Free Republic

An excerpt from an interview with a President in the future... Amid conservative anger over the President's proposals to curb religious violence, the President says he sometimes attends Church. Asked if he ever attends Church, the President said he did so occasionally when visitors to his retreat were interested in that sort of thing. "Up at Camp David, we do service all the time," he said. "And I have a profound respect for the traditions of religion that trace back in this country for generations." "And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake". The...

Seven people were killed and another six wounded in weekend violence in Chicago — including two separate double-homicide shootings that occurred about 12 hours apart. The seven homicides all occurred Saturday, making the day one of the deadliest in recent memory. The most recent happened in the South Shore neighborhood at 11:50 p.m. Saturday in the 2500 block of East 73rd Street, police said. Willie Wilson, 32, was stabbed to death during a domestic dispute at his home, authorities said. He was pronounced dead on the scene with a stab wound to the chest, authorities said. About 10 p.m. Saturday...

Just when you thought yoga couldn’t get any hotter – because it seems everyone is doing it – here comes a New York insider’s guide to the practice that is causing devotees to think again. In his investigation into Bikram, the most fashionable and extreme form of yoga, that is conducted in rooms of scorching heat, writer Benjamin Lorr warns that potential followers must go into it with eyes open: this is a fitness regime that should come with a health warning.

A petition submitted to the White House demands the Librarian of Congress to rescind his recent decision which removed the unlocking of cellphones from the exceptions to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA).

It’s my job to advocate for spending cuts. It’s a job I’ve been doing in one form or another for over a decade. If I’ve ever experienced a victory, it must have been a pretty small one, because I can’t recall any. So why do I persist?For one, I’m a naturally optimistic person. And fueling that optimism is the press. I’m constantly reading about the possibility of spending cuts, and those articles usually say that the cuts would be major … or massive … or severe … or even draconian! The possibility sends a thrill up my leg.Alas, the “draconian”...

The Department of Homeland Security is seeking to acquire 7,000 5.56x45mm NATO “personal defense weapons” (PDW) — also known as “assault weapons” when owned by civilians. The solicitation, originally posted on June 7, 2012, comes to light as the Obama administration is calling for a ban on semi-automatic rifles and high capacity magazines. Citing a General Service Administration (GSA) request for proposal (RFP), Steve McGough of RadioViceOnline.com reports that DHS is asking for the 7,000 “select-fire” firearms because they are “suitable for personal defense use in close quarters.” The term select-fire means the weapon can be both semi-automatic and automatic....

A Latino gang is intimidating blacks into leaving the city that was once an African American enclave. It's part of a violent trend seen in other parts of the L.A. area. The attacks on the family are the latest in a series of violent incidents in which Latino gangs targeted blacks in parts of greater Los Angeles over the last decade.

The progressive cultural elite has long perpetuated prejudices against the family that, unchallenged, lead to its ruin. Among several I cite three: (1) the assertion that marriage makes men and women less free; (2) the assumption that children are a burden; and (3) the insistence that sexual differentiation is a fiction. These three ideas represent, as it were, three waves of the anti-family movement of the past 150 years. The first is the Marxist contribution; the second is the eugenicist; the third is the fruit of recent gender theorists. Social conservatives too often play a battle of catch-up with the...

Raising a daughter is tricky enough. Last week, the job of all American parents became much more complicated. Not only do parents of daughters have to worry about dates to the dance, mean girls on the playground, or making sure their daughters have good academic discipline but now parents also have to worry about the idea that if there ever is a national draft again, their daughter might just have the opportunity to sit in a foxhole, wet, cold and muddy, gripping the steel of an M-4 in her chapped hands, waiting to kill or be killed. As a responsible...

TEL AVIV – Now that he has secured his second term, President Barack Obama has already secretly pledged to the Palestinians he will press Israel into a new round of so-called land-for-peace negotiations, a top Palestinian Authority negotiator told KleinOnline. The negotiator said top members of the Obama administration told the Palestinians the U.S. president will renew talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state in the so-called 1967 borders – meaning in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and, notably, eastern Jerusalem. The negotiator further revealed when it comes to dividing Jerusalem, Obama wants to rehash what is known as the...

To guarantee the will of the people would decide who would govern us our Founding Fathers gave each state has the right to apportion its Electoral College votes (ECVs) as it wished. Democrats don’t really like this…... Throughout the last two hundred years, they have often relied on voter fraud to win presidential elections. This is why they are gearing up to fight a new plan for awarding ECVs being considered in six states totally controlled Republicans. Barack Obama won all six. The plan calls for an ECV to be awarded to a candidate for each Congressional District he/she wins...

Some Good Samaritans wanted to clean up some trash in a neighborhood near me in Northern Virginia, and they ran into a brick wall of bureaucracy. I happened to notice this write-up on a neighborhood blog. If you aren’t convinced yet that there is too much government bureaucracy in America, then this article is well worth reading. Here are some highlights:Kay Cooper and Nancy Vorona, residents of Lake Barcroft, would like to see the Seven Corners area cleaned up. …Government officials agree the area needs to be cleaned up. Yet nothing is being done. Cooper is beyond frustrated at the...

Craig Newmark points to some interesting analysis that suggests that the recent run-up in U.S. stock prices can be attributed to the newest rounds of quantitative easing: What is clear is that the recent market rally is once again being driven by the Federal Reserve's QE programs. Money is flowing out of bonds, and the dollar, and into equities. The weekly chart below shows the decline in the market this past September and October as excess reserve balances with the Fed were drawn down. The subsequent rally has been fueled by the Fed as it has pumped reserve balances sharply...

Stricken with Bieber fever, thousands of fans showed up to the AAA Sunday morning. But the main attraction was a no-show. Several thousand fans were invited to a special Justin Bieber film concert project. The event was scheduled for Sunday morning prior to the big concert to gather footage for an upcoming DVD. But the girls got some bad news. "They were told they were going to see Justin Bieber," said Dance Director Damaris Eden, "to hold down their energy, thank you for the performance, they were not getting paid for this. Their treat was to see Justin Bieber and...

Went skiing on some trails in N. Mn that are maintained by the State. To ski on them you need to buy a State of Mn. Ski pass. Dutifully went into the Holiday station in Tofti to buy a day pass. My friends didn't bring their wallets. They were told they could not buy a ski pass unless they provided a photo ID that could be scanned. I offered my driver license and said I'd buy theirs. Nope. Each license they issue needs a photo ID. So. No photo ID, no skiing on Mn State trails. You can still vote...

ROCK HILL — A York man who, court records show, had just been released from jail (Saturday Morning) on weapons and drug charges, is accused of fatally shooting a 31-year-old father-of-five in a Rock Hill home invasion Sunday morning. Authorities have charged 26-year-old Vincent Alfonzo Bratton with murder after he turned himself in to deputies around 6 p.m. Sunday, said Trent Faris, spokesman for the York County Sheriff's Office. By Sunday night, officials were still questioning Bratton, who has prior arrests in both Rock Hill and York. Bratton, whose most recent address is listed as a South Pacific Avenue home...

Extremists burn ancient texts in Mali The Associated Press Posted Jan 28, 2013 @ 07:32 AMSEVARE, Mali (AP) — Islamist extremists torched a library containing historic manuscripts in Timbuktu, the mayor said today, as French and Malian forces closed in on Mali's fabled desert city. Ousmane Halle said he heard about the burnings early today. "It's truly alarming that this has happened," he told The Associated Press by telephone from Mali's capital, Bamako. "They torched all the important ancient manuscripts. The ancient books of geography and science. It is the history of Timbuktu, of its people."

According to pollster Rasmussen, last week 42% of registered voters gave the President 'positive marks' on job creation-  huh? Barack Obama has created ZERO net jobs- hello! The current unemployment rate -identical to when he first took office- SHOULD have been a hint, no? And would you imagine that 62% of voters now favor smaller government -with fewer services/lower taxes- here just a couple months past an election in which Americans returned a far-left Cloward-Pivenist for another 4 years of fiscal mayhem...? Perhaps some supporters were genuinely surprised by Obama's Big Government, rabble-rousing, class-warfare coronation speech last week -even disturbed/disappointed- but you would...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants in conservatorship, played their “Get out of jail free” card and are letting some borrowers wipe out negative equity on their homes. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will let some borrowers who kept up payments as their homes lost value erase their debts by giving up the properties, helping Americans escape underwater loans while adding to losses at the mortgage giants bailed out with $190 billion of taxpayer money. Non-delinquent borrowers with illness, job changes or other reasons they need to move will become eligible in March to apply for a so-called...

A staffer at left-wing Media Matters for America committed numerous felonies in the District of Columbia and around the country by carrying a firearm to defend the organization’s founder, David Brock, The Daily Caller has learned.