Free Republic

The tennis court at former President Jimmy Carter‘s private home is swept twice a day, his pool is cleaned daily and his grass cut, his flower beds weeded and his windows washed on a regular basis — all at taxpayers’ expense.

By all accounts, 63-year-old Robert Boardman of Port Angeles was a stand-up guy; a fellow who enjoyed hiking in the Olympics and who probably never imagined that he would be killed by – of all things – a mountain goat. But his death earlier this month on Klahhane Ridge several days ago should remind everyone that the campaign to allow the carrying of defensive firearms in national parks – a campaign championed by the National Rifle Association, Bellevue-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Virginia Citizens Defense League and other gun rights organizations – had to...

MINNEAPOLIS - The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is considering putting an off-leash dog area in Martin Luther King Park, and it’s stirring up heavy emotions on both sides. It’s a memorial park and some believe having a dog park there is disrespectful to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Yet, the controversy is so typical of others lately – who decides what public spaces become sacred ground and what does that really mean for all of us?

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The town where the Civil War's tide-turning battle was waged is fighting dissension in its own ranks, with even hard-core preservationists split over a proposed casino that would rise near the historic battlefield and be named for the line that divided North and South. It's the second time in five years that Gettysburg has fought over a plan to build a casino. This time it's the Mason Dixon Resort & Casino, proposed on a hotel and conference center site within a mile of the southern boundary of Gettysburg National Military Park. "No Casino" and "Pro Casino" signs...

The political effort leading to adoption last year of a new statute allowing defensive firearms to be carried in national parks got a major affirmation – albeit tragic – Wednesday morning when a bear rampaged through a campground near Yellowstone National Park, killing one person and injuring two other campers. One can probably knock on wood that this did not happen in one of Washington's three national parks, which are currently at the height of the tourist season and they are loaded with campers who may not understand "bear country etiquette." The Seattle Times ran a story about this attack...

Vice President Biden to visit Yellowstone on Monday Posted: Friday, July 23, 2010 12:15 am | Updated: 9:59 am, Fri Jul 23, 2010. By DANIEL PERSON, Chronicle Staff Writer Vice President Joe Biden will visit Yellowstone National Park on Monday, the White House said in a written statement Friday. At 11:45 a.m. Monday, the vice president will speak to workers outside the Madison Junior Ranger Station, located just inside the park's West Entrance. He will be joined by the director of the National Park Service, Jonathan Jarvis. During his trip west, Biden will also visit Grand Canyon National Park. His...

Sometimes these blasphemy death threats come from crankish jihadi sympathizers who’d never have the stones to actually do anything about it. And sometimes they don’t. The Virginia man who warned on a radical Islamic website that the creators of the cartoon series “South Park” will be targeted for death for their caricature of the Prophet Muhammad has been arrested on charges that he provided material support to the terrorist organization Al Shabab, federal officials said Wednesday. Zachary Adam Chesser, aka Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee, admitted to federal agents that he attempted on two occasions to travel to Somalia to join Al...

Several moms are planning a protest at an Orange County park after they say a park employee tried to stop them from nursing their infants in public. Two of the mothers say a lifeguard at Kelly Park at Rock Springs in Apopka blew a whistle and told them that they were exposing themselves and breaking the law as they nursed their infants last month. Shawna Mitchell and Celena Chavez said a manager at the park did not know whether it was legal for the women to breastfeed publicly. A mother can breastfeed her child anywhere the mother is authorized to...

Yesterday the National Park Service honored Ranger Scott Emmerich with the 2010 Harry Yount Award, the agency's highest honor for service to the Nation. Ranger Emmerich serves in Alaska's Glacier National Park. Apparently in response to various questions posed by the by the Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe, Scott Emmerich is taking Americans' new gun rights in National Parks in stride. Emmerich explained that "I guess the biggest thing I'm cautious of is to not violate a person's Second Amendment rights. It's legal for them to carry a gun. The adjustment for park rangers was that we used to react immediately....

I guess the biggest thing I'm cautious of is to not violate a person's Second Amendment rights. It's legal for them to carry a gun. The adjustment for park rangers was that we used to react immediately. Now . . . you're just cautious. . . . There are some people who used to say they would never hike in Glacier National Park, but now they do because they're packing. They were worried about bears before, but now they can carry guns. . . . I would say 90 percent of visitors don't carry guns into a park and I'd...

A week ago, a hiker shot and killed a grizzly bear in Denali National Park (in Alaska): A backpacker shot and killed a grizzly bear in Denali National Park and Preserve on Friday after the animal charged toward his hiking companion. This is the first shooting incident since a change in federal law that allows firearms to be carried in many national parks and wildlife refuges went into effect in February. Granted, we have only the hikers' word for it that the shooting was indeed in self-defense, rather than pointless destruction of a magnificent animal, and park authorities are now...

It wasn't quite man-bites-dog, but there were men and there were dogs and there was biting.

ZION NATIONAL PARK — Zion is a unique national park where visitors receive a limited biblical and Book of Mormon education as part of their standard tour — whether they want it or not. That's because Zion is steeped in religious overtones — since the park's essential history and many of its names come from scripture. Ride the Zion shuttle buses and audio recordings recite to all passengers some of this religious history of the park, referring to the Book of Mormon and the Bible. For a few minutes, its reminiscent of a Temple Square tour. You'd be hard-pressed to...

The veiled threats against the Comedy Central show's creators should be taken very seriously. 'South Park" is hilarious, right? Not any more. Last week, Zachary Adam Chesser—a 20-year-old Muslim convert who now goes by the name Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee—posted a warning on the Web site RevolutionMuslim.com following the 200th episode of the show on Comedy Central. The episode, which trotted out many celebrities the show has previously satirized, also "featured" the Prophet Muhammad: He was heard once from within a U-Haul truck and a second time from inside a bear costume.

Baltimore Sun: It's not even that the terrorists have won, it's that wannabe terrorists have won. A group called Revolution Muslim, which by most accounts seems less a terrorist cell than, metaphorically speaking, a couple of guys living in their parents' basements, managed to scare Comedy Central this week into censoring South Park for mocking their religion, or rather, the ban in some quarters of depictions of the prophet Muhammed. The Anti-Defamation League, which has tracked the New York-based Revolution Muslim, says the group has no more than about a dozen members, is known mainly for spouting anti-Semitism, handing...

Participants of the Restore the Constitution rally came to Virginia this week with a long list of grievances. And they came bearing arms. Concerns ranged across the political spectrum, with protesters opposing everything from the federal requirement to purchase health insurance and the surveillance provisions of the Patriot Act to Social Security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ultimately, their open-carry rally at Fort Hunt Park in Mount Vernon and Gravelly Point Park in Arlington called for less government intrusion and a reduced amount of spending. "Most of us are libertarian, and we have libertarian concerns," said Andrew Graves,...

Arkansas is a beautiful state, blessed with many opportunities to enjoy its scenic splendor and other attractions. However, an Arkansas vacation is not advised for the gun-owning tourist. Following are many reasons why: * The entire Ozark National Forest and all other Wildlife Management Areas are off-limits to firearms of any kind, unless you have an Arkansas-approved gun permit. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission have deemed themselves lords over these lands and have illegally enacted firearms regulations which are stricter than gun-hating California. Southern Arkansas is a confusing patchwork of gun laws due to the Wildlife Management Areas and...

Notes from the Restore the Constitution rally at Ft. Hunt Park in Virginia, 19 April 2010. The sky was a brilliant clear blue, the woods a lovely forest green, and the Potomac the color of the sky as we drove to the open carry rally at Ft. Hunt National Park. We came there to celebrate the renewal of our Constitutional rights and federalism. The long overdue law that stripped the federal bureaucracy of its power to prevent citizens from carrying guns in parks had represented a brilliant political move by Senator Coburn of Oklahoma, and has been a bright spot...

Tuesday, April 6, Great Smoky Mountain National Park Ranger Bill Wright spoke to the monthly meeting of the Knoxville chapter of the Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA). Wright is the chief law enforcement officer in the park. His rangers are responsible for all law enforcement in the park, in both Tennessee and North Carolina, since the Park straddles the state line. Earlier this year, on February 22, a 94 year ban on firearms in National Parks was lifted. Persons with "facially valid" carry permits may now carry firearms in the Park, under the laws of the state they are in. That...

Updated Monday 2pm CHATTANOOGA (WRCB) -- Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield insists the Saturday evening shooting was an isolated incident. Mayor Littlefield told reporters Monday afternoon that the incident was not gang related and the result of a "flash mob" invited to congregate at Coolidge Park by text messaging. Littlefield went on to say that police will increase bike patrol and police presence at Coolidge Park. Updated Monday 11:00 a.m. CHATTANOOGA (WRCB) - Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield has called a news conference for 1:30 p.m. Monday to address the weekend shootings at Coolidge Park. Joining the Mayor to address the public...