Free Republic

The UN appealed to the international community for money to help the millions of Syrian devastated by the violent civil war engulfing the country. With the goal of raising $1.5 billion, the organization appealed for donations at an aid conference in Kuwait, saying it has raised just 3 percent of that...

Every so often, I share breakthrough stories about advances in “human rights” around the world. In France, it is against the law to say your husband is under-endowed or that your wife is fat. Across Europe, a satellite dish is now a human right. In Finland, broadband access is a basic right. There’s now an entitlement for free soccer broadcasts in Europe. In Italy, you have the right to…um…your testicles. Now, in honor of Sandra Fluke, the United Nations has decided that contraception is a human right. Not just a human right, a universal human right. The New York Times...

Given Tuesday's results, why don't we just be honest about this and make this song the National Anthem? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEEy615Jzg4

As the political odds turn against Proposition 30, Gov. Jerry Brown's tax measure, political insiders are turning their attention, however reluctantly, to the fallout should, indeed, voters reject the sales and income tax hike on Tuesday. The measure would deliver $6 billion a year in new revenues and should it fail, Brown and the Legislature have already passed $6 billion in so-called "trigger cuts" that would be imposed, overwhelmingly on K-12 schools. So that would seem to be that. But it's not. As Brown campaigns – with increasing desperation – for the measure, he insists that were it to fail,...

HARTFORD, Conn. – Descendants of some of the 11 people executed for witchcraft in mid-1600s Connecticut are hoping for a little magic of their own: that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will issue a proclamation clearing their distant relatives' names and condemning the prosecutions and killings. Over the past seven years, descendants and their supporters have been trying to get state officials to denounce the Connecticut witch trials, which began in 1647, three decades before the more famous trials in Salem, Mass., and ended in 1697. About 46 people were prosecuted, according to a 2006 state report. "They were wrongly accused....

Obama administration officials have insisted that their decision to grant states waivers to redefine work requirements for welfare recipients would not “gut” the landmark 1996 welfare reform law. But a new report from the Congressional Research Service obtained by the Washington Examiner suggests that the administration’s suspension of a separate welfare work requirement has already helped explode the number of able-bodied Americans on food stamps. In addition to the broader work requirement that has become a contentious issue in the presidential race, the 1996 welfare reform law included a separate rule encouraging able-bodied adults without dependents to work by limiting...

8,753,935: Workers on Disability Set Another Record in July; Exceed Population of 39 States By Terence P. Jeffrey July 23, 2012 (CNSNews.com) - The number of workers taking federal disability insurance payments hit yet another record in July, increasing to 8,753,935 during the month from the previous record of 8,733,461 set in June, according to newly released data from the Social Security Administration. The 8,753,935 workers who took federal disability insurance payments in July exceeded the population of 39 of the 50 states. Only 11 states—California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina and New Jersey—had...

Hundreds gather downtown to rally against cuts to government programsBy: Scott Newell, newsnet5.com Last Updated: 1 hour and 25 minutes ago CLEVELAND - A couple hundred protesters, worried about looming cuts to social programs, loudly raised their voices in Cleveland today, shouting, "No cuts now, no cuts ever." They are worried about cuts to some programs that have become staples for Americans: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. "This is a promise that our government has made to the American people, said protester Wynne Antonio. “They worked in good faith all their lives and paid in to these systems and they...

Ian Robinson, 43, had to leave his job after developing arthritis, but the authorities have ruled he is not entitled to disability benefits and he must now try to survive on Jobseeker's Allowance. Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/877955-naked-ex-postman-superglues-himself-to-desk-in-job-centre-protest#ixzz1bjoZJJnJ Mr Robinson decided to demonstrate how angry he was about the decision by staging a bizarre protest in front of shocked staff at Bridlington Job Centre. 'When I started taking my clothes off, a man said "You can't do that in here", so I went over and glued myself to his desk. Nobody tried to stop me, it was too late by that point,'...

With the Occupy Wall Street protests gaining steam in the U.S., it seems obvious to link it with the other grassroots movement that recently shook up American politics — the Tea Party. My colleagues' pieces number among a flurry of others pondering the parallel. Michael Scherer recast Occupy Wall Street as the Tea Party of the American left. Roya Wolverson suggested how the two movements, coming from diametrically-opposed sides of the political spectrum, could find common ground (and perhaps actual policy influence) in their mutual distaste for a Washington dominated by the vested interests of corporations. But while the similarities...

Families were more dependent on government programs than ever last year. Nearly half, 48.5%, of the population lived in a household that received some type of government benefit in the first quarter of 2010, according to Census data. Those numbers have risen since the middle of the recession when 44.4% lived households receiving benefits in the third quarter of 2008. The share of people relying on government benefits has reached a historic high, in large part from the deep recession and meager recovery, but also because of the expansion of government programs over the years. (See a timeline on the...

By the time they're done with him, GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will look like a leading Democratic spokesman as the party moves quickly to harness his attacks on Republican plans to change Medicare. According to party sources, they plan to use Gingrich's assault on House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's plan in a bid to knock down every Republican who voted for it. "By calling Paul Ryan's budget 'radical' and 'right-wing social engineering,' Newt merely echoed criticisms millions of Americans across the political spectrum have voiced at house Republicans' budget for weeks now," says Ryan Rudominer, a Democratic consultant...

“I mean that there is no way to disarm any man,” said Dr. Ferris, “except through guilt. Through that which he himself has accepted as guilt…If there’s not enough guilt in the world, we must create it. If we teach a man that it’s evil to look at spring flowers and he believes us and then does it—we’ll be able to do whatever we please with him. He won’t defend himself.” –Atlas Shrugged, pg. 548What would a group of students attending a pricey private college in Florida do about the deficit? For one thing the editor said they would not...

States that allow gay marriage can't force the federal government to provide benefits to those couples, the Obama administration argued Friday in court papers in a lawsuit by Massachusetts. The Justice Department is at odds with Massachusetts - the first state to allow gay marriage - over a 1996 federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Massachusetts sued in July, saying that law is discriminatory and deprives gay couples in the state of some federal spousal benefits. The Obama administration agrees the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, is discriminatory and wants it repealed,...

ennifer Stone-Anderson says her 2004 Saturn Ion became a work of art this fall when she covered it with elaborate paintings supporting Barack Obama. But Chrysler, which financed her car purchase, maintains that it's just a car. And that Stone-Anderson has been missing payments. And that her work of "art" is about to be repossessed. Stone-Anderson's unemployment was the root of the art, but her lack of work may also bring the loss of it. In May, she gained free time when she was laid off from Rainbow Art and Design in Tampa, Fla., so she started painting her car...

We saw what happened when the mighty and powerful captains of Wall Street and the big banks asked for a giant blank check from Congress. What was promised to be a stimulus to our economy turned out to be a money grab in which the banks can't or won't tell us how they are using the money. They aren't making loans; they aren't assisting families or small businesses. They've turned out to be arrogant parasites. Now we're getting the political equivalent of this with Caroline Kennedy, the lone surviving member of the family of John F. Kennedy. She has the...

If you've been elected to something somewhere in California, you're probably writing a wish list for President-elect Barack Obama. With the inauguration about nine weeks away, Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster is seeking $111 million to replace 28 miles of storm drains. State Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) is talking up $321 million for sewage-treatment plants and clean-water facilities. Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl wants a light-rail line to Los Angeles International Airport. And money for homeless veterans. And did he mention universal healthcare? "The sooner he focuses on healthcare, the better," said Rosendahl, who represents coastal neighborhoods such as...

"You owe us you no good cracker! 50 billion dollars ain't enough!"

Palestinian Authority marks 'Disaster Day' for State of Israel's establishment. Gaza residents seem worn out, not eager to demonstrate; 'how could people be expected to go out and protest with no salaries?' Fatah activist explains Gaza residents on Monday marked the 58th Nakba Day – the "disaster" that struck the Palestinian people following the establishment of the State of Israel, which caused millions of Palestinians to become refugees all over the Arab world. This year, however, the day was different than before and stood in the shadow of what Gazans refer to as "the current Nakba" – the economic and...

NEW ORLEANS Five people whose homes were flooded during Hurricane Katrina sued the U-S Army Corps of Engineers today, accusing the agency of ignoring repeated warnings that a navigation channel it built would turn into a "hurricane highway."The lawsuit was filed in federal court in New Orleans and several prominent trial lawyers from Louisiana, Florida and California are backing it. The plaintiffs include Norman Robinson, a well-known news anchor on W-D-S-U-T-V, a New Orleans television station.At issue is a 76-mile shipping channel known as the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, or MR-GO. The channel was built in the early 1960s as a...