Free Republic

I have a friend who recently joined Free Republic after an epiphany of realization that lead her to convert to a conservative virtually overnight, and now she's getting quite an education by reading FR. But she's frustrated because she can't join ping lists or send messages to people. Apparently newbies are blocked from doing a lot of things, but I can't find the rules written down anywhere. What are newbies forbidden to do, and for how long, and how do the restrictions get lifted?

There's essentially NO ammo available for retail sale in Colorado. None at all. Not in popular calibers like 9mm, .40 S&W and .45ACP. The fascist Obammunists have locked up the domestic supply and are shutting down imports. Why the hell don’t we conservatives set up a NEW ammo manufacturer in Texas and then refuse to sell to the FedGov. Maybe even make it a co-op, with member-owners getting first dibs on production. I’m sure we could get any number of offshore companies to build us a turnkey ammo factory in Texas. I’m sure ammo companies in Italy, China, Korea, Israel,...

DENVER - Almost one million Coloradans have cast early votes, according to new statistics from Secretary of State Scott Gessler. The data also shows that more Republicans have cast early ballots than Democrats. Gessler's office announced that 965,510 people have voted so far. Of those, 343,721 were registered Democrats and 370,982 were Republicans. ...

With Election Day still more than a week away, more than 600,000 Colorado voters have already cast their ballots, the Colorado Secretary of State's Office reported this morning. Secretary of State Scott Gessler's staff said that based on reports from Colorado's county clerks, 626,097 voters had returned their completed mail ballots or had voted in person at their county's designated early-voting polling places as of Friday morning. On a statewide basis, that included ballots cast by: 244,263 Republicans; 225,850 Democrats; 149,877 voters unaffiliated with any political party; 3,258 Libertarians; 1,159 Green Party members; 1,035 American Constitution Party Members; and 655...

LONGMONT -- The Weld County District Attorney's office confirmed Thursday that it has launched a criminal investigation into officials at bankrupt Abound Solar, whose manufacturing facility was located along the Interstate 25 Frontage Road but had a Longmont address. ... In the statement, he said his office is "looking into possible instances of securities fraud based on allegations that officials at Abound Solar knew products the company was selling were defective, and then asked investors to invest in the company without telling them about the defective products." ... Abound had used $70.9 million of the DOE's $400 million loan guarantee...

Denver police have arrested three suspects — including two brothers and a parolee — in the deaths of five people whose bodies were found inside a Denver bar after a fire was set. The bodies were found about 1:50 a.m. Wednesday by firefighters responding to a blaze at Fero's Bar & Grill, 357 S. Colorado Blvd., according to the Denver Police Department. ... "It appears the motive of this crime was a robbery," said Ron Saunier, Denver Police Department's major crimes unit commander. "The arson was set to try to cover up the crime." ...

DENVER — Colorado voters could be filling out their ballots as early as Tuesday, with 1.95 million ballots now in the mail and on their way to voters across this critical swing state. Of the 3.6 million registered voters in the state, more than half of them are receiving mail ballots this week. According to Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s office, 1,950,185 ballots are being mailed out Monday. Of those, 598,503 are being sent to unaffiliated voters; 673,676 are being sent to registered Republicans; and 654,129 are being mailed to registered Democrats.

WASHINGTON - A subdued Barack Obama squared off Wednesday against a sharp and eloquent Mitt Romney in their hotly anticipated first presidential debate, providing Americans with an unfiltered glimpse of both men just a month before the Nov. 6 election. The incumbent president's often meandering answers, rife with halting pauses, as he took questions on domestic policy were in stark contrast to the energetic Romney, who often talked over debate moderator Jim Lehrer to aggressively tout his policies while criticizing Obama.

Live 7-day National Weather Forecast for "Uptown" Charlotte.

Changes have been made to the money laundering regulations in Ireland under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act of 2010. Intrade is now legally obligated to know more about our customers and to comply with the customer due diligence requirements set out in the Act we require all current and future Intrade customers to provide the following: Proof of identity in the form of passport or drivers license (must include photo) Two proofs of address in the form of utility bills, bank statements, recent tax or insurance statements or certificates etc. (must show your residential address, not...

Today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Government can tax citizens because they exist, not because they earn income, but because they exist. There are no limits on the amount we can be taxed to exist. We are all now officially slaves owned by and for the U.S. Federal Government.

Two years ago, President Barack Obama hailed Loveland-based Abound Solar Inc. for its state-of-the-art technology and its potential to create thousands of jobs. ... Abound received a $400 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy, drew down $70 million and, by the end of last year, ramped up production at its 400-employee Longmont-area plant. This year, however, the attention directed toward Abound has spun swiftly from praise to skepticism. At the end of February, Abound laid off 280 workers -- about 90 were temporary employees -- at its Longmont plant and halted production ...

JEFFERSON COUNTY — Families driven from their homes by a fast-moving wall of fire Monday evening said they stayed longer than was safe because authorities told them that the smoke they were smelling was from a controlled burn that was being monitored. "I thought we weren't going to make it," said Kim Olson, who barely escaped the fire that killed her neighbors, Samuel, 77, and Linda "Moaneti" Lucas, 76. "I thought we were going to die right there."

OK, this is my first vanity post, and it's addressed to Phoenix Freepers. I'm traveling to Phoenix from the Denver metro area for a medical procedure. I have a choice between St. Jospeh's Hospital and Medical Center and Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, as the doctor has access to both. Looking at satellite maps, Good Sam looks like a better area for accessing grocery stores and such, compared to the downtown location of St. Joes, which doesn't look particularly appealing to me. Any Phoenix Freepers care to comment about the two hospitals and their respective neighborhoods? Thanks.

Lately I've been talking to friends who still occasionally talk to a liberals or Democrats. Myself, I refuse to waste my time with such people. Still, I've been wondering what those folks are thinking right now concerning the re-election of Mr. Obama. A friend in North Carolina asked me it I'd noticed that there are no Obama 2012 bumper stickers. After thinking about it, I realized he was right, and I live in Colorado. I pointed this out to another friend, one in Colorado, and he asked me if I'd noticed that the last of the old Obama 2008 bumper...

The closing of Longmont's Butterball plant at the end of the year marks the end of a 51-year run for Longmont's turkey plant. More importantly, it means 349 people are joining the ranks of the unemployed. ... Carolina-based Butterball announced it was shutting down its Longmont facility at the end of the year, blaming high grain and fuel costs that had made its westernmost production plant no longer financially viable.

LONGMONT -- Sundrop Fuels, a young company focused on developing what it calls "green gasoline," has announced plans to build its first production plant in central Louisiana. Sundrop, which relocated its headquarters to Longmont from Louisville about a month ago, let Louisiana's Economic Development Department make the announcement late Tuesday night that ground will be broken on the $450 million plant in 2012, and full production should begin in 2014. Ultimately it will employ about 150 people and will produce up to 50 million gallons of the renewable green fuel a year. ... "The technology can use any, literally any,...

"You can meet capital requirements by either raising capital or shrinking risk weighted assets," said Wiant. "Nobody wants to raise capital at these prices." That could be especially true now that the Federal Reserve said late Tuesday that BofA, along with five other large U.S. banks, will need to give the Fed loss estimates early next year that accounts for a "hypothetical global market shock."

BOULDER -- In the first police action related to the Occupy Boulder movement, officers early Monday morning ticketed 11 people in a makeshift camp outside the Boulder County courthouse along the Pearl Street Mall. ... According to police records, officers issued a total of 10 tickets on charges of illegal camping or public urination. Additionally, police ticketed P.J. Jentsch for having a dog on the mall. His 3-year-old border collie mix, Shelby, garnered national media attention after being elected leader of the Occupy Denver movement in early November following a request from Denver Mayor Michael Hancock that protesters designate a...

Protestors [sic] are assembling in New York and around the country to let billionaires, big oil and big bankers know that we’re not going to let the richest 1% force draconian economic policies and massive cuts to crucial programs on Main Street Americans. Out-of-touch Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor said he is “increasingly concerned by the growing mobs.” Mobs? That must be what Republicans refer to as the middle class, or maybe the millions of unemployed Americans across the country. As Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters, “The message of the American people is that no longer will the recklessness...