Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - A Republican congressman from Georgia is calling President-elect Obama a Marxist and warning that he might be planning to form a Gestapo-like security force so he can rule as a dictator. Two-term Rep. Paul Broun of Athens cited a July speech that has circulated on the Internet in which Obama called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.

One of the big losers in this cycle is the English language. Not all of this is new to this election cycle of course, but it does seem to be getting worse. In fact, not only have many words lost their meaning, some have actually become the exact opposite. Here are some examples: Employee Free Choice Act: Of course, this is anything but a "free choice" on the part of employees. This is the proposed legislation which will take away the secret ballot part of union votes. Whether or not to unionize are some of the most heated and dangerous...

Michael Barone sounds the alarm. So, where is the ACLU? And, in a related item, all you women out there should find this alarming. Ah, but he says he'll only force you to register for the military, not to serve. Then why is registration so important to him? If you believe that, you'll believe that he and Joe Biden write their own speeches. UPDATE -- In the Obama Thugocracy, partisan groups of agitators long affiliated with the president, and who are under investigation (and who have been convicted) in over a dozen states for voter fraud, will be supported with...

Controversial author and social commentator Mark Steyn said Friday he wants to lose his case before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal in Vancouver. Instead, Steyn wants to take the "hate speech" case to an actual court of law. Steyn said a negative ruling would allow the case to go forward in the legal system -- instead of being heard by what he has called a panel of "pretend judges." The tribunal is wrapping up a case brought by a member of the Canadian Islamic Congress "on behalf of Muslim residents in the province of British Columbia" against Maclean's magazine. They...

OBAMA WAS SELECTED, NOT ELECTEDJune 4, 2008 Words mean nothing to liberals. They say whatever will help advance their cause at the moment, switch talking points in a heartbeat, and then act indignant if anyone uses the exact same argument they were using five minutes ago. When Gore won the popular vote in the 2000 election by half a percentage point, but lost the Electoral College -- or, for short, "the constitutionally prescribed method for choosing presidents" -- anyone who denied the sacred importance of the popular vote was either an idiot or a dangerous partisan. But now Hillary has...

Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain's most senior police forensics expert. Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said a debate was needed on how far Britain should go in identifying potential offenders, given that some experts believe it is possible to identify future offending traits in children as young as five. 'If we have a primary means of identifying people before they offend, then in...

Californians may soon have to deal with climate change on a different scale -- and this time the culprit isn't greenhouse gas. The California Energy Commission is proposing a plan which allows the government to regulate household thermostats in the event of an "energy crisis." Under the proposed rules, all new thermostats will be fitted with technology that will allow the government to adjust the temperature of someone's home by plus or minus four degrees. Originally the plans called for mandatory compliance; however, amid public outcry, the plans have been slightly altered to allow an individual to turn off the...

NEWARK, Del., October 30, 2007—The University of Delaware subjects students in its residence halls to a shocking program of ideological reeducation that is referred to in the university’s own materials as a “treatment” for students’ incorrect attitudes and beliefs. The organization cited excerpts from the university's Office of Residence Life Diversity Education Training documents, including the statement: "A RACIST: A racist is one who is both privileged and socialized on the basis of race by a white supremacist (racist) system. 'The term applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class,...

In 1997, the National Association of Social Work (NASW) altered its ethics code, ruling that all social workers must promote social justice "from local to global level." This call for mandatory advocacy raised the question: what kind of political action did the highly liberal field of social work have in mind? The answer wasn't long in coming. The Council on Social Work Education, the national accreditor of social work education programs, says candidates must fight "oppression," and sees American society as pervaded by the "global interconnections of oppression." Now aspiring social workers must commit themselves, usually in writing, to a...

Take This Car and Shove It (THIS SITE IS HAVING PROBLEMS) An Orwellian “100 percent parking reduction”? rule quietly wends through City Hall By STEVEN LEIGH MORRIS Wednesday, August 29, 2007 - 5:00 pm (Illustration by Ken Garduno) AFTER WORLD WAR II, the city of Los Angeles figured it would be a swell idea to provide incentives to the local tire industry by dismantling what was then among the most comprehensive and enthusiastically used light-rail systems in the nation. What's good for business is good for the city, the tire companies said on their way to the bank, before the...

Orwellian Machavellianism the telling of carefully constructed lies for the manipulation and deception of the political masses and then forcing these law on the people by law.

Drug addicts to be given i-Pods if they beat their habits By JAMES SLACK Last updated at 16:37pm on 22nd July 2007 Drug addicts could be offered food vouchers and the chance to win prizes such as i-Pod music players by the Government body refusing treatment to Alzheimer's sufferers. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) wants to offer heroin and crack addicts 'incentives' to quit their habit. The users - many of whom commit crime to feed their habit - will be offered vouchers if they test clean for the illegal substances. The size of the taxpayer-funded gift will...

With their peculiar and unwieldy antennae, the first TV detector vans were the stuff of science-fiction B movies. And the myths that sprung up surrounding their supposed powers were also worthy of Hollywood. But the latest weapon in the battle against licence-fee dodgers is a green torch-like device weighing less than 1lb � and it really does work, with frightening efficiency. The hand-held detector linked to a set of headphones beeps if an operating TV is inside a radius of 29ft. It means licensing officers can now target places previously inaccessible by cumbersome vans, such as homes in very remote...

Business execs arrested for refusing to cut prices By Angus Shaw ASSOCIATED PRESS July 9, 2007 HARARE, Zimbabwe – Police arrested 16 more business leaders in a crackdown on those suspected of violating the government's order to slash prices by 50 percent, the official media reported yesterday. The mandated price cuts ordered more than two weeks ago are a desperate attempt to confront inflation that has spun out of control during Zimbabwe's economic crisis. The falling prices have caused stampedes, panic buying and near-riots. Among those arrested in the latest sweep were the directors of Edgars, a leading clothing and...

Chinese officials break "one-child" policy Jul 8 11:56 AM US/Eastern Nearly 2,000 officials in central China have violated the nation's "one child" family planning policy, further revealing difficulties in implementing population controls. Family planning departments have exposed 1,968 officials in populous Hunan province who have breached the law, Xinhua news agency said Sunday. One "national" level official surnamed Li even went so far as to sire four children with his four different mistresses, the report said. The local family planning commission caught 21 national and local legislators, 24 political advisers and 112 businessmen violating the birth control policies in the...

Al Gore is both leading the fight against climate change and coming back from political oblivion ONCE he was the nearly man of American politics, but this weekend Al Gore, Bill Clinton’s former sidekick, made it clear he was back, no longer just a politician but a phenomenon: the first global green celebrity. As the Live Earth concerts rolled out around the globe, each blessed with Gore’s presence, either live or on giant screens, it became clear that the failed presidential candidate has metamorphosed into a prophet. In an interview with The Sunday Times before yesterday’s Live Earth concert at...

Preview and Analysis for Weekend of July 7th and 8th, 2007 Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows: NBC's "Meet the Press" Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. CBS's "Face the Nation" Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah Fox News Sunday Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.Rep. Chris Cannon, R-UtahRep. Peter Hoesktra, R-Mich. CNN "Late Edition" Iraqi national security advisor Mowaffak al-RubaieSen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.. ABC's "This Week" Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich.Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas;Former Sen. Mike Gravel, D-Alaska Immigration is not to be mentioned except perhaps to belittle those who opposed shamnesty as bigots...

<p>The House Armed Services Committee is banishing the global war on terror from the 2008 defense budget.</p> <p>This is not because the war has been won, lost or even called off, but because the committee’s Democratic leadership doesn’t like the phrase.</p>

VOTE SMARTMY RESPONSE TO'VOTE DIFFERENT'(Obama-Apple 1984 Ad Mashup)by Mia T, 3.10.07 COPYRIGHT MIA T 2007

MIAMI - Isaac Daniel calls the tiny Global Positioning System chip he's embedded into a line of sneakers "peace of mind." He wishes his 8-year-old son had been wearing them when he got a call from his school in 2002 saying the boy was missing. The worried father hopped a flight to Atlanta from New York where he had been on business to find the incident had been a miscommunication and his son was safe. Days later, the engineer started working on a prototype of Quantum Satellite Technology, a line of $325 to $350 adult sneakers that hit shelves next...

Mayor Ken Corley of Brazoria, Texas, has proposed a city ordinance that would make using the word in an offensive fashion a crime equal to disturbing the peace and punishable by a fine of up to $500. The 62-year-old mayor, who is a self-described "middle-class white boy," came up with the idea after watching Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton discuss banning the word on TV after "Seinfeld" comedian Michael Richards used the word in an act last November.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An animal rights group on Friday accused Macy's of selling a coat with a real animal fur collar even though it was advertised as fake fur. The Humane Society of the United States said a $237.99 Sean John Hooded Snorkel Jacket for sale on Macy's Web site was described as having an "imitation rabbit fur collar." But the group said when it purchased the coat, the label read "Made in China" and "genuine raccoon fur." The group said it is testing the fur to see if it is from a raccoon dog, a type of dog...

EPINAY-SUR-SEINE, France. When the call came about a car burglary in this raw suburb north of Paris one night last weekend, three officers in a patrol car rushed over, only to find themselves surrounded by 30 youths in hoods throwing rocks and swinging bats and metal bars. Neither tear gas nor stun guns stopped the assault. Only when reinforcements arrived did the siege end. One officer was left with broken teeth and in need of 30 stitches to his face. The attack was rough but not unique. In the past three weeks alone, three similar assaults on the police have...

After reading parts of the FoxNews Sunday transcript of the interview between Wallace and Clinton, something stuck out to me. Clinton keeps claiming that 'right wing conservatives' were constantly complaining that he was too obsessed with bin Laden. I have mentioned previous that I have no memories of that happening. What I do remember is conservatives in general complaining about his obsession with Monica. But, getting back to that claim that conservatives were complaining that Clinton was too obsessed with bin Laden. After watching the rant, oops, interview, Clinton slipped up. He showed his cards by uttering three little words:...

The Register reported on Monday that the Capistrano Unified School District "kept lists of 150 families who supported last year's board recall campaign, detailing such personal information as where their children went to school." This is a chilling abuse of power that should be thoroughly investigated by the county district attorney. One parent, appropriately enough, called the behavior "Nixonish." School districts are not allowed to engage in politics on public time. What else can such a list be considered if not political behavior? The Register reported that many of the documents about the recall were printed on district stationary, which...

GLAAD Urges Caution in Reporting on Language in New York Marriage Decision NEW YORK - July 6 - The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today urged media outlets reporting on the New York Court of Appeals' decision in Hernandez v. Robles, Samuels v. New York, and the state's other marriage cases to avoid uncritical reiteration of the plurality opinion's repeated use of the phrase "sexual preference" -- an inaccurate term for sexual orientation that violates Associated Press style guidelines. The AP Stylebook's entry for gay reads: "Used to describe men and women attracted to the same sex,...

A push to require all convicted criminals in New York to submit their DNA to a central database is gaining crucial support in Albany, where officials say it could create the most comprehensive DNA collection system in the nation. If the proposal becomes law, it would make New York the only state to require collecting DNA from everyone convicted of felonies and misdemeanors, including youthful offenders convicted in criminal court, officials said. Currently, 43 states require that people convicted of all felonies submit DNA, but none require samples from those convicted of all misdemeanors, and New York has required those...

Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative. At least, he did if he was one of 95 kids from the Berkeley area that social scientists have been tracking for the last 20 years. The confident, resilient, self-reliant kids mostly grew up to be liberals. The study from the Journal of Research Into Personality isn't going to make the UC Berkeley professor who published it any friends on the right. Similar...

(CNSNews.com) -A conservative student group has been acquitted of a charge that it violated DePaul University's anti-harassment policy when it conducted a protest against affirmative action, the school announced Monday. However, the DePaul Conservative Alliance (DCA) was found guilty of violating the Code of Student Responsibility and censured. In January, the DCA held an "affirmative action bake sale" to mock affirmative action policies in higher education. The protests, which have occurred on other college and university campuses, involve white and Asian students being charged more for baked goods than blacks and Hispanics. The mock bake sales are designed to criticize...

There's no helping you. This site is now just a diversion -- like a train wreck. This site is inherently for and about raving egomaniacs, and Jim's site policies -- which amount to excluding reality and actual dialogue in favor of political/militaristic pornography -- is conducive to cognitive dissonance, which at the times your worldview is threatened leads you into psychotic breaks (on the political cognitive plane, that is, and just maybe in other realms too). Not to mention that your baseline politics is based in mythology about American demographics, science, economics, ethics etc. You spoonfeed each other in the...

Friend: Today, January 16, 2006, free speech may become illegal in England. I wish I were joking. Most Americans know that America’s precious civil liberties was born in England, out of English common law, English ideas of individual rights, and British parliamentary democracy. Most Americans don’t know that this glorious tradition, in defense of which Americans and Britons fought two world wars and a Cold War together, is dying where it was born. Today, believe it or not, civil liberty is under attack in the UK as it has not been since the dark days of 1940. Then, as now,...

In 1984 George Orwell portrays the importance of language in controlling thought. The totalitarian regime depicted in the novel had developed its own language -- Newspeak -- to meet the ideological needs of Oceania. In the novel's appendix on the language, Orwell explains: In the year 1984 there was not as yet anyone who used Newspeak as his sole means of communication, either in speech or writing. The leading articles of the Times were written in it, but this was a tour de force which could only be carried out by a specialist. Orwell adds: The purpose of Newspeak was...

December 30, 2005 - The argument over whether President Bush has the authority to direct the National Security Agency to listen in on the conversations of suspected terrorists on US soil is split primarily into two camps; those who believe we are engaged in a war for our very survival against radical Islam and those who believe – and always have – that terrorism operates under a set of rules that govern its actions and therefore should be treated as a law enforcement issue. This is just another example of why there should have been a formal declaration of war...

To: National Desk Contact: Jessica Shoemaker, 202-467-5318, or after hours: Tom Finnigan, 202-253-3852 both of Citizens Against Government Waste WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today delivered more than 5,200 petitions to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff urging DHS not to require a computer chip in drivers’ licenses to comply with the Real ID Act. "Congress’s intent was to build on existing technology, not to add to the states’ burden of compliance by requiring a chip," CAGW President Tom Schatz said. "Installing radio frequency identification (RFID) chips or similar technology into every...

On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists inspired by hatred murdered nearly 3,000 innocent Americans. In response, Congress overwhelmingly passed the USA Patriot Act. Now, before it adjourns for the year, Congress must act again to reauthorize this critical piece of legislation. Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations are at work: Their stated goal is to kill Americans, cripple our economy and demoralize our people. The bill to be considered this week is a good one. It equips law enforcement with the tools needed to fight terrorists, and it also includes new civil liberties protections. Members of Congress should put aside the...

MIERS' EXPERIENCE [Jonah Goldberg] I get a lot of email making this point, which I think is fair as far as it goes: I did a quick review of the bios of the current Justices. If you leave out the departing O’Connor, the only Justice with any significant private practice experience left on the Court is Kennedy, at about 14 years. Souter and Scalia had a handful of years right out of law school; believe me when I tell you that doesn’t count. Thomas had a couple of years in-house at Monsanto between government positions. Roberts had 10 years at...

On Sept 14, the Orwellian federal “anti-hate” bill, AMDT.2662 (The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005), was passed by the House of Representatives. It will establish a “hate crimes” bureaucracy in America, just like Canada’s, ending free speech. This legislation gives special federal protection to select groups including homosexuals. Throughout history, many homosexuals have sodomized underage boys. Incredibly, AMDT.2662 was inserted into the text of the Children’s Safety Act of 2005 (HR3132). Many house members, too busy to read the bill, thought they were protecting children. Actually, they were doing the opposite! The Children’s Safety Act has...

Retailers experimenting with biometric payments Three or four days a week, Darren Hiers gets lunch at a Sterling convenience store near the car dealership where he works. He grabs a chicken sandwich and a soda and heads to the checkout counter, where a little gadget scans his index finger and instantly deducts the money from his checking account ....... The finger scan used at the shop in Sterling, known as a biometric payment system and made by a Herndon firm, is just starting to be installed at convenience stores and supermarket chains around the country, another step in a revolution...

On Tuesday, May 10, 2005, America became a true police state. Your U.S. senators voted -- unanimously, with no discussion, and without even reading the bill -- to create a national ID card. The Real ID Act blackmails state governments into turning their drivers licenses into a draconian tool of the federal homeland security apparatus. If states refuse, their citizens lose such "privileges" as being allowed to board an airplane, enter a federal building, or apply for social security. President Bush is expected to sign the bill eagerly on Thursday. In three years -- by May 2008 -- this Stalin-style...

How do you start an article on the subject that is so surreal that it has to be unbelievable? Government-sanctioned murder of an innocent woman has just completed its course. What are we going to do? Tyranny by our judicial system has just executed what I never thought could happen in the United States of America. A woman, who was brain-damaged, not dying, was murdered. It’s true our country has completed its journey into the “Orwellian” state. Help me understand this; we have a president who can enact war upon another country without congressional blessing, but President Bush couldn’t intervene...

March 29, 2005, 7:56 a.m. George Orwell & Terri Schiavo Euphemisms about life and death. Denial is not just a river in Egypt, goes the saying. Indeed, it is something very important to supporters of ending Terri Schiavo’s life, judging by their head-spinning evasions. A woman who might (or might not) be in a persistent vegetative state, but who is otherwise not ill and can continue to live for years despite her profound disability, is dying because we are refusing to give her sustenance. We are affirmatively ending her life, perhaps against her will, because there is no way now...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A ragged fence and a canyon called Smugglers Gulch mark the westernmost stretch of the California-Mexico border, a favorite crossing point for illegal immigrants and drug runners.

Immigration Bill Could Settle Fight Over California-Mexico Border FenceBy Erica Werner Associated Press Writer Published: Feb 5, 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) - A ragged fence and a canyon called Smugglers Gulch mark the westernmost stretch of the California-Mexico border, a favorite crossing point for illegal immigrants and drug runners. The federal government and a powerful local Republican congressman have been pushing for years to fortify the 3 1/2-mile stretch of border just north of Tijuana, Mexico. Their plan is opposed by California coastal regulators and environmentalists who say it could harm a fragile Pacific estuary. Now supporters may be getting closer...

H.R.418 Title: To establish and rapidly implement regulations for State driver's license and identification document security standards, to prevent terrorists from abusing the asylum laws of the United States, to unify terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and removal, and to ensure expeditious construction of the San Diego border fence. Sponsor: Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James, Jr. [WI-5] (introduced 1/26/2005) Cosponsors (125) Latest Major Action: 1/26/2005 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case...

I've been reading Karl Popper's two volume work "Open Society and it Enemies". Here's the amazon.com link:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0691019681/103-5859654-8821426?v=glanceThe thread I posted at commongroundcommonsense.org, "In Defense of Open Society" was inspired by that work. I'd like to start a thread with the same name here because I see this as an important problem that crosses partisan lines. In a nutshell, the central question is this: how can we rationally institute changes in our society? Changes take place whether we consciously bring them about or not, and some changes are threatening to some people. Popper charts some of the philosophers who have tried...

Bar-coded licenses promoted in New Jersey Published in the Home News Tribune 12/30/04 WASHINGTON -- Walk into one of New Jersey's 45 motor-vehicle offices to get a drivers license and you're instantly under surveillance by closed-circuit TV and an undercover officer. Even before you get in line, a state worker checks your passport, birth certificate or other required documents. When you get your license, you'll notice a bar code on the back that police officers can read with electronic scanners to verify your identity -- one of 22 security features built into the card. And forget about renewing your license...

Rodong Sinmun today dedicates a signed article to the world day of human rights. Recalling that not a few successes have been made in the field of human rights since this day was set, the article notes that under the Korean-style socialist system centered on the popular masses the Korean people enjoy genuine human rights and are guaranteed all rights. It continues:The U.S-led imperialists set out human rights concept and standards for a tiny handful of reactionary ruling classes and are working hard to impose them upon other countries. The U.S. imperialists released a lengthy "human rights report" every year,...

Although it is usually a mistake to rely on technical fixes to solve a serious social problem, a new technology for tracking products could help immensely to squelch the counterfeiting and theft of prescription drugs. The promising radio-frequency identification technology got a boost last week when the Food and Drug Administration announced new moves to promote it and three drug companies said they would tag some of their most popular drugs with radio-frequency devices in pioneering efforts to thwart counterfeiters. If all goes well, the technology could come into widespread use on pharmaceuticals after 2007 and might ease the way...

In today’s edition of the DUmmie FUnnies the DUmmies go into a deep Jacobin mode as they speculate what the first act of Kerry should be if he becomes President. Very light on actual policy but very heavy on dispensing “Revolutionary Justice” to Republicans and conservatives. It is a grim DUmmie fantasy THREAD in which the DUmmies fulfill their psychotic desires about sending conservatives off to the guillotine. The more humane among them are willing to have the Bush Regime tried before the International Court at the Hague before the mass executions. Read about what the DUmmies have in store...

Shotgun JohnWith deer and waterfowl hunting seasons opening up around the nation, the Kerry/Edwards campaign is dangling some bait to hook the Cabelas vote.Whispers learns it will announce a 'Sportsman's Bill of Rights' as early as this week.Topping the six point plan is the 'right to own firearms.'A draft reads, 'Gun rights are fundemental for the sport of hunting.'Kerry will also propose paying landowners to give access to the hook and bullet crowd.