Free Republic

The conduct of the National Park Service over the last week might be the biggest scandal of the Obama administration. This is an expansive claim, of course. Benghazi, Fast and Furious, the IRS, the NSA, the HHS mandate​—​this is an administration that has not lacked for appalling abuses of power. And we still have three years to go. Even so, consider the actions of the National Park Service since the government shutdown began. People first noticed what the NPS was up to when the World War II Memorial on the National Mall was “closed.” Just to be clear, the memorial...

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In the showdown over the shutdown of the U.S. government, the Obamaites tipped their hand yesterday as what their strategy is. Taking a page out of Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals," the plan is to maximize the people's pain — to maximize the political damage to the enemy, the Republican Party.What else explains it?Consider this: Asked Wednesday if there were any danger of America defaulting on her debt, President Obama rushed to assure a reporter that, yes, indeed, there certainly is such a peril. Why would a president act in so perverse a manner, were he not trying deliberately to...

Terror gripped the nation's capital this afternoon after a woman rammed her car security fencing at the White House and then raced toward Capitol Hill, all with a one-year-old child in the back seat, before she was gunned down by Secret Service agents and Capitol Police officers. The bizarre incident put the White House and Capitol Hill briefly on lock-down as officers swarmed the scene with assault rifles and hundreds of staffers and tourists fled in terror or took shelter in buildings at the political heart of Washington D.C. Multiple news outlets are reporting the woman was Miriam Carey, a...

Roy Benavidez was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions West of Loc Ninh, South Vietnam in May of 1968. When word that a squad was pinned down by enemy fire Roy Benavidez immediately volunteered to exact their rescue. During the course of the effort he subjected himself to constant enemy fire and suffered numerous injuries, but still led the remaining soldiers to protect and defend their position even after their first rescue helicopter was shot down. Video here

Jeff Head Cancer Update: September 29, 2013 So, we've been gone for over two weeks from Emmett, ID. This has been my annual checkup for my Chordoma cancer down here in Houston, TX at MD Anderson. Week before last I had those checkups and they went extremely well. No sign of any new cancer around where my sacrum used to be and that is very good. As good a bone fusion to the bone from my right fibula that they used as a support down there as it can be. Very strong and lots of it. Also strong bone fusion...

Great quote from a cryptogram I just solved: "We who are liberal and progressive know that the poor are our equals in every sense except that of being equal to us." — Lionel Trilling

"He is known to be a merciless butcher," said Mohammed al-Tayeb, an opposition activist speaking by Skype from the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma, among the areas pounded by the 4th Division's assaults. Within President Bashar Assad's circle of trust, Maher Assad has advocated an uncompromising response throughout the uprising. "From the beginning, Maher was convinced that the uprising must be put down before any talks take place," said Fawaz A. Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics. "The life of the regime depends on Maher's ability to prevent the rebels from infiltrating Damascus...

Beware of the monkeys! Hundreds of rare wild monkeys — some carrying herpes — are on the loose in Florida after a tour guide brought the spunky critters to the state long ago. Wildlife officials said that three pairs of Rhesus monkeys were transported to a park near Ocala in the 1930s by tour operator Colonel Tooey after a “Tarzan” flick sparked a fascination with the creature. But the breed has since boomed and more than 1,000 of the monkeys now live in the state, wildlife officials say. State officials have caught more than 700 of the monkeys in the...

Twitter is buzzing with this rumor, hung himself in cell, I can't find any media reports yet.

In Egypt the troubles and crimes are the straight consequence of the obamination's policies and his support to the "arab springs" I thought that your lying machine had defeated definetly Al Qaeda but he recently launched a wide alert and closed many US ambassies in the middle-East. Hope that it will soon be the end of the nightmare for you and us and that democraps will not recover for a long time ....

The LAPD has CLOSED its missing persons investigation involving the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige ... because cops had a face-to-face meeting with her ... TMZ has learned. ... One question we asked that we could not get answered ... Did cops determine Shelly was or was not being held against her will?

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM) said on Tuesday it is slashing the price of its Chevrolet Volt electric car by $5,000 to help boost demand for the plug-in hybrid in a segment still struggling to gain a foothold in the U.S. auto market. The price cut for the 2014 model will lower the price to $34,995, including delivery fees before federal tax credits. Pricing could fall as low as $27,495 with the tax credit. "We have made great strides in reducing costs as we gain experience with electric vehicles and their components," Don Johnson, U.S. vice president for...

While Winfrey may be one of the most recognizable faces on the planet, she apparently doesn't have as big a fan base in Switzerland. Winfrey tells O'Dell that while in Zurich for Tina Turner's wedding she left the hotel to go shopping by herself and was denied service when the clerk assumed that Winfrey wouldn't be able to afford the bag she was asking to see. When asked if she has ever been called the N-word, Winfrey explained that, for her, sexism seems to be the bigger issue.

When Les and Helen Brown became high school sweethearts more than 75 years ago, their parents didn’t believe the match would last. ((snip)) Les recently slipped into a coma at the couple’s Long Beach, Calif., home, and hospice workers said he might live for just a few more days. Helen, who was expected to survive for some months, became very weak. She passed away on July 16. Les died the following day — he never knew about his wife’s death. They were 94 years old.

..."He asked the cashier, how many coffees do you sell in a day?” The store manager Joanne Averion said. Then he asked the cashier to ring him up 500 large coffees. "The cashier asked if he was going to drink all that coffee, or if he is going to give it to someone?" Averion recalled. "He said, 'You have to give these coffees to the next 500 customers,’" Averion also said.

“What’s wrong with the world is letting the terrorist attack in Benghazi go unavenged for 9 months!”

(Liz Klimas) At least three producers with the San Francisco news station KTVU-TV have been fired for the incident earlier this month where fake names of Asian Airlines pilots were read on air, according to reports. First reported by radio host Rich Lieberman and confirmed by sources at the station by the San Francisco Chronicle, investigative producer Roland DeWolk, special projects producer Cristina Gastelu and producer Brad Belstock were fired in connection with the noon broadcast on July 12 where anchor Tori Campbell read the fake names.

Some filibuster abortion bills, some march against them, and some wear tampons on their ears. On her MSNBC show Sunday morning, Melissa Harris-Perry brought attention to Texas’ recently-passed abortion regulations—and the burnt orange-clad demonstrators who had fought their passage—in her own way: with a pair of homemade tampon earrings. “My producer Lorena made for me last week some tampon earrings,” Harris-Perry said as she put on the jewelry. “The Texas state legislature said that you couldn’t bring tampons in, when these women were going to, in fact, stand up for their own reproductive rights.” During a second special session of...

President Barack Obama, breaking his silence on the George Zimmerman acquittal, said Friday that many African-Americans believe that “both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different” if Trayvon Martin had been white. “You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son,” Obama said somberly during a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room. “Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.” In searingly personal terms, Obama described his personal experience with race-based prejudice. “There are very few African-American men in this country...

Detroit on Thursday became the largest American city to declare bankruptcy, officially succumbing to job losses in the auto industry, decades of population flight, and the collapse of revenue to cover everything from policing to street lighting. "Let me be blunt: Detroit's broke," Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said as he recited a litany of ills that helped steer the decision and that made Detroit — once a gleaming example of American industry — into an urban wreck with debts of $18 billion. The announcement came four months after Snyder named Washington bankruptcy expert Kevyn Orr — who represented Chrysler during...

Al Sharpton has a new, decades-younger, attractive main squeeze. The civil rights activist and MSNBC star, 58, is dating 35-year-old Aisha McShaw, a Westchester “personal stylist” who has been seen on Sharpton’s arm at several recent black-tie affairs, including the White House Correspondents Dinner in April and President Obama’s holiday party in December.

Will North Colorado become America's 51st state? That's what some residents in the Centennial State are pushing for. Representatives from eight northern counties convened Monday, CBS Denver reports, to "begin mapping the boundaries for the new state they say will represent the interests of rural Colorado." The secession movement stems from "a growing urban-rural divide," with state lawmakers in Denver passing sweeping gun control legislation and calling for more renewable energy and less oil and gas production—a big part of northern Colorado's economy. “Northern and Northeastern Colorado and our voices are being ignored in the legislative process this year, and...

I got this material in my email and I think is worth to be read. Folks the material you read here has been documented and footnoted in publications by Glen Beck, David Horowitz and other authors, but are now collectively put together in this transmission. [Google any of their names] Any one of these 'coincidences' when taken singularly appear to not mean much, but when taken as a whole, a computer would blow a main circuit if you asked it to calculate the odds that they have occurred by chance alone. Sit back, get a favorite beverage, and then read...

In its new mission to extract every dollar possible out of park visitors, California State Parks is pricing itself out of reach of many, starting with young families, city kids and young adults. So is the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which charges the highest-priced fishing licenses in America and yet is providing the public with less than ever this summer. Ten years ago, it cost $2 to park and $12 to camp at state parks. Now it’s $10 to park and $35 and up to camp. State Parks wants to add electronic self-pay stations, where you pay by credit...

It’s often said there’s never been an economic recovery without a rebound in real estate. And for investors desperate for any sign of a housing rebound, the last year has been a tonic. You’ve read the headlines. This is a great time to be a home buyer. Interest rates are still near historic lows. Prices have edged up, but only slightly when compared to the long-term trend. Some markets, such as San Jose, Calif., Las Vegas and Phoenix, possibly are overheating. That’s the good news. The bad: very few homeowners are seeing the benefits. In other words, the housing recovery...

Bollywood stars are no less when it comes to professionalism. Katrina Kaif was injured during the shooting of her movie but she continues to her shoot after injury. And now Bollywood hot actress Veena Malik has just proved her dedication towards work for her upcoming Kannada movie 'Silk Sakkath Maga' in Thailand. Veena, while shooting for the song clipped her toenail and it started bleeding profusely. The doctor was called on sets immediately and Veena's foot was bandaged. Filming in Thailand has been halted for several hours to allow Veena to recover. It's a known fact she gives her heart...

Several companies have already terminated or suspended business relationships with Paula Deen in the controversy over her use of racial slurs, yet sales of the celebrity chef’s upcoming cookbook have skyrocketed. Dean’s latest book, “Paula Deen’s New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up,” has jumped all the way to No. 1 on Amazon’s best-seller’s list and No. 7 on the Barnes & Noble Top 100 in advance of its scheduled release. The book, published by Random House, is still scheduled to be released on Oct. 15, according to Random House spokesman Stuart Applebaum.

A New York man who allegedly wanted to kill President Obama and apparently blamed him for the recent Boston bombings has been arrested for trying to build and detonate a weapon of mass destruction. Glendon Scott Crawford, 49, of Galway, N.Y., spent months designing and constructing an X-ray system that would emit deadly amounts of radiation and could be detonated remotely, according to the FBI. Crawford recruited Eric J. Feight, 54, of Hudson, N.Y, to join in the plot, and both were arrested Tuesday, the FBI said. Crawford and Feight allegedly planned to hide their weapon in a truck and...

WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – A new poll finds that Wisconsin representative and 2012 vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan is the most popular politician among Republicans. In a Gallup poll of recent GOP newsmakers being listed as 2016 presidential possibilities, Paul Ryan was given a 69 percent favorable rating among right-leaning U.S. adults. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was also rated favorably, while Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was actually given a higher net favorable rating among Democrats than among Republicans.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority won approval Thursday from a federal railroad oversight board to start construction this summer on the first leg of what would be the nation's first bullet train. In a 67-page decision issued Thursday, the Surface Transportation Board ruled 2-1 that the state could begin work on the first 65 miles of the project from Merced to Fresno, as long as it maintains the current route and follows through on promises to mitigate damage to the environment caused by construction. The STB's ruling removes a key hurdle for the rail authority to start construction of the...

SWEDESBORO, N.J. (AP) — NASCAR driver Jason Leffler died after an accident Wednesday night in a heat race at a dirt car event at Bridgeport Speedway. The 37-year-old Leffler, a two-time winner on the NASCAR Nationwide Series who had the nickname "LefTurn" above the driver's side window on his race cars, was pronounced dead shortly after 9 p.m., New Jersey State Police said. "NASCAR extends its thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies to the family of Jason Leffler who passed away earlier this evening," NASCAR said in a statement. "For more than a decade, Jason was a fierce competitor in our...

Today we traveled from Caen, to Sainte-Mere-Eglise, home to the museum for the United States Airborne troops from WW2. The town was abuzz with dozens and dozens of U.S. Military jeeps and tanks. Every one of them driving the streets, yes, driving. These are all WW2 hardware, which was never returned to the U.S, and have been restored to pristine, war era condition.To add to the realism, dozens and dozens of men were dressed in U.S. military uniform, the same worn during the D Day invasion. Honestly, it was difficult to not believe these men/actors, weren’t the real thing.

San Diego Fire and Rescue crews were called to the San Ysidro border crossing for nearly 160 childbirth emergencies in 2012 — one almost every other day. Such calls continued in 2013, with 15 childbirth emergency calls to the gateway into Tijuana in January, eight in February and 17 in March, according to city records obtained by U-T Watchdog. There are no statistics on how many of the moms being rushed by emergency crews to local hospitals are U.S. citizens, as federal laws prohibit emergency crews and hospital teams from asking. Babies born under the circumstances are U.S. citizens as...

NORTH COUNTY — A motorcyclist was seriously injured Wednesday night while escorting a funeral procession on westbound state Route 78 east of Mar Vista Drive, the California Highway Patrol said. About 6:40 p.m., witnesses said the rider slumped over the handlebars of his 2008 Harley-Davidson, which veered right and struck an asphalt curb on the shoulder, CHP Officer Chris Parent said. He was traveling about 65 mph at the time.

Making a list of those who keep the various state ping lists was suggested to me by FreedomPoster. I like good ideas.I started this project wanting to ping every state to stories that were more jaw dropping than usual, e.g.A sensitive matter (The Economist is stepping back from anthropogenic global warming!)Why Are the Feds Trying to Identify All Gun Owners in Missouri? (Just concealed carry!) The basis of this list was cgk's UPDATED MASTER List of FReeper PING LISTS; Vol. VIII - SPRING Edition! REGIONAL / FR CHAPTERS.Here's my latest update with respect to the states. Alabama Alaska Jet Jaguar...

Funny... for the kids not being star-struck, they finally think we're cool after meeting Willie at the NRA speech...

About 30 minutes into my job as a picker, the strawberry fairy left her first gift. On one of the beds of berries that seemed to stretch forever into the Santa Maria marine layer, Elvia Lopez had laid a little bundle of picked fruit. She and the other three dozen Mexican immigrants in the field were bent at an almost 90-degree angle, using two hands to pack strawberries into plastic containers that they pushed along on ungainly one-wheeled carts. They moved forward, relentlessly, ever bent, following a hulking machine with a conveyor belt that spirited away their fruit. But Lopez,...

The following was posted at the Daily Currant yesterday: Bloomberg Refused Second Slice of Pizza at Local Restaurant New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was denied a second slice of pizza today at an Italian eatery in Brooklyn. The owners of Collegno’s Pizzeria say they refused to serve him more than one piece to protest Bloomberg’s proposed soda ban, which would limit the portions of soda sold in the city… “Hey, could I get another pepperoni over here?” Bloomberg asked owner Antonio Benito. “I’m sorry sir,” he replied, “we can’t do that. You’ve reached your personal slice limit.” Get it? They...

Chad Cross was hunting for turkey in the woods in Alabama when a venomous pit viper rattlesnake bit him in the lower left leg. Nervous and scared, the Montgomery resident attempted to calm himself and slow his heart rate so as to prevent the quick spreading of the deadly venom throughout his body. He then made a move that saved his life. He pulled out his $10 snake-bite kit. WSFA has the incredible story:

SANTA MONICA (CNS) - President Barack Obama will speak at a luncheon fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee in Santa Monica June 7. Tickets for the event at the home of Peter Chernin begin at $10,000, according to an invitation posted on the website, PoliticalPartyTime.org, which tracks political fundraisers. The price is $16,200 for the luncheon and the opportunity to have a photo taken with Obama, and $32,400 -- the maximum allowable contribution to a national party committee in a calendar year -- to be a luncheon co-chair, which also allows the donor to attend what is described as a...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says he shares colleagues’ concerns that the Affordable Care Act could become a “train wreck” if it’s not implemented properly. Reid warned that people will not be able to choose health insurance plans on government health exchanges if federal authorities lack the resources to set them up and educate the public.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is in the process of honoring each of its members by placing a plaque at each Hall of Famer's high school.The Hall of Fame's project made a stop at Superior (WI) High School on Wednesday to honor legendary Vikings Head Coach Bud Grant as well as fellow Hall of Fame members Alphonse "Tuffy" Leemans and Ernie Nevers.Grant is the most revered figure in Vikings lore. He was head coach of the Vikings for 18 seasons (1967-83, 1985) and in that time compiled a regular season record of 158-96-5 while guiding the Vikings to...

A proposed law introduced in the California State legislature would allow public school children to use bathrooms designated for members of the opposite sex, if that students' "gender identity" differed from the students biological sex.

BOSTON (AP) — In photos of her as a younger woman, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva wears a low-cut blouse and has her hair teased like a 1980s rock star. After she arrived in the U.S. from Russia in 2002, she went to beauty school and did facials at a suburban day spa. But in recent years, people noticed a change. She began wearing a hijab and cited conspiracy theories about 9/11 being a plot against Muslims. Now known as the angry and grieving mother of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Tsarnaeva is drawing increased attention after federal officials say Russian authorities intercepted...

(CNN) - Scientists in Uruguay announced Wednesday the birth of the first genetically-modified phosphorescent sheep. Nine sheep were born in October 2012 at Uruguay's Institute of Animal Reproduction, in an experiment done in partnership with the Institut Pasteur. According to the scientists, the sheep developed normally, without showing any difference with their non-modified counterparts. Uruguayan scientists used a gene from a jellyfish which is responsible for production of a green fluorescent protein.

The F-35 Lighting was the first choice of the Australian air force. But several thunderbolts have struck the stealth aircraft, including the arrival of new generation Sukhois that are skewing the odds against the Australians. Sometime by the middle of this year, Australia will have to make a stark choice. Its defences vulnerable and budget in tatters, the country will announce whether it will buy another squadron of 24 F-18 Super Hornets, or that Australia will stick with the original plan to buy 100 units of the F-35 Lightning – America’s joint strike fighter. Trouble is neither option adds to...

The chief of the FAA told Congress today that Washington-area airports will largely escape the effects of the air traffic controller furloughs — a blessing for lawmakers who fly out of the nation’s capitol. Michael Huerta, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, told a congressional panel that the Washington region’s airports are spaced out enough and have enough spare capacity that furloughs to air traffic controllers won’t hurt as much here. -He also said Atlanta should escape major problems because the big airfield there has five runways, which makes it easier to space flights out. That’s not the case in...

He grew to hate Americans, but that didn't stop him from living off them. Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev and other family members received state welfare benefits until last year, Massachusetts officials confirmed to the Boston Herald on Tuesday night. The 26-year-old Tsarnaev was killed in a bloody gun battle with authorities early Friday morning, and his younger brother and accomplice Dzhokhar was captured alive later that evening. Dzhokhar, 19, was charged Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction and could face the death penalty.

New York (MYFOXNY) An electronic fork that vibrates when you eat to quickly has hit the marketplace. It's called the HAPlfork. Its makers say it allows the consumer to quickly monitor and reduce the speed at which they eat.