Free Republic

Chatting with a group backstage on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! in October, Michelle Obama made it clear that she wasn’t thinking about what she might do in the future. “I’m just looking ahead to getting Barack back in office and continuing the work he’s been doing,” she said. “Supporting him is my focus.” But others think the first lady—who spent the past four years seeking to better the lives of military families and fighting to end childhood obesity before becoming one of the stars of her husband’s reelection effort this fall—could have bigger things ahead of her, if...

Lock Your Doors And Prepare To Defend Your Family By Michael Snyder December 2nd, 2012 Do you think that is an alarmist headline? Well, I am not the one saying this. Law enforcement authorities all over the country are telling citizens that they can no longer deal with all the crime and that people need to lock their doors and prepare to defend their families. Just recently, the city attorney of San Bernardino, California told citizens to "lock their doors and load their guns" because there is not enough money to pay for adequate police protection any longer. The murder...

Frosty the Snowman is there — and so is Santa Claus. But the Baby Jesus is stuffed inside a closet at Cottondale Elementary School — leaving many residents of this small town in the Florida panhandle outraged. The Nativity scene had been a part of the school’s holiday lawn decorations for years. But this year the yuletide display is strictly secular. Principal Brenda Jones told television station WJHG the decision to keep Baby Jesus in the closet came after an official with the Dept. of Education dropped by to discuss the separation of church and state. “The Dept. of Education...

Iran’s nuclear reactor at Bushehr was shut down for fear of an explosion. Saturday Dec. 1, an authoritative Russian nuclear industry source revealed the cause of its malfunction: “Indicators showed that some small external parts were… in the [Bushehr] reactor vessel….” They were identified as “bolts beneath the fuel cells.” Moscow sources report this information came from a source in the office of Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Russian nuclear energy authority Rosatom, which supervised the construction of Iran’s first atomic reactor at Bushehr. According to our intelligence sources, Russian scientists and engineers were rushed from Moscow to Bushehr when...

60% Capital Gains tax – the real innovation killer Forget taxing the wealthy, forget big government, the French government is eliminating the one tangible reward for building new companies, creating innovation, and providing the French government with a few hundred new employees. This come at a time where France’s big companies are beginning to show their anti-global competitiveness roots - Peugeot is laying off thousands, Bouygues is laying off thousands, and this is just the beginning. For the record, the current Capital Gains tax is set at 32.5%, an 84.6% tax hike. The Pigeon Movement – France’s Last Hope for...

Revelations by the Albuquerque Journal that ties existed between a Columbus, N.M., gun trafficking conspiracy and the Fast and Furious gunwalking operation highlight a disconnect with pretrial testimony given by an ATF agent in yet a third case, that of the Reese family, a tip received this morning by Gun Rights Examiner from a source close to the case suggests. “Federal prosecutors have sought to distance the Columbus gun smuggling case,” reporter Mike Gallagher revealed in a story filed last Thursday. “But reports obtained by the Journal show that in April 2010, federal agents were aware that the leader of...

House Speaker John Boehner told host Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" that President Barack Obama is "not being serious" about proposing a deal to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff," slamming the president and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's initial offer. "It was not a serious offer," Boehner said. "I looked at [Geithner] and I said, 'You can't be serious?' "You know, we've got several weeks between Election Day and the end of the year. And three of those weeks have been wasted with this nonsense."

Trying to watch Dallas vs Philadelphia football game. Just watched announcer gave an anti-gun rant. Why is this allowed? Turned off TV.

The final vote update from Los Angeles County has given Democrat Steve Fox a slight lead over the presumed Republican victor in the 36th Assembly District, putting the seat in Democrats' column by a margin of just 145 votes. Fox trailed Republican Ron Smith by about 2,000 votes the day after the Nov. 6 election, according to local reports, but the gap has narrowed in recent weeks as remaining absentee and provisional ballots were counted. The final count by Los Angeles County, which is one of three counties in the district, put Fox ahead with just over 50 percent of...

America's Most Dangerous Mayor has long advocated stricter gun control laws - not just in his own mayoral jurisdiction, but in other places around the country. Not content to merely govern New Yorkers, Bloomberg has begun to put his personal fortune on the line to oust Second Amendment advocates around the country. The Sacramento Bee reports that Bloomberg spent millions in opposition of a pro-gun Democrat Congressman in California. His efforts were rewarded, as the NRA-supported Democrat lost to a more liberal candidate. No doubt the strongest gun control advocate on Forbes' list

The species, formally known as 'Etheostoma obama,' is one of five newly discovered fish that scientists have named after a U.S. president or VP. President Obama may not have won many Southeastern states in his recent re-election, but he did make waves across the Republican-leaning region. And thanks to two scientists from Georgia and Missouri, his Southern profile is still growing — although some of his flashiest new acolytes don't have a clue who he is. That's because they're fish, one of five new species found by ecologist Steve Layman of Geosyntec Consultants and biologist Rick Mayden of Saint Louis...

UPDATED (8:25p EDT): I just spoke again with my contact in the FBI Phoenix field office (who is not authorized to speak on behalf of the FBI office) that it is highly unlikely that Aldosary will be charged with any terrorism offense. While they are internally treating it like a domestic terrorism investigation, including looking at if he had any help constructing the explosive device, the FBI is saying very little and and will prosecute this as a simple explosives and arson case because of “the political sensitivities involved”. Original Post: The typically quiet town of Casa Grande, Arizona was...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After a boisterous three-day congress here, more than 600 leaders of a national movement of young immigrants living in the country without legal papers voted to expand beyond their past demands for citizenship for young people, and to mobilize in support of a bill to legalize 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.The leaders of the United We Dream network, the largest organization of youths here illegally, decided to push President Obama and Congress next year for legislation to open a path to citizenship for them and their families. The move will increase pressure on...

Exposing the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Youtube:Should the United Nations be Given the Power to Control the Internet? Related Articles: UN to Seek Internet Kill Switch Next Month, Documents Show 15 November 2012 - The United Nations is drafting a plan to give a little-known UN agency control over the online world, including an Internet "kill switch."Secret UN Document Lays Out Plan to Seize Control of Internet16 November 2012 - A draft proposal of a document by the International Telecommunications Union lays out a plan for greater government control of the Internet.U.S. Reps. Introduce Resolution to Bar UN...

Man hit by vandals after helping Sandy cleanup Art McFarland, 1202/2012HUNTINGTON (WABC) -- Paul Nosak, a tree-servicer owner says he had always dreamed of bringing his company to New York and making a difference. Nosak was part of a clean-up outside the Huntington Baptist Church, where several huge trees had fallen on the roof. A local tree service originally said that the removal of the trees would have to wait until January...Nosak then saw the damage as he passed through the neighborhood by chance. He then walked into the church to offer his immediate services...A team of eight workers joined...

A U.S. Coast Guard crewman was killed and another was injured early Sunday when their boat was rammed as they attempted to apprehend suspected drug smugglers near Santa Cruz Island. The incident occurred as a small boat launched from the Coast Guard Cutter Halibut, based in Marina del Rey, was approaching a panga-type vessel suspected of illicit activities, said Coast Guard spokesman Adam Eggers. “When the Coast Guard small boat approached with its blue law enforcement light energized, the suspect vessel, identified to be a profile Mexican-style panga, maneuvered at a high rate of speed directly towards the Coast Guard...

Link only...can't get my gosh darned iPad to cooperate. The good news is that much of Palau was spared! Last minute turn indeed, thank you, God.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over what is perceived as his public support of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the last election, Channel 2 News reported on Sunday. According to the report, Emanuel, a former White House Chief of Staff, said during a closed session at the Saban Forum in Washington that "Netanyahu supported the wrong candidate in the U.S. elections and lost." Emanuel also said that the White House expects that Netanyahu’s treatment of President Barack Obama will be different, especially at this time. He said the President was not willing to accept...

Egypt's ruling party is paying gangs of thugs to sexually assault women protesting in Cairo's Tahrir Square against President Mohamed Morsi, activists said. They also said the Muslim Brotherhood is paying gangs to beat up men who are taking part in the latest round of protests, which followed a decree by President Morsi to give himself sweeping new powers. It comes as the Muslim Brotherhood co-ordinated a demonstration today in support of President Mohamed Morsi, who is rushing through a constitution to try to defuse opposition fury over his newly expanded powers. Just 24 hours earlier around 200,000 people gathered...

PORT OF HUENEME, Calif. (KABC) -- A member of the U.S. Coast Guard was killed in the line of duty when his boat was rammed by a drug smuggler's craft. Law enforcement sources told ABC News that the Coast Guard intercepted two boats - a pleasure craft and a small panga boat - near San Clemente Island in Santa Barbara County at about 1 a.m. Sunday. The panga, which was operated by Mexican Nationals, was carrying marijuana. According to initial reports, the Coast Guard took the pleasure craft into custody and detained two people on board. Then, the Coast Guard...