Free Republic

Thank you for contacting me about reforming the National Security Agency's mass surveillance program. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue. As you may know, I have been fighting against overly broad domestic surveillance for well over a decade, and I remain deeply concerned about protecting Americans' Fourth Amendment privacy rights from unnecessary government surveillance. Currently, a controversial law referred to as Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act permits the National Security Agency (NSA) to engage in a mass surveillance program targeting Americans and their data. The Section 215 law is set to expire in March 2020,...

Is there a "gay gene"? Major new study says no By Dennis Thompson August 29, 2019 / 8:33 PM / HealthDay There's no such thing as a single "gay gene" that drives a person's sexual behavior, concludes the largest genetic study ever conducted on the issue. Instead, a person's attraction to those of the same sex is shaped by a complex mix of genetic and environmental influences, similar to what's seen in most other human traits, researchers report. "This is a natural and normal part of variation in our species," said researcher Ben Neale, director of genetics with the Stanley...

FEBRUARY 17, 2017 WEEK THREE We are starting to have a few bills working their way through the system, but at this point nothing of any major impact. There are, however, the beginnings of discussions in some subject areas that will have significant implications. Having said that, the real issues taking front stage are the budget and the projected deficit. From that perspective I took a look at the bills that have been assigned to the House Revenue committee to see how many tax increase measures were there. I counted 38, but I have since been told there are now...

Oregon's Senator Jeff Merkley Dear Diana, Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about the rising cost of health insurance premiums in Oregon. I appreciate hearing from you and having the opportunity to share my perspective. I believe the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a vast improvement over the system we had before. Even with higher premiums in 2017 than during the first three years of the marketplace, premiums continue to rise at an historically low rate, far below where they were predicted to be if the pre-ACA trend of premium increases had continued. Millions of Americans are...

Sent this random email to my representative Peter DeFazio, his response 2 days later is following this email to him. I thought you all would get a kick out of his response, remember two days later. > SEE IF I GOT THIS RIGHT > IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER >> ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR. >> > IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER > ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY. > > IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER > ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT. > IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER > ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED....

State-subsidized sex-change operations By Dan Springer Published July 09, 2015 Sex-changes for 15-year-olds without parental consent? The list of things 15-year-olds are not legally allowed to do in Oregon is long: Drive, smoke, donate blood, get a tattoo -- even go to a tanning bed. But, under a first-in-the-nation policy quietly enacted in January that many parents are only now finding out about, 15-year-olds are now allowed to get a sex-change operation. Many residents are stunned to learn they can do it without parental notification -- and the state will even pay for it through its Medicaid program, the Oregon...

Jay Dobyns is suing the Department of Justice, claiming it retaliated against him and damaged his reputation after he blew the whistle on the ATF's treatment of agents. (Fox Business News) A federal judge angrily accused Justice Department attorneys in newly unsealed documents of "fraud upon the court" by intimidating a witness in a case involving a former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent who alleges the agency trashed his reputation. Judge Francis Allegra, who was appointed to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in 1998 by President Bill Clinton, is presiding over a suit brought by former...

Today is the most magical day of the year: Pi Day. It's also the most magical year of the century: Pi Year. That is, today's date is 3/14/15 (at least in the US and a few other countries that write dates the same way), which matches up nicely with the first five digits of pi, the ratio of every circle's circumference to its diameter: 3.1415.

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit and a motion for a temporary restraining order Friday to stop officials in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, from forcing two ordained Christian ministers to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples. City officials told Donald Knapp that he and his wife Evelyn, both ordained ministers who run Hitching Post Wedding Chapel, are required to perform such ceremonies or face months in jail and/or thousands of dollars in fines. The city claims its “non-discrimination” ordinance requires the Knapps to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies now that the courts have overridden Idaho’s voter-approved...

Billionaire hedge fund operator and “green” energy magnate Tom Steyer has pledged $100 million in the 2014 election cycle to help Democratic candidates who oppose the Keystone pipeline and who favor “green” energy over fossil fuels. Steyer claims to be a man of principle who has no financial interest in the causes he supports, but acts only for the public good. That is a ridiculous claim: Steyer is the ultimate rent-seeker who depends on government connections to produce subsidies and mandates that make his “green” energy investments profitable. He also is, or was until recently, a major investor in Kinder...

Trying to quit smoking? You might want to move to Oregon. A new bill would classify cigarettes as a Schedule III controlled substance, making them illegal to purchase without a doctor’s prescription. Portland Rep. Mitch Greenlick introduced the bill in the Oregon State Legislature in an attempt to reduce the number of addicted people, but has received criticism from smokers and non-smokers alike who believe the initiative is not feasible. Under Greenlick’s proposal, smokers would be charged with a misdemeanor and face up to one year’s imprisonment and a $6,250 fine for being caught with a cigarette or any of...

<p>PRINEVILLE, Ore. (AP) — More Oregon sheriffs are joining the chorus saying they would refuse to enforce any new federal gun law they believe are unconstitutional.</p> <p>Crook County Sheriff Jim Hensley said Tuesday he sent the same letter to Vice President Joe Biden that was sent Monday by Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller.</p>

ItÂ’s 6 AM and a groggy Ken Wright is getting ready to start the day. Thinking about jumping in the shower, getting the coffee on, and wake the kidsÂ… Suddenly noise from outside draws his attention and he looks out the window. He sees dozens of black-clad, armored men swarming on his lawn and now someone is pounding on the front door. As he starts down the stairs in his boxer shorts the front door shatters and the heavily armed men charge into the house pointing guns and shouting orders. They grab Wright, drag him from the home, throw him...

The union horde is spreading, from Madison to Indianapolis to a state capital near you. And yet the Democratic and union bigwigs engineering the outrage haven't directed their angry multitudes at what is arguably the most "hostile workplace" in the nation: Washington, D.C. It will no doubt surprise you to learn that President Obama, the great patron of the working man, also happens to be the great CEO of one of the least union-friendly shop floors in the nation. This is, after all, the president who has berated Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to limit the collective bargaining rights of...

GunVoter: The Issue is Freedom By Jeff Knox There is confusion within the conservative community – and even among some gun owners – over what exactly the gun rights argument is all about. Similarly there is confusion among some GunVoters about the goals and objectives of the conservative movement. The simple answer for all of those confused people is that it is about freedom, individual liberty, and the rule of law. Our system of government is founded on principles of the rule of law and individual liberty. No man – or government agency – is supposed to be above the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Overwhelmed and saddened by the gargantuan size of the Gulf oil spill? A little mathematical context to the spill size can put the environmental catastrophe in perspective. Viewing it through some lenses, it isn't that huge. The Mississippi River pours as much water into the Gulf of Mexico in 38 seconds as the BP oil leak has done in two months. On a more human scale, the spill seems more daunting. Take the average-sized living room. The amount of oil spilled would fill 9,200 of them.

Thank you for contacting me about the escalating price of gasoline and U.S. dependence on foreign oil. I appreciate hearing from you. Currently, about 67 percent of the oil consumed in the U.S. is imported, 33 percent is produced here at home. Experts project that this trend will continue for many years. While it sounds logical to just say that if we produce more here at home, then we'll have to import less, in reality, if the only U.S. policy is to more rapidly deplete our own reserves by drilling for oil here at home, we will become more dependent...

This is a partial reprint of an eighth grade final exam from 1895 that was taken from a document on file in Salina, Kansas. 1. Find the interest of $512.60 for eight months and 18 days at 7 percent. 2. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 feet long a $.20 per inch? 3. Find the bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent. 4. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods? 5. A wagon box is 2 feet...