Free Republic

The House of Representatives approved a US budget Wednesday that shaves $5.5 trillion in spending over a decade, repeals the Obamacare health law and eliminates the federal deficit in nine years without raising taxes. The Republican blueprint for fiscal year 2016 is seen as a compromise between the party's fiscal conservatives, who want to slash the debt by virtually any means possible, and defense hawks calling for increased military spending amid rising extremism and unrest worldwide. The House debated several budget proposals Wednesday, including a few Democratic alternatives and one favored by deficit hawks, but they were voted down. The...

I work in a major department store west of the Pittsburgh area and I sold some jewelry to a lady who was buying it foe her grandaughter's tea party. Just to make conversation, I referenced the Tea Party political group. She said how bad they were and Ted Cruz is "too Christian." I asked, "what do you mean by that?" She said, "I'm Catholic and liberal," and I replied, "hopefully if him or someone like him was elected, we can start to fix the damage of the last 7 years." She didn't like it. People like that drive me nuts....

This week's thread is dessert - starting with: Carrot Cake! I first tasted Carrot Cake in the 1970's. I'm sure it was a standard recipe before then, but it seemed to gain a great popularity in the 'hip' 70's. This recipe, which comes from an old friend's mother ca. 1975, is still the very best I've ever eaten, and is very easy to make. Again: Grate The Carrots By Hand, on a box grater! Doing it in a food processor will probably release too much liquid, and the cake won't be the same. The only difficulty you may have is...

Chelsea Handler says she has no doubt in her mind that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted numerous women. Handler revealed to Esquire that she had a strange experience with Cosby about 10 years ago, and she believes “he’s guilty.” “He tried to Cosby me,” she told the magazine.

Bill Murray is a man of great taste, that's well known by now. He's appeared in a film with Wu-Tang Clan's RZA and GZA, shared a stage with Eric Clapton and even hung out with Leeds punks Eagulls (who got a tattoo especially to mark the occasion). The celebrated actor also likes to mix it with the general public - and these moments, as well as urban legends regarding his prank antics, are becoming even more well known in this increasingly digitalised age. Now, just like Danny DeVito before him at last year's Coachella, Murray has has been checking out...

I have noticed that there seems to be more and more posters on FR that have accounts from the 1990's or early 2000's, that are posting a lot more frequently. I can't be the only one that has noticed this. Maybe it was Ted Cruz, I don't know, but I'd like to know that I'm not alone here.

Bankrupt consumer electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. (RSHC), has listed personal data of millions of its customers for sale. The RadioShack assets listed for sale includes more than 65 million customer names and physical addresses and 13 million email addresses. Hilco Streambank is the advisory firm that is taking care of disposition of RadioShack's assets in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy auction. According to reports, the auction for the personal data of customers has been concluded with hedge fund Standard General winning the auction. However, the deal still requires approval from a bankruptcy court and it looks like RadioShack will also face...

An economic implosion is becoming increasingly likely in Venezuela , and the country's debtholders, trade partners and neighbors are bracing for the fallout. The country's energy-dependent economy requires oil prices above $100 per barrel in order to sustain itself. Oil accounts for 95 percent of the country's export earnings, and combined with gas, it's 25 percent of the country's gross domestic product. Internationally traded Brent crude prices have fallen more than 48 percent in the past year. Meanwhile, a combination of inflation and currency controls have generated scarcity of basic needs such as flour, toilet paper and medicine. Venezuelans stand...

Ford is to sell a car that can read road signs and adjust its speed accordingly to ensure the vehicle is not driving too fast. The speed-limiting tech can be activated via the steering wheel and briefly overridden by pressing firmly on the accelerator. The car company suggests the facility will help drivers avoid fines and could reduce the number of accidents. However, one expert said the innovation might only serve as a "stopgap". "There's a plan for speed restrictions to be beamed to your car's computer systems and controlled from there, rather than requiring street sign visual recognition systems,"...

As her husband writes out a list of supplies needed to stage a terrorist attack in Victoria, Amanda Korody presses an undercover officer to find someone to look after the couple's cat after they are gone. "(She's) a beautiful cat, wonderful personality, but obviously under the circumstances we need to find someone who will care for her," says the accused B.C. terrorist in a covert police recording made in early May 2013 and played before a B.C. Supreme Court jury on Wednesday. "Preferably a Muslim," adds Korody's partner and co-accused, John Nuttall, prompting the undercover officer to promise he will...

In the years to come, some of the metals that go into making our phones and computers could be mined, not just from the Earth, but also from our poop. Sorry to ruin your lunch, but that's not a typo. This isn't a satirical article and CNET has not been hacked. Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey are looking at ways to recover the surprising abundance of valuable metals that can be found in wastewater and sewage. "There are metals everywhere," Kathleen Smith of the USGS says in a release. "In your hair care products, detergents, even nanoparticles that are...

Interesting choice of symbolism. See attached picture, painting at left.

<p>Gov. Chris Christie is reiterating his opposition to legalizing marijuana for recreational use and says tax revenue from sales of the drug amount to "blood money.</p>

Here is a really great interview by Neil Cavuto with Mitt Romney. Definitely worth the listen. Mitt Romney: 'Hell hath no fury like Obama scorned'

Want to get a good fix on Barack Obama’s strange, obsequious and increasingly dangerous policy toward Iran? There’s a book that–intentionally or not–explains it. Who knows if Obama ever took a gander at it? But it sure reads like the way in which our deluded President sees the Middle East. Back in 2008 Robert Baer, an ex-CIA agent turned journalist, wrote The Devil We Know (Crown). Its thesis: Iran is an impressively rising regional and global power, and the U.S. ought to recognize this fact and cease futilely resisting the inevitable course of history. What should U.S. policy toward Arab...

Beirut: With Iran moving closer to a deal with world powers to constrain its nuclear programme in return for an end to sanctions, Arab analysts and leaders are focused more on how Tehran is working unconstrained to tighten its grip on Arab states, from Iraq to Lebanon, and Syria to Yemen. The man behind what some see as an attempt to create a new Persian “empire” on Arab land is Major General Qasem Sulaimani, commander of the Quds brigade of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Since he emerged from the shadows last autumn, Sulaimani seems to be omnipresent...

The Senate’s top Democrat was more deeply involved than previously known in an effort to secure U.S. visas for Chinese investors in a Las Vegas casino despite the concerns of career federal officials, according to an inspector general report released on Tuesday. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and his staff received weekly updates from top officials at U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) regarding the status of visas for investors in the SLS Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, the report reveals. Executives at the casino’s parent company, a client of Reid’s son Rory, donated thousands of dollars to...

A blue-ribbon panel that reviewed the FBI’s response to challenges after the September 11 attacks has concluded that the premier federal law enforcement agency isn’t moving fast enough to transform itself into an intelligence operation that can predict future terrorist attacks and gather information overseas about threats to Americans. The three-member board tempered its criticism of the FBI with plaudits for its progress since 2001, but the commission said more change is “urgently” needed — a critique that seems particularly pointed in light of the more than 13 years that have passed since the Al Qaeda-directed attacks on the World...

The BBC's director general Tony Hall has confirmed that Jeremy Clarkson will not have his Top Gear contract renewed, after a physical assault on one of his colleagues.

The second day of the three-day Loyola University Chicago Climate Change Conference began with a panel discussion on divestment from fossil fuels. The Friday morning panel, titled “The Risks, Nuts, and Bolts of Divestment,” was chaired by Bruce Boyd, principal and senior managing director of Arabella Advisors, a company that works with foundations to improve planetary health and is now measuring global commitment to divestment from fossil fuels and reinvestment in alternative, clean energy sources.  In his opening remarks, Boyd noted that divestments are currently at $50 billion and are expected to reach $150 billion by the start of the...