Free Republic

On January 10th 1776 a 47 page pamphlet written by an anonymous writer was published in the English colonies. The mood in the colonies was one of uneasiness as open revolt was beginning to flare up in the New England colonies. Deep divisions over the debate for independence from mother England were gripping many of the colonists. Many colonists feared just entertaining the idea of breaking away from England was treason and punishable by death. They believed that the differences they had with the crown could be reconciled. Then a 39 year pamphleteer who just two years earlier lived in...

SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico’s newly elected Gov. Susana Martinez has come out swinging with a budget proposal that would cut spending and close the budget deficit without raising taxes or making cuts to classroom spending or health care for New Mexico’s most vulnerable. Martinez also stated one of her first priorities is to revoke driver licenses issued to illegal aliens, pointing out since Arizona passed SB 1070, illegal aliens have been pouring in to New Mexico, which does not require proof of citizenship to obtain licenses.

Let the “health” gurus who scream about the evils of tobacco, while ignoring the problems of marijuana, be placed in the hands of doctors, nurses, paramedics, lawyers, accountants, auto mechanics, airline pilots, police officers, and government officials who wouldn’t think of touching tobacco, but who smoke a joint every night to relax − and sometimes in the morning before work. Let the immigration “rights” advocates be placed in the hands of similar people who have limited knowledge of English, but who must understand and carry out complex instructions that were written by other people who also have limited knowledge of...

Retired Congressman Duncan Hunter released this statement today regarding this weekend’s critical votes in the United States Senate: The so-called DREAM Act does one thing – and that is it disserves the men and woman of our Border Patrol and our other border control agencies. It increases the magnet for illegal immigration into the United States. It is one more way of saying that if you get past the immigration officers, and you violate our laws and come into the United States, and you cut into the line in front of the people who are patiently waiting, you will be...

One thing that saddens me about the TSA security controversy is that we're missing a great opportunity. Sure, the insanity of patting down three-year-old, blonde-haired lasses and octogenarian grandmothers with prosthetics has caused a great backlash, as more and more people are realizing that our government's common-sense-blind approach is born of a deadly allegiance to political correctness. In fact, I've even heard a few usually very careful pundits float the idea that we should think about profiling Muslims. Unfortunately, though, they invariably drop the ball in the debate. The problem is that they don't believe they occupy the moral high...

Rome - Mosques in Italy will not receive a share of income tax revenue the Italian government allocates to religious faiths each year. Hindu and Buddhist temples, Greek Orthodox churches and Jehovah's Witnesses will be eligible for the funds, according to a bill approved by the Italian cabinet in May and still must be approved by parliament. Until now, the government had earmarked 8 percent of income tax revenue for Italy's established churches. The great majority of these funds go to the Catholic Church, although if they wish, individual tax payers may elect to give the money to charities and...

This video is an unexpected lesson in precious metals and money.

Rush Limbaugh recently dedicated a substantial portion of his show to an incredible article by Angelo M. Codevilla in the current American Spectator: America's Ruling Class — And the Perils of Revolution. (Here's the text of Limbaugh's monologue.) Here's how important I think this article is: It makes me think of Thomas Paine's Common Sense. Published in January 1776, Paine's most portentuous work "fixed" in written words (like a fly is "fixed" in amber) a lot of things that people intuitively knew and felt but had never heard boldly stated in clear, plain English. And once the words had been...

Thomas Paine's political writings, I am singular enough to believe, have done more harm than his irreligious ones. He understood neither government nor religion. From a malignant heart he wrote virulent declamations, which the enthusiastic fury of the times intimidated all men, even Mr. Burke, from answering as he ought. His deism, as it appears to me, has promoted rather than retarded the cause of revolution in America, and indeed in Europe. His billingsgate, stolen from Blount's Oracles of Reason, from Bolingbroke., Voltaire, Berenger, &c., will never discredit Christianity, which will hold its ground in some degree as long as...

Sarah Palin says recreational pot smoking is "relatively speaking a minimal problem" in America. ... "I think we need to prioritize our law enforcement efforts," she said. "If somebody's gonna smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody any harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in and try to clean up some of the other problems we have in society." Allen St. Pierre, the director of NORML, which supports liberalizing drug laws, said Palin's position on pot is perfectly in line with her identity as a politician. "If you're...

Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday night that law enforcement should not focus its energy on the “minimal problem” of marijuana. Palin made the comment during an appearance on the Fox Business Network with Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). The libertarian Paul said enforcing marijuana restrictions specifically and war on drugs more generally is a “useless battle,” a point Palin somewhat agreed with though she was clear that she does not support legalization. "If we're talking about pot, I'm not for the legalization of pot,” Palin said. “I think that would just encourage our young people to think that...

THE STATE-RUN MEDIA IS OUTRAGED! Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed a bill today that bans schools from teaching classes that call for “the overthrow of the the US Government.” The democratic-media complex believes this is racist: The Yahoo headline reads: “More racial controversy for Arizona” The Politico headline reads: “Arizona bans ‘ethnic studies’” This is what the new law bans: The law prohibits the teaching of any classes that promote “the overthrow of the United States government,” “resentment toward a race or class of people,” “are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group” or “advocate ethnic solidarity instead...

Conservative does not need any qualifiers to make it sound more enlightened. If you are going to use one, the classic "rock-ribbed" is what it should be. Of course, those folks are few and far between, it appears.

Palin urges 'common sense' folks to get involved politically By Adrianne DeWeese - adrianne.deweese@examiner.net The Examiner Posted May 01, 2010 @ 09:07 PM Independence, MO — Sarah Palin felt at home Saturday in Independence as a hockey mom and as a maverick. "Where else can a hockey mom feel right at home but right here in the home of the (Missouri) Mavericks?" said Palin, a former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, at the Independence Events Center before a crowd of 2,500 attendees. "It takes me back to 2008." Palin's keynote address concluded Preserving American Liberty's one-day...

Once a separate nation, Texas has recently been behaving more like an independent economic republic than a regular state. While it hasn't been immune to the problems plaguing the nation, the Texas housing market, employment rate, and overall economic growth are relatively strong. Chalk some of this up to accidents of geology and geography. But Texan prosperity also reflects the conscious efforts of a once-parochial place to embrace globalization. On several measures of economic stress, Texas is doing quite well. The state unemployment rate is 8.2 percent—high, but still one many states would envy. (California's is 12.5 percent; Michigan's is...

The new “Rush Radio” station has taken off, nearly quadrupling its audience since flipping from a Spanish music station to a conservative news talker last month. WXKS-AM (1200) - which snagged Rush Limbaugh from right-wing rival WRKO-AM (680) - fetched a 1.1 share of all Boston listeners older than 6 during the month of March, according to Arbitron ratings released yesterday.

Moves by France and Belgium to ban Muslim full face veils predictably angered some Islamic clerics, but other European states facing the same question are following the delicate debate carefully. France announced on Wednesday it would seek a law to ban Muslim residents and visitors from wearing a burqa or a niqab in public, while Belgium was poised to pass a similar ban until its ruling coalition collapsed on Thursday. World governments have in the main been slow to react to the French and Belgian decisions, but Iran was quick to add the proposed laws to its charge sheet against...

As seen in "Rights, Responsibilities, and Communitarianism," the existence of a right implies a duty in others. The opposite of a duty is liberty, which implies no right in others. The identification of things for which there are no rights is thus an additional means of securing Liberty. The following is a list of no rights (or "non rights") that has been circulating on the Internet. It is sometimes said to have been written by State Representative Mitchell Kaye from Cobb County, Georgia. Now I am informed that it was really written and copyrighted by an active Libertarian from Mississippi,...

Unlike George W. Bush and the Republicans in 2002, Reagan did not try to divert the electorate’s attention away from the economy. Foreign policy and national security played almost no role in the election. Nor did abortion or school prayer. The election was very much a referendum on Reagan and his economic policies. Many Republican candidates wanted to run on local issues, but Reagan knew that he and his economic policies were going to be more important--in the final tally 70 percent of the voters told pollsters that they were voting “for or against Ronald Reagan”--and he wanted to confront...

RALEIGH, N.C. (Associated Press) -- A North Carolina school board has voted to scrap a policy of assigning students by socio-economic background in favor of a system of neighborhood schools. The 5-to-4 vote on Tuesday night approved a resolution to begin moving away from busing to achieve diversity. It was an illustration of the Wake County Public School Board's makeup. Board members in favor of the change were swept into office by a group of vocal parents who complained that the current student assignment plan took their children too far from home.