Free Republic

According to CEO and Chief Global Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital Peter Schiff, the U.S. economy is heading for an economic crash that will make 2008 look like a walk in the park. Stimulus programs can delay this day of reckoning, but only for so long and only at the expense of making the eventual meltdown much, much worse. Schiff, who famously warned investors about the housing and financial crisis in his 2007 book Crash Proof, says the Fed's palliative efforts during the housing meltdown have made the next crisis inevitable. "We've got a much bigger collapse coming, and not...

OAKLAND PARK, Fla. (CBS Tampa) — A seriously injured teenager was found lying naked in the road while yelling “bad drugs.” The Broward County Sheriff’s Office told WPTV that a 17-year-old boy was found early Sunday morning lying in the street in Oakland Park. The station reports that the naked teen was “rolling on the ground” and yelling “bad drugs” and “take me.” Authorities believe he was hit by a car and was taken to North Broward Medical Center.

Last Saturday night, a wild-eyed, t-shirt clad teenager screamed at me for riding on a boat. I won't print exactly what he said, but it was a pretty creative string of expletives. Here's the gist: It was not fair that my family and I were on a boat in the Chicago River, cruising out to see some fireworks, while he and his friends were stuck schlepping above us on the Michigan Avenue bridge. We were, according to his shouted analysis, "rich you-know-what-holes." We had "our you-know-whats stuck up our you-know-whats." We could also proceed, he screeched in a grand, man-of-the-people...

Architects around the world are reaching to infinity and beyond with new construction. Emporis, a database of construction projects, just released a list of the 10 tallest skyscrapers that are currently under construction, meaning they have a foundation laid. The buildings sport an average height of 1,857 feet — or more than one-third of a mile high. China leads the way, with six buildings on this list. Even amongst all this construction, Dubai's Burj Khalifa will still keep its spot as the world's tallest building at 2,717 feet tall. If other proposed building plans are put into motion, there...

On today's edition of MSNBC Live, anchor Thomas Roberts talked with Michael Barbaro of the New York Times discussing the so-called Young Guns who are on the short list to be Mitt Romney's running mate: Sen. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.), Gov. Bobby Jindal (La.), and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.). But when the MSNBC graphics team showed photos of the Young Guns, they accidentally used a photo of Rep. Ron Paul, the septuagenarian former Republican presidential candidate with strong libertarian convictions, in lieu of Paul Ryan. See our video below: MSNBC Fail: Graphics Team Confuses Ron Paul with...

If you believe the Democratic Party, Bain Capital is nothing but a bunch of vampire capitalists. They outsource jobs to other countries, close steel mills and take lollypops from little babies. According to Open Secrets, during the present election cycle these Democratic Party candidates took a total of $340,750 from Bain, its lobbyists and employees. Even the Obama re-election campaign took money from Bain Capital. So if the Democrats believe Bain is so evil, why are these candidates taking their money? Note: The Barack Obama contributions are not from open secrets but directly from the FEC here and here. Candidate...

A few weeks ago I was asked to join some pro-life activists in holding signs on Route 1 just south of Washington, D.C. Joining the group to hold up a genteel pro-life sign, I was shocked to see a number of signs showing graphic images of aborted babies. This led to a discussion with Jonathan Darnel, who had brought the signs, both in person and over the phone. Jonathan was convinced that such graphic images are actually effective, and despite my disagreement with portions of his argument I felt his argument was surprisingly valid and had more potential to convince...

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal spent more than $20,000 on two recent fund-raisers at Fenway Park. Neal, who represents the 2nd Congressional District, invited donors to join him at a New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game on April 20 and at a 100th anniversary of Fenway Park celebration and game against the Cleveland Indians on May 11. His fund-raising report released Monday for the quarter that ran through June listed Neal as spending $5,142 at Aramark Fenway to pay for food and drinks, and another $1,680 on Red Sox tickets. However, Neal’s finance report covering the previous quarter reported that Neal...

to brighten your day and move your mindset in a positive direction. Smile every chance you get. Not because life has been easy, perfect, or exactly as you had anticipated, but because you choose to be happy and grateful for all the good things you do have and all the problems you know you donÂ’t have.Never let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad life.Tell the negativity committee that meets inside your head to sit down and shut up. (Read Learned Optimism.)A bad attitude is like a flat tire, you canÂ’t get very far until you...

THEY REALLY ARE STUPID...AND RACIST Our side tends to vote on values and policy without regard to race. The other side is the racist party that continues to divide us. Listen to these amazingly stupid voters in Harlem. They are, of course, voting for Obama because he is black.

First, the good news, at least for House Democrats. Instead of running for the lifeboats to escape the debacle unfolding in Charlotte in the next few weeks, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has announced an official “abandon ship“: House minority leader Nancy Pelosi says that Democratic members should stay home and campaign in their districts rather than go to the party’s national convention in North Carolina. “I’m not encouraging anyone to go to the convention, having nothing to do with anything except I think they should stay home, campaign in their districts, use their financial and political resources to help...

DETROIT - Detroit Police say 2 alligators were found at a Detroit apartment complex Monday night. One alligator was retrieved from the apartment complex located in the 8300 block of East Jefferson Street. Before the catch, though, the alligator briefly got away, causing police and residents to run from the two foot reptile. The other alligator left the complex and is believed to have gone into the Detroit River.

Mitt Romney appears to have closed much of the 14 point gap betweenn himself and President Obama that PPP measured in its last survey in April. Obama now leads by only 5 points in the land of enchantment, 49% to 44%. This comes along with a drastically reduced net approval rating for the president, down to even from a +9 mark 3 months ago. Romney’s favorability has seen a positive shift from an abysmal -22 rating in that survey, and now stands at -9, 41% to 50%. This change comes in spite of relatively level support for the president among...

Learn how to fight this abuse and find out more about Congressman Tim Griffin's bill to end it:http://griffin.house.gov/lifeline

Dan Cathy, the president and chief operating officer of popular fast food chain Chick-fil-A, said in a radio interview this week that legalizing same-sex marriage is “inviting God’s judgment on our nation.” Appearing on “The Ken Coleman Show,” Cathy spoke of his company’s pride in its socially conservative character, but then offered an assessment of same-sex marriage that might lose the chain a few customers. “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,’” said Cathy.

President Obama and Mitt Romney are still neck-and-neck in the important battleground state of Virginia. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Obama picking up 47% of the vote to Romney’s 46%. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and three percent (3%) more are undecided.

Hey, remember last week, when President Obama said that the greatest mistake of his presidency has been his supposed failure to craft an inspiring story for the American people? “When I think about what we’ve done well and what we haven’t done well,” the president said, “the mistake of my first term – couple of years – was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. And that’s important. But the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially...

Fast food chain Chick-Fil-A has been accused of being anti-gay for supporting organizations such as Focus on the Family, which oppose gay marriage. Company president Dan Cathy said this week that his company is “guilty as charged.” In an interview with the Baptist Press, Cathy said Chick-Fil-A is “very much supportive of the family - the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”

A senior House Democrat on Wednesday promised to introduce legislation requiring all presidential candidates to release a decade of their tax returns. The effort by Rep. Sandy Levin (Mich.), the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, is aimed at presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who has come under increasing pressure to release more of his returns. “The stunning lack of transparency from someone in pursuit of the highest office in the country highlights the need to change the law to require fuller disclosure,” Levin said in a statement.

New Jersey voters give Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez a 46 - 32 percent approval rating and a 47 - 34 percent lead over State Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, the Republican challenger, his biggest lead in months, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This compares to a 45 - 35 percent lead in a May 16 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll. Today, Menendez leads 82 - 4 percent among Democrats and 44 - 33 percent among independent voters, while Kyrillos leads 77 - 10 percent among Republicans. The Democrat leads 43 - 38 percent among men...