Free Republic

Ah: I see that there was a Twitter exchange among Brad DeLong, James Pethokoukis, and others over why Republicans don’t acknowledge that Ben Bernanke helped the economy, and claim credit. Pethokoukis — who presumably gets to talk to quite a few Republicans from his perch at AEI — offers a fairly amazing explanation: B/c many view BB as enabling Obama’s spending and artificially propping up debt-heavy economy in need of Mellon-esque liquidation Yep: that dastardly Bernanke was preventing us from having a financial crisis, curse him. Actually, there’s a lot of evidence that this was an important part of the...

A $150,000 prize has been awarded to the “Water Gandhi of India” for his wildly successful work that turns abandoned, impoverished “dust bowls” into lush villages bustling with life again using an ancient method of rainwater harvesting. For teaching thousands of villagers in India’s most arid region how to build earthen dams to catch the monsoon rains and revitalize their land, Rajendra Singh was honored Friday with the 2015 Stockholm Water Prize. 30 years ago, Singh went to the poverty-stricken state of Rajasthan with the aim of setting up health clinics. He was told by villagers, however, that their greatest...

Education Secretary Arnie Duncan is reminding parents in America “that all your children belong to them”. In a not-so-very veiled threat Secretary Duncan states the Federal Government will step in if parents continue to opt their children out of Common Core testing. (Via Doug Ross Journal) Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued a veiled threat to the parents and students who choose to opt out of Common Core testing – The Feds “have an obligation to step in.” Federal law, under No Child Left Behind, requires 95 percent of students in a state to take the annual standardized tests in...

Vows by China and Pakistan to deepen security and defence ties will reinforce Beijing's ambitions to increase its arms exports, which could create unease among some countries in the region, especially India, security experts say. President Xi Jinping made his first state visit to Pakistan last week and met Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, with the sides agreeing to boost their partnership to "all-weather levels". The two nations also decided to step up dialogue between their armed forces, and expand cooperation in defence technology and production. Three weeks before Xi departed for the trip, Sharif approved a US$5 billion deal to...

http://youtu.be/AWpDxX5uDuU Twitter started buzzing just before the President spoke at tonight's White House Correspondents Dinner, claiming that CNN was telling their viewers who wanted the news, particularly about the rioting in Baltimore, that they could totally get that news. From, you know, Twitter. CNN Political Commentator Errol Louis addresses the elephant on the computer screen. "This is always about choices, right? I mean you know, you have to make a decision, what are you gonna do with this two hours of time. And we, you know, CNN made it's decisions, and is sticking to it's plan and so forth," says...

The LGBT community is threatening boycotts and canceling benefits. The hidden reason is the GOP’s Israel strategy.If you’ve ever been to Fire Island Pines, one of the leading gay utopias on the planet, you know that there isn’t much to do. There’s only one commercial center with a couple of stores, a bar, and a hotel. And yet, in less than 24 hours, over 4,000 people have said they’re going to boycott it. The reason? It’s owned by Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, the self-described “prominent NYC hotel owners” who recently hosted a “fireside chat” with Republican presidential candidate Ted...

On April 28, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Obergefell v. Hodges and three other cases, testing the constitutionality of state bans on same-sex “marriage” and state refusals to recognize existing same-sex “marriages.” The outcome may well impose same-sex “marriage” on the entire United States of America, much as Roe v. Wade imposed abortion on demand upon the entire nation in 1973. Such another sweeping “exercise in raw judicial power” (to cite Justice Byron White’s famous dissent in Roe) would be, in large part, based upon claims, rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,...

I have a growing construction business and am thinking about using an extended cab long bed truck with a 14' enclosed trailer for tools. I currently use a Chevy Express van. I wanted the truck so I could haul material or debris while leaving the trailer onsite. The combined weight of the truck and trailer will be over the 10,001 lbs limit and require DOT numbers. I know about inspection requirements but what about fees and insurance requirements? I have commercial vehicle insurance but I will have to up my weight for policy ratings. Is it worth it to have...

Catastrophic droughts, floods and heatwaves: climate change is making environmental disasters increasingly common. Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks wants the G7 to look at insurance policies as an alternative to traditional development aid. […] Supporters of the idea say such insurance policies present a sustainable alternative to traditional aid funds, as they would shift the emphasis from cleaning up after natural disasters towards preventing them from occurring.Berlin is making its move. Barbara Hendricks plans to use Germany’s G7 presidency to pave the way for the entry of climate change insurance into mainstream environmental and development policy, and climate protection is high...

Protests to demand answers in the case of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man died in Baltimore Police custody last week, descended into chaos on Saturday night. After a few hours of peaceful demonstrations, scores of rowdy protesters crowded outside Camden Yards, where the Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox in ten innings. Spectators at the game, with a reported attendance of 36,757, were told that they could not leave the baseball stadium until cleared to do so by police, who allowed them to exit shortly after 10pm when the game ended.

Earlier this year, the State Water Resources Control Board ordered more than 1,000 property owners to prove their water rights. This month, the board warned claim holders to expect curtailments of their ability to divert water from rivers and streams. The actions are significant because they include the state’s most senior water rights holders – those claimed before California established its permitting process in 1914. “The rules are changing,” Forbes said. “They’re shaking us down.” Throughout California, there are more than 14,000 statements of diversion and use that reflect riparian and pre-1914 water rights, according to the most recent information...

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem, Israel — April 25, 2015 … Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following the lethal earthquake in Nepal and nearby areas, held an assessment of the situation, via telephone, with Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Israel Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon. It was agreed to dispatch – as soon as possible – a rescue delegation including medical support. The humanitarian delegation will land near the affected zone and make its preparations until it becomes possible to land in Nepal. Israelis in the affected zone will receive the means necessary to return to Israel. The Prime...

President Barack Obama delivered his seventh speech to the White House Correspondents’ Association Saturday night. After a short montage parodying his interviews with BuzzFeed and YouTube stars, the president launched into his annual stand-up set. “Welcome to the fourth quarter of my presidency,” Obama said, adding that he feels more “loose and relaxed than ever” with less than two years left in office. The president said he doesn’t have a “bucket list,” but does have something that rhymes with that. “Take executive action on immigration? Bucket.” “Being president is never easy,” Obama said. “I still have to fix a broken...

A new spirit of intolerance has arisen on the Johns Hopkins University campus, and conservative Christians are the targets. The JHU student government’s vote this week to ban any hypothetical future Chick-fil-A outlet from campus because of the company owner’s support for traditional marriage, coming on the heels of the JHU Spring Fair’s censorship of a pro-life fetal-model display as “disturbing” and “triggering,” sends a clear message that students who disagree with liberal orthodoxy are not welcome on the Hopkins campus. The student government’s vote went beyond merely expressing support for same-sex marriage. The Chick-fil-A ban seeks to introduce unprecedented...

The establishment media has suddenly gone ga-ga over transgenders. Whether it’s Bruce Jenner’s prime-time interview with Diane Sawyer to discuss his “journey” from a 1976 Olympic decathlon stud to surgery- and drug-induced womanhood, or teary-eyed parents waxing softly about their child’s difficult but rewarding transformation from one sex to another, the American public is about to be inundated with journalistic stories, TV shows, books, movies and ads promoting transgenderism. Like all good propaganda campaigns, it starts in the schools.

As President Obama and Democrats in Congress continue acting like they didn’t lose last November, Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan worries, “We are not using the powers of the legislative branch, as we should.” A December poll by Pat Caddell indicated a growing rift between Republican leaders and their base, with expectations that a strengthened Republican Congress would fight against Obamacare, amnesty and the president’s excessive use of power.For the most astute activists fighting executive amnesty, March 3 was a defining moment in the battle against egregious presidential actions, when the House passed homeland security funding stripping the provision to...

WATSONVILLE >> A free breakfast program in Pajaro Valley classrooms feeds hungry low-income children, but costs teachers precious instructional time with low-performing students.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal warned "corporate America" Saturday that it needed to "be careful" and not ally itself with liberals on cultural issues. Jindal, a 2016 Republican presidential hopeful, issued the warning in a speech at a multi-candidate event in West Des Moines, Iowa.While many at the event argued that the Christian faith was being antagonized from both the cultural left and government entities, Jindal added a third entity that is usually seen as being on the side of conservatives, big business. He cited the recent controversies in Indiana and other states over adoption of religious freedom bills liberals opposed...

The Defense Information Systems Agency's former comptroller has accused the agency of demoting him after he reported accounting practices he believed were potentially illegal. "I went from comptroller to currently I'm sitting in an eight-by-ten office … and I've been told by [DISA Director Lt. Gen. Ronnie Hawkins] I'm not to communicate, for any business reasons, with the agency while I'm under this so-called detail," Jimaye Sones, who was DISA comptroller from 2005 to 2013, told FCW in an exclusive interview. Sones has alleged that, starting in the fall of 2012, he began warning DISA's leadership that the agency risked...

film maker Joel Gilbert, who produced the film “Dreams from My Real Father,” (which suggested that Obama’s Communist mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, may be his real father) talks to President Obama’s brother Malik, who has some very strong views about his half-brother – including his own doubts as to Obama’s parentage. Malik says, he feels “Disappointed, disappointed, used, used and also betrayed. In the beginning, I didn’t think that he was a schemer. His real character, his real personality, the real him, is coming out now.”