Free Republic

A recent Cato Institute poll shows Republicans, at least those surveyed by the libertarian think tank, and average voters are at odds with each other on the NFL controversy. "Sixty-five percent of Republicans say that NFL players who refuse to stand for the National Anthem should be fired," Cato pollster Emily Ekins said on Sept. 28 in a First Amendment conference at the Libertarian think tank. "This is wildly out of step with what most Americans think." "Sixty-one percent say that players should not be fired for refusing to stand." Yet, the Cato survey oversampled college students. Moreover, the Cato...

Offered 'free' laptops in exchange for attending public district for 1 day! A public school superintendent in South Dakota was being investigated for an apparent “scam” involving local homeschoolers after he offered them a “free” laptop computer in exchange for their attendance in his district for a single day, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association. The Argus-Leader in Sioux Falls reported the “offer” from Tri-Valley School District Supt. Mike Lodmel was to homeschoolers, explaining he wanted the children to spend one day in public school “and go home with a new laptop.” The invitation was for Sept. 29,...

Parents who attend church weekly, have a college degree or higher, earn $75,000 per year or more, are a Republican or conservative are among the parents least likely to send their child to a public school, according to an analysis by Gallup. By contrast, those who seldom or never attend church, have no religious preference, or have a household income of $30,000 or less are most likely to send their child to a public school, according to Gallup. “Eighty-five percent of U.S. parents of school-aged children have a child in public school, while 9% send their child to private school,...

Not only did anti-Trump professional protesters disrupt and block inaugural attendees, but security checkpoints also kept untold numbers of Trump supporters from getting through to the National Mall to witness the president take the oath of office. An online search for information about the security checkpoints revealed the following: Six hundred fifty thousand general admission attendees were expected with 12 TSA checkpoints along the parade route and the mall. Two hundred fifty thousand who had tickets were processed through separate checkpoints. The TSA said they could screen 1,500 people per hour. So it would take 36 hours to process 18,000...

The National Baptist Convention is being held in Kansas City Missouri with thousands of baptist worshipers from all fifty states. Hillary Clinton was the key note speaker. The convention organizers anticipated considerable -and enthusiastic- attendance, amid a predominantly black audience. The first day of the convention almost every seat was full –SEE HERE– There was no reason to anticipate the convention attendees would not show up for Hillary Clinton. The Kansas City Convention Center was set up in the same manner as the prior days general sessions where almost every seat was full. Then this happened: clinton-kc-6

Americans seem to be hungry to Make America Great Again as they fill up venues again and again for billionaire presidential candidate Donald Trump, and the Baton Rouge River Center in Baton Rouge, AL is no exception. Trump attracted so many supporters that the rally was delayed as they waited for the thousands of people who were in a line wrapping around the arena to make their way in. Trump’s attendees smashed the previous record of legendary musician Elton John who pulled in 8,000 fans to hear him play. The Donald filled the seats with an estimated 12,000 supporters. **SNIP**...

Michael Dodds, a former top-level administrator who oversaw several Columbus City Schools buildings, will report to jail today to start serving a 14 day sentence for his role in manipulating student data to make the district look better. Dodds pleaded no contest in June and was convicted on three felony charges: attempted tampering with government records and two counts of unauthorized use of property. Today, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Kimberly Cocroft sentenced Dodds to a jail term of one day less than that received by Stephen B. Tankovich, the former district administrator who masterminded the data purging, received for...

New research reveals that 31 percent of the adult U.S. population, approximately 65 million people, were at one time involved in church but have since left. This is approximately equal to the number of people still regularly attending church. The study also found that more than 10 percent of adults still attending church are on their way out the door. The top five reasons people gave for leaving are: The church was too judgmental. The church bureaucracy was stifling. They didn't like the lecture style of preaching. The church was not where they encountered God. The church took a social...

".....'I received a certified letter Saturday about this issue and [my husband] Keith contacted the [Board of Education] on my behalf yesterday while I worked subbing. I have been notified that a warrant for my arrest will most likely be issued. 'My family’s doctor has written a character reference for me, and I have the support of many [Board of Education] employees, but at the moment it still appears I will be arrested. 'If the Sheriff and the Attendance Officer moves forward I will be given the opportunity to turn myself in. I spoke to a county employee yesterday that...

Nine out of ten.That's a lot.Nine out of ten churches in America have an average worship attendance of less than 350. And that percentage has not changed significantly for many years. Yet the unchurched pool of persons is increasing in most communities. There are people yet to be reached.But most churches will never exceed 350 in attendance. Why? A Few CaveatsAllow me to preface my analysis. First, big is not necessarily better. A church with more people in attendance is not necessarily more faithful than a smaller church. Second, some churches are in very sparsely populated areas. There may not...

The federal government is financing the development of a smartphone app that will use facial recognition technology to check attendance in college classrooms.The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded $50,000 to Missouri University on Jan. 2 for the project that will record videos to create “face tracklets” of students.The project is necessary, the grant argues, because checking attendance the old fashioned way is too hard.“Checking attendance in scenarios such as classrooms commonly needs an instructor to recognize each student one by one by reading the names on a roster or ask students to sign up the attendance sheet,” the grant explains....

Losing a Major League Baseball franchise would be a blow to CBS Radio’s drive to build a successful sports talk station in the market. But MLB commissioner Bud Selig has stated the league is not happy with the support the market is giving the Tampa Bay Rays in terms of attendance despite the club fielding successful teams. The league states, “Last year, the 30 Major League clubs averaged nearly 2.5 million in total attendance; the Rays, who finished with a 90-72 record, drew 1,559,681, which ranked last in the game.” So WHFS-FM “98.7 The Fan” is launching “Save Tampa Bay...

On 15-Jun-2012, a story appeared in the Columbus Dispatch, exposing an ongoing investigation from the State Auditor's office into corruption in the Columbus Public Schools. It seems that a creative way had been discovered to improve dramatically the alarming truancy rate in the Columbus school system. School officials found that by altering attendance records, they could stem the loss of state funding dollars by simply "adjusting" students' attendance data. What they were talking about was not a matter of simply fixing the problems of a few cronies' children. In fact, dogged research by a real auditor, who had been "warned...

The crowds may be smaller and the candidate grayer, but college towns are still proving to be President Barack Obama's best shot at enthusiastic audiences. More than 26,000 people combined showed up to hear the president speak during his three-state college town tour this week, which ended Wednesday with a rally near the University of Virginia. [Snip] ... even some of those who went through heavy security to see Obama speak said their enthusiasm had waned. "It no longer has the distinctiveness that it used to have," said William Proffitt, a University of Virginia student. "That was amazing, seeing the...

Just curious, but does anyone know what the ratio of Obama's attendance to Church is to the number of golf games he's played since becoming President?

In August, the small town just north of Kansas City passed the so-called “driveway tax,” a controversial charge, in addition to property taxes, for residents and businesses based on the number of times their driveway is used. A big box store like Target can pay over $60,000 annually, while residents pay a flat rate of $72 dollars a year The purpose of the “Transportation Utility Fee” is to raise money for public works projects in Mission like street construction and road repair It’s unpopular among residents, some of whom have put up protest signs on their yards. But it’s particularly...

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau Under this resolution, a senator who is absent without leave from two or more session days is subject to a penalty equal to $100 for each day that the senator is absent without leave. In addition, the senator must reimburse the senate for the actual costs incurred to compel his or her attendance. The penalties and costs are imposed by adopting a privileged resolution that identifies the senator who has been absent without leave. A senator who is subject to the penalties and costs imposed by the resolution may only be heard on the...

People keep asking for photos of known crowds for comparison sake and help in estimating the size of the crowd for Glen Beck's rally today. Here goes - using Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor Michigan for a nice even crowd size. What does it look like to you?

Raquel Torres is the Miami-Dade Schools equivalent of Cal Ripken Jr. She's a true Iron Student. The 18-year-old senior at Monsignor Pace High School is closing in on a prestigeous record of perfection that has even the President of the United States taking notice. Torres is just a week away from capping her public school career with 13 years of perfect attendance. "Sometimes I'd be like, 'Please miss one day, one day please,'" Torres said. Her parents always said "No." Torres has already received letters from former President George W. Bush regarding the modern-day miracle feat among youth today. She...

Your action is needed to defeat an attempt by the governor to increase the age of compulsory school attendance. Senate Bill 343 would increase the age of compulsory school attendance from 16 to 17. This would subject homeschool families to government regulation for an additional year.