Free Republic

While the world’s eyes remain riveted on Brazil’s World Cup stadiums, most people aren’t aware that the country is also the home to one of the world’s most progressive reparations movements to repay Afro-Brazilians for their enslavement. Slavery in Brazil didn’t end until 1889, making Brazil the last nation in the Western Hemisphere to outlaw the institution, and the legacy of slavery has firmly ensconced Black Brazilians in the lower rungs of Brazilian society. “By and large, black Brazilians live in the worst housing and attend the poorest schools,” writes Roque Planas in a comprehensive two-part series for the Huffington...

When 3D printing is discussed, one of the most debated topics is that of 3D printed weaponry, specifically guns. Last year, Solid Concepts created a 3D Printed replica of a 1911 pistol. At the time, it brought up quite a bit of debate, as the 3D printing of guns could severely undermine national and world-wide security. If anyone with a 3D printer could print an operational gun, then what good are laws that prevent people from obtaining guns? TodayÂ’s consumer level 3D printers can, for the most part, only print in plastic or plastic-like materials. Many people argue that guns...

On this episode of The Conservative Beacon Podcast, Josh Price is joined by Robert J. Norrell, author of Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington, to discuss the inspiring life story of Booker T. Washington and its lessons for pursuing the American Dream. Head over to TheConservativeBeacon.com to listen.

With the children being sent across the country, a Houston woman went on an epic rant when she learned that officials were looking at a closed school in her neighborhood as a potential detention facility. Bernadette Lancelin not only opposed the idea, but did so emphatically: It’s not right. Now billions of dollars want to be borrowed from the White House to help feed and house them. What about the kids here? In our neighborhood? In our country? Not just in this neighborhood but in our country. All these kids? Really? Why can’t they go back? I’m sorry that their...

It is so sad to watch Latin American children used as human props for political gain by our government, intent on forcing America into a third world status and more diversification. It is even sadder to see that so many parents were so deluded and so irresponsible that they sent their children in the company of coyotes who, for a fee, dropped them at the border, to be then bused and flown by our government to locations around the country. In transit these children were potentially abused and sexually molested.

Dubai is already home to the tallest tower in the world, so it was just a matter of time until the glitzy emirate planned another record-breaking construction. Its next project involves building the largest shopping mall on the planet, complete with climate-controlled streets, the world's largest indoor theme park and 100 hotels and apartments. In fact, the ambitious emirate has dubbed the project a 'temperature-controlled pedestrian city'. Occupying 48 million square feet, the Mall of the World will also contain health resorts, theatres, a Celebration Steet modelled on the Ramblas boulevard in Barcelona and 'retail streets network' that will stretch...

The marketing expertise of Moms Demand Action has created a media campaign to demonize the open carry of long guns, especially in Texas.   Shannon Watts, who heads MDA is a longtime professional at creating media campaigns:  She is not just Suzy Homemaker or some low-grade employee at a small company but a heavy Public relations hitter, savvy on the ways of media manipulation and making her clients look good. Basically she “grows” astroturf for a living. Open carry activism in Texas has become so effective that both Governor candidates have endorsed the legalization of the open carry of handguns,...

The Michigan Education Association is a large critic of school boards hiring private companies to provide noninstructional services, such as custodial, food and transportation. But the union uses this often fiscally responsible practice itself, as the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has documented several times in the past. The most recent example is revealed in this video that features MEA employees attesting to how great outsourcing their dues collection services was. In it, MEA representatives admit that their "in-house" attempts to collect dues were "not reliable, and inaccurate." They also admit that their accounting was shoddy — apparently the union...

When the CEO of the world's biggest company doubts the veracity of US economic data, you know you have a problem. After quarters of disappointing growth in the face of miraculous equity market performance; Wal-Mart CEO Bill Simon warns that shoppers aren’t returning at the pace one might expect years after the recession peaked, despite mainstream media interpretation of the data showing unequivocal growth. Simply put, he exclaims, "the unemployment numbers particularly have been difficult to read with the number of people dropping out of the work force," adding that if we see a further drop in the participation...

I went shopping today for a pair of pants. I was hoping it would only take a few minutes. How difficult could that be in the land of plenty? As I entered the large department store, I was greeted by stifling heat and humidity. This particular department store chain uses smart meters, cycled and controlled by the power company from a remote location in order to “save” them money. Customers and employees suffer because a small group of elites have managed to convince and bribe bureaucrats and politicians into pushing the agenda of non-existent global warming.

Call it a double whammy for the planet or simply irony with a capital “I.” As the invaluable Michael Klare, TomDispatch regular and author of The Race for What’s Left, points out today, if you scan the planet for conflict, what you’ll find from Syria and Iraq to the South China Sea are a series of energy wars -- fossil-fuel conflicts to be exact. At present, despite some hopeful signs, this crazed planet of ours is still a ravenous beast that only fossil fuels can sate. No question that conflicts and wars are terrible things. Just consider the million new...

History suggests that previously sound assumptions about financial security and recession-proof sectors may not apply in the next recession. Nobody wants to lose their job in a recession, but that's what happens when credit tightens, profits fall and tax revenues decline. Every enterprise that can't borrow unlimited sums of money at near-zero interest rates has to cut costs, and since labor and labor overhead (pension contributions, healthcare insurance, etc.) are the biggest expense for the vast majority of enterprises (including government agencies), payroll must be trimmed one way or another: either by lay-offs or by attrition, i.e. not hiring replacements for...

Subaru last week announced a second recall for vehicles which are prone to brake line corrosion in "salt belt" states. This latest recall follows a 2013 recall for the same issue, which can cause brake failure from burst brake lines due to rust. As Subaru does the right thing by consumers and motorists regarding the safety concern, General Motors continues to claim that brake line rust is a normal maintenance issue and refuses to recall its vehicles with the same problem. The Subaru recall weakens GM's defense that rusting brake lines do not need to be addressed by manufacturers...

This is maybe somewhat misnamed, but does have an interesting collection of slideshows with commentary. Click the link above or Seattle-PI Pot Blog

Why spend so much time commenting on Detroit? Because the city of more than 700,000 people is bankrupt, turning the water off on over one hundred thousand water customers, and now axing the contracts of nonprofit human service groups that have been providing safety net services for Detroit’s legions of poor people residing in devastated neighborhoods. Is there any hope? Inell Byrd, a 41-year-old home health aide still living in Detroit’s North End, told New York Times writer James Eligon, “I know the city is coming back.” That was the concluding sentence of Eligon’s moving portrait of residents of the...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Hundreds of immigrants are dropped off at the McAllen bus station by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) every day. Mothers, fathers are given a notice to appear to immigration court that allows them to travel north. But are these families really related? "In the 1980s, they were doing was rent a kid in other words they knew that if you were coming with a child you would be treated differently," U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar said. The question remains, are people renting kids to get through screenings and be released? Chris Cabrera with the National Border Patrol Council says yes....

Thank you Commissioners. My name is Michael LaFaive and I am director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. I am here today to exercise my right to request the partial rescission of two rules, R.436.1625 (1-4) and R.436.1726 (1-2). These are commonly referred to as "post and hold" rules. As you know, these rules mandate posting of price schedules for beer and wine and the holding of those prices for a length of time depending on the product. Research shows that these rules suffocate competition to the benefit of narrow special interests, such...

And well they might. Insurers got a close look at the profiles of the enrollees in the individual health-insurance market this spring, and they turned out to be sicker than projected, as the “young invincibles” took a pass on ObamaCare in 2014. That means that premiums will go up in the fall in order to cover the added expense of the higher-risk enrollments — and that has the Obama administration spin team working extra hard this summer to cover their rear ends just before the midterms: Most state health insurance rates for 2015 are scheduled to be approved by early...

The chart above helps to illustrate how significantly US oil production has been impacted by the revolutionary drilling technologies of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, which have unlocked a bonanza of shale oil in the states of Texas and North Dakota. A decade ago, the combined conventional crude oil production in the states of Texas and North Dakota was only 1.165 million barrels per day (bpd), and represented less than 21% of total US crude oil output. By 2008, in the very early days of the US shale oil revolution, the newly tapped oil from deep shale rock formations...

Impressed by the ill-informed hysterical reaction that my “real me” Facebook friends had to the Hobby Lobby decision, I explained to them that the decision is very narrow and will not (a) ban contraceptives across America and (b) lead to anti-gay lynch mobs. Here’s a slightly revised version of my Facebook post, which still failed to satisfy their paranoia and inability to understand the law. I’ve also added a little hypothetical that might open their minds. (No, don’t say it. It’s improbable, but not impossible, that a DemProg mind can open). The Hobby Lobby decision addresses one thing only: whether...