Free Republic

Now that a billion dollars is “chump change” in Washington, DeeCee, the subject of the national debt looms large in the average citizen’s list of things to worry about. How much do we owe? In this article, a brief guide to national debt clocks, from simple to complex.

A homecoming march by Royal Marines returning after a bloody tour of Afghanistan was hijacked yesterday by anti-war protesters. Five militants waving Iraqi flags screamed 'genocide' and 'not in my name' at soldiers from 3 Commando as they marched from Buckingham Palace to Parliament. Some of the protesters also tried to use a megaphone to drown out the Royal Marines band but were beaten when onlookers began to clap and cheer to overcome them. One of the militants had to be restrained by police until the 120 servicemen and women had gone into the House of Commons, where they were...

(CNN) -- A 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit near the Greek island of Crete on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It struck at 12:30 p.m. (5:30 a.m. ET), the USGS said. It was centered about 80 miles (130 kilometers) off the city of Iraklion on Crete, the USGS said. An earthquake with a 6.7 magnitude is capable of causing significant damage, especially in areas of poor construction. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. A staff member at Iraklion Airport told CNN they didn't feel the earthquake. Similar reports came from staff members at hotels just outside Iraklion and...

Fresh out of college, before becoming a community organizer, Obama took a job with a consulting firm that helped American companies operating abroad. The horror of editing business manuals for a year gave Obama a lesson in the "coldness of capitalism," he told biographer David Mendell. "I would imagine myself as a captain of industry, barking out orders, closing the deal, before I remembered who it was that I had told myself that I wanted to be." As his career progressed, Obama tempered his critique of capitalism, and developed an uncanny ability to make free-marketeers believe he's simpatico. Meanwhile, he...

What good does it do to force businesses to provide the best health care to its employees if fewer Americans have a job? If the national health care bill currently pending before Congress becomes law, more than a million Americans may soon learn. Perversely, President Obama’s top priority of providing government-run health care for all could cause another chief national concern—unemployment—to surge. One key provision alone could cause as many as 1.6 million Americans to lose their jobs during the first five years of such a new national health care mandate. The fact that a major element of universal health...

Seven Reasons for Leftist Anti-Semitism By: Don Feder GrassTopsUSA.com | Wednesday, July 01, 2009 Old joke: Walking down a street, a rabbi is accosted by an anti-Semite who tells him “The Jews are to blame for all of our problems.” The rabbi replies, “You’re absolutely right. It’s all the fault of the Jews – and the redheads.” Puzzled, the anti-Semite asks, “Why the redheads”? The rabbi responds, “Why the Jews”? But for the left, anti-Semitism makes perfect sense – almost as much sense as socialized medicine. Except for Islam (with which it’s increasingly allied), the left has a near-monopoly on...

July 12th casts a shadow on our July 4th celebrations. Happy Birthday, America! This July 4th marks your 233rd birthday! God bless us all! There is another birthday, a centennial, on July 12th. The 16th Amendment turns 100. It is hardly an occasion to celebrate, but rather to mourn. That seed grew into the suffocating IRS monster that tramples on our God given dignity, rights, and prosperity. If our forefathers were alive today, they would declare it a Day of Mourning. As it is they must be spinning in their graves! They had warned that giving Congress the power they...

Movie star Alec Baldwin has been given the opportunity to launch his political career in Ohio by a local law firm keen to back a bid to make him the state's next Governor. The Cooler star has often spoken about his political aspirations and now he has gone public with his plans to retire from acting in 2012, a group of leading Ohio businessmen want him to consider running for office there. He tells Playboy magazine, "A law firm in a liberal Democratic bastion in Ohio state politics sent me a binder with a cover letter that read: "Mr. Baldwin,...

ENCINITAS — Francine Busby is telling supporters that Friday night's disruption by sheriff's deputies of a fund-raiser for her congressional campaign shows that she is a “right-wing” target. Busby is asking for campaign contributions to reach a goal of $200,000 by the end of Tuesday. “I am going to fight even harder to stop this hateful intimidation,” Busby said in a letter e-mailed to supporters late Monday. “I hope that I can count on you to fight this battle with me ... Your contribution will show that you aren't afraid to stand with me.”

As if the coronation of the ultimate liberal, Obugger, as president wasn't enough, The Founders must surely have turned over in their graves now, just before the 233rd anniversary of their "domestic terrorism," to quote the odious Janet Napolitano. So, in their honor, let's take a look at the real Sen. Al Franken, D (for D@#$head)-Minn., through a montage of some of the best and brightest moments of his moonbat life. I hope you're happy, Minnesota.

Video: Ad Takes on Obama Administration’s ‘Inexcusable Conduct’ "They proposed a civilian security force and an American congressman warned it was exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany." The TV Ad Campaign launches July 7, 2009.

In light of contemporay political and and social and religious conditions in the United States, I want to look at Psalm 2. Psalm 2 is not only a Messianic Psalm, but also a prophetic warning to the Gentile nations to serve the LORD Jesus Christ in the Church Age. The context is the Gentiles nations, not Israel. Psalm 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? a. Psalm 2 is not only a Messianic Psalm, but also a prophetic warning to the Gentile nations to serve the LORD Jesus Christ in the Church Age. The...

This week, American troops start leaving Iraqi cities in compliance with both former President George W. Bush's negotiated start date for withdrawal and President Barack Obama's campaign pledge. Given Bush's profound commitment to succeed in Iraq, if he were still in office and if he judged such a scheduled removal of troops to be dangerous, he doubtlessly would have postponed the action -- just as he changed his strategy and ordered the surge against the advice of most of his government and most of Washington in 2007. Yet it was that surge and the changed strategy designed and led by...

HOLLY HILL – A security alarm went off at a Holly Hill accountant’s residence in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday, rousing the sleeping homeowner who grabbed his gunshot, confronted an intruder standing in his doorway and shot the burglar in the shoulder. L. Glenn Littlejohn, 71, of 1244 Peake St. interrupted the suspect, Roosevelt Elmore Jr., at around 4:55 a.m. as Elmore stood in the doorway of Littlejohn’s home, according to police. Holly Hill Police Chief Robert Wunderlich said an unarmed Elmore allegedly forced his way though a doorway into the kitchen of the victim’s home. Littlejohn, after being awakened by...

The destruction of America is almost complete. The main stream media (MSM) is not talking about it, but the numbers do not lie. B. Hussein Obama is carrying out his plan without fail. But, he can be stopped. Obama’s plan is working just as he planned. The June 2009 receipts for taxes are down drastically from last year. Withholdings from W2’s are down 9.8% for June, paralleling the unemployment rate. Corporate income taxes are off 35.1%, indicating a downturn in the economy and more layoffs to come. Electronically paid income taxes, often referred to as quarterlies, taxes from the self...

Ponca City, We Love You writes "The NY Times reports that farmers and ranchers oppose a government program to identify livestock with microchip tags that would allow the computerized recording of livestock movements from birth to the slaughterhouse. Proponents of the USDA's National Animal Identification System say that computer records of cattle movements mean that when a cow is discovered with bovine tuberculosis or mad cow disease, its prior contacts can be swiftly traced. Ranchers say the extra cost of the electronic tags places an onerous burden on a teetering industry. Small groups of cattle are often rounded up in...

It's remarkable what Congress can do when money is no object, as the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure demonstrated when it put out a blueprint for a reauthorization bill to govern the nation's spending on transportation. It's a cornucopia of goodies that's getting strong reviews from interest groups, mainly because it gives them nearly everything they've been asking for: Environmentalists get a new bureaucracy to encourage green projects, public transit agencies get a big influx of cash, high-speed rail enthusiasts get new trains, and states get billions in additional money to build and improve roads, bridges and highways. There's...

An external audit of the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) has failed to find millions of dollars' worth of "missing" gold. Auditors Deloitte were asked in May to investigate a discrepancy between the amount of precious metals on the mint's inventory and in its actual stockpile. Deloitte concluded that the unaccounted for difference "does not appear to be an accounting error" and identified security as an area for consideration. The RCM said it was not yet clear whether any gold was actually missing. "All customer holdings and metal deposits entrusted with the Royal Canadian Mint are secure and have been fully...

Author’s Note - In response to my last two columns, 88 Duke University professors have issued a joint statement condemning gay racism at Duke. The professors wanted to shed light on the gay Duke Administrator accused of molesting his black adopted son. They believe his actions must be seen as one part of a larger set of pathologies at Duke. Their statement follows in its entirety:We are listening to our students. We’re also listening to the Durham community, to Duke Staff, and to each other. Regardless of the results of the police investigation, what is apparent everyday now is the...

Spurgeon's Morning & Evening - July 1 -------------------------------- Morning Devotional "In summer and in winter shall it be." - Zechariah 14:8 The streams of living water which flow from Jerusalem are not dried up by the parching heats of sultry midsummer any more than they were frozen by the cold winds of blustering winter. Rejoice, O my soul, that thou art spared to testify of the faithfulness of the Lord. The seasons change and thou changest, but thy Lord abides evermore the same, and the streams of his love are as deep, as broad and as full as ever. The...