Free Republic

Democrats on Martha’s Vineyard, the elite vacation hub of the nation’s wealthiest residents, are praising themselves as do-gooders for coming to the aid of illegal aliens sent to the island before having them shipped to a nearby military base. This week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) flew about 50 illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard — a wealthy enclave of liberals and home to former President Obama who owns a nearly $12 million estate. Even as Martha’s Vineyard residents vote almost entirely for Democrats, local officials put pressure on Gov. Charlie Baker (R) to intervene and have the illegal aliens deported...

“Homelessness in New York City has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s,” the Coalition for the Homeless reports.After decades of failure, New York City homelessness keeps getting worse. The only people who appear to be benefiting are the ones who make a pretty penny “serving” the homeless. The homeless–an ever expanding group in our major cities–are still sleeping rough and dying of overdoses.New York City’s homeless population has surged in recent years to 80,000 people, according to The Bowery Mission, a 150-year-old agency serving the hungry and homeless, citing federal data.This despite the fact that...

FAIRFIELD, Idaho — Great Pyrenees dogs that are working to protect flocks of sheep in the southern Idaho wilderness keep getting “rescued” by people who think the dogs are lost. Flat Top sheep rancher Cory Peavey is frustrated because he is spending a lot of time picking up his expensive dogs that he uses to protect his herd from shelters or people’s homes. There are many sheep ranchers in Idaho, and many use Great Pyrenees dogs, something that might look out of the ordinary in the woods to someone camping. Peavy understands that it might be strange to see a...

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult....

Nobody had to tell Corrina Mehiel about the white privilege that killed her. It was a major focus of her life as a white Social Justice Warrior disguised as an artist. Earlier this month, that work took her to George Washington University in the nation’s capital. There she was part of a project drawing attention to one feature of white privilege or another. This time, lead paint in old houses occupied predominantly by black people. Just a few days after she was photographed with Nancy Pelosi grinning in approval, friends found Mehiel tied up, stabbed, tortured, and ultimately dead at...

In October 2011, the Obama Administration ordered 100 U.S. special operations troops to deploy to central Africa to help African and U.N. forces capture Joseph Kony, the psychopathic commander of the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army. Kony is an evil man. Note the present tense: is, not was. In the late 1980s, Kony took control of a movement whose goals linked the Acholi tribe's demands for autonomy in northern Uganda with a promise to govern Uganda according to the Ten Commandments. But Joseph Kony lived by a different testament. In 2005, the International Criminal Court indicted him on charges of...

....that is why I want a president that respects the American people, who honors the responsible Americans who follow the rules, go to work, and obey the law. As a bonus, I’d like him to show the subordinate victims how to climb out of the hell of thinking that a politician is going to solve their problem. Because I believe there is still time to save the little darlings from a fate worse than death.

The Environmental Protection Agency is spending $25,000 to teach churchgoers in Connecticut about food waste.The agency announced over $1.7 million awarded through its Healthy Communities Grant Program on Thursday, including $50,000 for its “Food Too Good to Waste” initiative that seeks to curb climate change by teaching adults how to write a grocery list.Sustainable America, a nonprofit group that wants people to turn off their engines instead of idling and buy hybrid cars, was given $25,000 to bring the program to churches.“This initiative will recruit households from faith-based congregations in the Greater Bridgeport and Stamford areas to implement a Food...

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a regulation for Christmas lights on Monday, deeming some holiday decorations a “substantial product hazard.”“The Consumer Product Safety Commission … is issuing a final rule to specify that seasonal and decorative lighting products that do not contain any one of three readily observable characteristics (minimum wire size, sufficient strain relief, or overcurrent protection), as addressed in a voluntary standard, are deemed a substantial product hazard under the Consumer Product Safety Act (“CPSA”),” the final rule said.The ruling applies to a variety of Christmas decorations, including “stars, wreathes, candles without shades, light sculptures, blow-molded...

"They are both registered Democrats with a history of working in public health. Both Spencer and Dixon are professional do gooders according to their LinkedIn and professional websites. Spencer boasts a degree from Columbia’s University Mailman School of Public Health, according to his since deleted LinkedIn page. So why did health care professionals decide to go bowling just days after Spencer returned from Ebola-infected Guinea?"

The rapid decline in Americans' tobacco use has leveled off, and now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is calling for new taxes, regulations and warnings to force Americans to kick the habit. In a new report, the CDC found that 50 million, or one in five, Americans use tobacco every day or some days, and 60 million, or one in four, “every day, some days or rarely.”It also revealed that the use of electronic cigarettes is surging, and and e-cigarettes now account for nearly 5 percent of the smoking market.Worse: Americans aged 18-24 showed up as the top...

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that the income gap in the United States has increased to the point where members of the middle class resemble the Americans who lived in poverty when he occupied the White House. Carter offered his assessment of the nation's economic challenges Monday at a Habitat for Humanity construction site in Oakland - the first of five cities he and wife Rosalynn plan to visit this week to commemorate their three-decade alliance with the international nonprofit that promotes and builds affordable housing. The recent economic downturn revealed that families living in...

You can feel safer today knowing that a no-kill animal shelter in Wisconsin was recently raided by a group of 13 heavily armed agents of the government. They were there to get Giggles, an illegally rescued baby deer. A shelter worker said the agents descended on the property “like a swat team” and soon the deer was being carried off in a body bag. Giggles is dead now and the world is somehow a better place thanks to our government helpers. Speaking of killing things, the logging industry in the western states was mostly killed by an environmental movement in...

Recently, Republican Governors Rick Perry of Texas and Terry Branstad of Iowa appealed to those wanting to flee liberal California. “Move your business to our state,” they implore. “We’ll welcome you with open arms here.” They should be careful what they wish for. When my wife and I used to vacation in Colorado in the 1970s, I started noticing bumper stickers that read “Don’t Californicate Colorado.” The initial movement that spawned that sentiment was a way for Colorado residents to express their disapproval of how Southern California had exploded with seemingly unlimited development. However, since that time, “Californicate” has taken...

(CNSNews.com) - The Thanksgiving holiday comes with a series of advisories and admonitions from your favorite Uncle Sam: The Transportation Department wants you to "buckle up and slow down," especially on Sunday; the Food and Drug Administration wants you to store your medications safely when traveling; the surgeon-general wants you to "create a family health portrait" when you sit down to your turkey dinner with relatives; and the U.S. Agriculture Department wants you to "sample local businesses" when you start your holiday shopping. Aside from the by-now-familiar tips on safe food handling and turkey cooking times (found at the USA.gov...

In an effort to combat obesity and all the health problems that are associated with it, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced a plan to ban the sale of sugar-sweetened drinks to 16 ounces or less. It also includes a $200 fine to vendors who violate it. If passed, the ban could take place as early as next March. The ban would not include diet drinks, juice-based drinks, or alcoholic beverages. It would also not include drinks sold at convenience or grocery stores.So, my first reaction was, “Um, what’s the point? If I can’t get a large soda at...

Two of the wisest sages of all time — Mark Twain and Jesus Christ himself — spoke memorably about the dangers of worrisome do-gooders run amok. Indeed, it is the curse of do-gooders the world over to find fault in everyone except themselves. And they usually do great harm when they “fix” things that usually are not broken — all in the odious name of self-righteousness. “Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits,” Twain observed. And in the Sermon on the Mount, it was Jesus — a famous carpenter, among other things — who warned that do-gooders would be...

A mother in Hoke County complains her daughter was forced to eat a school lunch because a government inspector determined her home-made lunch did not meet nutrition requirements. In fact, all of the students in the NC Pre-K program classroom at West Hoke Elementary School in Raeford had to accept a school lunch in addition to their lunches brought from home. NC Pre-K (before this year known as More at Four) is a state-funded education program designed to “enhance school readiness” for four year-olds. The mother, who doesn’t wish to be identified at this time, says she made her daughter...

ANNAPOLIS — Maryland health advocates are lauding Gov. Martin O'Malley’s proposal to increase the state’s cigar tax, but critics say such an increase would create another financial burden for consumers and business owners. Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, proposed a state budget Wednesday that would raise the 15-percent excise tax on cigars, smokeless tobacco and other noncigarette tobacco items — a group collectively known as other tobacco products (OTP) — to 70 percent. The OTP tax has gone unchanged since 1999 while the cigarette tax has gone from 36 cents to $2 a pack during that period. Health advocates argue raising...

WESTFORD (CBS) – Westford school officials are getting tough on classroom holiday parties. They’re banning sugary snacks and sweetened beverages from the celebrations this year. Students are being told to leave the Christmas cookies, cakes, candy bars, and soda at home and to bring fruits, unsweetened juices, popcorn and raisins instead. Superintendent Everett Olsen says the ban on holiday sweets has nothing to do with being politically correct, rather, his motive is simply promoting a healthy lifestyle. “We aren’t trying to take the Christmas out of Christmas. We’re not trying to take the enjoyment out of children’s lives. We’re just...