Free Republic

Auburn, NY -- Three days before Christmas, Auburn Police Chief Gary Giannotta laid down the law for his command staff. At the closed meeting Dec. 22 in the department basement, Giannotta gave this ultimatum: Tell your patrol officers to write more vehicle and traffic tickets — at least one each per shift — or there will be repercussions for those who don’t.... Threatening to punish employees who fail to make a ticket quota violates state labor law. Tuesday, the Auburn police union took Giannotta to task for his proclamation, and two college criminal justice experts questioned the ethics of his...

There they sat royalty, commoner, academic, rich and the privileged being lectured to by someone that many in his own country consider to be a Usurper to the presidency. The sweet irony of it all is Barry Hussein Soetoro illegitimately holds the office of president and as a usurper he accepted a prize that by his own admission was generous given and quite undeserved. Yet the ultimate contradiction—the Orwellian redefinition of reality was Soetoro standing before the Oslo gathering. And standing there he told them that the prize which they awarded him, the Nobel Peace Prize, could in fact be...

Social workers took a 2-year-old U.K. boy into care after his mother refused to give him junk food. Zak Hessey was 17 pounds, 6 ounces when his mother Lisa took him to hospital, telling doctors he was a "fussy eater" and not gaining weight. Doctors said he should weigh 19 pounds, 8 ounces, and advised the mother of five to bulk him up on chips, chocolate and cakes.

From the Heritage Foundation's blog, The Foundry, this study was mentioned during Glenn Beck's radio show this morning: This Friday, the tax payer funded Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) is hosting a briefing for Members of Congress and their staff on their new study: Online Town Hall Meetings: Exploring Democracy in the 21st Century. The CMF study consisted of 21 townhall meetings where Members of Congress and CMF provided a moderator: “spoke via voice over IP, and constituents asked questions and made comments by typing them. Only off-topic, redundant, unintelligible, or offensive questions were screened, and only questions asked by people...

Well! They want money from everywhere else, constantly holding out their hands for that which they didn't lift a finger to earn. Consider the fat tax, sugar taxes, tobacco taxes, the global warming sin tax(cap and trade) and on and on. All kinds of taxes that are based solely on trying to "help" you make better decisions by dissuading you economically from certain other choices. I don't think anybody could ever argue that what one man does to another man's body is healthy. Therefore, if it's unhealthy, will it be taxed? Will there be a gay tax?

Steve Miller, a fellow CFP contributor sent out an email blast last night. In his note he included examples of the HR3200 language including a link to the copy available through the library of congress. That’s one of things I really appreciate about Steve, he is dogged when it comes to research. No wonder the powers that be incessantly work to silence him. HR3200 is a beautifully woven web of governmental Orwellian doubletalk. For those under the age of 40, that is a reference to George Orwell’s novel 1984. Check it out and cross reference it to Obama’s last few...

If you see anybody publicly opposing President Obama’s plan to implement a government-centric overhaul of the health care system, the White House wants you to report that person (or persons) ASAP. From the White House website: There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see...

President Obama said Wednesday that health care reform is "central" to successfully rebuilding the U.S. economy after the current economic crisis... Blah, blah, blah...

Law:Law: The Senate is considering an expanded federal hate crimes law. And who wouldn't be for such a law, given its obvious noble intent? Beware. This new law won't reduce hate one bit, but it will limit your rights. Sadly, hate is an ineradicable part of the human condition. But one person's hate is another's righteous anger. That's why passing a law making a state of mind illegal is dangerous. That won't stop Democrats in Congress, though. They held hearings last week and soon may bring a bill up for a vote. Anyone who values the rule of law in...

We use Orwell, Orwellian, and Orwellianism loosely a lot these days, but what is going on in the Obama administration is beginning to get a little creepy and resembles a lot of things Orwell wrote about in 1984. When in, Soviet fashion, a critical overseer is dismissed as being "confused" and suffering mental problems in carrying out the law, as Gerald Walpin probably did in uncovering waste and possible fraud in connection with the mayor of Sacramento; or when the government begins to create new words like "overseas contingency operations" and "man-made catastrophes"; or when Justice Sotomayor says that a Latina is...

100 days and already the Obama hypnotic affect on the nation is waning. Fox network said that it would air its normal broadcast lineup rather than fall inline with the rest of the Obama Big Brotha Networks.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is labeling President Barack Obama's $3.6 trillion budget plan a "higher-tax, weaker-economy, fewer-jobs" blueprint that should trigger the most crucial policy debate since 1980. The leading Republican said he he actually agrees with much of Obama's rhetoric, but that there's a "gap between the words and reality." Gingrich said there are pieces of Obama's budget that are "doable," including projected savings from more closely watching for fraud in entitlement programs. But the Georgian also said, "The problem with the overall budget is that it's a job-killing budget." Gingrich was interviewed Friday on CBS's "The Early...

You have to hand it to the new administration: when they promised change, they meant it. Unfortunately, the change they promised is not the change they are focused on implementing. In his appeal to voters, candidate Obama promised to change the way business was done in Washington. But in their first month in office his team has shown itself devoted to hardball, insider and partisan politics, assembling an administration thick with veteran insiders, including several of the lobbyists they claimed had to be driven from the temple. But as we know, this is the quintessential end justifies the means crowd....

In the dystopic world of George Orwell's 1984, all news and historical records were governed by the Ministry of Truth. I have played with this cognomen over the years by identifying the mainstream media (MSM) with various appellations such as the Ministry of (mis)Information, and MinInfo whenever MSM's manner of coverage of a story revealed its bias favoring most any form of statism. Over the last two years, unlike any time in my long life, the MSM has warranted the name Ministry of MisInformation more than ever. It got to be an open joke among my acquaintences of how open...

Oxford University Press has removed words like "aisle", "bishop", "chapel", "empire" and "monarch" from its Junior Dictionary and replaced them with words like "blog", "broadband" and "celebrity". Dozens of words related to the countryside have also been culled. The publisher claims the changes have been made to reflect the fact that Britain is a modern, multicultural, multifaith society. But academics and head teachers said that the changes to the 10,000 word Junior Dictionary could mean that children lose touch with Britain's heritage. "We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. To...

Social services 'set up CCTV camera in couple's bedroom' Social workers set up a CCTV camera in the bedroom of a couple with learning difficulties in order to monitor their behaviour, a new report claims. By Martin Beckford, Social Affairs CorrespondentCouncil staff are said to have spied on the young parents at night as part of a plan to see if they were fit to look after their baby, who was sleeping in another room. The mother and father were forced to cite the (Human Rights Act), which protects the right to a private life, before the social services team...

Government plans new credit, mortgage programs By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer 19 mins ago WASHINGTON – The government introduced a pair of new programs Tuesday that will provide $800 billion to help unfreeze the market for consumer debt and to make mortgage loans cheaper and more available.

Washington--The government is working on a new loan facility to help companies that issue credit cards, make student loans and finance car purchases. The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve will unveil the program Tuesday, according to people familar with the plan. They spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement has yet to be made. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said he plans to use a "relatively modest share" of the $700 billion financial bailout money to pay for the new program. It's the latest effort by the government to break through a dangerous credit clog that has...

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - A Republican congressman from Georgia is calling President-elect Obama a Marxist and warning that he might be planning to form a Gestapo-like security force so he can rule as a dictator. Two-term Rep. Paul Broun of Athens cited a July speech that has circulated on the Internet in which Obama called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.

One of the big losers in this cycle is the English language. Not all of this is new to this election cycle of course, but it does seem to be getting worse. In fact, not only have many words lost their meaning, some have actually become the exact opposite. Here are some examples: Employee Free Choice Act: Of course, this is anything but a "free choice" on the part of employees. This is the proposed legislation which will take away the secret ballot part of union votes. Whether or not to unionize are some of the most heated and dangerous...