Free Republic

At least it was cordial. But the 150 or so "movement conservatives" gathered at Paul Pressler's this weekend (1/13-14) were a fractured lot. Maybe 10% were for Perry. Almost all of them were against Romney. Well, sort of. Caveat below. There was an official Romney guy there who explained that "You'll either work with us now or work with us later, but you'll all have to get on Mitt's train, because we have the money and the organization, so there's no stopping us." This did not go over well. It just made everyone more determined than ever to do whatever...

It was recently observed that Ron Paul was to the left of Obama on national security and the best evidence for that statement can be found when one year ago Ron Paul joined forces with Barney Frank​ on a proposal to gut national defense via a panel of experts, quite a few of whom were tied to George Soros​. In July 2010, Barney Frank and Ron Paul co-authored a Huffington Post article rolling out their Sustainable Defense Task Force. The Task Force “consisting of experts on military expenditures that span the ideological spectrum” would recommend a trillion dollars in defense...

Tucson's Mexican American studies program violates state law, an Arizona administrative law judge ruled Tuesday, paving the way for the program's possible demise. Judge Lewis D. Kowal affirmed a prior decision by the state's schools chief that the Tucson Unified School District's program violates a new law prohibiting divisive ethnic-studies classes. John Huppenthal, the state superintendent of public instruction, had deemed the program in violation in June. Among other things, the law bans classes primarily designed for a particular ethnic group or that "promote resentment toward a race or class of people." The school district appealed Huppenthal's ruling, and testimony...

Ha! Ha! Ha! We're going to do it to them again!

Is there trouble with the site or did I do something wrong? One was a story about a five-legged lamb and the other was a story about video games in men's bathroom urinals.

HERE IS THEIR SONG, PARTICULARLY THE CHORUS.

I'm in the 1%. But I support the 99%Last year, I earned a million dollars on Wall Street, but I'm sick of this society that skews the rewards for work so grotesquely Brad Maher Friday 14 October 2011 12.04 EDT **SNIP** I've chosen this life, of course, and I'm compensated for that financially. But I'm not part of the truly rich for whom taxes are optional, and for whom ever-increasing property prices are a source of entrenching their wealth. Thank God, my earnings permit me to live without the fears of the next energy bill, or phone bill, or medical...

Barack Obama, US president, offered more support for protesters against the global financial system after a weekend of demonstrations in cities around the world, but called on them not to “demonise” those who worked on Wall Street. On Sunday, Mr Obama honoured Martin Luther King at a dedication to a new memorial on National Mall in Washington. Referring to protests that have spread from Wall Street to London, Rome and elsewhere, Mr Obama said: “Dr King would want us to challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonising those who work there.” Mr Obama had previously said the protests “express...

The Occupy Wall Street movement et al. will hitherto be dubbed "The Flea Party." That is all.

All over america, bums illegal aliens Islamic Jihadists moochers pedophiles drunks addicts anarchists and other low life bottom feeders who make up the scum of society have been rallying and demanding the end of capitlism and freedom and in place a socialist dictatorship. Their unacceptable demands include a 20$ minimum wage, the collapse of our system, environmental laws, open borders, government restrictions on constitutionally guaranteed free speech/press and gun ownership and solidarity with Islam. With few exception the police have been quiet and done nothing when these gatherings spread into private property and/or become violent. Nudity, drug activity and public...

A fellow skeptic (President of the Granite State Skeptics Travis Roy) recently posted a request on the Skeptoid mailing list regarding an image that has been making the rounds on Facebook. The image is an aerial shot of a supposedly huge turnout for the Occupy Wall St protest against corruption and greed. What appears to be thousands of protesters clog the streets of New York near the City Hall, with a caption stating: Occupy Wall Street Turnout: My TV says nothing. The only thing I hear is its [sic] a small 100 person turn out. Turn off your TV. Ask...

After skirmishes in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana, the next big union battle is brewing at your local post office. The U.S. Postal Service’s two largest unions blasted the financially strapped agency’s proposal to cut as many as 120,000 jobs and pull its workers out of the retirement and health benefits plans covering federal workers for a new benefit systems. The Postal Service, which is facing a second year of losses totaling $8 billion or more, would need congressional approval for its plan and cooperation from the postal unions, which have contracts that ban layoffs unless Congress intervenes. But the American...

Fox News has exclusively obtained a Democratic National Committee memo which paints the Republican field of presidential contenders as Tea Party flaks pushing tired, divisive policies which elevate the rich and predicts much of the same at tonight's Fox News co-hosted debate in Ames, Iowa. "As we expect to see tonight, the GOP candidates' extreme aims to appease the far-right wing of the Republican Party shows that Republicans are more concerned with protecting their special interest friends and the wealthy than protecting working families," the memo, penned by DNC National Press Secretary Melanie Roussell, reads. "The GOP would rather seniors...

<p>Although I was zotted from there (I am the former Freeper known as Screaming_Gerbil) I do check into FreeRepublic from time to time to check for breaking news and related links to breaking news stories and discussions.</p>

Pilots refuse to fly Independence Day atheist banners by John Jalsevac July 4, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An atheist organization that sought to celebrate Independence Day by flying banners promoting atheism all across the United States nearly ran into a major snag – most of the pilots working for the advertizing company refused to fly the banners. USA Today reports that 4 out of 5 pilots working for Fly Signs Aerial Advertising refused to participate in the campaign, which involved banners saying, “God-less America,” and “Atheism is patriotic.” Only 17 of the company’s 85 pilots agreed to participate. USA Today quotes...

A federal judge ruled in favor of a defendant who reposted an entire article in a copyright case on Monday, Wired reports. The lawsuit was brought by Righthaven, a Las Vegas-based “copyright litigation factory,” according to Wired, that has sued more than 200 websites, bloggers, and commenters for copyright infringement. This particular lawsuit targeted Wayne Hoehn, who posted an entire editorial from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and its headline, “Public Employee Pensions: We Can’t Afford Them” on a website medjacksports.com. Hoehn was not an employee of the site.

After the Governor-General delivered a Speech from the Throne on Friday that was entirely predictable as a recitation of Conservative campaign messages, Mr. Layton told reporters that he thought it was disappointing. Fair enough. You can’t expect him to say he thought it was a masterful piece of oratory behind which the whole country should unite. But he carried on. “This was really just a recitation of what they’ve said before,” he said. Or, put another way, the government was following through on its election promises. Then the reaction became stranger still. Mr. Layton complained that the Speech did not...

Adam kokesh, Medea Benjamin instigate a disturbance in a DC Memorial!!

I don’t think it much matters who runs against Obama in 2012. Unless his opponent throws in the towel like McCain did in 2008 - just think what George Bush would’ve done with Obama’s Marxist background and politically radioactive associations with Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright and Tony Rezko - I can’t imagine anyone losing to the most vulnerable reelection candidate in American history. Obama’s crowning achievement, ObamaCare, has already handed out over 1,000 waivers including one for the entire State of Maine, an admission of failure if there ever was one. The anti-war candidate not only massively escalated the war...

An attorney who has represented coaches and schools in hearings before the NCAA Committee on Infractions believes Ohio State and head football coach Jim Tressel will have difficulty avoiding stiffer penalties than those already proposed for Tressel‘s admitted NCAA violations.

In what can be called the greatest political risk of his brief career, President Obama went way out on a limb of a very weak tree and picked all Number 1 seeds to reach the Final 4. Well, a very tenacious VCU Rams team, representing the hopes and dreams of Middle America, knocked off Obama's last hope, the Kansas Jayhawks, to reach the Final 4, rendering Obama's bracket as worthless as Hope and Change itself. When reached for a comment, the President's spokesman, Jay Karney, blamed former President Bush for swapping the seeding numbers, and that the ESPN bracketologist acted...

MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin's Democratic state senators will have votes they cast in committee counted and other penalties imposed against them will be rescinded after they returned to the state on Saturday. Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Tuesday that assurances he received from Democrats that they will participate in future Senate sessions and votes allowed him to rescind finding the Democrats in contempt.

Muslims without Shariah are like Fish out of Water Many Muslims do not understand the significance of the Shari’ah in their lives as well as its importance in society.

Watch in disbelief as two reporters for the Chicago Tribune take a walk on the wild side, participating in a deer hunt. Laugh in hilarity as Ms Brotman suffer "scope bite". Weep tears for the hunters who took these two out in the field. The video clip is prefaced by, "The following video contains scenes of animal butchering. Discretion is advised for younger or more sensitive viewers."

Mrs. Obama Serves Governors a 2,200 Calorie Meal by Keith Koffler on February 28, 2011, 11:37 am First Lady Michelle Obama Sunday night stuffed about 2,200 calories worth of dinner into the nation’s governors, hosting a White House bash that pulled few punches on the fattening front despite her profile as the leader of a national crusade to trim the waistlines of the country’s youth. President Obama is meeting with governors from both Parties at the White House today. Sunday night’s dinner was a kind of welcoming gala. It provided enough calories for an entire day’s worth of eating.

For those on record losing streaks, such as the California Republican Party, there is hope. Cal Tech, the school of smart-guy nerds and geeks, won a basketball game last night. “What’s the big deal?” you ask. Cal Tech had lost 310 games in a row. But last night they squeaked out a victory over Occidental, 46-45, after being down by 8 points (a veritable mountain for these guys) with a mere 4 1/2 minutes to play. (see video)

Charles Darwin observed “ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.” That was certainly true in 1995 when a man named McArthur Wheeler boldly robbed two banks in Pittsburgh without using a disguise. Security camera footage of him was broadcast on the evening news the same day as the robberies, and he was arrested an hour later. Mr. Wheeler was surprised when the police explained how they had used the surveillance tapes to catch him. “But I wore the juice,” he mumbled incredulously. He seemed to believe that rubbing his face with lemon juice would blur his image and make...

They may have been Election Day disappointments, but former Gov. Charlie Crist and ex-CFO Alex Sink aren’t going away. They’re joining a bipartisan group of legislators tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. in front of the Old Capitol to announce their support for a constitutional ban on oil exploration and drilling in state waters.

.........It started in May 2008. Mitchell was representing a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Volkswagen of America. Mooney was the attorney for the car company. The two men couldn't agree on the date of a hearing. The first volley came from the 50-year-old Mooney, who addressed his colleague as "Junior." "Please do not send me any more of these absurd emails. While I am happy to know that you are also the judge in this case, your continued unprofessional & juvenile behavior is not necessary," he writes. Mitchell, 36, responds in kind: "Old Hack: Your unprofessional and otherwise asinine behavior...

Friend -- I've been in Washington for almost 40 years. I've seen a lot of Congresses come and go. But I can't remember a group of lawmakers who accomplished more than the folks who just wrapped up their work. With their help, we repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and ratified the START arms control treaty. We passed a new law to rein in the abuses on Wall Street and protect consumers. We reformed the health care system and passed the Recovery Act to get our economy growing again. But do you know why all that happened? Because people like you...

Election losers, welcome to Office Space. Some of the most senior and respected members of Congress are among the dozens of outgoing lawmakers whose offices have been crammed into tiny basement cubicles as their old offices are emptied and refurbished. And while nobody seems to be throwing fits about missing red Swingline staplers, the basement bullpen is quite a comedown for some of the most powerful members of Congress, who virtually overnight went from comfortable congressional veterans to homeless on the Hill. Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), the transportation committee chairman who championed legislation to fix America’s crowded highways, faces an...

In which Madam Speaker informs an electorate that just handed her the worst midterm beating in decades that the 111th Congress was actually pretty darned amazing. Among its amazing feats: “Restoring fiscal discipline” to government by passing pay-as-you-go rules, which were, of course, actually ignored when inconvenient and which helped bring us the second largest annual deficit in American history this year. The largest deficit? Last year’s, of course. Now that the amazement has subsided, it’s time to heal. Here’s a passage from a section entitled, I kid you not, “Republican ideas welcome,” which is sort of like the British...

For the losing side: How to handle the post-election hangoverBy Stephanie Chen, CNN November 3, 2010 4:57 p.m. EDT (CNN) -- For weeks -- even months -- you may have been caught up in the election frenzy. You've been jazzed about a candidate or a cause. Perhaps you've volunteered for a campaign or proudly planted a sign in your yard. The results are announced and the winners start celebrating their campaign victory, but for the losers, an election loss can easily turn personal. CNN spoke to Dr. Ivan Walks, a public health physician and psychiatrist who has studied stress for...

(Video at link) ### Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday once again pushed Republicans who win on Election Day to "cooperate" with Barack Obama and also wondered if a defeat could be a "blessing" for the President. Talking to Republican adviser Nicolle Wallace, the morning show host lobbied, "But [Republicans] have to make a choice, as well. Do they choose to cooperate with President Obama and stand firm on principle, which is going to guarantee gridlock?" Questioning former Obama aide Anita Dunn, he wondered if "having more Republicans in Washington is a blessing to him because it means that...

The question around Washington today is not whether Nov. 2 will be a difficult day for the Democrats who control Congress, but rather how bad it will be. Increasingly, it looks like the answer depends on which chamber of Congress you're following. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report now estimates that more than 90 Democratic House seats are potentially in play; on the Republican side of the aisle, it estimates that only nine appear in jeopardy. As a result, most leading forecasters say it is more likely that Republicans will win the 39 House seats they need to take control. On...

BOSTON—President Barack Obama was trying to help Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick win re-election on Saturday, but more important to his own political future, maintain a Democratic Senate. After a Patrick rally at the Hynes Convention Center, the president was traveling to West Newton for a fundraiser at the home of Caritas Cristi CEO Ralph de la Torre. The event was expected to raise $500,000 for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. It is charged with electing party members to the U.S. Senate. Obama wants to maintain a Democratic Senate to pass the remainder of his first-term agenda. Both it and a...

Well. I wonder if the democrats in Sacto have a clue as to how much money the state lost this morning by not having a budget. Thanks to furlough Friday imposed by the court system, all state offices are again ordered closed every Friday until a state budget is passed. I don't have a figure on the amount of money the state just paid out today to every person on welfare today but it's a pile of cash for sure. The point? The loss of one days interest to the state treasury on billions of dollars just paid out this...

Ron Paul shows why gov. spending is the worst way to avoid financial crisis. He shows why America needs to end the fed and go back to gold and silver if we want to survive.

PRETORIA, South Africa – Algeria soccer player Rafik Saifi slapped a female journalist across the face as the aftermath of the United States’ dramatic World Cup victory turned ugly at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Wednesday night. While walking through the interview zone, Saifi spotted writer Asma Halimi, who works for Algerian newspaper Competition, and struck her with his open hand in front of dozens of witnesses. Halimi responded by striking the player in the mouth.

The Obama administration will file suit to challenge Arizona's immigration law, an official told Fox News on Friday. The confirmation comes after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview with a TV station in Ecuador earlier this month that the administration would challenge the law in court, though officials had long said the issue was under review. Administration officials initially would not confirm Clinton's statement. But an official told Fox News on Friday that while the review is still underway, the decision has already been made that a Department of Justice suit will be filed. The administration at...

I love the World Cup. And I love America — it’s my hometown! But I would not love to see America win the World Cup. Frankly, we don’t need another feather in our already overstuffed cap. And considering soccer is the world’s game — and most of the world is at odds with America at any given moment — I think it might be a nice idea for Uncle Sam, in an effort to promote world harmony, to lie down in South Africa. Now, in all likelihood, the U.S. is not going to be in a position to win...

Several hundred people, many from the SEIU, use a three-game series with the Dodgers to voice opposition to Arizona's controversial law. ...The SEIU and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles bought 100 bleachers seats for Monday night's game, according to SEIU's Hilda Delgado, so they could boo Arizona and turn their backs on the Diamondbacks' first pitch.

32-year-old Fla. son calls 911, demands mom's arrest after she takes boozeIt's hard to be 32 years old and still live with mom, but when she takes your beer away, sometimes you have to take it like a man. Charles Lee Dennison, over in New Port Richey, learned that the hard way this past weekend when he was arrested for calling 911 to complain his mother had poached his pilsener. Dennison was "very intoxicated" and demanded that the police arrest dear old mom when officers responded to his initial 911 call Friday night, according to tampabay.com. The sloshed son told...

Best Drudge Report headline I've read in months: Obama goes 0-4: PA loss follows failures in NJ, VA and MA... The Obamination, a FAILURE in the making!

Major Changes and Upsets Look Possible as Anti-Washington Feeling Sweeps Into Senate Races  With midterm elections fast approaching and what appears to be an anti-incumbent movement building across the country, upcoming political primary races are being watched by voters and both political parties. When Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) lost his state's GOP primary it became clear that other senators may face similar challenges in their states. CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Greenberg and New York Times politics correspondent Jeff Zeleny spoke about Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court and the 2010 elections on "Face the Nation". Anchor Bob...

The Philadelphia Eagles have reached agreement on a blockbuster intra-division trade that will send perennial Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins, according to multiple sources close to the situation. The two sides still must finalize language, but McNabb is now headed to Washington. Sources said the deal involved the Redskins' second-round pick in the 2010 draft and either a third- or fourth-round pick next year, depending on several factors.

House Democrats are expressing concerns about their personal safety following protests over health care legislation. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Wednesday that officials from the FBI and Capitol Police briefed Democrats on how to handle perceived security threats.

(Reuters) - The healthcare reform measure passed by the House of Representatives on Sunday delivers some good news for drugmakers, device companies and even health insurers. Among the changes in the legislation was a provision delaying hefty taxes on those three industries by at least a year. Following are some of the winners and losers in the overall healthcare industry based on a Senate version of the bill and the reconciliation bill passed by the House on Sunday. The Senate must vote on the reconciliation bill, so changes could still emerge. WINNERS BRAND-NAME DRUGMAKERS * The pharmaceutical industry keeps its...