Free Republic

An all-too-familiar scene was enacted on the campus of Swarthmore College during a meeting on May 4 to discuss demands by student activists for the college to divest itself of its investments in companies that deal in fossil fuels. As a speaker was beginning a presentation to show how many millions of dollars such a disinvestment would cost the college, student activists invaded the meeting, seized the microphone, and shouted down a student who rose in the audience to object. Although there were professors and administrators in the room — including the college president — apparently nobody had the guts...

Think you know what's in your grocery cart? Think again. Or use the Buycott app to check. Know where your consumer dollars go with the free Buycott app. Supermarkets are labyrinthine behemoths laid out in a convenient linear fashion. So where's the maze? On the supermarket shelves, of course. Food products galore stare back at us, silently appealing to our penchants for sugar, salt, and fat. We pick and choose, knowing full well what we are getting into. But it's the hidden components that are increasingly becoming a salient issue. If supermarket shelves are overwhelming due to the sheer diversity...

Shearith Israel, the very first Jewish Congregation in America, hosts its 2nd annual “Music of The Jewish Diaspora” performance, featuring the Salome Chamber Orchestra. The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue presents an evening of elegance and sophistication. Set inside the luxurious main sanctuary, a room built to hold 700 people, yet because of its architecture, creates a uniquely intimate setting and vibrant acoustic. The Salome Orchestra, just as Shearith Israel, exquisitely blends the classic culture and history in its roots with the modern spice of our new age. Musical influence has always been a strong aspect of Sephardic culture and is...

A workshop for 13 and 14-year-old girls that focused on homosexuality and gender identity has parents in Red Hook, N.Y., hopping mad. On Thursday, CBN News reported that young girls attending the workshop at Linden Avenue Middle School said they were told to ask one another for a kiss. Moreover, two girls were reportedly told to stand in front of the class and pretend they were lesbians on a date.

AN ILLEGAL POEM By Illegal Immigrants (USA) Obama wants all the help he can get even if it's from Illegals of Any kind. What is this country coming to? JFK must be turning in his grave!! Obama is the total opposite. "It'll Never be fixed until you stop taking out more than your putting in!!! DUH!!! Just like a cookie jar. Start by SECURING OUR BORDERS!!! I cross river, Poor and broke, Take bus, See employment folk.

ACT NOW! if you want to keep your guns. This article provides citizens all the resources they need to stop extremist "gun control" advocates and explains why NOW is the time to act. If you think the democratic process doesn't work, remember that New Mexicans just beat ALL state gun control legislation in the 2013 session. Please read on... Starting tomorrow and for possibly the next few weeks, President Obama and Senate Democrats led by Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), are going to do everything they can to destroy the Second Amendment,...

Seems that Obama has his goon squad on Twitter - and Politico is crowing about the "trash-talking" going on - I say we give the trash talkers a little taste of their own medicine. I thought it might be nice if Freepers follow them all so we can engage in a little "spirited debate" David Plouffe @davidplouffe Tommy Vietor @TVietor08 Jon Favreau @jonfavs Jon Lovett @jonlovett Bill Burton @billburton Ben LaBolt @BenLaBolt David Axelrod @davidaxelrod Just a note - if you use their twitter handle in the body of your tweet - rather than at the beginning - it will...

Political party planner Melissa Dawdy wants to throw frustrated conservatives a lifeline this fall. And she’s landed tea party darling Herman Cain as her first mate. Dawdy, who said she’s participated in several National Review sponsored-cruises and enjoyed those trips, sees an opening for a new wave of conservative coalition building. And she’s hoping to reel in folks who are desperately seeking their political bearings after a devastating fall, such as those at the just-concluded Conservative Political Action Conference. “The average tea party person quit the tea party after 2012. They took a face-plant,” she said of the ripple effect...

Ruger has a site where you press a button and they will send a letter supporting 2nd Amendment rights to the President, Vice-President, your Senators, Representative, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State-Level Elected Officials and State Attorney General. Please do it now. It's easy. ACT NOW!

It’s a bit of a financial stretch for me to go on a cruise, and especially difficult to afford the National Review version, which as a combination fundraiser and intellectual summit is deeply satisfying, but expensive. I saved my pennies though, and reserved a modest cabin aboard the 2012 post election “Victory Cruise”. My excitement at meeting some of my favorite writers was tempered somewhat by the gloom and despair that was evident everywhere. There were lots of Tea Party type folks, like me, who sort of dragged themselves onto the ship with the notion that we might return home...

Anyone on FB who is linked with the EIB should have received this. It is another new way of bringing together conservatives, another think tank (no such thing as too many). I have shared it on my FB, now I would like to share it with my fellow FReepers. I looked at every bit and cranny before signing up. "And Now A Word From Our Readers… (RightMessage Mailbag)"....you sign up and email them your thoughts (if I remember correctly it's 150 words max). They will choose emails, post them and respond, as well as others who are members. This is...

Guns Across America is organizing a coordinated march on all the state capitols on January 19th at noon. At the link you'll find information on the event and the email address for the coordinator of your state. Let's turn en mass for this one.

Welcome to a world where one man can shout as loudly as ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox. MSNBC doesn’t count, as their ratings indicate. About a decade ago citizens took control of the national conversation away from traditional media. As I said in the epilog to Shooting The Bull, “When a few million intelligent but bored individuals are given a unified platform for research, analysis and sharing, power shifts from the organized Fourth Estate to the unorganized Fifth.” Nothing ticks off people in power than to have it taken away, hence the growing mobs of surly unemployed journalists. This...

.......... the United States needs its conservative leaders and activists in the public square now more than at any time in our lifetimes. If we hold on, we'll win. Blue State America is doomed, and the blue-staters represented by President Obama and his party cannot save it. ...... we red-staters must remain fully involved and fully engaged in American politics and culture. This is especially true after a year like 2012 -- when we lose. Better to quote U.S. General Joseph Stilwell after the loss of Burma to the Japanese. "I claim," Vinegar Joe said, "we took a hell of...

"Obama Plans Broad Gun Control" screamed the Drudge Report headline. So what actions can a responsible gun owner take to stop this legislative insanity? There are, of course, the accepted channels of communications: email and phone calls to your two Senators and the Representative from your Congressional district. Having once worked as an idealistic political intern in a legislative office, I was flabbergasted at the utter contempt that the staff and "my" legislator held for the ordinary voters of the district. Respect was only paid to the large financial donors and their minions. Emails and phone calls may have a...

November 30, 2012 Weekly Roll Call Report Senate Bill 1360, Extend deadline on school employee pension reform choices: Passed 26 to 12 in the Senate To extend from October 26, 2012 to January 9, 2013, the deadline for public school employees to choose whether to contribute more toward the cost of their defined benefit pensions or else accept a slightly less generous benefit calculation formula, as required by a recently-passed pension reform law. Senate Bill 909, Create Detroit regional mass transit authority: Passed 24 to 14 in the Senate To create a new Detroit area regional transportation authority covering Macomb,...

Surely, progressives will celebrate the artistic genius in this exhibit. Or, will they cry out that their savior has been defiled?

.....Who would have thought that it would fall to us, some of us in our so-called declining years (unless 60 is the new 40) to rescue the Republic? In our lifetimes, we have had the war in Vietnam, and the Reagan revival, and now we find the left has been tunneling under us all along. Last Tuesday, the platform we thought was solid collapsed as if its underpinnings had been eaten by termites, which they had. ...it is very surprising that Romney would garner fewer votes than McCain. Virtually all Republicans and conservatives regarded this election as the most important...

After Romney's unfortunate loss, we see the weaker sisters of the GOP now pushing to cut back on the so-called "social issues." They feel we must pander to the godless liberals to get votes. Got news for them. Not only, no, but hell no! That's exactly the wrong formula. We cannot and do not want to try to out pander the socialist democrats. That's a losing proposition from the git go. FR is and will remain a pro-God, pro-life, pro-family, pro-gun, pro-borders, pro-constitution, pro-small (constitutionally limited) government, pro-defense, independent, grassroots conservative site!! GOP-e RINOs and pushers of "moderation" can get...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s campaign is using his Chicago election night party at McCormick Place as an organizing tool: To be eligible for a ticket, Illinois residents will have to complete two get-out-the vote volunteer shifts in battleground Wisconsin.

This tip just in yesterday morning from the author, @JonathanStein4 – via The Red Side of Life – check it out! Fight Media Bias: Interview a Reporter Today! (Action Alert) Media bias is out of control. So, what do we do? Exactly what the folks did at town halls when Obama first ascended to the throne, simply protesting lack of representation with Tea… which became the Tea Party. It’s time to report on the reporters. Let me explain…The concept is simple. If you are at a Romney or Ryan event, find the folks with press passes – find the reporters....

Let's Put This Baby To Bed!!Less Than $1.9k To Go Green!! Please Help End This Quarter's FReepathon Sponsoring FReepers are contributing $10 Each time a New Monthly Donor signs up! Get more bang for your FR buck! Click Here To Sign Up Now!

Bette, Thanks for your support and encouragement! We really appreciate it! (I dropped an email of support and encouragement to: masterpiececakeshop@msn.com) Because of the wonderful response of people outside the area wishing they could support our business, we are now able to accept donations through our website: masterpiececakes.com If you would like to donate, just click on the Donations button found at the top right of our site, and follow the instructions. You may ask that your donation be used to send a cake to a local charity, chosen from the list on the site. But we are just encouraged...

The Tea Party movement morphed from protest signs to campaign signs. That's how a Texas Tea Party activist succinctly put it when I asked him what's become of the movement. He said, "We put down our protest signs, and picked up campaign signs." He said that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's victory lap after passing Obamacare was a "wake-up call." It signaled that mass demonstrations would not bring significant changes. Change would only come through the ballot box. Hearing the call, the Tea Party vacated the town squares and hit the streets where it began organizing for the long-term. It...

A New You Tube Chick-Fil-A song to share with fellow Freepers and friends.

Support Christian values and fight against liberal tyranny! Buy Chik Fil A today and send a clear message that we Christian Americans support each other. God Bless Chik Fil A this day and God Bless those who support them. http://shopchick-fil-a.com/default.aspx/MenuItemID/176/MenuGroup/Home.htm

When computer science teacher Mike Van Dyk returns to Coral Gables Senior High School in the fall, he will leave the drama of summer behind. ...Surplussed in early June from his position in the school’s Academy of Business, Management and Information Technology, Van Dyk, 61, was reinstated early last week. ....“I was ecstatic when I found out Mr. Van Dyk would be staying. And I found out on my birthday making it my best birthday ever,” said student Julian Mitat, 16. [SNIP] Last year alone, Van Dyk’s students won first place in the Florida International University Programming Competition; and first...

The addition of around 80,000 new jobs in the latest monthly report is another lackluster number that’s on the same mediocre economic trajectory as the last few months – or, really, the last decade or so. Analysts on the right will use it to criticize President Obama, and analysts on the left will say it’s on the right path while criticizing Republicans for the Bush years and a lack of leadership in Congress. But maybe it all means something more about America. .................................................... From this trip, and from looking at things over the last six months, I am beginning to...

[SNIP........] You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.It was the moral indignation of British evangelicals like William Carey and William Wilberforce who demanded not dialogue and endless discussion, but the total elimination of the hideous practice of sati. Even more pertinently, conservative Christians should take a page of instruction from...

Never mind that I'm Jewish, I follow CatholicVote.Org on facebook and they just posted this awesome video. Please watch and share it with everyone you know. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qKlRen8yzaw

Now is the time to bleed the taxpayer-funded unions dry and enact reforms that will safeguard the taxpayer and strengthen our economy. American Majority and American Majority Action have been in the middle of this fight since its inception and we’re ready for more.

What is ALEC? The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is dedicated to promoting Jeffersonian, free market principles. At ALEC, bi-partisan state legislators from every state come together to develop and share pro-growth, pro-jobs policies. Why Stand With ALEC? Obama's former "green jobs" czar and self-proclaimed communist, Van Jones, has partnered with George Soros and Big Labor to put pressure on state legislators and supportive companies to stop supporting ALEC and their free market agenda. How Can I Help? The left has already been successful in persuading several large corporations to leave the ALEC Private Enterprise Members. Send them, the remaining...

May 31, 2012 (HLIWorldWatch.org) - Anyone who is concerned about the influence of the homosexual agenda on reshaping traditional values must become intimately familiar with the major tactics that homophiles commonly employ in order to anticipate them and respond in charity and truth. Homophile strategists are very adept at manipulating public opinion with an arsenal of six tactics that are based upon deceptions and half‑truths: Exploit the “victim” status; Use the sympathetic media; Confuse and neutralize the churches; Slander and stereotype Christians; Bait and switch (hide their true nature); and Intimidation. One reason these tactics have worked so well is...

So far, the Dems haven't decided to flee Charlotte. They are pretty close to a lot of us in the South. Are there any parties planned? Could be fun...

Not buying the "financial disclosure" rationale presented by the legal counsel for three state Supreme Court justices, a Republican lawmaker wants the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate whether public employees and resources were used to assist them in electioneering. Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, sent a letter to Gov. Rick Scott calling for the investigation. He cited Florida Statute 106.15 which reads “A candidate may not, in the furtherance of his or her candidacy for nomination or election to public office in any election, use the services of any state, county, municipal, or district officer or employee during working...

Patriots, A Statewide Tea Party Town Hall with legislators and Summit is being held this coming weekend in Goodlettsville Tn. just north of Nashville. This Summit is open to all Tea Party members statewide. It is encouraging, and informative to attend these summits and see that the fight for liberty is very strong. Click on the link for more details for information on how to be invited and other links including lodging suggestions and Saturdays complete agenda. (Note: the Town Hall and Summit events are by invitation only. It will be a closed door and NO Media for the Town...

I wish I had the time to flesh this out in nice prose with appropriate links and citations, but I just don't have the time right now. So, this is the abbreviated version. Many Freepers proudly proclaim that they will have nothing to do with Twitter. Here is why I think that's a mistake: Why Twitter Matters =================== 1. It's the “Executive Summary” of what’s important 2. Michelle Malkin started Twitchy for just that reason 3. Rush Limbaugh found this out too late after the whole sponsor-gate 4. We live in a short-attention span society 5. Even here on FR,...

National Action Network’s 14th Annual Convention April 11-14th (Washington, D.C.) April 18th, 2012 (New York, NY) Special Plenary Presentation I: Eric H. Holder, Jr. – Attorney General of the United States

Several critics, most of them conservatives, have complained that Game Change, the new HBO movie made from the best-selling 2008 presidential campaign book, portrays Sarah Palin as profoundly stupid. And it does. Those critics have also complained that the picture sometimes portrays John McCain and his top advisers as deeply craven. It does that, too. And then there's the fact that Game Change, the movie, focuses on a negative portrayal of Palin while ignoring the dramatic and divisive primary battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that made up the biggest part of the book. So there's a lot of...

<p>In the aftermath of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2012 we are seeing two things. The first is the “CPAC plague” where all of the attendees inevitably get sick after long days of networking and listening to speeches. The second is the deluge of blog posts complaining about the drunken parties and skimpy clothing.</p>

Bring Spoken Word to CPAC Conservatives constantly clamor that they need to find a way to approach more demographics – particularly minorities and the youth. Yet, when events like the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) come around, you see mainly old, rich, white men speaking on stage for hours and hours. Sometimes, they spice it up with my girl Phyllis Schlafly. Don’t get me wrong, I love listening to speakers as much as the next conservative. However, why not try a tactic that the left uses so well? The arts.Hear me out before you write me off as a right-brained...

From "Cracker Counties" to Our "Lion King"I’m tired of writing about the left’s hypocrisy issues when it comes to race – but some stories must be commented on. The left will never miss the opportunity to scream racism. They will also never miss a chance to denigrate white conservatives, particularly if they are poor, or to try and strip the heritage from minority conservatives. It’s like, “Pass Go and collect $200!” – “See a conservative minority and you must insult them racially!” There are two prime examples this week: 1. “Cracker Counties” On January 31, Jonathan Martin of Politico gave...

No matter who wins the nomination or who wins the coming election, we're going to need FR more than ever to hold their feet to the fire!! The more power the liberals and GOP establishment concentrate for themselves in the central government, the dimmer the chances for freedom surviving in America. Romney proves through is love for RomneyCare exactly who and what he is. Reagan warned us that the socialists would try to impose socialism on us through socialized healthcare, well here it is. Romney says that he wants all 50 states to impose their own similar top down government...

No matter who wins the nomination or who wins the coming election, we're going to need FR more than ever to hold their feet to the fire!! The more power the liberals and GOP establishment concentrate for themselves in the central government, the dimmer the chances for freedom surviving. Romney proves through is love for RomneyCare who and what he is. Reagan warned us that the socialists would try to impose socialism on us through socialized healthcare, well here it is. Romney says that he wants all 50 states to impose their own similar top down government designed healthcare plans...

One by one, the so-called conservative news channels, talkers, pundits, authors, news sites, blogs, etc, are falling in line with the GOP establishment elite, stabbing conservatism and our leading tea party conservative candidates in the back. Drudge, Beck, Coulter, Faux News, Rove, Hume, Abrams, Tyrell, NRO, PAM BONDI, etc, are all now deeply in the tank for the northeastern limousine liberal, Mitt Romney!! Meanwhile, even losers Dole and McCain are jumping on the bandwagon, proclaiming that RINO Romney is "the most electable". Have to presume that they considered themselves to be the most electable too. Never forget: "Electable" gave us...

Rising tuition, 'Occupy' spark new campus activismBy LINDSAY PETERSON | The Tampa Tribune Published: November 27, 2011 TAMPA - Dani Leppo planned to keep her head down, study and finish as fast as possible when she transferred from St. Petersburg College to the University of South Florida this year. But as she crossed campus one day, she saw a group of people holding signs saying tuition was going up 15 percent. An activist was born. "We can barely pay our bills," Leppo said, "and here they are raising tuition." USF government professor Harry Vanden sees the anger rising on campuses...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s idea for checking judicial activism is a textbook case of historical revisionism that is strikingly similar to the court-packing scheme of liberal icon Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Gingrich said Congress should just pass a law eliminating specific judgeships, presumably immediately ousting the activist judges currently filling those seats. Gingrich lionizes an incident now regarded as profoundly troubling by constitutional scholars. When Thomas Jefferson replaced John Adams as president in 1801, the outgoing Congress created new federal courts and judgeships which Adams promptly filled. The new Congress repealed the law and the judges were ousted. Jefferson considered...

American jurisprudence: Fair, reasonable, following the rule of law and delivering the best chance for justice anywhere, right? Well, how about a Texas district court case in which there are allegations a judge threatened a participant, ordered that his assets be seized, told him he was not allowed to hire defense counsel and then pronounced he had the full power of the Navy, Army and Marines to enforce his will? Those are the allegations contained in a case pending before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that – by the description of a volunteer attorney working on arguments –...

Look for moments of maximum pessimism. To the legendary value investor Sir John Templeton, this was the secret to learning how to buy low and sell high. In recent months, I've been feeling the pessimism in a big way. You probably have too. Watching the scroll of headlines on cable news channels this summer, I thought I was in an overdone disaster film. Riots break out across the globe, screamed a Drudge headline. Markets were crashing. An earthquake cracked the Washington Monument. In my hands, Mark Steyn's new book After America -- a rollicking read that makes a strong case...

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Occupy OKC, the local arm of the rapidly-spreading “Occupy Wall Street” movement, announced today that they will be protesting a visit by leading Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. According to this week’s issue of the Oklahoma Gazette, Romney is making a fundraising stop at a Friday morning event at the Jim Thorpe Association and Sports Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. In addition to a breakfast fundraiser, featuring hosts ranging from former Gov. Frank Keating to Devon Energy’s Larry Nichols, the Oklahoma Republican Party is holding their 2012 Victory Rally, later in...