Free Republic

For the past three years, America’s leaders have looked on Europe’s management of the euro crisis with barely disguised contempt. In the White House and on Capitol Hill there has been incredulity that Europe’s politicians could be so incompetent at handling an economic problem; so addicted to last-minute, short-term fixes; and so incapable of agreeing on a long-term strategy for the single currency. Those criticisms were all valid, but now those who made them should take the planks from their own eyes. America’s economy may not be in as bad a state as Europe’s, but the failures of its politicians—epitomized...

It smelled like bacon. I was afraid to say it out loud, though—I doubt any real food and drink connoisseurs compare the smell of some grand old Scotch to an everyday pork product, but that’s what my nose captured. In the heart of Edinburgh, in a room walled with brass- and bronze-colored bottles, I sniffed more and more whisky and soon captured a whole rainbow of aromas: cloves, apples, vanilla, sage and strawberries. And that smokiness I smelled as bacon? That comes from the Scottish peat they burn when heating the mix. Not everyone loves whisky, but as alcohol goes,...

Fear of embarrassment and budget cuts led high officials at the California parks department to conceal millions of dollars, according to a new investigation by the state attorney general's office. The money remained hidden for years until it was exposed by a new staff member who described a culture of secrecy and fear at the department. The attorney general's report, released Friday, is the most detailed official account so far of the financial scandal at the parks department. The controversy broke last summer with the revelation that parks officials had a hidden surplus of nearly $54 million at a time...

The holidays are finally wrapping up. So after you repack the twinkly lights, and the tinsel goes into the trash, what should you do with that once beautiful spruce standing in your living room? Why not drink it? Well, not exactly as is. The needles, shoots, light-green tips and inner bark of the popular conifer have been used for centuries to brew forest-scented tea, soft drinks and beer. And it seems that fresh evergreen flavor may be making a comeback. "Ancient Scandinavians and their Viking descendants brewed beer from young shoots of Norway spruce, drinking the beer for strength in...

Armed guards from RGA Investigations have taken up post at the Journal News’ Rockland County headquarters. Guns are good for the goose but NOT for the gander. A Clarkstown police report issued on December 28, 2012, confirmed that The Journal News has hired armed security guards from New City-based RGA Investigations and that they are manning the newspaper’s Rockland County headquarters at 1 Crosfield Ave., West Nyack, through at least tomorrow, Wednesday, January 2, 2013. [Update 1/4/13-the guards will now be present indefinitely] According to police reports on public record, Journal News Rockland Editor Caryn A. McBride was alarmed by...

1. Bic Lighters 2. A Good Winter Hat 3. Bullion Cubes 4. Baby Wipes 5. Glow Sticks 6. Paper Maps 7. Paper Plates 8. Ziplock Bags 9. Tabasco Sauce 10. Duct Tape

The North Korean Committee for Peaceful Reunification called South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and ministry officials “a group of rats” and said South Korea will only experience security when the rats are “completely eradicated.” … The North Korean statement also called the Lee government officials “confrontation maniacs,” who are in direct opposition to the North Korean “desire for peace and unification.” …

He’s one of the most powerful men in Iraq—and one of the least popular. Nuri al-Maliki has, for many Iraqis, forfeited his credibility as prime minister. His allegedly authoritarian and inefficient leadership style has even been criticized by members of the parties that make up the government coalition. No wonder—a year after the withdrawal of the US army, he can barely point to a single success. Unemployment is high, terrorists have infiltrated security forces and corruption is widespread. Some of his coalition partners are even accusing Maliki of behaving like Iraq’s former dictator Saddam Hussein. “Maliki depends on a small,...

Two pages from my blog are missing from the web and can't be found when searched on http:www.archive.org either One is my documents showing KS SOS Kris Kobach's request for a verification and Onaka's response, at http://butterdezillion.wordpress.com/2012/09/ The other is my documents showing AZ SOS Ken Bennett's request for a verification and Onaka's response, at http://butterdezillion.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/bennett-request-and-response.pdf These are part of a critical legal discussion going on now regarding Onaka's failure to verify any birth facts for Obama, even though Hawaii statute requires them to verify any information submitted for verification by a qualified requestor. I have no idea who has...

SORRY FOR POOR SOUND BUT SING, SING, SING

SNIP A working group led by Vice President Biden is seriously considering measures backed by key law enforcement leaders that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks, and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors, the sources said. To sell such changes, the White House is developing strategies to work around the National Rifle Association that one source said could include rallying support from Wal-Mart and other gun retailers for measures that would benefit their businesses. White House aides...

The government should ban high-sugar cereals such as Coco Pops and other foods that are contributing to an obesity epidemic among British children, the shadow health secretary has urged. Regulations limiting the amount of sugar, salt and fat in processed foods should be considered if the food industry does not take action itself, according to Labour’s Andy Burnham, who has begun a consultation on how to tackle obesity. Burnham highlighted the case of breakfast cereals, saying many aimed at children are more than one-third sugar by weight. …

Liberal Chick: "The State is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want (Psalm 666)."

It's smaller.... not a terrible amount but maybe a tank of gas a month or so, maybe more, maybe less. The Social Security tax break was allowed to expire apparently. Thank goodness,.. we all know what a great system S.S. is. This is the deal that Obama wanted and the deal we got. Check your paychecks,.... if you're lucky enough to receive one in Obama's "robust" economy,...see what you find. It's nice to know that I am one of the "rich" now. I guess if Obama can't define you as rich, then he just defines rich as.......you. Plus, as a...

A Chuck E. Cheese’s customer is suing the restaurant chain, alleging she was stabbed by a waitress at one of the pizzeria’s Southwest Side outlets. LaNasia Randle claims Shardonnae Pruitt threw a napkin dispenser at her boyfriend and stabbed her with a knife three times inside the Chuck E. Cheese’s in the 5300 block of South Kedzie Avenue, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court. The dispute allegedly began after Pruitt took away a salad plate at the restaurant. Randle claims the fight escalated after the waitress alleged her boyfriend had not paid for the salad...

Muslims have mixed views about Jesus Christ, and the recent Christmas season witnessed a variety of responses to the celebration from different parts of the Islamic world. In predominantly Sunni Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, the top Islamic authority instructed adherents this year not to attend Christmas functions or parties—and advised that they even avoid wishing anyone “Merry Christmas.” “It’s still up for debate whether it’s halal [religiously permissible] or haram [prohibited], so better steer clear of it,” the Jakarta Post quoted Indonesian Council of Ulema chairman Ma’ruf Amin as saying. “But you can say ‘Happy New Year.’ ”...

As people were getting ready for the holiday season and its accompanying waist expansion late last year, Dr. Mehmet Oz let viewers of his TV show in on a timely little secret. “Everybody wants to know what’s the newest, fastest fat buster,” said the board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon and one of People magazine’s sexiest men alive. “How can I burn fat without spending every waking moment exercising and dieting?” He then told his audience about a “breakthrough,” “magic,” “holy grail,” even “revolutionary” new fat buster. “I want you to write it down,” America’s doctor urged his audience with a serious and...

Published: 12:08 CET | Print version | Double click on a word to get a translation An outspoken local Sweden Democrat politician who previously argued “negro” is not a racist term, has generated headlines again by calling for a law to cap the fertility rate of Muslims around the world. 'You won't get rid of me': Almqvist (31 Dec 12) What can other far-right parties tell us about the Sweden Democrats? (27 Nov 12) Sweden Democrats send members anti-Islam mag (22 Nov 12) Annika Rydh, municipal party secretary in Älmhult, southern Sweden, blogs about her work and often links to...

Haitian officials have renewed the diplomatic passport of former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, his attorney said Saturday. … Duvalier suddenly came back to Haiti in 2011 following 25 years in exile in France. Upon his return, Haitian authorities opened an investigation into the human rights abuses associated with his 15-year rule. But the judge instead recommended that Duvalier be indicted for only financial crimes, and faces no more than five years if convicted. …

This letter is a very sad example of what happens when our personal freedoms and liberties are taken away. America wasn’t built on this, readers, and we absolutely must share this to show people the impact the Obama administration is having on every-day Americans. When my family and I started our company 40 years ago, we were working out of a garage on a $600 bank loan, assembling miniature picture frames. Our first retail store wasn’t much bigger than most people’s living rooms, but we had faith that we would succeed if we lived and worked according to God‘s word....

It took two and a half years, but Port Colborne, Ont., resident Ian Thomson is finally done defending himself. First he fought the men who tried to murder him. Then, his own government. Mr. Thomson had long been involved in an increasingly angry property dispute with his neighbour. Early one August morning in 2010, four masked men shouting death threats began hurling firebombs at Mr. Thomson’s home. One of his pet dogs was injured; several fires in and around his home were set. Mr. Thomson, an experienced firearms instructor, called 911 immediately. He also armed himself with a .38 calibre...

We're having problems with our system that are causing most pages and threads to be truncated and sidebars not showing up. I'm trying to reach John, but so far no lucck. Hoping he'll check for messages soon. Meanwhile, as a temporary work around, change your preferences to 20 messages per page and 20 results per page. Click "Account" at the top of the latest posts page then "My Preferences." Sorry about the problems.

My wife and I were fortunate to have travelled to Antarctica recently. During the trip I had the opportunity to spend time amidst enormous breeding colonies of penguins. Standing on the beach one day, surrounded by thousands of these remarkable birds, I was fascinated by their behavior. Penguins are monogamous. While colonies can be the size of small cities, each penguin couple raises their own brood. Each parent shares responsibility for guarding their nest and providing food for the chicks. Penguins are constantly busy. They attend to the structure of their nest, go out to sea to feed, and fend...

Police in Florida said they have arrested a man accused of stealing a $1.29 Iced Honey Bun from a store by stuffing it down his pants. Palm Bay police said Brandon Phillips, 18, stuffed the small snack down his sweatpants at a 7-Eleven store Dec. 28 and fled on a bicycle when confronted by a store manager, WKMG-TV, Orlando, reported Friday. Investigators said a K-9 unit tracked Phillips to a wooded lot where he was arrested and his bike was found nearby. The Honey Bun was not recovered, police said. Phillips was charged with retail petit theft, resisting arrest without...

Veterinarians in Massachusetts said a cat is recovering from pulled muscles after falling 80 feet from a tree. Dr. Rachel Francis of the Marion Animal Hospital said Wednesday the cat, dubbed "Fortunate," is receiving treatment for pulled muscles and a possible parasitic infection after she was trapped Tuesday, two days after she fell 80 feet from a tree when firefighters cut the branch she was perched on in a rescue attempt, The (New Bedford, Mass.) Standard Times reported Thursday. "I don't see anything wrong with this cat; it's unbelievable," Francis said of the cat's miraculous lack of serious injuries. Francis...

WASHINGTON, D.C.,January 13, 2013, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Provisions that protect the conscience rights of military chaplains that were included in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) are “unnecessary and ill-advised” said President Obama in a signing statement this week. Section 533 of the defense bill was crafted in response to fears that the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell� policy under the Obama administration would lead to reprisals against chaplains who have moral objections to the homosexual lifestyle, or who refuse to perform same-sex “weddings.� That section says that no member of the armed forces may “require a...

A woman was deported to Mexico after her undocumented status was discovered as a result of winning a $1,200 jackpot at an Arizona casino, her daughter said. Zamira Osorio said her mother, Mirna Valenzuela, won the sum at slot machines while visiting the Casino del Sol Resort in Tucson, The Arizona Republic reported Friday. Casino officials said federal law requires them to check identification for tax purposes when someone wins $1,200 or more in a jackpot and the ID Valenzuela provided Dec. 3 was suspected to be fraudulent and reported to Pascua Yaqui police. Police determined the ID was valid,...

Did The Fed Lie About QE 3 And 4? Stock-Markets / Quantitative EasingJan 05, 2013 - 08:24 AM By: Graham Summers It’s common belief that Bernanke and the Fed are printing $85 billion per month ($40 billion to buy Mortgage Backed Securities and $45 billion to buy Treasuries). After all, these are the policies that the Fed announced in September and December 2012, respectively. The only issue with this is that the Fed lied. Today, the Fed’s balance sheet is $1.3 billion smaller than it was at this time last year. Last week it was $19 billion smaller. The largest...

She compares the US to Qatar: "Al Jazeera doesn't generate revenue now anyway, it is a cost to the Qatari government, it's not a commercial decision, it's a very long term decision from an oil rich state." She continues: "Al Jazeera wishes to compete with CNN and the BBC...it presents a different perspective on the Arab Israeli conflict."

Yesh Atid (Future) chairman Yair Lapid shot down on Saturday the idea of forming an anti-Likud bloc with Labor and Tzipi Livni's party, but then gave it his conditional consent. The idea was floated Friday night by Livni in a live Channel 2 television appearance, then seconded by MK Shelly Yechimovich, who heads Labor. .... Lapid wrote on his Facebook page that he would meet Yechimovich and Livni, but added, "I have no interest in joining a 'blocking bloc' because it is not my habit to boycott people and parties." "In the meeting, I will suggest to them that, in...

Vienna, Austria, Jan 4, 2013 / 02:08 pm (CNA).- Several Catholic churches in Europe were reportedly set on fire in the days before Christmas, raising concerns of vandalism motivated by an opposition to Christianity.   The Observatory on the Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe reported that three churches were burned in Austria on Dec. 23, while a Nativity scene was burned at a church in France on December 18.   In the small Austrian town of Amstetten, three churches were set aflame, with one being severely damaged. The alleged suspect – a young man – was interrogated by...

St. Louis lawyer Ed Martin, who lost his GOP bid this fall for Missouri attorney general, came roaring back Saturday by getting elected as the new chairman of the Missouri Republican Party. Martin narrowly defeated current chairman David Cole, 34-32, on the second round of balloting by the 68-member state GOP committee, sources say. Two members apparently were absent during the voting, which took place at a hotel in Columbia, Mo. The third contender for the post, outgoing state Sen. Jane Cunningham of Chesterfield, was out of the running after garnering only seven votes on the first ballot, which saw...

Lost my sidebars and scrolling down again!! It was fine just a moment ago!

... With one crisis for the short term [fiscal cliff], Obama faces new battles in Congress over raising the country's $16.4 trillion borrowing limit, as well as more than $100 billion in automatic spending cuts for the military and domestic programs which were delayed by two months under the compromise. Lawmakers promise to replace those across-the-board cuts with more targeted steps that could take longer to implement. Obama, speaking from Hawaii, where he is on vacation with his family, said he is willing to consider more spending cuts and tax increases to reduce the deficit. But he said he "will...

There is a story at CNA/EWTN that made me chuckle a little.What for what is wrong with this (including the terminology). London, England, Jan 4, 2013 / 06:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Church of England has decided to permit gay male clergy in civil partnerships to become bishops, provided that they promise to be celibate. [First, let's work to get Catholic news services to stop playing into the hands of the homosexualists by using the word "gay". Next, do they mean "celibate" (unmarried) or "continent" (not sexually active)?]“The House (of Bishops) believed it would be unjust to exclude from consideration...

In addition to the domestic, foreign policy and national security missteps of the Obama administration, Muslim Brotherhood infiltration could be the biggest miscue of all!  It's a story that represents the danger that faces a country when the unbridled hunger for political power of one party along with the media's desire for political access coupled with their political ideology will permit stories that may threaten our national security to remain uninvestigated and of course unreported. In other words is the Democrat Party and MSM desire to hold on to power in Washington so great that it can supersede any look...

Decadence is on the march! And now, a defense of pedophilia as just another “sexual orientation� has been published in the mainstream left wing UK newspaper The Guardian.  From, “Paedophilia: Bringing Dark Desires Into the Light:� Paedophiles may be wired differently. This is radical stuff. But there is a growing conviction, notably in Canada, that paedophilia should probably be classified as a distinct sexual orientation, like heterosexuality or homosexuality. Two eminent researchers testified to that effect to a Canadian parliamentary commission last year, and the Harvard Mental Health Letter of July 2010 stated baldly that paedophilia “is a sexual orientation�...

The disastrous 2012 election and embarrassing fiscal cliff standoff has brought forth one principal conclusion from establishment Republicans: They have a primary problem. The intra-party contests, or threat thereof, have become the original sin that explains many of the party’s woes in the minds of GOP leaders. It’s the primaries that push their presidential nominees far to the right (see “self-deportation” and “47 percent”); produce lackluster Senate candidates (Todd Akin has almost become a one-word shorthand); and, as seen most vividly in the last two weeks, dissuade scores of gerrymandered House members from face-saving compromise while politically emasculating their speaker....

Several complaints about this stalker. Police can do nothing. He finally decides to break in and tries to choke her. Whoops. In DC, she would be dead. One more victory for the good side. THIS IS WHY EVERY WOMAN SHOULD BE ARMED AND EVERY HOMEOWNER SHOULD BE ARMED

Know what not to do when testing for Electrostatic discharge Don't worry, it's just Electrostatic Discharge!!(VIDEO)

3-D printing technology, used industrially for the last few decades, is poised to break into the mass market. Its endless and swiftly developing possibilities—from entrepreneurial manufacturing to the potential sculpting of human organs—could become the next industrial revolution. … Assembling, screwing together, adhering, welding—all these processes are rendered obsolete when even the most complex shapes can be produced by a single machine using this casting technique. The end result can be an artificial hip, a hearing aid, a cell phone case, customized footwear or even the Urbee, a prototype car that has been making a splash. … The only limits...

 As I contemplated Shin Dong-hyuk and his escape from North Korea last week, I also happened to be reading Ralph C. Woods’ Flannery O’Connor and the Christ-Haunted South--an unintentionally apropos pairing. One of Wood’s main theses is that O’Connor--the novelist, short story writer, and devout Catholic--preferred the excesses of fundamentalism, which at least takes God seriously enough to take him literally, to the bland “civil religion� practiced by most Americans, including most Catholics. "O’Connor discerned that something deadly had occurred when national identity had been made to trump religious faith�… “[Her] objection to a blithe indifferentism concerning truth and error,...

It isn’t entirely true that, as Lord Acton said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It’s often the case that power simply allows people the luxury of lowering façades and showing their true colors. A good example is the recent behavior of many on the Left. Commentator Donald Kaul just wrote that he had no problem with guns being pried from their owners’ “cold, dead hands” and that Republican leaders should be dragged around a parking lot with a pick-up truck. A European college professor recommended the execution of “Climate Change Deniers” and the Pope. Closer to home, an...

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A U.S. soldier who left his family farm in Tennessee to volunteer for the Korean War is finally coming home more than six decades later to be buried next to his mother and father, authorities said on Friday. With the help of DNA samples provided by his siblings in 2004, the U.S. military identified remains recovered in North Korea as Private First Class Glenn Schoenmann, who was 20 when he died in December 1950. Schoenmann was among the nearly 8,000 U.S. troops unaccounted for from the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 until 1953. His remains are...

If we are to preserve our First Amendment rights, judges must refrain from telling plaintiffs challenging the HHS mandate that they’ve got their theology wrong.Are judges more competent to determine what a particular religion requires or forbids than that religion’s own leaders or adherents? Most would think not. Yet that’s what two of the recent rulings related to the Health and Human Services contraception, sterilization, and abortion-drug mandate seem to claim. Recently, in Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Sebelius, federal district judge Joe Heaton of the western district of Oklahoma ruled against the Greens, the devout Christian owners of Hobby...

I have been informed that John Noveske, master of the AR and the founder of Noveske Rifleworks, was killed in an auto accident yesterday in Oregon. Here is a statement released by Noveske Rifleworks, via Soldier Systems: Noveske Rifleworks would ask you to remember the passing of our founder, John Noveske, who died Friday, January 4th 2013 in an automobile accident. John planned for all eventualities, and wanted to ensure any changes would be as seamless as possible for our customers, dealers, suppliers, employees and friends. While this will be a trying time, we do not expect a change in...

The New Year has started with a monstrosity of a budget deal, one that proves that neither political party, Democrats or Republicans, is really serious about controlling the growth of big government. But soap opera dramatics about fiscal "cliffs" and sequestration shouldn’t deflect from where President Obama is really taking this country. Consider this story from the Wall Street Journal a few days before Christmas:

In his first weekly address of the New Year, President Obama touts the "fiscal cliff" compromise as "one more step in the broader effort to grow our economy and shrink our deficits" but warns that another "manufactured crisis" over the debt ceiling could wreak havoc on the economy.

Dieting and exercising are perhaps the most popular New Years Resolutions, but don't worry if you've indulged on a few too many holiday treats this year. Swimsuits are already trickling onto retail shelves and the spotlight is on one-piece swimwear, not bikinis. Yes, that extra inch to pinch around your tummy can potentially remain hidden all year. Every stylish celebrity from the curvier gals like Beyonce, Christina Hendricks, and Kim Kardashian, to the skinny-minnies like Taylor Swift, Kate Moss, and Kirsten Dunst are rocking one-piece bathing suits, or "maillots." As a result, the rest of us are heading directly...