Free Republic

Just when you thought that the Wendy Davis phenomenon could not get crazier, Twitchy reports that rise of the "wheelchair truthers" which is to say people who actually think that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is faking being paralyzed. There have been some weird conspiracy theories in American history, ranging from the vast (9/11 was an inside job, the Apollo moon landings were faked) to the petty (Sarah Palin wasn't really pregnant with her younger son, Trig.) The idea that a man would fake being paralyzed successfully for decades, presumably for sympathy and for the money, is the most bizarre...

A couple of fairly unlikely developments are pointing to a scenario that could result in an unexpected return to the moon mission involving two unlikely partners if a number of parties are willing to think and work outside the box. That return to the moon could be a joint Israeli/Saudi Arabian project, fostered by an American commercial company.

Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard has noted a strange paradox concerning the president. It seems that Obama knows perfectly well how cumbersome and inefficient big government is. However his solution to anything relies on big government. Barnes implies, and indeed almost outright suggests, that President Obama has within his grasp a way to save the rest of his presidency and go out with a legacy that goes beyond being an enormous failure. He could devote the rest of his second term in an effort to reform government, to make it more efficient and responsive to the American people.

Political correctness seems to have intruded into the Houston Independent School District concerning the use of now unacceptable mascots for school sports teams. It reflects the kerfuffle surrounding the Washington Redskins. A preliminary ruling by the Houston Independent School District's board will require at least three Houston area high schools with mascots with a relationship to Native Americans and Native American history to change them. That will mean that the Lamar High School Redskins will have to find themselves another name. The new policy, if it is passed on the second reading as many expect, may also mean that the...

As the Chinese lunar lander Chang'e 3, carrying the Jade Rabbit rover, voyages to the moon, the question arises what should NASA's response be, aside from congratulations to a rival space power. RESOLVE might just fit the bill. RESOLVE or Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction is designed to prospect for lunar resources mounted on a rover. "RESOLVE includes a drill, a chemical plant (with an oxygen and volatiles extraction node, gas chromatograph, and mass spectrometer), a neutron spectrometer, and a near infrared spectrometer." It has been tested on Earth as part of a joint American/Canadian...

Thanksgiving is drawing nigh and with it, PETA's annual war on the holiday that features a lot of indulgence of turkey, stuffing, and other delightful confections. Oddly enough, President Obama is the object of their ire. Noting the annual pardoning of the thanksgiving turkey, PETA accused the president of "pimping" for the turkey industry and offered a lurid description of how the wonderful, succulent animal is slaughtered for the table.

As the burning wreckage of Obamacare continues to fill the air with its toxicity, an alternative is already working its way through the House, courtesy of the conservative House Study Committee.

Gail Collins, the New York Times columnist who was best known for a snarky book about how Texas has far too much influence over how the United States is run, turned her gimlet eye toward the civil space program. Her column was a meandering look at the current crisis over which destination to pick for space exploration efforts going forward, with some side swipes against her favorite targets, Texas politicians such as Lamar Smith and Ted Cruz. Should be go to an asteroid (or rather, as the administration wants to do, bring it back) or go back to the moon....

The prescription that many well meaning people have to tamp down on gun violence is to restrict the private ownership of fire arms. However the Associated Press reports that a private group in Houston is pursuing a different approach. The Armed Citizen Project is giving away free shot guns to single women and residents in high crime area, starting with the northwest Houston Oak Forest neighborhood. The non-profit organization intends to expand its program, which includes a training program, to Dallas, San Antonio, and Tucson, Ariz. Plans are to have the program in place in 13 cities, including New York...

Along with ending 1970s stagflation and destroying the Soviet Empire, President Ronald Reagan saved the planet from global warming, which would make him the greatest president ever. The article was based on a new scientific paper that suggests that "ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other halocarbons caused global warming" and not carbon dioxide. Thanks to President Reagan, use of these chemicals were phased out by the 1987 Montreal Protocols, leading to the current flattening out of global temperatures that have the warming alarmists so puzzled.

Jesse Ventura, former wrestler, former action star, and former governor of Minnesota, is suing the widow of Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle for defamation surrounding an account of a bar fight in Kyle's book. Kyle recounts how he and Ventura got into it when Ventura denigrated Navy SEALs who had fallen in action. Ventura claims the incident never happened and has been demanding satisfaction for some months now. Just because Kyle is dead does not mean Ventura is no longer in need of financial compensation. The book is still selling. It is to be made into a movie by Steven...

China's long term goal, dating back to the rule of Mao Zedong, of becoming self sufficient in food is running into some inconvenient reality, much no doubt caused by that country's command economy. The problem started with China's breakneck drive to become an industrial power. This, coupled with a somewhat lax approach to environmental regulation, created large amounts of farmland contaminated with heavy metals. Since China is also driving to grow much of its own food, much of this farmland is being used, resulting in contaminated crops that are not fit for human consumption. Chinese farmers are also overusing pesticides,...

The evolving by the hour IRS scandal, in which the tax agency targeted conservative groups for examination and harassment, as detailed by the Washington Post, cries out for not only an investigation, but legislation. To be sure an investigation and the punishment of those responsible for politically motivated examinations and audits must happen. But the fact that the IRS did these things at all stems from the fact that someone wanted to target conservative organizations and perhaps people and, thanks to the existence of the IRS, they could. This therefore argues for an overhaul of the tax code that would...

The same-sex marriage wars took a decidedly ugly turn, according to the Washington Times, when a group of gay activists started a petition to demand that DC Comics fire a Mormon writer for his opposition to gay marriage. The writer in question is Orson Scott Card, best known for his science fiction novels such as "Ender's Game," soon to be a major motion picture starring, among others, Harrison Ford. Card has been employed by DC Comics as a writer for its new digital product, "Adventures of Superman."

The art world has been set ablaze about the advent of a stunning new talent in the medium of painting. Thanks to some hacked emails, the first works by a certain former president named George W. Bush have been revealed for all to admire.

The Washington Post reports that the White House has released a photo of President Obama firing a weapon in what it claims is an exercise in skeet shooting that took place at Camp David sometime in August. Some of the president's supporters are making fun of people who have cast doubt that Obama likes to blast away at clay pigeons, an exercise that hitherto has never been revealed. One should not, according to these supporters, be suspicious of photos that show the president using fire arms in the middle of a debate about gun control. But the president and his...

While the departure of Sarah Palin from Fox News as a paid contributor has caused endless speculation (as well as endless jubilation among her enemies) there are just a few known facts, according to the story in RealClearPolitics. After some negotiations for a renewal of her contract, Palin was made an offer which was refused. The parting of the ways is said to be amicable. That doesn't mean that some informed speculation is not warranted.

With President Obama's second inaugural address out of the way, with its combination of high sounding language and bitter, partisan combativeness, one is moved to wonder what inaugural addresses were like in alternate universes.

A group of celebrities have decided to boycott Wendy's because that company is alleged to have cut hours for its employees to get out from under the requirements imposed for Obamacare. There are two things wrong with this. The first wrong thing is that only a single Wendy's franchise owner is taking this course of action and not the entire chain. The Washington Free Beacon reports that the franchise owner in Omaha, Neb., (not southern California) is taking this action because he cannot afford to provide the health care insurance that Obamacare requires for his full-time employees. It is either...

Withdrawing from the Outer Space Treaty and claiming the moon as sovereign American territory would allow the United States to sell land parcels and mineral rights on Earth’s nearest neighbor. The moon is filled with natural resources, including platinum, water (useful for creating rocket fuel and for sustaining space settlers) and helium 3, a substance that does not exist in nature on Earth that could be used to fuel limitless and clean fusion energy. The proceeds of selling pieces of the moon could be used to retire part of the national debt. The United States will need to defend its...