Free Republic

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Gareth Morgan has a simple dream: a New Zealand free of pet cats that threaten native birds. But the environmental advocate has triggered a claws-out backlash with his new anti-feline campaign. Morgan called on his countrymen Tuesday to make their current cat their last in order to save the nation's unique bird species. He set up a website, called Cats To Go, depicting a tiny kitten with red devil's horns. The opening line: "That little ball of fluff you own is a natural born killer." He doesn't recommended people euthanize their current cats -- "Not necessarily...

Washington-The Obama administration has delayed a decision on TransCanada Corp´s rerouted Keystone XL oil pipeline until after March, even though Nebraska´s governor on Tuesday approved a plan for part of the line running through his state. "We don´t anticipate being able to conclude our own review before the end of the first quarter of this year," said Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman at the State Department, which had previously said it would make a decision by that deadline. She said the department would take into consideration approval of the line by Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman.

Someone has placed a job placement notice on a controversial online classified ads site seeking "beautiful, sophisticated ladies" to seduce businessmen in hopes of "extracting key pieces of information." .... Let's start with the basics. The legal prohibition against insider trading is not embodied in any specific statute. Instead, the ban is based on an interpretation of a broader ban on fraud under SEC Rule 10b-5. The classical theory of insider trading is that insiders violate Rule 10b-5 by using material, nonpublic information for personal gain in breach of their fiduciary duties. People who don't have fiduciary duties can engage...

Unless you live in the world of Footloose, it’s quite uncommon for dancing to be classified as a crime. But one couple has been defending the right to do the Charleston in public since they were arrested for doing so back in July 2011, and it sounds like they’ve come to a satisfactory resolution. New York City has settled with the couple for $75,000 after police arrested them for dancing in a subway station. From what CBS New York says, it doesn’t sound like the twosome were hotstepping it to solicit money, but were simply dancing together on the station...

After enduring hours of derision and mockery by the panelists at a Chicago-area guns “forum” Sunday, one man in the audience stood up and addressed the crowd, identified himself as a veteran, and proceeded to give a straightforward but passionate defense of his support for the First and Second Amendments.

Speaker John Boehner told House Republicans this afternoon that the GOP’s upcoming budget will balance the federal books in a decade. Due to the Democrats’ control of the White House and Senate, the possibility of that promise becoming law is remote. But the speaker’s vocal support for the idea reportedly drew cheers within the House Republican conference. According to sources in the room, Boehner made the pledge at a closed-door meeting in the Capitol basement. The speaker said that Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the budget committee chairman, will lead the effort. Boehner’s commitment is a signal to House conservatives...

WASHINGTON — The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the president's former pastor whose sermons touched off a firestorm in the 2008 political campaign, urged today that Barack Obama heed the words of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and transform the country into the world's "No. 1 purveyor of peace." **SNIP** Wright said he hasn't seen Obama in person since 2008. "I think that the media created a firestorm that caused him to distance himself from me," he said Monday.

Forty years ago today the Supreme Court rendered its Roe v. Wade decision. Those who believe in the sanctity of human life and long to see America embrace a culture in which innocent life is honored and protected continue to look for a day when humanity is again deemed valuable, where we cherish even those who would be born in “less than ideal circumstances.” Children are our most precious resource and remain the greatest symbol of hope God has given us. This is just one reason why the annual March for Life has been such a powerful aspect of the...

This time, the question will be “Who killed J.R.?” Conniving Texas oil baron J.R. Ewing, played by the late Larry Hagman, will be murdered in an upcoming episode of TNT’s “Dallas” — harkening back to the show’s “Who Shot J.R.?” 1980s heyday. Hagman completed five episodes of the upcoming season before his death on Nov. 23 forced “Dallas” writers to re-tool the series to reflect his passing. “We all felt having J.R. die of natural causes would have been completely inappropriate, not only to the character, but also to Larry Hagman,” series executive producer Cynthia Cidre tells TV Guide Magazine,...

The Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show is billed as the largest show of its kind in North America. But after the event made a decision to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, it may now lose that title. "We felt that getting involved last year was a good business decision. It has a lot of coverage, a lot of exposure," said Ben Bode of Trop Gun Shop in Elizabethtown. Trop was one of the first vendors to boycott the show, and their customers responded. Trop's Facebook page exploded with 'likes', they received letter, faxes and praise from clients. But...

Professor Jacobson made an exceedingly important point yesterday: Our focus must be on “changing what we can change, protecting what we can protect, undermining what we can undermine, acting locally.” Based on my experience in San Diego, I cannot stress enough the vital role that local activism is playing in fiscal reform. Here is Exhibit A as proof of the success of can-do citizen activism: Proposition B – San Diego’s Pension Reform Initiative. The measure, which passed in June 2012 with over 65% of the votes, put new city employees (except police) into a 401(k) style pension, rather than a...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), son of the recently-retired libertarian Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas), was recently announced as a featured speaker for this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). CPAC is essentially a litmus test for the Republican Party; it provides a general sense of the party’s direction. Backed by tremendous Tea Party support, Rand Paul is eyeing a 2016 bid to take the reigns of the country, and he doesn’t care if you know it: "I am different than some in that I'm not going to deny that I'm interested," said Paul. The GOP finds itself in an identity crisis....

FrackNation doesn't appear to "appear" livestreamed from AXS.TV, the channel that is airing it.

Love him or hate him, Bill Clinton is probably the most charismatic former president still around. He also seems to, somehow, be the star of the show wherever he goes. Monday's presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C. was no different. During a performance of "My Country 'Tis of Thee" by "American Idol" champion Kelly Clarkson, Clinton's head popped out from the crowd as he photobombed her. The internet instantly lit up with people passing the photo around and attaching their own jokes to it.

Emelie is plagued by hallucinations and nightmares. When she wakes up, she's often paralyzed, unable to breathe properly or call for help. During the day she can barely stay awake, and often misses school or having fun with friends. She is only 14, but at times she has wondered if her life is worth living. Emelie is one of around 800 children in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe who developed narcolepsy, an incurable sleep disorder, after being immunized with the Pandemrix H1N1 swine flu vaccine made by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline in 2009.

A shooting at a Houston college has left at least three people injured and at least one suspect in custody, The New York Times and other media sources reported today. “Officials at the North Harris campus of Lone Star College announced an evacuation at 12:52 p.m. on its Web site, citing an incident involving ‘a couple of armed suspects,’” the report elaborated. The suspects were in violation of Lone Star College policy and the law. It is the policy of this System to prohibit the carrying of firearms, knives and clubs onto any of the System's facilities,” the college’s weapons...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This afternoon, Sen. Rand Paul introduced the Default Prevention Act, which would require the President to prioritize federal revenue to interest on the national debt. Since the current debt limit was reached on Dec. 31, 2012, it is expected that the extraordinary measures the U.S. Treasury has taken to continue funding the government will be exhausted before March. In order to remove any chance of government default, Sen. Paul’s legislation spells out which government-funded programs should be held at the highest priority to continue funding, while paying down the interest and principal on debt held by the...

For many, the word “drone” summons images of innocent civilians killed in wars conducted from thousands of miles away and raises concerns about invasions of privacy. For others, a drone is simply a next-generation military weapon that saves both lives and money. And for still others, drones are a fascinating backyard hobby for adults and children alike. But no matter what you think about them, drones are here to stay. The Air Force predicts that within a decade nearly 30 percent of its attack and fighter planes will be drones. It’s not just the military that sees their potential, either....

Israel goes Leftward as Right bloc's majority razor-thin; voter turnout 66.6%; Likud Beytenu plummets; Labor polled to get 17 seats, Bayit Yehudi 12, Shas 11, Livni and Meretz 7 each, UTJ 6.

Dr. Jim Garrow, the author of The Pink Pagoda: One Man’s Quest to End Gendercide in China, made the following claim . ... I have just been informed by a former senior military leader that Obama is using a new “litmus test” in determining who will stay and who must go in his military leaders. Get ready to explode folks. “The new litmus test of leadership in the military is if they will fire on US citizens or not.” Those who will not are being removed. So, who is the source? Garrow replied: “The man who told me this is...