Free Republic

Add two more activists to Russian President Vladimir Putin's most wanted: Left Front members Sergei Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev were charged by federal prosecutors with organizing anti-United Russia parties on May 6, 2012, two months after the election of Putin. They might face 10 years in prison as a result.

I have been thinking of late about the coming Fourth of July holiday. (AKA: Independence Day) With the current state of the nation and our daily loss of freedoms once guaranteed I don’t really feel like celebrating something we no longer have. It feels like going to a wedding anniversary dinner knowing the couple both cheat. So what to do? Not go out, ignore the day, throw my hands up and just go with the flow? None of these seem to be acceptable options. What about some form of protest to show the country and our “leaders” I will not...

This essay is a call to citizens to put real work, ingenuity, and community above false promises and disgraced authority. Empowerment, in this essay, is not about pumping up self-esteem but rather equipping citizens to take control of the global economy. When political and economic leaders fail to act effectively, we will have to be the ones to succeed. Capitalism stands and falls upon care, not the superficial “I-feel-your-pain” type, but the deep, committed “I-give-a-damn” type. What does it mean to give a damn? “I give a damn” means: I get broadly and deeply involved, I refuse to ignore what...

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?