Free Republic

CNSNews.com) -- Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says he is worried that a new District of Columbia law that governs how pest control operators must handle rats may result in entire rodent “families” being relocated across the Potomac River into Virginia by D.C. pest control personnel. Lately, there have been reports of growing rat infestations around the Occupy DC protests at Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square. Cuccinelli said D.C.'s new rat law--the Wildlife Protection Act of 2010 (Wildlife Protection Act of 2010.pdf) --is “crazier than fiction” because it requires that rats and other vermin not be killed but captured, preferably...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2012 – President Barack Obama signed a bill into law yesterday to streamline airport screening procedures for service members and their families traveling on official orders. The Risk-based Security Screening for Members of the Armed Forces Act gives the Transportation Security Administration six months to develop and implement a plan to expedite screening services for service members on orders and in uniform and, “to the extent possible, any accompanying family member.” The act, in part, calls for the agency to establish standard guidelines for the screening of military uniform items, such as combat boots. In a statement...

At the stroke of midnight, a growing number of Americans are lining up at Walmart not to cash in on a holiday sale, but because they’re hungry. The increasing number of Americans relying on food stamps to survive the sluggish economic recovery has changed the way the largest retailer in the United States does business. Carol Johnston, Walmart’s senior vice president of store development, said that store managers have seen an “enormous spike” in the number of consumers shopping at midnight on the first of the month. That’s typically when those receiving federal food assistance have their accounts refilled each

Homeschooling, parental rights, Constitution, 10th Amendment and families: Texas Home School Coalition Convention Speech by Governor Rick Perry, Part I Texas Home School Coalition Convention Speech by Governor Rick Perry, Part II Texas Home School Coalition Endorses Governor Perry - THSC is one of the largest advocacy organizations for home schoolers in the nation, working to support more than 120,000 Texas families who home school an estimated 300,000 Texas children. For almost 25 years, THSC has protected the right of parents to teach their children at home, and is dedicated to promoting a greater knowledge, understanding and acceptance of home...

A speech by Don Feder at Ave Maria University, September 20, 2011 Hollywood has a penchant for blowing things up – especially the world. Since the 1950s, apocalyptic movies (which come with a variety of special effects) have been all the rage. We’ve met our doom through nuclear war (“On The Beach,” “The Day After”), a worldwide super-plague (“Twelve Monkeys” “The Stand”), global warming (“The Day After Tomorrow,” “Waterworld,”), the earth’s core over-heating (“2012,” “The Core”), overpopulation (“Soylent Green”), a comet striking the earth (“Deep Impact,” “Armageddon”), sentient machines taking over (the “Terminator” and “Matrix” series), rampaging simians (the “Planet...

Social policy often does more harm than good, says one of the last of the original neocons.The Obama administration is entering a field not cultivated on a major scale since the 1960s: social policy. Unlike safety-net entitlements, such as health insurance and cash welfare, social policy—or social engineering, to use the more critical term—uses government action to try to change and improve people and their neighborhoods. For instance, the Obama administration’s Promise Neighborhoods are supposed to replicate, in 21 cities, what the Harlem Children’s Zone has done in Manhattan—to “create plans to provide cradle-to-career services that improve the educational achievement...

It may not be a crime to be poor, but it can land you behind bars if you also are behind on your child-support payments. 1. Only on msnbc.com 1. Updated 67 minutes ago 9/12/2011 12:10:41 PM +00:00 A day in the life of Iran’s president 2. Updated 70 minutes ago 9/12/2011 12:07:45 PM +00:00 Obama: We’re not where we need to be 3. Unable to pay child support, poor parents jailed 4. Getty Images Stock No promotion yet? Maybe you're not the boss' favorite 5. How 9/11 changed Pakistan 6. Image:Banff National Park UGC It's A Snap! Vote for...

– SAN FRANCISCO — One in four California households with children reported food hardship, according to a new analysis of Gallup data released last Thursday by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). “It’s disturbing, but not surprising,” said Kelly Hardy, director of health policy at Children Now. The report analyzed data gathered as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index project’s responses to the question: “Have there been times in the past 12 months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?” “It sends a clear signal of economic distress, particularly for...

They set out to sell ice-cold lemonade, but now three Washington, D.C. protesters might need some legal aid. Capitol police arrested three people Saturday afternoon for selling lemonade on the West Lawn of the Capitol Building. They were participating in “Lemonade Freedom Day” — a national demonstration against a spate of recent lemonade stand shutdowns by police and health inspectors. According to the D.C. group’s Facebook event page, three lemonistas — Meg Mclain, K.n. Dill and Will Duffield — were taken into custody by Capitol Police. It is not known what the protesters were charged with. The Capitol Police did...

Just as students head back to college and families finish summer vacations comes the latest bad news from pest control companies: Bedbug infestations are getting worse and becoming more common in some places, including dorms, hotels, nursing homes, hospitals, office buildings, and schools and day-care centers. According to a survey released Wednesday by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky, pest control companies say there has been double-digit growth in infestations in the past year. About 54 percent of pest companies reported treating bedbugs in college dorms, compared with 35 percent in 2010; 80 percent reported treating...

The Playboy logo. July 28, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A prominent parents group is calling on local stations to refuse to air the NBC series “The Playboy Club,” in a letter sent to the network’s affiliate stations this week. The series, which is scheduled to premiere on September 19th, follows the lives of several employees of the first Playboy Club in Chicago in the early 1960s. A promotional for the show on NBC’s website calls it “the door to all your fantasies.” “Today, people wish we were living in unhealthier times,� Chad Hodge, the show’s creator, told the Los Angeles Times....

If the debt defaults, we wonder how it will affect us. Will interest on mortgages, credit cards and vehicle loans go up? Will the market crash and eat our 401K? If America defaults, how will that affect jobs? Will food, utilities, insurance and gas prices move higher? With only a week left for negotiations to come together, there's little time for people to get ready for the worst. We have locked the interest in on our mortgage, so it cannot raise. We continue to be frugal and stock up on items we anticipate will go up in price.

Parents Fleeing San Francisco - City, Media in Denial About Whyby Sheri Urban The S.F. Chronicle is reporting that San Francisco is losing families in droves and blames crowded schools, and lack of housing. Despite San Francisco officials' efforts to keep families in the city, the percentage of children among the city's total population continues to decline....Just 13.4 percent of the city's 805,235 residents are younger than 18, one of the smallest percentages of any city in the country. The school district has lost almost 7,000 kids over the past decade, down in 2010 to 53,033. Why is it that...

It’s perhaps not the most politically correct take on welfare in America’s black community, but an interesting one nonetheless. Walter E. Williams, a George Mason economist and author of “Race and Economics: How Much Can Be Blamed on Discrimination?” is not a fan of the welfare state that exists in the country. In an appearance on Thursday night’s “Stossel” on the Fox Business Network, Williams argued that welfare has done more damage to black society than slavery or Jim Crow. “[T]he welfare state has done to black Americans what slavery could not have done, the harshest Jim Crow laws and...

One in four children in the U.S. is being raised by a single parent - a percentage that has been on the rise and is higher than other developed countries, according to a report released today. Researchers found that the U.S. had 25.8 percent of children being raised by a single parent, compared with an average of 14.9 percent across the other countries.

A coworker came back from a trip to the coffee shop steaming mad. Here's Sarah's story: I'm meeting my husband at Starbucks today for a quick coffee and while in line I smile and coo at a 5-month-old boy in line ahead of me who was with his father and brother, a toddler. When I get to the concession stand I hear the baby start to make those familiar hunger sounds, that “eh eh eh” sound I know all too well because I have a 4-month-old and 2-year-old. By the time I am mixing my fifth sugar packet into the...

Obama thinks the man who wants lower gas prices is socially irresponsible. I can explain. This is why the nation needs me. Nearly every right-side pundit who analyzed the exchange between Obama and the man in Pennsylvania about gas prices got it wrong. A man asked the President about gas prices and wondered if there was anything we could do to bring them down. While trying to explain three steps to lowering the prices, Obama said this, (1:45-2:37) .........where most of our oil is used. Now, I noticed some folks clapped, but I know some of these big guys, their...

An amazing thing to ponder. Thankfully the world is taking notice.

Obama: Washington should cut back like average families doBy Andrew Restuccia - 02/12/11 06:00 AM ET President Obama said Saturday that his upcoming budget will force Washington to “live within our means” at a time when American families are having to make difficult economic decisions every day. In his weekly address, Obama outlined his fiscal year 2012 budget request, which he will send to Congress on Monday. Obama’s budget comes as Republicans in Congress are railing against government spending. House Republicans just unveiled a bill to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year that, at the prodding...

Foreclosures, plant closings, offshored jobs, underwater mortgages, miserable rates of unemployment, stagnating incomes: Is there any end to the woes of the struggling American middle? Apparently not, because now comes news of a trend guaranteeing trouble ahead for the more than half of the nation that make up the moderately educated and moderately earning middle — even if the economy improves. That seismic shift, outlined in a new report from the National Marriage Project and the Institute for American Values, is towards more divorce, more out of wedlock births and, ipso facto, fewer kids with a hopeful future. Family breakdown,...

Mormons often find comfort in the idea that one day they will be able to live together as a family throughout all eternity. However, with all the details LDS leaders have given to this teaching, the logical possibility breaks down. First of all, dwelling together as a family unit presupposes that each member of the family was able to follow the whole law during the mortal probation. According to tenth LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith, "To enter the celestial and obtain exaltation it is necessary that the whole law be kept…" (The Way to Perfection, p. 206). Given the fact...

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.(Isaiah 40:29)

As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.If you keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.(John 15:9, 10)

If I weren't getting so used to the inequity of political correctness, I would be stunned at this: http://www.blackpeoplemeet.com/index.cfm The Fresh Prince happened to be on TV while I was surfing the Internet and of course, the commercials are aimed toward the largest audience for such programming, black people. For a moment my jaw dropped as I watched the commercial that caught my attention as soon as I heard "black people meet" in the background. To be sure, I checked http://www.whitepeoplemeet.com/ and was redirected to a dating site for Generation X'ers that never once mentioned race. I don't know why...

Blame it on the today's youth and their infatuation with TV, computers and video games. Blame it on politics. Blame it on the increase in shootings in the work place and public areas. What ever the cause, those are just a few of the thoughts from local gun experts about the increase in concealed weapons permits and a general growing interest in guns. "I think the vulnerability of the American public came into the spotlight after 9/11. It's not an unfounded fear with the shootings in the work place, the school shootings and terrorist threats — stuff's happening, and people...

A Cabinet minister was branded 'abhorrent' today after saying that the state should not provide limitless support to benefits claimants with large families. Campaigners reacted with fury after the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt savaged the policy of sizeable handouts totalling more than the average household earns. Mr Hunt claimed that the Government's proposed cap on benefits reflected the need for claimants to 'take responsibility' for their children.

SUN CITY, Ariz. — Bill Szentmiklosi ...is on the lookout for that most egregious of all infractions: children. He peers over fences and ambles into backyards where children are allowed to visit but not live. Szentmiklosi, 60, a retired police officer has remade himself as the chief of Sun City’s age police. Szentmiklosi kept a sharp eye for any obvious signs of youth. It could be a stray ball, a misplaced pint-size flip-flop. In sniffing out children he relies on his decades as an officer. He tells the suspected violator that a neighbor has complained and he asks gentle questions...

Permits should not be granted to build even one more mosque in the United States of America, let alone the monstrosity planned for Ground Zero. This is for one simple reason: each Islamic mosque is dedicated to the overthrow of the American government. Each one is a potential jihadist recruitment and training center, and determined to implement the “Grand Jihad” of which Andy McCarthy has written. Here is the strategy, in their own words, in the words of “An Explanatory Memorandum” circulated by the Muslim Brotherhood in 1991 which outlines “the General Strategic Goal” for the Islamic movement “in North...

This is my first vanity and let's hope the last for those who hate vanities. As a parent, I gained a great deal of insight in life from my sons. I figure it is the central benefit of the self sacrifice of parenting. I am asking Freeper parents and grandparents to share lessons from observing and interacting with their kids.

Young parents Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston may have gotten engaged again recently, but they are still a quintessential "red" family trying to swim against the tide of family change, say two family law professors who have launched a debate about "red" and "blue" American families. The 2004 and 2008 elections showed a divided America — and that division extends even to families, Naomi Cahn and June Carbone write in their book, "Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture." In blue states, families tend to be well-educated, have high-paying jobs, be tolerant of diversity and...

As the state continues to feel the effects of the recession, more and more families are turning to local food pantries for assistance. The advent of summer can be an even more challenging time for families in need, particularly those relying on free or reduced-price lunches to help feed their children.

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2010 – The Defense Department today launched an Internet-based program to help servicemembers and other Americans living overseas vote more easily in November’s elections. The new, online voting assistant at www.fvap.gov will make the registration and absentee ballot application process “quick, easy, seamless and intuitive,” Bob Carey, federal voting assistance program director, said today during an interview with The Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service. Americans living abroad previously had to research a 290-page manual to figure out their state requirements for absentee voting, including where and how to send in their applications, Carey said. “One...

WASHINGTON, June 22, 2010 – Officials at Arlington National Cemetery have established a special call center to address concerns worried family members may have about the potential mishandling of their loved ones’ remains. Family members with concerns can call 703-607-8199 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT. The call center opened June 11, a day after Army Secretary John M. McHugh announced the findings of a months-long investigation into the cemetery’s records management. The report noted at least 200 cases of improper internment of remains, including lost accountability for remains, names and graves listed as empty. More...

MANNHEIM, Germany, June 11, 2010 – Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Stoner says resilience is "the ability to have a positive outcome from negative situations." He should know. With 25 years in the Army, the Georgia native is no stranger to change or to the ups and downs that often accompany military life. In fact, it's one of the reasons he agreed to take on his latest mission as the master resiliency trainer for the 18th Military Police Brigade here. In 2003, after returning from deployment, Stoner said he had some "major problems" readjusting, which were compounded by his marital...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is offering condolences to relatives of the 11 workers who were killed when an oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Obama wrote to the families and invited them to visit the White House on Thursday. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama also wants to hear the families' thoughts on changes the government can make to ensure that future deepwater oil drilling is safe. Obama put a temporary halt to such drilling after the April 20 explosion off Louisiana's coast.

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli media say the Foreign Ministry has ordered the families of its diplomats in Turkey to leave that country because of the uproar over Israel's deadly naval raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. State-run Israel radio and other stations and newspapers say the diplomatic mission itself will remain in Turkey.

Honor America's Fallen Heroes and their families with a Memorial Weekend Celebration at Kelly's Irish Times on Capitol Hill, hosted by the country's largest military families organization, Families United. Sunday, May 30, 2010 7:00pm - 10:00pm Kelly's Irish Times 14 F Street NW Washington, DC With a suggested $10.00 admission, you are automatically entered for hourly drawings of FREE BAR TAB GIVEAWAYS - up to $200! Not to mention amazing drink specials, music, and awesome raffle prizes - all while helping to support our troops and their families! 100 percent of your $10.00 door fee goes to support military family...

In 1980, my mother tells me, she made the decision to divorce my father. She believed her decision was the right one for her and her girls. Her mother, Mamoo, was supportive. She offered to clear her tenant out of her duplex in Columbus, Ga., so we could move in, but my mother declined. We would be fine, she said, and we were. My mom, sister and I moved from outside Washington, D.C., to Carrollton, Ga. Mom got a job at a small business; my sister and I went on to graduate from high school and then college. I continued...

WASHINGTON, April 14, 2010 – A military adage says the reason servicemembers take up arms in combat is on behalf of fellow troops to their right and their left. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command, delivers the keynote address at the annual Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors Gala in Washington, D.C., April 13, 2010. TAPS has assisted more than 25,000 grieving military families with a national network of peer-based support and crisis intervention. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. But before an audience comprised of...

3/29/2010 - FAIRFAX, Va. (AFNS) -- The military and the circus have a lot in common. They both have people from around the nation and assets from around the world. Both are highly trained units that perform sometimes unimaginable feats and handle unspeakable logistical details in carrying out their mission. And, most importantly, both share an important priority: children. On March 26, this priority was at the forefront when Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey honored military families at a performance of its traveling circus "Zing Zang Zoom" at a performance at George Mason University's Patriot Center here. Normally, a...

(CNSNews.com) – If Congress passes the Senate health-care plan, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, American families will be required by federal law to buy a federally approved health insurance plan that will cost a minimum of $12,000 per year--and, on average, will cost $15,000 per year -- whether their employer or the government helps them with the premium or not. Beginning in 2014, the Senate plan would require all individuals to buy health insurance. Anyone who does not obtain insurance through an employer would be forced to buy it out of their own pocket. Families of...

Killed, aborted or neglected, at least 100m girls have disappeared—and the number is rising IMAGINE you are one half of a young couple expecting your first child in a fast-growing, poor country. You are part of the new middle class; your income is rising; you want a small family. But traditional mores hold sway around you, most important in the preference for sons over daughters. Perhaps hard physical labour is still needed for the family to make its living. Perhaps only sons may inherit land. Perhaps a daughter is deemed to join another family on marriage and you want someone...

WASHINGTON – First lady Michelle Obama said Tuesday the president's 2011 budget will include a record $8.8 billion to support military families. The largest sum, $1.9 billion, would be spent on counseling and other support services. An additional $1.3 billion would go for military child care. President Barack Obama included another $439 million to build 10 Defense Department schools, the first step in a program to replace or renovate 103 such schools by 2015.

The news continues to be disconcerting when it comes to the impact the President's health care bill will have on average Americans and families in particular. In addition to leading to health care shortages, waiting lists, and the squeezing of individuals out of private care into the government program, this bill takes particularly harsh aim at married couples.

1/6/2010 - DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AFNS) -- The staff of the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center has been providing dignity, honor and respect for fallen warriors, and care, service and support for their families since the unit was activated on Jan. 6, 2009. So it was only appropriate that a new facility that will carry that family support even further be dedicated on the one-year anniversary. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz presided over the dedication of the Center for Families of the Fallen here Jan. 6, a new facility that will be a haven...

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 30, 2009 – Due to multiple military deployments that have occurred for nearly a decade, many Army families choose to remain in their established neighborhoods or return to a relative’s hometown when their soldier deploys. In many cases this means that family resources commonly found on a military installation aren't available for the duration of the soldier’s deployment. The Army has hired 61 community support coordinators located across the United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and Japan to help connect these geographically dispersed military personnel with community-service systems. Community support coordinators work to engage and invite...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 24, 2009 – Servicemembers and their families continue to enjoy tremendous support from American civilians, but at no time of the year is that support greater than during the holidays. “We learn of citizens’ efforts to support our troops every year, but this year there seems to be a real outpouring of support from not only citizens and nonprofit organizations, but also businesses,” said Adrien Starks, chief of the community relations civic outreach team for the office of the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. “I don’t think people have any idea about the amount of support...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 2009 – Brandy Flotten is tackling her first holiday season without her deployed husband, but she’s still determined to keep the holiday spirit alive for her two sons, she said. Navy spouse Vivian Greentree created a holiday card to keep her deployed husband part of the family’s holiday festivities. In the card, she and her two boys hold a “Daddy on a Stick” to represent her husband. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “It has been tough,” said Flotten, whose husband, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Flotten, is deployed to Iraq. “We’re just trying to keep...

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 18, 2009 – Getting through downtown Asadabad, Afghanistan, has become easier for hundreds of Afghan families, thanks to two and a half miles of new roads that were completed Dec. 13. Local workers cleaning the streets in Asadabad, Afghanistan, watch a provincial reconstruction team patrol conduct a final quality-assurance check on a new road through the provincial capital of Kunar province prior to a dedication ceremony, Dec. 13, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Brian Boisvert  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Provincial reconstruction team engineers completed their final quality-assurance check just before a...

12/16/2009 - PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Afghanistan National Security Forces and their dependants are entitled to free military health care throughout the country. This service is not often used by families due to lack of awareness or proximity to a military facility. The Paktya Regional Military Hospital is a 50-bed inpatient facility which has hundreds of outpatient visits daily and, of those, almost none are from family members. Helping the hospital staff raise awareness of this resource was a project supported by the Medical Embedded Training Team at Forward Operating Base Lightning. The goal of the program, named Women's...