Free Republic

Gun owners shine a spotlight on hypocritical attacks on their rights Gun grabbers have been exploiting the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., to pursue their long-standing agenda of disarming America. Law-abiding and responsible gun owners are fighting back against the onslaught. NBC anchor David Gregory acted on Sunday as if D.C. firearms laws didn’t apply to him. He brandished a 30-round rifle magazine on “Meet the Press” during an interview with National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. “Isn’t it just possible that we could reduce the carnage in a situation like Newtown?” Mr....

"The Hartford Courant reported last week that two Democratic legislators were proposing a new 50 percent tax on bullets as part of a broader gun-control bill. The Connecticut legislation is one sign that the gun-control debate that the shootings will prompt next year in statehouses around the country could morph into an ammunition-control debate, too."

For those who would see recovery in current economic data, there are these facts to ponder. The first is that most of the decline in the unemployment rate has been a result not of more people working, but of more people leaving the labor force. In November, unemployment went down to 7.7 from 7.9 percent in October, the lowest unemployment rate since late 2008. But at the same time unemployment declined, so did labor force participation--which fell to 63.6 in November from 63.8 percent in October. Half a million Americans have left the labor market in recent months. Long term...

Based on Romans 2:28-29, some have concluded that being Jewish is a spiritual rather than ethnic matter, and that people become "spiritual Jews" when they become Christians. Romans 2:28-29 reads, "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God." For understanding this passage the near context of the passage is very important. Chapter 2:1-16...

Ravi Dass Camp, a poor neighborhood in South Delhi, is a maze of narrow lanes, open drains, and pastel-colored mud-and-brick houses. Clothes are hung to dry on power lines above the corrugated metal rooftops. It’s a typical city slum where locals say they try to make an honest living doing everything from construction day-labor to driving auto-rickshaws to cleaning houses. But these days, Ravi Dass Camp has an unwelcome distinction: it is home to four of the six men accused of carrying out the Dec. 16 gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman aboard a chartered bus that inflicted such horrific damage...

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (CBS4)- The Commerce City Police officer who shot and killed a family dog last month has been charged with animal cruelty. The shooting happened Nov. 24 when officers received a call of a dog running unattended in the neighborhood. When officers tried to catch the dog, Chloe, they had trouble. They used a taser and tried a neck harness. Police Officer Robert Price then fired five shots, killing Chloe. The incident was caught on video.

40% of the way to 25,000. If gun-free zones are good enough for our children, they should be good enough for our feral government overlords.

The gender theory, which is behind the homosexual revolution and the attack on the family was highlighted in Pope Benedict’s Christmas message to Vatican prelates this morning. “There is no denying the crisis that threatens,” the family “to its foundations – especially in the Western world,” he said. Crediting the Chief Rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, for the research, Pope Benedict XVI said “the attack we are currently experiencing on the true structure of the family, made up of father, mother, and child, goes much deeper” than was originally believed. “While up to now we regarded a false understanding of...

Yesterday I facetiously posted about Friday penance during the Octave of Christmas. Days (other than Sunday) within the Octave of Christmas are not “heavy enough” (as a “solemnity” would be) to “outweigh” the Friday obligation to do some sort of penance as determined by the conferences of bishops. In the 1962 Missale Romanum they are “II class”, which corresponds to the newer, non-traditional calendar’s “feast”. In the 2001 Missale Romanum they are categorized as second class, as “feasts”. If, howeverm you are at a parish named “Holy Innocents”, such as that great place in Manhattan, and the Feast of the...

Not feeling awful enough after all that holiday binging? Need a little push to help send you into the glutton-free lifestyle? Here are five things that should do the trick and shame you into changing your eating habits. Because we all know that hating yourself is the first step to eating healthier. This is Why You're Fat: cataloging where things went wrong On the This is Why You're Fat tumblr "where dreams become heart attacks," you'll find such appetite-repelling dishes as a deep fried poutine calzone, yogurt covered Cheetos, and our personal favorite, a KFC double down wedged between two...

NEWTOWN —— Newtown United was born in the agony and confusion that followed the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.The group of residents, including parents of children who survived, held its first meeting two days after the shooting as news teams from around the globe scrambled for reaction to the killings. Group leaders are working to ensure that Newtown United grows and gains power long after the news trucks leave. Before the week was over, leaders had formed an executive team and started the process of becoming a nonprofit organization. Some members had gone to Washington to speak against gun...

        LIVING PRAYER Brother Lawrence was a monk who lived almost 300 years ago and worked in the galley of his monastery. He wrote a book, The Practice of the Presence of God, which today is considered a classic in the area of Christian devotion. Brother Lawrence spent much of his time in the monastery scullery scrubbing pots and pans. He also had a collateral duty as the monastery cobbler. In these jobs, he said, he learned to glorify God in simple tasks and to pray with his hands. By bringing to each small job the...

Hollywood actress Jane Fonda lobbied the British Government to intervene and stop the 1981 hunger strike, newly released files reveal. The two-time Oscar winning star sent a telegram to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher urging her to grant the prisoners political status. Her message was sent in May 1981, at the height of a crisis which saw 10 republican prisoners starve themselves to death. The telegram, dispatched to Downing Street, is also signed by her then husband Tom Hayden, a US social and political activist. It states: “Please save the lives of the hunger strikers by granting them political status. “The...

From a Rush Limbaugh show....Cato Institute Radio Highlight............

This nation is a melting pot of immigrants, both legal and not. Our state is no different. We celebrate the ethnic diversity of our population and welcome those who come to this country and pursue citizenship, and whose work and effort have helped make this country great. We also have a continuing concern with the numbers of immigrants in this country who are here without any legal authority. Many of them have come to America from our southern neighbor seeking work and a better life for their families. Another large percentage of the undocumented immigrants came to our country legally...

Sam Swicegood, a Pizza Hut delivery man in Maryland fought off a group of attackers as he was attempting to deliver pizzas, and what happens? Pizza Hut gave him a demotion. According to Swicegood, he was sucker punched, which caused his glasses to “fly off.� He then dropped the pizzas he was carrying and began to swing a small piece of a tent pole he had at his attackers, while covering his face. “It’s a little fiberglass road I had up my sleeve not thinking I would actually have to use it but more or less having a little comfort...

No! I don't mean the crucifixions that some of our less law abiding politicians claim federal prosecutors are performing. I am talking about a real, honest to goodness crucifixion. I was recently researching some executions that took place in the Chicago Courthouse and so I had executions on my mind when I had visited the Nativity display in front of the Daley Center and it made me think of the horrible way in which the baby in the manger would meet his death roughly 33 years after he was born. The Romans of the 1st Century A.D. were masters at...

When families face a budget crunch, they have but a few options -- spend less, make more or starting selling stuff. So why doesn't the federal government do the same? Given the current state of the country's finances, many are wondering if it is time for the federal government to sell what it doesn't need -- basically, hold a yard sale. The federal government is sitting on billions in assets that are either sluggish or just dead weight. That includes federal land, buildings and other structures. Two years ago, President Obama's deficit commission identified 64,000 buildings and structures that it...

Pakistan is expected to unblock access to the popular video sharing website YouTube on Saturday after taking measures to filter blasphemous material and pornography, a cabinet minister said. Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in September ordered the blocking of YouTube after the US-based website refused to heed the government's call to remove a controversial anti-Islam video. Weeks of protests in Pakistan over the crudely made "Innocence of Muslims" film saw more than 20 people killed and caused serious damage in major cities.

While the federal government and other states ponder more rigorous gun control laws following the shootings at a Connecticut elementary school, some legislators in Texas have taken the opposite approach. They have emphasized the need to make firearms more available, and their discussions have included increasing access for teachers and other school personnel. Ahead of the 83rd legislative session, bills have been proposed with that mission in mind. The efforts have drawn the praise of statewide elected officials including Gov. Rick Perry.

The seemingly endless supply of martyrdom-seeking jihadists makes it tempting to abandon the battlefields, but withdrawal does not come without cost. For many Muslims, victory is a display of approval from Allah and defeat is judgment. One success can inspire a generation, while a series of undeniable losses can cause re-examination of the jihad’s merits. The monotheistic religions have a history of viewing victories against insurmountable odds as miracles and defeats as divine punishment. The Terrorism & Homeland Security: 7th Edition textbook by Jonathan R. White explains that in the year 624, Mohammed and his followers fought a superior army...

Constituent Assembly approves rise in alcohol duty despite criticism from rival Islamists that it is ‘haram’ to profit from it.The Islamist-led ruling coalition in Tunisia raised alcohol duty on Wednesday in a bid to bolster state coffers despite criticism from rival Islamists that it was wrong to profit from an activity prohibited by the faith. The Constituent Assembly approved the budget measure aimed at raising 170 million dinars (85 million euros), acting finance minister Slim Besbes told the state TAP news agency. MPs from the moderate Islamist Ennahda party that leads the government voted in favour but an MP from...

Young Iraqis want more attractive noses as plastic surgery is booming in one of Iraq’s most dangerous cities.Business is booming, say cosmetic surgeons in one of Iraq’s most dangerous cities. It’s not just Botox for ladies either. Apparently the biggest increase is in young men who want more attractive noses. The Mosul clinic run by Dr Sadallah al-Zako is full almost all day, every day. For five working days of the week it’s crowded with people from all age and social groups. What they have in common: they want to look nicer. Al-Zako is a member of the British Association...

While the federal government and other states ponder more rigorous gun control laws following the shootings at a Connecticut elementary school, some legislators in Texas have taken the opposite approach. They have emphasized the need to make firearms more available, and their discussions have included increasing access for teachers and other school personnel. Ahead of the 83rd legislative session, bills have been proposed with that mission in mind. The efforts have drawn the praise of statewide elected officials including Gov. Rick Perry.

Following the Newtown massacre there has been an outcry from the left for more and tougher gun laws. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has proposed another assault weapons ban with more teeth than the previous ban. Exactly what are consequences of tough gun laws? Let us construct a hypothetical place with some strict gun laws: Let's regulate the sale, possession and use of firearms. Let's regulate ammunition. Let's insist that those possessing firearms have a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card. Let's ban automatic firearms, short-barreled shotguns and short-barreled rifles. Let's ban assault weapons. Let's ban magazines that can hold more than 10...

And the Central Command web site says Gottlieb was detailed from the White House for a time to a joint inter-agency task force focusing on detainee operations in Afghanistan. He was in Kabul from January 2010 through March 2011, according to a biography. Gottlieb, as a White House employee, is allowed to bring guests to dine in the White House mess -- basically an employee cafeteria.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkUpp22fHyw

Did some digging. From Dwight R. Worley's own piece at the Journal News website and Angry White Dude - Journal News reporter Dwight R. Worley owns a Smith & Wesson 686 .357 Magnum and has had a residence permit in New York City for that weapon since February 2011.I went to the Journal News map. There is no red dot on his address showing that he is a permit holder. To be fair, they may not have updated all of the info on that website yet. BUT, there are red dots shown in his area.

"God made man but Sam Colt made them equal." Yet is said that the 2nd Amendment follows hard upon the 1st so as to serve as its bodyguard -- providing the added incentive of coercive force by a wary citizenry to guarantee that those initial cherished liberties, expounded by our Founders, did not go the way of the 10th Amendment. The 2nd Amendment, interpreted as the right to bear arms by a free people, has not escaped that yawning chasm that has opened up between the political Right and Left, and the rationale behind this stratification falls along the same...

Gates: Software billionaire Bill Gates, who previously has advocated the reduction of the human population through the use of vaccines, and his wife Melinda marked the 100th year since the First International Eugenics Congress in London with a “family planning” summit with abortionists and the United Nations. The July 11 event, co-hosted by the United Kingdom Department for International Development, included organizations such as Planned Parenthood, Marie Stopes International and the U.N. Populations Fund, as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Critics pointed out the summit was held 100 years after the July 1912 eugenics conference led by...

FULL TITLE: Parents detain man, 21, in a headlock after they find him in their teenage daughter’s bedroom having sex with the girl he met online Parents detain man, 21, in a headlock after they find him in their teenage daughter’s bedroom having sex with the girl he met online According to the girl's parents, Narvaez was caught 'in the act' when the teen's mother walked into her room for a late-night check-up. The unnamed woman told KHOU 11 that when she turned on the light in the bedroom, the startled 21-year-old man tried to flee, but she informed him...

On Sunday, liberal New York newspaper The Journal News published the names and addresses of legal permit holders in two counties online and in print. If that wasn’t bad enough, this weekend, the Gannett owned Journal News announced that it will publish more names and addresses of residents holding pistol permits in the New York area. Enough is Enough. Two other outlets have posted names and personal contact info for the employees of this Gannett owned paper. Isn’t it about time the Gannett Board of Directors were contacted for their official reaction to this controversial practice? Do these board members...

A freshman GOP lawmaker wants to allow teachers to carry guns in Washington schools. KATU-TV reports Rep. Liz Pike from Camas says she will file a bill to change state law and allow teachers to carry concealed weapons in the classroom.

Morales said he had "been forced to take this step" to ensure that electric service rates remain "equitable" in the regions of La Paz and Oruro. The Spanish government said in a statement that it regretted Bolivia's decision to nationalize companies that included "Spanish, Argentine and American companies among its shareholders."

HEMET, Calif., - Two men were arrested in Hemet, Calif., for allegedly stealing cooking grease from a McDonald's restaurant, police said. The suspects, identified as Noel Portillo, 22, and Ricardo Robles, 24, were arrested early Friday at the McDonald's, the Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise reported. Police were tipped off to the alleged heist by the restaurant owner, who said thieves have been targeting restaurants and stealing thousands of dollars worth of cooking grease to resell to recyclers. Recyclers then turn the grease into biodiesel fuel. The McDonald's owner, whose name was not reported, told police around midnight that he would be...

Former Newsweek editor Evan Thomas made a bizarre statement on PBS's Inside Washington Friday. "Unexplored story of the year: white men dropping out - dropping out of the workforce, dropping out of elections, just plain dropping out, getting social security, not doing anything, going hunting, fishing, just not in the game" (video follows with transcript and commentary, file photo): Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2012/12/29/evan-thomas-white-men-dropping-out-workforce-going-hunting-fishing#ixzz2GU1AePnH

Protestant attacks on the Catholic Church often focus on the Eucharist. This demonstrates that opponents of the Church—mainly Evangelicals and Fundamentalists—recognize one of Catholicism’s core doctrines. What’s more, the attacks show that Fundamentalists are not always literalists. This is seen in their interpretation of the key biblical passage, chapter six of John’s Gospel, in which Christ speaks about the sacrament that will be instituted at the Last Supper. This tract examines the last half of that chapter. John 6:30 begins a colloquy that took place in the synagogue at Capernaum. The Jews asked Jesus what sign he could perform so...

Mr. Brown said that the woman was motivated by hatred, telling the police, that she “pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I’ve been beating them up.” Ms. Menendez conflated the Muslim and Hindu faiths both in her comments to the police and in her target for attack, officials said.

Go HERE for an outline of St Thomas Becket’s story.Today I share with you some words from T.S. Eliot’s play, “Murder in the Cathedral,” which is all about Becket’s death. They are applicable to all martyrs, and indeed, all Christians, for they are T.S. Eliot’s meditation on the intertwining of sorrow and joy in the Christian life.The Archbishop preaches in the Cathedral on Christmas morning, 1170:“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” The fourteenth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Luke. In the name of the Father, and...

Kellner says the store advertised them for $799 each, a $300 dollar discount. They got two of them, then received this letter from Dick’s on Christmas Eve, telling customers, it’s not fulfilling any more orders.

The Catholic Church is the longest-enduring institution in the world, and her historical character is integral to her identity. The earliest Christians claimed to be witnesses to the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus, thereby making Christianity a historical religion, emanating from a Judaism that was itself a historical religion. Christianity staked its claim to truth on certain events, notably that at a precise moment in history the Son of God came to earth. The Gospels have a ring of historical authenticity partly because of the numerous concrete details they contain, the care with which they record the times...

A cat has become a guide-puss to a blind dog around their home. Moggy Pwditat has shouldered his responsibility of guiding his canine friend Terfel. The friendly pair have been “glued to each other” ever since Pwditat first set eyes on Terfel. Their owner Judy Godfrey-Brown, 87, said the cat uses his paws to guide his four-legged friend around the place – inside her home and out in the garden. Retired civil servant Judy, of Rhydwen, Holyhead, said: “I took Terfel home after a man came to the charity shop I was working in and said his landlady wouldn’t take...

The co-author of a book on partisan science recently examined by Pacific Standard argues that our reviewer was a little too partisan himself. Any book that touches upon politics almost automatically angers half of the American public, regardless of what is written inside of it. It takes a special person—an objective, open-minded and self-critical one—to read and learn from a science book that criticizes people with whom the reader likes and agrees with politically.Recently, Pacific Standard published a review (“Red Science, Blue Science,” January/February 2013) by Wray Herbert, a pop psychology writer,of political writer Chris Mooney’s book The Republican Brain...

People love their pets. Be it a cat, dog, hamster or goldfish, most U.S. residents have some kind of non-humanoid companion sharing their home. According to a survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA), however, cats win hands down when it comes to the sheer numbers that reside in American abodes.   The facts about cats confirm there are over 73 million in houses throughout the country, as opposed to 68 million dogs. Although many dog owners would disagree, that means cats are the preferred pets among the four-legged furry variety.   Ken Hubbard is an antiques dealer with the company 2wice As...

Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a buried Christian empire in the highlands of Yemen, leading to theories that there may have once been a church in Mecca. A stone carving of a Christian figure was found in Zafar, some 581 miles south of Mecca, and is thought to have been made in the era of the Prophet Muhammad. Paul Yule, an archaeologist from Heidelberg in Germany, has dated the 5feet 7inch tall relief which shows a man with chains of jewellery, curls and spherical eyes to around 530AD. ... The figure is barefoot, which was typical of Coptic saints....

HOUSTON (AP) — A spokesman says former President George H.W. Bush’s condition continues to improve and that he was moved Saturday out of intensive care and into a regular hospital room.

The latest polls showed that last weekend's dust-up over Naftali Bennett's stance on how IDF soldiers who are uncomfortable with immoral orders are supposed to react has not had a negative impact on the Bayit Yehudi party's standing with the public. If anything, the controversy seems to have helped the party's prospects. Bayit Yehudi is now polling to come in as the third largest party in the Knesset, and is closing in to become the second largest. The party, headed by Bennett, continues to nip at the heels of the joint Likud-Yisrael Beytenu list, and the latest weekly poll by...

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, December 30, 2012, the Feast of The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph | Carl E. OlsonReadings:• Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 or 1 Sm 1:20-22, 24-28• Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 or Ps 84:2-3, 5-6, 9-10• Col 3:12-21 or 1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24• Lk 2:41-52 Being lost isn’t always what it seems. People usually end up lost when they take a wrong turn or misread directions. And then we sometimes speak of “losing ourselves,” usually in some sort of pleasant diversion: reading a book, watching a movie, or taking a walk in a...

Tzipi Livni, who is running for Knesset at the head of an independent party, blamed Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett for the violence at the Oz Tzion outpost near Beit El Friday. "Bennett and the extremist rabbis led people to that hilltop on purpose, in order to create friction with IDF soldiers and a situation in which they would refuse orders," Livni wrote on her Facebook page. "These extremists led the people there on Sabbath eve in the knowledge that our children, the IDF soldiers, would have to evict them," she explained. "Netanyahu, who continues to wink toward the extremist...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Confused about the federal budget struggle? So are doctors, hospital administrators and other medical professionals who serve the 100 million Americans covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Rarely has the government sent so many conflicting signals in so short a time about the bottom line for the health care industry. Cuts are coming, says Washington, and some could be really big. Yet more government spending is also being promised as President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul advances and millions of uninsured people move closer to getting government-subsidized coverage. “Imagine a person being told they are going to get...