Free Republic

Gov. Rick Snyder's Facebook page boasted recently that Michigan led the nation in manufacturing job growth in May by adding 4,500 jobs. In fact, from May 2012 to May 2014, Michigan was first in the nation in gross manufacturing job gains with 25,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Texas was second with 22,000 jobs added. Michigan has been sixth in that time span in percentage growth (4.7 percent). Montana led the nation in percentage growth over the past two years at 8.5 percent. University of Michigan economist Don Grimes said Michigan's economy is doing well, but he...

Most defensive shootings do not occur in four star hotels.   But on the 6th floor of the Grand Hyatt in San Antonio last Saturday, the 12th of July, there was an exception. An occupant of the hotel, Moises Torres, 34, is said to have been creating a disturbance in the hallway, breaking light fixtures and banging on doors, saying "he was looking for someone to kill".  At least one person called security.   When the CHL (concealed handgun license) permit holder thought Torres was gone, he opened his door.   He reported that Torres charged him and the...

Companies must hire more people, pay their taxes, participate in Obamacare, and support the Government at all costs.  That’s the strong message that President Obama has been spouting for years, and the answer-men and women with whom he’s surrounded himself are simply his bullhorns. …I’m going to reduce the deficit in a balanced way.  We’ve already made a trillion dollars’ worth of cuts.  We can make another trillion or trillion-two, and what we then do is ask for the wealthy to pay a little bit more… …look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.  You didn’t get there...

This homemade revolving shotgun design seems well suited for a 3D printed/hybrid metal version.    While the version pictured uses cut off chambers from cast off 12 gauge barrels, the same effect could be accomplished by using sections of the appropriately sized water/gas pipe or tubing.  The same tubing/pipe could be used for the barrel.  The concept would be that the 3D printed parts would comprise the cylinder into which the chambers would be fitted and glued, and which would have the more difficult mechanical details to revolve the cylinder.   Perhaps a modification of the zig-zag revolver design by Yoshitomo...

Burke, who came out to team-mates in the 1970s and to the public in 1982, died of AIDS in 1995 aged just 42.More than two decades after Glenn Burke abruptly retired from Major League Baseball, the former LA Dodgers outfielder will be honored at Tuesday night’s all-star game as one of the few professional athletes to have come out. Burke's four-and-a-half year career is remembered for his charismatic attitude and the pressures he faced as a gay athlete in the late 1970s. Burke, who played for the Dodgers and the Oakland A's, was the first professional ball player to come...

Via Charles Cooke, is this the worst listicle ever or the greatest? You’re expecting a list of different makes and models, I know. But look: 2. Revolvers Revolvers, named for their rotating chambered cylinder, placed second in the ATF’s ranking of guns found at crime scenes more than 46,000 recovered in 2012, the most recent year for which statistics were kept. Some grenade launchers, shotguns, and rifles also have rotating barrels, but the term “revolver” is generally used to describe handguns. Revolver types include single and double-action firing mechanisms, the latter of which does not require a cocking action separate...

From the moment that he set foot in the White House in January 2009, President Barack Obama has had to hear the silly charge that he has miserably failed blacks. HeÂ’s repeatedly heard it for two reasons. The first is obvious. HeÂ’s black, but more than that he actually practiced civil rights law and worked as a community organizer in poor communities on ChicagoÂ’s South Side. Therefore heÂ’s supposed to have an even greater sensitivity to the plight of the black poor. And because of that he has a duty, obligation and even mission to use the power and prestige...

Citigroup today announced it would pay a heavy fine for its involvement in the mortgage-backed securities financial crisis: Citigroup said it would take a $3.8bn pre-tax charge in the second quarter as it became the second big US bank to settle with the Department of Justice to resolve a long-running US government investigation into the sale of mortgage-backed securities. The bank, which will report earnings later on Monday, said it agreed to pay $7bn in total, including $4bn in cash to the DoJ, $500m in cash to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and several state attorney generals, as well as...

IT WILL BE PULLED ,WATCH NOW This was apparently put together by a Pastor's wife and is absolutely excellent! Watch it soon before it is pulled from the internet. The Pastor's Wife

Europeans have been committing “demographic suicide” for decades because of low birth rates. Author George Weigel described how Europe is committing “demographic suicide” - it failed to “create the human future in the most elemental sense, by creating a next generation.” I discussed replacement demographics and unchecked chain migration in my book, “Liberty on Life Support.”

Jacksonville, Florida has been running gun turn-in "buy back" events for a bit over a year now. The events stand outside of the norm for a number of reasons. First, they are funded by a private donor. Second, the money offered is at the low end for these events - $50 for all types of guns. Third, the Sheriff's Office, which runs the events, specifically reserves the right to determine if guns are "collectible". Those guns are not destroyed. While it is to the credit of the Sheriff's Office that it does not wantonly destroy valuable guns, I have...

The Brand Uses Social Media and Rainbow Desserts in High-Profile Push.(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Known as the "first lady of food," Betty Crocker has spent more than 90 years dispatching kitchen advice, including selling more than 75 million cookbooks since its first one was published in 1942. But of late, the fictional brand icon has taken on a new mission as a supporter of gay marriage. The General Mills-owned brand began winning attention for the cause in August of last year by providing cakes to same-sex couples who got married in Minnesota after the state legalized gay married. Now Betty is following up on...

Forty years ago, a group of researchers with military money set out to test the wacky idea of making computers talk to one another in a new way, using digital information packets that could be traded among multiple machines rather than telephonic, point-to-point circuit relays. The project, called ARPANET, went on to fundamentally change life on Earth under its more common name, the Internet. Today, the agency that bankrolled the Internet is called the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, which boasts a rising budget of nearly $3 billion split across 250 programs. They all have national security implications...

Speaking engagements are a common way for people to drum up some extra income after long stints in public office or attempts to reach public office. But depending on how much they’re charging, and who’s paying, speaking fees often lead to intense public scrutiny and criticism for politicos looking to make a buck. When accompanied by an unfortunate gaffe or an outlandish price tag, a politician’s speaking engagements can color them as greedy or simply out of touch. Including Bill and Hillary Clinton's speaking fee fortune and Donald Trump's eye-popping $1.5 million speeches, ABC News took a look at America’s...

The Chamber of Commerce has not been discouraged by the lack of legislative action on immigration reform. Instead, the business organization is digging in, pushing for an immigration overhaul as soon as possible. “We’re going to use every tool and resource at our disposal. And we’re going to keep pushing our leaders to do the right thing for our country, if not before the election, then after—perhaps during a lame-duck session,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue declared Monday in a blog post. Last month, President Obama announced he would be taking as many unilateral actions as he is...

"Caring and Sharing" -- The Claim and the Bane They tell us that they care more than we do. Isn’t that the key, the sum total of the American Left’s argument, when you boil it down? They care. They care so much, they remind us every day how MUCH they care. More than the moderates, more than the independents. And they accuse the Right of not caring at all, of being terribly heartless in the face of illness and want and crime. And this they use to win election after election, and to force all sorts of policy changes on...

It's rare when any business in Clark County attracts national or even regional interest, so the media throng that greeted last Wednesday's opening of Main Street Marijuana was quite a curiosity. The clever "weed and weenies" event that accompanied the store's opening, along with the presence of Mayor Tim Leavitt at the ribbon-cutting, captured the attention of media outlets that devour eye-catching visuals. But business likely would still have been brisk at Main Street Marijuana even if it hadn't snagged the free publicity. With a state-imposed limit of just 15 retail outlets for all of Clark County, and with some...

On April 1, the U.S. economy dropped a whopping 2.9 percent for the first three months of the year (no fooling). The American workforce participation rate fell to a 40-year low. One-third of people aged 18-29 have moved back in with their parents. Millions of Americans this summer will enjoy yet another “staycation”: They just can’t afford to go to the beach or the mountains, even for a week — again. Swipe cut to President Obama: He’s eating shave ice in Honolulu; playing golf (some 180 rounds so far); jetting off to Martha’s Vineyard for a 15-day vacation in a...

America’s oldest family owned and operated gun manufacturing company O.F. Mossberg & Sons, has its eye on Texas. The company was founded in Connecticut in 1919; however, after Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) passed one of the strictest gun-control legislations in the nation last April, Mossberg & Sons is looking to expand in a more gun-friendly state. CEO Iver Mossberg told Forbes: “Investing in Texas was an easy decision. It’s a state that is not only committed to economic growth but also honors and respects the Second Amendment and the firearm freedoms it guarantees for our customers.” The gun company will...

Last week, Burger King unveiled the greatest monument to ad decadence this year (so far): The Proud Whopper. What, pray tell, is a Proud Whopper? It's a whopper with a rainbow-colored wrapper. Outside of that, it's identical to a normal whopper—and that's the point Burger King is trying to make. When the wrapper is opened, it states “we are all the same inside.” Just so, an asexual person or a gay person is the same on the inside as a straight person; we're all blood, guts, and bones with sinews holding it all together. A Burger King PR rep will...