Free Republic

Catchin' Wild Pigs........... There was a Chemistry professor in a large college that had some Exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the Prof noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back And stretching as if his back hurt. The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government. In the midst of...

What Has Bush Learned? December 2, 2004 Freud once described neurotic behavior as persisting in doing the very thing that caused the problem in the first place — keeping on digging when you’re already in a hole. By that standard, government may be the most neurotic behavior of all. A neurosis is a mental block against learning from experience. Some years ago "The Atlantic Monthly" ran a long article showing that government programs to redistribute wealth don’t reduce inequality at all; they leave it about what it was in the first place. Everyone would be just as rich or poor...

Have you ever noticed that those who spout platitudes about the public good tend to be the people who benefit the most from the so-called public good? Take seniors who say that there is a public good to them getting free medicine from the government, so that they don't have to eat cat food and live in a cardboard box under a bridge, or whatever exaggerated claims they make. There is no doubt that the seniors receive a good, but it comes at the expense of future generations that will be picking up the tab. As is often the case,...

A new study by the British Medical Association finds that young people in Great Britain are living dangerously when it comes to eating, drinking, mental health, drugs, and sex. The frightening report reveals a burgeoning youth culture that is high on risk and low on character. The report found that one fifth of British adolescents aged 13 to 16 are overweight or obese. One in four 15 and 16 year olds smoke regularly, and one in five use drugs. Youth alcohol consumption now ranks among the highest in Europe, and binge drinking is becoming a serious problem. One in five...