Free Republic

Things are not going as planned for the Obama administration. The millions of new jobs President Obama guaranteed have not materialized. Furthermore, the gazillion dollars of "stimulus money" Congress gave the President as a gift to spend however his fancy leads him somehow isn't actually finding its way into the economy. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says the problem is we aren't spending ever more money that we don't have. Obviously we need more money. But where are we going to get it? I think I know. Forbes just published its list of the 100 "most powerful" (not necessarily...

A new deal between Russia and China in the sum of about $100 billion became the largest deal that has ever been signed between the two countries, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said as a result of the meeting with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. The two presidents signed a large package of documents, including those in the oil and gas industry, in Moscow. “It became possible owing to the use of the mechanism that we invented with the leader of the People’s Republic of China a year ago,” Medvedev said. Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao conducted negotiations about the shipments...

The budget’s passage means the board is spared from having to adopt a contingency budget of $165.5 million, which would have increased the tax levy by 15.8 percent. District officials said state law locked them into a formula that used the inflation rate plus costs from increased enrollment. “Nobody wants to do a contingency,” Ely said. That possibility had prompted Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, to craft a bill mandating that a contingency budget always be below a budget previously rejected by voters. He also said that using increased enrollment figures when calculating the budget is “totally inappropriate. “Whether this passed...

This matter is before the Court on Defendant’s Motion for Jury Instruction regarding his possession of a firearm. The Court previously denied Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Indictment, in which Defendant argued that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protected his right to have a firearm in his house for home and self defense. In its April 17, 2009 Order, the Court found that strict scrutiny was required to justify a deprivation of an individual’s Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Espada accuses Senate Dems of racism Posted: June 18, 2009 06:29 PM The State Senate chamber remained quiet Thursday as Republicans and Democrats were unable to come to a power sharing agreement. Senator Pedro Espada (D), one of the two rogue Democrats who helped orchestrate the State Senate coup a week-and-a-half ago, is accusing his former colleagues of racism. Espada expressed his outrage over robotic phone calls from the Democrats he turned his back on that are telling upstate white voters their Republican Senators have gotten in bed with a Latino lawmaker with ethical problems. "I think it's inappropriate from...

KALKASKA, Mich. — In a dizzying matter of hours this week, the story of John Barnes, a local man who said he thought he was abducted as a toddler from his real parents outside a Long Island grocery store in the 1950s, bubbled forth in this pine-filled Michigan village of a few thousand people and raced onto a national television stage. Mr. Barnes, a quiet, polite, unemployed man whose wife works at a local grocery store, said he had long felt different from the people he was told were his parents and siblings. He had been pondering his origins for...

A rather intriguing reaction from one of John Ensign’s Senate GOP colleagues to the news of Ensign’s extramarital affair: . . . . . Graham let out a laugh and said: “I’ve got plenty of sins that I’m not going to share with anyone else.”

The administration continues to enforce the ban on non-Americans living with HIV - against the will of the Congress and the views of president George W. Bush. Here's the latest example: ""Paul Thorn, a British activist scheduled to speak today, said he was denied a U.S. visa because he is HIV positive ... "The U.S. government actively discriminates against people who have been tested for the HIV virus and have been diagnosed HIV-positive," he said in the statement ... Thorn said his application was turned down despite the interventions of Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Jim McDermott and appeals to...

Conservatives continue to look for an opening against Obama to exploit. This week’s flavor: the firing of an inspector general. Is there anything to it? Lost in the flood of Iran-related coverage this week has been the stirrings of what might be President Obama's first scandal since taking office. Conservative media, including Fox News, the National Review, and a bevy of blogs, have been pushing stories all week regarding the recent firing of the inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service, Gerald Walpin, suggesting that he was removed for political reasons. With few other attacks sticking so...

Protesters in the south-eastern Chinese city of Nankang have overturned police cars and blocked roads over plans to more strictly enforce payment of taxes. Officials in Nankang said several hundred protesters blocked a major road while others delivered a petition to a local government office. [...]China’s official Xinhua news agency said the local government’s plan to more strictly enforce payment of taxes from the furniture makers and dealers has been suspended in the face of the opposition. Danwei has more details, including a video which seems to have been just recently pulled from the Internet. Zuihulu has posted photos of...

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – "What are you Americans thinking?" asked the young woman in perfect, if slightly accented, English. She was wearing a name tag with "Marie" in both Cyrillic and Latin print and had greeted us pleasantly when we ducked out of the rain and into her store to buy postcards and mementos for our grandchildren. Her question about American "thinking" came in the midst of a conversation about how dramatically life in Russia had changed during her 27 brief years. "What do you mean?" I replied. "What are you Americans thinking about freedom?" Marie asked. Somewhat perplexed, I...

The White House, Democrats and MoveOn liberals are spreading health care sob stories to sell a government takeover. But there's one health care policy nightmare you won't hear the Obamas hyping. It's a tale of poor minority patient-dumping in Chicago -- with first lady Michelle Obama's fingerprints all over it. Both Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois have raised red flags about the outsourcing program run by the University of Chicago Medical Center. The hospital has nonprofit status and receives lucrative tax breaks in exchange for providing charity care. Yet, in fiscal year...

Should ABC be required to register as a Federal lobbyist?

The clumsiness of how election night's returns were handled, the very tepid response from the Iranian Republican Guard, the Mullahs, and the Ayatollah, and the recent "Security" conference with Iran, China, Russia, and North Korea all point to the idea that Amadinajab is about to go nuclear with a weapon. What would be the best strategy to prevent Israel from attacking Iran when it is about to weaponize a nuke? Answer: Create the illusion that democracy is about to occur in Iran. If Israel attacks Iran at that point the world would universally turn on Israel and Amadinajab would have...

Hope and Change -- but Not for Iran Charles Krauthammer June 19, 2009 Millions of Iranians take to the streets to defy a theocratic dictatorship that, among its other finer qualities, is a self-declared enemy of America and the tolerance and liberties it represents. The demonstrators are fighting on their own, but they await just a word that America is on their side. And what do they hear from the president of the United States? Silence. Then, worse. Three days in, the president makes clear his policy: continued "dialogue" with their clerical masters. Dialogue with a regime that is breaking...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took aim at the Congressional Budget Office Thursday for its cost estimate of a pending health care bill. Pelosi accused the nonpartisan budget analysts of always providing "the worst case scenario" on the costs of health care reforms and ignoring the savings associated with the proposal.

BEIJING: There are many who said it but few had a blue print ready to use the financial crisis as a golden business opportunity. China was watching hawk-like as prices of sources of oil, gas and minerals began sliding and came up with a range of impressive acquisitions across the globe. Beijing notched four successes and one failure in the acquisition game in the past two weeks alone:. * PetroChina’s deal to buy 45.5 per cent of Singapore Petroleum Co from the Singapore based Keppel Corp. * Investment of $1.39 billion by China Minmetals Non-ferrous Metals Co. to help buy...

June 18, 2009, 0:00 a.m. How to Crush DebateStart with a lie, add a little slander, stir with incitement to violence. By Clifford D. May Following the deadly shootings of a Kansas abortion doctor and a guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, two prominent New York Times columnists, Paul Krugman and Frank Rich, spoke out forcefully against those in the media who spout lies and, possibly, incite violence. There are “lunatics” out there, Krugman wrote, and “media organizations wind up such people at their, and our, peril.” Rich warned of “toxic rhetoric” and “media demagogues,” fueling a rage...

go girl

Mexico Drug Charges Against 7 Mayors, 20 Officials By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: June 19, 2009 MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico levied organized crime and drug charges Thursday against seven mayors, the former state attorney general and 19 other officials in the western state of Michoacan for allegedly aiding a drug cartel. Three other mayors detained in raids across the state May 26 have not been charged, but will continue to be held pending investigations, officials said. The seven mayors are the largest group of Mexican elected officials arrested on drug charges in recent memory. They and the other suspects...

WASHINGTON -- Who will be the most regulated of them all? Under the Obama administration's proposed regulatory revamp, certain companies would be set aside for special scrutiny if they are seen as large and interconnected enough that their failure would send a shudder through the economy. The plan would require these companies, even if they aren't banks, to face much stricter oversight from the Federal Reserve. The central bank could examine everything from the company's domestic parent to its smallest foreign subsidiary.

French Polynesia’s president has landed himself in hot water after suggesting that the country take a new name that has “sexy” connotations for some islanders. Oscar Temaru has been campaigning for a name change in French Polynesia to symbolise increased independence from France, but his suggested alternative has caused ripples among some. Temaru has put forward ‘Maohi Nui’, a name that refers to the indigenous people of French Polynesia in the language of the archipelago’s most famous island, Tahiti. But inhabitants of another island group, Marquesas Islands, know ‘Maohi’ as a raunchy word for touching a woman’s sexual parts, the...

Nasa scientists are preparing to launch a space mission from Cape Canaveral carrying a missile that will fire a hole deep in the surface of the moon. The aim is to see whether any traces of water will be revealed by the disruption caused to the planet's surface. Nasa will analyse the space cloud caused by the explosion for any sign of water or vapour. Scientists expect the impact to blast out a huge cloud of dust, gas and vaporized water ice at least 6 miles high - making it visible from Earth. If the search is successful it could...

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- "What are you Americans thinking?" asked the young woman in perfect, if slightly accented, English. She was wearing a name tag with "Marie" in both Cyrillic and Latin print and had greeted us pleasantly when we ducked out of the rain and into her store to buy postcards and mementos for our grandchildren. Her question about American "thinking" came in the midst of a conversation about how dramatically life in Russia had changed during her 27 brief years. "What do you mean?" I replied. "What are you Americans thinking about freedom?" Marie asked. Somewhat perplexed, I...

LISTEN TO THE REAL REVEREND JESSE ON THE INTERNET OR A RADIO STATION IN YOUR AREA......BOND Action, Inc...Educating, Motivating and Rallying Americans! The Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show Streamed live online from 6-9 a.m. PST / 9-12 a.m. EST. Call in the same times usually. For Live Questions or Comments Call 1-888-77-JESSE(5-3773) You can email comments and questions to radio@bondaction.org For more information on getting The Jesse Lee Peterson Show picked up on a station in your local area call Ermias Alemayehu at 1-877-WE ACT77 (932-2877)

Would Obamacare Discriminate?June 18, 2009 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Bob in Auburn, Massachusetts, nice to have you with us here on Open Line Friday on Thursday. Hi. CALLER: Rush, glad to get to talk to you. Big fan. RUSH: Thank you. CALLER: Big, big fan. You know, I want to run the health care thing by you. I think people are missing the whole point here and maybe you're not, because I try to listen as much as I can but sometimes I don't. Obama really doesn't care about health care at all. He doesn't care if it costs $10 trillion....

First gay couple to become fathers in UK expecting fourth child By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 18th June 2009 Britain's first gay fathers have announced that they are having a fourth child on Valentine's Day. Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow sparked outrage when they used donated eggs and surrogate mothers in the USA to have their nine-year-old twins Aspen and Saffron and five-year-old son Orlando. The pair from Danbury in Essex, battled the American authorities to become the first gay couple to have both their names on their children's birth certificates.

GOP's Coburn likes plan to require birth certificates. BY BOB UNRUH Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., says it's the responsibility of the states to make sure political candidates are eligible for the offices they seek, but he's in favor of both state and federal demands that future presidential candidates have a formal procedure to document their qualifications. The relatively strong statement from Coburn on the issue of the eligibility of a president came in a recent letter to a constituent who contacted WND. WND has reported on a federal plan in the U.S. House by Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., that would...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- To the victor goes the Alaskan king salmon -- and a little good-natured trash talk. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford thanked his Alaskan counterpart, Gov. Sarah Palin, for fulfilling her part of a bet the two Republicans had on the recently concluded East Coast Hockey League finals. The South Carolina Stingrays defeated the Alaska Aces, meaning Palin had to deliver her state's famed fish to Sanford. Both are rumored to be seeking the party's presidential nomination in 2012. Sanford sent Palin what he called a consolation prize-sized portion of shrimp, grits and She-Crab soup from a Charleston...

Geithner Defends Proposed Overhaul of Financial SystemTreasury Secretary Touts White House Plans on Capitol Hill but Gears Up for a Fight in Washington By MATTHEW JAFFE June 18, 2009 Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today launched the Obama administration's push for the most sweeping financial system overhaul since the Great Depression, beginning with a Capitol Hill hearing. Senators grill Treasury Secretary Geithner on financial regulatory reforms.But during a morning session with the Senate Banking Committee, lawmakers made it clear the administration would encounter opposition from both sides of the aisle. "Over the past two years, our nation has faced the most...

Last September Sen. Barack Obama promised that under his health-care proposal "you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves." On Monday, President Obama repeated that promise in a speech to the American Medical Association. It's not true. The president is barnstorming the nation, urging swift approval of legislation that is taking shape in Congress. This legislation -- the Affordable Health Choices Act that's being drafted by Sen. Edward Kennedy's staff and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee -- will push Americans into stingy insurance plans with tight, HMO-style controls. It specifically...

This was supposed to be a red-letter week for national health care, as Democrats started the process of hustling a quarter-baked bill through Congress to reorganize one-sixth of the economy on a partisan vote. Instead it was a fiasco. Most of the devastation was wreaked by the Congressional Budget Office, which on Tuesday reported that draft legislation from the Senate Finance Committee would increase the federal deficit by more than $1.6 trillion over the next decade while only partly denting the population of the uninsured. The details haven't been made public, but the short version seems to be that President...

It's Steve Burd's eighth or ninth trip to Capitol Hill this year -- he can't quite remember. Sitting in a hotel lobby late last week, what the busy Safeway CEO does know is that by the end of this trip, he'll have told all 100 U.S. senators his company's health-care story. That alone might deserve applause. As most of corporate America sits on the health-care sidelines -- issuing vague statements, trying not to offend a new U.S. president -- Mr. Burd has charged into the political debate. "I'm here because health-care simply isn't a partisan issue," he says. There is...

U.S. boosts missile defense amid reports of planned N. Korea test Defense chief Robert M. Gates' remarks about shoring up Hawaii's defense may be aimed at deterring a test launch and signals that the U.S. is willing to act to prevent a successful test. By Julian E. Barnes June 18, 2009 Reporting from Washington -- Reacting to reports that North Korea may be preparing to test-fire a missile toward Hawaii, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that he had ordered additional assets deployed to shore up defense of the islands. Gates ordered the deployment of a powerful sea-based radar...

Jefferson trial enters third day of testimonyBy GERARD SHIELDS Advocate Washington bureau Published: Jun 18, 2009 - UPDATED: 9:30 p.m. WASHINGTON – Jurors in the bribery trial of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson got their first chance Thursday to listen to secretly recorded government tapes that include Jefferson expressing worry about landing in the “pokey.” The 18-year congressman was upset when a Kentucky telecommunications business owner suggested that they get a new investor for a project the two were promoting in Africa. In one obscenity-laced statement, Jefferson was heard to say that the activities in which they were engaged could...

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) - The economy is touching so many areas of our lives. With unemployment in Michigan climbing over 14% more parents are taking care of their young children at home rather than turning to child care. After all, if a parent is not working, they often don't need and can't afford child care for their child. As the economy has dropped and regulations increased in recent years, the number of licensed family home child care providers in Michigan has fallen from 9,999 in 2004 to 6,888 in 2008. Jan Wierenga of the YMCA says, "We've seen a lot...

MINNEAPOLIS – A replay of the nation's only file-sharing case to go to trial has ended with the same result — a Minnesota woman was found to have violated music copyrights and must pay huge damages to the recording industry. A federal jury ruled Thursday that Jammie Thomas-Rasset willfully violated the copyrights on 24 songs, and awarded recording companies $1.92 million, or $80,000 per song. Thomas-Rasset's second trial actually turned out worse for her. When a different federal jury heard her case in 2007, it hit Thomas-Rasset with a $222,000 judgment.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for the wrongs of slavery. The nonbinding resolution sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is similar to a House resolution adopted last year that acknowledged the wrongs of slavery but offered no reparations. The House will have to vote on the issue again because the composition of that chamber changed after last November's elections. The resolution was approved on a voice vote. Because it is nonbinding, it does not have to be forwarded to the president for his signature. Several states have passed similar resolutions, but...

Dear editor: Calling all women. Where are you? Mr. David Letterman just unleashed a very cruel joke on one of our fellow sisters. I've been made to understand that any woman would never tolerate this ugly unjust treatment of any woman. Sarah Palin's daughter was verbally attacked and abused by the thoughtless, unkind man. Where is your outrage? Is your lack of support because it is Sarah Palin? Why? She's a woman and I might add, a very pretty lady. Or do you consider her a dumb conservative right wing loon? I'm absolutely appalled at the lack of support and...

If Tweets coming from Iran are accurate, there seems to be a movement in many parts of the country towards some small taste of freedom and democracy. The reason for this mainly revolves around what seems to have been a concerted effort on the part of the ruling elite in the country to steal an election. Meanwhile, the White House is not saying much about the situation one way or the other because it doesn’t want to hand Iran’s Supreme Ruler (that’s his actual title), Ali Khameni and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an excuse to accuse the United States of...

South African rape survey shock South Africa's government has been urged to solve the rape epidemic One in four South African men questioned in a survey said they had raped someone, and nearly half admitted having attacked more than one victim. The study, by the country's Medical Research Council, also found three out of four who admitted rape had attacked for the first time during their teens. It said practices such as gang rape were common because they were considered a form of male bonding. The MRC spoke to 1,738 men in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces. The research was...

New poll finds only 33 percent of Americans favor, a 9-point drop since April The number of Americans who support same-sex marriage has plunged over the last few months, according to a new poll. The CBS News/New York Times study found that 33 percent of respondents favor same-sex marriage. That represents a 9 percent drop since April. Everett Rice, legislative coordinator for the California Family Council, said he has a theory about the decrease. "People really recognize their core and their values, their heritage," he said. "When people want to go in and redefine that, it really goes against everybody's...

It’s not just Republicans who are unhappy with President Obama’s muted response to what’s happening in Iran. There’s apparently an internal divide at the White House over how tough or not Obama should be. According to the New York Times this morning, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden “would like to strike a stronger tone in support of protestors” while “other White House officials have counseled a more cautious approach.” Obama has clearly sided with the latter, saying he doesn’t want to be seen as “meddling” in the Iranian elections. What’s interesting to your Gaggler is...

<p>Montgomery County prosecutors secured murder indictments today against six people who had been previously charged in connection with the slaying in January of a 15-year-old who was stabbed 72 times and dumped in a Gaithersburg creek.</p> <p>For the first time in Montgomery, a county grand jury also indicted the defendants under a 2007 law that allows judges to sentence gang members who commit violent crimes to an additional 20 years in prison.</p>

WASHINGTON - -- He was appointed with fanfare as the public watchdog over the government's multi-billion dollar bailout of the nation's financial system. But now Neil Barofsky is embroiled in a dispute with the Obama administration that delayed one recent inquiry and sparked questions about his ability to freely investigate. The disagreement stems from a claim by the Treasury Department that Barofsky is not entirely independent of the agency he is assigned to examine ż a claim that has prompted a stern letter from a Republican senator warning that agency officials are encroaching on the integrity of an office created...

Prejean Attorney to Miss California USA Pageant Directors: Last Chance to Retract Defamatory Statements by Carrie Prejean [Ed. note: The following letter was just released to Big Hollywood. Written by Carrie Prejean's lawyer, Charles S. LiMandri, it was sent today to Timothy F. Shields, Esq., the attorney representing Miss California USA Pageant co-directors Keith Lewis and Shana Moakler, and K2 Productions, Inc.] RE: Carrie Prejean v. Keith Lewis, Shana Moakler, and K2 Productions, Inc.Dear Mr. Shields:             We are writing in response to your letter of June 13, 2009.  There have been multiple written communications from me to you since the date...

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is no longer above criticism from voters and theologians Forget the threat posed to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by the political unrest that has swept Iran this week. It is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the regime's Supreme Leader, who should really be sweating about his future. For the past two decades, the 69-year-old has been the ultimate source of power in Iran. A middle-ranking cleric who was elevated by his mentor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, during the final months of his life, Mr Khamenei exercises enormous influence over the way the country is run. But when he delivers today's sermon at...

Ex-US President Jimmy Carter is a prominent enemy of Israel, whose history of action as President and subsequent writings have consistently displayed a deep animus matched only by a staggering level of ignorance. So this report in the Jerusalem Post of his visit a few days ago to the heart of the dreaded Israeli settlements, Gush Etzion, is fascinating – and poignant: ...A casual browsing of the Carter Center Web site reveals that as recently as 2007 Carter gave an address at Brandeis University in which he demonstrated extreme and total ignorance about the geography, demographics and even traffic patterns...

Via the Standard, “external spokesman” Mohsen Makhmalbaf sounds off. In a week marked mostly by deafening silence from the White House, it’s astounding that The One still somehow managed to offend the great hope of the Iranian freedom movement. Note to Barry: If a guy’s supporters are known for chanting “Death to the dictator” about Ahmadinejad, there are probably a few pertinent differences between the two.

I am tired of being screwed by both parties. This petition was such a hit yesterday that the server went down. It is back up now. I heard about this from the Glenn Beck Show. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/8/an-open-letter-to-our-nations-leadership