Free Republic

If you thought Washington—which already took over banking and autos, and is fast-tracking attempts to take over health care and energy—would leave the Internet alone, you were dead wrong. The Internet (perhaps our greatest free market success story in recent years) is squarely in the cross-hairs of the administration and it’s not waiting for Congress to act. The charge is being led by an eager, ideologically committed White House staffer named Susan Crawford. Officially, she is the Special Assistant for Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy. Wired Magazine calls her, “the most powerful geek close to the president.” In recent weeks,...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/31856235#31856235

Strike up the band, boys, happy days are here again! Recently released short-term economic data, including unemployment claims, non-farm payrolls, home sales, and business spending, which had been so unambiguously horrific in February and March, are now just garden-variety awful. With the Wicked Witch of Depression now apparently crushed under the house of Obamanomics, the Munchkins of Wall Street have sounded the all clear, pushing the Dow Jones up 25% from its lows. But the premature conclusion of their Lollipop Guild economists, that the crash of 2008/2009 is now a fading memory, is just as delusional as their failure to...

New Dollar coin "In God We Trust" IS GONE! The printing of these coins was supposedly an accident - it was only to "test the waters" for what they plan to do, by removing that from all new currency. From Antoniette D. Walker REFUSE NEW COINS This simple action will make a strong statement. Please help do this. Refuse to accept these when they are handed to you. I received one from the Post Office as change and I asked for a dollar bill instead. The lady just smiled and said 'way to go', so she had read this e-mail....

Do you think that the crash is over, as certain former bears do? This question arises as we have breached the first downside target, of Dow 7000, based on my proprietary investment value model that was first published in thestreet.com October 24, 2007. It was less a forecast than an evaluation. The Dow has now vindicated this model by reaching "fair value," as one would expect from a simple definition. Does that represent a base for a new bull market? Or is it just one more stop to the nether regions?

Why was this thread pulled?

We have recently heard many shocking stories of brutal killings and ruthless violence related to drug cartels warring with Mexican and US officials. It is approaching the fever pitch of a full blown crisis. Unfortunately, the administration is not likely to waste this opportunity to further expand government. Hopefully, we can take a deep breath and look at history for the optimal way to deal with this dangerous situation, which is not unprecedented. Alcohol prohibition in the 1920’s brought similar violence, gangs, lawlessness, corruption and brutality. The reason for the violence was not that making and selling alcohol was inherently...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kADXWXgxKJk New projections from Ron Paul as his prominence in the mainstream media continues to increase.

Hundreds of leading scientists warned Thursday [3/12] that global warming is accelerating beyond the worst predictions and threatening to trigger “irreversible” climate shifts on the planet. Saying there’s no excuse for inaction, the nearly 2,000 climate researchers meeting in Copenhagen urged policy-makers to “vigorously” implement the economic and technological tools available to cut emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Their stark message came at the end of a three-day conference aimed at updating the findings of a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change before U.N. talks in December on a new global climate treaty. “The worst-case IPCC scenario...

The search engine is down. Getting this message "Sorry, an error occurred. The error has been logged."

Global aging, combined with plummeting birth rates, is a catastrophically dangerous menace that only a few people seem to be waking up to. You may not be familiar with terms like “global aging” and “demographic winter,” but you will be soon. I've been giving public lectures on the problem of global aging for the past 7 years or so, and my audiences are always shocked and dumbfounded as I explain how the West's ever expanding population of old people (due, thank God, to the ever-improving capabilities of bio-medical science), while a good thing in itself, will soon become a prime...

If we don't cough up huge amounts of money now, the banking industry will fail! If we don't bail out the automakers immediately, they will go belly up! If we don't do something right away, the earth will warm up so hot that we won’t be able to survive! The Chicken Little Mainstream Media never had so much work to do. There's always some new apocalyptic scenario to get you to buy into yet another government con game. And all for one purpose:...

LISTEN TO JOHN AND KEN ON KFI I've heard Gerald Celente many times. He has been predicting what we are watching unfolding. People really do not realize how bad things are.

calling for the banning of flouride and the dangers of poisoning -

ENOUGH!!! Can we just knock it off with all the doom-and-gloom in this place??? I swear I'm gonna bite my hand (or something else) if I see one more post about hoarding food and stocking on ammo. It's not the end of the world. Jesus is not coming yet. No Armageddon yet. It's just the market's response to years of greed, laxity, crookedness and all-around incompetence. Granted, times are tough, and livelihoods are on the balance, but we need to hang tough and ride the storm. I come from a place in which a decade ago the banking system actually...

YORK, Pa. — A six-pound chunk of ice fell from the sky, through a York woman's roof and slightly injured her as she slept. The source of the ice wasn't immediately known, but experts say it might have fallen from an airplane or rocket. Mary Ann Foster says she's glad to be alive after a piece broke off and hit her on the forehead. The ice left the 66-year-old grandmother with a large bump on her head and holes in the roof and bedroom ceiling. She says the ice has a slightly fishy smell and looks like quartz.

This reader out-Andies Andy: Well I have gone outside and pulled up my Mcain/Palin sign. This election is over. I will vote for Mcain but I know that come Nov. 5 Obama will be our president-elect. I feel sorry for Sarah Palin. A once promising career will be permanently connected to the landside loss of John McCain. I weep for my children and their families. Steady on. This next month is going to be a long month. Lots of things will happen. But McCain has to make some of them happen. His charge that Obama doesn't know the difference between...

I searched for a live thread but didn't find one so here it is. The NYSE is down 136 points after the first 4 minutes.

The trillion dollar debt and the devalued dollar loom. What are you doing at home to prepare your children for the future?

My friend just called me to tell me how outraged she is that her daughter's school, Metropolitan State College of Denver, a PUBLIC institution, is shutting down for two weeks so the Teachers can volunteer at the Convention. Does this sound right to you guys? She said her daughter wants to know if she gets two weeks tuition back.