Free Republic

Gold Won't Save You From Hyperinflation According To A New Study James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise InstituteJanuary 24, 2013, 6:18 PM A new NBER working paper, “The Golden Dilemma”, looks at the investment history — and possible investment future — of gold. Many fascinating nuggets and charts in the research. Especially interesting is its negative take on gold as a safe-haven hedge against hyperinflation (or even regular inflation, for that matter) or other crises: We also parse the safe haven argument and come up empty-handed. We examine data on hyperinflations in both major and minor countries and find it is certainly...

Excellent, and not just the Libya stuff. Stick with it for Paul’s questions about how smart it is to be arming the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt when Morsi is already wheezing about Jews controlling the media in official diplomatic sessions with the U.S. If you’re wondering why it fell to Paul to ask this question instead of any of the more senior senators who preceded him, it’s because the Senate was perfectly happy to have Obama act unilaterally on Libya. The Iraq war authorization came back to haunt many of them; no one knew at the time how messy Libya...

Do you believe women should be allowed to serve in combat? Yes No

This is the story John Kerry does not want you to hear. The story of these valiant POW's is compelling and powerful. "Stolen Honor" is their story. It reveals the pages of history the liberal media won't tell you

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says the Republican Party should abandon its efforts to curb voter participation through voter ID laws. “Should we really have gone after reducing the turnout of voters in those places where we thought it would make a difference?” he told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, referring to November’s election. “You have to appeal with policies and programs to these people who are going to be the leaders of our country in a generation,” Powell says.

Well, this will teach President Obama’s speech writers to double check their pander list. It seems his special shout-out to gays in his inaugural speech – though widely praised by the Left as a “historic” moment – just wasn’t enough. Not for the Huffington Post and the parents of 11-year-old ‘Sadie,’ who is “transgender” (a boy pretending to be a girl). Obama needed to call out for transgender rights as well. HuffPo’s “Gay Voices” page reported that Sadie corrected the oversight, writing a second speech. Sadie’s mother put it on Face Book, it hit Twitter and, according the “Gay Voices”...

Is it time to make constitutional changes to gun rights? Not sure. Our Constitution is not something to fiddle with lightly. Yes. The senseless killing of innocent Americans must end. No. It's not guns that are the problem.

..... Senator John Kerry says he is worried the door for a "two-state solution" may be closing and that would be "disastrous". .....

Could Piers Morgan be any more of an Obama hack? After Republicans grilled Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the Benghazi attacks on Wednesday, Morgan unloaded on their criticism as "political grandstanding" showing "a whisper of misogyny." "I've been listening to the Republicans getting on their high horse about this for a long time. Now I've thought a lot of today's criticism was political grandstanding in many ways," said the CNN host who has done plenty of grandstanding of his own from his high horse on gun control. "I'm getting a little bit weary, I'll be honest with you, with...

Had the residents of Montana voted to accept same-sex marriage, God’s law will trump it. God spoke thousands of years ago in Genesis, Chapter 19, regarding sexual sins. The apostle Paul also wrote in Romans, Chapter 1, regarding man suppressing the truth and exchanging the truth for a lie, which resulted in men and women performing in unnatural functions. These laws were given to us by God for our own protection. God’s word is holy and sovereign. Any laws passed that are in direct contradiction to God’s word become man’s law. As a believer and follower of my Lord and...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Rhode Island House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly passed legislation to allow gays and lesbians to marry in the only New England state where they can't. The House voted 51-19 after an often emotional debate that touched on civil rights, religion and the nature of marriage. The bill now moves to the Senate, where both supporters and opponents of gay marriage say it is difficult to predict the bill's fate. "This has been a long journey," said House Speaker Gordon Fox, who is gay and supported same-sex legislation when it was first introduced in 1997. "Today...

DIABALY, Mali — When France entered the world’s newest war against terrorism, French officials boldly declared that the ragtag radical Islamists they planned to oust from northern Mali would scatter in the face of a modern fighting force. But two weeks later, reality has sunk in. Even as they bombard Islamist targets, the French troops are facing a military landscape that is far more complicated than it appeared at the outset, raising questions about France’s long-term goals. With no clear exit strategy, the French are encountering a host of problems: Mali’s interim government is weak, its military is disorganized, and...

A vintage rocket engine built to blast the first U.S. lunar mission into Earth's orbit more than 40 years ago is again rumbling across the Southern landscape. The engine, known to NASA engineers as No. F-6049, was supposed to help propel Apollo 11 into orbit in 1969, when NASA sent Neil Armstrong and two other astronauts to the moon for the first time.

For a number of years, I visited the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The show, which is held in a hideous rambling building originally intended to handle livestock, is a genuine monster. For a solid week, people in the tens of thousands come from near and far to grope sporting goods, book hunting and fishing trips, attend demonstrations, and generally see what is what. ESS, as it will hereinafter be referred to, is put on by Reed Exhibitions. Reed is the world’s largest organizer of trade shows and the like; the firm handles 500 events in 39...

Surely without intending to do so, liberal radio host Bill Press has providing a compelling argument against renewal of the Violence Against Women Act. On his radio show this morning, the easily piqued Press sniffed in disdain at the sheer effrontery of Republican senators asking pointed questions of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi. (audio clip after page break) Here's what the indignant Press had to say "I have to tell you, man, watching the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday and she appeared...

The New York Police Department is testing a new device that can detect firearms concealed beneath layers of clothing. Dubbed “T-Ray,” the machine detects terahertz radiation, a high-frequency electromagnetic natural energy that is emitted by people. It also detects the presence of hidden metal from a distance, The Wall Street Journal reported. snip The boxy machine can be hidden in a vehicle, allowing officers to discreetly scan their target and may provide an alternative to the NYPD's reliance on the controversial tactic of stop-and-frisk, where officers routinely search large numbers of men in high-crime areas, AFP reported. snip The program...

Subtitle: Not even the Secret Service could keep the fly away from Barack Obama's furrowed brow. The buzzing insect stole the show as the President announced his two new members of his second administration, cutting wild loops around the leader of the free world before landing squarely on his forehead. The official White House transcript simply reads: "This guy is bothering me here - (swatting at a fly.)" Meanwhile, the pool report which describes the President's movements throughout the day, noted that "the president spoke for about five minutes while being menaced by a house fly". It wasn't the first...

John Kerry: Mr. Climate By: Darren Samuelsohn and Jonathan Allen January 24, 2013 07:00 PM EST President Barack Obama’s chief global climate cop won’t be stationed at EPA or on the White House staff. He’ll be at the State Department. Obama’s choice of John Kerry as the nation’s top diplomat is the strongest signal to the international community — and the smart set in Washington’s political class — that the American president is truly committed to striking deals designed to save the world. Add that to his mention of climate change in his inaugural address, and it’s giving hopes to...

~Favorite Road-Street Song's~ Werewolves Of London I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook's Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein Aaoooooo! Werewolves of London! Aaoooooo! (Repeat) If you hear him howling around your kitchen door Better not let him in Little old lady got mutilated late last night Werewolves of London again Asoooooo! Werewolves of London! Aaoooooo! (Repeat) He's the hairy-handed gent who ran amuck in Kent Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair Better...

Perhaps our pro-abortion friends will better understand why we pro-lifers oppose any tax-funded support for Planned Parenthood if we explain our opposition in a way that engages their sympathy: Suppose there were a company called Planned Parkas that manufactures very warm winter coats for people who otherwise would have difficulty obtaining them.  Planned Parkas provides a vital wintertime resource to low-income and homeless people from Bangor to Boise, so the federal government uses taxpayer money to support Planned Parkas -- except, of course, for that part of the operation that clubs baby seals, skins them, tans their hides, and sews...