Free Republic

Moonstone Bistro, a popular fine-dining restaurant in west Redding, has announced they will stop serving lunch, citing California’s increased minimum wage requirements as a critical factor. Starting in April, California fast-food chains, with more than 60 locations nationwide, will be required to pay their employees $20/hour. Across the state, minimum wage continues to climb and now sits at $16/hour. Moonstone Bistro won’t have to follow that first law, but they do expect its ramifications to be felt.

As many in the Firearms Community are aware, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) raided Polymer80, Inc last week and since then, there is at least one report of a customer being visited by ATF and forced to surrender their “P80.” Given what appears to be ATF’s active enforcement of its interpretive jiggery-pokery, ever changing interpretations of the Gun Control Act and implementing regulations, it is important that any individual confronted by ATF regarding this newly minted interpretation, advise the agent that he/she is surrendering the items under protest, that you do not consent to the forfeiture...

Two Indian schoolgirls have discovered an asteroid which is slowly shifting its orbit and moving toward Earth. Radhika Lakhani and Vaidehi Vekariya, both studying in 10th grade, were working on a school project when they discovered the asteroid, which they named HLV2514. The girls, from the city of Surat in the western Indian state of Gujarat, were participating in a Space India and NASA project, which allows students to analyze images taken by a telescope positioned at the University of Hawaii. Aakash Dwivedi, senior educator and astronomer at Space India, told CNN that students across India were taught how to...

For the last several years, Cato has been leading the campaign to abolish qualified immunity — an atextual, ahistorical judicial doctrine that shields state officials from liability, even when they violate people’s constitutional rights. The most immediate practical goal of this campaign has been to convince the Supreme Court to hear one of the many cases calling for qualified immunity to be either narrowed or reconsidered outright. And over the last seven months, I’ve written several times about how the Court has indicated that it’s preparing to consider several qualified immunity cases, given the manner in which it has repeatedly...

Excerpt: Virginia’s pop-up gun sanctuary movement has turned its attention to fighting the governor’s call for a $4.8 million, 18-officer team to enforce his proposed “assault weapons” ban. Two key groups issued an alert this week to push gun owners to four budget hearings Thursday around the state, asking them to quiz state legislators if they will vote to ban or confiscate weapons.

Considering an opportunity which would require moving down to Tupelo, MS. Anyone have any insight into the local politics, political persuasion, etc.; down there? Also, any recommendations on places to stay away, best schools,mets? Thanks in advance.

Wheeling, W. VA -- There's been a shooting at the federal courthouse in Wheeling, West Virginia. The U.S. Marshals Service says a man with an assault-type rifle fired 15 to 20 shots at the courthouse before security officers returned fire, critically injuring the man.

Duluth, MN (NNCNOW.com) - A nationwide ammunition shortage has police departments across the country counting their bullets. It's no different in Proctor, where the Chief says he was told he'd have to wait months, even a year to get more ammo. "I was really surprised, let's just put it that way," said Chief Walt Wobig of the difficulty getting ammunition. Woberg says that when he asked suppliers for the 1,000 rounds of ammo his officers needed for training, he was told he'd have to wait months. "I go, 'Do you have 40–caliber qualification rounds?' And they go, 'Well, no. It's...

On Wednesday, Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court scheduled a birther case brought on by Orly Taitz which calls into question Barack Hussein Obama's eligibility to be president of the United States. Dr. Taitz, a lawyer from Santa Margarita, Calif., also made the announcement on her website on Jan. 9. As of this writing, major news networks such as ABC, Fox News, CBS, and NBC have yet to report on the high court's decision to review Barack Hussein Obama's eligibility to hold political office in the United States or any of its territories. The case is identified as...

Due to Obamacare requirements Santa (aka Kris Kringle) was forced to put all elves on part-time hours. This change will likely result in a shortage of toys for this Christmas season. Another challenge to this year's delivery of toys and good cheer comes from animal rights and environment activists. One group is claiming that Santa is treating his reindeer cruelly by forcing them to work throughout the night with only an occasional carrot. The environment crowd is stating that the altitudes at which Santa flies is causing the greenhouse gases produced by his flying reindeer to be infected directly into...

The U.S. House of Representatives today approved a controversial Internet surveillance bill, rejecting increasingly vocal arguments from critics that it would do more to endanger Americans' privacy than aid cybersecurity. By a vote of 248 to 168, a bipartisan majority approved the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, or CISPA, which would permit Internet companies to hand over confidential customer records and communications to the National Security Agency and other portions of the U.S. government.

Officials at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., are talking with lawyers in response to a watchdog group’s demand that the base relocate its Christian nativity and Hanukkah menorah displays from an open space to the base chapel. “As of right now, we are reviewing the concerns of the [Military Religious Freedom Foundation] and consulting with our legal experts and our higher headquarters,” base spokesman Johnathan Monroe told Military.com. It’s not only the MRFF that wants the religious displays moved. The California Council of Churches, which represents about 5,500 Protestant congregations with about 1.5 million members, has added its own voice...

Slowing global expansion, the plunge in U.S. stock markets after Standard & Poor's cut the country's credit rating, and political pressure on the government to cut spending rather than stimulate growth are all putting the brakes on the world's largest economy, economists say. Mostly negative data -- though with a few bright spots -- has reinforced feelings that the recovery from the 2008-2009 recession is in trouble. And the Federal Reserve's own warning last week of increased "downside risks" to growth in the second half has added to the gloomy picture. Mark Zandi, the top economist for Moody's Analytics, said...

2:19 PM ET 8/2/11 | Marketwatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks fell to their lowest levels of the session Tuesday as investors worried about the health of the economic recovery, even after the Senate approved the debt-ceiling bill and avoided a potential government default. "The recent round of economic data has been disappointing," said Fred Dickson, chief investment strategist at Davidson Cos., pointing to a "small but growing risk that the economy might slide back into a very shallow recession." Helping foster such fears, the Commerce Department reported consumers trimmed their spending in June for the first time in...

A shocking report prepared by Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency (FAAE) on information provided to them by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) states that the Obama regime has ordered a “total and complete” news blackout relating to any information regarding the near catastrophic meltdown of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant located in Nebraska. According to this report, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant suffered a “catastrophic loss of cooling” to one of its idle spent fuel rod pools on 7 June after this plant was deluged with water caused by the historic flooding of the Missouri River which resulted...

E-mail from Senator Casey responding to my letter about illegal immigration. This is the full text received today: Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding illegal immigration. I appreciate hearing from all Pennsylvanians about the issues that matter most to them. The United States’ heritage of immigration has helped to make it the greatest nation in the world. It is extremely important to me, however, to ensure that Pennsylvanians and Americans are protected from the security risks associated with immigration, both legal and illegal. I support a comprehensive approach to immigration that will maintain a balance between...

While the media likes to tell people what the key topics of this upcoming election are, I'm interested in knowing what the average Freeper thinks. Think of this as an informal poll. What I'll do is keep track of the posting and list the ratings of the issues you feel are most important after a day or so..... Thanks in advance.

Greetings to any Freepers in the Lancaster/York, PA area. At the end of this month, I'll be relocating and working up in Lancaster and was wondering if anyone had any advice regarding the area. Also, what's the chance of Rendell getting voted out in the next election? Thanks in advance......

I was just wondering what the Oklahoma Freepers have to say about the Ponca City area. It looks like there is a chance I may be having an interview out there in the near future and would appreciate any comments or advice about the area. Thanks in advance..........

There a a few really long threads on both Campaign Finance Reform and Illegal Immigration. Let's strike while the iron is hot and put forth a concerted effort to contact the White House tomorrow. I would propose that between 9:30-11:30am we call them and comment on the fiasco that has arisen around Campaign Finance Reform and the Supreme Court's ruling. From 12:30-2:30 the topic is illegal immigration and Tom Ridge's lack of commonsense on this issue (Don't take that literally and call Tom Ridge an idiot on the phone). :-) If we can concentrate the number of calls during a...