Free Republic

I was at Dick's this morning to buy some 223 ammo and was paying in cash. Before the checkout clerk would ring me out I had to tap Yes or No on the pad for the question of "Are you a US citizen"? None of the other gun stores I frequent ask this question......will be my last ever Dick's Sporting Goods purchase.

Stocks fall as investors dump financial shares Investors worry that banks’ recovery could be endangered by bad debt NEW YORK - Investors are back to worrying about banks. Long-present unease about soured loans bubbled over on Monday after Bank of America Corp. said it set aside $13.4 billion to cover lending losses even as it posted earnings that beat expectations. Other big banks have also increased loss provisions in the past two weeks. Major market indicators tumbled more than 3 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which fell 250 points. Traders had been looking for some pullback after the...

By ROBERT TANNER, AP National Writer Health care for all — an elusive goal that has tantalized presidents and governors for decades — is roaring back this year with ambitious proposals in a handful of prominent states. The promise: Cover millions of uninsured adults and children. Improve the quality of care at hospitals and doctor's offices. Rein in rising costs that are eating up workers' wages, company profits and state budgets. The problem: Someone's got to pay. And getting those with a stake in health care — doctors, insurers, hospitals, workers, employers, government — to agree on who and how...

The biggest fiction behind James Bond is that the fantasy master spy and world-class heartbreaker lived past 40-something. It’s not just the death traps and vodka martinis, or even the three packs of cigarettes a day, that would have shortened his life. His naked ring finger would have too. Because real men need wives. Consider the data: Married men—regardless of age, sex, race, income or education—consistently have been found to be healthier than men who are single, divorced or widowed. This so-called “marriage benefit” begins to kick in right after the wedding, then builds. Husbands ages 18 to 44 are...

<p>WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is forging ahead with establishing a network of domestic tipsters -- despite being dealt what may be a deathly blow to the plan: House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, inserted last week a ban on the program in the bill to form a new Homeland Security Department.</p>