Free Republic

The truth is a hard thing to hear and even a more bitter pill to swallow. But until we face the truth, we are doomed to sink lower into the abyss as a society. The truth is that a godless nation is a nation doomed to fall. We as a nation have slowly accepted and pompously come to believe that wisdom begins and stems from us. Secularism is the view that all things religious should be excluded from daily public living, specifically pertaining to political and social concerns. Thanks to secularism, the mindset today is that God and religious opinion...

Robert LeTourneau, a roving American evangelist and inventor, decided in the mid-1930s that a plot of lakefront land a mile and a half northeast of downtown Peoria would be a fine place to make earth-moving equipment. Skilled labor and suppliers were plentiful; transport links were good. Nearly eight decades later, Japan's Komatsu Ltd., which owns the plant, still thinks Mr. LeTourneau chose the right location—even though most giant mining trucks made there are shipped overseas to Latin America, Australia, Asia and Africa. The U.S. may not be much good at making small things like smartphones, but it is still a...

When South Dakota’s former two-term Gov. Mike Rounds made it official last week that he would seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator in 2014, it was national news. After an election year in which Republicans began with high hopes of winning a majority in the Senate only to end with a net loss of two seats from their ranks, news that Rounds was poised to challenge Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson was truly something to cheer for the dispirited GOP. “Instantly competitive,” is how the Hill characterized the likely contest between conservative Rounds and two-term liberal Democrat Johnson (lifetime American...

* Disclaimer: The following should not be considered legal, financial or tax advice. Every individual situation is unique and you are encouraged to consult with your tax and financial advisor before year end. There's a lot of hype, confusion and speculation related to the so-called "fiscal cliff" America is facing as the calendar rolls over from 2012 to 2013. At the Presbyterian Lay Committee, we're getting questions from donors and churches alike about what they might anticipate in terms of the impact on charitable giving. The answer all depends on what happens between now and the end of the year...

CHICAGO (CBS) – Al Phillips wants to know why a Chicago police officer shot his dog while writing a traffic ticket outside his house. “My neighbor called and told me I was getting a ticket on my van. When I opened the fence, my puppy ran out. That’s when I heard two gunshots and the officer shot my dog,” Phillips said. The 7-month-old Bull Terrier miniature puppy survived but had a bullet in its leg and fragments in its abdomen.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs officials knew that linebacker Jovan Belcher and his girlfriend were having relationship problems, and the team provided the couple with counseling in an effort to help, a police official said.

"Allah warned us against the deceit of the Jews and their dangerous role in sparking wars: 'Whenever they kindle a fire for war Allah puts it out, and they strive to make mischief in the land; and Allah does not love the mischief-makers [Koran 5:64].' Their hands light the hidden fuse... [and] little time passes before the fire spreads to the field of war, including Islamic lands... The war in Sudan and its division are their handiwork; the internal struggle and war among the Palestinians is [likewise part] of their plan. [For this reason,] the reconciliation between Hamas and...

So we don't know who pays, we don't know what we're talking about in terms of actual legislation to increase revenues. It's magic beans and fairy dust."

For centuries historians and treasure seekers have searched for the burial site of history's most famous conqueror. New findings offer compelling evidence that it's been found. In the eight hundred years since his death, people have sought in vain for the grave of Genhis Khan, the 13th-century conqueror and imperial ruler who, at the time of his death, occupied the largest contiguous empire, stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Pacific. In capturing most of central Asia and China, his armies killed and pillaged but also forged new links between East and West. One of history’s most brilliant and ruthless...

The Bay State’s largest wind energy farm is nearing completion. Gov. Deval Patrick and state Energy and state energy officials on Monday visited the 19-turbine Hoosac Wind Power project in the western Massachusetts towns of Florida and Monroe. Officials say the wind farm on track to be completed by year’s end will produce enough power for more than 10,000 homes a year and offset about 64 million pounds of carbon dioxide released by traditional electrical generation. The project is also expected to generate about $6.8 million in tax revenue for the towns. But not all local residents are happy. Opponents...

On CNN contributor Roland Martin’s podcast posted to his website Monday, Jason Whitlock, the columnist who inspired Bob Costas’ commentary on gun control during halftime of Sunday’s Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles game on NBC, revealed his peculiar take on the National Rifle Association (NRA).Whitlock spoke out against the NFL’s handling of the aftermath of Jovan Belcher’s suicide and gun issues in his Sunday FoxSports.com column. During Martin’s podcast, he likened the NRA to the Ku Klux Klan and tied the group to the dangerous street culture that unfortunately dominates “so many black youths.”“Sports gets so much attention, and people tune out...

Instead of grieving for the victim and her family, Costas decided to impose his liberal political views on millions of viewers who tuned in to watch football. The NFL is the most popular professional sports league in the country. Americans enjoy watching the action, following their favorite teams and escaping from the problems they face in their everyday lives. Americans who watch Sunday Night Football don’t tune in to hear sports anchors editorialize about gun control.

In a move that would surely please Fox News chief (and Ohio native) Roger Ailes, News Corp is expected to announce it is acquiring regional sports network SportsTime Ohio. It’s currently owned by the Dolan family, which also owns the Cleveland Indians baseball team. The price tag is said to be about $230M, according to Reuters sources. This would be the second RSN deal for News Corp in less than a month: In November, the company acquired a 49% stake in The New York Yankees’ YES Network, giving it local media rights to the Bronx Bombers and Brooklyn Nets. That...

Although Ron Paul has yet to be specific about what’s next for him, it is highly unlikely he will run for president again. So then, what’s next for the Liberty Movement now that it won’t have presidential candidate Ron Paul to hug anymore? The Movement that Ron Paul built lacks only a true and steady successor to hoist sails and steer it on its way, plugging his ears to the siren song of the Republican Establishment that would lure him onto the shoals of partisan accommodation. -snip- The next Liberty-Movement candidate, therefore, must be prepared to give the run his...

Americans' economic confidence was better in November than in any month since Gallup began tracking confidence daily in January 2008. The -13 Economic Confidence Index score surpasses the previous bests of -17 from October and May of this year. The index, which began at -32 in January 2008 as the recession was taking hold, had been -20 or lower until May.

MIDLAND — Michigan legislators are now openly discussing the possibility that the Great Lake State could become the 24th right-to-work state in the nation. “A right-to-work law makes Michigan home again,” said Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio. “It means Michigan will be home to more and better jobs for our state, it means Michigan’s children and grandchildren will be able to stay here and not only find jobs, but prosper.” Extending right-to-work protections to employees in both the private and public sectors means that unions will no longer be able to get a person fired for refusing to financially...

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s opening bid to Speaker John Boehner, a demand for $1.6 trillion in new taxes, was not meant as a serious offer. It was an ultimatum couched in an insult. Translation: “We won the election. We have the whip hand. Not only are you going to sign on to higher tax rates and higher tax revenues, we are going to rub your Tea Party noses in your coming capitulation.” That Boehner did not throw the offer back in Geithner’s face and tell him, “Give me a call, Tim, when you’re serious,” suggests that the speaker feels he...

Like Indiana Jones, I hate snakes, and so doing this post (and especially the picture at the right) was a bit unsettling, but the story was just too good to pass up. According to an article in today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required), the Pentagon is buying snake bite drugs from Iran. Apparently Afghanistan is crawling with venomous snakes (like the Oxus cobra pictured on the right), and Iran’s Razi Vaccine & Serum Research Institute is one of the few manufacturers and purveyors of the anti-venin needed to combat snake bites in Afghanistan. Indeed, DoD medical guidance explicitly states that...

Please read and pass along this article. We send good conservatives to D.C. to fulfill the promises they made to the electorate, and yet when they stay true to their word the permanent political class in their own party punishes them. This won’t be forgotten come 2014. Right now the GOP establishment is more concerned about the opinion of the media and the Georgetown cocktail circuit than they are “we the people” who hired them. For all this new talk of how the GOP needs a “populist movement,” it would do them good to remember they already have one; it’s...

WASHINGTON—Conservatives panned the House Republican proposal released Monday to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, yet again giving House Speaker and lead negotiator John Boehner little room to maneuver as he works toward a deal with the White House. The proposal includes extending current tax rates for all income levels and raising revenue by closing loopholes in the tax code.