Free Republic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QVWAUrpH1o Pockets were burning with yesterday’s pay his heart was churnin he must get away He was determined that some kind of day had come- In California there’s nothin but stars, tomorrow mornin gonna be where they are. Neighbors were warnin “the boy’s a little too far fetched” You’ll bite the dust kid, you might get busted. Somebody on the tube just did. California is a Mental State, too little time with an overdose of Fate Lose your turn when you hesitate. Find yourself while you find your fortune. Lose yourself while you lose your fortune. Hook Line and Singer,...

In Vladimir Putin’s speech on February 24, announcing what would be a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine (in his official Orwellian euphemism, a “special military operation” in the Donbas region), a whole paragraph was dedicated to the West’s supposed undermining of “traditional values”: "Properly speaking, the attempts to use us in their own interests never ceased until quite recently: they sought to destroy our traditional values and force on us their false values that would erode us, our people from within, the attitudes they have been aggressively imposing on their countries, attitudes that are directly leading to degradation and degeneration,...

I mentioned in my last piece that the standard (mis)interpretation of Oedipus Rex—that Oedipus got what he deserved thanks to a moral shortcoming he couldn't or wouldn't correct—traces back to an earlier misinterpretation of Aristotle's comments on tragedy. That provides a nice segue, because what Aristotle actually says in his Poetics (and his Politics) provides further insight into our current problems. What Aristotle actually points out in Chapter 13 of Poetics is that great tragedies revolve around hamartia (ἁμαρτία) inherent in, or committed by, a protagonist. All this Greek word refers to is error. It does not necessarily imply moral...

U.S.—Pioneering smart thermostat company Matrimostat announced a brand-new thermostat that will automatically set the temperature to whatever your wife wants. “The Matrimostat 2000 uses advanced quantum technology to identify your wife’s temperature preference before she even mentions it --often before she even knows it!” says CTO Ted Shmarmanarf. “It’s a lot more challenging than it sounds. Research showed that many women don’t know what they want until at least an hour after they wish it had already happened, so the thermostat had to be able to accommodate for that.” "Now this is one smart thermostat." Shmarmanarf says that the solution...

Reason #9: HUMAN CONDITION When it comes to the human condition, we may think that Scripture is all we need. After all, Scripture does show us our true human condition in a way that the Greeks did not and could not: our relationship to God, that we are sinners, that we are a fallen race in need of redemption, that sin separates us from God, that God loves us and offers us grace and salvation. This is the good news that has been revealed by God in Scripture and in the person of Jesus Christ and nowhere else. Indeed, the...

I was head coach of a local swim team and was working with a 12-year-old girl who had enormous talent, beautiful technique and a gift for moving effortlessly through the water. I was pushing her hard . . . [but] Nothing would make her really try. So I called my friend Larry Liebowitz, a wonderful coach I knew . . . “Dan,” he said, “you want this more than she does.” I frowned, and realized he was right. Then he added the kicker: “You’ve got to realize, there’s nothing morally wrong with not wanting to swim.” . . . I...

When a dozen of conservatism’s best minds take on Socialism and expose it for the utopian fraud it is, attention must be paid. In a brief foreword to a special issue of National Review, Editor-in-Chief Richard Lowry admitted that many conservatives thought socialism in America had been “vanquished” after the collapse of Soviet Communism 30 years ago. But as T. S. Eliot insisted, “There is no such thing as a Lost Cause because there is no such thing as a Gained Cause.” The experts examine socialism in its many guises, beginning with Charles Cooke’s blunt assessment that socialism is not...

On 24 November 2018, at 5783 East Limoges Drive in Columbia, Missouri, Ahmonta Harris was shot and killed. Harris was a popular community leader who considered politics as a career. He was 26 years old. From columbiamissourian.com: “It takes action to get things done,” he was quoted as saying in a January 2017 article about community members working toward positive change. He was involved with the plans to create a community center in the city’s north neighborhood, referring to himself as a community leader who knew the area, he said in a February 2017 article.In 2012, Harris served as...

CHICAGO, IL—Immediately upon Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s recent declaration of the entire city of Chicago as an official “crime-free zone,” every criminal in the city suddenly and miraculously left the urban area, according to a statement released by the city council. “We declare every part of the city of Chicago a crime-free zone,” Emanuel announced in a Thursday appearance on CBS This Morning. “It is now physically impossible for any crime to be committed in our great city, because we declared it a zone of peace and harmony and criminals have no choice but to abide by our new rule.” Emanuel...

Over in one corner sat Alice, a strong-minded 27-year-old who always said what she thought, regardless of how much it might hurt someone else. In the other corner was Sarah, a thirtysomething high-flier who would stand up for herself momentarily - then burst into tears and run for the ladies. Their simmering fight lasted hours, egged on by spectators taking sides and fuelling the anger. Sometimes other girls would join in, either heckling aggressively or huddling defensively in the toilets. It might sound like a scene from a tawdry reality show such as Big Brother, but the truth is a...

A progressive correspondent asks: “If you were drafting the Constitution in 2017, would you include the Second Amendment?” It’s an ignorant question, but one that was asked in good faith, and the answer may be illuminating to some of our friends who are mystified by conservative thinking on the question. The short answer is: Yes, of course a 21st-century Bill of Rights should codify the right to keep and bear arms. The document does not create the right; the right precedes the document, which merely recognizes it and ensures that the government is constrained when, inevitably, its all-too-human members are...

Incredibly, it wasn’t until I was 19 that I learned that there had been a Holocaust. My hyper-assimilated, New England Jewish family and friends looked only to the present and future. We focused on the polio vaccine that promised to banish the iron lungs that had been our childhood terror. We trusted in the United Nations, whose gleaming buildings my father took me to see when they were brand-new, and from which I came away with hopeful admiration—mixed, however, with a vague sense, which I couldn’t have put into words then, that perhaps an enterprise housed in architecture so grandiosely...

SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – An 18-year veteran of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has been arrested on numerous charges, including attempted murder. Sheriff Knight said allegations that Frankie Eugene Bybee, 46, was harassing a 79-year-old woman led to an investigation into the deputy’s actions. Sheriff Knight asserted Bybee took care of the elderly woman’s dog, visited her in the hospital and introduced her to his family – all in an effort to gain her trust. “His actions are a disgrace not only to this agency, but to the law enforcement profession,” said Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight. The initial...

There is a line from John Adams of which conservatives, particularly those of a moralistic bent, are fond: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people." The surrounding prose is quoted much less frequently, and it is stern stuff dealing with one of Adams’s great fears - one that is particularly relevant to this moment in our history. John Adams hated democracy and he feared what was known in the language of the time as "passion." Adams's famous assessment: "I do not say that democracy has been more pernicious on the whole, and in the long run,...

How often at your workplace have you held your tongue out of fear of saying something that could get you fired? Everyone looks out for their interests. Read that again. You and I and everyone else naturally try to do that which best serves ourselves and our families. It’s called human nature and it has served mankind well since the Creation. The people we send to government are no different. They can’t be different, for like us, they are as imperfect as the rest of mankind. First we must understand that most of the chosen 435 in the House of...

At the core of left-wing thought is a rejection of painful realities, the rejection of what the French call les faits de la vie: the facts of life. Conservatives, on the other hand, are all too aware of these painful realities of life and base many of their positions on them. One such example was the subject of my first column on Left-Right differences: whether people are basically good. When liberals blame violent crime in America on poverty, one reason they do is that liberal beliefs since the Enlightenment have posited that human nature is good. Therefore, when people do...

Most Americans hold either liberal or conservative positions on most matters. In many instances, however, they would be hard pressed to explain their position or the position they oppose. But if you can't explain both sides, how do you know you're right? At the very least, you need to understand both the liberal and conservative positions in order to effectively understand your own. I grew up in a liberal world -- New York, Jewish and Ivy League graduate school. I was an 8-year-old when President Dwight Eisenhower ran for re-election against the Democratic nominee, Adlai Stevenson. I knew nothing about...

By the Grace of G-d 25th of Shevat, 5746 Brooklyn, N.Y. Greeting and Blessing: This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter of Jan. 26th, in which you write about a serious problem. As requested, I will remember you in prayer for the fulfillment of your heart's desires for good. While all blessings come from HaShem [G‑d], a Jew is expected to do what is necessary in the natural order. In the matter of the said problem, you surely know that there are doctors and psychiatrists who treat it, and have been successful in many cases. I know of a...

In darkened neighborhoods, people walked around with miner's lamps on their foreheads and bicycle lights clipped to shoulder bags and, in at least one case, to a dog's collar. A Manhattan handyman opened a fire hydrant so people could collect water to flush toilets. "You can clearly tell at the office, or even walking down the street, who has power and who doesn't," said Jordan Spiro, who lives in the blackout zone. "New Yorkers may not be known as the friendliest bunch, but take away their ability to shower and communicate and you'll see how disgruntled they can get."

I wonder about the validity of these sorts of numbers: While rising 14 points since February, Romney still trails the president, who currently has a 56% favorable rating, with 42% saying they hold an unfavorable opinion of Obama. The president’s favorable and unfavorable ratings are unchanged from CNN polls in March and April. “The biggest gap between Obama and Romney’s favorable ratings is among younger Americans. More than two-thirds of those under 30 have a favorable view of Obama, compared to only four-in-ten who feel that way about Romney. Romney is much stronger among senior citizens, but the gap is...