Free Republic

The U.S. Navy announced Wednesday morning that it has named one of its new ships after Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta, a San Diego native who died a hero in Iraq in 2004. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced the move, saying a new guided-missile destroyer will be named the USS Rafael Peralta. A Pentagon statement said Mabus named that ship and two other new destroyers after Navy and Marine Corps heroes whose actions occurred during different conflicts but "were united in their uncommon valor." Peralta was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross after using his body to shield fellow Marines from an...

One of the sad things about our country, for my money, is that our big shots, our movers and shakers, have become too passive. We especially see this in education. Our community leaders (in business, politics, the military, or whatever) should stand up to the Education Establishment and shout: “You are doing a lousy job! Millions of kids can’t even read.” But these “leaders” don’t seem to have a word to say. I can’t figure out whether our big shots have been intimidated by professors of education. That’s pathetic. Or our whole society has gotten old and lazy? That’s scary....

A woman convicted of brutally beating and stabbing a coworker to death at the Lululemon Athletica store in Bethesda last year was sentenced on Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert A. Greenberg handed down the sentence to Brittany Norwood shortly before 5 p.m., after hours of emotional testimony during a sentencing hearing in a packed courthouse in Rockville. “My sympathy for your plight does not begin to approach what I feel for the Murray family,” he said to Norwood. “No matter how long I confine you for, one thing we...

INDIANAPOLIS -- A former school superintendent under fire for his $1 million retirement payout is claiming Wayne Township Schools owe him even more money. In a counterclaim filed by his attorneys Wednesday, Terry Thompson said the district breached his 2007 employment contract by prematurely ending his superintendent emeritus consulting job on Jan. 31, 2011, once Call 6 Investigator Kara Kenney broke the news of the payout. Thompson claims the district still owes him for unpaid salary, post-retirement contributions, deferred compensation and severance pay, but the claim does not give an exact dollar figure.

It’s a scenario all too familiar to retailers: A customer walks in, asks to see a product, discusses it at length with the sales staff, and then pulls out his cellphone. Jason Brewer, vice president of communications and advocacy for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, explains what happens next: “He uses his smartphone to take a picture of the bar code on the back of the item, and then, right in front of the sales person, he checks prices and orders the item online.” Why? Because most online outlets don’t charge sales tax, unlike traditional bricks-and-mortar stores. Buying online, especially...

Attorney General Bill Schuette filed a lawsuit Monday against the Health Care Clinic in Delta Township and the affiliated Women's Choice Clinic in Saginaw, forcing the local abortion clinic to close its doors. The court order to shut down operations came after the attorney general said an investigation showed a number of violations. Schuette hopes to keep the clinic's doors from ever opening again. "Doesn't matter whether you're an abortion clinic or a podiatrist, there are state regulations that you have to follow that must be enforced. That's what this case is all about," said Joy Yearout, spokeswoman. Yearout, a...

President Barack Obama is expanding his use of federal regulations by prodding the financial sector to sell low-interest mortgages to millions of cash-strapped homeowners “independent of how deeply underwater they are,” said Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Monday morning. White House officials worked with real-estate and financial-sector groups to shift the financial risks that have kept high-risk borrowers from getting mortgages. Under Obama’s plan, mortgages will even be offered to homeowners who need to borrow 125 percent of a house’s value, Donovan added.

...The orders do tremendous harm to the economy as well as to people’s lives by preventing them from using their property the way they had intended. This is one reason that the Physical Property Rights ranking by the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) has shown a decline in recent years for the United States. The great harm that each and everyone one of these “administrative compliance orders” causes has recently been brought home by a couple from Idaho. Mike and Chantell Sackett purchased .63 acres of land for $23,000 in 2005 to build their dream home. Despite being 500 feet...

10 Mind Blowing Facts Which Show How Members Of Congress And Federal Employees Are Living The High Life At Our ExpenseOctober 19,2011 If you were asked to guess, what area of the United States would you say has the highest average income? New York City? Los Angeles? Silicon Valley? Well, would you believe that it is actually the Washington D.C. area? Median household income in the region is $84,523, which is the highest in the nation. One of the biggest reasons for this are the huge salaries being pulled down by federal employees in the Washington D.C. area. According to...

Any of Florida's parks, city halls and libraries — once gun-free zones — will soon be forced to allow firearms under a state-led effort to curtail gun restrictions imposed by local governments. Facts: GUN ORDINANCES UP FOR REPEAL City of Sarasota Law allowing city manager to suspend firearm sales during emergencies Sarasota County Laws prohibiting hunting from roads and bridges, allowing the suspension of firearm sales during a riot, requiring pawn shops to keep records of firearms Manatee County Laws requiring gun ranges to ensure stray bullets stay within their property, prohibiting discharge of firearms on unpaved public roads and...

A popular idea in President Obama's new jobs bill could represent a step toward fundamentally transforming the existing system of federal jobless benefits. Some critics say such a move is long overdue--but others worry that a major overhaul could threaten a program that since the Depression has been a core component of the social safety net. Obama's jobs measure, sent to Congress Monday, contains a provision that would encourage states to replicate a voluntary Georgia program that allows jobless workers to continue collecting unemployment benefits while training with potential employers. (Last month, we looked at how effective the Georgia program...

This video is a brief tribute to and reminder of those Americans who were murdered by evil on that fateful day on September 11, 2001. Average Americans, politicians and even the mainstream media united as one during the weeks that followed honoring those who were killed so horribly. Though it did not last long, it was a phenomena which was the first of it's kind in American history. America demonstrated that despite our individual differences and beliefs, we remain united and will stand as one when attacked by evil. May we never forget and continue to be ever vigilant of...

The Federal Reserve could embark on a third round of quantitative easing depending on upcoming economic data but should first confirm that inflation has eased, a senior Fed official said in the Asahi newspaper on Wednesday. The Fed will need to confirm whether its economic outlook is still on track at a policy meeting next month and weigh the best options if additional easing is needed, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said in an interview with the Japanese daily. Expectations are growing that the central bank could ease policy at its two-day meeting starting Sept. 20 after minutes from...

THE United States became the world’s largest economy because we invented products and then made them with new processes. With design and fabrication side by side, insights from the factory floor flowed back to the drawing board. Today, our most important task is to restart this virtuous cycle of invention and manufacturing. Rebuilding our manufacturing capacity requires the demolition of the idea that the United States can thrive on its service sector alone. We need to create at least 20 million jobs in the next decade to offset the effects of the recession and to address our $500 billion trade...

Oh wait, that's not the Tea Party. It's Obama-supporting Democrat-voting* public union teacher protesters -- again.Yes, the Democrat-media complex still smear the Tea Party and anti-Obama conservative Americans as vitriolic and racist, and most recently "the real enemy" who can "go straight to hell." Meanwhile in the real world, actual vitriol and (by the left's own standards) racism occurred at the hands of union protesters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin both Thursday and Friday.As reported by Milwaukee's local Fox-TV affiliate: Vandals super glued the locks of several doors and a parking gate at Messmer Preparatory School in Milwaukee. School officials believe the people responsible...

One of Barack Obama's job creation programs appears to be working – the number of federal government regulators along with their budgets has exploded since 2008. Total employment at the conglomeration of federal agencies responsible for enforcing compliance with the myriad of laws now exceeds 281,000 people.  That's an increase of 13 percent during a time when 27 million Americans find themselves unemployed, under-employed, or have completely given up even trying to find work.  The budgets at these same agencies have increased 16 percent during the same period to over $54 billion.With the expanded staffs, the agencies have ramped up...

Rather than a Constitutional Amendment, a Simple 1or 2 page Law could inspire much of our Government's needed change in fiscal outlook. The “Sunset Clause, with TEETH” is what makes it! EXAMPLE: A Bill to link the Pensions of elected Federal Office holders to this Nation's “Debt Ceiling” NO elected Federal Office Holder may draw a pension for that Service UNLESS our Nation's “Debt Limit” and actual “National Debt” went DOWN during that term of Service {was lower at the End of said Service, than on the Day of his/her swearing in.} ANY future Bill, or other attempt,to alter, amend...

The new report’s title offers a glimpse into the strategy’s likely focus on countering violent extremism on the domestic front by working with state and local governments, nongovernmental and community organizations, and a wide spectrum of private American citizens. Such efforts should hone in on three key areas of concern: countering extremist ideologies, enhancing social cohesion, and building resiliency within American communities...

Do handguns belong in South Florida’s parks and recreation centers and city halls? They do according to the Florida Legislature. Under a new law that takes effect Oct. 1, all of the state’s cities and counties must repeal local rules limiting gun ownership. Although the state has claimed sole right to regulate firearms since 1987, this year’s new law adds fines for local officials who fail to comply, and gives gun owners a right to sue for damages if they believe their rights have been violated. Though the initial bill suggested a fine of $5 million, the final legislation lowered...

(CNN) – After repeated attacks on her record from Republican presidential rival and fellow Minnesotan Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann hit back Sunday, vehemently contrasting her record in Congress with his as governor. Bachmann said that while she was working against excessive spending, cap and trade, TARP and the individual health care mandate, Pawlenty was praising the same plans and leaving his state with a budget crisis. "Executive experience is not an asset if it simply means bigger government and more intrusive government," Bachmann wrote in a statement. "Actions speak louder than words." Ahead of the high stakes Ames straw poll...

Asphalt Is Replaced By Cheaper Gravel; 'Back to Stone Age' ....Paved roads, historical emblems of American achievement, are being torn up across rural America and replaced with gravel or other rough surfaces as counties struggle with tight budgets and dwindling state and federal revenue. State money for local roads was cut in many places amid budget shortfalls. [SNIP] But higher taxes for road maintenance are equally unpopular. In June, Stutsman County residents rejected a measure that would have generated more money for roads by increasing property and sales taxes. "I'd rather my kids drive on a gravel road than stick...

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, just told reporters that he thought Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's so-called "last resort" option for resolving the debt ceiling stalemate should be left on the table. "Mitch described it as a 'last ditch,'" Boehner said, adding that whatever people think of it at the moment, if no deal is reached, "it might look pretty good a few weeks from now." The McConnell proposal, which would give Obama the ability to raise the debt limit by as much as $2.5 trillion without Republicans directly voting on it, has been deemed by many as "dead on...

Complete Proof of the $12 Trillion Republican Debt Just below you can see the calculation and the documentation links for the Reagan-Bushes $12 Trillion ($12,049 Billion) national debt as of September 30, 2010. You can download this as an excel spreadsheet by clicking: Download as XLS. Their debt has 4 parts, but the bulk of it is calculated from 4 inputs (yellow and tan) that you can check with the color coded links to the treasury at the bottom. This will verify the $3.4 Trillion Reagan-Bush debt and the $6.1 Trillion G.W. Bush debt. Together that's $9.5 Trillion. Now some...

SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. — Public-sector employees here now are regularly referring to Gov. Chris Christie as "Adolf Christie." Things got especially ugly when Christie signed legislation that requires each of the state's 500,000 teachers, police and other public workers to pay more for their pensions and health benefits and eliminates the issue for four years from collective bargaining. In this traditionally Democrat state, Republican Christie was victorious in a legislature with solid Democrat majorities, successfully arguing that the current and projected pension and health benefits for public-sector employees are unaffordable and unsustainable. Advocating spending cuts rather than tax hikes,...

If you’re looking for the case for and against the McConnell gambit, here’s Grover Norquist giving a thumbs up and Philip Klein giving a thumbs down. Norquist’s argument is straightforward: This debt-ceiling showdown has always been about politics for Obama, so let him choke on the politics of it. Force him to finally finally finally put his spending plan in writing after he and his party have ducked the issue for months. In fact, according to Roll Call, McConnell’s only question at yesterday’s debt-ceiling meeting was to ask how much the Biden plan would save in discretionary spending next year....

Now that the table is set, here’s how the proposed plan would work: Republicans in Congress would agree to vote to authorize the president to propose three separate incremental debt ceiling increases, spaced over the remainder of his term. He would be required to couple each request with a corresponding set of spending cuts that exceed the dollar amount of his sought-after debt limit hike. These cuts would be of his choosing alone. The first pair of requests would come prior to the August 2 deadline. It would be for roughly $700 Billion. The next requests, for $900 Billion, would...

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said today he will outline spending reductions and mass layoffs next week in response to the apparent collapse of his $1.6 billion concessions deal with state employees. "We're talking about large-scale position reductions pretty quickly," Malloy said after speaking at an economic development event at the University of Hartford. With notice requirements, most of the affected employees will lose their jobs by Sept. 1, he said. Speaking publicly for the first time since it became clear Wednesday that the concession deal was faltering, Malloy was restrained and even rueful in his response. Voting on the deal...

Several people have become interested in a quite controversial topic called "AGENDA 21." They have requested being on a ping list for this topic. While I do not have time to do a thorough treatment of this subject, nor am I in any way an expert, I am willing at least for a time,to ping people as I run across articles which might pertain to this concern. It might be good to start with an examination of just what it is or might be. To kick this discussion and exploration off,I did a Google search (just for fun) on "Agenda...

In the wake of the latest jobs report, some analysts are forecasting that President Obama by the 2012 election could face the highest unemployment rate of any postwar incumbent. Beyond its undeniable real-world significance to the millions of struggling Americans, this projection also bears political importance. High unemployment may translate to high turnout against the party in the White House next November. Rather than reform the fiscal and regulatory policies contributing to the problem, the administration's solution seems to be simply revamping the "spin" surrounding them. Case in point: a recent Environmental Protection Agency report on the costs and benefits...

In May Rasmussen Reports took a survey of a thousand adults asking if they believed that States have the right to secede. "One-in-five Americans believe individual States have the right to break away from the country, although a majority doesn't believe it will actually happen." That a Tea Party movement sprang to life in the midst of the protests against Obamacare and then was instrumental in transferring political power in the House of Representatives in the 2010 election cannot be dismissed. People—lots of them—are increasingly wary of the central government, particularly one that has burdened them with more debt in...

The Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday that 275,000 organizations have lost their tax-exempt status because they failed to file required annual reports for three straight years. The tax agency said it believed that the vast majority of those groups are no longer in existence, but it said it was setting up procedures to help those companies that sought reinstatement. The IRS posted a list of the organizations on its website: http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=240099,00.html

The latest numbers show the unemployment rate stands at 9.1 percent, with the pace of job growth slowing. When it comes to new jobs, 70 percent of those are coming from small businesses, but many of them are struggling just to hang on. Small businesses are often responsible for filling the summer job needs of America's teenagers. CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports that many 16- to 19-year-olds are finding the going rough when it comes to finding work once school is out. Nearly 14 million Americans are looking for work The Labor Department says the unemployment rate for those...

If you want to get a sense of what an economic powerhouse Washington has become in recent years, look no further than the Virginia suburb of Falls Church City. Boasting a strong school system and positioned about six miles from the nation's capital, Falls Church has for years enticed rich families, making it the nation's richest county with median annual household income of $113,313. "It indicates that the City of Falls Church is located in a healthy economic area in the national capital region," says Wyatt Shields, city manager for Falls Church. "We are proud of the fact that we...

Homeowner, who owns the land you live on? You might think you do, in America, but you'd be forgetting a few things. One) eminent domain: you could at any time lose you house if, say, your city or state wants to put in a freeway there. Two) County building codes: You can lose your house if it gets too weird, ugly, unsafe, or enough of an annoyance to neighbors. Yes. In the end, this is not as free a country as you think when it comes to home design. Ask former telephone tech Alan Kimble Fahey of Acton, CA, who...

Gov. Brian Sandoval scrambled Friday to rewrite a budget after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that it's illegal for lawmakers to siphon money from a local government to pad the state's coffers and stripped 10 percent of revenue from the governor's initial two-year budget plan. The justices ruled unanimously Thursday that Nevada should not have taken money from a local sewer district to pad the state budget last year. That means that Sandoval cannot use the same tactic on $657 million intended for his $6.1 billion biennium plan. The ruling "permanently eliminated some revenue streams," Dale Erquiaga, senior aide to...

Imagine you have made a deal to buy a used car and at the last minute the dealer says, “Of course, if you want a motor that will cost extra.” That's essentially what local politicians do when they place local police and fire “enhancement” millages on the ballot. These public safety services are not some added extra provided by municipal governments, but rather the core services the public demands from them. When local politicians use these particular services to finagle voters into turning over more of their cash, they're acting in bad faith. What they should do instead is prioritize...

Ever since he quit smoking, President Obama has been staving off nicotine cravings by reaching for celery sticks. He thinks Americans who help Mexican drug cartels should be “thrown in jail.” And he has an open invitation to enjoy lemon martinis in Miami. These are just a few of the exclusive news nuggets to emerge from the White House in recent days.

Ever since he quit smoking, President Obama has been staving off nicotine cravings by reaching for celery sticks. He thinks Americans who help Mexican drug cartels should be “thrown in jail.” And he has an open invitation to enjoy lemon martinis in Miami. These are just a few of the exclusive news nuggets to emerge from the White House in recent days. The new details were not disclosed by the army of White House reporters employed by the country’s biggest news media organizations to track Obama’s every move and word.

The Wisconsin workers who have staged a week-long protest against their union-busting governor are getting some Big Apple reinforcements. Teamsters Local 237, which represents various city workers, intends to “bus a couple hundred” members to Madison – possibly this week, Deputy Director Pete Gutierrez told The Daily News.

Every day before he left for work, Richard Dennis would kiss his partner on the forehead as he slept, knowing each kiss could be their last. That's because Dennis' partner, Jair Izquierdo, was in the United States illegally and the pair's civil union wasn't recognized by the federal government. So the New York couple of more than five years lived their lives in constant fear that Izquierdo, a Peruvian citizen who had overstayed his visa, would be deported. Then, in October, it happened. Izquierdo, 33, was at his job as a cosmetician at a hair salon in New York's East...

The following is a short list of U.S. companies caught with illegal aliens in their employ: -Dunkin Donuts...George Valvanis, 53, of New Hampshire knowingly hired illegal aliens at several Dunkin’ Donuts stores in and around Portland, Maine. He conducted the illegal practice between 2001 and 2009. In December 2010, Valvanis pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in a pattern or practice of recruiting or hiring illegal aliens unauthorized to work in the United States, and to one count of using a false attestation immigration document. Valvanis could face up to five and a half years in prison. He will...

As promised, Kentucky senate republicans filed a bill today they hope will crack down on illegal immigration. It came on the opening day of the legislative session. The bill calls for allowing police to arrest illegal immigrants on trespassing charges, simply for setting foot in Kentucky. Critics claim the bill goes farther than a controversial immigration law in Arizona. The legislation would also make it illegal to harbor or transport illegal immigrants.

MYFOXNY.COM - The New York City Department of Sanitation announced Saturday that it will resume limited garbage collection around the city at 7 a.m. on Monday, January 3. Because of the holiday schedule and then snow, trash has not been collected since Christmas Eve. Fox 5 News shot video of trash bags piled 5-feet-high on one Upper East Side block on Friday.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) has CLOSED I-29 both northbound and southbound roadways from the South Dakota border to Grand Forks due to high winds causing near zero visibility. Conditions are such that they are creating a life-threatening danger to motorists. The roadway is impassable and it is against the law to drive past a road closure device on a closed road. "It looks like a war zone out there!" Here is video from local Valley News Live showing the carnage.....and it's not pretty!

HAMILTON, Ga.—The Harris County Tea Party near the Alabama border campaigned far and wide in this month's midterm elections. Donations were mailed to tea-party candidates in Nevada and Alaska. There were multiple overnight bus trips to rallies in Washington, D.C. The next stop, however, is closer to home: the local school board.

Decided to catch up on a few shows I've missed recently, by watching them on Hulu. (a great fallback for us PVR challenged types) Only to find that the ads I watched during the shows, were not just sprinkled with political ads, they were sprinkled with political ads that were relevant to my personal voting district! Yes, I am a registered user of Hulu, so I know I provided them with my data to an extent, and even though it was an attack ad against the "opposite" party to my affiliations...but GEEEEEEEz...It sure felt like...they won't even leave me alone...

Are the three news networks actively working to defeat the Republican candidate for Governor in Wisconsin? According to the far-left Service Employees International Union, yes, they most certainly are. SEIU spokesman John-david Morgan - also, incidentally, a former journalist - told a staffer (audio embedded below the fold) for GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker that local media affiliates for all three major networks were "willing partners" in the union's efforts to defeat Walker. The staffer gave a fake name and recorded the conversation without Morgan's knowledge."They've really been willing partners in it,"

We often think about interstellar probes only in the context of what they find at the end of their journeys — astrobiologically interesting planets seem to be the whole story. But not so fast. As Ian Crawford (University of London) notes in a recent paper, there are quite a few fascinating — and indeed critical — things we need to learn about interstellar space itself, in this case what is known as the Local Interstellar Medium (LISM). Crawford, who has been analyzing these matters for the Project Icarus team, notes how much we’ve learned about the LISM since the Daedalus...

Now in Murfreesboro, Tenn.: Opponents argue that a proposal for the mosque was never included in a public notice as done in the past with other construction plans. There's also concern over where funding for the mosque came from and individuals linked to the mosque who may have a connection to radical Islam.

Here's an enlightening "Man on the street" quiz asking which government program is real, and which is fake, including: Joke-telling robots, expensive walking tunnels, Blackberries for smokers, and training American prostitutes to drink responsibly...