Free Republic

New rankings of lawmakers’ votes show that that Sen. John Cornyn ranks as more conservative among senators than Rep. Steve Stockman ranks in the House, despite the latter’s contention that Cornyn is too liberal: How they rank: National Journal, a public-policy magazine, ranked all members of Congress on a conservative/liberal scale based on votes on key legislation in 2013. Cornyn ranked the 14th-most conservative of the 100 senators. Stockman ranked 138th among the 435 House members. He was behind all but two of the 24 Texas Republicans and in the middle of all House Republicans. How it works: The particular...

"Take a good look at them," I said, "because the state plans to exterminate them." I kind of agree with the department's main reason for exterminating New York state's resident mute swans (by the way, that's the species' name, because they're usually silent). Non-native species often pose problems. I just have two problems with the plan. One, I don't think mute swans are really too much of a threat to anything or anyone in New York state. They live mainly on Long Island and the lower Hudson, with a few on the Great Lakes. They number just around 2,200 birds,...

"The Republican establishment has more than a tactical deficiency, however. They seem to have no principle that they offer or follow with any consistency. Their lack of articulation may be just a reflection of that lack of principle. It is hard to get to the point when you have no point to get to. Ted Cruz filled a void. But the Republican establishment created the void."

The FCC is launching a new study, taking upon itself the task of deciding what news the public “needs” to hear, versus the news the public wants to hear. The agency will conduct a “General Population Survey” that will “measure community members’ actual and perceived critical information needs.” Got that? What you think (perceive) you need to know is different from what the government says you need to know. Next, the FCC will send monitors to newsrooms across the country who will ask questions regarding the “philosophy” of the newsroom, inquire about possible conflicts between reporters and their bosses, and...

Tayna Fogle sat just behind Sen. Rand Paul, nodding her head and listening as he pressed the case with Kentucky state senators to restore felon voting rights.

An Obama administration plan that would get researchers into newsrooms across the country is sparking concern among congressional Republicans and conservative groups. The purpose of the proposed Federal Communications Commission study is to “identify and understand the critical information needs of the American public, with special emphasis on vulnerable-disadvantaged populations,” according to the agency. However, one agency commissioner, Ajit Pai, said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece Wednesday that the May 2013 proposal would allow researchers to “grill reporters, editors and station owners about how they decide which stories to run.” He also said he feared the study might...

Obesity comes with a number of life threatening risks. The condition, for instance, is linked to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and even cancer. However, loneliness is a more threatening killer than obesity, at least among elderly people. The researchers also found that extreme loneliness increases an older person's risks of early death by 14 percent which means that loneliness has a double the impact on early death as obesity. Cacioppo explained that chronic loneliness is associated with higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which raises risks of strokes and heart attacks. It is also linked with high blood pressure and...

And now, the man who once aspired to become a police officer tells CNN he's hoping to go back to school and pursue a career as a lawyer "to stop the miscarriage of justice." During his interview with CNN, Zimmerman's girlfriend and her young daughter wouldn't leave his side. In an interview that aired on the Spanish-language Univision network Sunday, Zimmerman said he was unemployed, had a personal debt of $2.5 million and wasn't receiving any government benefits.

Vitamin D ...the researchers found that adults who took vitamin D supplements daily lived longer than those who didn't. Probiotics ...they're useful in very specific circumstances, but it's not necessary to continually take them on a daily basis. Zinc ...the mineral significantly reduced the duration of the cold, and also made symptoms less severe. Niacin ...Also known as vitamin B3, niacin is talked up as a cure for all sorts of conditions (including high cholesterol, Alzheimer's, diabetes and headaches) but in most of these cases, a prescription-strength dose of niacin has been needed to show a clear result. At over-the-counter...

This week the non-partisan CBO finally reported the truth – Obamacare is the perfect job-killing machine. Millions have already been downsized from full-time to part-time work and now we know from the CBO that an additional 2.3 million jobs will be eliminated. As I predicted from day one, this is exactly what Obamacare was intended to do- destroy the middle class and make us all dependent on government checks to survive. ...Mimicking the traits of communist dictators and tin pot tyrants, Obama obviously believes he can change any law he wants, at any given hour, of any given day.

President Barack Obama is teeing off on a private California golf course owned by supporter Larry Ellison, the billionaire co-founder of the Oracle software company. Ellison ranks third on Forbes’ annual list of the 400 richest Americans, with an estimated $41 billion fortune.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has told an audience in Jakarta, Indonesia, that climate change is a threat to the entire world. "When I think about the array of global climate, of the global threats, think about this: terrorism, epidemics, poverty, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. All challenges that know no borders. The reality is that climate change ranks right up there with every single one of them." Kerry said the science of climate change is compelling the world to act and that the science is absolutely certain.

People with serious pre-existing diseases, precisely those the president aimed to help with ObamaCare, could find themselves paying for expensive drug treatments with no help from the health care exchanges. Dr. Scott Gottlieb of the American Enterprise Institute explains,"if the medicine that you need isn't on that list, it's not covered at all. You have to pay completely out of pocket to get that medicine, and the money you spend doesn't count against your deductible, and it doesn't count against your out of pocket limits, so you're basically on your own." The plan had claimed it would rescue those with...

General Rashid Dostum is a legendary and widely feared ex-warlord running for vice president alongside presidential candidate Dr. Ashraf Ghani (more on him later). Revered by fellow ethnic Uzbeks, he has been credited with having tremendous influence in Afghanistan’s previous elections. A fierce battlefield commander, Dostum is said to have been instrumental in helping the U.S. Special Forces topple the Taliban regime following the 9/11 attacks. He has strongly denied accusations of human rights abuses and other war-related atrocities throughout decades of strife across Afghanistan

Cat lovers across the country are expressing their displeasure with the administration’s use of kittens in an advertisement to promote Obamacare signups. The offending image, found on the website “The Adorable Care Act,” shows four adorable kittens in a supposed Valentine’s Day greeting with the caption: “Treat yourself right this Valentines Day. Get pamPURRED with health care.”

A mother dog and her six puppies were found abandoned at a mobile home Thursday while Jackson County deputies went to assist with an eviction. All the dogs are at the Jackson County Animal Shelter. “They do not appear to have been mistreated.” The dog and her 10-week-old puppies, which are all a mixed breed, appear to be in healthy condition, having good weight and playful personalities.

Gay rights in Africa suffered another setback when President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda told members of his party on Friday that he would sign a bill imposing harsh sentences for homosexual acts, including life imprisonment in some cases. The measure would criminalize “the promotion or recognition” of homosexual relations. After a first conviction, offenders face a 14-year prison sentence. Subsequent convictions of “aggravated homosexuality” could bring a penalty of life in prison. According to Amnesty International, homosexuality is illegal in 38 of 54 African countries.

Reolubin is one of the country’s 186,000 medical coders who work in the back offices of hospitals. It’s her job to translate doctors’ scribbles into diagnosis codes. Those are sent to insurance companies, which use them to determine how much to pay hospitals for care. With 14,000 codes, ICD-9 seems puny by comparison. The new manual explodes that code set to 68,000 much more granular and detailed terms to define — very exactly and specifically — what ails us. There are different numbers for getting struck or bitten by a turkey (W61.42 or W61.43). There are codes for injuries caused...

Unable to guarantee adequate medical care for its citizens, the Quebec Government is turning to euthanasia. The law would allow 14 year olds to refuse treatment without the consent of their parents. Also in the French version, other witnesses including Luc describe the potential abuses by politicians, hospital administrators, the medical profession and families in a money driven society where certain lives would be deemed less worthy to live because of financial pressures.