Free Republic

The real story goes something like this: In 1511, messy political squabbling forced Ponce to surrender the governorship of Puerto Rico, an appointment he had held since 1509. As a consolation prize, King Ferdinand offered him Bimini, assuming the stalwart conquistador could finance an expedition and actually find it. J. Michael Francis, a historian at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg who has spent decades studying the Spanish colonies in the Americas , says no mention of a Fountain of Youth occurs in any known documents from Ponce’s lifetime, including contracts and other official correspondence with the Crown. In...

Seven Myths About “Women in Combat" Written by G.S. Newbold, Lieutenant General, USMC (Ret.) 17 March 2013 Published here with permission from the author. Written By: G.S. Newbold, Lieutenant General, USMC (Ret.) Marine photo / Cpl. Jennifer Pirante Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Michelle Berglin trains for an upcoming deployment at Camp Pendleton in January. Myth #1 – “It’s about women in combat.” No, it’s not. Women are already in combat, and are serving well and professionally. The issue should be more clearly entitled, “Women in the infantry.” And this is a decidedly different proposition. Myth #2 – “Combat has changed”...

Ten Neo-Confederate Myths (+one) "Secession was not all about slavery." In fact, a study of the earliest secessionists documents shows, when they bother to give reasons at all, their only major concern was to protect the institution of slavery. For example, four seceding states issued "Declarations of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify Secession from the Federal Union". These documents use words like "slavery" and "institution" over 100 times, words like "tax" and "tariff" only once (re: a tax on slaves), "usurpation" once (re: slavery in territories), "oppression" once (re: potential future restrictions on slavery). So secession wasn't just...

On John Kerry’s first international trip as U.S. Secretary of State he made a gaffe worthy of Joe Biden. The headline of London’s Telegraph read “John Kerry invents country of Kyrzakhstan”and the Daily Mail asked “Where’s that exactly, Mr Secretary of State? John Kerry makes up new country ‘Kyrzakhstan.” But more than just fodder for the British press, Kerry’s blunder exposes the truth that he is not the expert on international affairs that the mainstream media, Obama Administration and J Street all vehemently claimed. And at this time, when Kerry created Kyrzakhstan out of thin air, there is no time...

The best thing about math is that it’s a constant. The numbers are what they are. That’s why I’m a data guy, because as a person that believes in absolute truth I have a tendency to like things cut and dried. Leading up to the 2012 election several lies and clever myths were postulated by the ruling class know-it-alls and the charlatans who act on their behalf, and you can bet they will continue peddling their wares this year in light of the results. But the beauty of real numbers is they cut through all the horse puckey right to...

When you think of the Middle Ages, chances are you picture gallant knights sitting astride brilliant destriers galloping through a sea of plagues, ignorance, and filth. And you can hardly be blamed for that, when everything from the movies you watch to your high school history teacher (who was mainly the football coach) has told you that ...

Many of us hold assumptions about things for which we don’t have all the facts. I hear something from a trusted source, and I assume it is fact. That seems to be true about our local immigrant community. I decided to check into some beliefs about immigrants that get bantered about, and borrowed an information sheet I received from Centro Latino, a local nonprofit organization whose mission is to respond to critical needs of Latinos and to bridge the cultural gap between Spanish-speaking and non-Spanish-speaking members of our community I addressed issues with more current data I found online. Undocumented...

Most mainstream media outlets aide in the proliferation of myths about our tax system and our economy. Here are 5 myths about the US tax system that you probably thought were true. 1. Once A Millionaire, Always A Millionaire As you can see by the graph below, this shows how many consecutive years millionaires file their taxes as millionaires. Half of the people who become millionaires are only at that status for one year.​ 2. Tax Credits Only Help The Rich This graph shows the effective tax rates since 1980. As you can see, because of tax credits and deductions,...

This morning as the Middle East burned while Obama fundraised in Vegas and our genius president told the world he had lost Egypt as an ally (whoops!), BenSmithing BenSmither John Stanton over at BuzzFeed Politics wrote an hysterically desperate hit-job against Paul Ryan and House Republicans. The BenSmithing troll-tastic goal here is obviously to manufacture the idea that there's some kind animosity brewing between Ryan and his House colleagues. Not because Ben Smith or BuzzFeed or Stanton actually believe there's bad blood. What this is is just another shiny distraction fabricated to keep everyone's eyes off the fact that there...

In his new movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore reviews the Bush administration’s publicly stated rationale for the war against terrorism in Afghanistan – it was part of the U.S. response to the attacks of September 11, 2001 – and then suggests that the real reason for the war was, at least in part, to enable Unocal to proceed with a natural gas pipeline project in Afghanistan and for other U.S. energy and oil-service companies to participate in various projects in that country. Unocal has absolutely no intention of participating in an Afghanistan pipeline project nor are we in discussions with...

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has alleged that elusive Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was a US operator who had tried to destabilise his late wife Benazir Bhutto’s government back in 1989. In fact, as premier Bhutto had “warned America about Osama bin Laden in 1989 with a call to then US president George H. Bush”, Zardari said on NBC’s Meet the Press programme Sunday. “She rang senior Bush and asked of him: ‘Are you destabilizing my government?’ because he (apparently referring to bin Laden) paid the then opposition $10 million to overthrow the first woman elected (prime minister)...

Participants in a recent shale gas energy conference held in Hobbs, New Mexico, referred to a whirlwind trip to Lea County, NM, as “exhausting” but “enlightening.” Bradford County Commissioners Doug McLinko, Mark Smith, and Daryl Miller, Susquehanna County Commissioner Mary Ann Warren and Pennsylvania state Rep. Tina Pickett were among local elected officials to partake in discussions and serve as guests on informative panels.

Debunking myths about the use of hydraulic fracturing to access oil and natural gas deposits was a big part of a presentation during the Northeast Colorado Chapter of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association banquet at the Country Steak-Out Thursday. Hydraulic fracturing -- sometimes called "fracking" -- is a process of pumping a water, sand and chemical mixture into shale formations under high pressure to break up rock and get oil and natural gas flowing more readily, said Dale Larsen, a sales representative for CALFRAC, who spent most of his career since 1978 as a petroleum engineer in fracking. He...

Jesse’s Statement: The event this man spoke of never happened. I have been to Mc P’s many times since leaving the Navy. I was never there alone. I was always accompanied by other people. If this happened 6 years ago, someone would have known of it before now. Certainly in the UDT/SEAL community it would have been known. This has to be news to all of us. I have always opposed the war in Iraq but I have never spoken or wished any ill will towards the soldiers. My heart aches that soldiers have died or been wounded because this...

It has been said that Mormons have an “exceedingly fine sense of rumor.” We certainly love a good story—after all, can’t we all admit to telling a tale we thought was good, even if we admitted we weren’t 100 percent sure it was true? In the spirit of acting under (more) perfect knowledge, and still appreciating the quality of a good story, the following is an exploration of the truth behind some of the more common or interesting Mormon legends. *The following is an excerpt of "The Truth About Mormon Myths." To read the full article, see the LDS Living...

Ron Paul is the Rodney Dangerfield of Republican presidential candidates.... Why, despite a small but devoted set of supporters, does this 76-year-old obstetrician turned politician routinely get no respect from the media and GOP operatives?... 1. Ron Paul is not a "top-tier" candidate. ...Paul is doing increasingly well in national and state-level polls.... And now that Cain has dropped out, Paul's stock is likely to keep climbing. The congressman is no less a top-tier candidate than anyone else in the race. 2. Ron Paul is a doctrinaire libertarian. ...Paul parts company with many libertarians on many issues. These include immigration,...

An in-depth debate on subjects I am afraid conservatives are too lax in. In this back-and-forth you will learn stats and responses to many of the common misunderstandings about AIDS being just as much a heterosexual plague as a gay on. The response I give in regards to the PORNO industry is devastating!

This past week, President Obama tried to sell his new “millionaires’ tax” to the Rust Belt. “What’s great about this country is our belief that anyone can make it,” he said in Cincinnati on Thursday, praising “the idea that any one of us can open a business or have an idea that could make us millionaires.” But who are the millionaires Obama is talking about? And will a tax on them help the economy? Let’s examine a few presumptions about the man with the monocle on the Monopoly board. 1. Millionaires are rich. Being rich has gotten more expensive. A...

The campaigns by Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr. for the GOP presidential nomination, along with the popular and profane Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon,” are putting Mormons in the public eye. SNIP 1. Mormons practice polygamy. Mainstream Mormons do not practice polygamy today, but it remains part of our history and theology. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion, married at least 33 women (often without the consent of his first wife, Emma) and preached that polygamy was divinely sanctioned... Polygamy remains a source of tension for mainstream Mormons. Mormon public figures routinely play down our polygamous...

Claim: “Derivatives have no value of their own, yet are a $50 trillion market. Using derivatives, traders can bet on anything.” Inside Job argues that derivatives have no value of its own because its value is derived from another asset. On the other hand: A Reuters special report on derivatives has a good argument: Big companies regularly use derivatives as a form of insurance to guard against jumps in the price of everything from cocoa to interest rates. An airline will buy jet fuel derivatives so that if prices spike, the contract helps to make up the difference in price,...

Runaway spending and deficits continue to grow unabated in part because any attempts to rein them in are relentlessly demagogued by defenders of big government. The latest example is the budget recently authored by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R–WI) and passed by the House of Representatives. Most critics have failed to provide any credible alternative to the House budget. Yet that has not stopped them from relentlessly misrepresenting the House budget with the following myths. Myth #1: The House budget recklessly cuts taxes by $4 trillion. Fact: It cancels a future tax increase. Critics charge that the House...

My first thought on hearing about the possible government shutdown at the end of this week, when spending authority is scheduled to run out, was relief. Perhaps I won't have to pay my taxes by April 18. A friend who works in a government agency told me that his co-workers want the government to be shut down. They hope for a few days of "unpaid" furlough because they are confident that when Congress does approve new spending legislation it will vote, as it did in 1995 and in the mid 1980s, to pay them for their time off. SNIP SNIP...

Benjamin Radford, author of several books on monsters and paranormal phenomena, managing editor of the journal The Skeptical Inquirer and LiveScience columnist, has released what he says to be definitive proof that El Chupacabra is not real; it's not even a hoax, he said, but rather a leftover memory of a science-fiction film.

As the Middle East is engulfed in a series of often violent pro-democracy demonstrations and counter-demonstrations that have shattered the myth of stability in that region, there are a number of other myths which have been shattered as well -- about which no one has said a word. These myths are the elephants in the room, and try as hard as some would to turn a blind eye to them, they are now more self-evident than ever. Borrowing from the Letterman Show, here is my own Top Five List, together with a few conclusions. 1.Israel is an apartheid state -...

Trade: In the 2004 election, with the economy in full recovery mode, Democrats launched an all-out attack on outsourcing to win votes. It didn't work. This year, in a much weaker economy, they're trying again. When Democrats made outsourcing a big issue in 2004, the economy was growing at a 3.6% annual rate, thanks to the Bush tax cuts the year before, and unemployment had fallen to 5.5% - on its way to below 4% two years later. The arguments about outsourcing costing Americans their jobs just didn't resonate. The GOP not only added seats in the House and Senate,...

. Good video of some outspoken brothers (black Republicans) challenging black rednecks and white liberals (Thomas Sowell reference) at the Glenn Beck Rally on the steps of the Capital.

We all have are preconceptions about millionaires: they're tax evaders who just inherited their money from rich Aunt Flo, and they hang around the golf course all day with their snobby, elitist friends. So what's the average millionaire really like? Here are seven millionaire myths, and the real facts about the ones who seem to have it all.

Things aren't as bad in American Christianity as many say it is, according to one sociologist. Christianity isn't on the brink of extinction, divorce rates of Christians aren't equal to that of non-Christians and churches are not losing young people – at least not to the extent that some fear. That isn't to say there aren't any problems in the church. But Bradley R. E. Wright wants all the facts to be laid out before any judgment calls are made. In his newly released book Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites ... and Other Lies You've Been Told, Wright reveals that many...

A Bright Day for Team Chuck Written by Melanie Morgan    Thursday, 20 May 2010 05:50 The latest PPIC poll is out and shows Carly Fiorina with 25%, Tom Campbell with 23%, and Chuck DeVore with 16%. The margin of error is +/-5% The previous PPIC poll showed Fiorina with 24%, Campbell with 23%, and DeVore with 8%.Here's what you need to know: Chuck DeVore has doubled his support from the last PPIC poll -- and he's within the margin of error of the front-runner.The distance from the first to third is narrowed into the single digits -- ground easily...

The origin of modern myths and legends is a side interest of mine, the birther myths among them. Now I understand why Obama being born in Kenya made it into your belief system, despite it being physically impluasible (requiring around 5 days and five flights, most on propeller planes) and financially impossible (it would have cost about a year of her parents' combined salaries) for Stanley Ann & Obama Sr. to travel there for her to give birth. After all, Obama's Father was from Kenya, so if you are going to make up a myth about Obama being born abroad,...

The Media's Top 10 Worst Economic Myths of 2009 From jobs 'saved or created,' to stimulus saving the economy, to 'deficit neutral' health care reform; here are ten biggest stories the media got wrong this year. By Julia A. Seymour Business & Media Institute 12/9/2009 12:18:20 PM Each year the Business & Media Institute looks back on the year's news and selects the top 10 worst economic myths. Here is our 2009 list: 10. CBS, NY Times Support Ecuadorian Shakedown of U.S. oil company 9. Media Fail to Scrutinize Obama’s Job Claims 8. Government Stimulus is the Answer to Our...

My attempt to squash your romantic view of Thanksgiving! Mayflower Myths:The reason that we have so many myths associated with Thanksgiving is that it is an invented tradition. It doesn’t originate in any one event. It is based on the New England puritan Thanksgiving, which is a religious Thanksgiving, and the traditional harvest celebrations of England and New England and maybe other ideas like commemorating the pilgrims. All of these have been gathered together and transformed into something different from the original parts. James W. Baker Senior Historian at Plymouth Plantation. There are more at the link...

When it comes to maintaining your car, misconceptions abound. And even the best intentions can lead you to spend more money than necessary or even compromise your safety. Here are a few common car care myths that can do more harm than good. Myth: Engine oil should be changed every 3,000 miles. Reality: Despite what oil companies and quick-lube shops often claim, it’s usually not necessary. Stick to the service intervals in your car’s owner’s manual. Under normal driving conditions, most vehicles are designed to go 7,500 miles or more between oil changes. Changing oil more often doesn’t hurt the...

This documetary will challenge the global warming myths of Al Gore. By no means will I suggest this film is a documentary without bias, but if you think Al Gore’s “documentary” was without bias you may be nuts. Tonight at 8 p.m. ET is the online live premiere of Not Evil Just Wrong. The film reveals the true cost of Global Warming – re-branded “climate change” – hysteria.

On the June 3, 2009 Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, host Rachel Maddow cited a false quote attributed to Rush Limbaugh in which the radio host supposedly said he wanted to award Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassin the Medal of Honor. Since Limbaugh expressed interest in becoming part owner of the St. Louis Rams in October, several MSNBC hosts have repeated that and other false quotes. Reacting to Limbaugh calling then Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor a racist, Maddow declared: “When you get called racist by the guy who says the assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr. should get the...

The President of the United States recently told the United Nations that "global warming" poses a threat to national security and may engender conflicts as populations are displaced by rising sea levels, droughts, floods, storms etc. etc. etc. However, it is now clear that there is no basis for the notion that the barely-detectable human influence on the climate is likely to prove a threat to climate, still less to national security. The first principle to which any national security advisor must adhere is that of objective truth. Though he must have an understanding of politics, he is not a...

Statistics, even at their best, don't tell a whole story. A variety of people employ medical statistics dubiously to push pet causes. A perfect example: infant mortality statistics. The officially reported U.S. infant mortality rate has been indisputably high compared with similarly industrialized countries since at least the 1920s. That fact has led to public health officials in the U.S. to conclude the rates are "caused" by poorly distributed health care resources and can be "solved" with a socialized, government-run health care system. However, there's a basic problem with the numbers: Different countries count differently. According to the World Health...

"Once upon a time . . . " Sometimes it seems that news reports about guns or gun owners should begin with that phrase. Those four short words would inform readers that while the story to follow will be presented as fact, it is really fiction, or better said, a myth or a fable. Unfortunately, non-truths, through constant repetition, have come to displace facts in the public dialog about guns in America. Some of these fables, as many fables do, started out with a grain of truth, but were later misrepresented and twisted to serve a particular political purpose. Others...

White House adviser David Axelrod is going to try to start his own viral e-mail responding to attacks on Obamacare. It will include responses to eight “myths” about Obamacare, and since I know all of you come to IMAO as your primary news source, I obtained those myths and the White House’s response so you can see them here: MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT OBAMACARE MYTH: Obamacare will institute “death panels” to judge who should live and who should die. FACT: People deciding who will live and who will die will be single Obama-appointed bureaucrats, so no panels are involved.

She doesn't want your frosty public stares; the whispers behind her back; the lament that she's been degraded by her father. What the Muslim high school senior wants you to understand is that she doesn't wear the hijab, the head scarf worn by Muslim women, because she is submissive. "It represents beauty to me," says Abdelaziz, the 17-year-old daughter of two Egyptian parents living in Old Bridge, New Jersey.

The URL will take you to SEIU healthcare page. Posted here is the private email I received this afternoon. Dear Axxxxxx, Join the CallYou're invited to join Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius this Friday, August 7th at 2:30 pm EDT, for an exclusive 'myth-busting' conference call with SEIU members on health care reform. RSVP for the call by clicking here. Right now, opponents of health insurance reform are spreading lies, fabrications and blatant distortions to scare the American people. The myths seem to multiply daily. You've probably heard them yourself, or fielded questions from concerned friends and...

This country’s Founding Fathers were racist, sexist white men whose opinions don’t matter in today’s world -- unless they can be used to bolster liberal talking points. The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers by Brion McClanahan smashes those misguided notions by re-examining the men who helped forge this country’s government without falling back on postmodern spin. Founding Fathers is a painstaking look at how the country began, where the Founders stood on key issues like freedom of religion, as well as how they came to their political philosophies. It also details the spirited debates behind some of the...

Chapter 4 of my book, titled, "An Inconvenient Hoax," systematically exposes and confronts all the most current science fiction being shoved down our throats by the Luddite absolutists and pseudo-intellectual scam artists of the left. It is devastating. Unsurprisingly, there is a flurry of new data pouring in even further confirming how utterly baseless this invented Green Scare really is, now even from Obama's own people. Much like the Swine Flu and about a gazillion other contrived alarmist fantasies from decades past (breast implants, Alar, the Millenium bug, DDT, etc.), public faith in the environmentalist religion is consequently fading, and...

Last month, the Statistical Assessment Service (STATS), a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization affiliated with George Mason University, released "Science Suppressed: How America became obsessed with BPA," a report which accuses the media "of ignoring the extensive research of respected scientists and major health agencies in the United States and around the world, which found BPA was not only safe but played an important role in ensuring food safety."   It also confirms what countless previous studies have said; BPA is safe. If you're unfamiliar with Bisphenol A (BPA), it is a chemical used to make lightweight, versatile, durable, high-performance plastics.  It's...

Erin Pizzey is a genial woman with snow-white hair, cherubic cheeks, and an easy smile. It wasn't always that way. The daughter of an English diplomat, she founded the world's first shelter for battered women in 1971. To her surprise, she discovered that most of the women in her shelter were as violent as the men they had left. When Pizzey wrote a book revealing this sordid truth, she encountered a firestorm of protest. "Abusive telephone calls to my home, death threats, and bomb scares, became a way of living for me and for my family. Finally, the bomb squad...

Washington Times - Letter to the Editor 6/7/95 - Arlington Thomas Colton Ruthford During the past several months in the American press, the Democrats have frequently denounced the Republicans as Nazis due to their attempts to control runaway federal spending. How very ironic. I remember the Nazis. Let me share a little about them and recall some of their exploits. First of all, "Nazi" was gutter slang for the verb "to nationalize". The Bieder-Mienhoff gang gave themselves this moniker during their early struggles. The official title of the Nazi Party was "The National Socialist Workers Party of Germany". Hitler and...

As the USA population is now firmly under One-Party rule, it becomes even more essential that the truth is disseminated to the people—for as long as will be allowed. Scientists have been opposing the global warming hype since it was first introduced by the United Nations and, then, former US VP Al Gore. These scientists were then threatened with the loss of both their jobs and credibility if they continued to speak out against the fraudulent concept; a concept that was brought to bear so that “wealthy” Western populations (most specifically the USA) could be relieved of their money via...

Latter-day Saints love the Bible and believe it as scripture. Indeed, Joseph Smith went so far as to say that we are the only people who truly believe it as it is written. Modern, sectarian Christians hang Bible verses like ornaments on an artificial tree constructed of man-made creeds, ignoring the passages which conflict with or contradict their doctrines. In the process, they have allowed a number of myths about the Bible to be promulgated because it serves their own ends. The following eight myths are summarized from "Here We Stand" by Joseph Fielding McConkie (1995, Deseret Book) McConkie is...

Polar bears are not dying out and Turkey Twizzlers are fine, according to a new book from scientists wishing to challenge science "scare stories" Contrary to widely held belief, polar bear populations are rising, according to the scientists It is widely thought that the polar ice caps will melt, causing sea levels to rise, resulting in the loss of cities along the coast, as well as a the majority of polar bears. And if global warming does not kill us, then obesity or heart disease will thanks to an addiction to junk food and salt. But a new book, compiled...

With Father’s Day almost upon us, expect a host of media stories on men and family life. Some will do a good job of capturing the changes and continuities associated with fatherhood in contemporary America. But other reporters and writers will generalize from their own unrepresentative networks of friends and family members, try to baptize the latest family trend, or assume that our society is heading ceaselessly in a progressive direction. So be on the lookout this week for stories, op-eds, and essays that include these five myths on contemporary fatherhood and family life. 1. THE ‘MR. MOM’ SURGE Open...