Free Republic

RUSH: Let's go back to the Grooveyard of Forgotten Favorites, the archives. Here's Ken Rogulski, our man in Detroit at WJR, our blowtorch affiliate there. In October 2009, people were in line for money from Obama's stimulus, and Ken Rogulski went out and talked to 'em. ROGULSKI: Why are you here? WOMAN #1: To get some money. ROGULSKI: What kind of money? WOMAN #1: Obama money. ROGULSKI: Where's it coming from? WOMAN #1: Obama. ROGULSKI: And where did Obama get it? WOMAN #1: I don't know, his stash. I don't know. (laughter) I don't know where he got it from,...

Historian John Diers, author of the new book "St. Paul Union Depot," will be among the train enthusiasts who will welcome visitors to the Union Depot on Saturday, May 11. The newly refurbished Lowertown depot, which is expected to provide Amtrak passenger service by the end of the year, is celebrating Amtrak's "National Train Day" with free family activities from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Diers, who will deliver a presentation, will have copies of his book for sale. The Radio Disney road crew, a vintage bluegrass railroad band led by Cannonball Paul, storeowner Choo Choo Bob and the St....

You might credit the legendary Scottish male virility of past time to single malt whiskey, or the sometimes brutal weather, or the fact that haggis is the national dish, but a Dutch researcher is proposing another answer: It was the kilts. Kilts, worn as they were meant to be worn, without underwear, lets our laddies swing freely in the breeze, creating, according to researcher Erwin Kompanje, the “ideal physiological scrotal environment.” Exposed to the bracing Highland coolness, testicles will make robust sperm. The modern man’s “scrotal environment” is pretty confined these days, what with underwear and pants that hold our...

Every Fresh & Easy has been in the western U.S. Tesco seemed to want to avoid battling for customers with Walmart in its Midwest heartland, and also skipped over the East Coast, which is dense with shoppers and supermarkets alike. Instead, the approach was to primarily target neighborhood “food deserts,” which were sometimes in the literal deserts of Arizona, California, and Nevada.

Let me think about that....NO!A new ad campaign has been launched to extend medical coverage to illegal aliens in the state of California. The California Endowment, a private foundation that advocates for affordable healthcare, wants county-run Medicaid expansion programs called Low-Income Health Programs to be "retooled" to provide insurance for this population - well over 1 million people! Just what the people of California need, right? First they cut tuition assistance for citizen students by $1.2 billion. Then they made illegal aliens eligible for in-state tuition and financial aid, with AB131 - signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Then tuition assistance was...

Washington: The United States and Japan on Friday agreed on language aimed at giving Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe political cover to bring the world’s third-largest economy into negotiations on a US-led free trade agreement in the Asia Pacific region. In a carefully worded statement following Abe’s meeting with President Barack Obama, the two countries reaffirmed that “all goods would subject to negotiation” if Japan joins the talks with the United States and 10 other countries. At the same time, the statement leaves open a possible outcome to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, talks where the Japan could still protect...

Hundreds of people were fighting eachother on the streets of Athens during a food giveaway, prompting an outcry over the growing desperation created by economic crisis. Farmers protesting against government cuts gave away 50 tonnes of free vegetables and fruit in the Greek capital earlier today, causing chaos in the streets as impoverished and hungry people elbowed their way to the stalls. Startling images of Greeks struggling to seize bags of tomatoes and leeks thrown from a truck outside the Agriculture Ministry have sparked further debate about poverty in the debt-ridden nation. ‘These images make me angry.

A graph prepared by an author and member of the state gun rights group Georgia Carry.org notes a marked increase in active killer events in spite of federal laws intended to help curb such incidents. GCO research staffer Michael Menkus, previously brought to the attention of Gun Rights Examiner readers as the author of “Guns Good Bans Bad - An Analysis of U.S. Department of Justice 2010 Crime Statistics,” recently completed a chart that demonstrates a quadrupling of these events (see photo accompanying this column). “Along with studying how changes in carry laws change crime rates, I also study Active...

After the election, a lot of people are excited that they can now get healthcare. Or maybe not quite yet, but by 2014, when ObamaCare is fully implemented. The only problem is that healthcare is not like an Obama phone. The phones are all made by a standard process in a factory, probably in China, and they usually work. You can use them to call a healthcare provider. But you usually get the ’if this is an emergency, hang up and dial 911,’ followed by the phone menu. How will this change with ObamaCare? Doesn’t that give you a right...

Well, folks, in the wake of this disastrous election, the year 2012 cannot end too soon. But, as it winds down, it is incumbent upon us to ask just what kind of nation we have left, and from just what reservoir of fortitude and courage we conservatives can draw the strength to continue. As the shock of Tuesday night lingered into Wednesday, the depression I experienced reached depths I have rarely known, as did the sheer existential angst and fear, so evident, as well, in various conservative chat rooms and blogs that I visited. We were told so often that...

Team Obama is giving away free pizza at Miami Dade County early voting location. Jordan Gehrke reported: “Asked the Obama supporter giving out free pizza at polls who she was with. She said nobody, then flashed Obama pin.” Meanwhile, in New York City they’re running out of water.

Consider it a modern take on the legendary tale of Johnny Appleseed. Vancouver, B.C., has announced plans to plant 150,000 fruit and nut trees on city streets, in parks, and on city-owned lands in the next eight years, reports the Vancouver Sun. At the moment, the city has about 600 fruit and nut trees on city streets, and another 425 can be found in the city's parks, community gardens, and pocket orchards. "Street trees play an important role in helping Vancouver adapt to climate change, manage stormwater run-off, support biodiversity, and even provide food," Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a...

La Joya school district officials have added new controls for the district’s free lunch program they say should help pass a state audit later this year. The district is in danger of losing federal funding for up to five years for the program after successive state reviews showed it was distributing an excessive number of free lunches. The Monitor reported in September the district is currently paying about $1.5 million out-of-pocket each month for its free breakfasts and lunches for low-income students. More than 90 percent of students at La Joya campuses rely on the program for free breakfasts and...

Last year, a federal program paid out $1.6 billion to cover free cell phones and the monthly bills of 12.5 million wireless accounts. The program, overseen by the FCC and intended to help low-income Americans, is popular for obvious reasons, with participation rising steeply since 2008, when the government paid $772 million for phones and monthly bills. But observers complain that the program suffers from poor oversight, in which phones go to people who don’t qualify, and hundreds of thousands of those who do qualify have more than one phone.

Which presidential candidate has had the better of the debate about the economy? Mitt Romney - 49% Barack Obama - 50% Other - 1% Total Votes: 8,859

In a speech delivered at Osawatomie High School in Osawatomie, Kansas, on Tuesday, President Barack Obama argued that while a limited government that preserves free markets "speaks to our rugged individualism" as Americans, such a system "doesn't work" and "has never worked" and that Americans must look to a more activist government that taxes more, spends more and regulates more if they want to preserve the middle class. "'[T]here is a certain crowd in Washington who, for the last few decades, have said, let’s respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. 'The market will take care of...

"In his first term, Obama raised the national debt by $5 trillion, seized control of the healthcare sector on behalf of the federal government, and seized control of General Motors on behalf of the tumor that has been killing it, the UAW. How could he top this in a second term? How about by officially repealing the First Amendment? President Barack Obama called for restrictions to be put on political speech during a Wednesday “Ask Me Anything (AMA)” session on the website Reddit, an Internet link-sharing community."

Milton Friedman explodes the myth that government can provide goods and services at no one's expense

I just met the owner of the newest Chick Fil A. His name is Will and couldn't be a nicer guy. He is planning a hard opening on August 23rd and looking forward to being a part of our community and playing a role in local charities. Let's all come out to support Will at his great restaurant weekend on August 23rd. In fact, let's all come out to eat together all weekend when he opens. Chick Fil A is located on North 1st street on the same parking lot as Five Guys.

Karl Smith’s co-blogger Adam asks ... [Is] being “free-market” compatible with the belief that a government should set top marginal tax rates to maximize revenue? If your argument is that the government should extract the maximum revenue from high income tax payers so as to reduce the tax payments on lower income tax payers then there is nothing in this that violates free market economics. Free market economists who also support a welfare state, are also conceding that taxes should be collected so as to mitigate the consequences of market outcomes on lower income people. Note, for example, that arguing...