Free Republic

Commencing with the earliest settlements, America's eventual rise to superpower status was in no small measure due to the continual flow of gifted, venturesome immigrants coming to her shores with little more than their hopes, dreams, skills, and willingness to apply these to forge a new life for themselves and their families. They thirsted for liberty and economic opportunity while accepting the responsibilities of dealing with the risks and privations that lay ahead, collectively achieving their goals through hard work and perseverance. That was then; this is now. Current immigration policy is not only very costly to the taxpayers, who...

From: Andy Logar [mailto:alogar@sbcglobal.net] Sent: Monday, October 22, 2012 8:02 AM Subject: "...What you can do for the country." October 19, 2012 '...What you can do for your country.' Andy Logar This is a personal, unabashed appeal for voters to cross party lines, if need be, and rise to the inspired words in JFK's 1960 Inaugural Address: "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country." Unfortunately, there appears to be no shortage of people concerned about what the country can do for them and a...

The proponents of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) believe that CO2, generally accepted as a weak greenhouse gas, is responsible for the gradual rise of global temperatures, commencing with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, circa 1850. Ironically, this purported close correlation is in itself proof positive that the very basis of AGW theory is wrong. I don’t agree. Here is my reasoning: First, I posit that the many climatologists and other scientists who subscribe to AGW also subscribe to the essentials of the scientific method; very briefly, this refers to identifying a problem, gathering relevant data, drawing a hypothesis, followed...

The official, ultimate demise of the greatest socialist experiment in history, that of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, occurred, ironically, on Christmas Day 1991, but only after it had dispossessed, imprisoned, tortured and murdered untold millions of its own citizen in the quest for the workers' chimerical paradise of equality and fairness, where each was projected to produce according to his ability and receive according to his needs. After 69 years of unremitting misery for the overwhelming majority of its people -- the socialist Nirvana never coming even remotely within sight -- the inevitable economic collapse took place, leaving...

How do we explain the current sorry spectacle of a highly intelligent president who repeatedly makes bad choices and decisions? Make no mistake about it – President Obama has done just that. Ever pause and wonder how ostensibly perspicacious individuals can show remarkable errors in judgment? History is filled with people like this, proving repeatedly intelligence is no guarantee of good judgment and decision-making. Why? In the 1980s, American aerodynamicists faced a conundrum: How did the USSR, using comparatively rudimentary computers and without CAD/CAM, nonetheless closely match America's best fighter designs? The answer, not immediately obvious, was that Soviet programmers...

Would you buy this computer? 1. It’s touted to have the fastest CPU on the planet. 2. It has lots of memory. 3. But a paucity of data. 4. Operates with untested software. 5. No objective user reviews available. 6. It’s country of manufacture in question. Again, would you buy this computer? Answer: Of course not! Well, the millions who voted for Obama would. Sort of gives a new dimension to P. T. Barnum’s, “There's a sucker born every minute."

The House vote Sunday, passing the Senate’s health care reform bill, is potentially a gift to Republicans that will keep on giving to November and beyond. Had the bill been defeated, the Democrats would have shifted attention to legislation such as cap-and-trade and immigration “reform” (read amnesty), the former very likely inflicting incalculable harm to our economy, the latter the same to our cultural identity and heritage. Thankfully, it now seems unlikely that Democrats, though still in strong majority positions, will wholeheartedly embrace other nation-changing legislation prior to November’s elections. Instead, time between now and November will be spent on...

Let us assume all parties agree that we need to reform our health care system despite the fact that 80% of Americans are at least somewhat satisfied with their health care and their health care insurance [according to a recent Washington Post - ABC News poll]. However, reform must not be a slash-and-burn revolution but rather a rational, judicious evolution of an industry which is far too profit oriented and ineffectively regulated. For the vast majority of Americans a true health care “crisis” does not exist. It’s instructive to examine the statistics concerning the millions of uninsured. According to the...