Free Republic

Hundreds of workers at five Walmart facilities that fulfill e-commerce orders are being asked to find jobs within 90 days at other company locations, a spokesperson confirmed to Reuters. About 200 workers at Pedricktown, NJ, and hundreds of others at Fort Worth, Texas; Chino, Calif.; Davenport, Fla.; and Bethlehem, Pa., were let go due to a reduction or elimination in evening and weekend shifts, the spokesperson said. The layoffs at Walmart, a retail bellwether because of its size, could be a harbinger of further turmoil in the US economy, which many economists predict could enter recession this year. “We recently...

The $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill the House plans to vote on Wednesday contains a provision that would expand diversity, equality, and inclusion at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. House leaders released the legislative text for the $1.5 trillion omnibus bill Wednesday morning; the House plans to pass the bill by the end of Wednesday.

Papal Visit - Ominous Harbinger Of Things To Come Several hours ago, the pope returned to the Vatican from the United States. We all got a glimpse into what we may expect from this pontificate - and it ain't pretty! We heard some snippets of exhortation to respect innocent life, but they were minuscule in comparison with the shillings for the allowance of illegal immigration, climate change, death penalty, arms trade, etc: all the talking points that had progressives (Obama included) waxing giddy with joy. Jim Sedlak of American Life League penned his opinion of some of the pope's addresses,...

People are beginning to compare Barack Obama's administration to the failed administration of Jimmy Carter, but a better comparison is to the Roosevelt administration of the 1930s and '40s. Let's look at it with the help of a publication from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Foundation for Economic Education titled "Great Myths of the Great Depression," by Dr. Lawrence Reed. During the first year of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, he called for increasing federal spending to $10 billion while revenues were only $3 billion. Between 1933 and 1936, government expenditures rose by more than 83...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - State tax revenues continued to strengthen at the end of 2010, but even with that improvement the long-term outlook for most states "is still ominous," the Rockefeller Institute of Government said in a report released on Tuesday. "State fiscal recovery will be exceptionally slow and much longer compared to the prior recessions," said the group, which tracks states' finances and economies. Record revenue declines during the recession, increasing demands for more spending, and unemployment rates that remain nearly double their pre-recession levels mean that full economic recovery for many states will take several years, according to the...

The most salient part of Vice President Biden's speech in Tel Aviv came toward the end of his address -- after he spoke about the "unbreakable bond" between the U.S. and Israel, after he assured his audience that the administration has an "ironclad commitment to Israel's security," and after he reassured skeptical Israelis that America "stands shoulder to shoulder" with the Jewish state. Once these nice pieties were out of the way, Biden got to the real, unbalanced U.S. position vis-à-vis Israel and the Palestinians -- again "condemning" Israel for moving ahead with plans for more housing units in East...

Before he killed or wounded 54 Americans at Fort Hood on November 5, army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan had raised eyebrows with his Islamic proselytizing, which he carried on even when he was supposed to be conducting medical briefings. One such presentation has come to light: the June 2007 briefing which Hasan gave to other doctors at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Hasan’s PowerPoint slides say many of the same things found in jihadist literature and propaganda throughout the Middle East and among its apologists here in America. Hasan’s Islam is rooted in traditional understandings of the faith as taught...

Democrat fundraiser Norman Hsu is the latest person who raised money for Bill or Hillary Clinton to come to harm under mysterious circumstances. Hsu, 56, was on the run from sentencing in California on a 1991 fraud case when he became ill on an Amtrak train and was taken from the train to St. Mary’s Hospital. He remains in the Mesa County Jail on $5 million bond pending extradition to California. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., returned $850,000 in contributions bundled together by Hsu, who has been tied to $2 million in contributions to Democrats. A Web site dubbed The Clinton...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

With coalition forces now in control of Baghdad and much of the rest of Iraq, Saddam Hussein’s odious regime is finished. As expected, the United States and its allies have achieved most of their military objectives. But will they be able to attain their overarching political goals as well? Israel’s experience in Lebanon 20 years ago suggests that it is possible thoroughly to defeat one’s adversary on the battlefield yet still not win the war. Similarities between Israel’s Lebanon war and our war in Iraq raise concern that we might also find it difficult to turn military success into political...

<p>San Jose police are investigating four Internet messages, full of violent threats and profanity, that one of the fraternities involved in last month's deadly brawl may have sent to the other just hours before their midnight clash.</p> <p>The e-mail threats, two of which claim to be from rival fraternity Lambda Phi Epsilon, may offer a glimpse into the depth of the animosity between the two Asian-American fraternities, which erupted in a deadly rumble Jan. 22 at San Jose's Flickinger Park.</p>

Report: IDF disconnects Ramallah, Gaza and East J'lem from Internet THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF Jul. 15, 2002 IDF soldiers who entered the Ramallah offices of Palestinian telecommunications company Planet on Monday disconnected Ramallah, Gaza and East Jerusalem from the Internet, Palestinian sources told the Itim news agency. "The IDF took over an office building where six Planet employees were apparently staying," the Palestinian non-governmental organization Miftah said in a statement. "Explosions were heard, and the six's whereabouts were not ascertained," the statement continued. Miftah is headed by Palestinian legislator Dr. Hanan Ashrawi. The meaning of diconnecting these Palestinian...