Free Republic

When states are ranked for their intelligence or lack of it, Georgia usually ends up in the bottom 10. What is the Peach State doing wrong? A lot. We are confronted here by a confusing swirl of lies and scandals, so let’s start with a quick summary. Georgia officials insist on using the worst theories and methods. Predictably their schools get bad results. To cover up the embarrassing results (of course, the officials would not think of adopting better methods), the schools create elaborate cheating mechanisms. This works until the truth leaks out. Scandal ensues. Cheating scandals occur throughout the...

We've recently been told by Ivy League Idiots from Obama's State Department that the solution to defeating ISIS is to grant them small business start-up loans here in America. I thought Freepers might appreciate some foreign policy clarity. I found some in a five hundred year old Renaissance Italian treatise. The following is Chapter VI of Book II to Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy: Having discussed how the Romans proceeded in their expansion, we will now discuss how they proceeded in making war, and it will be seen with how much prudence they deviated in all the actions from the universal...

Although English spelling is famously weird, there are at least some words that anyone learning English will easily get right — words like black, board, boat, clap, coat, cup, and hand. But put cup and board together and you get cupboard, which rhymes with Hubbard. Add kerchief to hand and you say it "hankerchif." Clearly English spelling is an evil trap devised to make the unaware look bad. "You said 'hand ker chief'? Oh. Ha ha. How terrible for you." So we learn these exceptions, and we use them often enough that we remember them. But there are some words...

Thank you for contacting me to relay your concerns regarding Iran and our efforts for a comprehensive nuclear agreement. I appreciate learning your thoughts on this important issue. For many years, Congress has recognized the threat of the Iranian nuclear program and has taken the lead on initiating sanctions. Over time, the economic sanctions imposed on Iran have increased their willingness to negotiate. On November 23, 2013, the Iranian government agreed to halt further expansion of their nuclear program in exchange for temporary sanctions relief and entered into extensive negotiations about a nuclear deal that would outline the final arrangements...

1629 Charles I of England dissolves Parliament and rules alone for 11 years.

More Thoughts on Google and "Trustworthiness" Erik J. Larson March 9, 2015 3:59 PM | Permalink Last week, I commented on the proposal by a Google team to introduce "trustworthiness" as a criterion in Web searches. See "In Determining Truthfulness, a Google Team Would Like to Do Your Thinking for You." I noted the potential for bias that this "fix" to existing algorithms would bring with it -- a worrisome prospect, perhaps, for Web source not in line with the politically progressive perspective favored by many Google employees. How worrisome, exactly? For that we need to wade into some of...

Forty-seven Republican senators warned Iran's leaders on Monday that any nuclear deal needs congressional approval in order to last beyond President Obama's term, in a stark letter aimed at re-asserting lawmakers' role as talks near a key deadline. ....

The table that I assembled is in response to vague references that we see and hear like "the BLS said", "the WSJ said", "radio/TV/Blog/column said" . . . the table has links directly to the original data. It's too large to post repeatedly on threads though I do hope to keep it current quarterly (with annualized data) until Election 2016. And change/add columns as needed.

Loudon and Beck — Together Again on TheBlaze TV — Exposing The Enemies Within and WithoutAnti-Communist and Best-Selling Author, Trevor Loudon will return to Primetime, TheBlaze TV, March 9th, 5:00 pm ET, hosted by Glenn Beck. Loudon, a New Zealand researcher and investigative journalist, has been touring America as a modern-day Paul Revere to warn America that “The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress” are here and that they are endangering America and all she stands for. The book is published by Pacific Freedom Foundation. “The Enemies Within” profiles fourteen Senators and more than fifty...

First off, a dictator is not a tyrant. Yes, an online dictionary and a thesaurus I know of regard them as fairly synonymous. They are not. Tyrants are outlaws hostile to republican freedom. Tyrants assume, grasp, and otherwise illegally seize powers. They either destroy republican institutions outright, or like Obama, they squeeze the neck of institutions like congress that stand in their way. In time, once free institutions become rubber stamps to the will of the tyrant and sooner or later legitimize his oppression. OTOH, successful dictators are republican saviors. Classic, ancient dictators were freely given enormous authority for a...

Republicans, and conservatives that file into Tea Party meetings and rallies, Constitution Classes, and Libertarian gatherings, say time and time again that they are so tired of having to battle the failures of President Barack Obama. His failed policies are nearly more than they can digest. He fails to understand economics, his failed Obamacare program is destroying health care in America, he fails to understand the underlying reasons behind why the government shutdowns occurred, he has failed in the Middle Class and he has failed to bring anybody out of poverty. Failure after failure after failure after failure. He even...

11 silly things that some atheists say. February 27, 2015 · by James Bishop · in Articles, Atheism. · Introduction: The atheist that this blog article is briefly referring to is the fundamentalist head-in-the-sand, fingers-in-their-ears type, which contrary to atheism makes up the majority of the religion hating New Atheists. My last point, point 11, addresses Stephen Hawking but I want to make it clear that I do not view him as a fundamentalist atheist like Richard Dawkins, or Sam Harris would be. Although I, alongside many, disagree with Hawking and his conclusions, I don’t take anything away from his...

Yolo. Rekt. Bae. Xans. Lordt. Every era has its own version of emerging language, and the new words and phrases of our time tend to spring from the Internet – from emails, texts, tweets and other rapid-fire, written communication. They’re often acronyms or abbreviations. Some become enduring parts of communication – as O.K., P.S. and R.S.V.P. did, from earlier times – while others flare briefly and then fade. To get a sense for which of today’s emerging terms are on the rise, which are fading and which may have longevity, Jack Grieve, a linguist at Aston University in England, analyzed...

Hate that kerosene smell? Here are several ways that might help. .....

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Yellowhammer sources say the National Education Association (NEA), the national teachers’ union with which the Alabama Education Association (AEA) is affiliated, cleaned the AEA’s house late last night, ousting Executive Secretary Henry Mabry and revoking building access to former Associate Executive Secretary Joe Reed.

Interesting how the really bad weather NOW makes the stock market go up instead of down? Seems that some years ago, I noticed the indexes would fall after a bad storm and the media would immediately report that the economy was affected by the weather. Also, some military action in some other part of the world affected stocks here. I mean, it almost to the point of where if Obama farts, the market goes up (or down). Our sources of information have all been co-opted by the Devil. The general public has no clue to what degree the media has...

I don't write vanities. This isn't intended as one. But I've been wrestling with the question of "why won't they call it Islamic Radicalism?" But today was an epiphany. After listening to Marie Harf explain that "extremists need jobs" I realized that the violence that won't be named is only an example of the ongoing culture war in our own country. Fundamentally, Marxists of whom Obama is an adherent attribute historical movements the material dialect. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_materialism) Essentially matter precedes thought. People, as groups, are motivated not by religion, which is a mere epiphenomenon of matter, but by material need. I...

Famous "Night-Stick in Cumerbund Shot" Mr. Rizzo was one of those seemingly larger-than-life figures, destined to be hero to some and villain to others. One view was that the former Police Commissioner and two-term Mayor was the last bastion against threats to middle-class residents of the city's row-house neighborhoods. The other view was that Mr. Rizzo was a barely educated former police officer who used a hard line on crime and tactics bordering on the dictatorial to suppress opposition and keep blacks out of middle-class neighborhoods. 'Tough Cop' Image That he was a "tough cop" -- an appellation that particularly...

The eminent Nation announces with relish "the organization of a national committee of 100 to induce Congress to prohibit the inter-State traffic in revolvers," and offers the pious judgment that it is "a step forward." "Crime statistics," it appears, "show that 90% of the murders that take place are committed by the use of the pistol, and every year there are hundreds of cases of accidental homicide because somebody did not know that his revolver was loaded." The new law — or is it to be a constitutional amendment? — will do away with all that. "It will not be...

MEMORANDUM TO: Alabama Probate Judges FROM: Chief Justice Roy S. Moore RE: Sanctity of Marriage ruling Date: February 3, 2015 The purpose of this memorandum is to provide guidance to the probate judges of Alabama as to their duties under Alabama's Sanctity of Marriage Amendment ("the Amendment"), Art. I, § 36.03, Ala. Const. 1901, and the Alabama Marriage Protection Act ("the Act"), § 30-1-19, Ala. Code 1975, in light of the recent orders of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. A news story has quoted the Honorable Greg Norris, President of the Alabama Probate Judges...