Free Republic

'We are serious about limiting access to assault weapons and magazine clips [sic]. Joe and my cabinet members are on board with the necessity of confronting this issue to ensure no events like Sandy Hook happen again and the gun violence like in Chicago is addressed. This involves enforcement of existing laws. It involves addressing access to guns in big cities. I know this is not a shy group and I am very grateful to them, a representative group of communities across the country. Congress will be making decisions on what groups like this decide.' (all quickly paraphrased) Ends. takes...

PHOENIX - A state legislator is moving to put Arizona's hospitals on the front line in the fight against illegal immigration. The proposal by Rep. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, would require hospitals to "reasonably confirm" those who show up at their doors are in the country legally if they do not produce proof of valid health insurance. HB 2293 lists methods hospital officials and employees can use to make that determination. The measure says if legal status cannot be verified, someone from the hospital "must immediately contact the local federal immigration office or a local law enforcement agency to report the...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blXkl9YVoHoM

Trying to quit smoking? You might want to move to Oregon. A new bill would classify cigarettes as a Schedule III controlled substance, making them illegal to purchase without a doctor’s prescription. Portland Rep. Mitch Greenlick introduced the bill in the Oregon State Legislature in an attempt to reduce the number of addicted people, but has received criticism from smokers and non-smokers alike who believe the initiative is not feasible. Under Greenlick’s proposal, smokers would be charged with a misdemeanor and face up to one year’s imprisonment and a $6,250 fine for being caught with a cigarette or any of...

It would be the ultimate fiscal cliff. A group of House Republicans wants to put an expiration date on the 75,000-page U.S. tax code. The Tax Code Termination Act would require the repeal of the entire code in 2017 — except for the bits dealing with Social Security and Medicare — with a new system ready to go for the following year. Of course, the U.S. economy would benefit from major tax reform that eliminated the current bias against investment, axed crony-capitalist tax breaks, and lowered marginal rates on individuals and business as much as possible. But Republicans can put...

Question: What should the law be regarding abortion? a. 100% illegal, no abortions should ever done? b. Legal in the case of a serious threat to the life of the mother? c. Legal in the case of rape or incest? Other? (please explain) Thanks!

Are the stars finally aligned for a global climate change treaty? After years of frustration, momentum seemed to change in an instant last Monday. President Obama’s second inaugural address made it clear he was going to lead the world on the issue, his words a “clarion call to action” as one observer put it. Obama’s first term was marked by one failure after another on the climate issue. For instance, his efforts to craft an agreement at Copenhagen in December 2009 were frustrated by developing nations, and subsequent conferences, such as the one last November and December in Doha, have...

Luis Bladilir Lopez would have needed a sharp defense lawyer to explain what could happen as the result of pleading guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana charge last year in Prince William County. But Lopez, then 19, was never appointed a lawyer, according to court records. In the end, the consequences were far more serious than he probably could have imagined.

America's top-grossing golfer Phil Mickelson drove himself into a bunker on Jan. 20 when he said that federal and California state tax hikes had made him contemplate making "drastic changes" in his life—including, it was widely assumed, moving to a no-income-tax state such as Texas or Florida. But he was only stating publicly what many professional athletes are mulling privately. No doubt they'll keep their thoughts private, too, given the uproar that ensued. The golfer known as Lefty outraged lefties by noting that a tax burden of more than 60% seemed excessive. Didn't he know that athletes—unlike Hollywood celebrities—are supposed...

A sheriff who urged Milwaukee-area residents in a radio ad to learn to handle firearms so they can defend themselves is dismissing pointed criticism from the city's mayor -- calling the mayor's response "weak" and telling Fox News "my job is to protect the public." Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. stirred controversy after releasing a 30-second radio ad saying budget cuts have hurt officers' ability to respond. "With officers laid off and furloughed, simply calling 911 and waiting is no longer your best option," he said in the ad. "You can beg for mercy from a violent criminal, hide...

As the U.S. government continues to expand surveillance and monitoring systems to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars within the borders of the United States, a recent announcement regarding the country’s southern air defense systems is raising eyebrows. Our southern border is, in part, protected by the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS), which utilizes moored balloons hovering at about 15,000 feet to identify low flying aircraft and missiles that may penetrate the border and cross into U.S. airspace. The system is utilized by the U.S. Air Force, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), and U.S. Customs and Border...

I've got a simple idea: Let's give up on the Constitution. I know, it sounds radical, but it's really not. Constitutional disobedience is as American as apple pie. For example, most of our greatest Presidents -- Jefferson, Lincoln, Wilson, and both Roosevelts -- had doubts about the Constitution, and many of them disobeyed it when it got in their way. To be clear, I don't think we should give up on everything in the Constitution. The Constitution has many important and inspiring provisions, but we should obey these because they are important and inspiring, not because a bunch of people...

Behold, the new One World Trade Center — the unfinished, imperfect end-product of maybe the most anguished public soap opera ever to bring forth a single building. Still in a raw state, it’s already cause to celebrate. The nearly $4 billion, largest, most fought-over piece of the puzzle in downtown’s epic skyline restoration turns out to be a gentle giant, graceful and humane as the Twin Towers were not. Architectural eggheads will sneer at it, but the masses will just as surely love it. Include me in the common rabble. What scant pleasure the old towers afforded lay in their...

SILVIO Berlusconi provoked outrage on International Holocaust Remembrance Day yesterday by defending Benito Mussolini. His remarks coincided with preparations in Rome to build a museum dedicated to the victims next to the former fascist dictator's home. The former Prime Minister told journalists at a remembrance ceremony in Milan that Il Duce was right to ally himself with Hitler. A day after Angela Merkel acknowledged that Germany had "everlasting responsibility" for the Holocaust, Mr Berlusconi said Italy "does not have the same responsibilities as Germany". He added: "Obviously the government of that time, out of fear that German power might lead...

Even when Lance Armstrong portrayed himself as coming clean about his career spent cheating to win, he was still lying. That’s the argument U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart made Sunday evening on the CBS show “60 Minutes,” in an interview with Scott Pelley for a segment called “The Fall of Lance Armstrong.” Tygart sat down with Pelley to rebut several claims Armstrong made during his interview with Oprah Winfrey, which was televised on January 17-18. Among the statements that Tygart said were categorically untrue: that Armstrong had raced free of performance-enhancing drugs during his 2009 and 2010 comeback; that...

Stratasys Ltd. and Materialise have printed 3D clothing pieces that were worn on the catwalk of Paris Fashion week in the Iris van Herpen's haute couture show, "Voltage." Two pieces out of the 11-piece collection were 3D printed. One creation, a cape and elaborate skirt, was 3D printed by Stratasys and created with Neri Oxman, an artist, architect, designer, and professor from MIT's Media Lab. Stratasys's Objet Connex multi-material 3D printing technology was used. This technology can use a variety of material properties to be printed into a single build, which allowed both soft and hard materials to be used...

The American Century is dead. Long live the next American Century. The subtext of political debate these days is that the United States is in decline - a proposition often portrayed as self-evident. The economy lacks dynamism; unemployment near 8 percent remains at recession levels. The president and his Republican critics barely talk to each other; stalemate seems unending. But what if America isn't in decline? A powerful rebuttal comes from an unlikely place: Wall Street. In a report to clients, analysts at Goldman Sachs argue that the United States still has the world's strongest economy - and will have...

There is much talk of a triple dip recession in the UK. It depends on how you define it. If you call a recession two consecutive quarters of decline in GDP, with any quarter of positive growth ending the recession, then answer is yes. Here is a chart from the Telegraph article UK heads for triple dip as GDP contracts 0.3pc to consider. Double Dip? The blue rectangles are mine. I see two recessions not three. With 9 quarters in between recessions, one might ask "Is this even a double-dip setup?" I suggest yes, but there is no clear agreed-upon...

Wanna steal your neighbors bike?

You don’t own nuttin For a while now online retailers have been living in fear of a patent troll called Soverain Software. The company which has a nice website with separate pages for "products," "services," and "solutions" actually has never made a product in its life and its voice mailboxes were all set up by Katherine Wolanyck, the former Latham & Watkins attorney who is a co-founder and partial owner of Soverain to make it look like it was a real company. Soverain bought a bunch of OpenMarket patents in 2003 and has been trying to extract a patent tax...