Free Republic

Twenty-three public school districts that signed their union contracts after right-to-work became law kept language in that told employees they had to financially support a union as a condition of employment, according to a study done by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Those 23 districts employed about 2,160 teachers. “There are thousands of teachers in these districts who may be misled into believing they don’t have a choice when it comes to financially supporting a union in order to keep their job,” said Audrey Spalding, director of education policy and author of the study, in a press release. Capitol...

AmericaÂ’s upper classes are now and have always been insecure. Lacking a hereditary nobility, social strivers have had to work hard to distinguish themselves from the masses when the only distinguishing feature, really, is cash. In the 19th Century, worried rich people formed "the Four Hundred" to distinguish the social "in-crowd" from the hoi polloi. America's nervous upper class, distinguished now, as it was then, by money, not heredity, is still trying desperately to distinguish itself from those gun and God lovin' American masses upon whom Obama heaped such scorn.Our social "betters" go to Ivy League schools where earnest (and...

There has been much talk about how "progressives" do not believe in individual responsibility.  There is the stereotype that liberals attribute volitional powers to firearms, that firearms cause violence.   In anticipation of the veto override  of SB656 in Missouri, Mayor Sly James gave a speech in Kansas City, MO. The transcript from fox4kc.com shows: Violence, the mayor says is committed by guns. I listened to the video of the speech.  That sentence is not recorded from Mayor James, but is reported as being said by Kerri Stowell of Fox4news.  As I heard it , she said that Mayor James...

How many people who are deliberately shot survive, compared to those who are shot and killed?  Some early work on this subject was done decades ago.    In 1985, Cook found that about 15% of assault linked gunshot victims that were known to police, died.  That would be a ratio of 5.67 to one. A recent study by the Urban Institute(pdf) helps to shed some light on this ratio.  It gives fairly precise figures for firearm assault injuries that are reported by hospitals, for Black males 15-34. By finding the ACS numbers for the population of 15-34 year old...

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 Allah and Ali at Yale TRUE EDUCATION NEEDS FREE SPEECH. POLITICAL CORRECTNESS REJECTS IT. By John Masko At the close of an inspiring August 23 address to the incoming freshman class, Yale president Peter Salovey said: “I recognize that all of us here, in different ways, might also like to live in a campus community where nothing provocative and hurtful is ever said to anyone. And that is the part that I cannot — [and] should not — promise you. For if we are not willing to be shocked, then we may not be allowing ourselves to...

Today, September 11, the Missouri House Joined the Missouri Senate in overriding Governor Nixon's (D) veto of SB 656.    From wsvn.com: The new regulations, which this time garnered the two-thirds majority needed to override Nixon's veto, take effect in about a month.  Here are the primary reforms that will be enacted with SB0656:  Guarantees the right to posses arms in public housing  Forbids physical restraint or disarmament unless there is an arrest or an articulable and reasonable suspicion of criminal activityMandates that  POST  determine the training standards for school protection officersAllows school districts to designate school protection officersForbids health...

At the recent Cleveland gun turn in event, "buy back", the public turned in 270 guns to the police.    Second amendment supporters were there in force, and purchased about 100 guns, some of the most valuable of those brought to the event, for cash.   From guns.com: “Overall we saved about 100 guns. Anything worth saving was saved. I would say less than 10 guns of actual value made it through us to get turned in to police. If the guns weren’t worth anything, we directed them over to the police to at least get something for them. And we...

Students at the rally pose to reflect their anti-police brutality slogan, ‘hands up, don’t shoot’. Students of all races gathered around the Student Union in solidarity Wednesday against police brutality and racism in reaction to the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri last month. Together Josh Odam, Christopher Young and Danielle Laroque organized the event. Odam a sophomore studying political science and legal studies said, “This rally is something that hits home for me because it could have been me, or my brother or my cousin. I don’t want to go to any more funerals with black...

Americans for Responsible Solutions Pac, the political fundraising group created to turn Gabby Giffords tragedy into a way to raise money and disarm Americans, made what I thought was a very reasonable offer. I was alerted to the offer by a member of the Arizona Citizen Defense League (AZCDL).   In short, Mark Kelly's group says that they will send you their latest propaganda book for a donation of any amount. I'll tell you more about the book itself in a second, but here's our offer. Contribute ANY amount you think is fair to support our work at Americans for...

A group calling itself the “Michigan Teachers and Allies for Change” held a rally in Ann Arbor to promote more funding for conventional K-12 schools, according to MLive. Not everything claimed at the rally, however, is accurate. The MLive story reported: “Students in Ann Arbor Public Schools saw their class sizes rise at the beginning of last year as a result of eliminated teaching positions due to budget constraints.” The district reported that it issued layoff notices to 233 teachers in the spring of 2013. However, in the fall the district told Michigan Capitol Confidential only one full-time teacher and...

Back in 2011, before giving the traditional Christmas blessing to the City of Rome and the world ("urbi et orbi"), Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the Child of Bethlehem as Savior. His Holiness said (in part): "He was sent by God the Father to save us above all from the evil deeply rooted in man and in history: the evil of separation from God, the prideful presumption of being self-sufficient, of trying to compete with God and to take his place, to decide what is good and evil, to be the master of life and death.." The Holy Father said...

...Houston Chronicle... penned by Kathy Miller, Texas Freedom Network (TFN) president... calling it "deeply flawed and politicized" and that "Texas families simply can't trust it." Miller voiced, if given her druthers, she would prefer the process to be less transparent ... "There's an unfortunate tradition in Texas of undue influence on textbook selection by nincompoops with an ax to grind. Hence, as the folks at TFN have said, 'It's critical that truly qualified individuals serve on the review teams and counter far-right efforts to politicize the textbooks." Interestingly, it was a handful of the very people the Texas AFT called...

Hunting in the United States is an extremely safe sport, much safer than swimming, football, baseball, or soccer.   Accidents are rare.   Accidents involving five year olds are rarer still.   When they happen, they make national news. In Humble, Texas, a five year old accidentally shot himself while he accompanied his 11 year old brother who was hunting dove. I started hunting independently, about the same age, often accompanied by younger brothers.  I can relate, and feel an intense sympathy for the young man, his brother, and the family.    From abc13.com: Neighbors filled in the gaps, telling us the boys...

Why are people offended by "in God we Trust" and "one nation under God"? That's where authority and power comes from that's the source of our strength comes from. That's the foundation of this nation. Much more in the interview!

Michigan Teachers and Allies for Change (M-TAC), which MLive described as “a grassroots organization started by Ann Arbor Public Schools teachers and parents,” was in the news last week for a rally in Ann Arbor seeking more money for public schools. According to MLive, the group is "non-partisan and is not affiliated with a union." The featured politicians on the stage at the rally were all Democrats: Lisa Brown, who is running for Lt. Governor, State Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, State Sen. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, State Rep. Gretchen Driskell, D-Saline; and State Rep. Adam Zemke, D-Ann Arbor. MLive...

There have been many academic studies showing that gun turn in events, also known by the propaganda term "buy back", have little or no known effect on crime.   They are considered a waste of police resources.  They are also a waste because there is no reason to destroy the valuable firearms collected, other than to send the propaganda message that guns are bad and should be destroyed. Several states have enacted legislation to stop this practice.  If those who organize these events wished to make them more effective, they would coordinate with private buyers so that valuable guns would...

Jasmine Rand, the attorney for Trayvon Martin’s family in the State of Florida v. George Zimmerman trial, spoke at Lehigh on Thursday in a lecture called “Sexualizing Race, Gendering Sex.” Trayvon Martin was a young African-American man walking home from a 7-Eleven in Sanford, Fla., late at night while wearing a hoodie and holding a package of Skittles. George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch coordinator for Martin’s gated community, shot him for “looking suspicious.” Throughout the trial that followed the incident, the phrase “I am Trayvon Martin” was used to generate support for the victim. “That phrase, it was born on...

Some Democratic politicians and other proponents of more funding for K-12 schools held a rally in Ann Arbor. State Rep. Jeff Irwin was quoted in MLive. "The crisis is real. You see the increased class sizes. You have teachers asking parents for reams of paper." For the Record says: The crisis is real. But it’s not the cost of paper or the amount taxpayers are spending on K-12 education. Like every other district in the state, the real budget killer for Ann Arbor Public Schools is its employee retirement benefits. In just two years, Ann Arbor’s costs for retiree pension...

Vatican II, in its Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity (Apostolicam Actuositatem), explains that, "The hierarchy should promote the apostolate of the laity, provide it with spiritual principles and support, direct the conduct of this apostolate to the common good of the Church, and attend to the preservation of doctrine and order. Indeed, the lay apostolate admits of different types of relationships with the hierarchy in accordance with the various forms and objects of this apostolate. For in the Church there are many apostolic undertakings which are established by the free choice of the laity and regulated by their...

I recently posted about taking Joe hunting, and how he is now capable of hunting on his own.   Joe is on the right, Jason is on the left.  Last year, Jason expressed an interest in hunting, but we were not able to make it happen.   This year, I was able to take Jason on his first hunt. I arrived to pick up the young hunters.   A mistake had been made in setting the alarm clock, so no one was up, and I was knocking on the door at 5:15 a.m.   They got up shortly, and we were able to...