Free Republic

New York has the highest cigarette tax rate of any state, and nearly two-thirds of the state's cigarette market is illegal, announced the think tank Tax Foundation on Thursday. The Tax Foundation said that 60.9% of cigarettes sold in New York State are smuggled in from other states. This makes New York the biggest importer of black market cigarettes, along with the state's highest tax rate of $4.35 per pack. That's compared to Missouri, the state with the lowest rate, of 17 cents per pack. In New York City the tax rate is even higher, adding another $1.50 per pack...

Just something to make people think in terms of this gun control hysteria. Let's change a few facts and imagine how the national conversation would be different if: 1. Black man from Brooklyn who harbored racist feelings against whites went to Scarsdale and committed this act of mass murder. 2. White man from Scarsdale who harbored racist feelings against blacks went to Brooklyn and shot up the school. 3. Black inner city person shot up school and killed many in an all minority school in the Bronx due to anger over domestic custody battle. 3. Legal muslim immigrant obtained weapons...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jB2qxsmkUk Sounds familiar no?

Let's be clear: when Congress passes an "assault weapons" ban (and they will pass a ban), it'll be pretty much toothless. That the law will likely leave most things unchanged doesn't matter — the government simply has to do something. Much like Clinton's ban in 1994, this new legislation will be rife with loopholes. To effectively ban weapons in the U.S., a country with 90 guns for every 100 people, the government would have to outlaw all semiautomatic weapons. That's not all though. It would then have to double, if not triple, the staff at Alcohol Tobacco Firearms, and sweep...

Let's be clear: when Congress passes an "assault weapons" ban (and they will pass a ban), it'll be pretty much toothless. That the law will likely leave most things unchanged doesn't matter — the government simply has to do something. Much like Clinton's ban in 1994, this new legislation will be rife with loopholes. To effectively ban weapons in the U.S., a country with 90 guns for every 100 people, the government would have to outlaw all semiautomatic weapons. That's not all though. It would then have to double, if not triple, the staff at Alcohol Tobacco Firearms, and sweep...

Law enforcement officials from a New York region where a local paper published a map identifying gun owners say prisoners are using the information to intimidate guards. Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco, who spoke at a news conference flanked by other county officials, said the Journal News' decision to post an online map of names and addresses of handgun owners Dec. 23 has put law enforcement officers in danger. "They have inmates coming up to them and telling them exactly where they live. That's not acceptable to me," Falco said, according to Newsday.

Lincolnton Furniture Company closed abruptly Thursday just one year after it was hailed by President Barack Obama as an example of the recovering U.S. economy. Furniture-making operations stopped indefinitely and only a few people will remain employed moving forward, company financial officer Ben Causey said. “I don’t know where it’s going to go exactly; we’re still evaluating our situation,” Causey said. “We just didn’t have any choice at this point.” The company was not receiving the orders it needed to sustain its operations, Causey said.

Thumb through any personal finance book written over the last five years and chances are you'll come across at least a handful of chapters on how cutting daily luxuries like coffee and cable. It's that kind of finger-wagging criticism that's rubbed so many hardworking people wrong –– the idea that they wouldn't be in this position if only they'd watched less TV, traded in their car, or tried cooking more meals at home. In case you're in need of a reminder of the bigger picture, Personal finance expert Helaine Olen nails the issue right on its ugly head in her...

AFP - A pair of highly trained canines guided a modified car along a New Zealand race track Monday, passing their doggie driving tests with flying collars on live television, despite the odd off-road detour. In a heartwarming project aimed at increasing pet adoptions from animal shelters, a group of cross-breed rescue dogs from Auckland were taught to drive a car -- steering, pedals and all -- to show the potential of unwanted canines. Footage of the motorised mutts learning their skills has proved an Internet sensation but their ultimate test came on Monday, when the two best performers, Monty...

"You know it's going to be boring, but you just don't appreciate how boring it actually is," one first-year associate at a large New York law firm tells us. The young lawyer describes long days of reading dense papers, which he only barely understands, and which seem to have no bearing on any actual case. "Doc review is the most boring experience of your life, but strangely nerve-wracking because you know you're messing it up, but you just can't bring yourself to care that you're messing it up. And you're probably going to mess it up even if you did...

As of Oct. 21, Chicago had raked up 435 murders, earning itself the title of the deadliest global city, according to NBC Chicago. And New York's police commissioner has had enough. NYPD Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly took President Barack Obama to task Sunday for failing to speak out against the wave of violence that's been battering the Windy City since this summer. "Maybe the city most affected (by guns) is Chicago. The President's hometown. But barely a peep out of him," Kelly said, referencing the lack of debate about gun control during this year's presidential election, according to the New...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wants to more than double its fleet of Predator drones for surveillance missions inside the United States, Trevor Timm of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reports. The DHS recently signed a contract with General Atomics —worth as much as $443 million — to purchase up to 14 Predator drones, which would add to its current fleet of 10 if Congress appropriates the funds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbycMtTUDfE RIP ANDREW!!!!! I/We we will always remember and love you!!!!! Rest in Piece Andrew - I/We WILL NEVER EVER FORGET YOU!!!!!

A caller into Hannity today said he ordered a bunch of things off of Mitt Romney.com before the election and did not get everything he ordered and then only got a bumper sticker the week before the election. Funny thing is that this happened to me too. I ordered 4 bumper stickers and 2 yard signs. The yard signs were not cheap, I think $15.00 each. My local area had nothing at all being in NYC area. The bumper stickers came after about 1.5 months but I never got the yard signs. Has this happened to anyone else, because I...

(Reuters) - Former U.S. first lady Barbara Bush said on Thursday that she's ready to move beyond this year's campaign season, in comments that came at an Austin conference the week after President Barack Obama's re-election. "I'm tired now of the elections," Bush, who had endorsed Republican Mitt Romney, said at a forum on America's first ladies. "People spoke. Move on, get on with it. I want to do other things and not to be ugly."

Very good speech. http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/4161883

My thoughts

Worse still, Ekdahl told Business Insider that the Romney campaign failed to provide poll-watching volunteers in his region — Jacksonville, Florida, a key Republican city in a major swing state — with proper credentials and accurate voter strike lists, rendering them unable to perform their duties even if the ORCA app had worked. In interviews with Business Insider last week, sources close to the Romney campaign confirmed Ekdahl's account, and described a technological undertaking that failed at every level. According to several of these sources, ORCA was developed by a small, isolated tech team working under Romney's political team. These...

President Obama tonight said he’s interested in seeing an assault weapons ban reintroduced, breaking his silence on the legislation, which has persisted in spite of at least five mass shootings during his term.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFruN-PDAzY She warned the GOP back in August many times not to ignore Ron Paul or his supporters or some of the issues he advocated. Looks like Sarah was right. Between what they did to her and ron paul - looks like the republican party screwed the pooch.