Free Republic

40 years after Roe v. Wade militant pro-choicers only think of themselves, and they're missing the point...

Spanish banks have already shed 30,000 jobs in ins banking crisis. Another 20,000 cuts are due in 2013, along with pay cuts and reduced pension contribution. In response Spain's Banking Unions Announce Strikes. Workers at three of Spain's bailed-out banks will stage strikes in coming weeks as they fight mass layoffs, unions said on Monday, spreading industrial unrest to a sector where walkouts have so far been rare. While the banks, crippled by a property bubble that burst five years ago, have hogged headlines, employees have so far mostly kept a low profile even as protests become a way of...

Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing to move to London to set up a billion pounds plus investment fund, it was claimed today. If the move goes ahead, the controversial Frenchman will become the latest to escape a potential top tax rate of 75 per cent in his home country. He and his former supermodel third wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy would be likely to settle in an affluent district like South Kensington – so becoming the most high profile Gallic celebrity couple in the city.

For nearly two years, many doubted a right-to-work bill had enough support in the State Senate for passage. In December, the measure passed easily. Republicans, led by Gov. Rick Snyder, resoundingly approved the bill, which became a reality after unions in Michigan tried to pass Proposal 2 in November. Four Republican State Senators, however, voted against giving workers the freedom to choose whether they want to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. They were: Sen. Tory Rocca, R-Sterling Heights; Sen. Mike Green, R-Mayville; Sen. Mike Nofs, R-Battle Creek; and Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba. Michigan becoming the...

*Disturbing Video* Woman Thrown On Subway Tracks During Violent Attack. Police keep incident secret.

BREAKING: Governor approves new oil pipeline route....... LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has approved the rerouted Keystone XL oil pipeline path through Nebraska, putting the final decision squarely in the lap of President Obama’s administration. snip

Abraham Lincoln, deeply troubled by four years of Civil War bloodletting, gave a great second inaugural address in 1865. By then Lincoln saw slavery as a terrible stench in God’s nostrils, so he mused about why God was taking so long to blow it away with His mighty breath. Lincoln’s words: “If God wills that [the war] continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s 250 years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago,...

<p>Beyoncé sang the national anthem at yesterday’s inauguration ceremony for President Obama and received overwhelming praise for her performance, ranging from Business Insider (“It was just amazing”) to TMZ (“f*cking awesome”). Beyoncé’s Instagram photo of herself in a recording studio with members of the Marine Corps Band.</p>

Most modern-day leftists in Western countries have abandoned the idea of a violent revolution, having replaced it with "the long march through the institutions" as part of the culture war to transform the society through cultural hegemony. Instead of commanding firing squads, they play mind games of manipulative illusions, in which the demonization of dissent plays a crucial role. The basic premise hasn't changed: as much as the statists want you to love them, they want you to hate their opponents even more

A 56-year-old British grandmother has been sentenced to death by firing squad in Indonesia for drug trafficking. Lindsay Sandiford was arrested at Bali's airport in May last year after 4.8kg (10.6lb) of cocaine was found in the lining of her suitcase during a routine customs check. Sandiford, whose last UK address was in Gloucestershire, said she was coerced into bringing the drugs to the island. Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire has condemned the sentence. He told MPs the government strongly objected to the death penalty imposed. Her lawyers have said they were "surprised" at the verdict and would appeal. Prosecutors...

I seem to remember an older federal court ruling that addressed the number of rounds a weapon's detachable magazine could hold. IIRC it said something to the effect that a 12-round magazine was not materially different from an 8 or 10 round magazine, and therefore the capacity of a detachable magazine could not be regulated. Does anyone else recall this, or am I finally losing it? Any help will be appreciated, my hair is gray enough.

No Backdated Punishment in Eden by James J. S. Johnson, J.D., Th.D. * At the end of Day Six, God said all was “very good” (Genesis 1:31), which means no death existed on earth because death is not good (Romans 8:20-22, 1 Corinthians 15). No animals died or were eaten before Adam sinned (Genesis 1:29-30, 9:1-4). Likewise, the Bible doesn’t mention the existence, much less the death, of any pre-Adamite subhuman primates before Adam sinned.1 Adam’s sin triggered the curse of death, fulfilling God’s warning (Romans 5:12-21). Only then did Adam experience the death that God had warned about. But...

Were Barack Obama re-elected, I predicted two months before the Nov. 2012 presidential vote, "the coldest treatment of Israel ever by a U.S. president will follow." Well, election's over and that cold treatment is firmly in place. Obama has signaled in the past two months what lies ahead by: Choosing three senior figures – John Kerry for State, John Brennan for the CIA, and Chuck Hagel for Defense – who range from clueless to hostile about Israel.Approving a huge gift of advanced weapons - 20 F-16 fighter jets and 200 M1A1 Abrams tanks - to the Islamist government in Egypt...

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has agreed to testify on the Benghazi debacle before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, January 23, two days after President Obama is inaugurated. I doubt that very many journalists and citizens will closely follow the hearing held so soon after the inauguration. But even so, I have some questions that a member of the Committee may want to ask. (Of course, these questions are the tip of the iceberg.) 1. On October 15, 2012, did you take responsibility for the lapses in Benghazi security that resulted in the 9/11/12...

Oil-rich gulf state Qatar has a vested interest in the outcome of the north Mali crisis, according to various reports that have been picked up by French MPs, amid suspicion that Doha may be siding with the rebels to extend its regional influence. Since Islamist groups exploited a military coup in the Malian capital of Bamako in early 2012 to take control of the entire north of the country, accusations of Qatari involvement in a crisis that has seen France deploy troops have been growing. Last week two French politicians explicitly accused Qatar of giving material support to separatists and...

In the libertarian sci-fi classic, "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress," Robert A. Heinlein describes a successful revolution of the individualistic, free-market-oriented residents of the Moon against the Earth's tyrannical big government. The ins and outs of agitating and organizing the masses to fight the oppressive Authority feel just as realistic as the finer points of everyday life in the underground Lunar cities of the future. The proposed revolutionary scenario could even serve as a workable model for similar real-life endeavors, if only the renowned futurist author hadn't neglected to factor in the immanent function of any oppressive regime: systemic...

A new Justice Department report on criminal gun use contradicts several anti-gun claims by groups opposing the Second Amendment right of individuals to keep and bear arms. One of those groups, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (BCPGV), has long argued against firearms ownership by private citizens except for "legitimate purposes," which the organization does not believe, based on its writings, include self-defense. The group promoted President Clinton's ban on so-called "assault weapons," legislation that prevents law-abiding citizens from possessing many semiautomatic firearms. "Until 1994, when the federal assault weapons ban passed Congress as part of President Clinton's crime...

The Economist Intelligence Unit recently published its "Where To Be Born in 2013" list, a measure of which countries provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead.WOND, an infographics and data visualization outfit based outside London, has put together a great repackaging of the data, which also included the list from 1988.Needless to say, things have changed over the past 25 years.With their permission, we're republishing it here. (Check them out at wond.co.uk). WOND/EIUAnd here are the measures:  Material wellbeing as measured by GDP per head (in $, at 2006 constant PPPS)Life expectancy...