Free Republic

BERLIN — When Marie Duness-Rose, 39, immigrated to Germany from Bulgaria 10 years ago, she left a lot behind, she says. But now she holds a management degree and runs a thriving bistro serving Balkan food in a popular neighborhood in Berlin. She is one of about 6.2 million non-German citizens in the country and one of about 15 million — or 19 percent of the total population — who are not ethnically German. That percentage is one of the highest proportions of immigrants in any European country, and it is not expected to decrease any time soon. Last month,...

If the Soviets had invaded West Germany in the early days of the Cold War, they would have found more than a hodgepodge of NATO troops waiting for them. They would also have confronted a secret army of Hitler’s former soldiers, waiting to settle scores with the Communists. Considering the brutal, take-no-prisoners warfare on the Eastern Front in World War II, former German SS troopers fighting vengeful Red Army troops—again—would have been the height of savagery. The German magazine Der Spiegel discovered a file buried for years in the archives of the BND, Germany’s spy agency. The documents reveal that...

In the past 100 years, the number of Australians reporting on the national census that they have "no religion" has jumped from one in 250 in 1911 to more than one in five in 2011. In addition, many of those who nominate a religious affiliation do not actively participate in religious activities. The latest Australian ­Bureau of Statistics social trends report provides the first in-depth look at the 2011 census data on religion. "Rates of reporting no religion have been steadily rising, and Australia is not alone in this - rates are also rising for countries like New Zealand, England...

More intensive screening to identify firearm owners among individuals who are subject to domestic violence restraining orders, and streamlining processes to recover guns at the time those restraining orders are served could help enforce existing laws that prohibit these offenders from having firearms, a pilot study conducted by violence prevention experts at the University of California, Davis, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has found. SNIP "This study represents a step in the right direction, but larger-scale studies will be needed to determine optimal procedures for screening and recovering firearms, assessing the incidence of adverse events and...

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” I think it would be safe to say that in 1792, if an agent of the government would have stopped Thomas Jefferson on the street in Charlottesville, and demanded his personal diary or papers without a warrant, Mr. Jefferson would have likely have used that little...

Java, Guns and Rock’n Roll…….with Ted Nugent Filed under Rock N Roll, VIP Coffee Interview If you listen to Rock and Roll music or have listened in the past oh, four decades, then you know the name Ted Nugent. Aside from leaving a huge mark in the rock world with Wango Tango, Snakeskin Cowboys, Cat Scratch Fever, and Stranglehold (to name a scant few, a few over 30 million sold that is.), Ted is an unapologetic and highly opinionated force in the media. No matter what the Nuge does these days it comes with controversy, from his pro hunting and...

In an interview with Bloomberg TV from the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills, former Vice President Al Gore claims American democracy has been "hacked." Gore also opined on former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently commenting that she regretted her decision in Bush v. Gore. "[America] has been hacked. That is a computer term when the operating system of a computer is taken over and the computer does things the owner does not want it to. That is what has been happening to American democracy. You have 90% of the people in favor of background checks for gun...

And this is of course Massachusetts. Zip code 02116 is in congressional district 8, which went for Obama 58-41 last November. That’s Barack Obama, the guy whose political career was launched in the living room of terrorist bombers Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. There’s your irony. Mind you, that 58-41 for the district is a tad less than Massachusetts overall, which went 61-38 for Obama. Why? Probably because of Euro-ethnic Reagan Democrats. I see 13 percent of persons in zip 02116 declare their first ancestry as Irish. Irony. Irish-Americans, along with a cast of characters that included Colonel Gaddafi, Yasser...

snip---------------- With few exceptions, states with the highest rates of gun ownership -- for example, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Alabama, and West Virginia -- also tended to have the highest suicide rates. These states were also carried overwhelmingly by George Bush in the 2000 presidential election. snip-------------------- "In states with a higher percentage of the population that belong to a church, it is plausible that religious views and doctrine about suicide are well-known through sacred texts, theology or sermons, and adherents may be less likely to commit suicide." snip--------------------- The sociologist said that although policies aimed at seriously regulating firearm...

We all remember the famous line delivered by the fictional Walt Kowalski played by Clint Eastwood. Walt, was a recently widowed UAW worker and Korean War veteran. Delivered from behind a freshly charged and precisely aimed M-1 Garand to a trespassing Asian gang member rolling in Walt's begonias' one night.....it definitely got the point across. As Walt would say later to three other wayward "utes" picking on a young girl as he calmly leveled his M1911 at them with a sneer....."Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have f#$ked with? That's me." Such men...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Mark Warner, Senator from Virginia Sir, My family settled upcountry VA in 1748 refugees from Ulster and the Highlands where we were "debarred the use of arms" by the King after the rebellion of 1745. That and religion is why we came to the Old Dominion. As abolitionists, in 1860-1863 from Mason County, we lobbied and won new statehood as the free mountain state of WV. We are a stubborn people. Don't bring shame on the birthplace of our nation, of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Mason, Henry and so many more by joining the howling lynch mob seeking...

Aurora Colorado and the Sikh Temple. Rampage Killings:A clinical response analysis Part I The Stage: The recent Aurora Colorado and Sikh Temple rampage killings have the urban liberals and their ilk once again howling for gun bans and damning semi-autos as weapons of mass destruction fit only for battlefields. The gun culture counters with how it shows once again that venues where guns are banned (the theater and the Temple are gun free zones) are nothing but killing zones targeted by the rampage killers. This article and Part II to follow, instead describes a formula for dramatically decreasing your odds...

Sources told ABC News the suspect was a “white supremacist” or “skinhead.” And officials told NBC News he had “some kind of radical or white supremacist views,” but was apparently not a member of any kind of radical organization. His past run-ins with law enforcement were described as minor. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Page “was a frustrated neo-Nazi who had been the leader of a racist white-power band.” The band, called End Apathy, formed in 2005. According to the group’s MySpace page, its music “is a sad commentary on our sick society and the problems that prevent...

Cutting Rampage Killers Short: What would Patton Do? The short answer? George would have killed the pansy bastard and spat on the corpse. The Long Answer? George would have employed the same tactics he learned in Mexico and the trenches of WWI as a young officer. George would have coolly applied as an individual the same solution to the problem of a vicious surprise attack on a soft target as he did with his armies in WWII France. The Prepared: Foremost, George would be mentally and logistically prepared. He wouldn’t expect to be attacked in that theater, but he would...

A famous Chevy Chase routine on Saturday Night Live was a weekly update on the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. Franco died 20 November, 1973. For the first two years of the ‘Weekend Update” segment, Chase would report with a deadpan face and somber tone that “Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.” Much the same reportage method could be applied to the status of European Zone finances as they circle the bowl. Like Bagdad Bob on Nodoz, we hear a continuous stream of reassurances by the media, bankers, financiers, and government officials on both sides of the ocean that...

I can’t resist, I have to show off my new 1750's powderhorn! I wanted a French and Indian war period horn for use with my Tulle, something that a militia ranger might have carried. I am blown away by what I have here. This is my second horn from Vandalia Smoothbores, they only take custom orders one at a time.....I am extremely happy to have this horn, its exactly what I envisioned and the craftsmanship is unbelievable. Pictures at....http://www.opensourcesurvival.com/?p=2441

Adding to Brother Rat’s ongoing storm narrative and also using his bullet(s) point format……. BULLET: Blown away? Like many of the other OSS staff and contributors my family was at ground zero for the surprise fast moving linear windstorm that started in northwest Indiana and spread out like a flood across Ohio, northeast Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia. Washington DC was especially hard hit. My prayers go out to all affected. The storm sped across 700 miles in 12 hours through the Midwest, north Appalachian, and mid-Atlantic states. At peak impact, over 3 million households were without power. The storm...

Court tosses law about false claims on medals Published June 28, 2012 Associated Press WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a federal law making it a crime to lie about receiving the Medal of Honor and other prized military awards, with justices branding the false claim "contemptible" but nonetheless protected by the First Amendment. The court voted 6-3 in favor of Xavier Alvarez, a former local elected official in California who falsely said he was a decorated war veteran and had pleaded guilty to violating the 2006 law, known as the Stolen Valor Act. The law, enacted...

snip.... Old News and Current Events: I have written before that the fundamentals of the Euro and European Union didn’t bode well. They still don’t. Each step of these “rescues”, Iceland in 2008, Ireland in 2009, Portugal in 2011, Italy and Greece in 2011 and 2012….and now Spain ….are all just shocking the dying patient back to life for a few more moments of pain and chaos. The inevitable and permanent straight-line on the EKG is coming. It will be a collapse of the Euro and a financial crisis of a size not seen since WWII or the Great Depression....

Well the Big Brown Truck of happiness, dropped off the scope and rings I ordered a while ago. This is what I settled on for the Hard times rifle in the optics department, based on the following Philosophy of the Modern Longhunter and anticipated uses/needs. Function and Feature priority A manual action rifle, capable of engaging small game up to White Tailed Deer sized medium game at 25-500 yards. Magazine or stripper clip fed Mid range optic capable Back up Iron sights standard An easily procurable caliber with lots of reload data Under 8lb with optic and magazine Low recoil...