Free Republic

WeÂ’ve reported on Frank LautenbergÂ’s knee-jerk Explosive Materials Background Check Act before, but now that the full text has been released people have begun to parse out exactly how bad this thing is. Unfortunately, since it simply re-writes existing law instead of creating new law, itÂ’s fairly hard to understand all the moving parts. Jesse over at Predator Intelligence has a document he put together that shows how the EMBCA amends Federal law to screw over gun owners. HereÂ’s what I take away from this . . . â– Requires those who want to use black or smokeless powder to obtain...

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon repeatedly denied knowing anything about Missouri illegally sharing its citizens private CCW information with the federal government, even after his own head of Missouri Highway Patrol contradicted him in a public hearing. Now we’ve learned that Nixon not only knew about the violation of Missouri law, but he was thanked in a letter by Janet Napolitano: DHS- Letter to Nixon- REAL ID Compliance — ongoing MO CCW Scandal (image of letter is available at site) Missouri law — signed into effect by Gov. Nixon himself — prohibits full compliance with the Real ID Act. This includes...

[...] Almost 180 years ago our infant country attacked Tripoli under circumstances that are eerily similar to contemporary times. That conflict, immortalized in the Marine Corps Hymn, "From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" called the Tripolitan War or the Barbary Pirate War, came shortly after we gained our independence from England. The United States chose to fight the pirates of Barbary, rather than pay tribute, as did all the other nations who traded in the Mediterranean Sea. The decision was bold, but the eventual victory by the tiny United States Navy broke a pattern of international...

A friend of mine has received information from a company called The Loan Modification Team, which is offering to modify his mortgage at a lower monthly payment, with a fixed interest rate. He currently has an ARM, which is, in my opinion, a dangerous position to be in at this point in time. Do any FReepers have info on this company specifically, or this practice in general, to offer, as he attempts to make a good decision? His current monthly payment is pushing his budget to the limit, and he is NOT behind in his payments, so there is no...

I recently lost my job, and, as a single mother of five kids, I am wondering if any Freepers know of work at home/telecommute opportunities that are worthwhile. There are lots of scams out there!

Huckabee Not the Best for Homeschoolers This is something new for me. For the last 22 years, my family has served the homeschooling movement without ever uttering a single word (in print OR behind the scenes) regarding national or state politics. But now that one particular candidate-former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee-is experiencing a surge in popularity that the mainstream press attributes to the homeschool movement, I feel the need to say a few words. Acccording to a December 17 Washington Post story, "It was the endorsement by prominent national home-school advocate Michael Farris that helped propel Huckabee to a surprising...

FUGNIDO, Ethiopia — At 10 p.m. in a sweltering refugee camp here in western Ethiopia, a group of foreigners was making its way past thatch-roofed huts when a tall, rail-thin man approached a silver-haired American and took hold of his hands. The man, a Sudanese refugee, announced that his wife had just given birth, and the boy would be honored with the visitor’s name. After several awkward translation attempts of “Mark Bent,” it was settled. “Mar,” he said, will grow up hearing stories of his namesake, the man who handed out flashlights powered by the sun. Since August 2005, when...

THE SLIMY and toxic water covering much of New Orleans does not stink nearly as much as the slimy and toxic accusation that help didn't reach the victims of Hurricane Katrina quickly enough because most of those victims were black. It is a sickening slander, especially since there is no evidence to back it up. Worse than sickening: It is hateful. It is a libel spread not in a spirit of constructive criticism, but to inflame racial bitterness -- bitterness toward American society generally and toward the Bush administration in particular. Already, a new poll by the Pew Research Center...

Is the DU site being overrun? I checked in at the forums this morning and found this message: Some forum features are currently unavailable (Level 3) (Sep 06th 2005) You may have noticed that some features of Democratic Underground are currently not working. This is intentional and a result of the website experiencing an unusually high level of traffic currently.Democratic Underground has dozens of features that we've programmed into our software over the years that, while important, are considered extras because they are not required for DU to run smoothly. We are very proud of all these extra features we...