Free Republic

Parents of high school students in Montgomery County School District in Maryland were outraged recently by a survey given to sophomores under the new Common Core education standards. The survey asked numerous intrusive questions that a school has no business asking students. Among them were questions like "what is your sexual orientation," "what's your religion," "what's your parents' political affiliation" and "should assault rifles be banned?" Angry parents notified the news website The Blaze about the survey, and shortly after a Blaze reporter began to ask about it, the survey disappeared from the Poolesville High School website. According to The...

(CNSNews.com) – National Park Service (NPS) rangers removed the handles from some 40 public water pumps and closed restrooms in the 184.5 mile- C&O Canal National Historical Park, but they haven’t been able to keep hikers and bikers off the popular trail known as a “cyclist’s dream.” “It’s full every day,” said Gail Hall, who runs Mountain Side Bikes at the trailhead in Cumberland, Md. “They’re bringing in their own water and utilizing the tree-lined areas [of the park] for restrooms. Some towns like Harper’s Ferry even brought in potties to accommodate them. As long as they can pedal, they...

The Maryland State Police sharply rebuked Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler on Tuesday after he called a veteran police commander a “henchman” for having documented allegations that Gansler ordered troopers assigned to him to regularly speed and run red lights even to routine appointments. In a television interview, Gansler strongly denied the allegations and said the accusations were part of a campaign of “dirty politics” by Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, Gansler’s chief rival for next year’s Democratic nomination for governor. In a news release, the leadership of the state police called Gansler’s comments “unseemly and unacceptable” and said he...

According to The Washington Post, Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler regularly ordered state troopers who were assigned to chauffer him around to turn their lights and sirens on while en route to routine appointments. He also directed them to bypass traffic by using the shoulder, run red lights and speed. Some troopers actually refused to comply. But, the Attorney General wouldn’t let a simple thing like the law get in his way. As noted in the story, Gansler simply turned on the lights and sirens on his own in many cases and took the wheel in others. He even...

WASHINGTON, DC - The Supreme Court won't review a decision upholding Maryland's law requiring handgun permit applicants to demonstrate a "good and substantial reason" for carrying a weapon outside their own home or business. The high court on Tuesday refused to hear from Raymond Woollard and the Second Amendment Foundation, Inc., who say the law violates the Second Amendment. Woollard obtained a permit after a 2002 home invasion but was denied renewal in 2009. The Maryland law does not recognize a vague threat or general fear as an adequate reason for obtaining a permit, and state officials said Woollard failed...

LOTHIAN, Md. — For weeks, Al Luckenbach puzzled over the bones surfacing in the pit atop the Patuxent River bluff here. They were hard to identify: fragments and shattered splinters, unlike the intact animal bones heaped in the nearly 9,000-year-old feast site down the hill. [cannot post pics from NY Times] A case of ornamental bones found at the Pig Point site, at what may have been a regional mortuary. Then the scrape of a trowel tip uncovered a human tooth in the dirt among the crushed pottery and broken spearheads. Two more followed, and a startling realization emerged with...

Muslim families in Montgomery County are pushing to make the Islamic holy day Eid al-Adha a full-fledged school holiday. Muslim leaders have started a petition in recent weeks and have won support from some elected leaders and religious groups. Montgomery County has a growing Islamic population, though there are no county or census figures on the Muslim community. This year, the Eid al-Adha holiday falls on Tuesday. Some families plan to keep their children home from school, even though they will miss classes and sporting events. But they point out that school is closed for Christmas, Good Friday, Easter and...

Del. Jolene Ivey After Del. Jolene Ivey told a Baltimore crowd she hopes to be Maryland's first African-American female lieutenant governor, she discussed what it means to be a fair-skinned black woman whose racial heritage is often questioned. Ivey, 51, is the daughter of a white woman who was raised by her black father and stepmother. She said her racial heritage was the "No.1 issue" when she launched her first political campaign in 2006 — repeatedly being asked by voters to "clarify" her racial identity. "As much as I'd like to believe that we're in a post-racial country, we're not,"...

Despite the government shutdown, Vice President Joe Biden is vacationing at Camp David this long weekend. He's joined at the Maryland retreat by his family, including his wife (Jill Biden), children, and grandchildren. The vice president is also there with "essential" government workers, who must work despite the government shutdown. That includes his Secret Service detail, as well as the Secret Service details assigned to the rest of his family, and other support staff. They are protecting the Bidens as they vacation -- but aren't getting paid because of the federal shutdown. The vice president's public schedule simply reads: WEEKEND...

The White House and the Senate are working to squeeze House Republicans into accepting a bipartisan compromise from the upper chamber to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling. Any emerging deal, however, will leave ObamaCare largely intact, angering conservatives who have demanded defunding or delaying President Obama’s signature achievement. House Republicans are fuming over the prospect that Senate Democrats and Republicans are working on a plan to jam them with a last-minute deal they would have to accept or risk triggering a federal default. “They are trying to jam us with the Senate and we are not going...

.....The Maryland Health Connection enrolled just more than 1,120 people in the first 10 days — compared with more than 9,000 in Kentucky, which has fewer uninsured, and tens of thousands in California and New York. Other states have had similar problems, and the federal site, which serves 36 states, has been bogged down. But Maryland is now being targeted for criticism by conservatives on Capitol Hill and publications such as the Weekly Standard, which highlighted the fact that consumers could not search Maryland Health Connection to see if their doctors participate in the program. Some Obamacare supporters are also...

Anti-government anger fuels long-shot Maryland breakaway bid 8:08am EDT By Ian Simpson WESTMINSTER, Maryland (Reuters) - Scott Strzelczyk is fed up with what he calls political slavery in Maryland and sees one way out - creating a breakaway state, a feat that has not been accomplished since the American Civil War. Riding a wave of anti-government sentiment across the United States, the small-town information technology consultant has launched a long-shot bid to get Maryland's five conservative western counties to secede from the state, one of the most liberal and Democratic in the country. "We think we have irreconcilable differences, and...

On the Chuck Brooks Law-Call hour, 12:00-1:00 pm, Saturday October 10, on the Baltimore station WCBM, two separate callers stated that the "Food Stamp System" was not working at several Baltimore grocery stores. The second caller mentioned that folks in the store were blaming Republicans. I cannot personally confirm these reports. Are other Freepers noticing this in their locations?

A convoy of tractor-trailers planning to circle the Capital Beltway in protest of the federal government has begun its descent on the Washington area and is causing some traffic problems for the morning commute. The “Truckers Ride for the Constitution,” which organizer Zeeda Andrews said could attract as many as 3,000 big rigs to the nation’s capital, only had about 10 participants as of 8:30 a.m. Andrews insists the convoy is meant to be a peaceful protest rather than a traffic clog. The organizer said Thursday that reports of the trucks planning to take up three lanes of the Beltway...

To all FReepers far and wide I have been hearing here and there about DC Chapter members who will be in DC this Sunday for the Million Vets March. Lets gather under my tall U.S.-Gadston flag. I am hoping to get there around 8AM I will be making some signs. If anyone has a sign idea just let me know. If you want a specific saying for yourself, let me know so I can save it for you. Most public bathrooms are closed due to the shut down. Hopefully the backers of the Million Vet March have order a couple...

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has a message for Washington: It’s time to move on. Rawlings-Blake said she is concerned the federal budget debate, which has hinged on President Obama’s landmark health care law, and the resulting partial government shutdown will negatively impact Maryland’s efforts to reduce its uninsured rate. The mayor was fired up at an event to advertise the state’s new online insurance marketplace, calling the federal debate “ridiculous” and saying she was “extremely disappointed that we can’t do better.” She encouraged people to evaluate their health insurance options a safe distance from the political crossfire surrounding the issue. “Its...

SERIOUSLY? National Park Service spitefully removes handles from water fountains By Marshall Connolly, Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) 10/8/2013 LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Until very recently, the National Park Service was one of the least-loathed government agencies in the country. Now, with orders from on high to keep the public from visiting beloved parks and monuments the agency is developing a poor reputation. ..... It what looks like a spiteful move, the NPS even removed handles from water spigots along the Chesapeake and Ohio canal where bikers and joggers exercise as well as along the Great Allegheny Passage, just...

With the Ride for the Constitution three days away, it came as no surprise when a story appeared in US News and World Report yesterday indicating that truckers were planning to congest the DC beltway and arrest congressmen during their October 11-13, 2013 event. According to their source, Earl Conlon, the truckers would ride 3 lanes deep circling I-495 and demand the arrest of those in office who have violated their oath. This part of the story is false. As someone who has been in contact with the organizer and their media spokesperson, the message has been and continues to...

The Oneida Indian Nation held a “Change the Mascot” symposium at the Georgetown Ritz-Carlton Oct. 7. The discussion was held in a packed Fahrenheit restaurant. At the same time, the same hotel is also hosting the NFL’s fall league meeting of owners and officials, which begins tomorrow. Speakers included Ray Halbritter, the National Representative of the Oneida Indian Nation, D.C.’s Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn. “Washington’s team name is a painful epithet that was used against my people when we were held at gunpoint and thrown off our lands,” Halbritter said. “When marketed by a professional...

"If you've got a doctor that you like, you will be able to keep your doctor," President Obama assured the public as he worked to sell Obamacare in 2010. However, in July 2013, visitors to Healthcare.gov received a less confident "you may be able to" in answer to the question, "Can I keep my own doctor?" Beginning October 1, users of the Maryland Health Connection, that state's Obamacare insurance exchange, might have an even more basic question: Are there any doctors? A consumer information update dated the day the exchange opened informed users (at least those who took the time...

No excerpt allowed from IHE, story here.

Twitter: Jamie Dupree ✔ @jamiedupree As of midnight last night, Maryland had 174k unique web site visitors, 13,532 accounts created --> 326 enrolled.

Tractor-trailer drivers will intentionally clog the inner loop of the Washington, D.C., beltway beginning on the morning of Oct. 11, according to a coordinator of the upcoming "Truckers Ride for the Constitution" rally. Organizers of the three-day ride want to call attention to a litany of trucker frustrations and express their disapproval of national political leaders. Earl Conlon, a Georgia trucker who is handling logistics for the protest, told U.S. News tractor-trailer drivers will circle the beltway "three lanes deep" as he rides with other participants to Congress to seek the arrest of congressmen for allegedly disregarding the Constitution. The...

Susan Reimer is a columnist for the the Baltimore Sun- a paper so liberal that Chris Mathews of MSNBC once laughed when a Philadelphia paper was incorrectly called centrist and he commented "About the only paper more liberal in America is the Baltimore Sun!" Her latest piece for the Sun is an article entitled "The moral consequence of watching football" In her column, she asks: "Is it morally acceptable to watch football when it is clear that the game is irretrievably harmful to those who play it?" and "How can you watch football when you know — and the players...

What they say is that the golf course is paid for by private funds. But the WWII Memorial was paid for by private funds. They claimed that the need to protect federal lands required barrycading it nevertheless.

Today, from 9am to 11am, bikers will be rallying at Washington D.C.’s WWII Memorial that has been closed to the public due to the federal government shutdown. The bikers plan to honor the WWII veterans and show their support. ... Riders!…Kick Stands Up and lets ride for these American Heroes!! America’s Greatest Generation defended our rights 70 years ago. Now it’s time that we defend THEIR rights and ensure they have access to THEIR Memorials. It’s time we show our government that we will no longer tolerate the political thugs that feel they can punish America into submission!! We are...

Barely 24 hours after President Obama signed his landmark health law, Gov. Martin O’Malley promised that Maryland would “lead the nation” in putting it in place. In the three years since, Maryland has been at the forefront of implementing the Affordable Care Act. It established six policy work groups. It trained more than 5,000 people to help consumers enroll in new health-coverage options. When its online insurance exchange passed a critical test in the summer — one of the first in the country to do so — a top official gave an emotional speech thanking workers. If any state was...

Regulations issued by the Obama administration this week would require members of Congress to buy one of the top-tier insurance plans from the ObamaCare exchanges. The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the House sent guidance to members of Congress this week, based on a directive from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), that says they must choose plans from the "gold" level of insurance coverage, not "bronze" or "silver" plans. "Platinum" is the only higher level of coverage under the exchanges. "For plan year 2014, Members of Congress and designated congressional staff will choose from 112 options in the Gold...

He had been like an “uncle” to her — but that was before Bejarni Rivas allegedly paid a teenage girl’s mother to have sex with the girl. Rivas, 45 of Gaithersburg, did not show up to his trial, which had been scheduled to start Tuesday. Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl A. McCally issued a bench warrant for his arrest, according to one of her clerks.

President Obama has visited the Navy-run presidential retreat Camp David in central Maryland only 32 times, but it is being kept open during the government shutdown for his entertainment and security at the same time the Pentagon is cutting sports coverage to hundreds of thousands of troops around the world. A phone call to the retreat found it open, confirming a TMZ report.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Maryland's Democratic senators urged their Republican colleagues to reopen the federal government during a news conference with with federal employee unions Wednesday. Some Republicans have tried to pass legislation that would reopen some agencies, but Democrats voted against it Tuesday. U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. said that a "piecemeal" approach that opens some agencies or operates some with limited services does not deal with the budget issue. She called it an "illusion." "You have to open the entire government," Mikulski said repeatedly. "Our first objective is to get you back to work," U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md....

Maryland gun dealers have sold more firearms in the first nine months of this year than in all of 2011 and 2012 combined, the state police said Wednesday. Buyers have applied to purchase 117,009 guns this year as lawmakers debated and enacted some of the toughest new gun laws in the country. More than 15,000 gun purchase applications were sent to the state police in the 10 days before Maryland's ban on assault rifle sales and a new handgun licensing requirement took effect Tuesday. "Maryland is armed to the teeth," said Del. Luiz Simmons, a Montgomery County Democrat who voted...

Maryland's law repealing the death penalty went into effect Tuesday. Maryland is now the 18th state to end capital punishment. Those found guilty of first-degree murder will now face a life sentence or life without the possibility of parole.

WASHINGTON — Federal employee unions and members of Congress from Maryland, D.C. and Virginia – all Democrats – denounced House Republicans and lamented the financial pain of federal employees caused by the government shutdown during a press conference outside the Capitol Tuesday afternoon. In a political game of chicken, congressional Republicans sought this week to pass a spending bill that also defunded the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. Because Democrats refused to budge and Republicans held fast on the legislation to defund Obamacare — parts of which went into effect Tuesday — nearly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed from...

Bill Kammerzell of Annapolis had hoped to enroll in an insurance plan under health reform first thing Tuesday morning but was greeted with a crashed website. The state marketplace where the uninsured could begin buying health plans almost immediately began having problems after its scheduled 8 a.m. launch. "Thank you for visiting Maryland Health Connection," read a notice at the bottom of the website. "We are experiencing connectivity issues. Please visit the site again at 12 noon."

A federal judge on Tuesday declined to halt Maryland’s strict new gun laws while a lawsuit challenging their constitutionality goes forward. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake . ... Along with limiting handgun magazines to 10 rounds, the Maryland law that takes effect today adds 45 guns to a list of banned assault weapons and requires gun buyers to submit their fingerprints and obtain handgun qualification licenses.

Driven on the Intercounty Connector lately? No? You’re not alone. Many haven’t. The 18.8-mile highway—the first stretch of which opened two and a half years ago after great hype and amid great controversy—is the road less traveled. Traffic counts are well below early projections, and revenue from tolls—needed to pay off the bonds that were sold to build the road—is far less than originally anticipated. The initial estimated cost of $1 billion has ballooned to $2.4 billion—or as much as $4 billion if you include interest payments. Consequently, all tolls on Maryland highways, bridges and tunnels have been raised in...

A House-passed bill to ensure the military gets paid under any government shutdown was approved without dissent in the Senate on Monday — a rare bipartisan agreement as Congress stumbled toward midnight when the fiscal year ends and current appropriations expire. The measure, now on its way to President Barack Obama’s desk, would also ensure continued pay for civilian employees of the Defense Department and Pentagon contractors whom Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel determines “are providing support to members of the Armed Forces.” Put forward by House Republicans, the bill is considered good politics for the GOP, since analysts suggest the...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has essentially taken the House speakership from John Boehner during the fight over federal spending, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) charged Monday. "It's pretty clear that this whole episode is being driven by the hard-right, extreme, Tea Party elements of the Republican Party, and we're seeing that play out in the House, where Sen. Cruz is essentially running the show," Van Hollen said during a breakfast sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor in Washington. "If Speaker Boehner doesn't want to assert his leadership," he added, "then he should go ahead and turn the gavel over to...

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Gov. Martin O'Malley clashed publicly Wednesday over how to drive down crime in Baltimore, stoking a widening political debate after a violent summer in Maryland's largest city. The mayor flatly rejected the governor's call for increased arrests and questioned whether state authorities should do more to stop gun trafficking into the city. It was an unusual public split for the two Democrats and longtime political allies. .... "As this conversation is going on, there is an anxiety that is building in some of our communities that we're going back to a time when communities felt like...

(Daily Caller) President Barack Obama famously promised, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” He later got even more specific. “If you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, or Medicare, or Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have,” Obama said. Read the full story › http://dailycaller.com/2013/09/28/ten-states-where-obamacare-wipes-out-existing-health-care-plans/

In only seven days, Sen. Ted Cruz will address the largest political gathering of conservatives in Virginia. Do you have your tickets, yet? On the day he speaks, it will be exactly one month to the election of a new governor for the Commonwealth and we're building momentum! I personally invite you to come and listen to Ted Cruz, along with Ken Cuccinelli, and over 1,000 politically-active conservative Virginians. Come be inspired.

President Barack Obama famously promised, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” He later got even more specific.“If you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, or Medicare, or Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have,” Obama said.But as Obamacare’s rollout approaches, we have learned this is not true. Here are the ten states where consumers may like their health care plans, but they won’t be able to...

Shortages of beds, doctors and nurses in the Baltimore VA Medical Center’s emergency room resulted in nearly half of a sample of patients spending more than 6 hours at the facility, including one who waited more than 24 hours, according to a critical inspection report released this month. … The Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general’s office detailed the shortcomings in a report that criticized the hospital’s leadership for lacking policies to provide on-call doctors and nurses to boost staffing when patient volume surged. Backups in treating patients led to some being examined in the emergency department’s triage area, without...

Gun rights advocates said Thursday that they had filed a federal lawsuit to block Maryland's new gun control laws from going into effect next week, arguing that restrictions on assault weapons and large magazines infringe on their constitutional rights. The gun rights advocates, who include individual citizens, organizations and gun shops, say the Second Amendment and case law make it clear that they are legally allowed to own military-style assault rifles and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. In their lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Maryland, which the office of Gov. Martin O'Malley confirmed was filed Thursday, they...

The Ku Klux Klan has been granted a permit to hold an event at Gettysburg National Military Park. Park officials say the special-use permit was approved for a Maryland-based KKK group to exercise its First Amendment rights on Oct. 5. …

On the one hand, it’s a good idea to be respectful of religious holidays. However, in a nation like America that has people from every faith on earth, if all of us took a holiday every time some religion had a holy day, we’d never get anything done. The Council on American–Islamic Relations would apparently be just fine with that. Standing in front of the Montgomery County Council Office Building in Rockville, Northwest High School senior Anhar Karim said he is one of many students in the county who have faced a hard decision related to two Muslim holidays. Karim...

An email sent to students by a University of Maryland official that cites the Trayvon Martin shooting as evidence "it is legal to hunt down and kill American children in Florida" is being blasted as the latest evidence of a left-wing bias on campus. The email, from William Dorland, director of the school's Honors College, starts by welcoming students back to campus, but then quickly veers into politics. "This year, we learned that it is legal to hunt down and kill American children in Florida," it reads, in a reference to the trial of George Zimmerman, who was cleared of...

Hospitals in Maryland are operating with record low margins, according to a new report by the state Health Services Cost Review Commission. Operating profits at Maryland hospitals dropped 71 percent in fiscal 2013, which ended June 30. The 46 hospitals reported a total operating profit of $99.8 million, down from $344.2 million a year before. The total profit margin among the hospitals was 3.39 percent. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen margins this low, ever,” said Steve Ports, deputy director of policy and operations for the HSCRC, which sets hospital rates. SNIP Alright, so hospitals aren’t making money like they...

A Baltimore-area police chief is reviewing the arrest of a man who rose at a town hall-style meeting to challenge the national Common Core standards and wound up in an angry confrontation with an off-duty police officer. Robert Small,46,showed up at the public forum Thursday night in Towson,but when he began asking questions about Common Core, the police officer,who was providing security at the meeting,shut him down. “My question is how does lowering educational standards prepare kids for ... college,because that’s what it’s all about?” Small asked in a scene caught on videotape. But audience members had been told to...