights -- and then you elect a man who says they don't. You...

Jumping off a big win at the kudofest Monday and helped by an otherwise weak field, "Brokeback Mountain" garnered the impressive achievement of a solid No. 1 win at the box office Tuesday and Wednesday despite playing just 682 theaters. With about $740,000 both days, Focus' cowboy love story beat "Glory Road," which was on 2,222 playdates, by approximately $50,000 Tuesday and $100,000 Wednesday. That puts "Brokeback" in a very strong position as it expands this weekend to 1,194 playdates -- a significant boost from the 800-900 Focus was planning before the Globes victories. ... Focus has been regularly expanding...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A consumer group wants to keep Tony the Tiger from promoting sugary cereals on the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon show or anywhere else kids are watching.   The Center for Science in the Public Interest said on Wednesday it would sue Kellogg Co., the maker of cereals such as Frosted Flakes, and Viacom Inc., which runs the Nickelodeon cable network, if the companies do not change some marketing practices aimed at children. The Center said letters had been sent to Kellogg and Viacom saying it would settle for a commitment from the companies within 30 days rather than sue....

A new book that argues parents should avoid spanking their children and instead form emotional connections with the kids is re-igniting the debate over how best to raise children in modern-day America. One member of the American Academy of Pediatrics calls the book, A Better Childhood Without Discipline, "all theory," and insists, "Nothing could be further from the truth." San Francisco-based clinical psychologist Dr. Theron Alexander explains his theory of "connectedness" in the new book. "Where discipline can bring about only temporary obedience through the rules and threat of punishment, connectedness forms the basis for long-term results," Alexander said. "The...

President Bush's advisers are resigned to the Democratic capture of the White House in 2008, according to senior Republican sources close to the White House. GOP sources said White House strategists have attempted to persuade Mr. Bush that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat and her party’s current front-runner to be the next presidential nominee, cannot be defeated in 2008. Bush strategists said the president should instead focus on seeking to retain the Republican majority in both houses of Congress in 2006 and 2008. "There is nobody in the White House that will openly say we lost the presidency...

TWO MEN are being put on trial by the military this week because they answered their consciences. Pablo Paredes and Kevin Benderman refused to accept the lies they were told about the U.S. war on Iraq. Refused to accept the racist dehumanization of the Iraqi people. Refused to participate in the violence of the most lethal military machine in the history of the world. Refused to go to war for oil and empire in Iraq. Paredes, a third class petty officer, refused to board his Navy ship bound for the Persian Gulf, bringing 3,000 Marines to the battlefield--to kill and...

COMMENTARY Beinart: Truth is, Hillary has always been a centrist Peter Beinart, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON POST Advertisement Tuesday, May 10, 2005 Hillary Clinton has moved to the center in preparation for 2008. It's become a cliche — so self-evidently true that it shows up not merely in editorials but in news articles as well. One of the reasons it's so uncontroversial is that it seems innocuous, even flattering. It shows how shrewd a politician Clinton is. She knows Democrats must do better among hawkish, culturally traditional voters — so she's moving in that direction herself. But in fact the...

I signed off my talk show yesterday, stuffed unused newspaper articles in my briefcase, and headed home. As I pulled out of the studio parking garage I did what I usually do … I tuned in to see what Rush was talking about. On this particular day I had no doubt as to what the subject would be, but I wanted to hear his latest thoughts. My studio getaway was so efficient, so swift that I was on the road in time to hear Rush come out of his hourly newsbreak. Now … before I go any further, let it...

Proof that Google is increasingly undergoing preferential linkages to Democrats was discovered this morning. Why is FreeRepublic not linked by Google News, but the "Democratic Underground Website" is? Just curious as to why we don't make 'news', but they do. If you do a search this morning on Google News on God Darwin Schools, you'll find 'Darwin's Lament', an utterly vapid discourse that is not worth even reading. But I have never seen Google New link to us...

GAINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) - Runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks apologized Thursday for disappearing just before her wedding day, and insisted cryptically that her flight was prompted not by cold feet, but by "a host of compelling issues, which seemed out of control." Wilbanks, whose three-day disappearance led to a nationwide search, initially told investigators she had been abducted by a Hispanic male and white woman with a handgun, a story that quickly unraveled. Albuquerque, N.M., police said Thursday that Wilbanks also claimed she had been sexually assaulted, but recanted with the rest of her story. In a statement read by her...

May 1, 2005 -- The greatest moral quandary of our day is whether we, as Americans, support the Iraqi insurgency. It’s an issue that has caused anti-war Leftists the same pangs of conscience that many felt 30 years ago in their opposition to the Vietnam War. The specter of disloyalty weighs heavily on all of us, even those who’ve never been inclined to wave flags or champion the notion of American “Exceptionalism”. For myself, I can say without hesitation that I support the "insurgency", and would do so even if my only 21 year old son was serving in Iraq....

LONDON, England -- Workers distracted by phone calls, e-mails and text messages suffer a greater loss of IQ than a person smoking marijuana, a British study shows. The constant interruptions reduce productivity and leave people feeling tired and lethargic, according to a survey carried out by TNS Research and commissioned by Hewlett Packard. The survey of 1,100 Britons showed: Almost two out three people check their electronic messages out of office hours and when on holiday Half of all workers respond to an e-mail within 60 minutes of receiving one One in five will break off from a business or...

WASHINGTON: Indians are lucky they know how Mahatma Gandhi looked. There have plenty of footage showing him walking briskly on spindly legs and joking cheerfully with a toothless grin. Americans aren't that lucky. The father of their nation pre-dated the moving picture by a century. Even Abraham Lincoln missed the cut. Now an Indian-American computer scientist is going to help them figure that out. Karnal-born Dr. Anshuman Razdan, director of the Partnership for Research and Spatial Modeling (PRISM) and professor of computer science at Arizona State University, will give George Washington a "virtual makeover" using 3D computer modeling. Dr Razdan...

SALISBURY, Md. (AP) - Frank Perdue, who built a backyard egg business into one of the nation's largest poultry processors using the folksy slogan, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken," has died, the company said Friday. He died after a brief illness at the age of 84. At the time of his death, Perdue was chairman of the executive committee of the board of directors of Perdue Farms Inc., headquartered in Salisbury. Perdue turned over the day-to-day responsibilities of running the company over to his son, Jim Perdue, in 1991. In 1971, Perdue became his company's...

WASHINGTON -- By a margin of almost 2-to-1, likely Florida voters feel strongly that Congress and President Bush should have stayed out of the battle over Terri Schiavo's fate, according to a new poll conducted this week for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Florida Times-Union.

President Bush is facing increasing dissent among leading conservative politicians and pundits in the face of mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq. The war has become the long slog that some Republicans feared. Since Sunday, 32 Americans have been killed in fighting across Iraq. American body bags are on the front page of major U.S. newspapers. The Washington Post and The New York Times brandished images of charred U.S. civilian remains last week. The networks are leading their nightly news broadcasts with stories of dead Americans. "If we have two or three more weeks of this you are going to start...