Free Republic

I found this fascinating interview Mike Wallace conducted with Ayn Rand concerning her objectivist philosophy. The subject matter is fascinating and its truly eye-opening how long the press has been biased. Considering this interview was conducted over 50 years ago, it goes a long way towards showing that Rand saw the collapse of American freedom long before it became apparent to most. The interview is split into 3 parts. Here are the links to each piece. Its about 25 minutes all together. Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XC7l18RIl8 Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTyjorSoYG4 Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbuKlxka2SU

Yes, this is real: "More than one-third of Americans (36%) have a positive image of "socialism," while 58% have a negative image. Views differ by party and ideology, with a majority of Democrats and liberals saying they have a positive view of socialism, compared to a minority of Republicans and conservatives." All I have to say is: The U.S.S.R., or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was the cause of millions of deaths caused by their economic system. Cuba's economic system has millions, and more importantly, a very high percent of people, living in abject poverty. North Korea, Vietnam, and China...

During the past nine months, I've written and/or published 22 posts about the case of 1st Lt. Michael Behenna, an Army Ranger now serving a 15-year sentence after being found guilty of unpremeditated murder in the shooting death of Ali Mansur, a known Al-Qaeda operative operating. Today, I share three just-obtained photos which show the scene where a trail of injustice began in the area of Albu Toma, north of Baghdad.

The stock market is falling as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke details plans for dismantling the central bank's economic support measures. Bernanke says in prepared remarks to a House committee Wednesday that the Fed likely will begin tightening credit by raising the interest rate it pays to banks on the money they have deposited at the Fed. That would lead to an increase in borrowing rates for consumers and businesses. The Fed chief cautioned that the central bank is months away before it's ready to boost interest rates.

Current Government Systems are Failing Us:Current systems in place to identify and manage individuals like Major Nidal Malik Hasan, whose massacre took the lives of 13 soldiers and wounded 29 others, are not working!  How can anyone make this statement?  Months before the shooting, two Terrorism Task Forces evaluated Major Hasan, one had Department of Defense oversight; the other had FBI oversight, additionally, the CIA is also reported as reviewing his behavior, all failed!  Since Terrorism Task Forces fall under the general purview of Homeland Security, every system that we have in place to identify and manage these threats to...

"Al Gore on Line 1, Sir" "Thanks, Katie. Yo Al... I just wanted to let you know I won't be able to do that appearance at your global warming event tonight..."

Following on the heels of endorsements from Grover Norquist and House Republican Conference Chairman Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), Marco Rubio’s campaign announced Tuesday that Rubio has accepted an invitation to appear on Fox News Sunday to debate Charlie Crist March 28. The Rubio camp says this will be the first debate of Florida’s GOP primary campaign for U.S. Senate between Crist and Rubio. It’s not clear yet whether Crist will accept the invitation...

February 9, 2010 Dear William, Taking away our freedoms is not Patriotic.  In fact, there is nothing more un-American. The badly misnamed Patriot Act is not the Act of Patriots. It is the act of petty tyrants seeking more and more power and control over our country. Now, ever so quietly, the Obama administration is working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to sneak reauthorization of the Patriot Act through without creating a stir among liberty-minded Americans. Well, I'm for making a stir.  A BIG STIR. How about you? We’ve all heard...

"If government doesn’t spend enough in the short term to get jobs back . ." Has Mr. Reich noticed that 2 years of Government spending that is higher by AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE than that of the previous decade; has resulted in the loss of 8,000,000 JOBS ? Just one tiny little "unnoticed" aspect of the massive spending is the weakness of the dollar in comparison to commodity prices. The current spot price of oil is more than double what it was in December of 2008. With world wide demand falling and the US refinery capacity producing at a record...

The man with the truck will soon be the man with a book. Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), the party's hottest elected official, has decided to write a book that combines memoir and inspiration. Gail Gitcho, his new Senate communications director, tells POLITICO: “Senator Brown is honored and humbled to be approached by many people who want him to tell his inspirational personal story about his life leading up to his election as a United State Senator from Massachusetts. He will tell his story in a book in hopes of providing insight and encouragement to others and also to ensure that...

In an ongoing theme today, President Obama threatened Republicans that he would use recess appointments for several nominees that are being held up by Republican Senators. "In our meeting I asked the congressional leadership to put a stop to these holds in which nominees for critical jobs are denied a vote for month," he said. "Surely we can set aside partisanship and do what's traditionally been done with these nominations." "If the Senate does not act, and I made this very clear," Obama continued, "I will consider making several recess appointments during the upcoming recess because we can't afford to...

A zero sum game is one where someone wins at an other's expense. The Super Bowl is a zero sum game. The Saints won. The Colts lost. One winner, one loser. We would do well if our President, Congress and citizens understood government spending is, too, a zero sum game. A redistribution of wealth from one group to another. The government does not "create" jobs in the sense the private sector does. The government taxes or borrows to fund jobs or projects taking the money from those who earned it and presumably have their own, better, use for it and...

A Lima, Ohio Burglar has sued the man whose home he invaded and who shot him. Nineteen year old Jack White has sued 54 year old Stephen White (no relation), saying that Stephen White shot him intentionally. The younger man says that the gunshot caused serious injuries and a disability. His medical bills have reached over $35,000.00. Stephen White had just returned to his home last February and found Jack White and two others in his yard. Jack had just broken into Stephen’s house and was running back to his own house nearby with a rifle and other things he...

Soldiers exist for you Troops blend self-sacrifice with duty and their devotion to Canada is unwaveringWe hear a lot these days about our soldiers in Afghanistan — especially those who come home in coffins. Mike Czuboka, Winnipeg publisher of a monthly newsletter, The Rice Paddy — he and I were in different battalions of the Princess Pats in the Korean War — sent the following assessment. Its origin is unknown: The Canadian soldier is profane and irreverent, living as he does in a world of capriciousness, frustration and disillusionment. He is perhaps the best-educated of his kind in history, but...

If one needs any more proof that Democrats are playing politics with the war on “terror,” this is it. The Obama administration is playing fast and loose with numbers in order to make the case for their criminally insane idea to try terrorists in civil court like common jaywalkers. How? By insisting that it all worked well under Bush, so why object if they do it? Wait a minute! I thought Bush was violating the civil rights of terrorists by letting them languish at G’tmo and not getting their day in court. I thought Obama was going to execute the...

Here is a video report (with computer-generated voice) giving all the details on the 4.3 Magnitude Earthquake that struck Northern Illinois early this morning. It was felt in the Chicago area, and points surrounding it. No injuries or damage have been reported. . . . (VIDEO)

As we all know by now, there was outrage among feminists about CBS allowing the Tim Tebow ad to air during the Superbowl. But that was only the beginning. After the National Organization of Indoctrinated Women saw the commercial and realized it was actually benign, they needed something else to complain about – so they came up with this outlandish notion: “I am blown away at the celebration of the violence against women in it,” she said. “That’s what comes across to me even more strongly than the anti-abortion message. I myself am a survivor of domestic violence, and I...

GLENN: Meghan McCain, like, she is like so cool. First start with the progressive, the progressive line from Meghan McCain. Can you do that? PAT: The progressive, yes. GLENN: Here she is. She's a progressive. I don't know if you know that. MEGHAN McCAIN: I consider myself a progressive Republican. PAT: Do you want the whole thing is that enough? GLENN: No, is there any more that needs to be said before that? PAT: No, no. STU: I vote for enough. MEGHAN McCAIN: I consider myself a progressive Republican. I consider myself a progressive Republican. I consider myself a progressive...

In a town accustomed to starting new government programs to create jobs and spark economic activity, some Washington, D.C., area businesses are hailing the wintry mess of the past four days as a "shovel-ready" economic stimulus project in the making. East Coast braces for a second blizzard as it recovers from the first. More PhotosBut experts say this month's storms, with their "historic'" proportions, are ultimately a net negative for taxpayers, who foot the bill for snow cleanup and the lost productivity of more than 230,000 idle federal employees. Official Washington was shut down for a third straight snow day...

In a rare move toward bipartisanship, Senate Democrats prepared Tuesday to unveil an $85-billion jobs bill that would include payroll tax breaks for employers who create new jobs, aid to small businesses and other GOP-backed ideas to attack unemployment. After more than a year of relentlessly partisan conflict in which Republicans complained of being excluded from drafting the healthcare bill and Democrats denounced them as the "party of no," senior members of both parties were working to blend their ideas on an issue voters seem to care far more about -- jobs and job security. Outlines of the bill emerged...

It will be at least another year before The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is ready to reveal the specialty retailers that will make up its City Creek development in downtown Salt Lake City. But a representative said Tuesday the church is confident it will fill that component of the massive development in time for City Creek to be completed on schedule in early 2012. In the works since the mid-2000s, the $1.5 billion project will include Macy's and Nordstrom department stores, a Harmons grocery store, 80 speciality shops, restaurants, a food court, several condominium buildings, apartments and...

by Lyle J. Rapacki, Ph.D. Editor's Note: Lyle J. Rapacki, Ph.D. is a frequent contributor to RFFM.org. Rapacki is an independent intelligence analyst who receives and disseminates critical intelligence and policy information from and to law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security officials, and government and community leaders; he is the author of dozens of white papers, bulletins and briefings, and he is frequently called on to share his expertise with public and private security directors and organizations. THE TROJAN HORSE Barack Hussein Obama was handed the Nobel Peace Prize because he accomplished what no other President of the United States...

Here is video of Michelle Obama on Larry King last night where she was asked to give "her read" on former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. She responded, "I don't have a read," because she said she tries not to comment on someone who she has not really had any "personal interaction" with. King tried again, but Michelle Obama again said, "I don't know her," and refused to really answer the question. She also went on to discuss childhood obesity, and commented about her own children and their pediatrician pulling her aside to tell her that the "BMI" (Body Mass Index)...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Angelina Jolie began two days of meetings with Haiti earthquake victims Tuesday in her role as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency. The actress, representing the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, met with U.N. officials in Port-au-Prince and visited an SOS Villages camp for orphans outside the capital, where she was cheered by Haitians yelling, "Angie! Angie!"

WYLIE — As a disabled veteran, Jeff Gudgeon feels he has paid enough. He says spending money on highway tolls is a cost he shouldn’t have to pay. “It kind of gets to you,” Gudgeon said. Thousands of disabled veterans in Texas get to drive toll roads for free — but not in North Texas.

On a nightly basis, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann pompously presents himself as being the smartest guy in the room as he belittles every leading Republican in the nation. But on Tuesday, the "Countdown" host exhibited a staggering level of ignorance as he claimed "federal budget debt" -- whatever that is! -- as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product is "about the same as it was in 1970," and "far less than it was throughout the Reagan administration." To begin with, there is no "federal budget debt." There's a federal budget DEFICIT and federal DEBT. That this self-proclaimed genius doesn't know these...

Arranged with Bluegrass mandolin and a-cappella singing!

There are no second acts in American lives. ---F. Scott Fitzgerald Apparently writers Nicole Allan and Niraj Chokshi of Atlantic Magazine wish to hold open the possibility of a second act for disgraced John Edwards as they speculate about Is John Edwards Done Forever? Yes, all Sarah Palin has to do is read a few notes from the palm of her hand and this is enough to set off MSM liberals into a group hate rant about the former vice-presidential candidate. However, if you are a liberal the door is always open to you for a possible political comeback even...

Has the Obama machine run out of Republicans to blame? Have they finally realized that the American people won't believe the current state of the union is the fault of the party with virtually no power? Either way, the Democrats are beginning to turn on their own; pointing their well exercised fingers of blame at other Democrats. Yet they still refuse to point at the one who has done the most damage to the country and their party's future.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Ford(F Quote) has finally found a major vulnerability in Toyota's(TM Quote) products -- and it clearly isn't willing to let the opportunity slip away. Following Toyota's two massive recalls, Ford is now attempting to grow sales with new commercials taking on Toyota. The commercials are part of Ford's "Spread the Word" campaign, which was launched on Jan. 12. Each of them feature Mike Rowe, host of Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs, speaking to ordinary people in various settings about Ford vehicles. Rowe "spreads the word" at a gas station, in a coffee shop and at a school....

I watched a Nova program last night called Extreme Cave Diving. Although I don't watch the left leaning PBS much, this program sparked my intrest. The body of the program is about cave divers exploring "Blue Holes" in the Bahamas. Blue Holes are devoid of oxygen and preserve bones that can't be found on the surface. The divers were finding bones of animals such as tortise and crocs that were not previously known to exist on the island. Towards the end of the show samples of stalagmites were taken from these flooded caves. They were bi-sected and studied. The scientist...

Paul Schiffer, Congressional Candidate in Ohio, has taken the pledge of the American Council for Immigration Reform to oppose amnesty in any form for illegal aliens, and to push for the enforcement of America’s laws, with the goal that trespassers in the United States will voluntarily return to the countries where they have a home and a place of their own. Paul Schiffer pledged: “I pledge to oppose amnesty or any other special path to citizenship for the millions of foreign nationals unlawfully present in the United States. As a member of Congress, I will support the full implementation of...

NEW ORLEANS - Angry, frustrated, and confused--those are just a few of the lingering emotions being felt by close to 100 United Airlines passengers still stranded in New Orleans Their packed flight to Los Angeles was supposed to leave at 7:18pm Tuesday evening, but after spending 3 hours on the plane, flight #263 never took off. “The flight that they rescheduled us to doesn’t leave until 2:30 or 3pm [Wednesday] afternoon,” said Dwight Webster, a passenger trying to get back home to Oakland, California. “So all in all it will be 24 hours before I get home.” Passengers say they...

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- This week, I posted a story on Fortune.com saying that a Value Added Tax is fast becoming the only option America has left to solve the current fiscal crisis. In the piece, I said that former Arkansas Governor and leading Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee favors a VAT to replace the income tax. I received numerous angry emails stating that the ex-governor advocates a solution called a "Fair Tax" that's quite different from a VAT.

Once a long time ago I was upgraded on a flight to Orlando and found myself next to a gray-haired German who had been visiting his family in Minnesota. Over drinks I learned that he had emigrated to the US after the 1939-45 war, and that during the war he had shot down a de Havilland Mosquito and a Messerschmitt Me262. He'd achieved this unusual, quite possibly unique distinction as the commander of a gun crew using the 88mm L71, the highest-performing version of the classic 88. The Luftwaffe had designated free-fire zones in which anything would be fired on,...

Kelley Blue Book dropped the resale values of recalled Toyotas for the second time in four days Monday, leaving them as much as 4 percent or $300 to $750 lower than a week ago, depending on the model. WATCH FULL REPORT... The auto research Web site Edmunds.com estimates resale or trade-in values could fall up to 10 percent in the short term. How far they drop over the longer haul will depend how long the confusion lingers. Since the first recall for sticky accelerator pedals on Jan. 21, Edmunds’ estimate for the trade-in value of a 2009 Toyota Camry has...

The number of illegal immigrants in the United States fell by seven percent last year to 10.8 million, coinciding with the country's financial crisis, a Department of Homeland Security report said Tuesday. The majority of the country's illegal immigrants come from Latin America, with 62 percent from Mexico (6.7 million), followed by those from El Salvador (530,000), Guatemala (480,000) and Honduras (320,000). Together with Filipinos (270,000), Latin Americans accounted for 85 percent of all illegal immigrants in the United States in 2009, the DHS report said. "The number of unauthorized residents declined by 1.0 million between 2007 and 2009, coincident...

President Obama and congressional Dems are planning two big “rope-a-dope” plays worthy of Muhammad Ali to get Obama’s nationalization of healthcare passed. First, there’s a strategy to pass amendments -- making the current Senate bill more palatable to liberals -- and have the president wait to sign it until the House passes the Senate bill. Second, having scored heavily against the Republicans in his visit to the Republican retreat in Baltimore a few weeks ago, Obama is inviting Republican House and Senate leaders to the White House for a healthcare “summit” on February 25. But that meeting is being planned...

Senator Brian Frosh (D), District 16 Montgomery County and Chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, and Delegate Sandy Rosenberg (D), District 41, Baltimore City have introduced the Gun Safety Act of 2010. This proposed legislation would fundamentally change the face of gun ownership in the State of Maryland as no bill has in the last 10 years. Now that the text of the bills have been released, we can give you our full response. HELP KILL THIS BILL-CONTACT MD REPS EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT FROM MD!!!!!!!!!!! CLICK THRU TO SITE FOR MORE INFO AND TOOLS!!!!

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". effulgence • \ih-FULL-junss\ • noun radiant splendor; brilliance Example sentence: The effulgence of the moon in the clear midnight sky provided enough light to help us safely make our way home. Did you know? Apparently, English speakers first took a shine to "effulgence" in the middle of the 17th century; that's when the word was first used in print in our language. "Effulgence" derives from the Latin verb "fulgēre," which means "to shine."...

Pray For the Peace Of Jerusalem Tehillim Psalm 106 1 Hallelujah. O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever. 2 Who can express the mighty acts of the LORD, or make all His praise to be heard? 3 Happy are they that keep justice, that do righteousness at all times. 4 Remember me, O LORD, when Thou favourest Thy people; O think of me at Thy salvation; 5 That I may behold the prosperity of Thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Thy nation, that I may glory...

Since Russia has won a tender to own a piece of land in Paris, the Russian Orthodox Church will now have a cathedral and a religious and cultural center there, Bishop Mark of Egorievsk told the VOR. Russia was lucky to become the owner of this piece of land in the very heart of Paris, close to the Eiffel Tower, says Bishop Mark. "This tender was announced quite long ago. Apart from Russia, the Saudi Arabia, Canada and also a big French company sent their applications for participation in the tender. The fact that Russia was chosen to own this...

Critics of Michael Steele's tenure as Republican National Committee chairman are motivated by racism, Steele suggested in an interview published on Tuesday. Speaking to Washingtonian magazine (no online version), Steele wondered why his Democratic National Committee counterpart doesn't get the same criticism he does. "I don’t see stories about the internal operations of the DNC that I see about this operation," Steele said. "Why? Is it because Michael Steele is the chairman, or is it because a black man is chairman?”

Robert Gibbs was not that funny early on and now his jokes are becoming an embarrassment. Apparently, even the Press is experiencing the negative results of the Obama/Democrat economic policies when their own employers begin to lay employees off in order to survive. Like any bad comedian, it is only a matter of time before the audience begins to walk out then eventually stop showing up at all. The ultra liberals will remain but the real news people will ultimately decide that not only is there no news at these “press conferences” but they are not even entertaining anymore.

Raleigh, N.C. — A new proposal for the history curriculum in North Carolina public schools is causing uproar. Among the biggest concerns is covering U.S. history only from 1877 to the present in the 11th grade. “There's nothing on the Confederacy, nothing on Robert E. Lee, nothing on Abraham Lincoln, nothing on any battle, nothing on reconstruction, nothing on the causes of the war, nothing on slavery. Nothing on slavery anywhere in the curriculum,” said Dr. Holly Brewer, associate professor of Early American History at North Carolina State University. Brewer opposes the curriculum change and says students would not learn...

Myrtle Beach police are searching for a man who stole three boxes of male enhancement drugs from an area pharmacy, according to a police report. An employee of CVS at 512 South Kings Highway told police that about 10 a.m. Tuesday a man came into the store and acted suspiciously as he walked through the store, police said. The man left without purchasing anything and the employee went to where he last saw the man and found three empty boxes of Extenze each valued at $41.99 hidden behind some candy, according a police report.

The Anglican Church in Canada – once as powerful in the nation's secular life as it was in its soul – may be only a generation away from extinction, says a just-published assessment of the church's future. The report, prepared for the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia, calls Canada a post-Christian society in which Anglicanism is declining faster than any other denomination. It says the church has been “moved to the far margins of public life.” According to the report, the diocese – “like most across Canada” – is in crisis. The report repeats, without qualification or question, the results...

I've been trying, because I'd truly like to see health reform pass, to find something nice to say about President Obama's plans for a summit. Another summit, that is, nearly a year after the first one. Here's the best I could come up with: It can't hurt. Consider it Chicken Soup for the Legislative Soul.When the president used his Super Bowl Sunday interview with CBS News' Katie Couric to launch this Hail Mary summit pass, he explained that "what I want to do is to look at the Republican ideas that are out there. . . . 'How do you...

If you've been watching the daily scandals destroy the credibility of the U.N. IPCC, then you might not realize that Cambridge, Massachusetts is in a state of climate emergency. This is not hyperbole, but an official policy order, passed by the City Council in May 2009, "recogniz[ing] that there is a climate emergency" and requesting the City Manager "to direct the appropriate city departments to increase the City's responses to a scale proportionate to the emergency."

One sure sign of a genuine specimen of folk cuisine is an abundance of old family recipes which are generally similar but differ in details. Stack Cake is the real thing -- you can collect as many "authentic" recipes for stack cake as you would like. Stack Cake is made of 6 to 8 layers of cake with an apple-based filling between the layers. A common apocryphal story is that it originated as poor-folks' wedding cake, with several guests each contributing a layer.