Free Republic

James Gandolfini talks to Zoe about how to calm down when you feel scared.

WASHINGTON – An independent government watchdog agency is investigating allegations that President Obama's nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives retaliated against employees for whistle-blowing, FoxNews.com has learned. The allegations against B. Todd Jones, a Minnesota federal prosecutor who also is serving as acting director of the ATF while his nomination is pending, include claims that he mismanaged the prosecutor's office and presided over a "climate of fear." Specifically, he was accused of retaliating against whistle-blowing with "a suspension and a lowered performance appraisal." In a letter dated July 20, 2012 to the Office of Special...

Terrorism. Chaos. Fear of the future. In the age of Obama, America is undergoing a “fundamental transformation” – that much everyone knows. But what few seem to realize about this transformation is that the sheer stress of living in today’s America is driving tens of millions to the point of illness, depression and self-destruction. Consider the following trends: Suicide has surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of injury death for Americans. Even more disturbing, in the world’s greatest military, more U.S. soldiers died last year by suicide than in combat; Fully one-third of the nation’s employees suffer chronic debilitating...

The NRA’s initial proposal of armed school guards was met with an irrational chorus of protests. More guns aren’t the answer, was the cry. And the leading crier was the White House’s expert skeet shooter. In a country where law enforcement is heavily armed and gunmen are stopped by gunmen in uniforms, a strange Swedenization had set in. The problem was not the man, it was the gun. Get rid of the guns and you stop the killing. Schools across the country are banning not the gun, but the idea of the gun. It is a conceptual prohibition that is...

Obama's Chilling Crew   By Andrew WaldenFrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, April 28, 2009 Why is there so little media investigation of the financing behind Barack Obama’s early political sponsor—and now convicted felon—Tony Rezko?      The dual US-Syrian citizen Rezko--who assisted Obama in the purchase of his Chicago mansion--was heavily funded by loans from Iraqi-British ex-Baathist billionaire Nadhmi Auchi.  According to testimony at Rezko’s trial, Obama met Auchi at an April 3, 2004 event at Rezko’s home during Obama’s 2004 US Senate campaign.  The Times of London reports discovering, “state documents in Illinois recording that Fintrade Services, a Panamanian company, lent...

Consider looking at the sky. One can often see a layer of clouds, where the sky is completely clear below a certain height, but the clouds seem to mushroom expansively, all emanating from the same height, as though resting on a great unseen glass shelf in the sky. In other, rarer, circumstances, one may happen to see a column of smoke rising, and abruptly halt and spread out horizontally, as though it has hit an invisible ceiling. The same thing happens in the mind: one travels along the paths of knowledge, absorbing information and learning all one can about a...

The people of Gaza live their lives in constant fear. Fear is what motivates their every action, their every choice in life. On one side they face the formidable might of Israel, whom they see as the enemy. Within, they face the unrelenting, barbaric control of Hamas and their leadership who consider them expendable. Whom do they fear more? Is it the Israeli reprisals or the Hamas chokehold? There is no contest here! Hamas is much more threatening to the man in the Gazan street than Israel is. Hamas is a constant threat to every Gazan individual. One false move,...

Here's a message for the politicians and Obama, you're scaring the elderly very badly. You're scaring the very people who fear God, worked hard all of their lives, built this nation and some who fought for this nation. When asked, "Have you ever seen this type of situation regarding politics before, 80s aged elderly say resoundingly, "No!". This evening during one of these impromptu interviews, as I was asking the elderly gentleman (86 years old) if he had seen this kind of political tension, his wife leaned toward me and said in a whisper, "We're scared!" He answered, "No." and...

So last week, in what was perhaps a moment of madness, I posted a request on my Facebook page: Tell me your political predictions for the year. Among the more restrained answers: “Hyperinflation,” “Civil War,” “financial collapse,” “terribly awful things.” Optimist though I am, I can’t help feeling there’s something to this downhearted consensus. After living through the most peaceful and prosperous half century that any nation has ever experienced in the history of humankind, it seems impossible to believe we would re-elect a mediocre reactionary out to “fundamentally transform” our success into failure. But we did, and that’s —...

“Simeon’s Song: What a Way to Go!” (Luke 2:22-40)This month we have been spending the Advent and Christmas seasons in the Gospel of Luke. All of our sermons have come from there, particularly from Luke’s so-called “Infancy Narrative,” chapters 1 and 2, dealing with the events surrounding the birth of Christ. We’ve especially been looking at the canticles we find in Luke 1-2, those poetic, psalm-like pieces included there. We’ve looked at three so far: Mary’s song, the Magnificat; Zechariah’s song, the Benedictus; and the song of the Christmas angels, the Gloria in Excelsis. Now today we wrap up this...

In the final days of this presidential election Barack Hussein Obama is confirming that his vision of America is based mostly on Fear and Revenge! When his Democrat supporters booed the mention of Mitt Romney and the Republican party, Obama encouraged his supporters to: “No, no, no. Don’t boo. Vote,” Obama told a crowd in Springfield, Ohio. “Voting is the best revenge.”

Obama's campaign is just about attacking Romney who he claims will turn the clock back 50 years for immigrants, women and gays. Obama’s focus is not on his own record but on tearing Romney down personally in exactly the way he decried four years ago. He seems to believe that the load road is his only route back to the White House in 2012. It is the kind of strategy that Candidate Obama in 2008 would have viewed as beneath contempt.

Rush Limbaugh thinks that in Obama's American "the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering 'yeah, right on, right on, right on.' Of course everybody said the white kid deserved it he was born a racist, he's white." Glenn Beck believes that Obama is a "a guy who has exposed himself, over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or the white culture....I'm not saying he doesn't like white people, I'm saying he has a problem...This guy is, I believe, a racist."

The ‘alert’ was a humorous way to give advice to citizens on how to prepare for such real threats as hurricanes, earthquakes, pandemics and terrorist attacks. If zombies take over, the government wants you to be prepared. The Homeland Security Department warned citizens on Thursday that the “zombies are coming,” and urged them to be ready for a walking-dead apocalypse, The Associated Press reported. The zombie “warning” is part of a public health campaign calling for citizens to be ready for disaster — to know to stock up on food, batteries and water, and to keep extra changes of clothes...

Iran’s leadership has publicly stated that it would crush any Israeli offensive against its nuclear facilities, but Iran’s ordinary citizens appear to feel otherwise, Channel 10 News reported on Monday. The channel spoke with several Iranian citizens who, without revealing their identities, said that there is great tension and fear among Iranians over a possible war with Israel. “The Iranians understand their current president says terrible things about Israel,” said one Iranian, a resident of Bushehr. “You can be sure that not all Iranians agree with the behavior of their leaders.” The Iranian, who was identified as H., admitted that,...

Politics: Pundits hope a Romney/Ryan presidential ticket will spark a much needed, serious and sober discussion about big issues. Don't bet on it. These days Democrats want only to scare voters, not enlighten them. [snip] There's no question that a sober discussion about the proper size and scope of government would be welcome. And Ryan has proved himself more than capable of engaging in such a dialogue. But don't expect anything even remotely resembling that from today's Democrats. The party of FDR these days is only interested in one thing: spreading fear.

Video: Courageous cat scares off scaredy-cat bear In a battle between a big, black bear and your average house cat, who would win? In the case of one fearless feline, the answer is not what you'd think. Petsami, an online animal entertainment network from the creators of America's Funniest Home Videos, posted this hilarious YouTube clip of a massive black bear being chased off by a courageous cat. The hapless bear is just doing what bears do, lumbering about and sniffing stuff, when out of nowhere appears a black and white cat. The bear is clearly shocked, and beats a...

I am 25 years old. That is pretty young, in the grand scheme of things. Still, I am an adult--I am married, I am a voter, I am a taxpayer...in short, I am a grown up. But the recent news stories have reduced me to a cowering five-year-old, wanting to hide in my father's lap. But, I am a grown up now, and there is nobody's lap to hide in. Watching the news stories, I keep thinking of my history classes. I remember being shocked at some of the things that happened in history, being offended by them, being glad...

‘Fear of the Future’ Keeps Lid on Economic Growth: Greenspan ECONOMY, INFLATION, EMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, MANUFACTURING, CPI, CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, JOBLESS CLAIMS Posted By: Jeff Cox | CNBC.com Senior Writer CNBC.com | 01 Jun 2012 | 07:39 AM ET Investors could revolt at a moment's notice against high government deficit levels, jeopardizing chances at a recovery and potentially sending interest rates soaring, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told CNBC. The former central bank leader — nicknamed "The Maestro" by his supporters — said he worries the current economy could be heading on a path similar to 1979, when the 10-year...

A friend who is a long-suffering teacher at a Massachusetts public school called to let me know that the state's schools remain proudly moronic and bigoted. She notes that when one tries to open Free Republic on any school computer, they get a message warning them that the site is blocked for being unsuitable for viewing. However, Daily Kos, Democratic Underground, Huffington Post, Obama for Re-election, and other "balanced" sites can be opened at the click of a few keys. My friend mentors a club at her school. She says the kids are bright and inquisitive but filled with total...