Free Republic

Nairobi, Kenya (CNSNews.com) – Because of escalating piracy, Africa’s high seas are fast becoming dominated by foreign navies, raising questions about African countries’ ability to secure their own waters. Some military analysts say the situation presents an opportunity for African nations to strengthen their own naval power and form regional alliances to police the high seas. Others predict that Africans will leave the policing to Western navies, because even African countries with effective navies have their own unique problems to deal with. Warships from the United States, other NATO members and Russia and India are attempting to secure the Indian...

Like some current and former U.S. Senators (Obama, Biden & Daschle), Hillary Clinton appears to be in line for a promotion. New Yorkers should rejoice, because it means she will no longer be the steward of the Upstate New York economy. Obama Cabinet When Senator Clinton ran for Senate in 2000, she promised economic revitalization for New Yorkers living north of New York City and its suburbs. She even went so far as to promise 200,000 new jobs for the region. New Yorkers believed her and gave her a chance. Obviously, she did not fulfill her pledge to New Yorkers....

Obama must act boldly to rescue the American people.. [...] Creation of a new Home Owner's Loan Corporation (HOLC), the New Deal era agency that bought mortgages from homeowners at risk of defaulting and offered them more affordable terms. Include a law with a sunset clause allowing below median-value homeowners facing foreclosure the right to rent-to-own their homes at fair-market value rates. [...]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, have chosen a private school in northwestern Washington, D.C., for their two daughters on Friday, where former President Bill Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, has studied. "A number of great schools were considered. In the end, the Obamas selected the school that was the best fit for what their daughters need right now," said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama. Obama's daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, would move to the capital with their parents from Chicago, Illinois, after his father is sworn in as the next president on Jan....

More than 10,000 people die needlessly each year because their cancers are not diagnosed in time, a study says. The charity Cancer Research UK found GPs too often miss symptoms or do not send enough patients for tests. In some cases their training is simply out of date. The report says some people are deterred from seeking treatment by the difficulty of getting an appointment. And there is too little public awareness about cancer symptoms, meaning many victims do not see their GP until it is too late to save their lives. The result is that Britain's survival rates for...

We have gone through the first round of internal recriminations with the recent excoriation of Governor Palin by those “unnamed” McCain staffers. But, as we all know, Gov. Palin was the subject of heated debate even among Republicans long before the election. One common complaint was that she was the "worst" VP candidate pick "ever." But, was she really? A look at recent history can only serve to deflate that ridiculous claim. There have been far worse picks than Gov. Palin and only the extremely emotional state of mind that this past election ginned up could obscure the historical record....

The wear and tear of the state’s U.S. Senate recount began to show Friday, as some counties reported missing ballots and a rising number of challenged ballots frayed nerves among counters and monitors alike. As of Friday night, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman was hanging on to his whisker-thin lead over Democrat Al Franken. With 64 percent of the 2.9 million ballots recounted, Coleman was ahead by 120 votes, down from 136 at the end of Thursday and from the unofficial lead of 215 signed off on Tuesday by the state Canvassing Board. The figures represent a compilation of recount data...

Representative Henry A. Waxman wrested the chairmanship of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee from Representative John D. Dingell on Thursday in a coup that is expected to accelerate passage of energy, climate and health legislation backed by President-elect Barack Obama. Mr. Waxman, 69, of California, who mounted a quiet but devastatingly effective two-week campaign against his longtime Democratic colleague, won the chairmanship with a 137-to-122 vote in the Democratic Caucus. The vote was secret, but many allies of Speaker Nancy Pelosi backed Mr. Waxman’s move, and several members said they had voted on the assumption that Ms. Pelosi...

The Bush Derangement Syndrome lemmings on the Internet lit up yesterday over a video that supposedly showed world leaders “snubbing” George Bush and refusing to shake his hand. CNN moron Rick Sanchez wet his pants over the video, exulting that Bush was being treated like the kid in high school with “cooties.” He then ranted about Bush as a “bully” who deserved rude treatment from the world because “What goes around comes around.” The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart cackled over the clip, too. It was left to CNN humorist Jeanne Moos to set the dunces straight. Bush had been shaking...

LOS ANGELES -- A Missouri woman's daughter says her mother had wanted an Internet account shut down even before cruel messages were sent from it to a teenage neighbor who later committed suicide. Sarah Drew says her mother, Lori, initially thought it was a good idea to use the account to create a fictitious boy to lure Megan Meier into an online relationship.

Compare: “I’d rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.” – William F. Buckley, Jr. --------------------------------------- And contrast: Jan. 20, 2009, will be a historic day. Barack Obama (Columbia, Harvard Law) will take the oath of office as his wife, Michelle (Princeton, Harvard Law), looks on proudly. Nearby, his foreign policy advisers will stand beaming, including perhaps Hillary Clinton (Wellesley, Yale Law), Jim Steinberg (Harvard, Yale Law) and Susan Rice (Stanford, Oxford D. Phil.). The domestic policy team will be there, too,...

Chuck Obama displays the Heisenberg uncertainty principle: no one knows when Change will come. But it will come. As a Fist of Hope. Chuck Obama doesn't evolve. He mutates for a Change. Chuck Obama is no mix. He is pure awesomeness for change. I need not your gifts of thoughts. I do not have thoughts. I have inspirations of awesomeness that change the world. There is no Barack. There is only Chuck.

A woman with the skin condition psoriasis has travelled to Turkey to sit in water and be nibbled by flesh-eating fish in a bid to find a cure. Samantha Grayston, 38, from Kent, said she returned from her three-week trip to find the "doctor fish" treatment had worked and boosted her confidence. She spent six hours a day at the spa near Kangal in eastern Turkey. Psoriasis occurs when cells replace themselves too quickly, often causing emotional as well as physical distress. Ms Grayston said: "People do tend to stare at you. It's because they just don't know what it...

New Jersey could boost its economy by more than half a billion dollars over the next three years by promptly legalizing same-sex marriage, a California law professor told a state commission earlier.

Citigroup is reneging on a promise it made to tens of millions of credit card customers in good times. After pledging that it would no longer reserve the right to raise interest rates at any time for any reason, Citigroup now plans to start raising rates for customers who have not had an increase in at least two years. The move appears to backpedal from a commitment that Citigroup executives made to Congress in early 2007 when they tried to fend off greater regulation by promising not to raise rates until an account expires. Citigroup attributed its decision to the...

Bought this gun today and am asking the experts what over the counter ammo feeds through this weapon? As stated, the gun is a flat-top with a Simmons scope along with a bi-pod as the only add-on's. The serial number is BK010XXX and I believe this a post-ban weapon, correct? I have shot competively in the past with .45 auto's and this is my first semi-auto rifle. I believe this dude will drive tack's as I have read. I just would like some overall advise.

“We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while - they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as series showing “ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events”....

Thursday, 20 November 2008, 10:11 am Press Release: Carbon Sense Coalition *Australians urged to follow NZ lead on ETS review * The Carbon Sense Coalition today called on the Queensland Government to follow the lead of New Zealand and initiate a complete review of the science and the cost-benefits of the proposals to levy a new tax on coal and petrol usage. “All over the world, three factors are triggering a revolt against the lemming-like rush led by the Anglo-Saxons to commit carbon suicide via emissions trading schemes,” said Viv Forbes, Chairman of the Carbon Sense Coalition. “Firstly, the science...

Chris Matthews loses his mind--- He wants OBAMA to step in take control of US GOVERMENT NOW!! Forget the swearing in ceremony in January! United States CONSTITUTION BE DAMNED!!

November 21, 2008 The Truth About Bailouts As the Federal bailout bonanza prepares to spread beyond the mortgage and financial sectors to fill Detroit's depleted coffers, few economic or policy analysts have spared a thought for the destitution of the U.S. government itself. Put simply, our government doesn't have enough spare cash to bailout a lemonade stand let alone a bloated and failing industry that is losing tens of billions of dollars per month. Washington can only offer funds that it has borrowed from abroad or printed. Unfortunately, the nation is in the grips of a delusion that money derived...

Bloggers worldwide are abuzz over a report that Hossein Derakhshan, a popular Iranian-Canadian writer once dubbed the Blogfather, has been arrested in Iran. Iran's Jahan News Agency, which is said to be tied to Tehran's theocratic government, reported the arrest Monday, saying Mr. Derakhshan, 34, was suspected of spying for Israel. Mr. Derakhshan, also known as Hoder, keeps a blog in both Persian and English. The daily blog ominously stopped publishing late last month, and between each blog and his Facebook account, there's been no online trace of Hoder since Oct. 30. But one rival blogger, who didn't want to...

Nov 21, 2008 Do you support "Don't Ask/Don't Tell"? Yes 30% (38 votes) Maybe 12% (15 votes) No 58% (73 votes) Total votes: 126

EVEN before Barack Obama takes control of the Oval office, he has already initiated substantive changes in American politics, it has been claimed. US political commentator Mark Shields, who has worked on several White House election campaigns, believes that the incoming president will harness the power of his supporters to enact change. “He has created a whole new way of doing things. There are 10 million names on a list committed to Obama and he will use this support,” said Mr Shields, on a visit to Galway this week. Addressing the National University of Ireland, Galway, (NUIG) Law Society, the...

House Minority Leader John Boehner’s reelection on Wednesday to the top House Republican leadership post was the result of skillful political maneuvering before and after the Nov. 4 elections, Capitol Hill sources and an expert on Congress told CNSNews.com. Boehner’s work strengthening one-on-one relationships with members and offering key leadership positions to powerful members of the House’s conservative faction, Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Eric Cantor (R-Va.), ensured that he would not face a serious challenge for his position...

Janet Napolitano's appointment as Homeland Security would further erode our Civil Rights in an Obama administration that will include another threat,Eric Holder, as Attorney General. We have BIG Brother in the making! The Perfect Storm, Obama, Holder and Napolitano and a Democrat House and Senate. Contact your U.S. Senator and ask them to reject this appointment.

A restraining order has been granted to Sunol Glen School against a woman the school believes tried to take a student earlier this month. Commissioner Charles Smiley granted the three-year order Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court in Pleasanton. It requires Jamie Nickolopoulos, 32, who lives a short walk away from the school, to not contact the school and to stay at least 25 yards away. Records show she did not attend the court hearing. ...snip... She said her daughter said the woman told her she was going to be the girl's stepmother and had candy and movies at the...

With the sharp stock-market decline for Citigroup rapidly becoming a full-blown crisis of confidence, the company’s executives on Friday entered into talks with federal officials about how to stabilize the struggling financial giant. In a series of tense meetings and telephone calls, the executives and officials weighed several options, including whether to replace Citigroup’s leadership or sell all or part of the company. Other options discussed included a public endorsement from the government or a new financial lifeline, people involved in the talks said. The course of action, however, remained uncertain on Friday night, these people said, and other options...

PARIS (AFP) — It's taken more than a century, but Einstein's celebrated formula e=mc2 has finally been corroborated, thanks to a heroic computational effort by French, German and Hungarian physicists.

Last week I told you about Valerie Jarrett, the corrupt Chicago poltician serving as co-chair of Obama's transition team. This is in addition to Clinton co-conspirator John Podesta (the other co-chair) and Clinton attack dog Rahm Emmanuel as Obama's Chief of Staff. Hillary is expected to take over State. We can also add two other Clinton insiders: Clinton impeachment lawyer Greg Craig who defended the worst of the Clinton scandals and who was also involved in the violent government raid that delivered Elian Gonzalez to Castro's Cuba. In fact, we believe Craig was working with the communist Cuban government. And...

The campaign of Republican congresisonal candidate Tom McClintock said the vote tally released late Friday from Placer County "mathematically ensures McClintock victory" in the 4th District. "Placer County today completed the process of counting absentee and provisional votes, and Tom McClintock gained 1,464 votes," the campaign announced. "The final Placer County tally gives McClintock a lead of 1,793 votes over (Democrat) Charlie Brown. With the vote tally completed in Placer and Nevada Counties, there is no mathematical way Charlie Brown can overtake McClintock’s lead in the Fourth Congressional District election. “The votes are almost all in and the result is...

Just over the transom, the McClintock campaign is claiming victory, saying that their new lead is greater than the number of ballots left to be counted. Here's the email from McClintock campaign Communications Director Bill George: Vote Tally Mathematically Ensures McClintock Victory in Fourth Congressional District Race Placer County today completed the process of counting absentee and provisional votes, and Tom McClintock gained 1,464 votes. The final Placer County tally gives McClintock a lead of 1,793 votes over Charlie Brown. With the vote tally completed in Placer and Nevada Counties, there is no mathematical way Charlie Brown can overtake McClintock's...

On November 21, 2008, the banking operations of PFF Bank and Trust, Pomona, CA was sold in a transaction facilitated by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

On November 21, 2008, the banking operations of Downey Savings and Loan Association, F.A. - Newport Beach, CA was sold in a transaction facilitated by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Liberals breathlessly criticized Sarah Palin because she had the audacity to be interviewed at a turkey farm while turkeys were being terminated. How on earth do liberals think that turkeys die on the way to the table? Natural causes? Hey it could be worse, at least they weren’t the victim of a Bartial Birth Abortion. Compare the Palin video (below) to demonstration videos of Partial Birth Abortion (also below)

Another protest against Proposition 8 is planned for San Francisco tonight. The proposition approved by voters on Nov. 4 bans gay marriages in California. Tonight's event is being planned by One Love San Francisco. Organizers are getting the word out through social networking sites and e-mail. They hope to have a bigger impact than the rally last weekend had. They say it will be a non-violent civil rights march, designed to peacefully impact businesses along Market Street. The march and sit-in is scheduled to begin at 5:30 outside the ferry building. The last Friday night rally caused traffic nightmare as...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Loganville, Ga.-based The Community Bank has been closed by regulators, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said late Friday, marking the 20th bank failure so far this year amid the ongoing financial crisis. All of The Community Bank's deposits have been transferred to Tappahannock, Va.-based Bank of Essex, the FDIC said, and all four of The Community Bank's branches will reopen Monday as Bank of Essex.

Here is video of longtime Washington journalist Robert Novak talking with Charlie Rose in August 2007 about his book, "Prince of Darkness," which chronicles his 50 years of covering politics in Washington, D.C. Novak's nickname is "Prince of Darkness," and his book by the same name is a masterpiece. I am reading it right now, and it is truly a difficult-to-put-down page-turner. Novak arrived in Washington in 1957 as a writer for Associated Press. He moved to the Wall Street Journal a few years later, and then joined with Rowland Evans in writing a syndicated column six-days a week in...

December 10 is the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Rumor is that pro-abortion radicals will use this celebration to demand a universal right to abortion. For years pro-abortion radicals have tried to strip the right to life from unborn children. They pressure countries to reinterpret U.N. documents and write new ones that deny children, families and parents of their human rights. They even claim that the "right to life" in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and treaties means a right to abortion! We expect pro-abortion activists to present petitions making this ridiculous claim to the...

The four states are estimated to have amassed close to 1.5 trillion dollars in surplus in the past six years due to high oil prices that rocketed above 147 dollars in July before sliding to just above 50 dollars.

The Presbytery of Chicago has borrowed money to settle a multi-million-dollar civil suit by four men who say they were sexually molested by a presbytery youth minister when they were children. It is still trying to figure out how to repay the loan. The cost of the settlement has not been disclosed. But it is known that the presbytery is having to sell off some its property. The presbytery has already sold a portion of a retreat in Saugatuck, Mich., and there are plans to sell the presbytery’s headquarters in Chicago. The presbytery has its offices in a converted warehouse...

Two medical breakthroughs reported last week brings very strong evidence for continue research in the stem cell research field. In one case a new airway need to be replaced and the second case knee injuries needed cartilage.

"Odessa has to rank with Mr. Natural as one of the greatest unknown Bee Gees albums ever."

"Odessa has to rank with Mr. Natural as one of the greatest unknown Bee Gees albums ever."

SNIP The Franken campaign, in filing the Ramsey County request, used as an example an 84-year-old stroke victim in Beltrami County that had her absentee ballot rejected because her ballot signature didn’t match one on file. Mack says the case never happened, that there were no ballots rejected because of non-matching signatures. SNIP

Democrat Charlie Brown closed to within 329 votes of Republican Tom McClintock Friday in the ongoing ballot count for the 4th Congressional District race. Brown, from Roseville, was as close to McClintock's lead as he'd been since Election Day, and an e-mail to campaign supporters said that provisional ballots from Nevada County deserved the credit. "Every day, we are hearing that election day provisional ballots, thousands of which have not yet been tallied, are breaking for Charlie by substantial margins in Placer, El Dorado, and Nevada counties," Brown campaign manager Todd Stenhouse said in the Friday e-mail, which also requested...

Somali pirates built up their defences around a captured Saudi Arabian super-tanker Friday after demanding a 25 million dollar ransom. As foreign navies sent warships to Somalia's dangerous waters and shipping companies sought alternative routes, extra clan militia and other fighters were brought in at the pirate lair of Harardhere... "Some of them are inside the town and others are taking shelter in a nearby village and can be called if need be," ... He said the fighters had come from neighbouring Gulgudud and Mudug regions. Local militia and hardline Shebab fighters also arrived in Harardhere in what some residents...

Australia's efforts to shrug off its reputation as a chauvinist backwater have been dented by the crowning of an outback mayor as the country's most sexist man. John Malony, mayor of the small mining town of Mount Isa in Queensland, earned headlines worldwide this year for his plea for female "ugly ducklings" to move to the town because of a shortage of women. His comments have now won him the gold prize at the Ernie Awards, an annual event that recognises outrageous sexism by men - and women - in Australian sport, politics, industry and the media. Mr Malony infuriated...

1998-01-14 - $520.065B 1999-01-13 - $553.382B 2000-01-12 - $646.914B 2001-01-10 - $627.143B 2002-01-09 - $683.690B 2003-01-08 - $729.628B 2004-01-07 - $769.113B 2005-01-05 - $802.378B 2006-01-04 - $836.335B 2007-01-03 - $858.262B 2008-01-02 - $866.791B 2008-07-02 - $865.124B 2008-07-16 - $870.637B 2008-07-30 - $870.659B 2008-08-13 - $870.775B 2008-08-27 - $869.886B 2008-09-10 - $874.703B 2008-09-24 - $939.395B 2008-10-08 - $1014.662B 2008-10-22 - $1174.141B 2008-11-05 - $1265.072B 2008-11-19 - $1506.611

Who killed the U.S. auto industry? To hear the media tell it, arrogant corporate chiefs failed to foresee the demand for small, fuel-efficient cars and made gas-guzzling road-hog SUVs no one wanted, while the clever, far-sighted Japanese, Germans and Koreans prepared and built for the future. I dissent. What killed Detroit was Washington, the government of the United States, politicians, journalists and muckrakers who have long harbored a deep animus against the manufacturing class that ran the smokestack industries that won World War II. As far back as the 1950s, an intellectual elite that produces mostly methane had its knives...

PETITION FOR PUBLIC RELEASE OF BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE