Free Republic

Stay right where you are. We know who you are and what you are doing at all times. And we're all for free speech, as long as it's not "hurty" speech, which will result in a lengthy It's George Orwell's utopian dream (aka, "nightmare") coming true much sooner than we could have envisioned just 5 years ago. We are on the verge of being arrested, tried and sentenced, not for actual crimes, but just for our very opinions and thoughts. Even in the midst of it all, do not lose hope. If your vertical alignment is right, it all turns...

It’s not just luxury-home listings that are piling up in New York City. Even units for less than $1 million — within reach of far more people than a Billionaires’ Row penthouse — are hurting for buyers. In Manhattan, the inventory of sub-$1 million apartments surged 27 percent in June from a year earlier to 3,087, the most for the month since 2013, according to StreetEasy. Such listings jumped 17 percent to 2,738 in Brooklyn, and climbed 6 percent to 2,314 in Queens, a borough usually sought out for its relative affordability. Buyers at all price points are taking their...

Students at the University of Washington in Tacoma are getting an object lesson in the value of a dollar. As economic dominoes fall in the wake of a municipal minimum wage hike to $15 per hour in Seattle, university students find themselves digging deeper into their pockets to cover higher prices resulting from the mandate

A few decades ago, marijuana was a topic that relatively few people, mostly counterculture musicians and comedians, spoke about in public. The comedy team of Cheech and Chong made films such as "Up in Smoke" that extolled the pleasures of smoking pot at a time the subject was still taboo."When trouble times begin to bother me," they sang, "I take a toke and all my cares go up in smoke." On the fringes of American society, it was usually possible to find activists who wanted to legalize it, as the reggae artist Peter Tosh famously sang. Efforts to legalize the...

Police officer lashes out at 'demented morality' where government must 'raise children' The city of Chicago has ordered its firefighters to provide security for public school students walking to and from class through the city’s gang turf, according to an official memo from the Chicago Fire Department that WND obtained. The memo, signed by Chicago Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago, states that the fire department will have “a strong physical presence” along student walking routes for three weeks at the beginning of the school year in the fall. “[I]t is critical that CFD assist in providing the children with reassurance during...

Jihad has blown up The Liberal Utopia. The visionary liberal land of political and social perfection. President Obama is not happy — and he isn’t alone. You know the place. • The Liberal Utopia is a land where gun background checks prevent mass murder. • The Liberal Utopia is a land where Islamic fundamentalists have changed their perception of America because the President travels to Muslim nations to give lovely speeches, believes that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and elsewhere is a wonderful sign of an Arab Spring, and refuses to use the word “terrorist” whether his administration is investigating...

Staten Island residents already suffering from the ravages of Hurricane Sandy say they are now seeing their neighborhoods infiltrated by squatters and looters. As CBS 2’s Dick Brennan reported Wednesday, when darkness sets in on Wavecrest Street in New Dorp, people say squatters make their move – crashing empty homes wrecked by the hurricane.

California Tax Revenue Plunges Inquiring minds have noticed a huge plunge in California Tax Revenue for the month of February compared to February 2011. The numbers below represent a 22.55% plunge in spite of the fact that this February was a leap year adding a day to the calendar. Madeline Schnapp, at TrimTabs Investment Research sent me a quick note regarding that plunge a few days ago.  Madeline writes...Hello Mish I came across this little tidbit from the February report from the Comptroller's office of the State of CA. In Feb 2012 income tax receipts are down $328 million y-o-y,...

In so-called March in March protests, thousands of students in California universities recently demonstrated in outrage over spiraling tuition costs. At both the California State University and University of California multi-campus systems, tuition hikes in recent years have far exceeded the national average. Meanwhile, universities slash classes, cut key research, and rely even more on exploited and poorly paid part-time lecturers and graduate-student teaching assistants. Yet against whom, exactly, are these cash-strapped students demonstrating? After all, their college faculties are unionized, largely liberal, and sympathetic to their plight. Campus administrators likewise want more state money for universities. But, unlike the...

PEORIA -- Caterpillar Inc. will not be building its new North American plant anywhere in the state of Illinois, officials with the company told local leaders Tuesday, with part of the reason being continued concerns about the business climate in the state. The company will instead focus on a location closer to its division headquarters in Cary, N.C., Peoria County officials were told in an email sent to them shortly after the close of business and later obtained by the Journal Star. The plant stood to bring with it from Japan roughly 1,000 jobs manufacturing track-type tractors and mini hydraulic...

The American public's dependence on the federal government shot up 23% in just two years under President Obama, with 67 million now relying on some federal program, according to a newly released study by the Heritage Foundation. The conservative think tank's annual Index of Dependence on Government tracks money spent on housing, health, welfare, education subsidies and other federal programs that were "traditionally provided to needy people by local organizations and families." The increase under Obama is the biggest two-year jump since Jimmy Carter was president, the data show. The rise was driven mainly by increases in housing subsidies, an...

The winner of the 2001 International Emmy award for Best Documentary, Welcome to North Korea is a grotesquely surreal look at the all-too-real conditions in modern-day North Korea.

CARACAS, Venezuela Nov 30, 2006 (AP)— President Hugo Chavez said Thursday during a marathon news conference that authorities had foiled a planned sniper attack against his main opponent in this weekend's elections. As campaigning ended ahead of Sunday's vote, Chavez said "fascist" militants had planned to use a rifle with a telescopic sight to shoot Manuel Rosales during a speech and then blame it on Chavez's government in hopes of derailing the balloting. "It was to say that Chavez sent them to kill him, and generate chaos," Chavez told reporters at the presidential palace. The Venezuelan leader used the 3...

During a visit to New Orleans today, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced reinforcements for federal law enforcement agencies operating in Hurricane Katrina's strike zone. He said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will receive four more special agents in the New Orleans area to focus on gun crimes; the U.S. Marshals Service will receive four more deputies to track down violent fugitives; and the U.S. attorney's office will hire nine more lawyers to prosecute fraud and violence cases and receive 10 lawyers on a temporary basis to help with gun, drug and immigration cases. "We are concerned...

Madisonville, KY, May. 16 (UPI) -- A western Kentucky judge has dropped charges against five young boys who were charged with felony sex crimes for meeting in bathrooms at grade schools. The cases shocked the communities of Madisonville and Earlington after five boys, ages 6 to 8, were accused of criminal sexual activity. The boys were charged with having liaisons in bathrooms where touching and oral sex allegedly occurred. No adults were charged.

How Tyranny Came To America By Joseph Sobran One of the great goals of education is to initiate the young into the conversation of their ancestors; to enable them to understand the language of that conversation, in all its subtlety, and maybe even, in their maturity, to add to it some wisdom of their own. The modern American educational system no longer teaches us the political language of our ancestors. In fact our schooling helps widen the gulf of time between our ancestors and ourselves, because much of what we are taught in the name of civics, political science, or...