Free Republic

A funny-sad back-and-forth appeared in the pages of the Hartford Courant last month. It started when one Christopher Edge wrote into the letters section to say he had had it and was moving out in a brief tirade entitled “Farewell, Connecticut.” More positive residents then chimed in with their support for the Nutmeg State. “Running away is not the solution,” chided one Patricia Karwoski. But what problems could Edge possibly be trying to duck by bailing? Who would run away from Connecticut in the first place? It seems a state not afflicted, a lovely, hilly green hamlet nestled between Boston...

Immigration is a complex problem. So is the long-term question of how the United States should handle the influx of tens of thousands of children from Central America. Beyond the legal mandates, we owe them basic human decency. On the other hand, to say that they should all simply stay here for good begs big questions about encouraging more children to make this journey, and the rights of all the people abroad who are waiting their turn in line. Unless you believe in open borders, it’s all thorny. What seems right for an individual child can seem wrong systemwide. But...

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin said Sunday he’s keeping “all options open” on whether to seek the governor’s office in 2016 or remain in the Senate, where he has expressed frustration with partisanship and gridlock. Manchin, a Democrat, said his time as governor was the most productive period in his life but he hasn’t felt the same way since his election to the Senate in 2010 to finish the term of the late Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd. Manchin, who served as West Virginia governor for six years, was elected to a full term in 2012.

Conservatives have noticed that the Pentagon is firing officers left and right, with many leaving under an embarrassing cloud. The question they ask — and I don't know that anyone has an answer — is whether these firings are the legitimate and appropriate housecleaning that a sclerotic bureaucracy needs or whether they're a purge, with Obama's New Age, gender flexible, fighting optional military getting rid of people in command positions who actually think that the military's job is to wage war in America's defense.All I know is that the latest person being investigated as a predicate to an inevitable firing...

Red states and blue states? Flyover country and the coasts? How simplistic. Colin Woodard, a reporter at the Portland Press Herald and author of several books, says North America can be broken neatly into 11 separate nation-states, where dominant cultures explain our voting behaviors and attitudes toward everything from social issues to the role of government. “The borders of my eleven American nations are reflected in many different types of maps — including maps showing the distribution of linguistic dialects, the spread of cultural artifacts, the prevalence of different religious denominations, and the county-by-county breakdown of voting in virtually every...

Jon Ostendorff @JonOstendorff Workers at Pisgah Inn forced to throw out food today as #shutdown lingers. #avlnews #ncpol The Pisgah Inn sits on federal land on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. When the government shut down, the inn was forced to close right in the middle of the fall foliage tourism season. Federal workers are likely to be paid retroactively, but the Pisgah Inn is losing money. And now, several days into the shutdown, the kitchen is tossing out food.

People in politics often have a public facade which is dramatically distinct from their true, private character. However, I’ve found, the more alike the public and private personas, the more respectable and follow-worthy the candidate or legislator. And then there’s Hillary. Ms. “Who’s your buddy, Vince” Whitewater, infamous for her expletives directed toward staff and Secret Service detail. Here’s a round up of just 8:

Health insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross said it won't participate in California's new insurance market for small businesses. Anthem, a unit of WellPoint Inc., is California's largest insurer for small employers. This surprising move could hamper the state's ability to enroll businesses in its new exchange called Covered California that opens Jan. 1 as part of the federal healthcare law. Instead, Anthem said it will keep selling coverage to small firms outside the exchange in direct competition with the state-run market. Anthem also remains one of 13 health insurers that will offer policies to individuals in Covered California. Nonetheless, Anthem's...

You can tell a lot about prosperity in America by observing the places people are moving to and where they are packing up and moving from. New Census Bureau data on metropolitan areas indicate that the South and the Sunbelt regions continue to grow, while the Northeast and Midwest continue to shrink. Among the 10 fastest-growing metro areas last year were Raleigh, Austin, Las Vegas, Orlando, Charlotte, Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. All of these are in low-tax, business-friendly red states. Blue-state areas such as Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo, Providence and Rochester were among the biggest population losers. This migration...

Forget Wal-Mart and skip your local gun show. The murderers of tomorrow will not be found wearing orange vests at your local sporting goods store. They won't have NRA memberships or trophies on their walls. You won't find them in America. Look for them in Obamerica. 67% of firearm murders took place in the country's 50 largest metro areas. The 62 cities in those metro areas have a firearm murder rate of 9.7, more than twice the national average. Among teenagers the firearm murder rate is 14.6 or almost three times the national average. Those numbers are from six years...

California´s largest for-profit health insurer, Anthem Blue Cross, is seeking to raise rates an average of 18% for more than 630,000 individual policyholders, drawing scrutiny from regulators and the ire of consumers already struggling with soaring premiums. Some Anthem customers may see rates rise as much as 25% in February under the company´s proposal at a time when medical inflation is running at historic lows nationwide. The increases are among several others proposed by California insurers, including Aetna Inc. and Health Net Inc. California insurance regulators will take the next month to review whether these rate increases are warranted,

"Afghan officials said that the clash on Saturday was a misunderstanding and that the Americans apparently attacked an Afghan National Army unit in error. A top coalition officer said the Americans were attacked first in what might possibly have been an insurgent attack. Nonetheless, he expressed regret for what ensued... "

Editor’s Note: Details of the WFB’s Democracy Alliance exposé can be found here. The millionaire trial lawyer who helped keep John Edwards’ affair and lovechild with Rielle Hunter under wraps was also a member of the Democracy Alliance, a secretive liberal cash clearinghouse. Lisa Blue, a millionaire Texas trial lawyer with extensive ties to Washington lobbyists and the Obama administration, joined the group with her husband, the late Fred Baron, according to documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The Barons were drawn to the group by the prospect of pushing the party farther to the left. “This is the...

Blue Boisterous Cult's Obama (Sung to Blue Oyster Cult's Godzilla) With a Cheshire grin and a stumbling sound, He'll pull out a finger and point it round and round. Clueless women in stadium seats Stare fish-eyed stoned, as he reels in sushi meat. He blames George Bush, wears a hopium crown, And he lies through his teeth when his plane returns to ground. Oh, no, we say he's got to go Go home Obama Oh, no, you and Uncle Joe Go home Obama Oh, no, 3, 2, 1, Zero Go home Obama Oh, no, you and sloppy Joe Go home...

Blue skies would fade to hazy white if geoengineers inject light-scattering aerosols into the upper atmosphere to offset global warming. Critics have already warned that this might happen, but now the effect has been quantified. Releasing sulphate aerosols high in the atmosphere should in theory reduce global temperatures by reflecting a small percentage of the incoming sunlight away from the Earth. However, the extra particles would also scatter more of the remaining light into the atmosphere. This would reduce by 20 per cent the amount of sunlight that takes a direct route to the ground, and it would increase levels...

In obscure, blue-collar towns across Appalachia -- places that most Americans have never seen -- generations of coal miners have toiled away at back-breaking labor to power American homes and industry. Now, as many as 200,000 of them who dig, process, transport and burn America's most abundant fuel are threatened by EPA's latest coal rule. It imposes a standard for emissions that is all but impossible for many plants to meet. It requires coal-fired plants to release no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour. The only means for many older plants to attain that standard is...

HE was heading for a pan of boiling water, ready to be served up for dinner. But this electric-blue lobster has given scientists food for thought instead because of its colour. The eye-catching crustacean named Lionel was caught by fishermen off Scotland and sent to a London market. Advertisement >> But fishmonger Rex Goldsmith thought he was too beautiful to eat and bought him for a tenner before handing him over to the Natural History Museum. Rex, 45, who saw Lionel at Billingsgate Market while buying supplies for his Chelsea Fishmonger shop, said: “It’s the most striking blue lobster I...

The total of U.S. state debt, including pension liabilities, could surpass $4 trillion, with California owing the most and Vermont owing the least, a new analysis says. The nonprofit State Budget Solutions combined states' major debt and future liabilities, primarily for pensions and employee healthcare, unemployment insurance loans, outstanding bonds and projected fiscal 2011 budget gaps. It found that in total, states are in debt for $4.2 trillion. The group, which follows state fiscal conditions and advocates for limited spending and taxes, said the deficit calculations that states make "do not offer a full picture of the states' liabilities and...

I was in Chicago O'Hare today and saw a cleric dressed in a purple monk's robe (it was NOT a scarlet cassock), and he was wearing a bluish jacket, business cut, with a faint purple sheen to it. He also had a gold colored rope that he wore as a belt, and the tasseled ends were almost touching the ground. He didn't look Roman Catholic, or even Episcopalian. Any idea of what he might belong to? PS, I didn't speak with him... Thanks.

Coalition of Moderate 'Blue Dog' Dems Shrinking FastAssociated Press Published August 19, 2011 WASHINGTON -- The Blue Dogs may be losing their bark. Despite polls showing a desire for more compromise in Washington, the political climate for moderate to conservative Democrats in the House has continued to deteriorate. The 2010 election dropped the number of so-called Blue Dogs from 54 to 25. And the shrinking continues. Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas will not seek re-election next year. Rep. Dan Boren of Oklahoma also plans to retire. Rep. Joe Donnelly of Indiana has opted to run for the Senate. Rep. Heath...