Free Republic

Political correctness is on the move, meaning the forces of tradition, freedom, and common sense need to unite for yet another fight. The next target of political correctness - the official name of the state of Rhode Island, which is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. In a stunning case of ignorance, racebaiters and political correctness hacks are claiming the official name of Rhode Island, which includes the word "plantations" is insulting and a black mark on the state in regards to slavery. There is just one problem with the claims, the original name of Rhode Island, was Providence Plantations as...

Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island clarified his reasons for denying pro-abortion politicians Communion on Tuesday, noting that such politicians are not forced to be Catholic - but if they choose to, they must then “understand what the Church teaches, accept those teachings, and live that faith.�“The most important commitment we can make is our faith, because that defines our relationship with God. Nothing is more important than that. And if your job, your profession, your vocation gets in the way of that, you have to quit your job and save your soul,� said Tobin in an appearance on the...

Gerry Moniz didn't hesitate when asked what she thinks of the nationally publicized dispute between Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin and Patrick Kennedy over whether the congressman should refrain from taking Communion given his support for abortion rights. "I think Patrick Kennedy is wrong," Moniz, 56, said when asked to comment on Monday at an East Providence shopping plaza. A Catholic from West Greenwich, she added, "If he doesn't want to be Catholic, he should go to another church. The rules of the Catholic Church are, "We don't approve of abortion.' And he doesn't like that." At St. Francis Chapel...

Rhode Islanders may get a chance to shorten the state's longest-in-the-nation formal name over its ties to colonial slavery. Officially, Rhode Island is called the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. But the House Judiciary Committee approved a resolution Tuesday that would allow residents to vote next year on whether to drop the words "Providence Plantations" from that name. The issue now heads for a House floor vote. Supporters say "Providence Plantations" conjures painful images of colonial slavery. Rhode Island merchants grew wealthy off the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., center, flanked Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., left, and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., discuss "the urgent need for health insurance reform". GRAND RAPIDS — Senior citizens will find it harder to find a doctor who accepts Medicare if Congress does not stop a 21.5 percent cut in payment rates, say physicians and hospitals. “We might as well start building bigger emergency rooms, because that’s where people will be if they don’t have access to a regular physician,” said Micki Benz, vice president of development for Saint Mary’s Health Care. “In the end, people’s care will suffer, and...

In a FOXNews.com story on September 21, a member of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly, Ivan Marte, quit the party after Wilson called out the president. Wilson’s now-famous cry of “You lie!” was directed at the Barack Obama had claimed that his health plan would not give benefits to illegal aliens. While Wilson has been excoriated, very little journalistic research has been done on the Democrat bill, which makes no provision to prohibit benefits for illegals. Marte, whose input and contributions to the GOP were valued, according to state chairman Giovanni Cicione, called Wilson’s comment “shameful” and “uncivilized.” The...

The chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly and member of the Republican Central Committee, Ivan Marte, says he has quit the GOP because he was embarrassed by South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson’s outburst during President Obama’s address to Congress on September 9th. Wilson shouted “You lie,” when President Obama said illegal immigrants would not receive benefits under his health care plan. Ivan Marte tells The Providence Journal that Wilson’s behavior was “shameful” and “uncivilized.” Rep. Ivan Marte Resigns Over Joe Wilson Truth!

Olympia Snowe, the "Republican" who voted with the Democrats on the stimulas is now in negotiations with the Whitehouse over a public option "trigger" in the healthcare bill. It seems she is willing to vote with the Democrats again. When will the Republican party TOSS HER OUT? I can't believe freepers give me schtick for admiring someone like Ron Paul and yet tolerate the REAL traitor Senator Snowe. THROW HER OUT, MCCONNELL IS WEAK

Here is a video report on a Rhode Island 17 year-old who was rescued from an 6-8 foot hole he dug on the beach that filled with sand and collapsed in on him, burying him. The boys father was able to get his mouth and nose clear of sand so he could breathe, but rescuers took two and a half hours to free him from the sand. He was airlifted to a hospital "conscious and alert." . . . . (Watch Video)

Rhode Island Town Hall with Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Greed, video from outside the event

In the movie, The Truman Show, the main character, Truman Burbank, faces everyone's worst nightmare. His entire life is being orchestrated by someone else. Much like Truman Burbank, Dr. Geraldine Mills found herself in a scenario in which her entire life was orchestrated by the entire apparatus of Rhode Island. Unlike Truman Burbank, who's nightmare was the mere fact that someone else was pulling the strings on his life, Dr. Mills worst nightmare was that the strings were being pulled in order to turn her life into a nightmare.

The weapons included mayonnaise, ketchup and salsa –– but also pepper spray, a glass jar and fists. A difference of opinion over gay marriage sparked the incident, and emotions escalated quickly. Punches were thrown. A small group of men visiting Rhode Island this week urging people to support traditional marriage called the police. Offended by the men’s message, four young women now face charges of assault or battery and disorderly conduct. The youngest, 17, also faces a more serious charge — felony assault with a dangerous substance.... ...The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property –– traveled...

The Providence Journal’s coverage of the assault on traditional marriage advocates in Warwick, RI on July 28 has consistently downplayed how pepper spray was used on the conservative protesters, in favor of how food was thrown at them. ProJo.com’s Wednesday report on the attack ran with the headline, “Same-sex marriage protesters assaulted with food,” and didn’t mention the pepper spray until the second-to-last paragraph. The following morning, reporter Kate Branson used a more nuanced headline (“Update: 4 accused of hurling food at activists in Warwick”), but at least mentioned the pepper spray in the second paragraph.The American Society for the...

PROVIDENCE — State tax officials have put more than 1,200 businesses across the state on notice this week that they are out of business unless they pay their overdue sales taxes immediately. For most, that action came in the form of a personal visit from the state Division of Taxation, ordering business owners to lock their doors at once. By Wednesday, a line of people had queued up inside the Department of Administration building on Smith Hill, waiting their turn to plead their case to a state revenue agent. Some were angry. Others frustrated. “I understand the state needs money,...

July 14, 2009House Leadership's Health Care Plan Pushes Top Tax Rates Over 50% in 39 States Couples Earning More than $1 Million Hit with 5.4% SurtaxWashington, DC, July 14, 2009 - A third updated Tax Foundation report shows that 39 states would see top tax rates exceed 50% under a health care funding plan announced today by House Democrats.The latest proposal—one of several floated on Capitol Hill in the past few days and the third analyzed by the Tax Foundation since Friday—would impose a surtax of 1 percent on married couples with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) between $350,000 and $500,000...

Passing out U.S. Constitutions on July 4th gets group tossed from annual celebration. The Rhode Island Tea Party group says that it has banned from future Bristol 4th of July Parades. Last Saturday's parade, which is the oldest in the country at 224 years, had included a float representing the taxpayer group, which has recently been organizing "Tea Party" type political rallys. Tea Party spokesperson Marina Peterson says she was contacted by a parade committe member on Wednesday and was told "It is because some members of the RI Tea Party passed out U.S. Constitutions to the crowd. Apparently passing...

“Did policymakers in Rhode Island and the Division of Taxation not get the hint that passing a law in clear violation of the U.S. Constitution and current Supreme Court jurisprudence would cause their own in-state advertisers to lose business? “

See link below

PROVIDENCE — California is not the only state to oppose same-sex marriage. According to a new USA Today/ Gallup poll, the majority of Americans continue to oppose gay marriage. Gallup found 57 percent of Americans oppose legalizing same-sex marriage. On May 26, the California Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage will remain banned in the state of California, upholding Proposition 8, which declares that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Those who married before the initiative was passed will not be affected by this decision. Researchers at Brown University released a poll...

Gay marriage could soon become the law of the land across New England — except in the heavily Roman Catholic state of Rhode Island. A string of sudden successes for gay marriage advocates has left Rhode Island a political outlier. Maine became the fourth state in New England to legalize same-sex unions on Wednesday, while New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch is now deciding whether to sign similar legislation.... Yet the movement has stalled in Rhode Island, perhaps even lost ground, after a stalemate at the Statehouse, a loss in the state's top court and continued opposition from religious leaders. "I...

PROVIDENCE — The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday evening swiftly approved a bill to criminalize prostitution that occurs indoors, with a full vote on the House floor expected as early as next week. The bill, which the committee approved in an 8-to-4 vote, with 3 members absent, seeks to rewrite a nearly 30-year-old law that outlaws streetwalkers and soliciting for prostitution outdoors, but has no prohibition against prostitution that occurs indoors. Rhode Island is the only state, except for certain counties in Nevada, that has no prohibition against indoor prostitution. “Why should Rhode Island have this dubious distinction?” Rep. Joanne...

It's been said that conservatism has different meanings for different people. It may not be textbook, but without a whole lot of navel gazing, here's what it means to me and what Free Republic is all about: In a word, Freedom! In two words, Preserving Freedom. In a handful of words as stated by our Founding Fathers, to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity! America was founded on the proposition that all men are created equal by God and that our unalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness are granted directly by God...

Nobody can sell any ammunition after June 30, 2009. It has already started: 'Ammunition Accountability' Legislation. Remember how Obama said that he wasn't going to take your guns? Well, it seems that his allies in the anti-gun world have no problem with taking your ammo! The bill that is being pushed in 18 states (including Illinois and Indiana) requires all ammunition to be encoded by the manufacturer, a data base of all ammunition sales. So, they will know how much you buy and what calibers. Nobody can sell any ammunition after June 30, 2009 unless the ammunition is coded. Any...

Do not believe the nattering nabobs of negativity. The Nationwide Tax Day TEA Party/Tax Revolt was a huge success!! What we need now is MORE and LOUDER!! Obama has no clue. Being confronted by millions of fed-up citizens is new to him. He never expected the otherwise docile American people to rise up against his wannabe Marxist/fascist totalitarian regime. He's now lashing out at us through the Dept of Homeland Security as if We the People are his enemy. Well, we are! And he now knows it. And he's scared witless!! And the media has been reduced to the speechless,...

Congratulations FReepers and Patriots! According to Henchster's ongoing tallies, we've surpassed 750,000 participants in our nationwide Tax Day TEA Party/Tax Revolt! Woo hoo!! All 50 states fully engaged! Over 600 cities represented and reports still coming in! Huge turnout, huge SUCCESS!! Elected officials take note: DO NOT TREAD ON ME!! Tyranny, usurpation, corruption, overreaching, big spending, high taxing will no longer be tolerated! We the people are FED-UP and we're not going to take it anymore! Ignore us at your own peril! All Congressional seats, all elected offices throughout the land at risk! Revolution is in the air!!

If the Obama administration has taken flak for suggesting that conservative groups might be home to domestic terrorists, it looks like some House Democrat leaders are willing to go even further: But in an interview on Fox TV in San Francisco, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) chalked up the GOP grass-roots effort as “AstroTurf.” “This initiative is funded by the high end; we call it AstroTurf, it's not really a grass-roots movement. It's AstroTurf by some of the wealthiest people in America to keep the focus on tax cuts for the rich instead of for the great middle class,” Pelosi said....

Here is a small slide show of some of the protest signs at the Rhode Island Tax Day Tea, Party Protest... Disgruntled Citizen, Make Us Right Again.Com

After the 2010 census has been held, the number of seats held by each state in the U.S. House of Representatives will change. The National Conference of State Legislatures recently estimated what the 2010 reapportionment will mean for each state. Eight states are expected to lose one seat each, in the U.S. House and in the Electoral College. They are Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. States that will gain will be Texas (3 seats), and one each for Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Utah. If the bill now pending in Congress to expand the...

We cheer the reddest. We corn the hardest. And, apparently, we grin the widest. Because Nebraska is the happiest state in the U.S., a new study says. The survey — conducted by personal finance Web site MainStreet.com — ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia from fiscally happiest to saddest based on a few factors of economic well-being. These included foreclosure numbers, unemployment rates and the ratio of average debt to average annual income. “It reflects the attitude of this state,” said Gov. Dave Heineman. “We are a positive people with a can-do attitude who are focused on...

Are you ready for a FReepathon!!? Well, it's a new quarter and a new president and he's everything we knew he would be. In less than 90 days he's managed to take an economic downturn and turn it into an unmitigated disaster for good old American capitalism. Never let a good crisis go to waste! The government is now printing money as fast as they can run the presses. Our federal budget is doubling and tripling and the Fed is running with no controls or oversight whatsoever from the congress, pumping trillions more into the "economy." The government now spends...

Seven states posted unemployment rates above 10 percent in February, as Georgia is inched toward the double digits, according to seasonally adjusted figures released Friday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Georgia's unemployment rate for February was a record high 9.3 percent. Metro Atlanta's unemployment rate also was 9.3 percent in February. Michigan registered the nation’s worst rate, with 12 percent of its labor force out of work as of February 2009. Also in double digits were South Carolina (11 percent), Oregon (10.8 percent), North Carolina (10.7 percent), California (10.5 percent), Rhode Island (10.5 percent), and Nevada (10.1...

More states logged double-digit unemployment rates in February, with North Carolina and Rhode Island seeing their rates hit record highs. The U.S. Labor Department's report, released Friday, showed the terrible toll the recession, now in its second year, is having on workers and companies alike. Seven states have unemployment rates that topped 10 percent last month. That's up from four states in January.

WASHINGTON – Double-digit unemployment rates hit more states in February, with North Carolina and Rhode Island seeing their rates hit record highs. The U.S. Labor Department's report, released Friday, showed the terrible toll the recession, now in its second year, is having on workers and companies alike. Seven states have unemployment rates that topped 10 percent last month. That's up from four states in January.

Modern day versions of Paul Revere have been sounding the alarm about illegal immigration for years now with little effect on North Carolina's elected officials, the notable exception being a growing number of our Sheriffs. We have warned local lawmakers of the cost of becoming sanctuary cities and tried to tell anyone that would listen that this state was becoming a magnate for illegals who spread the word that North Carolina was soft on illegals. Despite the trend of self deportation due to the economy, North Carolina is viewed by illegals in this country as a sanctuary state. A recent...

Here’s a scary newspaper headline: “Could global warming turn R.I. into the under-Ocean State?” The answer to that question could only be, “Yes.” And so it was in a one-sided report in a Rhode Island newspaper. A news article in the March 22 Providence (R.I.) Journal by G. Wayne Miller details how a portion of the beautiful harbor town of Newport will be underwater due to the effects of anthropogenic global warming by the year 2100. ...more...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Here's a job opportunity you won't need to buy a new wardrobe for. Hoping to take advantage of Rhode Island's floundering economy, owners of the Foxy Lady strip club in Providence plan to hold a job fair on Saturday. They say they're looking to fill around 30 positions, from strippers and waitresses to disc jockeys and bartenders, at that club and two others in Massachusetts. "I need more managers, I need more competent staff, and I need more attractive waitresses to go along with the ones I have right now," said co-owner Tom Tsoumas.

Four states — California, South Carolina, Michigan and Rhode Island — registered unemployment rates above 10 percent in January.

By now you’ve probably heard that the Senate approved an amendment a few days ago to outlaw the “Fairness Doctrine.” Republican Senator Jim DeMint’s amendment passed by a comfortable margin of 87-to-11. Although one would think it’s important to know which senators cast their votes in favor of censorship, we can’t find a single news report that calls out their names. So we’ll do it:

He did not want the rats living with his new baby. BY BRUCE MORIN WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) - A Providence man is in trouble after he abandoned nearly 300 rats on the side of the road. The man, Toby Duffany, pleaded no contest to animal abandonment and was ordered to pay $1000 restitution and perform 50 hours of community service. Police say Duffany crammed 280 rats into aquariums and cages, and left them on the side of the road in Foster last month. The rats were discovered several days after they were abandoned. 72 rats had died and the rest...

Police investigate explosion in Starbucks in Rhode IslandThe Associated Press Friday January 02, 2009, 9:22 AM Police are investigating a small explosion that led to the evacuation of a Starbucks coffee shop in Providence, R.I. No injuries were reported and police said the only damage was minor charring on the floor. Investigators believe someone set off a homemade incendiary device in a plastic soda bottle as a prank Thursday night, police Maj. Thomas Oates said. About 25 people were in the shop on the city's East Side when the explosion happened. **SNIP**

Two young men have been rescued from a Black Mountain cabin in Jackson, N.H., after fearing one had frostbite from wearing improper gear. Eighteen-year-olds Pasquale Digiovangiacomo (di-gee-oh-VAN-gee-i-COH-moh) and Dean Cooper, both from Cranston, R.I., hiked to a cabin they had reserved for the weekend Tuesday afternoon. The men had trouble getting the wood stove started and once it was lit, it gave little heat.

December 9, 2008 Note: The following text is a quote: http://dallas.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel08/dl120908.htm Suspicious White Powder Letters Received Around the United States Robert E. Casey Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Dallas FBI, announces during the last 24 hours, at least seven letters containing a suspicious white powder have been received by the offices of governors around the country. The white powder substance has been field screened and the tests have met with negative results. The white powder substance has been forwarded to local laboratories for further testing. To date, all letters have been postmarked from Dallas, Texas and were received by governors’...

Imagine a secret junkyard frozen in time somewhere around the 70's with every bit of vintage hardware stretching for hundreds of acres. Classic Mustangs, Camaros, Cadillacs, Hemis; you name it, it's here. But not for long: The law man's saying to crush 'em. Massive mega-gallery below along with the location and what you can do to save them.

Trucker Shaaban Hafiz Ahmad Ali Shaaban is what trucker/terrorist-wannabe, Mohammed Yousef Mullawala dreamed he could be. Mullawala is facing deportation on various charges, including suspicious activities surrounding his brief attendance at the Nationwide Tractor Trailer School in Rhode Island. Unlike Mullawala, Shaaban was the real deal – a terrorist spy hiding behind the steering wheel of a big truck. The story of Shaaban is as captivating as it is unsettling. The Palestinian-born Russian-educated Shaaban settled in Greenfield, Indiana, with his family and worked as a truck driver for CLM Freight Lines in nearby Indianapolis. According to reports, his commercial driver’s...

‘Mokita’ is a word from New Guinea that means a truth everyone knows but nobody speaks about directly. It’s like an elephant in the room. It can be applied to many issues, but one area where it can no longer be applied is in connection with the disastrous financial position public employee unions have placed the rest of us. Many cities and states are facing unprecedented budget shortfalls in the aftermath of the collapse of the housing bubble.

PROVIDENCE — A new initiative borne of a recent incident between a Providence storeowner and two Spanish-speaking customers is asking all Rhode Islanders to help stop hate speech and violence directed at “immigrants and communities of color.” The “We Can Stop the Hate” campaign was announced at the University of Rhode Island’s downtown campus, a week after published reports about a March 1 encounter between two Dominican natives who are also U.S. citizens, and David C. Richardson, owner of Rhode Island Refrigeration. The incident provoked accusations against Richardson of racial profiling and committing a hate crime. The “stop the hate”...

PROVIDENCE — With the nation’s eyes trained on former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s alleged involvement with a prostitute, Rhode Island lawmakers are considering a bill that would close the loophole in this state’s laws that makes prostitution legal if it occurs indoors. The proposed legislation has become something of a perennial bill in recent years, but has never been passed by the General Assembly. This year’s version came before the House Judiciary Committee again last night, where its sponsor, Joanne M. Giannini, D-Providence, argued that extending the state’s misdemeanor prostitution statute to cover indoor activity would make it easier...

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

The corrosive effects of AFDC on America's families - especially African-American families whose incidence of unwed motherhood has tripled since President Lyndon Johnson greatly expanded welfare (the Great Society), will finally begin to end if RI Governor Carcieri's plan passes, and the idea spreads. I have long advocated that AFDC should be an emergency program, with benefits ending after six months and eligibility denied for at least two years afterwards, as the way to help out families in crisis without creating the horrible system of dependence we have now.