Free Republic

As if there are any more reasons to show that Ron Paul should not be the GOP Presidential candidate, there is this bit from 2008 in which Paul endorses four(!) candidates for President, including the Marxist whack-job Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. How unhinged to you have to be, intellectually, to endorse not only four people, but four whom also hold diametrically opposing views on the role of government. This alone shows that Ron Paul is not a serious thinker. In fact it shows him to be a reactionary flame thrower, willing to completely abandon principles when he doesn't get...

New study reveals molecular mechanism promoting the breakdown of plaque by statinsIn a new study, NYU Langone Medical Center researchers have discovered how cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins promote the breakdown of plaque in the arteries... The findings support a large clinical study that recently showed patients taking high-doses of the cholesterol-lowering medications not only reduced their cholesterol levels but also reduced the amount of plaque in their arteries. However, until now researchers did not fully understand how statins could reduce atherosclerosis, the accumulation of fat and cholesterol that hardens into plaque in arteries, a major cause of mortality in Western...

“Workers of the World Unite” Karl Marx, the infamous German political philosopher had a vision. Marx, together with Joseph Engles predicted and even called for the dismantling of capitalist economic systems worldwide into a socialist and ultimately classless communist World. 24thState will be asking the question of the late Mr. Marx, “How is that working out for you?” CP USA In a series of columns, we will expose the 5th column in the United States. We will name names and expose the ties from David Axelrod, who just visited St. Louis referring to some GOP presidential contenders as “nutty folks“,...

Here is the link to the just-issued-warning to Japanese residents and visitors in New York City by their Consulate to stay away from those "Occupy" people. LINK

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.), chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Thursday that for states to enact constitutional amendments that say human life begins at conception is “an extreme and radical step.” “For the vast majority of Americans, including people on both sides of the abortion issue, this is an extreme and radical step,” she said. Speaking to reporters on a conference call, Wasserman-Schultz said that so-called personhood amendments are a “divisive, dangerous, and destructive” attack on women. “To American women, their reproductive health and choice is an intensely personal and private issue between themselves, their families, and their doctors,”...

For the fifth year in a row, crime is down in the United States, according to the FBI. The 2010 final statistics released today show a 6.0% drop in violent crimes from last year's report -- better than the 5.5% announced in the preliminary findings in May. Violent crime is down 13.2% from 2006 and 13.4% from 2001. But parts of the country are getting worse. Flint, Michigan -- the most violent city in America -- saw a 10% increase in violent crime over last year, with 2,208 violent crimes per 100,000 people. Rust Belt neighbor Detroit was only slightly...

Issa: Holder so 'inept he is dangerous'By Justin Sink - 09/12/11 11:10 AM ET Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said that Attorney General Eric Holder is so "inept that he is dangerous to have as the Attorney General" and that President Obama should consider removing him from office. Issa made the comments on the Laura Ingraham show while commenting about the controversial "Fast and Furious" gun-tracking program. "He doesn't want to admit that it was felony-stupid," Issa said of the operation, which was run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which allowed assault-type weapons to be illegally...

'This is WAR' Congressional Black Causes' Travels American Cities Using Dangerous Violent Rhetoric: Declares 'War' on Racist Tea Party, Says Tea Party Wants To Lynch Blacks, Calls for Bank Runs, Civil Unrest in Their Neighborhoods and Homes

An investigative report in the L.A. Times exposes California’s solar and wind power economy, and for good reason. Key quotes include: > Accidents involving wind turbines alone have tripled in the last decade > Technicians have fallen hundreds of feet; others have been crushed by wayward parts or trapped in twisting machinery > Electrical explosions last year left a worker in Illinois with third-degree burns and two others in San Diego County with similar injuries > Workers could asphyxiate inside turbine enclosures or inhale harmful gases and vapors when buffing and resurfacing blades, the Department of Labor cautions > Wind...

The dangerous U.S. heat wave of July 2011 will continue to bring another day of exceptionally humid heat to over 100 million Americans today, with 33 states plus the District of Columbia currently under heat advisories. The heat index--how hot the air feels when factoring in both the temperature and the humidity--exceeded 100° in twenty states in the Central and Eastern U.S. on Wednesday, peaking at 123° in Council Bluffs, Iowa. At least 22 deaths are being blamed on the heat in the Midwest. The extreme humidity that has accompanied this heat has made it a very dangerous one, since...

FRANKFORT, Maine — The mother of a 7-month-old girl mauled to death by the family dog in April was arrested Wednesday night and charged in connection with the death. Maine State Police Detective Adam Kelley arrested 29-year-old Katrina Mitchell at her home on Town Hill Road and charged her with endangering the welfare of a child. Mitchell was taken to Waldo County Jail and was being held in lieu of $1,060 bail. The charge was filed after police consulted with the District Attorney’s Office. Annabelle Mitchell was mauled to death on April 12 in the living room of her house...

Bath salts blamed for Demotte woman damaging hotel room By Times Staff | Posted: Thursday, May 12, 2011 7:04 am A Demotte woman believed to be high on bath salts allegedly told police she needed to write on the walls of a Rensselaer hotel room to protect her from evil spirits, officials said. According to Indiana state Police, officers were called at 10:07 a.m. Wednesday to a hotel room near the intersection of Ind. 114 and Interstate 65 for a report of damage to a room there. When officers arrived, they allegedly found Tammy E. Winter, 42, of Demotte sitting...

It started in Tehran, where three hapless American hikers were taken hostage by Iran's revolutionary guards in July 2009. The three Berkeleyites showed no common sense hiking in a region like that, but WikiLeaks revelations last October show that Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd were nabbed by Iranians in Iraqi territory. That means their detention was a cross-border kidnapping by a state, a provocative act that called for a strong U.S. response. There was none. As of Feb. 6, they're on trial for their lives. As details of that sorry story seeped out, it unleashed a wave of...

Egypt: As the U.S. pushes for the inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood in a new Egyptian government, a frightening revelation emerges: The fundamentalist group would be part of a regime that has an active WMD program. The U.S. wants to include the Muslim Brotherhood in talks on a future government, with the possibility it might even be part of a coalition. All very innocent sounding, except inclusion of hard-liners in such coalitions can lead to an eventual takeover of the government. Expect no different in Egypt. As retired Army Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis wrote in Human Events this week, "An...

Frances Fox Piven is a sociology professor who for four decades has advocated violent social upheaval as a means of effecting the radical change she believes in. Her notion of appropriate change is quite obviously the displacement of the productive class and elected public leaders in favor of people like -- ahem -- herself. This week, Glenn Beck called Piven out on her advocacy of violence. In response, the New York Times, a group that has amusingly chosen to call itself the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the American Sociological Association have attacked Beck for daring to take her at...

WikiLeaks has yet again flooded the internet with thousands of classified American documents, this time state department cables. More troubling than WikiLeaks' latest revelation of US secrets, however, is the Obama administration's weak, wrong-headed and erratic response. Unfortunately, the administration has acted consistently with its demonstrated unwillingness to assert and defend US interests across a wide range of threats, such as Iran and North Korea, which, ironically, the leaked cables amply document........ .....All of this underscores the real problem. It is not WikiLeaks that ultimately imperils our national security, but the failing Obama administration, which ignores the nature and extent...

Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, invoked the ancient jaguar goddess Ixchel in her opening statement to delegates gathered in Cancun, Mexico, noting that Ixchel was not only goddess of the moon, but also "the goddess of reason, creativity and weaving. May she inspire you -- because today, you are gathered in Cancun to weave together the elements of a solid response to climate change, using both reason and creativity as your tools." "Excellencies, the goddess Ixchel would probably tell you that a tapestry is the result of the skilful interlacing of many threads,"...

An informative video from PubliusForum.com on the 2nd Amendment.

If you had your butt kicked in an athletic contest -- or an election -- you would think it would warrant a long look in the mirror. You might start thinking about what you could have done differently during the past contest, and perhaps you would reflect about your strengths and weaknesses, and those of your opponent. Back when I wrestled in high school, I had a teammate who was both outstanding on the mat and an exemplary student. I remember that on one rare occasion, he was soundly beaten. I will never forget his bruised-ego comment to me right...

The liberal Center for American Progress doesn’t believe significant GOP gains in the House and Senate should stop the President from implementing more of his polices. The group released a report Tuesday suggesting ways Obama can bypass Congress to accomplish a progressive agenda, and it cites the president’s power as commander-in-chief to make its point. “I think most of the conversation since the election has been about how President Obama adjusts to the new situation on Capitol Hill,” Center for American Progress head and former Bill Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta told the Daily Caller. “While that’s an important...

According to Forbes, the top 10 most dangerous cities are: 1. Memphis, Tenn. 2. St. Louis, Mo. 3. Kansas City, Mo. 4. Detroit, Mi. 5. Miami, Fla. 6. Tulsa, Okla. 7. Nashville-Davidson, Tenn. 8. Indianapolis, Ind. 9. Oklahoma City, Okla. 10. Stockton, Calif. http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/nashville-ranked-seventh-most-dangerous-city

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Some US scientists warned the full-body, graphic-image X-ray scanners now being used to screen passengers and airline crews at airports around the country may be unsafe. "They say the risk is minimal, but statistically someone is going to get skin cancer from these X-rays," Dr Michael Love, who runs an X-ray lab at the department of biophysics and biophysical chemistry at Johns Hopkins University school of medicine, told AFP. "No exposure to X-ray is considered beneficial. We know X-rays are hazardous but we have a situation at the airports where people are so eager to fly that...

A leading British academic has been killed after her tiny electric car was involved in a crash. Dr Judit Nadal, 47, died after her blue G-Wiz collided with a Skoda Octavia.

For the second year in a row, using exclusive data developed by Dr. Andrew Schiller's team at NeighborhoodScout.com, and based on FBI data from all 17,000 local law enforcement agencies, WalletPop reveals the top 25 most dangerous neighborhoods with the highest predicted rates of violent crime in America. 1. Chicago, Ill. Neighborhood: W. Lake St. Found within ZIP code: 60612 Predicted annual violent crimes: 297 Violent crime rate (per 1,000): 257.72 My chances of becoming a victim here (in one year): 1 in

Halloween isn't for another three weeks, but environmental ghouls are on the haunt. A sadistic video released by global warming fear-mongers reveals an inconvenient truth about eco-radicals: They despise the very children for whom they claim to be saving the planet. In the opening scene of "No Pressure," a four-minute short clip produced by carbon reduction activist group "10:10," a teacher urges her elementary school charges to fight climate change by cutting their carbon emissions by 10 percent by Oct. 10. When a few uncooperative students object, the teacher (played by actress Gillian Anderson) presses a red button at her...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday evening that she considers Republican attacks on her a “compliment” — evidence that she’s done her job well. Pelosi (D-Calif.) told a friendly audience at a banquet at Fortune magazine’s “Most Powerful Women Summit” that special interest groups who stand to lose from measures like health care reform, Wall Street reform and college loan legislation want to get rid of those laws. “No one’s talking about you, you have to wonder what you were doing,” she said. “I view that as a highest compliment, that they want to take us down,” she said at...

Last night, Glenn Beck had a textbook Glenn Beck-style address in which he hyperbolically dug into both progressive universities and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius within the same 30 seconds.Target 1: Universities.There was a time not too long ago in this country that we used to walk through walls of fire to make sure we weren’t funding Hamas or Hezbollah. I have news for you: there are a lot of universities that are just as dangerous with indoctrination of our children as these terror groups are in Iran or North Korea.

Historian Barbara Tuchman characterized the events leading up to World War I as the "Guns of August." While there is no statistical evidence that wars break out any more often in late summer than in other seasons, the world was torn apart twice during the 20th century: in early August 1914, and then again on Sept. 1, 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Maybe it is the effects of the heat, or the sense of urgency to do something before the cold of winter; but nonetheless, we've also seen a lot of late-summer violence the last few decades. Saddam Hussein...

A new initiative in Saudi Arabia aims to root out extremist teachers and 'reeducate' them away from terror. Israel is not the only place that supervises teachers and lecturers for fear they will impart the wrong kind of knowledge. Perhaps Israeli education officials should be sent to Saudi Arabia to a study a recently introduced program known as "ideological security," whose purpose is to cleanse the educational institutions of the hidden agendas of teachers in the school system. The program is already bearing fruit and some 2,000 teachers have been fired or transferred to administrative positions out of fear they...

There are allegedly "dozens of Americans" on this hit list who "pose a threat" to the United States. National Security Adviser John Brennan said this: (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN BRENNAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: There are, in my mind, dozens of U.S. persons who are in different parts of the world that are very concerning to us. (END VIDEO CLIP) So, we just shoot them on the spot and don't worry about their Miranda rights as American citizens? Now if it were on the battlefield — fine, I get it. But away from the battlefield? ... (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRENNAN: Our...

President Barack Obama is tangled in the mystery surrounding the murder of the gay choir director of his controversial Chicago church - and the slain man's mother is demanding answers NOW!

I’m confused, the left always says we can’t question their patriotism, yet Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine, hates America and he’s proud of it. Note: We all know the vast majority of the left feels this way but don’t have the b-lls to admit it publicly… (The Progressive)- It’s July 4th, my least favorite holiday. And I’m not referring to the bugs, or the crowds, or the traffic on the highways. I’m talking about the mindless patriotic bubble bath we’re all supposed to soak in all weekend long. Well, not me. My heart does not beat faster at the...

As a graphic designer this is a subject that has been interesting and frightening to me for a long time now. Check out this fascinating and important video on iconography from Bill Whittle of Pajamas TV its 8 minutes long, but its so good it feels like 30 seconds. (This video is embedded at the original post which can be seen here or view it at YouTube here) This inspired several pieces I've done (and can be found on my art page) since viewing it...(there is a "slide show" of specific examples at the original post) Obama puts that...

So now the rap on President Obama is that his response to the oil spill along the Gulf Coast hasn't been heartfelt enough. He comes off as emotionally detached, critics say, and, by the way, isn't it a pity that the white folk from the coastal red states who never wanted a black man in the White House in the first place are complaining that he doesn't care about them? Talk about projecting their hard feelings onto others. "The politics of the disaster are Cajun hot, but Obama is cerebral cool," wrote Howard Fineman on msnbc.com. So we get our...

"Guerra was taken into custody after police searching his car found ropes, gloves, a condom, lubricant, Viagra, flex-cuffs, and a stun-gun, as well as maps of city parks in Midland. When they searched his home, police say they uncovered child pornography and maps pinpointing Midland churches."

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – The United Nations scaled back its operations in the troubled southern city of Kandahar on Monday, relocating several foreign employees to Kabul and telling more than 200 Afghan U.N. workers to stay home amid rising violence. The announcement came hours after three bombings — one targeting a local police official — shook the city. The rash of attacks came ahead of a joint Afghan-NATO operation to try to wrest control of the area from Taliban militants. The strategy is to flood in troops, rout the militants and rush in new governance, development projects and security to win...

It was one of the most significant developments in the Obama presidency. We refer to the leak last week of an explosive top secret memo sent in January by the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to President Obama's national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones, deploring the lack of planning concerning Iranian nuclear aspirations should the administration's much ballyhooed outreach approach fail. In itself, the memo's conclusion is nothing less than stunning - a senior official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, characterized the document as "a wake-up call." Yet the very fact that this highly classified analysis was leaked...

The silence continues to be deafening with no Democrat in Congress, to my knowledge, crying out against President Obama for continuing to try to diminish the U.S.’ closeness to Israel. The president is apparently attempting to placate the Sunni Muslim countries in order to establish a coalition opposed to the increasing power of the Shiite Muslim state of Iran that towers in the region like a colossus. The president fails to realize, however, that sacrificing the U.S.-Israel relationship is both unnecessary and dangerous. The Sunni Arab countries are petrified of Iran’s growing power and are actually aligned with Israel in...

<p>Now that it is plainly evident even prominent officials in Kenya believe Barack Obama is foreign born, it becomes a matter of historical accuracy and constitutional integrity that his life story be fully documented.</p> <p>Long before Obama was elected president and ever since, the people of Kenya have spoken of him as one of their own. Even first lady Michelle Obama referred to her husband's "home country" as Kenya during the campaign. And now we have James Orengo, a member of the Kenyan Parliament explicitly characterizing Obama as one "born in Kenya."</p>

Yemen faces an abundance of complex and interrelated social, economic, and environmental problems. Yemen's many challenges are compounded by the country's addiction to qat. Large parts of Yemen’s society and economy are organized around the consumption and production of this stimulant. Qat consists of the tender leaves and shoots of the tree catha edulis, which contain the amphetamine cathinone. Qat must be consumed soon after being harvested because the cathinone begins breaking down after 24 hours. When chewed, qat brings about a state of mild euphoria in the user, often followed by insomnia. Qat is considered a Class 1 drug...

Most people live in the real world. They have to. But some people have the luxury of living in their heads. They have the leisure time to imagine an ideal world organized in an ideal way and run by ideal officials − in other words, themselves. These people went to a university, and perhaps graduate school. They studied gurus from Plato to Marx, who fantasized their own version of the ideal. They were taught by professors who often had done nothing outside the university, and who looked down on ordinary working people.

In a survey released October 14, 2009 – just three months ago – the liberal-leaning Pew Research Center ran a “News IQ Quiz.” It probably didn’t surprise the Pew staff to learn that a “partisan knowledge gap” existed between Democrats and Republicans. But it surely horrified them to realize that the gap favored… Republicans. On fully ten of twelve “News IQ Quiz” questions asked, Republicans demonstrated deeper basic knowledge than Democrats, with respondents tied on one question and Democrats leading on only one of the twelve. In other words, the hard survey data confirms what anyone familiar with socio-economic issues...

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (Dec. 13) - Authorities say a Rottweiler attacked and killed a Florida toddler when the boy reached to pick up a cookie he had dropped.

With Sarah Palin in the spotlight as she continues her nationwide media and book tour, the Democratic National Committee is suggesting to its supporters that the former GOP vice presidential candidate could pose a real threat to the Democratic agenda. In a fundraising e-mail sent out Friday, Organizing for America -- the community organizing component of the DNC founded in the wake of Barack Obama’s inauguration -- said it is aiming to raise $500,000 in the next week "to help push back against Sarah Palin and her allies."

US President Barack Obama has warned Israel that its policy of ignoring US pleas and continuing to expand housing in sensitive areas of Jerusalem could end up being "very dangerous". Israel yesterday rejected the condemnation of the Obama administration and other world leaders and proceeded to demolish two Palestinian homes -- bringing to seven the number of Palestinian homes demolished this week in east Jerusalem. Mr Obama, in his strongest condemnation yet, warned that the development of 900 new houses in the disputed Jerusalem suburb of Gilo could "embitter Palestinians". He said it made it difficult to resume any peace...

<p>AP – This image provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Rick taken at 2 a.m. EDT Saturday Oct. 17, 2009.</p> <p>MEXICO CITY – Hurricane Rick quickly strengthened into an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm off Mexico's Pacific coast on Saturday and forecasters said it could strike the Baja California Peninsula in about five days.</p>

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – James and Maria Ivory's dreams of a relaxing retirement on Florida's Gulf Coast were put on hold when they discovered their new home had been built with Chinese drywall that emits sulfuric fumes and corrodes pipes. It got worse when they asked their insurer for help — and not only was their claim denied, but they've been told their entire policy won't be renewed. Thousands of homeowners nationwide who bought new houses constructed from the defective building materials are finding their hopes dashed, their lives in limbo. And experts warn that cases like the Ivorys',...

Mitch McConnell just called-out Obama on Afghanistan, insisting that O make a decision on the request for more troops in Afghanistan. McConnell also wants Generals McChrystal and Petraus to come to Congress for a hearing about how they believe the war is being conducted. White House responds that it takes time to make these decisions ("Present!") and is clearly annoyed that anyone in Congress would question Obama. Developing.

This was announced by the Obama administration last evening. President Barack Obama on Friday slapped punitive tariffs on all car and light truck tires entering the United States from China in a decision that could anger the strategically important Asian powerhouse but placate union supporters important to his health care push at home. Obama had until Sept. 17 -- next week -- to accept, reject or modify a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling that a rising tide of Chinese tires into the U.S. hurts American producers. A powerful union, United Steelworkers, blames the increase for the loss of thousands of...

Don't Exhale. EPA Expected to Declare Carbon Dioxide a Dangerous Pollutant The Environmental Protection Agency is expected in the next few weeks to declare that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases are a pollutant, a move that would require the federal government to regulate them -- even without legislation. FOXNews.com Friday, August 28, 2009 Don't exhale. That advice may need heeding if the Environmental Protection Agency declares carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases a dangerous pollutant, a move -- expected in the next couple weeks -- that would require the federal government to impose new rules limiting emissions....