Free Republic

On the floor of the House Wednesday, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs featured a dialogue between Chairman Jeff Miller and Dr. Thomas Lynch, assistant deputy undersecretary for health for clinical operations at the Veterans Health Administration. Another shocking piece of information about VA hospitals was revealed during that exchange. Miller revealed he had received an email from an employee at the Los Angeles VA Medical Center in which the employee raised concerns over the status of patient wait times and the possible manipulation of records. The director of the facility responded to colleagues via email and said that the...

Taxpayers paid more than $5 million to create climate change games, including voicemails from the future warning that “neo-luddites” will kill global warming enthusiasts by 2035. Columbia University’s Climate Center has received $5.7 million from the National Science Foundation for the university’s “PoLAR Climate Change Education Partnership,” to “engage adult learners and inform public understanding and response to climate change.” Based on the theory that games “motivate exploration and learning of complex material,” the school created “Future Coast,” a website that features hundreds of made up voicemails painting a dire picture of the future as a result of climate change....

Former “Baywatch” beauty Pamela Anderson said she was gang-raped by seven boys in high school — including her then-boyfriend — and was also subjected to sexual molestation by a babysitter between the ages of 6 and 10. Ms. Anderson, speaking during the launch of her Pamela Anderson Foundation, said she was raped, too, at the age of 12 by a 25-year-old, NBC News reported. “My first boyfriend in grade nine decided it would be funny to gang-rape me, with six of his friends,” she said, NBC reported, citing a transcript of her speech that was posted on her foundation’s website....

For all you talk radio fans, driven nuts by the Kars-4-Kids, anti-bullying, starving kids, etc etc etc PSA ads: what are your least favorite, most hated of these sadistic brain-assaults?

Most people, perhaps even the super-wealthy, who are usually accountable to auditors, want to know where their money goes. This is especially true when they detect money for which they can't account. Not so with the federal government. Some recent headlines reflect a disturbing pattern that has contributed to our $17 trillion debt and to a growing cynicism among the public, which increasingly regards government in a negative light. Here are just a few recent gems gleaned from reading newspaper stories and wire service reports: "Pentagon to destroy $1 billion in ammunition." This USA Today story says, "It is impossible...

“It just comes down to love. I mean, if you love your child then you should do anything in the world for your child. And it’s as simple and as pure as that.” This is not parental love. This is misguided, tragic indulgence. It’s as simple and pure as that. Parental love prepares a child for adulthood–momentary happiness has little to do with it.Parental love sees beyond what a child currently wants, or thinks he wants, and gives him what he needs. What this child needs is unconditional love and a chance for his brain to mature and his...

Why is the Pentagon to destroy ammunition for our men and women in uniform while the Department of Homeland Security is buying up millions of rounds of ammunition? As we asked last week, why are we decimating our military while many government agencies are arming up? You really have to wonder why, according to USA Today, “The Pentagon plans to destroy more than $1 billion worth of ammunition although some of those bullets and missiles could still be used by troops, according to the Pentagon and congressional sources. It’s impossible to know what portion of the arsenal slated for destruction...

...'forced him into a dog cage and poured syrup and kitty litter over him' A six-year-old boy whose mother forced him into a dog cage then poured syrup and kitty litter on him was rescued after neighbors heard him screaming, 'Do you love me?' to his abuser, authorities said. The boy's mother, Crystal Jean Hostetter, 24, and her long-term girlfriend, Sarah Elizabeth McClain, 30, allegedly abused the boy - who has psychological issues and does not like sticky substances - for two hours on Saturday. Neighbors witnessed the treatment and alerted authorities. The two women, from Douglasville, Georgia, appeared in...

Employment Minister Jason Kenny has announced an immediate moratorium on the fast-food industry's access to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The suspension, announced late Thursday afternoon, came shortly after the CBC told Kenney the CEO of McDonald's Canada had branded recent criticism of its use of temporary foreign workers "bullshit" in a conference call to franchisees. A recording of that call was given to the CBC. In a written statement announcing the suspension, Kenney says "serious concerns" remain following a government investigation of the allegations raised about the program. The CBC's Go Public has produced a series of stories reporting...

One concerned teacher took matters into her own hands after she says the school's principle and district leaders ignored her concerns. She placed hidden cameras in a special needs classroom, and the abuse she caught was extremely disturbing.

Link only included due to copyright restrictions: http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/04/21/pope-saint-johnpaulii-easter-sex-abuse-column/7980347/

Cliven Bundy marched into my life one Friday morning in January 1992 in a protest bound for a federal courthouse in Las Vegas. He held up one side of a street-width banner that asked, “Has the West been won or has the fight just begun?” To my great relief, just as Bundy promised, nearly 200 ranchers from all over the state marched behind him, yelling “Property rights!” Nearly a mile later, the marchers fell silent and filed into the courtroom where Wayne Hage of Pine Creek Ranch faced arraignment for the felony of cleaning brush out of his ditches without...

In his continuing battle against the right of individuals to bear arms, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pooh-poohed the idea that guns might be a valid or necessary tool of self-defense. “The argument that an abused spouse might need a gun to defend herself is bogus,” Bloomberg insisted. “Very few spouses are actually totally beaten to death by abusive husbands. So, access to deadly force is seldom an appropriate response. A wife who escalates the situation by drawing a weapon will likely later regret her action. The better course is for her to lessen the beating by placating...

STORRS, Conn. (AP) - University of Connecticut officials have suspended a sorority as they investigate allegations that its members forced men to drink booze, eat dog treats, paint their bodies, wear women's underwear and take alcohol shots off each other's bodies.

"GOP Rep: Obama Administration's OSHA Targeting Non-Union Plants with Inspectors Accompanied by Union Reps" On Wednesday’s “On the Record” on the Fox News Channel, Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) laid out an argument that this administration is using the inspection powers of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to target non-union plants in South at far more disproportionate rate than anywhere else in the country. She added that also these OSHA inspectors were being accompanied by union representatives to non-union shops.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore and Archbishop Curley High School have received an allegation involving Mrs. Lynette Trotta, 33. Ms. Trotta has been a science teacher at Archbishop Curley High School since January 2007. Ms. Trotta is alleged to have engaged in a sexual relationship with a current student during the current school year. A number of weeks ago, Annette Goodman, the school’s librarian, learned about the allegation. Maryland law and the policies of the Archdiocese and Archbishop Curley High School require that allegations of child abuse be reported to civil authorities and to the head of the school as soon...

DURHAM, NC, March 20, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – During a national media blitz, the Duke University student who makes pornographic films to pay her tuition has said her experience in the industry has left her feeling “empowered” and uplifted. But an anti-pornography activist has posted a shocking video graphically undermining her claims. “My experience in porn has been nothing but supportive, exciting, thrilling, and empowering,” Miriam Weeks, who revealed that she performs under the name Belle Knox, wrote on the feminist website xoJane.com last month. “For me, shooting pornography brings me unimaginable joy.” “It is my artistic outlet: my love, my...

Three starving children—including one who was chained to the floor to prevent her from getting food—were found last month in the squalid home of a Northern California couple, authorities said. All three—two boys and a girl—were taken into protective custody, and one was hospitalized, Monterey County Sheriff Scott Miller said Friday. Authorities discovered them in the Salinas, Calif., home on March 14 after two of the young people missed appointments, according to several published reports. […] Eraca Dwan Craig, 31, and Christian Jessica Deana, 44, were both arrested at the scene on suspicion of felony child cruelty, false imprisonment and...

Yes, government waste, fraud and abuse are the triplet children of incompetence, greed and unbridled ambition. But these sins of public trust begin and end with dishonesty. And Joseph E. Schmitz has seen a lot of lying by the government to taxpayers in his lengthy legal career. Schmitz, who served as inspector general of the U.S. Department of Defense from 2002-05, in an interview with Watchdog.org said, “no political party has a monopoly on waste, fraud and abuse and corruption.” But he said he has seen some troubling patterns of deceit in the Obama administration. Exhibit A, according to the...

A judge has granted a temporary protective injunction against U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson after his wife filed paperwork accusing the Orlando congressman of shoving and injuring her during an incident this past weekend.... Her complaint alleges that "from time to time" in the past, her husband "has battered [her] and the parties' minor children," though she has not previously sought an injunction against him.