Free Republic

That's the logical question to ask after an avalanche of official denials of knowledge and responsibility from the IRS, Department of Justice, and the White House. "I don't know" seems to be the new mantra of executives at every level once questioned about wrongdoing and abuse. The editors of the Wall Street Journal wonder not where the buck stops, but if it even exists anywhere in the federal government: There’s a certain infantilization of the federal government here that should be especially alarming to taxpayers who have ever crossed paths with the IRS. The agency has the power to make...

Anothny Weiner, NYC's muppet former congressman, and as we reported yesterday, the man who following his disgraceful fall from grace announced his mayoral campaign on YouTube, continues to be the gift that keeps on giving... if mostly naked pictures of his anatomy to various women. As the WaPo reports, "Former congressman and newly announced New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner (D) said in an interview Thursday morning with WNYC-FM that there could be women coming forward with more e-mails or photos from the inappropriate digital conversations that led to his resignation in 2011." In other words, where there was one...

'THE soldier butchered in broad daylight by Muslim fanatics yesterday has been named by sources as (Drummer) Lee Rigby. Lee, 25, is a dad to a young son called Jack and served with 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. He is believed to have served in Afghanistan. And sources say he is separated from his wife. His family were told the tragic news in the early hours last night. Met police officials are refusing to confirm the name until an autopsy has been completed - planned for this afternoon.'

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) blasted the Senate on Tuesday, saying that they were using procedural tricks in order to raise the debt ceiling. In a joint statement with Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Cruz said that he would have no objection to sending the budget to conference if Democrats agreed to not use it as a back-door tool to raise taxes or the debt ceiling. They have not made such an agreement, so he exposed them. “The issue before this body is the debt ceiling and whether the Senate will be able to raise the debt...

After 2 months of snow delays I recently completed the vehicle combat training class I posted inquiries about last November.http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/sh...-fire-training The class was a solo student course lead by Firearms Iinstructor and assisted (ammo bitched) by an experienced IDPA\Highpower competitor. The course curriculum was very in depth and complete. Ranging from at your door assaults, engagement ranges and choices, vehicles as cover, vehicles as weapons, point shooting, moving targets, moving shooter, moving vehicles, window shooting, cross passenger compartment engagement, vehicle egress, vehicle hard points, glass deflection, under vehicle shooting, equipment tricks, and hand to hand with pistol attacks. We covered...

There is a gender gap for mental illness, with females being up to 40 percent more likely to develop some type of mental health condition than their male counterparts.

After longtime Chavismo-strongman Hugo Chavez’s death earlier this year, his lieutenant Nicolas Maduro “won� the snap election for a replacement president — except that the opposition party headed by challenger Henry Capriles maintains that the election results were fraudulent and is refusing to recognize Maduro as the legitimate president without a thorough audit of the whole thing. The Venezuelan Supreme Court tried to nip that idea in the bud (because really, what good is a corrupted and tyrannical power structure without rule-of-law-defying loyalty?), but the opposition isn’t giving up and Venezuelan politics of late have not been going at all...

DENVER (AP) -- In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is asking a federal appeals court Thursday for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill. The Oklahoma City-based arts-and-crafts chain argues that businesses - not just the currently exempted religious groups - should be allowed to seek exception from that part of the health law if it violates their religious beliefs. "They ought to be able - just like a church, just like a charity - to...

Initial unemployment claims dropped back to a level indicating moderate job growth last week after a spike the previous week raised alarms about the labor market recovery. The number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time stood at 340,000 for the week ending Saturday, falling from a revised 363,000 the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists had expected the closely watched jobless claims figure to drop last week to 345,0000. Claims for the week ending May 11, which were revised up from 360,000, had the biggest one-week jump since last fall and were the most...

As I type my thoughts for this coming Memorial Day, it is my prayer that are worthy of surviving the flurry of other current events and will have an impact on those who read them and perhaps, will be referred to on other occasions and perhaps help drive the remembrance on future Memorial Days. I always experience a bit of dread as I ponder how to say something of relevance that goes beyond the standard “honoring those who gave all for our freedom” which gets circulated by so many writers while so many Americans head to the beach or prepare...

GENEVA, Switzerland, May 23, 2013 (National Right to Life News) - Legalized abortion is widely touted as beneficial to women, but a wealth of medical and psychological evidence suggests otherwise, according to a new analysis of decades of research. The analysis was released today at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life Global Outreach (MCCL GO) and National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund (NRLC), an NGO based in Washington, D.C. Jeanne E. Head, R.N., Patrick Buckley and Scott Fischbach, who are in Geneva introducing the analysis, are calling for a renewed emphasis on...

George Washington University Professors: Obama on Mt. Rushmore – Eventually Posted By Katherine Rodriguez - George Washington University On May 23, 2013 @ 2:04 am In Fix Exclusives,Image Slider | No Comments A handful of George Washington University political and history professors largely support the idea of adding President Barack Obama’s face to Mount Rushmore – just not quite yet. According to a survey conducted by The College Fix, three out of the 10 George Washington University history and political science professors questioned via email replied it’s simply too soon for Obama’s likeness to be immortalized on Mount Rushmore National...

Yesterday I read an interesting article in Newsweek about the connection between tornadoes and climate change. Newsweek’s story explained how top climate scientists were concerned about several ominous and fundamental changes occurring in Earth’s weather patterns. Evidence that Earth’s climate was changing in the wrong direction, the article said, included a shorter growing season in England, higher average temperatures at the equator and an increase in tornadoes like the monster than killed at least 24 people in Tornado Alley this week. “Last April,” wrote Newsweek, “in the most devastating outbreak of tornadoes ever recorded, 148 twisters killed more than 300...

Yes, climate change is happening. But it's hard to say that the tornado that ripped through Moore, Oklahoma -- or any given tornado, for that matter -- was influenced by climate change. Scientific research has not made a clear connection between tornadoes and climate change, said J. Marshall Shepherd, climate change expert and professor at the University of Georgia. There is currently a much better understanding of how climate change increases the risks of droughts, heat waves and precipitation, he said. There are also indications that changing patterns may influence the intensity of hurricanes. But as far as tornadoes: There's...

Mary Katharine linked this yesterday in her post on Rep. Stephen Lynch’s unmistakable anger over the corruption at the IRS, but it’s worth a long look on its own, too. National Review’s David French, an adoptive father himself (as am I), researched a few other IRS priorities over the past few years other than targeting conservatives for extra scrutiny and harassment. The agency took very clear aim at people claiming the adoption tax credit, auditing a jaw-dropping 69% of all such filers: As we get word that the IRS has harassed a number of pro-life groups, including at least one...

[SNIP] Here are top line numbers from the Washington Post poll that should worry Mr. Obama and his team: Q: Changing topics, in general do you think the federal government is doing more to (protect) the rights of average Americans or more to (threaten) the rights of average Americans? 54% - threaten. 38% - protect. The Washington Post didn't ask "threaten" respondents if they connect their fears to the president. With more to come from the IRS scandal -- and with links to the White House probable -- the majority feeling threatened by government will grow. Q: Republicans in Congress...

If Richard Nixon were alive today, he would likely be fielding midnight phone calls from Barack Obama. Not since Richard Nixon was driven from office by the Watergate scandal four decades ago, has the American public been privy to such an unfolding spectacle of scandal and corruption in a presidential administration. From “Operation Fast and Furious,” to the Benghazi debacle and cover-up, to the IRS harassment of conservative organizations, to the Department of Justice campaign against the Associated Press, and now reports the Department has used its power to intimidate FOX News reporters -- the hits just keep on coming....

Americans For Fair Taxation® (AFFT), outraged by the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) continued political abuse and intimidation of citizens and organizations, is calling on Congress to immediately enact HR 25 / S 122, the FairTax® Act of 2013 and phase out the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). "No person or group is safe from IRS targeting; everyone is a bull's eye," said AFFT spokesperson Cynthia T. Canevaro. She added, "The agency, with over 90,000 employees and an annual budget in excess of $12 billion, has historically been the ultimate tool of extreme political manipulation by politicians of both major parties. That's...

How does President Barack Obama, a man of such keen intelligence, with such promise to "change" America, find himself in so much serious trouble? From the IRS targeting conservatives to the continued confusion over what happened at Benghazi to provoking a battle with The Associated Press by subpoenaing phone records that could involve as many as 100 reporters, what went wrong? The answer is simple: arrogance, aided and abetted by a compliant, adoring "news" media. CNN's Roland Martin urged the president to "go gangsta" on conservatives who wouldn't confirm his political appointments. Supporters like MSNBC's the Rev. Al Sharpton publicly...

Scores of supporters of the English Defence League threw bottles at police and chanted anti-Muslim slogans in Woolwich hours after the murder of one man and the shooting of his two suspected assailants. About 100 men, including some wearing balaclavas printed with "EDL", engaged in running battles with police for less than an hour. A police commander said officers cited section 60 of the Public Order Act, which allowed them to stop and search individuals within a specific area without evidence of a crime being committed. EDL leader Tommy Robinson said: "They're chopping our soldiers' heads off. This is Islam....

Earlier this week, in a feeble attempt at humor on Facebook, I posted: “If you haven’t been audited by the IRS during the Obama administration, can you even call yourself a conservative?” Given the scale of the abuses, I should probably just shorten it and say, “Only RINOs don’t get audited.” My wife and I got audited in 2011, with the IRS examining every inch of our adoption the previous year. The process was painful, but we got through it, and our refund may have been adjusted by a few dollars (the amount of the adjustment was so small, I...

Talk about art imitating life. I landed upon a classic movie while surfing TV channels. Kirk Douglas played a down-on-his-luck news reporter. When I began watching the movie, a man named Leo was trapped in a collapsed cave. Douglas managed to crawl within a few feet of Leo and was chatting with Leo, assuring the scared man that he would be rescued ASAP. But secretly, Douglas had other plans. Keeping Leo trapped for at least seven days could revive Douglas's career. He had exclusive access to Leo. Writing daily updates could produce tremendous financial rewards; it could land Douglas a...

At a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, federal lawmakers hauled in America’s most successful corporation to investigate why it had so precisely followed the laws those solons have passed. The targeting of Apple should be no particular surprise, in Congress’s crass calculus: True, even if reducing one’s tax burden and shifting profits overseas were a crime, Apple would probably not be the first company to investigate for such behavior — as chief executive Tim Cook pointed out, Apple paid $6 billion in corporate-income taxes to the U.S. Treasury in 2012, which is enough to run the entire Transportation Security Administration...

It is clear that things have changed in America and much of it is due to two wars: the War on Drugs and the War on Terror. These ongoing conflicts have brought about major changes in the way law enforcement does business with Americans every day. Because of the so-called war on drugs, SWAT teams began springing up across the land, tactically armed and ready to do whatever became necessary to overcome the drug problem that this country faces. The fight against terrorism has also been added to the picture and because of it, the same SWAT teams can be...

... Obama is planning a Sunday visit to Moore, Oklahoma, the city decimated by a powerful tornado that killed at least 24 people and flattened a wide swath of the community... ...plans to meet with survivors of Monday's storm, as well as first responders who rescued as many as 100 children and adults buried in the rubble.

Young Muslims are being taught extremist views in British mosques, an undercover investigation has found. Shocking footage of children apparently being hit by their teachers during lessons on the Koran will also be aired on Channel 4's Dispatches programme on Monday. A hidden camera installed by a reporter at a school in Birmingham recorded a preacher telling pupils "the disbelievers are the worst creatures, they are the worst creatures".

Federal agents and the state fire marshal have effectively barred a federal safety panel from the site of a Texas fertilizer plant blast that killed 15 people and injured about 200 others, hampering its investigation, the panel’s chairman said. In a May 17 letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer, U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso asked the California Democrat to help the board obtain evidence under control of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that he contends is essential to the board’s investigation, the Waco Tribune-Herald and Austin American-Statesman reported.

Even though 132 members of Congress sent former Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman letters about the IRS targeting of conservative groups, Shulman reiterated Wednesday that he did not have the full story until the inspector general’s report came out. “In the two years that this targeting was taking place, did any member of Congress contact you? Write you? About this particular subject? Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan asked during a House Oversight hearing. “Did you get letters from Congress?” “Yes,” Shulman replied. Jordan explained that based on documents from the IRS, 132 different members of Congress contacted Shulman over...

Commanders have advised troops not to wear uniform travelling to and from work or outside bases following the brutal killing of a member of the military close to Woolwich barracks. Defence sources said the order had been given that uniform should not be worn by those travelling alone, or on public transport as a "common sense precaution" immediately after the killing.

The article, “Deep Divide of ‘Evil Genes" reports that evolutionary biologists at the University of Connecticut are analyzing Adam Lanza's DNA in the hope of determining if whether an evil gene caused him to go on a killing spree. (Deep divide of 'evil genes, Julia Llewellyn Smith, Age of Technology, April 11, 2013) So controversial is the idea that evil may be genetically caused that projects set up to investigate the issue have been shelved after public uproar: "Scientists are haunted by the ghosts of the pseudoscientific eugenics movement, which held that mankind could be improved by breeding out the...

a historic vote on the agenda that could change the iconic organization’s century-old policy and allow avowed homosexuals, some 1,400 Boy Scout leaders from across the nation who form the National Council have gathered in Grapevine, Texas. A final vote is scheduled for Thursday on a proposal that would allow openly homosexual scouts but retain the ban on adult homosexual scout leaders. Treatment for TinnitusRinging, buzzing, music in ears? There is hope in Kentucky www.kytinnitustreatment.com The Antichrist: Free BookDiscover What the Early Church Knew About Rapture & the Meaning of 666. VoiceOfElijah.org/Antichrist In the BSA’s official “Voice of the Scout”...

Would you like to have a "skinny" health insurance policy? Probably not. But if you're employed by a large company, you may get one, thanks to Obamacare. That's the conclusion of Wall Street Journal reporters Christopher Weaver and Anna Wilde Mathews. They report that insurance brokers are pitching and selling "low-benefit" policies across the country. You might be wondering what a "skinny" or "low-benefit" insurance plan is. The terms may vary, but the basic idea is that policies would cover preventive care, a limited number of doctor visits and perhaps generic drugs. They wouldn't cover things such as surgery, hospital...

Hi, I'm not the most devout of folks out thee, but am a believer and do believe God answers prayer. Several verses have become popular over past years because of the hope they evoked...remember the Prayer of Jabez and 2Chron 7:14 with Promisekeepers? Well, I have been praying for another promise to be seen in our time, that of Job 5:12. I read it and wrote it down and pray it every day...it sure reads like a promise. Any believers out there let's see if we can get it to catch on in this really troubled time in our nation's...

This time of year, as college students return home for the summer, many parents may notice how many politically correct ideas they have acquired on campus. Some of those parents may wonder how they can undo some of the brainwashing that has become so common in what are supposed to be institutions of higher learning. The strategy used by General Douglas MacArthur so successfully in the Pacific during World War II can be useful in this very different kind of battle. General MacArthur won his victories while minimizing his casualties -- something that is also desirable in clashes of ideas...

The terrible events in Woolwich today were a reminder of something very few are willing to accept: we are at war. Despite what Islamic extremists may claim, this war is not being waged against all Muslims. However they may feel about British foreign policy or perceived injustices towards Muslim peoples around the world, most British Muslims accept this simple fact. But many don’t. They see oppression where there is none and they respond not with reason or argument, but with violence. ‘Why?’ is a dangerous question, but it’s one we must ask. And where we find fault, criticisms must be...

As the Obama scandals surround the White House, some conservatives are suggesting that -- finally -- the media are "getting tough" on Obama. Don't count on it. All our modern experience suggests tough reporting on a Democratic president is more of a temporary sensation than an ongoing trend. The news media honestly believe they were tough on Team Clinton. It is simply not true. There was a seemingly endless supply of Clinton administration (and Clinton pre-administration) scandals, yet can you name one that was resolved? The floating FBI files. The illegal fundraising. Whitewater. On and on they went, and the...

If you were to suddenly appear this weekend at the numerous barbecues or pool parties, without any knowledge of our nation's history, it might be hard to understand the real meaning of Memorial Day. Is it a day to sell cars, clothes and mattresses? Is it a day off of work, a time to join with family and friends, and grill out? For our family, Memorial Day weekend marks the start of summer. School is out, and we transition from the school year to summer activities. But, oh, it is so much more. Memorial Day can be traced back to...

Carol Platt Liebau and Eliana Johnson aren't exactly Woodward and Bernstein --yet. But if both reporters keep up their relentless focus on the details of the IRS scandal --"Targetcon," "Targetgate," "Senseless in Cincinnati" --their names will be far and widely known as the first two serious reporters to take the burgeoning scandal seriously. Liebau labors at Townhall.com, and most her work appears first there in its "Tipsheet" column and eventually ends up easy to find and comprehensively categorized at CarolLiebau.com. Johnson's work appears most frequently in "The Corner" at National Review Online, though her work on the IRS is getting...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Prosecutors are pursuing rape charges against a 40-year-old Malaysian who allegedly had sex with a 13-year-old girl and then married her. Restaurant manager Riduan Masmud was charged with committing statutory rape in a parked car in Borneo in February, but his lawyer said he has since married the girl. Rights activists have long criticised Malaysian laws that allow very young Muslims to be wedded with the permission of Islamic courts. Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail said late Wednesday that authorities remain firmly against statutory rape and were compiling a DNA report and other evidence in Riduan's...

“How many isolated incidents does it take to make it not isolated?” Stephen Coughlin on the events in Europe over the last couple of days. Yesterday’s barbaric attack on a British Soldier on a London street & muslim riots in Sweden... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX6PW6hESPQ

Toronto police are searching for a suspect accused of stealing the purse of a woman who jumped to her death in a subway station Wednesday morning. Police say the woman left her purse on the subway platform before jumping in front of a train at College station. She was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead. Police say they have not been able to identify her because another woman stole the purse and any identification that might have been inside.

The swarming of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is entirely understandable; the mayor, caught on video allegedly smoking crack, has a lot to clear up. But there are as many unanswered questions on the other side of this bizarre international confluence of drug dealers, politics, comedy shows, news media and blogging low-lifes such as gawker.com. Questions about the video, the role of newspapers, organized crime, crowdsourcing social media, and the implausibility of a shock-blog like gawker raising $200,000 in ransom money that will have to be run through a money laundering operation to reach the drug dealers. The ethics of it...

An East Palo Alto man turned the tables on two suspects during a home invasion robbery Wednesday afternoon. Two men entered a residence in the 2200 block of Capitol Avenue at about 2:39 p.m. and tried to rob the resident inside, East Palo Alto police Acting Detective Sgt. Angel Sanchez said. "They assaulted the victim with a handgun, pistol whipping him and asking for money and guns," Sanchez said. "At one point the victim was able to retrieve a gun, and they saw that and fled." As the would-be robbers ran away, the victim, who was in his 30s, fired...

They stole 60,000,000 medical records – And won’t give them back. Last week news broke that the IRS was facing a class action lawsuit over allegations that it improperly accessed and stole the health records of some 10 million Americans, including medical records of all California state judges. In a case involving solely a tax matter involving a former employee of the company, these agents stole more than 60,000,000 medical records of more than 10,000,000 Americans, including at least 1,000,000 Californians. The lawsuit by John Doe Company against 15 John Doe IRS agents is seeking punitive damages for constitutional violations,...

A British soldier was decapitated a few hundred yards from a UK Army base by two men with large knives and saying ‘ we swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you’. The men were shot when police responded 20 minutes later. The photo above shows a scene. This is the dramatic moment a woman appears to remonstrate with a man carrying a knife following a brutal attack in Woolwich. The two alleged attackers are thought to have waited around for 20 minutes until Metropolitan Police officers arrived and then tried to attack them – but were swiftly...

A new type of asthma drug meant to attack the underlying causes of the respiratory disease slashed episodes by 87 percent in a mid-stage trial, making it a potential game changer for patients with moderate to severe disease, researchers said on Tuesday. "Overall, these are the most exciting data we've seen in asthma in 20 years," said Dr. Sally Wenzel, lead investigator for the 104-patient study of dupilumab, an injectable treatment being developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc and French drugmaker Sanofi. The drug also met all its secondary goals, such as improving symptoms and lung function and reducing the need...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) You know that part in the video where the announcer is speaking over the Muslim killer. That’s the part where the killer is saying, “Many, many Ayah throughout the Koran that we must fight them as they fight us.” Instead the official media video cuts the Koran part out and picks up only when the Muslim killer says, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” That doctrine is used today by Muslim countries to demand a literal eye for an eye justice. In August 2000, the Saudi Arabian media reported that Abdel Moti Abdel Rahman...

Sydney - The case for describing fanatics as insane is pretty convincing. These people’s minds are totally subordinated. “Extremism” is a euphemism. This is brainwashing, perversion of minds, and historically it leads only to violence and suffering. The current forms of “extremism” are media and money-fueled, false, pseudo-ideologies. “Fundamentalist” religion has absolutely nothing in common with Islam or Christianity as cited by their founders. It’s based on interpretations of interpretations, like the “pass the message” communications exercise in which the message ultimately becomes totally different.

JACKSONVILLE – The 50-year-old southern regional representative of Jacksonville’s New Black Panther Party for Self Defense was arrested Monday on charges of false imprisonment and resisting an officer without violence, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Mikhail Shareef Muhammad of North Myrtle Avenue remained held on $200,000 bail Wednesday, according to jail records. Police were called just after 2 p.m. by a friend of Muhammad’s wife, Claudia Lizeth, who said he wasn’t willing to let her leave and was afraid for her life, according to the arrest report. Officers went to Muhammad’s home, where Lizeth mouthed, “Help me” to a sergeant....

On May 15, 2013, the Turkish Prime Minister, Erdogan, an anti-Semite, attended a ceremony a stone’s throw from our nation’s capital celebrating what he claims “will likely become the largest and most striking example of Islamic architecture in the Western Hemisphere.” Next year, when completed, the Turkish American Culture and Civilization Center, in Lanham, Maryland “US of A,” a project of the Islamist Turkish government, will be the grandest Islamic site in the Western Hemisphere. Allah Akbar! The 15-acre neo-Ottoman empire inspired complex will have five buildings and a mosque capable of serving over 750 faithful Muslim worshipers. I have...