Free Republic

An estimated 200 social justice protesters demonstrated in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., Thursday, expressing solidarity with the “Occupy Wall Street” movement that has spread to more than 150 US cites. The protesters, part of a larger group that had gathered earlier near Capitol Hill for a long-planned antiwar rally, beat drums, carried signs that said “Tax the Rich,” and rang cowbells. As expressions of solidarity with Occupy multiply – labor unions marched in New York Wednesday while student and labor groups joined in Boston – the question is being asked: Can the protest movement carry the newcomers, or will...

New York - In a sign that it is shifting from a loose-knit fringe group to a bloc that could draw in mainstream America, the movement called Occupy Wall Street brought thousands of people to the streets of New York on Wednesday after major labor unions gave their backing to its anti-greed message. The march, from Occupy Wall Street's makeshift headquarters at a small park in the financial district to Foley Square in Lower Manhattan, was the largest since the group launched its movement Sept. 17. At its peak, the crowd of several thousand filled Foley Square and covered the...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Thousands of people in Philadelphia are waiting in long lines for aid due to losses caused by Hurricane Irene; however, there is a lot of confusion over who exactly qualifies. At several locations throughout the city, thousands lined up to get a month’s worth of food stamps for food that was ruined by Hurricane Irene in late August. However, confusion of who is exactly qualified for the food stamps has lead to long lines and short tempers. Officials say the application deadline is 7 p.m. Tuesday for the Federal Emergency Management Agency program, which is administered by...

Providing fresh evidence that it is intellectually exhausted, the Obama administration is flirting with revisiting the mortgage-refinancing market. And like the semi-criminal scam that was the Home Affordable Mortgage Program, this new push is not really about helping out innocent bystanders crushed by the housing crash, but about the hundreds of thousands of market-massacring new foreclosures that are coming down the pipe — foreclosures that may be delayed, even if they are not prevented. The Committee to Reinflate the Bubble is in session. Banks are reasonably eager to refinance certain kinds of mortgages — what they lose in interest, they...

Engraved at the base of the statue of Liberty Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send...

Why They Hate Us It’s the reflexive reaction of those who have the most to lose, and their numbers are substantial. In their self-delusions, they’ve continued to pretend to themselves that everything will go on as it has for more than two generations, with no interruptions in the gravy train, and their stubborn indifference to the mathematical certainty permits them momentary refuge against a reality they’ve created but wish not to endure. When a voice rises to warn them, they dutifully dismiss it. When the Tea Party arose, they were faced with a messenger they could not so easily...

This time the wild and crazy bunch attempts to defy an Order to Stay by a Federal Judge. Paragraph 4 - "All mortgage foreclosure cases are hereby STAYED and shall remain so until further order of the court. Any deadlines for filings on any issue are hereby suspended." Seems pretty clear to me. Maybe the good folks at Harmon Law accidently sent their copy of the order to LPS for some repair work. Or could it be that they interpret the STAY order to exclude evictions?

Providing for the defense of the United States is Congress’ constitutional obligation. Lawmakers should recognize defense is a necessity, if not the federal government’s most important responsibility. In recent years, however, defense spending has continued to decline as entitlement spending increased. Priorities are being misplaced as the gap between entitlement spending and defense spending continues to widen. This chart is part of Heritage’s 2011 Budget Chart Book, featuring infographics on federal spending, revenue, debt and deficits, and entitlement programs.

Yesterday my son and I were travelling down the road when he turns to me and tells me that the lady on the corner panhandling is holding a sign with one hand and talking on her smartphone with the other. Am I missing something here?

Link only, per FR posting rules

NAIROBI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- An international research team using a new combination of approaches has found two genes that may prove of vital importance to the lives and livelihoods of millions of farmers in a tsetse fly-plagued swathe of Africa. The research, aimed at finding the biological keys to protection from a single-celled trypanosome parasite that causes both African sleeping sickness in people and a wasting disease in cattle, brought together a range of high-tech tools and field observations to address a critical affliction of some of the world' s poorest people. "The two genes discovered in this research...

NPR would like to talk with first-generation immigrants who send money to family or friends in their home countries. Tell us in the comments what country you're sending money.

A group of African students whose college tuitions are being paid by the U.S. government yesterday received a boost of additional funds to continue their educations – and an executive from the private contractor coordinating the program just happens to be the wife of a senior Obama administration official...the U.S. Agency for International Development under the current initiative has already spent nearly $2.1 million to send 16 students from the southeast African nation of Malawi to colleges in their homeland as well as in the U.S. and Kenya... World Learning's senior vice president for international development and exchange programs is...

...Census Bureau data reveals that most U.S. families headed by illegal immigrants use taxpayer-funded welfare programs on behalf of their American-born anchor babies. Even before the recession, immigrant households with children used welfare programs at consistently higher rates than natives, according to the extensive census data collected and analyzed by a nonpartisan Washington D.C. group dedicated to researching legal and illegal immigration in the U.S...The majority of households across the country benefitting from publicly-funded welfare programs are headed by immigrants, both legal and illegal. States where immigrant households with children have the highest welfare use rates are Arizona (62%), Texas,...

Came across this while on youtube yesterday. HILLARIOUS! Shows the mindset of Democrats. Here is the about page of a typical Obama supporter in Bolshevik redTo all conservatives suffering from me-ism. The price of living in great societies like America is "progressive" taxation. You "individuals" all enjoy the services made possible by a collective society such as the Internet you are enjoying now. The leaders of these said societies are elected to disperse the revenues gained through taxation for the well-being of the "society" not the "individual". It's called "socialism" and without it, there can be no society. Without a...

Right now, 30,000 people are gathered outside of the Capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin speaking out against Republican Governor Scott Walker's attempt to take away collective bargaining rights from public employees. Our SEIU brothers and sisters stand to lose their rights as well and are speaking out in force. Use this form to send a message to SEIU members - and everyone - who have been fighting for their rights all week outside (and inside) the Capitol. We'll make sure they receive your thoughts this weekend.

ROME — Italy’s interior minister said Sunday that the country hoped to send its armed forces to Tunisia to help stem the flow of illegal immigrants, after more than 3,000 Tunisians arrived by boat on an Italian island in recent days.“I will ask Tunisia’s foreign minister for authorization for our forces to intervene in Tunisia to block the influx,” Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said in an Italian television interview on Sunday.......in 2009, Italy signed a renewed bilateral accord with Tunisia, pledging financial support in exchange for help in preventing would-be immigrants from leaving the country’s shores. But that accord seems...

America’s Globe magazine claims the President is hooked on prescription pills. The tabloid says Obama’s addiction nightmare is the real reason for the Commander-in-Chief’s shocking weight loss. The drugs — apparently used to help Barack battle depression — are a “cocaine-like” stimulant, according to Globe.

The House on Wednesday rejected a Republican-led effort to force the United Nations to give back $179 million in overpayments, falling short in the face of Obama administration arguments that much of the money already had been designated to boost security around an international headquarters susceptible to terrorist attack. The vote was 259-169, short of the two-thirds necessary for the bill to pass. It was the third straight embarrassment for the new House Republican leadership, which lost votes on the Patriot Act extension Tuesday night and was forced to pull a trade bill or suffer defeat. Determined to cut spending,...

Just half the eligible Californians were receiving food stamps in 2008, a slight improvement over previous years but well below the national average of 66%, according to federal estimates released Wednesday. California officials dispute the way the figures are calculated and say they are outdated. More than 3.5 million Californians received the nutrition benefit in October, the most recent month for which figures are available. That is nearly 46% more than in October 2008. But the number of people who qualify for the benefit has also increased and it is unclear whether enrollment has kept pace with that growth. Advocates...