Free Republic

Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan says he enlists social media to do something unusual: explain why he bucks his party in terms his constituents can understand. The 39-year-old Republican, who was the youngest member of the freshman class in 2011, states his approach succinctly: “I defend liberty and explain every vote here.” The simple formula has turned the libertarian, who rode into the House on the tea party wave, into something of a sensation. In 2012, the Independent Voter Network called Amash the “coolest member of Congress.” Amash’s latest decision — to state publicly that President Trump engaged in activity...

On Thursday I posted a clip of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsing an effort from her colleague, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), to lower the voting age to 16. “I myself personally — I’m not speaking for my caucus, I myself have always been for lowering the voter — the voting age to 16,” Pelosi said during her weekly press conference. “I think it’s really important to capture kids when they’re in high school, when they’re interested in all of this, when they’re learning about government to be able to vote. … But my view is that I would welcome that....

So if someone theoretically has an 80% lower(for personal ownership/use only) and could find a machinist to finish the 20%, is the machinist or owner of the lower in violation of any federal goobermint laws? If not, is there a place to find and print chapter and verse as proof of this? If the the theoretical owner were to press the "start" button on a programmed CNC machine, would the theoretical owner then be considered the maker/manufacturer?

Kim Jong-un's approval rating higher than Barack Obama's Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, has a public approval rating of over 50 per cent, according to a poll of escapees living in South Korea. By Julian Ryall, Tokyo and Chris Irvine 3:27PM BST 30 Aug 2013 Despite reports of him purging army generals and executing former girlfriends by firing squad, a survey carried out by the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University on 133 North Korean defectors found that 61.7 per cent believed he had the majority support of his people. Although not strictly scientifically accurate,...

SLA and FDM. Does not fail from firing stresses. 600+ rounds (.223).

The temperature inside your car can get insanely hot on sunny days, regardless of the temperature outside. When you get to your car and it's boiling hot, what's the first thing you do? You lower the windows and blast the air conditioner, right? A convenient feature that's been around for years, but remains unknown to many car owners, is the ability to lower the windows with the key remote. This allows you to begin cooling your car without having to get in first. Unless the car dealership told you about this trick or you happen to read manuals for fun,...

The General Assembly has approved a budget of $5.15 billion to cover the United Nations' regular operations in 2012-2013, a 5 percent cut from the $5.41 billion spent in 2010-2011. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who proposed a 3.2 percent budget cut in October, thanked the 193-member world body for agreeing to "cut fat" at a time when governments and people are struggling because of global financial difficulties.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facing a U.N. showdown over Palestinian statehood, President Barack Obama plans talks with feuding Israeli and Turkish leaders and renewed efforts to revive Middle East peace talks in a diplomatic push next week to ease rising regional tensions. Obama will meet Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu separately on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, the White House said on Friday. The president will urge the two U.S. allies to heal a damaging diplomatic split over the 2010 killing of Turkish activists in a Gaza-bound aid convoy, a...

ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The United Auto Workers union would be open to expanding a wage structure with lower-paid workers to keep General Motors Co. factories open or reopen closed plants, a top union official said Tuesday. Vice President Joe Ashton, who handles GM bargaining for the UAW, said the union "will look at anything when it comes to negotiations that will retain jobs." He made the comments during a press event at a factory in Orion Township, Mich., near Detroit, where at least 40 percent of the hourly workers will be paid about half the $28 per hour...

(CNSNews.com) - Richard Newell, administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), said that while oil prices are likely to stay above average for the remainder of 2011, it is unlikely that an increase in domestic oil production would dramatically affect oil prices in either the short-term or the long-term. Newell, a political appointee, was tapped to head the EIA by President Barack Obama in mid-2009. In his testimony before the House Committee on Natural Resources on Thursday, Newell said that because oil is a global commodity dependent on global trends, domestic production would do little to ease prices at...

In May “Larry King Live” scored its lowest monthly viewer total in nearly 20 years. According to Nielsen data, the struggling CNN talk show had an average of 653,000 viewers each night in May, its lowest average since the data started being electronically stored in the early 1990s. He had been averaging about 700,000 viewers each night this year, down markedly from last year. Last week The New York Times detailed the low ratings of “Larry King Live,” a symbol of CNN’s struggle to compete in a partisan cable news environment.

WHISTLER, British Columbia – International luge officials are moving the start of the men's Olympic luge competition farther down the track. It was a decision made with the "emotional component" of athletes in mind following the death of a Georgian competitor. ... The move means speeds will be a bit lower at the Whistler Sliding Track. It likely also means the course will be a bit easier to navigate.

Spanking can get kids to behave in a hurry, but new research suggests it can do more harm than good to their noggins. The study, involving hundreds of U.S. children, showed the more a child was spanked the lower his or her IQ compared with others. "All parents want smart children," said study researcher Murray Straus of the University of New Hampshire. "This research shows that avoiding spanking and correcting misbehavior in other ways can help that happen." One might ask, however, whether children who are spanked tend to come from backgrounds in which education opportunities are less or inherited...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama's tumbling poll numbers have dipped below those of his predecessor George W. Bush at the same point in his White House tenure, according to a national poll released Tuesday. Obama's approval rating is 55 percent six months into his presidency, a USA Today/Gallup poll found. But 56 percent of those polled approved of the job done by George W. Bush after six months, the daily reported. Obama's handling of the economy appears to be key in his fading popularity, as Americans become more pessimistic about how long it will take the economic downturn to...

Thanks to globalization, it is now increasingly easy for capital to cross national borders. Investors naturally prefer lower–tax jurisdictions, so there is a shift of jobs and investment out of high–tax nations. This is having a big impact on tax policy. Simply stated, tax competition is compelling governments to dramatically lower their tax rates. This has important implications for China, the United States, and other every nation seeking to play a role in the world economy. As recently as 1980, the average top statutory corporate tax rate in industrialized nations was nearly 50 percent. Top personal income tax rates were...

Garlic May Not Lower CholesterolStudy Shows No Improvement In Cholesterol Levels From Raw Garlic Or Garlic Supplements (WebMD) Garlic may not improve the cholesterol profiles of people with moderately high levels of "bad" cholesterol, a new study shows. The researchers tested raw garlic and two different garlic supplements on nearly 200 adults with moderately high levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol. After six months, the patients showed no improvements in their average cholesterol or other blood fats (lipids), no matter what kind of garlic they had consumed. "Garlic supplements or dietary garlic in reasonable doses are unlikely to produce lipid benefits"...

High gas prices provide fuel for Democratic volleys at GOP policiesThe Business Journal of Phoenix - 10:29 AM MST Friday by Mike Sunnucks The Business Journal Gasoline prices have hit or surpassed the dreaded $3 per gallon mark and oil company profits are through the roof, giving Democrats more ammunition against Republicans on the disconcerting economic issue. Democrats and U.S. Senate challenger Jim Pederson are pointing to a Senate Republican Policy Committee report earlier this year, which said the oil industry was already heavily taxed and opposed efforts to roll back tax breaks and subsidies for the sector. That policy...

This is one of the better pictures of the Upper Falls I could find. The Upper Falls don't get nearly the publicity or the views of the Lower Falls, but they are very dramatic. Because they don't get the publicity, they also don't get as much coverage by professional photographers, so a lot of the images on the Web are digital and don't really capture their beauty. Note the people on the edge-of-the-falls overlook for scale.

TORONTO - Maybe your doctor should write up a grocery list to help lower your cholesterol, suggests a small study that showed a rigid diet seemed as effective as cholesterol-lowering pills. Of course, sticking to that diet may not be easy. "People interested in lowering their cholesterol should probably acquire a taste for tofu and oatmeal," said study co-author David Jenkins of the University of Toronto. The study, published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was funded in part by almond promoters and a major food company. Jenkins, Canadian research chair in metabolism and nutrition at Toronto,...

DAVOS, Switzerland - Britain said Saturday it hopes to lower the number of troops it has in Iraq, as former President Bill Clinton warned that the United States and its supporters should not leave Iraq prematurely. At the fourth and final day of the World Economic Forum, Iraqi officials urged more time and patience as they struggle to rebuild their country. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said London was looking to withdraw some of its 8,500 troops later this year, but did not provide a timetable. "We hope to do some of that during the course of this year in...