Free Republic

People who follow politics probably know that Bernie Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont who is challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, is a socialist. Whether they give a fig is a separate matter, which may tell you something about today’s Democrats. Mr. Sanders is currently drawing the largest crowds of any candidate in either party. On Monday, he drew a crowd his campaign estimated at 27,500 to the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, including those in an overflow area outside, watching on giant video screens. Over the weekend, 28,000 people turned out to see him in Portland,...

While the Fascism of Mussolini and Hitler incorporated extreme nationalism, the proponents of the American reincarnation believe that the United States, as founded, is malevolent and should surrender its position as the world’s economic and military superpower by showing deference to America’s enemies and casting aside any semblance of nationalism or uniqueness as penance for both domestic and international “sins” of the past.

K-12 schools in the United States are characterized by three outstanding traits. First of all, there's less academic activity and achievement. The general thrust of the Education Establishment is to simplify the curriculum, strip away the harder content, keep discussions airy and empty, and in general to make classrooms focused on feelings rather than facts. Second, even as facts are not taught, specific opinions are taught again and again. Global warming is the fault of human activity. Gay marriage is hugely important. Islam is a fine thing and schools should have a section on this religion and only this religion....

The Guardian Angels are back — and their leader says it’s because Mayor Bill de Blasio can’t keep New York City safe. Curtis Sliwa, 61, radio personality and founder of the unarmed anti-crime patrol, joined five of his Angels in their first sortie into Central Park in more than two decades Sunday night. “If the mayor won’t let the cops do their job, then we, the citizens, will have to go back to guarding our parks, streets and subways,” Sliwa said. Modal Trigger The Guardian Angels patrol next to the Central Park reservoir.Photo: Robert Mecea The Guardian Angels, who wear...

Apparently all of that “anti-imperialist” rhetoric from Caracas was just a farce for public consumption. As Venezuela’s economy implodes amid skyrocketing inflation and crippling shortages of practically everything, Socialist strongman Nicolás Maduro (shown) has a new plan to prop up his imploding regime: annex two thirds of neighboring Guyana’s territory and almost one third of its population. The area eyed by Maduro’s autocracy is especially noteworthy now that potentially lucrative oil deposits have been discovered offshore. Unsurprisingly, a powerful alliance of the region’s socialist strongmen and their allies has sided with the regime in Venezuela. Talk of war is escalating....

Communism is the most logical and extreme form of Socialism, outcome of the revolutionary theory of Karl Marx. The underlying philosophy is materialistic and determinist; the social order evolves through economic struggles between the classes in the direction of the violent revolution and a dictatorship of the proletariat, to be followed by a "withering away" of the state and the substitution of a society where ownership of all things is common, where all will work voluntarily, and all take freely of goods produced according to his needs. As well as the abstract theory of Communism there must, since 1917, be...

It’s the law of the jungle in Venezuela, as shopping for groceries becomes an increasingly dangerous activity. As the shortage crisis worsens, more and more angry mobs are raiding the nation’s supermarkets, looting whatever basic goods they can find.+ During the first half of 2015, the Venezuelan Observatory for Social Conflict (OVCS) registered no fewer than 132 incidents of looting or attempted looting at various stores throughout the country. In addition, Venezuelan consumers staged over 500 protests that condemned the lack of available products at state-run grocery stores, markets, and pharmacies.+ The OVCS has documented at least 132 incidents of...

The below compendium is just a sample (or a smidgen in Obama terminology). When asked why his trillion-dollar stimulus produced far fewer “shovel ready jobs” than he promised to urgently promote its passage, Barack Obama laughed off the issue: “Shovel-ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected.” The laughter will be little solace for taxpayers on the hook to pay back the debt that financed that union-enriching boondoggle. When asked about the risk of terrorism arising from his abandoning Iraq, he flippantly dismissed these concerns by comparing the resurgent Al Qaeda to a “Jayvee team” that “puts on Lakers uniforms…...

How to Destroy a Country by Paul Weston, Liberty GB "There is a revolution coming. It will not be like the revolutions of the past. It will originate with the individual and with culture, and will change the political structure only as its final act. It will not require violence to succeed, and it cannot be successfully resisted by violence. This is the revolution of the new generation." – Charles Reich, The Greening of America, 1970.Every generation bemoans the slippage of standards and the 'going to the dogs' of society, but history shows that civilisations and peoples really do collapse...

Opinion: Why China probably has a lot more gold than it admits By David Marsh Published: July 20, 2015 11:48 a.m. ET Transparency on holdings linked to review by the IMF on joining the special drawing right China has lifted a veil over its gold holdings and confirmed its interest in providing more up-to-date reserves data by announcing a near 60% jump in its official bullion assets since 2009. /snip The PBoC said its gold reserves were 1,658 tons against 1,054 tons in April 2009, which was the last time China declared its gold holdings. In 2009 the reserves total...

This is a fascinating film. It details a very reality of life (could happen to anyone). It shows the failings of the communist system through irrational and self-serving government policy (much of what we are entering now). Also provided is a link to the movie with English subtitles. It is a highly recommended watch. 1. To Live - Movie - Click here for movie To Live. 2. Information about the movie: Click here.

'Robert Conquest, a historian whose landmark studies of the Stalinist purges and the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s documented the horrors perpetrated by the Soviet regime against its own citizens, died on Monday in Stanford, Calif. He was 98. His wife, the former Elizabeth Neece, said the cause was pneumonia. Mr. Conquest, a poet and science-fiction buff, turned to the study of the Soviet Union in the mid-1950s out of dissatisfaction with the quality of analysis he saw at the British Foreign Office, where he worked after World War II in the Information Research Department, a semi-secret office responsible for...

Made in response to Gravity Payments fiasco. It's hard to believe someone smart enough to build a successful business would be dumb enough to throw it all away...guess Dan Price wasn't that smart to begin with.

"I believe that anyone who has a job and works full time, they should be able to pay the things that sustain life: food, shelter and clothing. I can't even do that."That rather depressing quote is from 61-year old Rebecca Cornick. She’s a grandmother and a 9-year Wendy’s veteran who spoke to CBS News. Rebecca makes $9 an hour and her plight is representative of fast food workers across the country who are campaigning for higher pay. The fast food worker pay debate is part of a larger discussion as "states and cities across the country [wrestle] with the idea of...

They say what goes around comes around. In this case, ignore the basic laws of economics and human nature, and you’ll soon find yourself living in a van down by the river. That looks to be in the very near future for one liberal CEO who insisted on making a political statement about the minimum wage, rather than looking after the best interests of his employees and company. We predicted this would happen. But then again, conservatives tend to understand basic economics better than your typical liberal nutcase.

Chris Matthews threw that trick question at Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and she made a deer in headlights look like Jack-Be-Nimble. Here's the answer she refused to give.

Obama's Redistribution of Wealth was questioned 5-year-old political commentator, Melody. She uses the example of working to earn her allowance and to save up enough money to buy some ice cream. The before she gets to eat it, Obama forces her to give it to someone else. She opines that it's her choice who to give ice cream to, if anyone at all. Melody also questioned why Obama would reward Iran by giving them over $100 billion in assets back, enough to build hundreds of nuclear bombs.

Venezuelan troops occupied a Caracas warehouse complex used by local food giant Empresas Polar and Nestle to distribute food and beverages, workers and company officials said on Thursday. The move follows months of accusations by President Nicolas Maduro that Polar, the country's largest private employer, is working to sabotage the economy. The company denies the accusations.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) recently called attention to an IRS ruling that would penalize small businesses up to $500,000 for daring to compensate their employees for health insurance premiums. The NFIB reports, “On July 1, 2015, employers will be penalized $100 per day per employee if they try to make health insurance more affordable by reimbursing their employees for individual market health insurance premiums. The penalty affects businesses that provide reimbursement for more than one employee. The healthcare reimbursement prohibition regulation decreases an employer’s ability to assist employees with health insurance costs.” The ruling would fine the...

Would the fact that John–anti-war activist with pal Hanoi Jane Fonda–Kerry has a daughter married to an Iranian make any difference in this heated debate over getting Barack Obama’s nuke deal shoved through Congress? Kerry greeted the Iranian people on the occasion of Nowruz, the traditional New Year, by revealing “his daughter has married an Iranian-American who has KERRY SALUTE EXTENSIVE FAMILY TIES to Iran!” Kerry told those listening: “I am proud of the Iranian-Americans in my own family and grateful for how they have enriched my life.” Kerry went on to say he was strongly committed to resolving differences...