Free Republic

The House voted Friday to freeze the pay of federal workers for the third year in a row over the objections of congressional Democrats and the Obama administration. Members voted 261-154 in favor of the bill, which would also lock in a pay freeze for members of Congress. It exempts people serving in the military. The bill won significant support from Democrats — 43 voted for it — while 10 Republicans voted against it. The legislation is an attempt to override President Obama’s executive order in December that seeks to give federal workers a 0.5 percent pay hike in late...

In the past few years, the number of affiliated student secular organizations has increased more than threefold This month at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a select group of students will show their humanitarian spirit by participating in the Bleedin’ Heathens Blood Drive. On February 12, they will eat cake to celebrate Darwin Day, and earlier this year, they performed “de-baptism” ceremonies to celebrate Blasphemy Day, attended a War on Christmas Party, and set up Hug An Atheist and Ask An Atheist booths in the campus quad. These activities and more are organized by the Illini Secular Student Alliance...

Margarine isn't better for your heart than butter — it's worse, according to a new analysis of a 40-year-old study. For 50 years, health experts and organizations, including the American Heart Association, have urged people to replace butter and other saturated fats in their diets with vegetable oils to reduce the risk of heart disease. Millions of Americans responded by replacing butter with margarine made from omega-6 polyunsaturated vegetable oils found in corn and safflower oil. Decades later, however, heart disease is still the leading cause of death in both American men and women, and a recent analysis of data...

No revolution for good ever begins with "majority support". Each is fought by a minority of strong willed and aware individuals. When all other methods of protest have been dismantled, the system leaves us with only two options: stand and fight, or kneel and beg for mercy. All you need to know is what YOU would do when faced with that choice. There is no other culture on earth that has the capacity, like Americans currently do, to defeat centralists, defend individual liberty, and end the pursuit of total global power in this lifetime. We are the first and last...

Alleged US cop killer Christopher Dorner died from a single gunshot wound to the head that appeared to be self-inflicted, a coroner said. The doctor who examined the body concluded that "the cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head," said San Bernardino County coroner Kevin Lacy, giving details from the results of a six-hour autopsy, AFP reported. "We are not yet able to speak about the manner of death and tell you whether or not it was the result of a self-inflicted wound or another round," he told a press conference. But he said, "while we...

In bleeding heart, do-gooder San Francisco, most fretting over the scheduled federal budget sequester has revolved around what the across-the-board cuts would mean for the poor. Homeless advocates, for example, have warned that if Congress and President Obama don’t compromise by March 1, the city will lose more than $1 million in homeless assistance grants and $800,000 worth of housing vouchers for low-income AIDS patients. But in emphasizing to reporters after last Tuesday’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting that the city’s fairly rosy budget projections for next year would be dramatically worse if sequestration happens, Mayor Ed Lee highlighted something else....

The head of Lebanon's Hizbullah movement, which is an Iranian proxy militia, warned Israel on Saturday not to think that a weakening of Bashar Assad's regime in Syria means his group is also weaker. "Those who think Syria is no longer a player and cannot help the resistance (Hizbullah)... and that the resistance is going through a period of weakness and confusion, are mistaken," Hassan Nasrallah said. "We have everything we need in Lebanon. We don't need to transport (arms) from Syria or Iran," he said, in a speech to his supporters broadcast on a giant video screen in southern...

(starting on page 2) . . . The president is staying in Florida at the home of Jim Crane, who owns the golf club and also owns the Houston Astros baseball team. In 2012, Mr. Crane donated $35,800 to the Obama campaign and $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee. Fifteen years ago, a company owned by Mr. Crane, Eagle USA Airfreight, was criticized by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for its position on hiring blacks and women of child-bearing age. The EEOC said that Mr. Crane’s company conducted a practice of paying “female and minority employees less than white men...

I am interested in adding an AR-15 to my microscopic collection. My question is about the pros and cons of a carbon fiber receiver and lower vs. milled 7075 Aluminum parts. My gut reaction is that the carbon fiber parts are likely superior, but I also know that they have detractors. In addition the cost of using the carbon parts are substantially less than the Al parts. That makes me suspicious of their quality. Does anyone here have experience and may be willing to make suggestions on which way to go? Thanks very much, FReepers are the best!

Syracuse, NY -- A national Muslim organization headquartered in the Southern Tier has filed a libel lawsuit against the author of a book that describes the group as the host of terrorist training camps. Muslims of America, based in Hancock, Delaware County, sued Martin Mawyer and his Christian Action Network for $3 million in federal court in Syracuse, seeking to halt the continued publication of his book, “Twilight in America: the Untold Story of Islamic Training Camps in America.” The book takes aim at Muslims of America with false claims that have put the group's members in fear of violent...

‘Young’ black hole is nearby, NASA says; doorway to a new universe? Feb. 13, 2013 | 2:30 p.m. A supernova remnant may contain the most recent black hole formed in the Milky Way galaxy, according to NASA. (X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/L.Lopez et al; Infrared: Palomar; Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA ) A supernova remnant may contain the most recent black hole formed in the Milky Way galaxy, according to NASA. (X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/L.Lopez et al; Infrared: Palomar; Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA )Asteroid 2012 DA14 is bearing down on Earth, rattling nerves and making sci-fi fans’ eyes light up. But the cool science news doesn’t stop there. Researchers believe...

The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on how to “better identify and address asteroids that pose a potential threat to Earth,” Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said in a statement on Friday. The announcement comes after a meteorite exploded in a massive blast above Siberia that damaged buildings, houses and cars and injured about 1,000 people on Friday. "The light was so intense that it completely illuminated the courtyard of our apartment block," said Sergei Zakharov, head of the Russian Geographical Society in Chelyabinsk, according to The Wall Street Journal. "The sound, the shock wave came...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. —A wanted man left behind a path of destruction when he tried to flee police officers trying to arrest him in Daytona Beach early Thursday, police officers said. Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood said his officers spotted White in his vehicle and boxed him in, but he allegedly rammed the officer's truck and fled down Mason Avenue where he crashed into a vehicle. White then burst into a home on Berkshire Road, trying to hide, police said. "The guy is telling (the homeowner), 'The cops are after me, and I'm going to give you $1,000 to...

Last week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform disclosed how state officials in New York scammed federal taxpayers out of billions of dollar by exploiting the Medicaid system. The federal government matches dollar for dollar what a state spends on Medicaid. New York spends $5,118 per day per patient in state facilities for the mentally disabled, equivalent to $1.9 million a year per patient. “Personal care” for the home bound is a New York Medicaid benefit that includes grocery shopping and housekeeping, and it costs as much as $150,000 a year per recipient. Overall, New York spends more...

The Walking Dead Spoiler Bomb: Here Comes a Showdown—And Another Death! The Walking Dead returned from hiatus last week, and we saw a couple of zombies and a whole lot of angry and half-crazy humans. This week, well, let's just say that when you tune in on Sunday, you're gonna see a much different dead/undead ratio. And some major bloodshed. What else can you look forward to? Here are some spoilers to tide you over until Sunday:

Four foreigners have been arrested in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on suspicion of being Christian missionaries and printing books about Christianity, a security official said on Saturday. "They were arrested on Tuesday at a publishing house where they were printing thousands of books that called for conversion to Christianity," security official Hussein Bin Hmeid said. "Proselytizing is forbidden in Libya. We are a 100 percent Muslim country and this kind of action affects our national security." Hmeid said the government-affiliated security apparatus called the Preventative Security, for which he is a spokesman, had arrested an Egyptian, a South...

Citing budget uncertainties and the threat of sequestration, Joint Base Langley announced Friday it is canceling the Langley air show, which was set for May 3-5. A spokeswoman for Oceana Naval Air Station said it may cancel its show as well. "The Air Force has to consider the fiscal challenges affecting the Department of Defense and the nation," Col. Korvin Auch, 633rd Air Base Wing commander, said in a statement announcing the cancellation. "We're taking prudent steps now in order to be good stewards of taxpayer resources while focusing on maintaining readiness."

Police are investigating after a man who walked in on a pair of thieves burglarizing his home shot the suspects in Miami Friday. The shooting happened at the home in the 500 block of Northwest 52nd Street, Miami Police spokeswoman Kenia Reyes said. According to Reyes, the homeowner shot both suspects in the legs. The suspects, Preston Pierre, 18, and Samuel Levy, 26, were taken to Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Unit with non life-threatening injuries, police said. They both face a charge of burglary with an assault therein and one count of unoccupied burglary. "Absolutely, something that we're seeing that...