Free Republic

NEW YORK, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Retailers ranging from Walmart to Barnes & Noble are installing cameras or locking away items to deter shoplifters and thieves as they brace for a post-pandemic rush of holiday shoppers this year. Some, including Walmart, J.C. Penney, Apple Inc. and Walgreens, put in place new surveillance systems or more security guards. Others, like Target and Barnes & Noble, sealed merchandise behind plexiglass or tethered it with steel cables to store shelves. The retail industry has decried theft this holiday season as it struggles with excess inventories and a pullback in consumer spending at a...

The New York Times published an interesting story on Christmas Eve about continuing fallout from the economic decisions made by former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. Correa is a socialist who served two terms between 2007 and 2017. His time in office was highlighted by a rejection of Ecuador’s debt (he defaulted) and American influence in the country. Instead, he invited China to come into the country and accepted $19 billion in loans for infrastructure projects in exchange for 90% of Ecuador’s oil production until the cost of the projects was paid off. The largest of the projects was the Coca...

Starbucks announced a new policy Saturday that allows anyone to sit in its cafés or use its restrooms, even if they don’t buy anything. The new policy comes five weeks after two black men who hadn’t bought anything were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks. Company executives have said its previous policies were loose and ambiguous, leaving decisions on whether people could sit in its stores or use the restroom up to store managers. […] The company said anyone can use its cafés, patios or restrooms without buying anything, but it noted workers should still call the police if someone is...

Because of so much intolerance on the internet, lately....I say today is a good day for a..... Free For All!!

Guess what today is?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano are mum on why the legal requirements that immigrants and visa applicants not be reliant on government assistance have been watered down, according to some lawmakers. The deadline for Clinton and Napolitano to respond to a letter regarding admission of immigrants on or likely to be on assistance programs from senior Republicans on the Budget, Judiciary, Finance, and Agriculture Committees came and passed Monday. On Tuesday Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, blasted the pair for their failure to comply. “It is...

The Supreme Court upheld Obamacare. A close read of the actual language reveals that the individual "mandate" applies to any "applicable individual" which is defined as anyone other than...(a) certain religious exemptions, (b) people in jail (they already get free healthcare), or (c) read carefully.... "(3) INDIVIDUALS NOT LAWFULLY PRESENT. Such term shall not include an individual for any month if for the month the individual is not a citizen or national of the United States or an alien lawfully present in the United States." SEE: 26 USC 5000A(d)(3) Meanwhile, Obama just ruled by executive edict that immigration laws would...

An illegal immigrant who passes the bar exam and demonstrates good moral character should be eligible to practice law, the State Bar has declared in a court filing. The bar, which oversees California's 225,000 lawyers, told the state Supreme Court on Monday that federal law leaves regulation of the legal profession largely up to the states and does not appear to prohibit Sergio C. Garcia, 35, of Chico from obtaining an attorney's license. Garcia was 17 months old when his parents brought him to the United States from Mexico. He returned to Mexico with them at age 9, came back...

IRS Commissioner: Paying Taxes Is Pathway to Citizenship for Illegal Aliens By Elizabeth Harrington April 5, 2012 (CNSNews.com) – Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman said Thursday that paying taxes is a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens. At the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., 12 days before this year's tax-filing deadline (Apr. 17), Shulman was asked about what his agency is doing to collect taxes from illegal aliens. “You know, it’s a great question,” he said. “One of the pathways to citizenship that people believe is a good one is--even if you’re not in this country legally--to pay...

Minneapolis Police are adding patrols to the northside to prevent looting. Broadway Liquor Outlet lost thousands of dollars in inventory because of looters right after the storm hit Sunday. Police say they've had a few reports of looting at homes and businesses.

Heavy gunfire resounded in the area around Cairo's Tahrir Square early Thursday as the battle between allies and foes of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak entered a second day.

Time for one of these... Hat tip to Toma29 for this one:One Tuesday Obama was playing a round of golf with members of the liberal media at his side and House Democrats and Independent Obama voters watching from the stands. At each hole when Obama hit the ball off the tee, it would hook way left into the trees and Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Keith Olbermann, etc would immediately run out of the woods and drop a ball in the hole. The House Democrats in the stands would rise to their feet and cheer as Obama took credit for...

I really didn't plan this week, since I've been out nursing my family (who all came down with the flu)...so Here's to a Free For All Silliness...

SEOUL, South Korea – Brawling South Korean lawmakers tried to sledgehammer their way into a parliamentary meeting room barricaded by the ruling party as the National Assembly descended into chaos Thursday over a free trade agreement with the United States. Opposition parties were incensed by the ruling Grand National Party's move to submit the agreement to a committee on trade, setting in motion the process for the accord to win approval in the legislature.

BE WARNED: This website is not here to hurt Christians or convert anybody to anything. Many Christians/others may find much to disagree with here as far as theology, but the purpose is to find a balance between reason and faith. I don't consider being a Deist, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, etc. a magic formula for "salvation" however defined or perhaps disbelieved. I do believe we all will be judged, both in this life and the next, by how we act and treat others. That we all have the free will to control our actions, and are as individuals responsible...

Official Friday Silliness Thread Ping List· OFST Ping List · join list & same if you want off It's a Free-For-All Friday Silliness Thread. Post whatever your heart desires (within FR limitations) to help the day flow along. Keep it goofy, silly and humorous and have fun. After all, I'm sure none of us want to be "working", so hopefully we can push this thread beyond it's limits (and posts) and make something of it. Come on people....let's make the OFST what is used to be. And I mean, none of this 85 post stuff. I'm talking 500 or more....

Yes, we've been here before. An elected San Diego politician resigns. A special election is called. Candidates (many of whom no one has really heard of) come out of the woodwork to run for the unexpectedly open seat. Ballot-tested – and weary – veteran San Diegan voters trot to the polls once more. The big question this time around is exactly just how much history will repeat itself when it comes to filling Randy “Duke” Cunningham's tainted shoes. The race to replace in the 50th Congressional District seems to be playing out a lot like last year's mayoral contest in...

When your TV column is titled "Give Me a Break," it's hard to know where to begin after Katrina. First I thought I'd say, "give me a break" to the looters. Then to Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, since National Guard troops were available, but she wouldn't let them help. Then came the Internet scams. Some people who thought they gave for hurricane relief actually gave money to crooks in Brazil. The government's responsibility, though, dwarfs anything done by criminals. To start, the federal government invited disaster by offering cheap insurance. That encourages people to build on the coasts. I'm...

BRIDGETON -- Three strikes and you're out. That might be the message city residents who have been involved in a hit-and-run accident, or have a loved one who has, send to their representatives in the Statehouse and the nation's capital if they don't heed City Council President John Ewing's third call for a summit to address the issue of unlicensed motorists driving uninsured, unregistered vehicles.

In my post right after the Anderson murder, I was asking for balance, for some degree of caution in what both the Government and the opposition said or did. I said the government had a higher responsibility and should be careful. After one week, things are not going well. The government seems to be taking advantage of Anderson’s death to initiate a new wave of persecution and repression in the name of security and using Anderson’s death as the excuse. When even the Vice President recognizes that the police mistreated the parents of Antonio Lopez Castillo. When Lopez Castillo is...