Free Republic

In December of 2011, and again in February of 2012, the American people took to the Internet to tell Washington in no uncertain terms that letting the payroll tax cut expire was not acceptable. Tens of thousands of Americans tweeted, called and emailed to remind Washington that politics is not a game – serving the American people is a serious responsibility and the decisions made in Congress have serious consequences on people’s lives. Thanks in no small part to their efforts to make their voices heard, Americans scored a major victory when Congress passed a two-month tax cut extension in...

The UN has called for an immediate suspension of government-mandated US ethanol production, adding to pressure on Barack Obama to address the food-versus-fuel debate in the run-up to presidential elections...

HAVANA -- At an age when most kids play stickball or videogames, Lazarito Castro focuses much of his energy on promoting Cuba’s socialist system, one speech at a time. The studious 14-year-old is not related to President Fidel Castro, but he is one of the comandante’s most passionate young disciples, a member of the Union of Young Communists who is known across Cuba for his fiery, fist-shaking speeches at massive government-organized rallies. Lazarito dreams of becoming a nuclear physicist when he grows up. But for now he sees himself as a soldier on the front lines of the “Battle of...

I don't know if the link will work, or if it will only work for logged-in FB users, so here is the current result: ------------- Will you vote for Obama in 2012? Yes 38,644 (22.8%) No 123,954 (73.1%) Undecided 7,041 (4.2%) ------------- Non-scientific, of course, but better than many internet polls since it has a large sample size and users can only vote once. I thought this was a particularly significant result since so many active Facebook users are college students or other young people, Obama's alleged base. I don't have a pre-November Obama/McCain poll to compare it to, but...

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is struggling to catch up with unexpected demand only days after implementing the Greenback Exchange for the Elderly for Zero Expenditure Recovery (GEEZER) Act passed by Congress last month. Lines were long at local redemption centers on Tuesday as people turned in old and unwanted relatives for vouchers usable for educational costs and other approved expenses. Greg Packer, 45, a highway maintenance worker, was first in line with his father, Walter Packer, 77. "I hope I can get at least $3,500 for him; he's got arthritis, restless leg syndrome, a...

SPRINGFIELD -- While the extreme shortage of ammunition in the past several months has received some media attention, little thought has been given to the impact on some of the product's most prolific users: the street gang / urban thug community. Drug dealers and gang members, used to employing relatively common rounds like 9mm or .45ACP in their TEC-9s and Hi-Points, have joined other gun enthusiasts in being stymied by the empty shelves at Wal-marts and local gun shops alike. Rivals aren't going to shoot themselves, however, so active gangbangers do not have the luxury of merely waiting until the...

WASHINGTON -- Sources say Alaska Governor and Republican Vice-Presidential nominee persists in breastfeeding her youngest child, Trig Palin, in spite of the fact the scientists and economists agree that the practice will do nothing to drive down elevated milk prices or alleviate child hunger on a global scale. Palin, who declared October 2007 as Breastfeeding Awareness Month in Alaska, admitted earlier this year that she has been providing an unspecified amount of breast milk to her 4-month-old son. Dr. Michel Fromage, spokesman for Médecins Sans Intégrité, lashed out at the mother of five on Monday. "This woman's do-nothing 'solution' is...

Waris Dirie, a former model who has campaigned against female genital mutilation and written an international best-seller about her experiences, is missing, police and her manager said Friday. Dirie, 43, has not been seen since early Wednesday when police saw her getting into a taxi in Brussels, manager Walter Lutschinger said in a telephone interview. "We are really very scared," said Lutschinger, who has been her manager for seven years. -- *snip* -- Dirie's disappearance comes a week after French police said they'd found the body of another former model of African origin who had campaigned against female genital mutilation....

ELIZABETHTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — A woman who was shown on an ABC News program being beaten by her stepfather sued the network Wednesday, claiming negligence and recklessness. The lawsuit addresses video footage included in a "Primetime" segment called "Stepfamilies in Crisis" that aired in 2006 and shows Kyle Nelson, then 15, being held down, berated and punched. The footage was taken from hundreds of hours captured at the home several years before the show was aired. Viewers responded with thousands of e-mails questioning why ABC didn't step in to stop or report the abuse. ABC responded at the time with...

It's hard to imagine anything more bone-chilling than lying on the ground in mid-December for several hours at night. But if you're willing to bundle up, the reliable Geminid meteor shower is due to reach its peak late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. The Geminid event is known for producing one or two meteors every minute during the peak for viewers with dark skies willing to brave chilly nights.

For those whose complaints over the New York Times' most recent treachery have been ignored, a Powerline reader reveals the way to get a friendly, grateful response from the NYT editors: spout every bit of lame, over-the-top leftist rhetoric you can think up. Dear Mr. Keller: I want to thank you personally for breaking the story on the government illegally using the SWIFT system to track money. This administration is always breaking the law. They all belong behind bars. Just remember, it's your duty to make sure they're kicked out of office, in the most humiliating way possible. Republicans are...

-snip- Robinson explains that before they left the area his team convinced Alaska state authorities to set up nine locations that were not cleaned up, so they could monitor whatever long-term improvements were observed. “For a period of years,” John says, “those locations [that were left alone] were in much better shape than the locations that had been aggressively cleaned up. “The very aggressive way we went about it - I have to fault myself on this, because I’m the one that directed it, turned out to be a much more serious problem than the oil was. We were killing...

The following quotations are statements made by either war protestor / professional victim Cindy Sheehan or white supremacist / former Klan 'Grand Wizard' David Duke. None are from West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd. There may or may not be an equal number of quotes from each. Make your picks -- the bigot or the banshee? No fair using search engines! #1 -- "In fact, the war is massively increasing hatred and terrorism. For every one terrorist killed in Iraq, we are creating thousands more who hate and want to hurt America and Americans. This is the surest way to lose...

sacrifice -- n. Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim. -- The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition To be credibly called a sacrifice, whatever is lost must meet two criteria in regards to the person losing it. First, it must have significant value to them. Second, it must be willingly given; the term 'sacrifice' necessarily implies that it is the result of a choice about competing values. Consequently, we can say that a loss is not a sacrifice if it does not meet these conditions....

Random immigration checks on Tube passengers have been banned by Underground chiefs after they were exposed by the Evening Standard. We revealed how dozens of police and immigration officers at a time swooped on stations and asked foreign-sounding commuters to justify their presence in Britain. And after we uncovered the practice last summer, unhappy Tube chiefs have told the Home Office and police that their officers will no longer be allowed to carry out the raids. The sides are still in talks but already the number of operations has been cut and the Immigration Service has agreed to curb the...

WASHINGTON -- Many Democrats' worst fears were realized today as President Bush, fresh from a resounding electoral victory over John Kerry (D-MA), issued an executive order drafting quadruplegics, amputees and other disabled citizens for military combat duty. The draftees will be formed into Mine Detection & Detonation Units (MDDUs) to be deployed in Iraq. In an appearance on CNN, White House advisor Karl Rove justified the plan as a means of protecting American troops and contractors from roadside bombs. "Mines are a big problem in securing the areas around Tikrit and Fallujah for optimum petroleum acquisition. Imagine half a dozen...

I had noticed in the last FR Poll that there were two bands on the graph -- green & blue. Now it appears in the results that these are 'member' votes and 'non-member votes' (or, total votes and member votes). So what does that mean? The FR poll registers votes from non-members, i.e., unregistered lurkers?

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - A church pastor who invited Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry to speak during a Sunday service said he rebuffed criticism from others upset by Kerry's support of a woman's right to have an abortion. The Rev. Ronald Logan, senior pastor of the Greater Grace Temple, didn't identify the source of the criticism, but the full house of 800 loudly cheered and applauded when Logan said he welcomed Kerry, running mate John Edwards as fellow worshippers. They were joined by four Ohio congressional Democrats and former U.S. Sen. John Glenn, who sat in the front row. Logan estimated...

WASHINGTON -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals today filed an animal cruelty complaint against former Clinton cabinet member Sandy Berger. The animal-advocacy group, also known as PETA, has filed the grievance with the Attorney General's office, claiming the former National Security Advisor repeatedly violated animal abuse statutes last fall. Earlier this week it was revealed that the Justice Department has been investigating Berger's alleged theft of top-secret classified materials from the National Archives. PETA's complaint further asserts that Berger disposed of the stolen documents by "stuffing them down Socks," his former employer's former pet cat. Socks was the...