Free Republic

There is something very wrong when the sitting president refuses to divulge huge pieces of information about his background. What is he hiding? Maybe the “birthers” were a little extreme, but is there something wrong with this “manufactured candidate,” whose history remains sealed from public view? What is he hiding? Could the “Hawaii birth certificate” be a forgery? Is there something much worse—like “sponsorship” by an unnamed special interest? I don’t know. I do know that the man in the White House now is an imposter. The only question is which kind of an imposter: an incompetent “pretender” or a...

Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It’s … a drone, and it’s watching you. That’s what privacy advocates fear from a bill Congress passed this week to make it easier for the government to fly unmanned spy planes in U.S. airspace. The FAA Reauthorization Act, which President Obama is expected to sign, also orders the Federal Aviation Administration to develop regulations for the testing and licensing of commercial drones by 2015.

Funny how some projects attract the EPA like flies to, well, you know and others? Meh. The LA Times reports: Construction cranes rise like storks 40 stories above the Mojave Desert. In their midst, the "power tower" emerges, wrapped in scaffolding and looking like a multistage rocket. Clustered nearby are hangar-sized assembly buildings, looming berms of sand and a chain mail of fencing that will enclose more than 3,500 acres of public land. Moorings for 173,500 mirrors — each the size of a garage door — are spiked into the desert floor. Before the end of the year, they will...

President Obama, I oppose your appointment of Michael Taylor, a former VP and Lobbyist for Monsanto, the widely criticized Genetically Modified (GM) food multinational, as Senior Advisor to the Commissioner at the FDA. Taylor is the same person who was Food Safety Czar at the FDA when Genetically Modified Organisms were allowed into the US food supply without undergoing a single test to determine their safety or risks. This is a travesty. Taylor was in charge of policy for Monsanto's now-discredited GM Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) which is directly linked to cancer and opposed by many medical and hospital organizations.

anuary 29, 2012 Alex Jones and Kremlin Propaganda By Ricardo Galván Estrada Following the largest anti-Kremlin protests since the alleged collapse of communism, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States of orchestrating the activities of the Russian dissident movement. In televised remarks on December 8, the former KGB colonel accused Hillary Clinton and the United States government of funding the protests and suggested that the Western powers sent a "signal" to their undercover agents to begin active measures against the country. Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/01/alex_jones_and_kremlin_propaganda.html#ixzz1kwV4DTU0

A top director at a venture capital firm that finances a controversial new online voting system donated to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and also contributed the maximum allowable to Obama’s inauguration, KleinOnline has learned. The internationally-headquartered company, SCYTL, has previously faced questions about the security of its electronic voting technologies, which are now set to be deployed in 900 U.S. jurisdictions. The firm already provides balloting for overseas U.S. military and civilian voting in nine states plus elections technologies in several districts. Concerns have also been raised about SCYTL’s ties to the Spanish government and to international venture capital firms....

SAN BERNARDINO - Army Spec. Christopher Sullivan survived a suicide bombing while serving a tour in Afghanistan for the U.S. Army last December. Now his family is on pins and needles again, after a gunman shot Sullivan during his welcome-home party Friday in San Bernardino. "My son didn't deserve this. He served his country," said his mother, Suzanne Sullivan, a San Bernardino resident. Sullivan, 22, a 2008 San Bernardino High School graduate who was stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky., was taken to a hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds. His condition was not known, but family members described him as...

The hackers known as “Anonymous,” who helped organize and support the Occupy Wall Street protests this past fall, claim to have stolen emails and credit card numbers from Stratfor, the highly respected U.S. security think tank

The Rolls-Royce has always had a history of elegance and class - until now. That prestigious reputation has been smashed by the world's most vulgar makeover of the company's iconic Ghost model. An Italian fashion design house has created a gold-covered monstrosity costing more than £1 million The Fenice Milano 'Diva' has been spray painted in 24-carat gold and the company is so proud of it they have described the model as a 'true.masterpiece.' It is fitted with the same 6-litre twin-turbocharged engine of the Ghost, giving the saloon more than 560bhp and a top speed of 155mph. Fenice Milano...

The holidays are a season for giving and spending time with loved ones. However, this year taxpayers will be adding Uncle Sam to their Christmas list. Of an identified $10.72 billion of holiday spending, 43.36 percent of the price Americans pay to celebrate Christmas is due to government taxes, fees and other costs. This season, not even Christmas trees are safe from the government grinch. The Obama Administration has applied a 15 cent tax on each Christmas tree sold, meaning government now composes 31.19 percent of the price of an average 40 dollar Christmas tree. While implementation of the tax...

In response to rumors, lies, and hearsay that have circulated regarding the 12/12 Walmart Action, we, as the General Assembly of Occupy Denver and the planners of the action in Loveland, hereby reaffirm that the 12/12 Action is and has always been a non-violent action, and that we do not and have never condoned or sanctioned violence of any kind or the destruction of property.......

Boston finally ousted its dirty smelly hippies from its park, but not before Occupy had wrecked the place, just as they wrecked Portland’s city parks, Zuccotti Park in New York and just about everywhere else they parked their fat, lazy butts. Dan O’Brien of the Boston Herald described the mess: The Utopian dreamers of Occupy Boston are leaving behind a disgusting field of filth on the formerly scenic Rose Kennedy Greenway, where trees will have to be replanted, grass resodded, sprinklers repaired or replaced and the entire area power-hosed in a massive cleanup that could take weeks. “We’re close to...

Industrial Policy: Not only do taxpayers subsidize failing green energy here, they may soon be on the hook for a Department of Energy loan to a firm owned by a Russian billionaire. Just say nyet. When a foreign firm wants to build a facility in the U.S. that hires American workers and pays American taxes, we welcome it. We'd prefer they do it with their own money, not rely on this administration's failed industrial policy to provide them with a huge taxpayer-backed loan — especially when it's owned by a billionaire who doesn't need the help. The administration's latest green...

The global dominant narrative about China is wrong, claims Gordon Chang. Don't expect it to be the 'pocketbook of last resort' that will rescue world markets from their current malaise. And don't expect its remarkable economic growth to continue. In fact, expect a "hard landing" for China - and soon. Forbes.com columnist and international lawyer Gordon Chang has spent much of his time since the early 1980s working and living in China. His primary knowledge of the country and his relationships there give him a superior understanding to how its economy is actually faring than many analysts based in the...

Is the EU and the euro in crisis? The EU is planning a new fundamental law, the Treaty for the establishment of the so called European Stability Mechanism. (ESM), the Debt Union. The draft for the ESM is now to be examined by the representatives in Parliament. Art. 8 The founding capital is 700 billion euros. Where does this amount come from? Who has calculated it and on which basis? Art. 9.3 ESM Members hereby irrevocably and unconditionally undertake to pay on demand any capital call made on them ... to be paid within 7 days of receipt. When the...

First of all, let me congratulate Rick Perry, and Republicans in general, for focusing on the idea of less spending and lower taxes. This is the complete opposite of the kind of “austerity” approach that fiscal conservatives often stumble into during times of budget distress. snip The first reaction of government insiders and their corporate cronies is never to cut themselves off, but rather to reduce important services. Thus, we get the same waste and theft as before, fewer services, and higher taxes. snip Less spending should be focused on cutting waste and graft, and preserving, as much as possible,...

A growing number of Israelis and foreign Jewish groups are expressing concern over the anti-Semitic flavor of some of the "Occupy Wall St." economic protests in the US. From the 13th century expulsion of Englands Jews to the 19th century Russian pogroms to the Nazi Holocaust, sour economic conditions have historically formed the backdrop of rising anti-Semitism.(snip) Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper called the anti-Semitic outbursts ''hard to watch,'' and an Israeli commenter said, ''It's just like pre-World War II Nazi Germany. You think blood libels can't happen in America?''

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee says the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States may be an act of war against the U.S. Sen. Carl Levin says he wants to study the implications of using the term before deciding it applies. But the Michigan Democrat said the alleged scheme might be an act of war, and was certainly a serious threat to the U.S. Levin told reporters that either way, there should be a serious response by the U.S. He declined to say what that response might be.

The Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador and blow up the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington is a clear act of war says former Rep. Pete Hoekstra and Newsmax chief Washington correspondent Ronald Kessler - with Kessler adding the plot should be answered with a U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. manufacturers are failing to fill thousands of vacant jobs, surprising when 14 million people are searching for work. Technology giant Siemens Corp., the U.S. arm of Germany's Siemens AG , has over 3,000 jobs open all over the country. More than half require science, technology, engineering and math-related skills. Other companies report job vacancies that range from six to 200, with some positions open for at least nine months. Manufacturing is hurt by a dearth of skilled workers. "What we have been saying for quite a while is that even though there is a high unemployment...