Free Republic

My fall vacation is coming up in the next month or so. I'm gonna stay relatively close to home and will be travelling thru central and southern Illinois and Indiana. I wanna see Lincoln's home in Springfield as well as other sites in that area. I'm planning on heading east into Indiana and see some national parks down there. I like going off the beaten path and have been known to spend a day sitting near a railroad station and watch trains go by. I know this area is pretty big geographically but I'd like some advice on what Freepers...

I'm trying to gauge Freeper opinion about the abortion issue and how it could affect the mid-term elections. Like most of you, I've seen TV commercial after TV commercial where a Dem candidate or a paid actor goes on to intone that the GOP candidate is extreme, anti-women and wants to take away abortion even for cases of rape or incest. My wife (aka The Wife) has received a number of mailings put out by the Democrats on this issue. A recent poll done by a local TV station on a local congressional race said abortion was the second most...

It's been a number of years since I last posted this and recently decided to start doing this again. As you know, I regard most Freepers to be very well-read individuals. I like to know what people are currently reading. it can be anything - a NY Times bestseller, a technical journal, a magazine you picked up at the grocery store, etc. Please do not ruin this thread by posting "I'm reading This Thread". It's not that funny. Seriously. I'll start... I'm reading "Gettysburg: the Second Day" by harry W Pfanz. It's a deep book covering in extensive detail -...

U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, R-Minn. 1st District, has died. Hagedorn’s wife and former GOP chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan confirmed the news with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Friday morning. He was 59. Hagedorn was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer in 2019 and began receiving care at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He announced he had a kidney removed as well as cancerous tissues surrounding the kidney. Then in July 2021, he announced a reoccurrence of his kidney cancer.

Meteorologists are monitoring as a system with the potential for damaging winds and severe thunderstorms is moving into the region Wednesday. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued multiple advisories for the region, adding Wednesday's forecast hasn't been seen before in mid-December and is unprecedented. A Tornado Watch was issued for part of the KSTP viewing area shortly before 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Storms and high winds are expected to move in around 5 p.m. Tornado Watch now through 8 PM across southern/south-central MN & Iowa. A few tornadoes are still possible across SE MN and the metro as well as...

Minnetonka Moccasin Co., a local footwear company, is acknowledging and apologizing for Native American culture appropriation over the last 75-plus years. The company dropped the "moccasin" from its logo in 2008, and has removed the word from the majority of its corporate messaging and will now refer to only "Minnetonka" going forward. "We (Minnetonka) deeply and meaningfully apologize for having benefited from selling Native-inspired designs without directly honoring Native culture or communities," the statement reads on the company's website. It also states, "we are dedicated to honoring our commitment to Native American communities with our actions going forward." The business...

In one week from today, The Wife (aka Mrs. MplsSteve) and I will be in Gettysburg for a few days. Obviously, we're gonna visit the battlefield. We lined up a tour guide thru the Gettysburg Heritage Center and at least for the first night, we'll be staying at the Best Western on Steinwehr Avenue. I have a few travel brochures and have looked them over but I'm looking for any recommendations or advice on what else to see and do there. That includes places to stay that don't cost an arm and a leg as well as places to eat....

The Wife and I are gonna be in northern Virginia and western Maryland for about a week and a half in mid-September. Because of my love of the Civil War, we are gonna visit Monocacy, Gettysburg, Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley and likely Harpers Ferry. We may or may not hit Antietam. I've already seen it once before. The Wife is surprisingly supportive of visiting these battlefields but I also am gonna throw in a winery visit and possibly head up to Hershey Pa. I need some advice from people familiar with the areas I've described. AFAIK, we're gonna use...

A man was rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery after a reported fight culminated with him being run over by an SUV twice in St. Paul. St. Paul police said officers were called to the 1300 block of Western Avenue North at about 7:20 p.m. Monday. When officers arrived at the scene, they found a 24-year-old man lying in a parking lot with life-threatening injuries. The victim was taken to a local hospital and underwent surgery, police said. A witness told police she'd heard fighting and screaming, and then saw a woman driving a black SUV in the parking...

I apologize in advance for the Vanity Post. I am planning on spending about a week in north Florida and maybe coastal Georgia. Possibly even go as far west as Pensacola. I have been in Jacksonville before (including Amelia island and Fernandina Beach) and liked it. My itinerary is leaning towards historical but at the same time I wanna get outside and maybe see Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia. Go to the Folkston Funnel. I just need to decompress and head south for a while. Rural areas are fine with me. I'm looking for any kind of recommendation such...

One of the main reasons Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election is voters who disapproved of both Trump and his rival, Hillary Clinton, broke for Trump by about 18 percentage points. "In the abstract, it’s something of a statistical quirk," the Washington Post's Philip Bump recently explained. "In practice, though, it might have given Trump the White House." In contrast, Trump's party lost control of the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections due mainly to large numbers of voters who cast ballots for Trump just two years earlier switched sides and voted for Democrats — particularly college-educated...

Three teenagers died after they crashed while fleeing Minneapolis police officers in a suspected stolen vehicle early Monday morning. Minneapolis Police say officers spotted a car, believed to have been taken during a carjacking Sunday morning, near Dowling Avenue North and Logan Avenue North around 1:15 a.m. When officers attempted to pull the car over, it fled at a high rate of speed. During the pursuit, police say the fleeing car got far ahead of officers, then lost control near the 1800 block of Emerson Avenue North and rolled over multiple times. Three teenagers inside the car died in the...

In the first presidential debate between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, voters who watched Tuesday night say Biden won the debate, but those who watched the heated exchanges overwhelmingly called the debate's tone negative, and most said they felt annoyed watching it. Forty-eight percent say Biden won, while 41% think Trump was the winner. Biden's margin here is not too different than his lead in national polls. Ten percent called the debate a tie. Immediately after the debate, the CBS News Battleground Tracker interviewed likely voters nationwide who watched the debate in order to get their reaction. More...

Former Vice President Joe Biden has a 6% lead over incumbent President Donald Trump in Minnesota, a new KARE 11/MPR News/Star Tribune Minnesota Poll demonstrates. The poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy, Inc., surveyed Minnesotans who said they were likely to vote in November. When asked who they would vote for if the 2020 presidential election were held today, 48% of Minnesota voters said Biden while 42% chose Trump. Two percent chose other candidates and 8% were undecided. Besides political party, urban and rural areas marked the widest disparity. While 70% of Hennepin and Ramsey County residents support Biden,...

The Legal Marijuana Now Party’s candidate in the race for the Second Congressional District has died, prompting a special election in February. Adam Charles Weeks died earlier this week, said Kevin O’Connor, the party’s candidate for U.S. Senate. “It’s a sad and sudden thing. We are pretty much taken aback,” he said. Weeks was facing off with Democratic U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Republican candidate Tyler Kistner to represent the district. That election will now be postponed. “The law is clear on what happens next,” Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a statement Thursday. “If a major party nominee...

Three out of four Americans, including a majority of Republicans, favor requiring people to wear face coverings while outside their homes, a new poll finds, reflecting fresh alarm over spiking coronavirus cases and a growing embrace of government advice intended to safeguard public health. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also finds that about two-thirds of Americans disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling the outbreak, an unwelcome sign for the White House in an election year shaped by the nation’s battle with the pandemic. More than four months after government stay-at-home orders first...

If the 2020 presidential election were held today, for whom would you vote if the candidates were Joe Biden, the Democrat, and Donald Trump, the Republican? Biden - 49% Trump - 44% Undecided - 7%

I apologize for the vanity post but wanted to take a minute to get Freepers to give a shout out for a candidate or incumbent they're supporting this fall? as many of you know, I'm a firm believer in EMILY (Early Money is Like Yeast). Yeah, I know. i ripped it off from the Democrat's PAC. But their point is correct. Early Money helps make a candidate viable - even in mid June. I want to give all Freepers a chance to give a major shout out for a candidate worthy of financial support this year. If you can, also...

A St. Paul man has been charged in connection to the arson at the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct. Monday, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced it charged 23-year-old Branden Michael Wolfe with aiding and abetting arson. A fire at the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct on May 28 followed rioting that occurred after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department. According to a criminal complaint, police were called on June 3 to the Menards in St. Paul after they received a report that a person with police equipment...

In advance, I apologize for the Vanity Post - but I did want to take a minute to gauge Freeper opinion on recent developments. This thread is a bit long but please read it. We've had the COVID-19 scare for quite some time now. It has had a negative effect on this nation, economically and socially. Combine that with the recent rioting in many US metro areas (including mine - which has thankfully died down for now) and my question is this... How do these things bode for President Trump and the GOP in November? Do the American people rise...