Free Republic

Those who support Attorney Orly Taitz’s challenge to Barack Obama’s constitutional eligibility to serve as President are being urged to protest peacefully at inauguration proceedings on January 21, (the MLK, Jr. holiday,) and in front of the Supreme Court itself on February 15th when Justices will decide the merits of the challenge. Those making this unnecessary plea seem to forget that conservatives are always peaceful, even when confronted with the most inexcusable of antics by the other side. “Well done, Doctor and good luck,” says licensed private investigator Neil Sankey to Orly Taitz on her website. “I will WALK there...

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell — who split with the Republican Party to endorse President Barack Obama two times — said Sunday there are some clearly racial elements within the GOP. “There’s also a dark vein of intolerance in some parts of the party,” Powell said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “What do I mean by that? What I mean by that is they still sort of look down on minorities.” While not mentioning former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin or former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu by name, Powell referenced past comments from each about Obama as evidence of...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Proposed legislation would exempt weapons made in South Carolina from federal regulations. Sen. Lee Bright's Firearms Freedom Act would mean that firearms, ammunition and gun accessories made in South Carolina aren't subject to federal rules and oversight. Bright says his bill would allow South Carolina manufacturers to skirt federal regulations because the materials would not cross state lines.

 "Ye villains, ye rebels, disperse; damn you, disperse! Lay down your arms, damn you, why don't you lay down your arms!"~ British officer to American Minute Men assembled at Lexington, April 19, 1775, as recalled by the Reverend Jonas Clarke in his diary.By Mr. Curmudgeon:Of England's King Charles II, John Trechard wrote in A Short History of Standing Armies in England (1698), "... He came in with the general applause of the people, who in a kind fit gave him a vast revenue for life. By this he was enabled to raise an army, and bribe the Parliament, which he did...

Life in the Time of Low Information VotersI used to love American popular culture. I found it rich, diverse and endlessly amusing. These days, I rarely go to the movies or plays and cannot bear to watch television. Even the radio with its repetitive, uninformative news snippets annoys. Our popular culture has moved from family favorites like Your Show of Shows, The Wonder Years, and I Love Lucy to the minute by minute coverage of celebrities not known for their wit, charm, or beauty, They are known for nothing other than the willingness to put their every part of bodies...

FRANKFORT — An Eastern Kentucky sheriff said Saturday that he will not enforce any new gun control laws that he considers unconstitutional. Asked whether such a stance makes him more a judge than a law-enforcement official, Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman said he has "a team of attorneys to step up with me if necessary to be sure the Second Amendment is upheld." "I consider this a moral obligation," he said. Peyman, who has been sheriff of Jackson County for two years and is a member of the National Rifle Association, is garnering national attention and support from gun rights...

Many of the same tactics used to weaken the Christian influence also worked to weaken the family. They introduced the ideas of divorce made easy instead of working out the problems or turning to Scripture. They taught situation ethics in schools where kids learned to blame their parents for all of their problems and then resent them for it. In the 1960s and 70s, the openness of sexual promiscuity flooded the families. Adultery and pre-marital sex permeated through the Church like yeast in a batch of dough. Even Christian leaders fell to the temptations that were hurled at them, causing...

What is your prediction on mortgage spreads after the private sector almost vanished by 2008? The red line denotes non-GSE market share and the green line denotes GSE market share (e.g., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc.). The government essentially became a monopolist (although the government entities including the FHA compete with each other for market share). There are barriers to entry that would promote competition with Uncle Sam – it is called Dodd-Frank and the Consumer Financial Bureau. The vast majority of residential mortgages will continue to be purchase and/or insured by the Federal government. But after the effective nationalization...

The United States houses more human beings in prisons than any other country, both in terms of actual numbers and in relation to population size. The U.S. prison population began to grow dramatically in the 1970s. Professor Daniel D’Amico examines the data behind the alarming increase in the number of prisoners in the United States and finds that much of the growth in the last 40 years has been driven by the war on drugs. From 1980 to 1990, the total U.S. prison population more than doubled. In that same time, the proportion of people in prison for nonviolent drug...

Bismarck, ND - Several states have adopted laws and others have introduced legislation to protect gun owners from any potential firearm ban. North Dakota lawmakers are also ready to draft gun protection legislation. In a state where hunting plays a large role in recreation, the talk of gun control is especially upsetting. Just days into the legislative session, it's a topic North Dakotan's are telling their lawmakers to take action on. Minot Representative Roscoe Streyle is drafting a bill to submit next week. "We can't stop the feds from doing what they're going to do but what we can do...

    (snip)Unlike the wonks who are only dangerous because they’re all likeminded ideologues, our Secret Service detail is armed and dangerous. Butt you? You don’t need no stinkin’ guns! And Joey B’s anti-gun task force is about to tell you so(snip)   I said drop it Joey! That high capacity Super-soaker is on the banned list. (snip)there’s no reason to get upset, Joey’s hand selected team since they’re just window dressing. The real task force is comprised of our betters over at the Center for American Progress (CAP) think tank.  Yes,that’s right:the CAP–a George Soros funded band of another...

Survivor: Caramoan — Fans vs. Favorites is the 26th season of Survivor. It begins February 13, 2013 on CBS at 8/7c with a special two hour episode. References: Official Survivor site at CBSWikipedia article Each team will consist of ten players. The Favorites tribe consists of returning players. As with last season, this season takes place in Caramoan, Camarines Sur, Philippines. Bikal Tribe (favorites - purple buffs): Andrea, Brandon, Brenda, Cochran, Corinne, Dawn, Erik, Francesca, Malcolm, Phillip Gota Tribe (fans - orange buffs): Allie, Eddie, Hope, Julia, Laura, Matt, Michael, Reynold, Shamar, Sherri Cast biosCast photosVideo: Survivor: Caramoan - Season...

I am a citizen of the United States, and of Montana. I am neither a subject of the jughead in the White House, nor of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. To protect schools and the children in them, you arm selective teachers. In Montana, all residents belong to the militia, so this should not be a problem. But once again, politicians from both coasts are exploiting a tragedy to further their agenda, the same agenda they had during the Clinton years that proved to be ineffective, except to disarm lawful citizens. I will not register my firearms, I...

A Christian high school teacher in Cheektowaga, N.Y., is suing her employer after district officials told her to take personal signs and religious items out of her classroom. Joelle Silver, a science educator who has been working in the Cheektowaga Central School District for seven years, decided to take legal action after receiving a letter (read it here) asking her to comply with officials’ request.

Maybe someone here an answer this, although I may have to post this on a lib board someday. Why does the left especially hate Glenn Beck? They seem to me to hate him a lot more than Rush, who is 10* more mocking and disrespectful of the left than Beck is. Levin, Savage, Hannity, etc are small potatoes to the lefty when he has his hate on for Glenn. It seems that they are positively obsessed with him. A news article that mentions his name will have the inevitable Beck bashers frothing at the mouth, flaming away in the comments....

The shooting community places a good deal of emphasis on buying the “right” handgun for self-defense. As important as it is to select an effective firearm, all of its positive qualities are worthless if it’s locked away in a strong box somewhere when you need it. After going through all of the time and expense to obtain a carry permit and pistol, folks often choose to leave their personal protection handguns at home. The No. 1 reason given is that the handgun feels uncomfortable to carry. Buying a defensive handgun is a pricey proposition. Hundreds of dollars are spent in...

There's been a lot of talk in the news lately about guns. AR-15's have been getting attention again. Back when I was a kid, it seemed like most of my dad's guns were old and brown, hand-me-downs from various acquaintances. My brother Kole and I bought our first center-fire rifle when I was 16. We didn't exactly plan to. We ran our dog team to Ambler just to sell wolverine skins -- and came home with an assault rifle. I sure wanted my own hunting rifle back then. We'd had plenty of run-ins with moose, and climbed a few trees...

A woman walking her dog at 3 p.m. Friday stumbled upon Larry Lovette lying on the sidewalk near Dimond Park. He had been shot to death. Just one half-hour before that, a 22-year-old man had been fatally shot in the Fruitvale district. At 4:15 p.m., Eddiebo Rodriguez was shot several times while driving on West Street in West Oakland. Whoever killed him shot up some nearby homes in the process. Thankfully, no one else was injured. Then at 8:20 p.m., police found 17-year-old Ken Harbin shot to death on Hillside Avenue in East Oakland. The carnage Friday took the insanity...

I’m a Tea Partier! I’m also a lifelong Republican as was my father, a Chicago Packard dealer Service Manager in the Capone Era. We even owned Machine Gun Mike McGurk’s ’29 Packard coupe for a while. Dad said he got to vote against that SOB Roosevelt 4 times! I went to Tea Party meetings on 3 occasions – 3 different groups. I attended a big rally here in Bakersfield where John Boehner and my Congressman Kevin McCarthy attended and were denied an opportunity to speak. They never forgave the Tea Party. It was such a stupid move, but that’s history…...

Today the Telegraph is reporting that British Royal Navy strategists take seriously the nationalistic trash-talk emanating from leftist twit Cristina Kirchner: there's already planning for contingencies ranging from a simple show-of-force to another direct military challenge to British sovereignty in the Falklands (which Argentinians refer to as El Malvinas).... In a situation that eerily echoes that of today -except replace 'left wing' with 'right wing'- in April 1982 the South American country had a failing right-wing junta in Buenos Aires -desperate for some populist appeal/diversion to quell domestic (economic) unrest- attempt to buoy public support through an ill-advised nationalistic military conquest. And it worked, for a while: not...