Free Republic

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s newly updated hiring regulations pose dilemmas for firms on the matter of hiring ex-convicts. On the one hand, businesses are warned that refusal to hire ex-cons will expose the firm to charges of racial discrimination. On the other hand, businesses would still be liable for any crimes committed by their employees. Jacqueline Berrien, Chairwoman of the EEOC defended the new rules as “necessary to level the playing field. Given that African-Americans are seven times more likely to have served time in prison, a hiring policy that attempts to screen out felons would have a racially...

New York needs more than 1,200 physicians across the state, especially in rural areas, and the shortage is only expected to get worse if the state is to meet the federal health reform requirements. That’s the gist of a new report by the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), which Wednesday released the results of its 2012 physician advocacy survey, Doctor Shortage: Condition Critical. Not including New York City, the state will need 1,200 new physicians, with nearly a third of the demand coming for primary care doctors. That’s up from 2011, when the report said 18 percent the...

A Russian policeman works near an ice hole, said by the Interior Ministry department for Chelyabinsk region to be the point of impact of a meteor seen earlier in the Urals region, at lake Chebarkul some 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Chelyabinsk February 15, 2013 (Reuters / Chelyabinsk region Interior Ministry) Russian scientists investigating the meteorite explosion in the Urals explained the nature of the event that caused havoc in the region. NASA said the shockwave force was equal to a 500-kiloton explosion – 30 times the Hiroshima blast.­The object was identified as a solitary 10-ton bolide by...

Paul Krugman Reminds Me Of A Perverted Little Elf that has a horrible little secret that he thinks you know he has, but he is never called on his horrible little secret so he sits there with this evil little guilty smirk on his face, that horrible pregnant little smirk like he knows that a bucket of water is about to be dumped on you...continued...

<p>Two thousand dollars a month. That’s the income cap to qualify for food stamps in Texas. Two thousand dollars a month for a family of three.</p> <p>My parents were teachers, no big paychecks or buyouts, but they were smart with their money and paid for everything with cash. I don’t think they started using credit cards until I was an adult. They instilled their zero-debt policy in me as well, and the Discover card my mother put in my name when I graduated from high school still gets paid off every month.</p>

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is speaking out against a cut in congressional pay because she says it will undermine the dignity of their positions. "I think we should respect the work we do," Pelosi said. "I think it's necessary for us to have the dignity of the job that we have rewarded."

EEOC now considers the widespread use of criminal background checks to hire employees as having a "disparate impact" on minorities. Going to harass employers more over them.

Despite earning more than $1 billion in profits last year, social media juggernaut Facebook paid zilch when it came to federal and state taxes in 2012. In fact, the website will actually be getting a refund totaling $429 million thanks to a tax reduction for executive stock options. In the coming years, Facebook will continue to get monster tax breaks, totaling about $3 billion.

<p>The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has frozen the assets of a Swiss trading account that allegedly made a series of "highly suspicious" trades reaping about $1.7 million ahead of the blockbuster sale of H.J. Heinz Co.</p> <p>The regulator's move came one day after Heinz said it was selling itself for $23 billion to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital in one of the biggest food-industry acquisitions ever.</p>

Andy Levy Responds to A Chris Brown Tweet, saying "You Spelled Punching Wrong"... the rest is classic, funny and revealing about the women who support domestic abuse...

Making progress!! Lagging a bit behind the pace from last quarter, but we're getting there. Please keep those donations coming in, folks, so we can end this thing soon. If we can raise a minimum of $10k per week, we can be done within the next two weeks. We can do this!! FR is funded solely by contributions made by like-minded liberty loving patriots who enjoy and use it and think it's a worthwhile endeavor to support. We are self-funded, fiercely independent and enjoy our freedom to speak plainly in defense of our God-given Liberty, free of any outside influences....

Huge Defense Sector Cuts, What This Means For Your Investments Companies / Sector AnalysisFebruary 16, 2013 - 11:44 AM GMT By: InvestmentContrarian Sasha Cekerevac writes: March 1 is a very big day for many people. Unless Obama and the Republicans make a deal prior to that date, billions of dollars in spending cuts will be enacted. Of all the areas that will be hit, I think the defense market sector will bear the brunt of the cutbacks and the future viability of corporate earnings in this sector is certainly in doubt. At this point, Pentagon officials are now planning for...

“One Little Word” (Luke 4:1-13)The incident in today’s Gospel, the temptation of Jesus, occurs early in his ministry. In fact, it happens more or less right away, even before he begins his public preaching and teaching. It was immediately after his baptism that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. For forty days he was out there, fasting in that harsh and lonely terrain. Now if you know your Bible you know that Jesus here is replaying the experience of ancient Israel, when they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Jesus is, in a sense, Israel reduced to one,...

Source: Institute of Science in Society A new study conducted in China finds 6 out of 6 major rivers tested positive for ampicillin antibiotic resistant bacteria [1]. Sequencing of the gene responsible, the blá gene, shows it is a synthetic version derived from a lab and different from the wild type. This suggests to the researchers that synthetic plasmid vectors from genetic engineering applications may be the source of the ampicillin resistance, which is affecting the human population. The blá gene confers resistance to a wide range of therapeutic antibiotics and the widespread environment pollution with blá resistant bacteria is...

PALM CITY, Fla. -- Faced with a long weekend in an empty White House, President Barack Obama figured he needed a getaway, too, so he put together a golf outing with some buddies. Not at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland or at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, two Washington-area military posts where he's a regular on their courses. Instead, he went south, to Florida, to spend the long Presidents Day weekend staying and playing at the Floridian, an exclusive and secluded yacht and golf club on the state's Treasure Coast. He arrived Friday night after a speech in Chicago and wasn't...

You may have heard recently about an article written by John Broder from The New York Times that makes numerous claims about the performance of the Model S. We are upset by this article because it does not factually represent Tesla technology, which is designed and tested to operate well in both hot and cold climates. Indeed, our highest per capita sales are in Norway, where customers drive our cars during Arctic winters in permanent midnight, and in Switzerland, high among the snowy Alps. About half of all Tesla Roadster and Model S customers drive in temperatures well below freezing...

On Friday, February 15, 2013, the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) hosted a release event on a substantial new study on the unauthorized population in the United States. The study, co-authored by Robert Warren, former demographer for the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and John Robert Warren, professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota, will inform and could significantly impact the intensifying debate on reform of U.S. immigration law. In particular, the study provides new estimates of unauthorized populations by state, highlighting annual trends in arrivals and departures, for 1990 to 2010. It is now published in CMS’s...

The Real Reason the Economy Is Broken (And Will Stay That Way) More and more economic sinkholes by Chris Martenson Tuesday, February 12, 2013, 8:54 PM We are far enough and deep enough into the most heroic monetary and fiscal efforts ever undertaken to finally ask, why aren't these measures working? Or at least we should be. Oddly, many in DC, on Wall Street, and the Federal Reserve continue to steadfastly refuse to include anything in their approaches and frameworks other than "more of the same." So we are treated to an endless parade of news items that seek to...

Ted Cruz is making all the right enemies, and they are out for him often and early. For Marco Rubio the meme is WATER, for Cruz it’s NASTY. The title of this NY Times article originally was Ted Cruz Runs Counter To The Senate’s Courtly Ways, but the title was changed to Texas Senator Goes on Attack and Raises Bipartisan Hackles at some point after publication (the original url continues). Another NY Times Op-Ed is more blunt, The G.O.P.’s Nasty Newcomer. It’s all part of the killing the baby in the cradle strategy at which The NY Times and other...

The unusual resignation of Pope Benedict XVI launches the search for his successor. While he has no formal role in this process, President Obama has urged the Cardinals to select a “progressive.” “The Catholic Church has a choice to make,” Obama said. “It can continue to promulgate out-moded ideas or it can get behind a program for a 21st century agenda.” Among the issues mentioned by the President for this “21st century agenda” were birth control and gay marriage. “Over-population is placing an excessive burden on the planet’s resources,” Obama claimed. “To save the environment we must reduce the human...