Free Republic

(Watch Dog) – The federal government’s dream of a renewable energy empire hinges on a scrubby outpost here, where scientists and executives doggedly explore a new frontier. If you live outside Colorado, you probably haven’t heard of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory – NREL for short. It’s the place where solar panels, windmills and corn are deemed the energy source of the future and companies who support such endeavors are courted. It’s also the place where highly paid staff decide how to spend hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. And the public pays those decision-makers well: NREL’s top executive, Dr....

The world's 100 richest people earned a stunning total of $240 billion in 2012 – enough money to end extreme poverty worldwide four times over, Oxfam has revealed, adding that the global economic crisis is further enriching the super-rich. “The richest 1 percent has increased its income by 60 percent in the last 20 years with the financial crisis accelerating rather than slowing the process,” while the income of the top 0.01 percent has seen even greater growth, a new Oxfam report said. For example, the luxury goods market has seen double-digit growth every year since the crisis hit, the...

In the week since news surfaced that a Chicago man was poisoned to death with cyanide just before he was to collect a lottery payout, surprising details about his convoluted family saga have trickled out daily. Urooj Khan's widow and siblings fought for months over the businessman's estate, including the lottery check. His father-in-law owed tens of thousands of dollars in taxes.

President Obama cut a video, distributed by his reelection, to reiterate his belief that the wealthiest Americans still aren’t paying their “fair share” of taxes and to outline a second-term agenda ranging from environmental policy to gun control. Obama started by celebrating the tax increases — “making our tax code more progressive than it’s been in decades,” he said — that will take place because of the fiscal cliff deal. “Obviously, there is still more to do when it comes to reducing our debt,” Obama said in the video. “And I’m willing to do more, as long as we do...

What is going to happen to our 401 (k) accounts and IRA’s after January 1? Will the retirement accounts which many Americans have sacrificed so much to accumulate be rolled over into federally issued and guaranteed bonds in order to prop up notoriously under-funded, union pension funds across the country? Getting an answer will prove to be daunting, especially as media attention seems focused on little but the impending “fiscal cliff.” Listening to a poignant, impromptu speech given by Linda from St. Lucie County during the Allen West recount makes clear just how hard she worked to raise three daughters...

The president and CEO of conservative group American Majority Action (AMA) is demanding Republicans band together to fire House Speaker John Boehner. “Speaker Boehner has been an abysmal failure as speaker, and his latest purge is the nail in the coffin for conservatives,” AMA’s Ned Ryun said in a statement. “Boehner has never won a negation battle with the White House or Senate—and he’s been nothing short of an embarrassing spokesman for the Conservative Movement. It’s time for him to go.” Ryun pointed out, too, that if conservatives want to unseat Boehner, they’d only need 16 members to abstain from...

Bad mortgage loans, obscured through complex and unregulated investment instruments, cost taxpayers billions WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy is slowly making a recovering from a near-collapse and the worst recession since the Great Depression. But what brought on the subprime mortgage crisis that led to huge financial losses, a decline in wealth for much of the country, a GDP drop of 5 percent for the period from Dec. 2007 to June 2009, and an official unemployment rate that peaked at 10.0 percent in Oct. 2009? “Very few people understand [what happened],” said University of Maryland Professor Michael Greenberger at the Center for...

If the United States were a healthy meritocracy, where talent and hard work pretty much determined how far we go in life, fair-minded people wouldn’t be demanding that rich people pay more in taxes. The general feeling would be that the race is fair and the wealthy have earned all they’ve got. The rest of us just have to work harder and smarter. But by no honest reckoning is the United States the “land of opportunity” it once was, and the race looks less fair every day. Advantages and opportunities are skewed to the few against the many, as is...

Steve Jobs' yacht was unveiled in a Dutch shipyard on Sunday, where the unusual boat designed by Jobs and famed minimalist designer Philippe Starck was christened "Venus," after the Roman goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, prosperity and victory. According to Dutch website OneMoreThing, the finished ship was launched at shipbuilder Koninklijke De Vries in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands. Jobs' widow Laurene and three of their children, Reed, Erin and Eve, were at the ceremony. The Jobs family gave each of the members of the shipbuilding staff an elegant thank-you note, along with a token gift of their appreciation ? an...

Sigourney Weaver, Cynthia Nixon and Geena Davis have been invited to perform in a presidential-themed stage show to raise funds for U.S. leader Barack Obama's re-election campaign. Director Mick Nichols is to helm the production, in which stars who have played the President, First Lady or a member of the White House-dwelling family onscreen, will perform for Obama's wife Michelle.

The University of California has agreed to pay about $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by UC-Davis students who were pepper-sprayed by campus police during an Occupy-style protest on campus last November.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Monday said Chicago teachers are turning their backs on thousands of students and that President Barack Obama is rooting for the striking educators. Obama's top spokesman said the president has not taken sides but is urging both the teachers and the city to settle quickly. Chicago's mayor, Obama ally Rahm Emanuel, called Romney's statement "lip service"... .....Romney released a statement that promised to "side with the parents and students depending on public schools to give them the skills to succeed." He said he was "disappointed" with Chicago teachers, who walked off the job in...

... People have forked over up to $250 bucks for sneakers named after NBA stars. But now, if you want the latest LeBrons, which are set to debut this fall, you're going to have to lay down $315 to get them.

The Chicago Teachers Union made headlines a few months ago when it was revealed that the union was demanding a 30 percent raise in its new contract proposal. Such an enormous raise – regardless of the supposed justification – would be unthinkable in a district with a $665 million budget deficit and a 9.8 percent unemployment rate. The school board countered with an offer of a two percent raise, which would still be a burden on the district’s overstretched budget. As a result, both the CTU and Chicago Public Schools requested an “independent” fact finder to look at both sides’...

More relevant today than ever before- you listening, self-assured Obammunist boneheads? Phil Donahue Show (1979): Donahue:  When you see around the globe the maldistribution of wealth, the desperate plight of millions of people in underdeveloped countries, when you see so few haves and so many have-nots, when you see the greed and the concentration of power... did you ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism? And whether greed is a good idea to run on? Friedman: Well first of all, is there some society you know that doesn't run on 'greed'? Do you think Russia doesn't run on 'greed'? Do...

U.S. states and localities have more than $2 trillion of unfunded pension liabilities, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday, citing data on plans offered by 8,500 local governments and over 14,000 individual entities. The total liabilities for fiscal 2010 were more than three times the amount reported by local governments. "Pension liabilities are widely acknowledged to be understated," Moody's Managing Director Timothy Blake said. Most state fiscal years end on June 30. The rising cost of public pensions has strained finances for cities around the country. Stockton, California, which last week became the biggest U.S. city to file for Chapter...

"Truly, the behaviour of some of Britain’s banks has been beyond contempt. Firstly, through greed and monumental misjudgment, they plunged Britain into a recession that could last a decade and which threatens our children’s futures."

NEW YORK, May 30, 2012 (MeshPress) — Milberg LLP announces that class action lawsuits were filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”) FB -2.29% common stock pursuant to the Company’s May 18, 2012 initial public offering (the “IPO”). Actions were also filed in the Northern District of California. The complaints charge Facebook, certain of its officers and directors, and underwriters of the IPO with violations of the Securities Act of 1933. The actions allege that the Registration Statement and Prospectus issued with the IPO were...

After the 2001 terrorist attacks, California lawmakers sought a way to channel the patriotic fervour and use it to help victims' families and law enforcement. Their answer: specialty memorial license plates emblazoned with the words, 'We Will Never Forget.' Part of the money raised through the sale of the plates was to fund scholarships for the children of California residents who perished in the attacks, while the majority - 85 per cent - was to help fund anti-terrorism efforts. But an Associated Press review of the $15 million collected since lawmakers approved the 'California Memorial Scholarship Program' shows only a...

Sean Hannity exposed much about B. Hussein Obama lately taken from Obama's own words from his Book: "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance". He said many outlandish things; talked about his drug and alcohol abuse, hanging out with "Marxist Professors", etc. But, IMO, the most damning thing that he wrote and said was this statement: "White Folk's Greed Runs a World In Need" "White Folk's Greed....." That should go viral in every newspaper, cable news network, as well as GOP and Super PAC ads during this 2012 Presidential Election. Where is the outrage? Is anyone, besides...

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican who serves on the Senate Banking Committee, has called for a hearing on the $2-billion trading loss by JPMorgan Chase & Co., saying that "policies are going to be derived out of what’s happened." Corker, who was a key participant in the debate over the 2010 financial reform law, said it was important for policymakers to get the facts about the situation and whether pending regulations would have prevented it.

Grumbling grows on left over slow-going in Wall Street crisis investigationsBy Peter Schroeder - 04/26/12 07:30 AM ET Roughly four years after the financial crisis hit, some on the left are wondering when, or even if, the Obama administration plans to pursue criminal prosecutions of the Wall Street figures that played a major role in the meltdown. Top White House officials, including the president himself, have vowed the slow, steady work of investigations is underway, and that those who broke the law on Wall Street will ultimately be held accountable. But despite those promises, there is scant public proof of...

With Congress deadlocked, President Obama is increasingly resorting to executive orders and recess appointments to achieve his objectives.

Lionsgate has already booked a November 2013 release date for the wildly-anticipated sequel to The Hunger Games,Catching Fire. But might the studio have trouble meeting this deadline? The question arises because negotiations aren't going smoothly with director Gary Ross, who executives want to return based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews for the first installment of the franchise. Ross earned $3 million for The Hunger Games - plus back-end profits - and, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter, is angling for a major sequel raise. All other major players have signed on for both Catching Fire and Mockingjay -from Jennifer Lawrence to...

The mother of slain teen Trayvon Martin wants to trademark her son's name in the slogans, "I am Trayvon" and "Justice for Trayvon," according to two petitions filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Federal documents show Sybrina Fulton, the teen's mother, is the owner of the trademark petitions, which were filed online March 21 by her attorneys Kimra Major-Morris and Natalie Jackson of the Women's Trial Group. The trademarks, if granted, would cover digital materials, including DVDs, CDs and audio recordings featuring Trayvon. Each trademark application costs $325.

The mother of slain Trayvon Martin recently filed a trademark to protect the rights to his name as an attempt to control- and collect funds from- the masses of merchandise being produced in support of their cause. It was revealed today that Sabrina Fulton, the boy’s mother, filed two petitions last week to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to specifically gain the rights to the phrases ‘I Am Trayvon’ and ‘Justice For Trayvon’, both of which have been frequently used by protesters across the country. The trademark application shows that she is specifically looking for control of the use...

How much would you pay to watch a replay of a great play, or skip a bunch of television commercials? And should you have to? Those are a couple of the questions raised by a newly surfaced Microsoft patent application. It’s called “Control-based Content Pricing,” and the basic idea is dynamic pricing of video content, based on the preferences of the user at any given moment — essentially setting different prices for different functions of the TV remote. Here’s an excerpt from the filing. For example, if a user initiates a navigation control input to advance past (e.g., skip over)...

Most people do not realize but there is a Commodity Empire that is run by New York’s biggest banks/Investment Banks that are in a continued struggle with the Federal Reserve over the right to retain the power of their commodity trading empires. They control the storage warehouses, storage tanks, and silos constituting hard assets worth multi-billions of dollars. But it also gives them inside information regarding inventories and the ability to manipulate the prices by moving inventory back and forth to unreported warehouses or to London. ----------------------- Page 2----------------------- At the center of this power struggle has been the issue...

The rich really are different from the rest of us, scientists have found — they are more apt to commit unethical acts because they are more motivated by greed. People driving expensive cars were more likely than other motorists to cut off drivers and pedestrians at a four-way-stop intersection in the San Francisco Bay Area, UC Berkeley researchers observed. Those findings led to a series of experiments that revealed that people of higher socioeconomic status were also more likely to cheat to win a prize, take candy from children and say they would pocket extra change handed to them in...

{excerpt} Money, get away Elsewhere on the big money beat, I’m still trying to figure out how we got to a place where the top two GOP candidates are giving each other a hard time for making so much dough. It was Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street” who famously said, “Greed, for a lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit Greed . . . will . . . save that . . . malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.” A quarter-century later, a story...

Last week's column started off asking: "What human motivation gets the most wonderful things done?" The answer is that human greed is what gets wonderful things done. I wasn't talking about fraud, theft, dishonesty, special privileges from government or other forms of despicable behavior. I was talking about people trying to get as much as they can for themselves. Think about greed and racial discrimination. In 1947, when the Brooklyn Dodgers hired Jackie Robinson, why did racial discrimination by major league teams begin to drop like a hot potato? It wasn't feelings of guilt by white owners, affirmative action or...

KEENE, N.H. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum called Friday for immediate cuts to Social Security benefits, risking the wrath of older voters and countless others who balk at changes to the entitlement program. "We can't wait 10 years," even though "everybody wants to," Santorum told a crowd while campaigning in New Hampshire and looking to set himself apart from his Republican rivals four days before the New Hampshire primary. Most of his opponents have advocated phasing in a reduction and say immediate cuts would be too big a shock to current and soon-to-be retirees.

9. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was the ninth richest member of Congress in 2010, with an average net worth of $101,123,032. Much of her wealth is based on her husband's investments in real estate, a football team and other assets. 14. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was the 14th richest member of Congress in 2010, with an average net worth of $69,046,622. Feinstein's husband has a number of investments in a diverse range of industires, including a property management firm and a biotech venture.

Colleges pay presidents millions while raising tuitionBy Blake Ellis @CNNMoney December 20, 2011: 5:22 AM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Some private colleges are paying their top executives millions of dollars, at the same time they're hiking tuition prices for students. Vanderbilt University paid its chancellor, Nicholas Zeppos, $1.9 million in 2009, according to the school's most recent tax filings -- enough for up to 43 students to attend Vanderbilt at current prices. His total pay includes a base salary of $673,002, as well as bonus and other compensation. That same year, Vanderbilt's tuition jumped 4.3%. Since then, the college...

I've never seen this guy before although I see some other threads on other topics by Bill Whittle. This one is on how Democrats have painted Republicans as the exact opposite of what history actually shows and the sheeple have bought it hook, line, and sinker. The deadpan sarcasm is priceless. Enjoy and do as I have -- e-mail a link to those misguided acquaintances of yours that have never given critical thought to the propaganda from the left.

Dead Retiree Receives 7.7 Million Dollars in Government Pension Payment  California State Senate aide retired in 1969 at age 56 after 22 years of work with a "super escalator" pension from the state. Almost a decade after his death he is awarded $7.7 million in an additional pension payout.Watch the video... Uploaded by AFPCalifornia on Dec 16, 2011 California State Senate aide retired in 1969 at age 56 after 22 years of work with a "super escalator" pension from the state. Almost a decade after his death he is awarded $7.7 million in an additional pension payout.http://calpensions.com/2011/12/12/bid-to-trim-pension-fails-7-7-million-settl...Ventura County Taxpayer Associationhttp://www.vcta.org/California Common...

So just who are those top 1 percent of Americans that we're all supposed to hate? If you listen to President Obama, the protesters at Occupy Wall Street, and much of the media, it's obvious. They're either "trust-fund babies" who inherited their money, or greedy bankers and hedge-fund managers. Certainly, they haven't worked especially hard for their money. While the recession has thrown millions of Americans out of work, they've been getting even richer. Worse, they don't even pay their fair share in taxes: Millionaires and billionaires are paying a lower tax rate than their secretaries. In reality, each of...

Washington -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's office accused the news program "60 Minutes" of omitting key information from its report Sunday on how members of Congress use privileged information to profit from stock trades. Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill also called the report "a right-wing smear" based on a new book by conservative author Peter Schweizer of the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University. The book is titled: "Throw Them All Out: How Politicians and Their Friends Get Rich Off Insider Stock Tips, Land Deals, and Cronyism That Would Send the Rest of Us to Jail." Pelosi,...

By Amy Oliver and Michael SandovalIf lawmakers really cared about consumers, they would ditch expensive renewable energy mandates that require a subsidized market for resources that are not practical on a large scale.  It’s a classic case of putting the cart before the horse; policy came before practical application.The Department of Energy (DOE) reports that 24 states and the district of Columbia have renewable energy mandates ranging from Maine’s high of 40 percent to Pennsylvania’s low of 8 percent.  Also known as a “Renewable Portfolio Standard” (RPS), these policies require that energy providers ignore practicality and price in order to...

Moore Lashes Out At CBS4 Over Wealth Questions Filmmaker Visits Occupy Denver Protesters November 3, 2011 6:29 PM DENVER (CBS4) – Filmmaker and activist Michael Moore joined a growing crowd at the “Occupy” Denver protest Thursday evening, but his encounter with CBS4 left him fuming when he was asked about whether he represented the “99 percent” that the protesters stand for, or the “1 percent” they claim to be rallying against. He appeared in Denver for a book signing event and visited the demonstration at Civic Center Park just before 6 p.m. Moore said a few words to the crowd...

Say what you want about former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain’s presidential bid and his missteps along the way, but it’s hard to argue with results: Cain has an edge in the average of the major polls, and even picked up a straw poll victory in Nevada on Friday. But that doesn’t impress syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer. “[I] saw him on ‘Stossel’ on abortion — entirely incoherent,” Krauthammer said. “On one hand, ‘people ought to have choice.’ On the other hand, ‘life is sacred from the beginning and abortion ought to be illegal.’ This isn’t a complicated issue. It’s one...

Cue the outrage button. A South Florida woman got a shock when she opened a recent cell phone bill: she owed $201,000. Say what! It was no mistake. Celina Aarons has her two deaf-mute brothers on her plan. They communicate by texting and use their phones to watch videos. Normally, that's not a problem. Aarons has the appropriate data plan, and her bill is about $175. But her brothers spent two weeks in Canada and Aarons never changed to an international plan. Her brothers sent over 2,000 texts and also downloaded videos, sometimes racking up $2,000 in data charges. T-Mobile...

(AP) NEW YORK - The Occupy Wall Street movement has close to $300,000, as well as storage space loaded with donated supplies in lower Manhattan. It stared down city officials to hang on to its makeshift headquarters, showed its muscle Saturday with a big Times Square demonstration and found legions of activists demonstrating in solidarity across the country and around the world.

With demands seemingly all over the map by various occupiers of various streets and/or government centers and/or college campuses, a recurring theme has been free education, as in college education should be free. Incidentally, the drums and hula hoops have started up in Durham, N.C., home of Duke University, which was created by the generosity of a tobacco corporation. The Duke news came to me the other day from an acquaintance who informed me, "It's started, drums and hula hoops.'' I knew instantly what she meant and deduced that she watched, with, I hope, some irony, before resuming the rather...

A video about the occupy wall street bums. CAUTION! SCARY PHOTOS w/Nudity and violence! Viewer discretion advised!

"The ruling powers work for the benefit of just a few, ignoring the will of the vast majority and the human and environmental price we all have to pay. This intolerable situation must end."

When I hear You Lie Obama promote his latest "Give-me-more-of-your-money-you-stupid-suckers-because-I-just-spent-all-of-your-money" speech, all I hear is DEBT, DEBT, DEBT ! I also wonder about Obama's SPENDAHOLIC need for an overwhelming desire to increase his DEBT GREED? These are matters that the recently appointed Congressional-Twelve-Steppers might be best suited to address. Admittedly, a standard Twelve-Step Program would be have had more experience than the "Con-12-Steppers." A test is coming this week as DEBT-GREEDY, You Lie Obama tries to milk $ 447,000,000,000.00 from an already Bankrupt US Congress. The main question is : "Why is so much money needed to fund free government-paid...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_ASo clear and cogent, Freidman demolishes Phil Donahue. Greed and the lies of politicians who claim they are not greedy but are above it

An Occupy Wall Street campaign protester sleeps on the sidewalk in Zuccotti Park, near Wall Street in New York early September 28, 2011. Protesters complaining about the power of the financial industry staged noisy demonstrations and slowed pedestrian traffic on Wall Street for the second consecutive week. The Occupy Wall Street campaign started last week, with several hundred protesters setting up camps in downtown Manhattan. Freakin' Hippy Fest 2011

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) -- A judge said Monday he's considering giving Washington state's third-largest school district the option of replacing teachers on the picket line as a strike continued despite the judge's order to return to work. The unexpected comment from Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff came as Tacoma school district classes were canceled Monday and Tuesday due to the strike, the News Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/njc9RV ). "That came as quite a surprise," district spokesman Dan Voelpel said. "We didn't ask about that in court. He began speaking out loud about actions to impose next week." It would...