Free Republic

CNN's Gary Tuchman talks about border security with a man whose ranch sits right on the Mexico-U.S. border. The video from CNN

"IRAN SPY NETWORK 30,000 STRONG Pentagon report: Iranian intelligence linked to spying, terror attacks" SNIPPET: "Iran’s intelligence service includes 30,000 people who are engaged in covert and clandestine activities that range from spying to stealing technology to terrorist bombings and assassination, according to a Pentagon report." SNIPPET: "“MOIS provides financial, material, technological, or other support services to Hamas, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), all designated terrorist organizations under U.S. Executive Order 13224,” the report said. The spy service operates in all areas where Iran has interests, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Central Asia, Africa, Austria, Azerbaijan, Croatia, France,...

Michigan has been in the headlines recently with right-to work legislation and an omnibus abortion bill. What didn’t cause much stir is Michigan’s 2011 eighth grade education report card. The state as a whole is able to claim to be on par with the nation in reading, with 32 percent of eighth graders rating as “proficient” or better; in math, 31 percent of students ranked as “proficient” or better. Compared with national averages of 32 and 34 percent of eighth graders at or above grade-level in reading and math, respectively, Michigan’s public education system appears to be as mediocre as...

FERTILITY IN AMERICA has been declining for years. According to the Pew Research Center, the nation's birth rate hit an all-time low in 2011 – just 63 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age. It was almost twice as high – 123 births per 1,000 women – at the peak of the Baby Boom in 1957. As babies and children disappear from a society, what takes their place? One answer, as journalist Jonathan V. Last observes in a forthcoming book, "What to Expect When No One's Expecting," is pets. In surveys taken from the 1940s to the 1980s, fewer...

(CNN) -- The United States is to deploy 400 troops and two Patriot air-defense missile batteries to Turkey in the coming weeks to defend against potential threats from Syria, defense officials said Friday. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed the order en route to Turkey, where he is visiting Incirlik Air Base, Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.

After the Senate failed to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Senator John Kerry took to the airwaves with Chris Matthews on Hardball Wednesday, vowing to pass the measure within the first three months of 2013. and demonizing the Republicans who voted against the bill: They argued they were afraid we were giving up sovereignty of the nation and somehow the United Nations would be able to tell us what to do. Neither are true. There is no requirement in this treaty whatsoever that any law in the United States would be changed,...

Yesterday the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to ratify the treaty. The White House expressed its dissatisfaction saying, in part, “We are disappointed that the overwhelming majority of Senate Republicans today blocked the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which would enshrine American standards that have been developed through decades of bipartisan cooperation.” The treaty is an international human rights instrument of the United Nations to protect individuals with disabilities. Parties are bound Under the Convention to ensure that disabled people enjoy the same human...

This image of the continental United States at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October 2012. The image was made possible by the satellite's "day-night band" of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), which detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared and uses filtering techniques to observe dim signals such as city lights, gas flares, auroras, wildfires and reflected moonlight.

Tax policy really tells you a lot about a government... what politicians’ values and priorities are. People can SAY anything, but in a way, tax policy is putting their money where their mouths are. For example, politicians like to talk about technology, efficiency and transparency. But just take a look at the tax code to see where they really stand. Estonia’s Taxation Act of 2002, which form the preponderance of that country’s tax code, is 43,370 words. In Canada, the tax code is close to 1 million words. And in the US, the tax code is so daunting that simply...

Those who look at history with a critical eye and those try to peel back the layers of government policies to understand the true motives behind them, understand that the face our government shows the public every day is not the only face our government has. There is a face that for good reason is not exposed to light of day, or at least is very rarely exposed. Inside and outside of our government, as well as other major powers, there are strategic think tanks that look at the world as a chess board. They look way into the future...

Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. Thomas Jefferson Once again, our nation has been attacked by the followers of Islam, the so-called religion of peace. This time their claim is a movie which depicts their prophet and their religion, in what they consider to be an intolerable manner, has sparked their outrage and their response is attacks on sovereign U.S. soil. These are not isolated events which were enacted by a few fringe elements of their society. These were coordinated and orchestrated attacks sanctioned by their religious leaders and their governments. Of course, it doesn’t stop there, it never...

There is a debt of service due from every man to his country, proportioned to the bounties which nature and fortune have measured to him. Thomas Jefferson Have you ever wondered what is meant by the term ‘public servants?’ I suppose these days it depends on who is either using or misusing the term. If you look at any of the signers of the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution, you will see men who believed in public service. And I will show you examples of this. I have absolutely no doubt the founding fathers of this nation knew...

A general dissolution of principals and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader. Samuel Adams The sanctioned backwards display of the U.S. flag is a perfect example of the backwards thinking of our federal and State governments, as well as our laughable policy-makers in general within the United States. The sad examples of what we call leaders, do much...

I believe the subject of this treatise will be about an individual which a great many people consider to be public enemy number one. For those of you who have read my other treatises, I hate to disappoint you, this particular treatise will not be the scathing witch hunt which uncovers the corruptness of our so-called leadership or of any particular leader for that matter. Instead, I am going to spend the time looking into a man who much of the public seems to intensely dislike, but for whom I have a great deal of respect. While there are nine...

Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of the day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period, and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate, systematical plan of reducing us to slavery. Thomas Jefferson Has our Legislative branch of government become a mere legislature for the legislators? The only time either side of the aisle seems to be in agreement is when they legislate for themselves. Of course in regard to partisan politics the results are more egregious. But when it comes to the people of the United...

I’m saying that when the President does it, that means it’s not illegal! Richard Milhous Nixon It has been said that a nation can be judged by the way it treats foreigners within its borders. But more importantly, a nation can and should be judged by its elected leaders and their actions. I intend to go through approximately fifty years of elected quasi-leaders known as President of the United States and examine their actions. The side of the aisle which they align themselves with is irrelevant. Partisan politics will take no part in this discussion. A simple evaluation of the...

Does the United States actually exist as the country we once knew, or is this nation really just some sort of transitional nation which is or will be called America? The concept of our founding fathers, obviously, was to create a Constitutional Republic where men could pursue their dreams and live a life free from the twisted whims of tyrants. Of course, as we all know, nothing man-made lasts forever and it appears that dream is either dead or dying and at a rapid pace. I believe what we now have, is exactly what the framers fought to rid themselves...

We, the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. Abraham Lincoln Are we in the United States sovereign individuals? I believe we are according to the U.S. Constitution. The purpose of this treatise is to investigate and expose the principals of not only what it means to be sovereign, but of sovereignty in general and whether the U.S. Constitution actually guarantees the individual sovereign status. This discourse will touch on the differences between republicanism, democracy and the actual make-up of the United...

The Constitution of the United States is much more than just a piece of paper; it is a document written by God fearing men who believed in Liberty and Justice for all who are citizens of this great nation and their Posterity. While the U.S. Constitution is a guide for ourselves and for those who represent us, the U.S. Constitution is much more; it is the “law of the land” and should be viewed as such, as well as considered whenever any of the three branches of government, i.e., Legislative, Executive, or Judicial, enact new laws or perform the duties...

One was an Australian computer hacker; the other a head of state. They did not speak each other’s language; and their first encounter was a videolink conversation across 6,000miles. ....“Welcome to the club of the persecuted!” a beaming Mr Correa[President of Ecuador]told the grinning Australian. ...on Mr Assange’s Russian television chat show in May, the Ecuadorean discussed at great length his resentment of American“imperialism”, and his vehement dislike of big business, media barons and “elites”. ..........Mr Assange nodded knowingly....... The two men laughed and joked as they congratulated each other on their pariah status. ......On Thursday, Mr Correa’s government announced...