Free Republic

Occupy Protesters Consider Political FutureBy Don Gonyea Thu., December 1, 2011 3:45am (EST) **SNIP** One who has been watching the Occupy movement closely is Van Jones, an activist who once worked in the Obama White House, and who now heads an organization called Rebuild the Dream. Jones has spoken at Occupy encampments and met with those working on the next steps. He thinks that the movement can work on multiple fronts. Protests and demonstrations are important, Jones says, but so too are elections. "There's no reason to do an either or here. This can be one of the biggest movements...

GOP candidate speaks out on 'Your World'

BOSTON (AP) -- Rep. Barney Frank's decision to step down at the end of his term is the latest jolt to the bruised ego of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, which once counted Kennedys, House speakers and a president among its ranks. Instead, some of the state's best-known political figures are now Republicans, among them Sen. Scott Brown and presidential candidate Mitt Romney. "For a long time, Massachusetts Democrats have felt they played a special role in the national Democratic Party," said Tufts University political science professor Jeffrey Berry. "I think that has gone at this point. There is no one...

Nice to listen to on many fronts.

Get Ready! Listen up – Because your space playbook is about to really change. There’s a new gunslinger in Dodge and he’s huge. He’s hungry. He’s very wealthy. He’s ambitious, (like we used to be). And he is not American. He has already started to play the Game and we are unaware. We don’t even know what the Game is. What is the Game? The Game is what I call "Solar System Monopoly". This will characterize the 21st and 22nd centuries and beyond. "The Hell you say." Yes, I say -- and if we ignore this it shall be at...

"...First, identify prominent purveyors of global warming doom-and-gloom. The bigger the media ham, the better. For a jumping-off list, I suggest Al Gore, James Hansen, Michael Mann, Gavin Schmidt and Joe Romm. Second, whenever the purveyors of doom make ridiculous predictions about global warming, ask them to put their money where their mouths are. After all, if Al Gore can so fervently urge government to force us to spend our hard-earned money complying with his global warming predictions, he should certainly be willing to risk his own millions backing up his global warming claims. Sometimes you might get lucky and...

"...While climate is certainly an extraordinarily complicated mechanism, the facts keep pointing back to this simple fact of chemistry. Increased CO2 and methane may not be the sole cause of climate change, but it’s definitely a cause and almost certainly a major one. Now, what next? My Forbes colleague Tim Worstall argues that this is a serious situation, but one in which the human race can make “marginal changes and still survive and thrive.” I agree with him on this – as long as we act quickly. The technology is moving at a rapid pace, and the industries are catching...

The Obama administration seems surprised by how cautious consumers have been in the two years since the recession officially ended.Officially ended?I’d hasten to say the government’s definition of “officially ended” differs slightly from that of middle class America (i.e. those without the last name of Hilton, Buffet, etc.).When our homes regain the value they once had, maybe the recession has ended. When we no longer spend half our salary just to travel to work, maybe the recession has ended.Falling home prices, coupled with high energy costs and high unemployment has drained middle class America of what little wealth they had.Forget...

Yet another insane bill has passed through the madhouse called the California State Legislature and now awaits the undead governor’s signature. Indeed, one of the few signs of life he showed during the campaign that brought him back from beyond the grave was when he spoke of the joy with which he would sign such a bill if resurrected. I refer to AB 131, the second half of the so-called “California Dream Act,” which would allow illegal aliens brought to this country as children who’ve graduated from California’s public-school system to apply for college aid. Predictably, rage against this act...

Future of America: Harder Than Anything You’ve Experienced In Your Lifetime Mac Slavo July 11th, 2011 SHTFplan.com In February 0f 2009, while on the Glenn Beck show, trend forecaster Gerald Celente was asked to comment on global events and extraordinary times in which we live. His response should have been a wake up call. [It will be] Like nothing we’ve ever seen in our lifetime or I would say anyone’s life time. Since then we’ve seen not billions, but trillions upon trillions of dollars committed to bank bailouts, toxic asset purchases, stock market liquidity infusion, so-called job creation programs, tax...

Our Economic Future: From Best to Worst Case (Doug Casey) by: Doug Casey June 9, 2011 There is a great deal of uncertainty among investors about what the future of the U.S. economy may look like – so I decided to take a stab at what’s likely to happen over the next 20 years. That's enough time for a child to grow up and mature, and it's long enough for major trends to develop and make themselves felt. I’ll confine myself to areas that are, as the benighted Rumsfeld might have observed, “known unknowns.” I don’t want to deal with...

The theoretical physicist and author of 'Physics of the Future' talks about how nanotechnology will change our lives.Will the future bring us the teleportation devices of "Star Trek" or the sinister machines of "The Matrix"? Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku of the City College of New York says that many of the things that were once the domain of science fiction — cars that navigate rush-hour traffic on their own, wallpaper that can switch colors when you remodel, an elevator that takes you into outer space — are already here, or well on their way. His book "Physics of the Future,"...

Today’s attack on Jewish worshippers at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus needs to be understood as something more significant than just another unfortunate instance of violence between Jews and Arabs. It is nothing less than a warning of what will happen once Palestinians achieve full sovereignty, as the Obama administration appears to be demanding, over all of the West Bank. The incident occurred when a group of religious Jews, members of the Breslov hasidic sect visited the Jewish holy site this morning unaccompanied by Israeli soldiers. The tomb is located in the city of Nablus

Growing up, physicist Michio Kaku had two heroes. The first, predictably enough for the man who co-founded a branch of string theory, was Albert Einstein. "Second?" he said. "I used to watch 'Flash Gordon.' " Kaku, author of the new book "Physics of the Future: How Science Will Change Daily Life by 2100," combines those two loves on the Science Channel, where he hosts "Sci Fi Science" and a tech-themed segment introducing reruns of sci-fi series "Firefly," which airs at 10 p.m. ET Sundays.

In January, I posted a column which dealt with the topic of Futurist Predictions for 2011. Within that article, I spoke of marketing and trend guru Faith Popcorn's research as to where our culture, economics and mindsets were headed in the coming year. Well, Ms. Popcorn has refined her 2011 predictions even more and is dubbing this year as "The year of En-Gen." "En-Gen" is an abbreviation of "end of gender," and Popcorn's posse of trend trackers feels that there is a fuzzy-ing of the gender differences which have existed for most of our collective lives! It seems that men...

WASHINGTON -Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday she does not want to stay in her job if President Barack Obama wins a second term in 2012. The nation's top diplomat also firmly said she neither has plans to mount another White House bid nor interest in other posts, such as vice president or defense secretary. Clinton, visiting Cairo, was asked whether she would stay on in a second Obama term. She also was asked if she would like the jobs of president, vice president or defense secretary. She offered single word responses to each: "No." Speculation about Clinton's...

The ongoing Census reveals the continuing evolution of America’s cities from small urban cores to dispersed, multi-polar regions that includes the city’s surrounding areas and suburbs. This is not exactly what most urban pundits, and journalists covering cities, would like to see, but the reality is there for anyone who reads the numbers. To date the Census shows that growth in America’s large core cities has slowed, and in some cases even reversed. This has happened both in great urban centers such as Chicago and in the long-distressed inner cities of St. Louis, Baltimore, Wilmington, Del., and Birmingham, Ala. This...

"'Becoming a grandmother at 29 is my worst nightmare' says mum after discovering her 14-year-old daughter is pregnant" A woman who is set to become Britain's youngest grandmother at 29 said it was 'her worst nightmare' when she discovered her 14-year-old daughter was pregnant. Kelly John said she always hoped Tia would not repeat her mistake and become pregnant at 14. But after getting over the shock, the grandmother-to-be has vowed to do 'everything' to bring up the new baby.

Members of an African American Student Union were left open-mouthed and outraged after a white, freshman was hired for a top job within the group. Torey McCleskey, a first year student at University of North Florida, was handed the coveted assistant director role, after a unanimous decision from the institution's Senate. However AASU members argue that Mr McCleskey, an athletic training and sports medicine student, has never actually set foot in the AASU's office.

JANUARY 13, 2011 Prices Soar on Crop Woes U.S. Cuts Global Grain Supply Outlook; Higher Prices Expected at Grocery Stores. By SCOTT KILMAN And LIAM PLEVEN Evidence of tightening global food supplies grew as the U.S. Agriculture Department cut its estimates for global harvests of key crops and raised some demand forecasts, adding to worries about rising food prices. Prices of corn and soybeans leapt 4% Wednesday and wheat gained 1%, continuing the broad rally in commodity prices that began in June. With yesterday's gains, prices of corn futures contracts are now up 94% from their June lows; soybeans are...