Free Republic

Been gone a long time. Back in the day I would sometimes post here about songs from the sixties that seemed to be coming full circle, and here's another one. If someone has already posted a similar version, which might be expected, I humbly apologize. Apologies as well to Neil Young if he takes offense. And if anyone wants to write a better version, please feel free. Stay safe everyone. SAN BERDO ISIS and Obama coming We’re finally on our own This winter I hear the drumming Fourteen dead in San Berdo Gotta get down to it Muslims are gunning...

I’m interested in the current Federal funding bill. Below is a list of Federal Departments, starting with the original four enumerated in the Constitution. For each Department, what percentage of their current budget do you think should be granted in this budget? Are there any departments that should be eliminated entirely from Federal funding and purview? After this list there are links that further flesh out the extent of the Federal leviathan, with further “government agencies and corporations” that could perhaps have their budgets cut or entirely eliminated. Enjoy! Departments of: (with my recommended funding levels) 1. Defense: 150% 2....

Do any lawyers or others among us have any idea whether the Tea Party groups that were targeted by the IRS can file a RICO action against the IRS? If so, what would it cost, what are the chances of prevailing, and what possible protections could one expect against the defendants and their friends in other parts of the syndicate? Could such an action be filed as well against other agencies of the federal syndicate involved in organized criminal actions like Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the VA, etc, etc, etc.

Now the rain man gave me two cures, Then he said, "Jump right in." The one was Texas medicine, The other was just railroad gin. And like a fool I mixed them And it strangled up my mind, And now people just get uglier And I have no sense of time.

As the intensity and ferocity of national and international events seems to accelerate towards chaos, it seems to me and many others that all this is unfolding by human design. Forces at work on national and international levels seem to have been coordinating just such a climax for many years. It often appears that opposing interests are merely battling it out, but then there is often the sense that the appearance of opposing interests is merely an illusion put forth to keep us off guard as to what is actually happening on a larger scale. Is there a grand conspiracy,...

On other threads recently, the faux-conservative bone fides of Hugh Hewitt and Michael Medved have been sharply questioned in light of recent events. I'm wondering whether Mike Gallagher needs to be added to that list. I can pick up three "Conservative Talk Radio" stations on my way to and from work, but I seldom listen to one of them because it features lightweights. My wife borrowed my truck yesterday, and must have been playing with the dials, because it was tuned to that third station when I got in this morning. Some guy - I couldn't place him at first,...

In all the controversy of the past few days, one of the most disturbing aspects of the Bergdhal scandal was the requirement that GIs who knew the truth firsthand had to sign nondisclosure documents not to discuss it. My questions: Is this a legitimate tactic that anyone in power in the military or the government at large can demand anytime to keep a scandal from emerging? Does one's oath of office for the military include honoring such orders when "following orders" goes against their conscience and?

Cloudy Day Jihadists - #0 & 0 They release you when your father grows a beard They release you when your country’s not so feared They release you for jihadists numbered five They release you when O’s poll numbers dive But I would not feel so all amused Everybody must be used --------------------------------------- They release you when the VA’s all exposed They release you when the scandal burdens grows They release you without Congress in the know They release you, and the Kenyan just says, “So? Ah but I would not feel so all amused Everybody must be used ------------------------------------------...

Somewhere, somehow, in the last year my tag-line got deleted. I'd like to re-instate it, but can't seem to find out how to do this. I've looked through the admin sections several times, can't seem to find out the mechanism to do so. Any help is appreciated. TIA.

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?

In several threads on FR this past week, as well as in the conservative media for a long time now, I have been amazed at the number of avowed conservatives who still talk about Obama as if he is merely incompetent, rather than purposefully diabolical in his destructive domestic and foreign policies. This Sunday is admittedly a little long in the tooth for a really robust weekend vanity post before the news cycle hits again in the AM, but I suppose it is not altogether too late to start a discussion by asking the obvious: how can any Freeper in...

Contemplating the inherent variations in access to healthcare in our nation, Communist (socialist, liberal, progressive, etc) minds seem to divide into five broad categories: 1. Sensing that any variation in healthcare access (or anything else) is inherently unfair, one type believes it to be the role of governmental powers to make it fair, and votes and propagandizes accordingly. This is the Useful Idiot. 2. Attracted to and acquiring governmental power, one type believes that government has the right and obligation to use force to ensure equitable access to healthcare, but does not personally employ force. This is the Progressive Politician....

Well well lookie what the cat dragged in. That's a link to the unsubsidized data dump -- all 78,437 records -- for each county and State under the Obamacare exchange program. I can verify that for at least my state and county the table is correct, since you can now look it up on Healthcare.gov without creating an account first (which I am not about to do.) There are several very interesting statistical facts that come from this. First, if you're "27", the average premium is $266.20/month or $3,194.40 per year. How many 27 year olds have an extra $3,200...

Just tried to go have a look at my retirements account at Fidelity. It's probably nothing, but their system is down. Not sure how long it has been, or why, or how long it might be, but with EBT cards going down, ObamaCare sites going down, talk of "grid down" drills, etc, I wonder if others are finding such things happening. Hopefully just an isolated glitch - not that my retirement accounts will be of any value to me in a little while anyway, but I think it best to know ASAP when the web or the power or such...

This important Email arrived out of breath a few minutes ago. My response appears at the end. Just wondering if my answer followed the federally approved protocol, or if my fellow FReepers think this urgent matter could have been better handled from my end. Always seeking to be in compliance. dagogo redux On Sun, 15 Sep 2013 12:29:43 +0530 wrote: FROM DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS ATTN: COMPLIMENT OF THE SEASON DEAR FUND OWNER, IT IS MY PLEASURE TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR FUND IS READY TO BE DELIVERED TO YOUR DESIGNATED ADDRESS WHICH YOU HAVE TO RECONFIRM. WE THE ENTIRE...

I listen to whatever I can in the way of talk radio when I drive around, and Mark Levin is the least unpalatable choice on the drive home from work each day. He was on one of his bulging-neck-vein rants the other day, this one about the history of the Supreme Court’s overstepping their limited Constitutional role over the past several centuries, leading us to the “judicial tyranny” we see now, which was never the intent of the Founders. He implied that the ultimate remedy was the restoration of the original intent of the Founders, rather than merely electing conservative...

I thought a weekend vanity thread about the current state of the arms and ammo markets might provide a useful exchange of info for some FReepers. Post election, and especially post Sandy Hook, many acquaintances - probably just waking up now to the trajectory of history - approached me about the status of the gun and ammo market. I’m not anything of an authority on this topic, but I have had my ear to the ground about such things, perhaps more than some. There has been another recent flurry of questions as well, revealing that they haven’t looked back into...

University of Maryland (UMD) police on Wednesday prohibited two Campus Reform reporters from filming an alleged covert government facility where Edward Snowden is believed to have worked as a security guard in 2005. Sergeant Aaron Davis, spokesperson for the UMD Police Department, told Campus Reform on Wednesday that his officers were acting at the direction of “NSA security” officials. “We respond to them,” he told Campus Reform. In a separate incident on Thursday, two other Campus Reform reporters were briefly detained on the public road outside the facility and required to provide identification to officers as a condition of remaining...

Understanding Madmen: A DSM-IV Assessment of Adolf Hitler Frederick L. Coolidge*, Felicia L. Davis, & Daniel L. Segal University of Colorado at Colorado Springs ABSTRACT - Adolf Hitler’s personality was investigated posthumously through the use of an informant version of the Coolidge Axis II Inventory (CATI), which is designed for the assessment of personality, clinical, and neuropsychological disorders. Five academic Hitler historians completed the CATI. The overall mean inter-rater correlation was moderately high for all 38 CATI scales’ T scores (median r = .72). On Axis I, the highest mean T scores across raters were Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (76), Psychotic...

As our country becomes fundamentally transformed, I’m having a bit of an identity crisis regarding my relationship to my country and to its government - two entities that had always seemed distinct but with a common bond of beneficent purpose. For most of my life, I used to believe that I knew who I was: I was a “citizen.” That word defined my fundamental role towards both my country and its government. Now “citizen” doesn’t quite seem to fit the bill any more, nor is it a notion that is encouraged nor politically correct. It almost seems elitist. Some might...