Free Republic

A new study may stimulate the old adage of respecting your elders; it says the general level of intelligence in the Western Hemisphere has declined since the Victorian Era. The study claims the IQ numbers are 14 points lower than from the 19th century. One of the authors of the study, Dr. Jan te Nijenhuis, professor of work and organizational psychology at the University of Amsterdam, says the cause of the movement toward stupidity is that smarter women have fewer children while those of lower intelligence have more children. But Dr. Gerald Crabtree, professor of pathology and developmental biology at...

WASHINGTON, May 23 (UPI) -- The Internal Revenue Service and three other U.S. government agencies will be closed Friday as employees take a forced unpaid holiday due to spending cuts. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Office of Management and Budget are also set to be closed due to furloughs, CNN Money reported. The one-day shutdown of the IRS, at a time when many people want to know when to expect their tax refund checks, is likely to have the most noticeable impact, CNN said. snip IRS offices and hotlines will...

Shot: President Obama’s speech today: Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs. Our focus must be on those who break the law. That is why I have called on Congress to pass a media shield law to guard against government over-reach. I have raised these issues with the Attorney General, who shares my concern. So he has agreed to review existing Department of Justice guidelines governing investigations that involve reporters, and will convene a group of media organizations to hear their concerns as part of that review. And I have directed the Attorney General to report...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Moving quickly to stem a raging controversy, the new acting head of the Internal Revenue Service started cleaning house Thursday by replacing the supervisor who oversaw agents involved in targeting tea party groups. A day after she refused to answer questions at a congressional hearing, Lois Lerner was placed on administrative leave, according to congressional sources. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said Lerner was asked to resign but refused, so she was placed on leave.

Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) has introduced the Keeping the Promise of IRCA Act. The bill would fulfill the border security promises, workplace verification promises, and interior enforcement promises that were never fulfilled by the 1986 amnesty bill. The bill serves as an alternative to the Gang of Eight's amnesty bill, S.744, and is a response to public opinion that's been evident in poll after poll that the border needs to be secured before dealing with other aspects of immigration reform. The Keeping the Promise of IRCA Act would: •Require all employers to use E-Verify within 2 years •Require all employers...

HOUSTON -- The man accused of hitting and killing a Harris County sheriff’s deputy while driving drunk was in the country illegally, a judge said in court overnight. Andres Munos-Munos, 23, was charged with intoxication manslaughter in the death of Sgt. Dwayne Polk. According to the Houston Police Department, Munos-Munos allegedly ran a red light on Little York at N. Shepherd and hit Polk's personal truck shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday. HPD said there were no skid marks to indicate Munos-Munos even attempted to stop prior to the crash.

As the investigation into the Obama administration’s handling of the attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi intensifies, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are seeking to conduct transcribed interviews with thirteen top State Department officials in the coming weeks in order to learn more. Those named in the letter include a wide range of current and former State Department personnel, from senior advisers to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to mid-level career officials with responsibility for diplomatic security. Among those officials: Jacob Sullivan, then deputy chief of staff and director of policy planning (and currently national security adviser to Vice President Joe...

RAMALLAH: Peace between Israel and the Palestinians is a "priority," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on a visit to the region on Thursday, warning that time was running out for a two-state solution. "The prospects of a two-state solution cannot be kept alive forever as the situation changes," he told reporters from the seat of the Palestinian presidency in the West Bank city Ramallah. "The two-state solution does not have much longer, there is not much more time in which it could be brought about," he emphasised. Hague's visit to Ramallah followed a meeting between Abbas and US Secretary...

See for yourself. Issa’s committee was told last year that the report would be ready in September, two months before the election. Eight months later, the bomb finally dropped. Why? Did the IG initially underestimate the volume of malfeasance and how long it would take to dig it up? Or are there other, more cynical reasons?Even if the report wasn’t ready, Issa claims the IG had a statutory obligation to keep Congress updated on its findings as they were made. He didn’t. Why not? Issa is referring to part of the Inspector General Act that requires watchdogs to report serious...

IRS Scandal: The inexplicable raid nearly two years ago on a guitar maker for using allegedly illegal wood that its competitors also used was another targeting by this administration of its political enemies. On Aug. 24, 2011, federal agents executed four search warrants on Gibson Guitar Corp. facilities in Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., and seized several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. One of the top makers of acoustic and electric guitars, including the iconic Les Paul introduced in 1952, Gibson was accused of using wood illegally obtained in violation of the century-old Lacey Act, which outlaws trafficking in...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama was interrupted three times by a woman who shouted about drones and detainees in Cuba as he delivered a speech on national security. The woman was identified as Medea Benjamin from the anti-war group Code Pink. Benjamin yelled from behind a bank of cameras before security removed her from the hall at National Defense University in Washington.

Story highlights: Lois Lerner, the embattled director of Exempt Organizations at the IRS, served as head of the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) enforcement division from 1986 until 2001. While there, the FEC sued the Christian Coalition for allegedly conspiring with political candidates. During the case, representatives for the FEC asked intrusive questions on religion of several people involved, including Lt. Col. Oliver North. At one point, a representative demanded to know details regarding Pat Roberstson praying for North after reading a letter from North to Robertson indicating as much. The group’s attorney also noted that during the investigation third parties...

Via Joel Gehrke, a scene from the intramural debate over the debt ceiling between Maverick McCain and the Paul/Lee/Cruz tea-party coalition. If you read Erika’s post last night, you already know the background. The tea partiers are threatening to block the Senate’s budget from being sent to the House for a conference committee unless Reid assures them that whatever emerges won’t raise the debt ceiling. (Or, if it does, that 60 votes will be required for passage rather than the simple majority typically required for budget bills.) Reid won’t budge on that — yet. McCain, who’s been busy lately recouping...

Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday.

MILWAUKEE – Deidri Hernandez’s seven-year-old son won’t be in school tomorrow, after officials at Tippecanoe School for the Arts and Humanities confirmed they’re still holding “Switch It Up Day” – a time for students to come dressed as members of the opposite sex. Hernandez tells EAGnews the day was originally billed as “Gender Bender Day,” but Tippecanoe officials made the name change after she called Principal Jeffrey Krupar to complain. The Milwaukee mother was not impressed. “I didn’t have a problem with the title. I had a problem with the activity taking place,” Hernandez says. She says it’s “ridiculous” and...

The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release May 23, 2013 Remarks of President Barack Obama It’s an honor to return to the National Defense University. Here, at Fort McNair, Americans have served in uniform since 1791– standing guard in the early days of the Republic, and contemplating the future of warfare here in the 21st century. For over two centuries, the United States has been bound together by founding documents that defined who we are as Americans, and served as our compass through every type of change. Matters of war and peace are no different. Americans...

A long-simmering feud between establishment Republicans and tea partyers is in full view again with Sen. John McCain accusing younger colleagues of using tactics that might tempt Democrats to change Senate rules that now protect the minority party. How to deal with the government’s debt and spending became the latest quarrel between the GOP’s 2008 presidential candidate and tea party champions such as Senators Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah. …

President Barack Obama says supporting transitions to democracy in unstable regions like the Middle East will remain a key part of his strategy for fighting terrorism. … He cited as an example the need to support those in Syria who are fighting to overthrow the government. He cautioned, however, that ending tyranny in Syria must not give way to “the tyranny of terrorism.” …

The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release May 23, 2013 Background Briefing by Senior Administration Officials on the President's Speech on Counterterrorism Via Conference Call 12:03 P.M. EDT MS. HAYDEN: Hi, guys. Thanks for joining, and apologies for a slight delay. We're here talking today about the speech the President is about to give at 2:00 p.m. at National Defense University on counterterrorism. This call is on background, attributable to senior administration officials. This call is embargoed until 2:00 p.m. when the President speaks. We actually don't have a lot of time so we'll go ahead...

The man gunned down execution-style at the Southlake Town Center Wednesday was an attorney linked to a major Mexican drug cartel who had been living with his family in a secure, gated community with his wife and at least one child, NBC 5 has learned. Four separate law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation identified the victim as Juan Jesus Guerrero-Chapa, 43, of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Chapa has been named in various Mexican news reports as a lawyer for the Gulf Cartel, one of the largest and most violent drug organizations in Mexico.

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today dismissed a lawsuit brought by the radical anti-hunting Center for Biological Diversity and six other groups demanding the Environmental Protection Agency ban traditional ammunition containing lead components. Traditional ammunition represents 95 percent of the U.S. market and is the staple ammunition for target shooters, hunters and law enforcement, with more than 10 billion rounds sold annually. NSSF filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit last August. The court today agreed with NSSF that EPA does not have the authority to regulate traditional ammunition under the Toxic Substances...

This morning on a radio show, New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner admitted that more lewd photos could come out: “It is what it is,” Weiner told the radio host in his first live interview since announcing his mayoral bid. “People may decide they want to come forward and say, here’s another email that I got or another photo. I’m certainly not going to do that. So people may hear things that are true, they may hear things that are not true, but I’m going to try to keep being focused on issues that are important to New York...

“Ma’am, let me finish. Let me finish ma'am," said Obama. "This is part of free speech is you being able to speak but also you listening. And me being able to speak. All right?”

This would be an A-list political story if it weren't buried beneath the avalanche of scandal that's consumed the nation's attention and undermined the president's approval ratings in recent weeks. We reported on Monday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is maneuvering to execute the so-called "nuclear option" on filibusters of executive appointments, perhaps as soon as July. Since the game plan was initially sketched out by a liberal blogger in the Washington Post (who also confirmed that the White House has bestowed its blessing on the power grab), more circumstantial evidence has emerged that appears to confirm Reid's intentions:...

Lois Lerner, the Internal Revenue Service’s director of exempt organizations, has been placed on administrative leave, according to a source in the agency’s Cincinnati office. Lerner on Thursday afternoon sent an e-mail to employees in the exempt organizations division she oversees stating, “Due to the events of recent days, I am on administrative leave starting today. An announcement will be made shortly informing you who will be acting while I am on administrative leave. I know all of you will continue to support EO’s mission during these difficult times.” She concluded, “I thank you for all your hard work and...

Dr. Anthony Levatino is a pro-life physician from New Mexico but, before having a change of heart on the issue of abortion he was an OBGYN who also performed abortions.Levatino did as many as 1,200 abortions — some of them after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Then, after his daughter died in a tragic automobile accident, he re-evaluated his position on abortion and stopped doing abortions.Today, Dr. Levatino told members of a Congressional committee that they should support a bill sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks that would ban abortions nationwide aft 20 weeks of pregnancy. Levatino Testimony 2013 05/23 - You...

Dismissing a veto threat from President Barack Obama, lawmakers in the House passed legislation that links student loan rates to the ups and downs of the financial markets in a vote largely along party lines. The Republican-backed bill would allow students to dodge a scheduled rate hike for students with new subsidized Stafford loans next month, but rates could rise in coming years. Democrats largely opposed the measure—which they branded the “Making College More Expensive Act”—while the Republican chairman of the Education Committee labeled the legislation a starting point for negotiations with the Senate and White House. … Interest rates...

A young Michelle Obama once dated the inspector general who recently uncovered the IRS scandal, according to a bombshell report. The future First Lady, then known as Michelle Robinson, reportedly dated J. Russell George, the current IRS top watchdog responsible for investigating the widening trouble at the tax agency, while the two were at Harvard Law School in the 1980s, the National Journal reported. First lady Michelle Obama and George were both in the Black Law Students Association at Harvard Law School. The power pair were both members of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and graduated together in 1988,...

Every day brings new revelations about who knew what about the IRS targeting conservative groups during President Obama's re-election campaign, but the overall impression is of a vast federal bureaucracy run amok. While the White House continues to peddle the story of a driverless train wreck, taxpayers are being treated to a demonstration of the dangers of an unwieldy and unaccountable administrative state. Look, Ma, no hands! In his press events, Mr. Obama has said that while he learned about the Cincinnati rogues on the news, he plans to "hold accountable those who have taken these outrageous actions." But the...

Lois Lerner didn’t just take the Fifth. She gave a little speech first saying she had done nothing wrong. That certainly opens her up to some questions, although the extent to which it does is debatable. Imagine the following sequence of questions: 1) Did you do anything wrong? 2) Do you think that it would be wrong to target conservative groups because of their ideology? 3) Did you target conservative groups because of their ideology? Given that Lois Lerner gave an opening statement in which she said that she had not done anything wrong, it would be interesting to see...

The gilded lifestyle of MEPs has been compared to the uncontrolled excesses of ancient Rome after research showed their perks have not been dented despite biting austerity measures. From Italian MEPs who enjoy free haircuts to Maltese ones who get 52 free gallons of petrol a month, the perks—and expenses—continue unabated for the representatives of European Union nations. MEPs from the 27 EU nations are paid salaries of £137 million ($207 million) a year, according to research by German pricing watchdog Preisvergleich.de, and some earn 740 percent more than the average citizen. …

<p>PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Surrounded by engineers, NASA chief Charles Bolden inspected a prototype spacecraft engine that could power an audacious mission to lasso an asteroid and tow it closer to Earth for astronauts to explore.</p> <p>Bolden checked on the progress Thursday a month after the Obama administration unveiled its 2014 budget that proposes $105 million to jumpstart the mission, which may eventually cost more than $2.6 billion.</p>

WASHINGTON — While momentum has been building inside the House Republican conference for a special congressional committee to investigate last year’s terrorist attacks in Benghazi, the GOP leadership is making it clear they still have no enthusiasm for establishing such a committee. About two-thirds of House Republicans — 153 in total — have signed on to the resolution offered by Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia to establish “a select committee to investigate and report on the attack on the United States consulate in Benghazi, Libya.” “I think there’s a lot of frustration up here among members that the stuff that’s...

David Cameron warned restive Tory MPs he will not change policy on an EU referendum yesterday—but promised there would be no more divisive issues such as gay marriage. Seeking to draw a line under a turbulent fortnight, the Prime Minister said his party could now rally behind his pledge to give voters an in/out choice on British membership of the EU by 2017, following an attempt to claw back key powers. He warned Euroskeptics who may seek further concessions: “It’s a very clear, very decisive policy. [It] doesn’t matter the pressure I come under from outside the Conservative Party or...

VCU Holds Second Lavender Graduation Cassie Williams Jones University Public Affairs (804) 828-7028 cwjones@vcu.edu 5/2/2013 Approximately 40 graduating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex seniors participated in the second VCU Lavender Graduation on April 26. Lavender Graduation is a special graduation ceremony that honors the achievements of graduating gender and sexual minority students on campus. Participants received a rainbow cord to wear with their academic regalia at the university’s official commencement activities on May 11. “It was such a delight to be part of the second annual Lavender Graduation planning group and to see the room full of people...

Conservative Republicans said Wednesday that they will demand that Congress produce a budget that balances in 10 years in exchange for agreeing to raise the federal debt limit, and that House Speaker John A. Boehner promised as much during a GOP retreat this year. ... The next debt fight is looming later this year. If enough Republicans back the conservatives‘ plan, it could reprise the 2011 showdown that ran to the brink and led to the downgrading of U.S. debt by one of the major credit rating agencies.

Pelosi: Obama 'Doesn’t Know About Everything That Is Going on in Every Agency of Gov't’ May 23, 2013 By Elizabeth Harrington (CNSNews.com) - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday during a press conference on Capitol Hill that the buck doesn't stop with President Barack Obama on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) scandal, because he cannot "know about everything that is going on in every agency of government." "Well, the president doesn’t know about everything that is going on in every agency of government," Pelosi said in response to a reporter asking, “Doesn’t the buck stop with him (Obama)?...

President Obama was heckled during his national security speech today: "Why don't you sit down," the president told the heckler. "You should let me finish my sentence. Code Pink's Medea Benjamin. video, c/o Drudge

The taxi magnate who said he was subjected to a profanity-laced rant by Mayor Bloomberg has filed a federal lawsuit charging the mayor with threatening him and siccing TLC inspectors on his fleet in retaliation for his opposition to the “Taxi of Tomorrow” plan. * * * “It’s deeply disappointing and terribly disturbing that the mayor will use his powers to try to beat people who disagree with him into oblivion,” said Steve Mintz, the lawyer representing [Taxi Club Management CEO Gene] Freidman.

Not everyone agrees on how immigration reform should be handled but most real estate professionals agree it could be a good thing for their industry. According to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), “allowing a path for the legalization of undocumented immigrants could mean $500 billion in new real estate transactions.” NAHREP estimates that about half of the estimated 6 million undocumented immigrants presently in the country and likely to pursue legalization and citizenship would also pursue homeownership. That estimate is based on patterns of naturalized Latinos already in the country. “Foreign-born householders have a high value...

BOISE, Idaho — A lawmaker who had his firearms bill killed in the 2013 Legislature has complained to the secretary of state that it was torpedoed by lobbyists who weren't properly registered.

ACTUAL TITLE: 911 Dispatcher Tells Woman About To Be Sexually Assaulted There Are No Cops To Help Her Due To Budget Cuts JOSEPHINE COUNTY, Ore. (CBS Seattle) — An Oregon woman was told by a 911 dispatcher that authorities wouldn’t be able be able to help her as her ex-boyfriend broke into her place because of budget cuts. Oregon Public Radio reports that an unidentified woman called 911 during a weekend in August 2012 while Michael Bellah was breaking into her place. Her call was forwarded to Oregon State Police because of lay-offs at the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office only...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says Attorney General Eric Holder will review Justice Department policy on leaks investigations involving the news media. Obama says in a speech on counterterrorism Thursday he's troubled by the idea that leaks investigations may chill the investigative journalism that he says holds government accountable. In recent weeks, the administration has acknowledged secretly seizing portions of two months of phone records from The Associated Press and reading the e-mails of Fox News reporter James Rosen in separate investigations about the publication of government secrets. The president says the government has to strike the right balance...

Starting in the fall of 2010, ten leading Democrats - including Max Baucus, Chuck Schumer, and Al Franken - wrote the IRS demanding that the agency crack down on conservative groups. 500 conservative and Christian groups were illegally targeted by the Obama IRS starting in 2010. For twenty-seven months the Obama IRS refused to approve any Tea Party applications for tax-exempt status while at the same time the Obama IRS approved dozens of progressive applications. Now these same top Democrats are feigning outrage.

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Joe Scarborough lashed out at Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas for his criticism of his own party in debt-ceiling negotiations. Responding to Cruz’s comment that he did not trust the GOP to be an arbiter in the debt debate. Scarborough predicted Cruz’s “self-righteous” demeanor would be his ultimate undoing as a member of the U.S. Senate. “It’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun when Ted Cruz is standing in line in the cloak room to get hot dogs,” Scarborough said. “This is a guy that has obviously decided...

Dozens of protesters clashed with police in Woolwich, south London on Wednesday night following the brutal killing of a London man in broad daylight by Muslim extremists. (VIDEO-AT-LINK)

On “Fox News Sunday” last weekend, White House aide Dan Pfeiffer was asked about President Barack Obama’s whereabouts the night of the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi. This was the night when we lost our first ambassador in 30 years, and when three other Americans were killed in an attack that lasted all night long at multiple locations within the eastern Libyan city. Since the president is commander in chief, one would think where he was and what he did during such an event would be of obvious public concern. Not according to Pfeiffer. He deemed the president’s location, and...

Hard to imagine a more demoralizing order for a soldier than to tell him to take off the uniform and hide after an enemy’s attack. And the powers that be know it: They’re stressing that the order’s temporary in order to blunt public indignation over their decision. The twisted punchline here is that the victim yesterday wasn’t wearing a uniform. The two degenerates who murdered him apparently targeted him because they saw him entering or exiting a barracks. There’s the next move, presumably — evacuate the barracks nationwide until they’re safe. For soldiers. Defence sources said the order had been...

oBAMA ON CSPAN NOW.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new round of military base closings is going nowhere in Congress.</p> <p>The House Armed Services readiness subcommittee passed a bill Thursday rejecting the Obama administration's request for more domestic base closings.</p> <p>Military leaders are cutting the number of troops and argue the drawdown will leave them with more installations than they need. The money saved by closing unused facilities can be spent on training and other essential operations.</p>