Free Republic

...He is a uniquely polarizing figure. A moderate U.S. senator said the other day: "One thing not said enough is he is the most divisive president in modern history. He doesn't just divide the Congress, he divides the country." The senator thinks Mr. Obama has "two whisperers in his head." "The political whisperer says 'Don't compromise a bit, make Republicans look weak and bad.' Another whisperer is not political, it's, 'Let's do the right thing, work together and begin to right the ship.' " The president doesn't listen much to the second whisperer....

Although antique firearms attracted some attention, many people bought modern weapons. When folks visited Jerry Cochran's tables at Saturday's gun show in the Roanoke Civic Center, they were mainly purchasing high-capacity magazines and guns such as the AR-15. Cochran, who runs two Trader Jerry's gun shops in Cedar Bluff and in Salem, said he believed fear was driving many of his customers at Saturday's show, hosted by Blacksburg-based promotion company Showmasters. "It's a fear of the government prohibiting what they want," he said, "which is their right to own guns." Saturday's show filled the civic center with a large variety...

It turns out the 15-year-old's given name, Blaer, is not on the Icelandic government's approved list of names. She's now identified as 'girl' on official documents. Her mother had no idea the name, which means 'light breeze' in Icelandic, wasn't on the list. She’s suing the government to get her daughter’s name back. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/iceland-teen-fights-back-article-1.1232072#ixzz2HCVPQxmR

In recent months, a slew of celebrity-endorsed prepaid cards have been introduced to the market. From Magic Johnson and Suze Orman to Russell Simmons, it seems everyone wants to offer the public a checking account and debit card rolled into one. Teen star Justin Bieber is the latest celebrity to jump on the prepaid bandwagon. But unlike most cards previously produced, his card is reportedly geared toward teenagers. With many prepaid cards catching a lot of flak from financial experts for having high fees, will his card be viewed as one that actually benefits its audience? Cited from: http://www.gobankingrates.com/checking-account/justin-bieber-fee-ridden-prepaid-debit-card-targets-teens/#ixzz2HCLCJ988

Associated Press | RALEIGH — Pat McCrory was officially installed as North Carolina’s governor on Saturday, getting sworn in during a low-key, 15-minute ceremony that belied momentous changes marked by new Republican dominance within state government. Chief Justice Sarah Parker administered the oath of office to the former Charlotte mayor shortly after noon Saturday in the House chambers of the old Capitol building. McCrory kept to themes from his campaign of tackling problems and finding concord in brief remarks after becoming the state’s 74th governor. “Our goal was not to get a title. Our goal was to lead and to...

The Talk Shows January 6th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Reps. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Angus King, a Maine independent; Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif.; Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, leaders of President Barack Obama’s now-defunct deficit commission.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. McConnell; Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Mike Kelly, R-Pa., Rick Nolan, D-Minn., and Matt Salmon, R-Ariz.THIS WEEK (ABC): Sens. McConnell and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.; Reps. Joaquin Castro,...

I caught the tail end of a local DC-area radio program last week (Thursday) and I'm pretty sure I heard one of the representatives from the Nation's Gun Show say that they would no longer allow the sale of "assault weapons" at their show in Chantilly, VA. Can anyone verify this? If this is true, I have attended my last Nation's Gun Show.

Don’t you love how the Left and their step-n-fetch media mavens are trying to make law-abiding gun owners the bad guys? You don’t? Yeah, me neither. From Hollywood’s heavily armed guarded elite to the radical, anti-gun commie rag Journal News, peaceful and upright average Joes are being isolated and concentrated on as the bane of America’s existence just because we righteously and lawfully keep and bear arms. Hollywood has even cobbled together a little tsk-tsk black and white video demanding our government do something about gun violence. That would be the very gun violence they have glamorized on the big...

Half of recent college graduates can’t find employment. Those who find a job often settle for something less than a “college level job.” So what good is a college education, anyway, in our very unstable economy? As 2013 launches with more federal government debt and American businesses guessing when the next punitive regulatory show will drop, most Americans are ignoring an area of societal upheaval that is poised to get more intense. Increasingly, Americans are wondering how essential it is for one to possess a college degree. The upheaval transcends what you’ll read in the occasional “top paying” and...

President Obama never disappoints. When the monthly unemployment rate fails to drop, forget it. What’s important is the number of jobs created. But when the rate actually does drop, forget the growth (or lack of it) in jobs. It’s the rate that matters. And don’t blame Obama for the persistence of slow economic growth and high joblessness. That’s the “new normal.” As for the millions of dropouts from the job market, that’s no big deal, hardly worth more than a passing mention. Full credit is due Obama for his role in the overthrow of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi. He was...

Canetoad wrote: Let's see, Corporate tax receipts as a share of profits are at their lowest rate in forty years. Somethings got to give and it shouldn't be the middle class.- World Begins to Heal with Taxes on Rich January 1st Dear Comrade Mr. Toad,Did I ever tell you how much I loved your Wild Ride at Disney when I was a kid?I really did.You are on to something here. Of course, you’re liberal and the fact that you have a point is accidental and unintentional. But you have made an effective case why tax rates on corporations should be...

Sometimes there is so much stupid going on in the world that you have to just stop and take stock of it all. Al Gore sells Current TV to Al Jazeera. The Americans who owned the anti-American network Current TV soon will be replaced as owners by foreigners who operate the anti-American network Al Jazeera. I doubt any of the 40,000 regular Current TV viewers would have noticed had the news not gone public. Of course, most of them spend their time writing diaries at the DailyKos, when not being yelled at by their moms to clean their rooms. But...

Duflo, who was raised in a “left-leaning Protestant” family, said she became aware of economic divides and social injustice at a very early age. “I was always conscientious of the gap between my existence and that of the world’s poor,” she told weekly French magazine l’Express in a January, 2011 article. “As a child, I was extremely troubled by the complete randomness of chance that I was born in Paris to an intellectual, middle class family, when I could have just as easily been born in Chad. It’s a question of luck. It inspired in me a sense of responsibility.”

Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers. Particularly vulnerable to the high rates are small businesses and people who do not have employer-provided insurance and must buy it on their own. In California, Aetna is proposing rate increases of as much as 22 percent, Anthem Blue Cross 26 percent and Blue Shield of California 20 percent for some of those policy holders, according to the...

The pro-Syrian Lebanese daily, Al-Akhbar, said in its Saturday edition that Assad was ready to offer a "solution" to the deadly conflict in his speech. The newspaper, citing anonymous sources, said Assad may submit a five-point plan that would not preclude him from contesting the next presidential election when his current term ends in 2014. The plan also provides a ceasefire, allowing international observers to monitor its application, a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution, forming a national government and holding free elections for a new parliament, it said.

On December 29, the owner of American Spirit Arms; Joe Sirochman relayed this chilling news via Facebook: All, My name is Joe Sirochman owner of American Spirit Arms and I wanted to share my recent experience with Bank of America .(which we have been doing business with for over 10 years)…. Everyone is familiar with the latest increase in guns sales , dealers selling out of inventory , Manufacturers back logged for months , large revenue all generated in the last two weeks …. American Spirit Arms is no exception to the overwhelming demand . What we have experienced is...

The US Army has been called in to help with the battle to salvage Royal Dutch Shell’s stricken Kulluk Arctic drilling rig, which has now been beached in environmentally delicate waters for nearly a week. The Kulluk, one of two rigs crucial to Shell’s controversial Arctic oil exploration plans, ran aground on New Year’s Eve as it was hit by a fierce storm while being towed to Seattle for maintenance. Two Chinook helicopters from the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade flew to the scene on Friday to help transport heavy equipment for the salvage operations. Three vessels are on site and...

The White House is weighing a far broader and more comprehensive approach to curbing the nation’s gun violence than simply reinstating an expired ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition, according to multiple people involved in the administration’s discussions. A working group led by Vice President Biden is seriously considering measures backed by key law enforcement leaders that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks, and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors, the sources said.

Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has been forced to recalibrate his election campaign in response to a downward spiral in opinion polls due to a surprise challenge from an ultra-nationalist startup millionaire and veteran of Israel's most elite commando unit. New tactics are expected to be in evidence on Sunday when Netanyahu appears at a youth rally, following the panicked cancellation of an event on Thursday after dismal turnouts at two campaign rallies earlier in the week. On the advice of his campaign strategist, US Republican adviser Arthur Finkelstein, the prime minister will stop making direct attacks on Naftali Bennett,...

The intentions of the Journal News’ editorial board in publishing a highly controversial “interactive gun map” are further occluded by an inconvenient fact. According to Rockland County Clerk Paul Piperato, in Rockland County a large number of the names and addresses on the map are not even correct. Piperato said, “I’d figure about 25 percent of the addresses are not accurate.” He explained that when persons change their address or pass away it is supposed to be reported to the County Clerk’s office, but the county has no means to vigorously enforce this regulation. Thus pistol permit and other permit...