Free Republic

Oil's surge to more than $105 per barrel -- which has caused the average price of unleaded regular to jump more than 40 cents in less than a month to about $3.50 per gallon -- is rooted more in psychology than in fundamentals. Globally, there's no shortage of oil, nor any lack of gasoline in the U.S., but traders' fears that the civil unrest in minor oil exporter Libya may spread to major oil exporters Saudi Arabia or Iran has led an oil price spike, led by market speculators and large end users of oil. However, the U.S. government is...

A chemistry professor in a large college had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the Professor noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back, and stretching as if his back hurt. The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government. In the midst of his story he looked at the...

Is the US Government Machiavellian enough to orchestrate the recent brouhaha over the so-called website WikiLeaks, is this a real embarrassment, or will it indeed be damaging as some U.S. diplomats claim? I am not one to support conspiracy theories but when you stop to analyze the content of the information that was leaked it seem that two things emerge: first, the content of the cables were not so earth shattering as to damage national security, or harm Washington’s relations with other countries. Second, upon further analysis, it would appear that the information revealed instead sends a strong message to...

This is scary: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/10/21/president-obama-it-gets-better

Drug smuggling gangs in Mexico have sent well-armed assassins, or "sicarios," into Arizona to locate and kill bandits who are ambushing and stealing loads of cocaine, marijuana and heroin headed to buyers in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security has warned Arizona law enforcement authorities.

Tea-party activists, keen to build on their success toppling GOP incumbents in primaries this year, are already targeting more Republican veterans in the 2012 election. GOP senators like Bob Corker, above, have drawn criticism from tea-party activists for some of the positions they have taken over the years. Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, one of the most liberal Republicans in Congress, already has a conservative GOP primary opponent. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) and Sen. Richard Lugar (R., Indiana) have all drawn fire from the right wing of their party.

Our government lies to us. If you disagree with that statement you are either naive, a liar, or a fool. Democrats lie. Republicans lie. Politicians of all kinds lie. We know this yet we continue to allow it to happen and then feign shock when it does. I’m not talking about little lies, like B. Hussein Obama saying taxpayer money would not be used for abortion, or George W. Bush lying about having to “act now” to avoid economic collapse, but the kind of lies that manifest change in America and take the country in a direction it would not...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US government Wednesday launched a new website to give information on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, moving away from the portal jointly run with oil giant BP. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the top government official handling the spill, said the site wwww.RestoreTheGulf.gov was "designed to serve as a one-stop repository for news, data and operational updates related to administration-wide efforts to stop the BP oil leak." The website aims to provide "even greater transparency and openness about the BP oil spill, our historic response, the tools available to assist Gulf Coast communities, and plans...

The U.S. government believes a North Korean torpedo attack was the most likely cause of the March 26 sinking of a South Korean warship, a foreign diplomatic source in Seoul said Sunday, citing solid "circumstantial evidence." The remarks come as South Koreans increasingly believe the communist North was responsible for the sinking that left 46 sailors dead. A joint investigation team involving U.S. and other foreign experts has tentatively concluded that the mysterious sinking was due to a "close-range" explosion under the 1,200-ton frigate Cheonan while it was on patrol in waters off the disputed western sea border with North...

For over a year, the Federal Reserve has been pouring money into American mortgages. Buying "mortgage-backed securities" (MBS), financial instruments whose value is based on a pool of underlying mortgages. When the financial crisis broke, the market for MBS dried up. Buyers feared that homeowners would default on their mortgages. Driving the value of these assets to almost nothing, or worse. Financial institutions in America and around the world were left holding trillions of dollars worth of non-saleable MBS. It appeared these holders would be forced to mark down the value of their MBS holdings, potentially triggering another wave of...

These raids and the alleged Christian character of the militia, as well as its targeting Muslims, is a mainstream media dream come true -- a few years back the BBC featured an inversion-of-reality drama about Christians beheading Muslims, and now, lo and behold, it seems to have come to life. For years to come this "Hutaree" will be thrown in the face of anyone who takes note of jihad activity in the United States and around the world, as if this group in itself balances and equals the innumerable Islamic groups that are waging armed jihad all around the world...

Treasury Sells $10 Billion In 1-Month Bills With No Yield Vince Veneziani Jan. 26, 2010, 12:07 PM For the fourth time in a row, the Treasury has sold off short-term bills bearing no yields at all. It seems that with a fresh round of jitters hitting the global economy, investors are only all-too-happy to let the government have their money for free, while they wait for other opportunities.

The men who stepped forward to answer the call for One Nation Under GOD, in order, were Richard Behney for U.S. Senate (opposing incumbent Evan Bayh), Andy Lyons for Indiana's 5th District congressional seat, Ron Fusselman for the 50th District state representative seat, Marlin Stutzman for U.S. Senate, Don Bates Jr. for U.S. Senate, and Tom Wall for the 17th District state senate seat. Those who did not step forward.....

The Postal Service reported a loss of $3.8 billion last year, despite a reduction of 40,000 full-time positions and other cost-cutting measures. The loss was $1 billion more than the year before despite job cuts and other efforts designed to save billions of dollars, postal officials said Monday. "Our 2009 fiscal year proved to be one of the most challenging in the history of the Postal Service," Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett said. "The deep economic recession, and to a lesser extent the ongoing migration of mail to electronic alternatives, significantly affected all mail products, creating a large imbalance between...

Eric Sprott: "Dead Government Walking" Joe WeisenthalNov. 3, 2009, 12:48 PM If you're looking for something to cheer you up, don't read the latest letter from ultra-bear Eric Sprott (via Market Folly). Basically he argues, a US default is coming sooner, rather than later, and that there's just no hope of averting this. The projected US deficit from 2009 to 2019 is now slated to be almost $9 trillion dollars.3 How on earth does anyone expect them to raise this capital? As we stated in a previous article, in order to satisfy US capital requirements, all existing investors would have...

Associated Press article. ...Elaine Brown 35 years in federal prison for amassing an arsenal of weapons at her fortress-like home after she and her husband were convicted of tax evasion...

“The government wants to control the banks, just as it now controls GM and Chrysler, and will surely control the health industry in the not-too-distant future. Keeping them TARP-stuffed is the key to control. And for this intensely political president, mere influence is not enough. The White House wants to tell ‘em what to do. Control. Direct. Command.“

Veterans In Politics Talk Show Introduces Steve Wolfson and Stan Bowen LIVE on www.AllTalkRadio.net March 28: Stan Bowen Author, Vietnam Veteran, and Former Army Green Beret: Steve Wolfson Las Vegas City Councilman Ward 2: "Veterans In Politics" is a weekly radio show produced by the Veterans In Politics International and hosted by Steve Sanson and Co-Hosted by J. "Sage" Bocook. The "Veterans In Politics" show is live every Saturday 2:05 PM Pacific Time you can call in and speak to the guest or/and hosts at (702) 309-6690. Listen to the Veterans In Politics Municipal Candidate 2009 Endorsement Interview--- (VIP 1-11)...

President Obama on Saturday struck back aggressively at critics of his $3.6 trillion budget proposal, casting himself as a populist crusader whose "sweeping change" has angered Washington's entrenched special interests, and promised to fight them. "I realize that passing this budget won't be easy. Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington," Mr. Obama said in his weekly video and radio address. Mr. Obama's language was combative and confrontational, as he promised to fight for "American families." "I know these steps won't sit well with the special interests and lobbyists...

President Barack Obama's first budget includes $15 billion a year for renewable energy programs and an ambitious plan to raise $646 billion from a carbon reduction proposal. "Because our future depends on our ability to break free from oil that's controlled by foreign dictators, we need to make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy," Mr. Obama said Thursday morning. "That's why we'll be working with Congress on legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy." The plan uses money from a cap-and-trade program — which would allow companies to...