Free Republic

These days, it’s becoming more difficult for gun owners across the country to find safe haven, as the powers that be on both federal and state levels begin introducing a quagmire of anti-gun legislation hindering the rights of law-abiding citizens. States like Illinois are notorious for their anti-gun agendas, while states like Texas are viewed as a sort of shooters’ paradise. But just how true are those reputations? To provide you, dear reader, with a primer of gun-friendly regions of the United States, we’ve analyzed all 50 states—and Washington, D.C.—and ranked them to find out which are the most pro-gun.States...

Two new studies show just how much work needs to be done to improve economic performance in Michigan and across the country. An analysis from Northwood University commissioned by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce looked at the state's economic competitiveness. While the state has improved in the past few years, particularly in state debt and taxation, Michigan has had a steady, decade-long decline in other economic areas compared to the rest of the country. The study looked at 200 variables including Gross State Product growth, tax policy, regulatory policy and the cost of doing business. While the past few years...

The United States, long considered the standard bearer for economic freedom among large industrial nations, has experienced a remarkable plunge in economic freedom during the past decade. From 1980 to 2000, the US was generally rated the third freest economy in the world, ranking behind only Hong Kong and Singapore. The ranking of the US has fallen precipitously; from second in 2000 to eighth in 2005 and 19th in 2010. By 2009, the United States had fallen behind Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Chile, and Mauritius, countries that chose not to follow the path of massive growth in government financed by...

Corporate Tax Competitiveness Rankings for 2012: U.S. Is #87Out of 90 Countries. For that one single statistic Obama should be thrown out of office. To be fair, I wonder what it was under the Bush '2000-2008 years. I'm going to look it up and post back here on what I find as soon as I can. 2012 Corporate Tax Competitiveness Rankings Cato Institute: Corporate Tax Competitiveness Rankings for 2012, by Duanjie Chen & Jack Mintz (both of University of Calgary, School of Public Policy): Cato ChartCorporate income tax reform is receiving serious consideration in Washington. The Obama administration has suggested...

The top 25 are posted at the link. Here is their summary of the top 10 most conservative colleges and universities: Ave Maria University Grove City College Franciscian University of Steubenville Freed-Hardeman University Dordt College Brigham Young University (Utah) Oklahoma Christian University Covenant College Northwestern College (Minnesota) Washington & Lee University

With each vote cast in Congress, freedom either advances or recedes. Heritage Action’s new legislative scorecard allows Americans to see whether their Members of Congress are fighting for freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society. The scorecard is comprehensive, covering the full spectrum of conservatism, and includes legislative action on issues both large and small. Heritage Action's legislative scorecard isn't graded on a curve – it is tough and we don't apologize. After all, we are conservatives, not tenured university professors.

According to numerous media sources and several highly esteemed philantropic organizations all over the World, Europe, Canada, NYC, LA, certain corners of South East Asia and Australia boast the best surroundings for eco-friendly prosperity and success found on this planet. Especially Europe does. If we are to trust the experts in this field, conditions for successful human life are better in Scandinavia and Central Europe than anywhere else on Earth. Being Scandinavian, I won't deny I enjoy reading about how foreigners praise my corner of the World and talk of our our nations as an enviable place in which to...

I, working with Cambria Consulting (see below), was involved heavily creating the WSJ's rankings which are in today's papers. All questions on the methods, I defer to them. College, or university, rankings are not and cannot be all-encompassing. This is because colleges are not singular entities, but serve at least three distinct purposes. The first, and probably foremost in most students' minds, is job training. This is rational: most employers now want a candidates to have a "degree" (a certificate only weakly correlated with education). To which school should a student go to get the best job? Second is in...

U.S. News and World Reports just released their U.S. university rankings for 2011 and the big shock is that Harvard just took sole possession of number 1 away from Princeton. But the big question is whether all this fancy education is actually worth it. We're returning to Payscale's rankings of colleges based on return on investment and comparing them to the US News and World Reports rankings. We've taken the top 20 schools from Payscale, based on ROI over a 30 year period, after graduating from undergrad study at the university, and provided U.S. News and World Rankings beside it....

Sweden has the world's most hooked-up economy, according to a new report from the World Economic Ranking (WEF). Nordic countries all performed well on the list in the WEF Global Information Technology report released on Thursday. Sweden displaced Denmark to rank first on the chart, with the Danes sliding to third place. Other Nordic countries were also in the top 10, with Finland in sixth place and Norway in tenth. Singapore crept closer to the top, moving up from fourth place last year to second place now. Fellow Asian economy Hong Kong was in eighth place, also gaining from 12th...

From this year's National Journal Vote Rankings: The 10 Most Liberal Senate Dems Most Conservative Senate GOPers 1. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) 1. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) 1. Roland Burris (D-IL) 2. Jim DeMint (R-SC) 1. Ben Cardin (D-MD) 3. Jim Bunning (R-KY) 1. Jack Reed (D-RI) 4. Tom Coburn (R-OK) 1. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) 5. Jim Risch (R-ID) 6. John Kerry (D-MA) 6. John Thune (R-SD) 6. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) 7. John Ensign (R-NV) 8. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) 8. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) 9. Chris Dodd (D-CT) 9. Richard Burr (R-NC) 9. Dick Durbin (D-IL) 10. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

President/ Score/ rank 2009/rank 2000 Abraham Lincoln 902 1 1 George Washington 854 2 3 Franklin D. Roosevelt 837 3 2 Theodore Roosevelt 781 4 4 Harry S. Truman 708 5 5 John F. Kennedy 701 6 8 Thomas Jefferson 698 7 7 Dwight D. Eisenhower 689 8 9 Woodrow Wilson 683 9 6 Ronald Reagan 671 10 11

In the rankings game, one standard re-emerges: Great presidents must be...

The following are the latest rankings of the candidates for U.S. Presidency in 2008. The Democrats 1st Place: Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. He doesn’t have to worry about attacks from the left-wing base, and is able to straddle the line between frontrunner and underdog, which is the perfect place to be. If Obama wins Iowa, he’ll gain tremendous momentum into New Hampshire. This fact coupled with the likelihood of independents voting for him, Obama is the leading candidate in New Hampshire. If he wins these two, he wins Nevada and South Carolina. Momentum will surely be on his side,...

If presidents of some of the nation's top liberal arts colleges get their way, they will no longer be included in the U.S. News and World Report's influential collegiate ranking system. At issue is the "reputation survey," part of the ranking system that is filled out by the presidents of colleges included in the survey. Presidents from some of the nation's leading private and liberal arts colleges met in Annapolis Tuesday to discuss a possible boycott. Approximately 80 presidents and 71 academic deans of the nation's leading liberal arts colleges attended the annual meeting of the Annapolis Group, an organization...

Stockholm is the world's greenest, most livable city, according to a survey carried out by the Reader's Digest magazine. Using a range of sources, environmental economist Matthew Kahn, from UCLA's Institute of the Environment, ranked 72 major international in terms of how 'green and livable' they are. Environmental legislation, energy prices, waste production and disposal and available parkland were among the factors considered. Stockholm was ranked number one, followed by Oslo in second place. "You shouldn't boast, but Stockholm is the world's most beautiful city," said mayor Kristina Axén Olin . "I get happy every time I come back to...

Scandinavia has been rated as the best place to live, that’s according to a ranking by Reader’s Digest. Using a range of environmental and social indicators based in part on the UN’s Human Development Index, the survey rates countries on care of the environment and quality of life for their citizens. Finland tops the 141-nation list, followed by Nordic neighbours Iceland and Norway, with Sweden coming in at fourth place. And the Swedish capital comes top of the Reader’s Digest ranking of 72 world cities when it comes to quality of life. Cities were rated according to quality of public...

PARIS (AFP) - Nordic countries take the greatest care of their environment and their people, according to a ranking published on Thursday by the publication Reader's Digest. An aerial picture shows the port in Helsinki in 2006. Nordic countries take the greatest care of their environment and their people, according to a ranking published on Thursday by the publication Reader's Digest.(AFP/File/Pekka Sakki) Finland comes top of the 141-nation list, followed by Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and then Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and Australia. At the bottom of the list is Ethiopia, preceded by Niger, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Chad. The...

It's time. Eight days until the first full squad (Pittsburgh) reports. Sixty days until opening night (New Orleans-Indianapolis). From the sounds of my Sirius satellite radio -- which somehow found programming every day of my vacation for the NFL Channel (how do you do it, Bob Papa?) -- all of you are ready, and have been ready for weeks. Not much has changed since the draft, though. With a couple of exceptions, there has been little movement in how I thought the teams stacked up since April. Here goes:1. Indianapolis: If the Colts are to win the title again, and...

1 France 2 Italy 3 San Marino 4 Andorra 5 Malta 6 Singapore 7 Spain 8 Oman 9 Austria 10 Japan 11 Norway 12 Portugal 13 Monaco 14 Greece 15 Iceland 16 Luxembourg 17 Netherlands 18 United Kingdom 19 Ireland 20 Switzerland 21 Belgium 22 Colombia 23 Sweden 24 Cyprus 25 Germany 26 Saudi Arabia 27 United Arab Emirates 28 Israel 29 Morocco 30 Canada 31 Finland 32 Australia 33 Chile 34 Denmark 35 Dominica 36 Costa Rica 37 United States of America 38 Slovenia 39 Cuba 40 Brunei

With high school students under mounting pressure to achieve high grades and gain acceptance to select colleges, a new trend is taking hold—getting rid of class rankings, which some say just intensify the pressure teens already feel in the competitive college application environment. A recent story in Time reports that Naperville, IL, noted for its excellent school system, has jettisoned the rankings, which colleges have traditionally used to sort the academically weak from the strong. The rankings will be phased out over the next year; 2007's upperclassmen will choose whether to include a rank in their official transcripts, Time reports....

Whereas last weekend’s college football slate gave us “Separation Saturday”, this weekend’s NFL schedule should provide us with a “Shakedown Sunday.” Or, if you include the Monday night game, which you should — a “Shakedown Sunday (and Monday).” Catchy, right? Every winning slogan should have parentheses. The 2-0 Colts play the 2-0 Jaguars; The 2-0 Vikings play the 2-0 Bears; and the 2-0 Saints play the 2-0 Falcons. Three divisions — six undefeated teams — tons of excitement! Cue the Grateful Dead’s Shakedown Street! As for this week’s rankings, the big movers are the Jacksonville Jaguars who jumped 8 spots...

Not surprising after one week, but this week's rankings were all over the map, starting at the top. The Steelers moved back to No. 1, while the Seahawks slipped two spots to No. 3. Four teams got first-place votes -- Steelers (2), Colts (2), Seahawks (1) and Ravens (1) -- and 16 teams received votes in the top 10. Five new teams (Jaguars, Ravens, Falcons, Bears and Chargers) entered the top five, with the Ravens jumping from No. 18 all the way to No. 6. The Panthers fell 10 spots from No. 2 to No. 12. An overreaction? Maybe, but...

HICAGO (April 19, 2006) – A little less than two months before the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the U.S. Men’s National Team received their highest ever position in the FIFA World Rankings, moving up one spot to fourth place. Their record-setting position puts them two spots ahead of CONCACAF rival Mexico and in front of such powerhouses as Argentina, Spain, France and England. The U.S. jumped ahead of Argentina, who fell from fourth to eighth, allowing the U.S., Spain, Mexico and France to move up one position each. The USA's Group E opponents in this summer’s World Cup in Germany...

New York - The Forbes 2000 is not only a comprehensive list of the world's largest, and most powerful, public companies. It is also unique in its way of measuring corporate size. Our logic for using sales, profits, assets and market value in a composite ranking: a list based on a single metric provides a lopsided view of which companies are most important to the world's economy.

ZURICH, Switzerland - The U.S. national team improved to fifth in FIFA’s monthly rankings — the highest it’s ever been placed by world soccer’s governing body. The Americans, who broke out of a three-way tie for sixth with Spain and Mexico despite dropping a point to 764 in Wednesday’s latest poll, also moved ahead of France, which dropped to eighth. ...

From ESPN. 2005 Power Rankings: Week 18   RK (LW) TEAM REC COMMENT 1 (1) Colts 14-2-0 Yes, the Colts haven't run the ball very well in their last three games (just 78 yards on 48 carries). But do you think it's a coincidence that the ground struggles started when the Colts wrapped up home field in the AFC? 2 (2) Seahawks 13-3-0 Kudos to Shaun Alexander for the TD record and rushing title. The focus now turns to the real prize -- the Lombardi Trophy. 3 (3) Broncos 13-3-0 Mike Shanahan appears to have his best squad since winning...

From ESPN... 2005 Power Rankings: Week 16   RK (LW) TEAM REC COMMENT 1 (1) Colts 13-1-0 They're still clearly the top team as far as we're concerned. But the Chargers did show that Indy is at least a little vulnerable, when a week ago they looked invincible. 2 (2) Seahawks 12-2-0 Burning question: Does Mike Holmgren play Shaun Alexander (24 TDs) enough to break Priest Holmes' record for most TDs in a season (27)? 3 (3) Broncos 11-3-0 Add Wesley Duke to the list of former college basketball players now catching TDs for AFC West squads. 4 (4) Bengals...

2005 Power Rankings: Week 15   RK (LW) TEAM REC COMMENT 1 (1) Colts 13-0-0 Go for 16-0 or rest? We'll leave it to Tony Dungy to make the right call for his team. 2 (2) Seahawks 11-2-0 It's funny how rapidly things change. This time last year, Mike Holmgren was an 'idiot.' Now, there's sentiment for a contract extension. 3 (3) Broncos 10-3-0 Christmas certainly came early this year. First Kyle Boller gift wraps one, then fellow AFC West foes provide a cushion in the standings. 4 (4) Bengals 10-3-0 Willie Anderson, in his 10th year with the...

2005 Power Rankings: Week 14   RK (LW) TEAM REC COMMENT 1 (1) Colts 12-0-0 Colts can clinch home field this weekend with a win. That means Tony Dungy could have three weekends worth of tough decisions to make regarding how to play his regulars. We hope he goes for 16-0, but couldn't fault him if he decides to rest guys either. 2 (3) Seahawks 10-2-0 People question whether they have a championship-caliber defense. The fact that they only allow 17.3 ppg suggests they might. 3 (2) Broncos 9-3-0 All that MVP talk is quickly being replaced by the...

2005 Power Rankings: Week 13   RK (LW) TEAM REC COMMENT 1 (1) Colts 11-0-0 Didn't take the Colts too long to jump all over the Steelers, did it? We're not saying they're going to go undefeated, but if you look at the Colts' schedule, it's hard to see a loss. 2 (2) Broncos 9-2-0 Mike Shanahan apparently has succeeded in reviving another RB's career (Ron Dayne). 3 (3) Seahawks 9-2-0 Getting the win over the Giants was big, although we're not sure how much it actually says about how good the Seahawks are. 4 (7) Bengals 8-3-0 You...

1. Indianapolis (9-0; unchanged): The Colts face their greatest challenge to date to remaining perfect. 2. Denver (7-2; unchanged): The schedule serves the Broncos another treat with a home game vs. the 2-7 Jets. 3. Pittsburgh (7-2; unchanged): The Steelers probably could get by another game vs. a weaker opponent without Ben Roethlisberger, but they'll feel a whole lot better if he's back this week. 4. Cincinnati (7-2; unchanged): The Bengals have had a nice rest, but is their defense ready for the Colts' seemingly unstoppable Triplets? 5. Carolina (7-2; 6): Even when Steve Smith isn't dominating, the Panthers can...

IN THE HUNT (Teams that look good enough to be among the 12 playoff qualifiers but not based on conference -- listed with record and previous week's ranking) 1. Indianapolis (8-0; unchanged): The Colts have cleared one of their largest hurdles on the way to a perfect season. 2. Denver (6-2; unchanged): With a rested defense and Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell in the backfield, the Broncos should take care of business in Oakland. 3. Pittsburgh (6-2; unchanged): The Steelers are thankful for their exceptional depth at running back. 4. Cincinnati (7-2; unchanged): You're a good team when you win...

1. Indianapolis (7-0; unchanged): The Colts are rested, but are they ready to show the nation they have conquered their Gillette Stadium demons? 2. Denver (6-2; 4): The Broncos enter their bye with the comfort of knowing they have one of the most complete teams in the league. 3. Pittsburgh (5-2; 2): Good teams find a way to win even on a bad night, but Big Ben's health remains a concern. 4. Cincinnati (6-2; 6): Yes, that was a Hall-of-Fame-bound quarterback the Bengals' defense overwhelmed. 5. N.Y. Giants (5-2; 11): After an emotional win for Wellington, the Giants need to...

Oct. 25, 2005) -- This is how the NFL's 32 teams stack up after Week 7: IN THE HUNT (Teams that look good enough to be among the 12 playoff qualifiers but not based on conference -- listed with record and previous week's ranking) 1. Indianapolis (7-0; unchanged): The Colts get an extra week of rest for a prime-time showdown in New England; history suggests they'll need it. 2. Pittsburgh (4-2; 9): The Steelers showed who's boss in the AFC North, and the roll should continue against Baltimore. 3. Tampa Bay (5-1; 4): It's the Buccaneers' turn to beat up...

1. Indianapolis (6-0; unchanged): It doesn't seem fair that the Colts can dominate on both sides of the ball, but that's why they're the best team in the league. 2. Denver (5-1; unchanged): It took five weeks for the Broncos to be reminded that Jake Plummer can be a pretty good quarterback. 3. Cincinnati (5-1; 5): With big-play defense complementing big-time quarterbacking by Carson Palmer, the Bengals are hard to beat. 4. Tampa Bay (5-1; 6): Michael Pittman picked up the slack at running back; now it's up to Chris Simms to do the same at quarterback. 5. Jacksonville (4-2;...

Blog readership has risen dramatically this year as the number and reputation of blogs spread, with unique visitors to the top 50 blog-related sites up 31 percent in the first seven months of the year, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. By July 2005, blogs boasted 29.3 million unique visitors, amounting to 20 percent of active U.S. Internet users, the survey said Monday. Blog hosting sites, which have spawned millions of blogs, play a key role in the spike in current blog readership. Blog host sites require very little technological knowledge from bloggers and their readers. MSN Spaces, which came out in beta...

Top blogs by unique audience: FreeRepublic, DrudgeReport, FleshBot, Gawker, FarkComScore Networks published a list of top blogs in Q1 2005 by unique audience. FreeRepublic, DrudgeReport, FleshBot, Gawker and Fark all got more than 1 mln unique visitors in Q1 2005....

Welcome to Political Derby's 2008 Power Rankings, the first and only regular tracking service of the next race for White House. The 2008 Power Rankings will be updated on the 1st and 15th of every month. Beginning in January of 2007 the rankings will be updated weekly until the major party conventions in August of 2008. The rankings are compiled by our in-house Jockey using information gathered from wire reports, campaign staffer scuttlebutt, and confidential tips from our legions of loyal readers. The 2008 Power Rankings may not be reprinted or quoted in any form without proper attribution to PoliticalDerby.com...

The Presidential Wannabes By Richard E. Cohen, National Journal © National Journal Group Inc. Friday, Feb. 11, 2005 Yes, it's only February 2005, just a little more than three months after last year's bitterly contested presidential campaign finally came to an end. But here in Washington, it's never too early to start thinking about the next election. And the shortlists of 2008 presidential contenders that are already circulating are chock-full of members of the World's Greatest Deliberative Body. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who himself waged a brief White House bid in 2000, recounted an old adage in his book Square...

This is great but Paul O'Neill is still 2nd, Franken still in top 10

Red River schools may soon turn a corner Vickie Welborn / The Times Mansfield Bureau Posted on April 11, 2003 COUSHATTA - Red River schools Superintendent Kay Easley wasn't surprised Thursday when she saw her system on the very bottom of a statewide list comparing district performance scores. But she and others believe the system, struggling in the recent past with school consolidation and turmoil involving her and the School Board, soon will turn a corner. Easley has known since May the ranking would be low. "When you have a minus 9 and all you have is one school, you...

No. 1 independent newssite shoots up Alexa.com rankings -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: January 13, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com WorldNetDaily has climbed to 995 on the Alexa.com website rankings of the largest websites in the world. Alexa.com is a ratings and website search partner of Amazon.com. As of yesterday, WorldNetDaily is ranked as the 995th largest website in the world over the last three months. It ranks considerably higher than that in more recent rankings – moving closer to the top 500 mark on a daily basis. Alexa's rankings show WorldNetDaily substantially larger and attracting bigger audiences than all of...

<p>Sports Illustrated combined a variety of factors in arriving at its 2002 rankings of Division I schools, including performance during the 2001-02 school year in the big five sports (baseball, football, hockey and men's and women basketball); position in the '01-'02 Sears Cup NCAA all-sports standings; number of varsity, club and intramural sports; range of recreational facilities; and whether or not spirit-boosting events like Midnight Madness were held.</p>