Free Republic

A Tax Credit in Name Only (TCNO)- By: Larry Walker, II -A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how during this year’s continuing education courses it suddenly dawned on me that the base amounts used in calculating the taxability of social security benefits are exactly the same in tax year 2012 as they were in 1985. Well here’s another example of elder abuse. Congress has failed to inflation adjust the limitations on the Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled since it was last upgraded back in 1984. I am frankly surprised that this credit is still around, since...

Most preppers should be familiar with the ‘rule of three’ – this means having one main method of an important function and a backup for it and a backup of the backup. It doesn’t necessarily entail 3 versions of the same thing but distinctly different ways of accomplishing a priority task. In the case of personal security arrangements, the main or level 1 version would be firearms within easy reach within a structure. These would be the primary weapons used for hunting and defence. And while it’s been said that the time to hide weapons is the time to bring...

Talk About Crazy Bastards...- By: Larry Walker, II -Hiking tax rates now, in advance of the pending 2013 Medicare Tax Increase from 2.9% to 3.8% on those making $200K ($250K if married), the new 3.8% Medicare Tax on Investment Income including capital gains, the 2014 health insurance tax on individuals of $695 to $2,085 (plus inflation) depending on family size, and the 2014 shared responsibility penalty of $2,000 per employee on companies with 50 or more part-time employees (working 30 hours or more), probably isn’t wise. Legislator's must pare any further tax increases with the hikes already baked in the...

Posted: Thursday, November 29, 2012 9:04 pm 19 comments To the editor: Back in 2008, right at the peak of the McCain/Palin, Obama/Biden presidential election, I wrote a scathing opinion to the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman about Sarah Palin (titled “Caribou Barbie”), and five years later, I would like to recant my opinion and tell the people of the Mat-Su Valley just how wrong I was at the time. The Frontiersman published the opinion and it drew a lot of comments, mostly negative, and here we are almost five years later, and I want to pass on what I have learned....

By this point, there is absolutely no question that the method of cooking foods at precise low-temperatures in vacuum-sealed pouches (commonly referred to as "sous-vide") has revolutionized fine-dining kitchens around the world. There is not a Michelin-starred chef who would part easily with their Polyscience circulators. But the question of when this technique will trickle down to home users—and it certainly is a question of when, and not if—remains to be answered. The Sous-Vide Supreme, introduced last winter, and of which I am a big fan, is certainly a big step in the right direction. But at $450, for most...

<p>Dennis Avner, a 54 years old man who spent years trying hard to make his body look like a tiger, has committed suicide. According to DailyMail of November 13, his body was found November 5. He lived alone.</p> <p>The problem of Avner began when a Native chief, guided by spirits, said that Avner should “follow the ways of the tiger.”</p>

Palestinian Gays Want World Boycotts against Israel By Julio Severo Gay activists will be in the forefront of the World Social Forum: Free Palestine, an international event to be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil from November 28 to December 1, 2012, which will bring together Marxist activists from around the world to demand a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and boycotts against Israel. Palestinian Queers for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, Pinkwatching Israel wants to mobilize Brazilian and international activists and social movements around queer visions, boycott, divestment, sanctions, and pinkwatching against Israel. Marxists and gay activists are not...

Some of you may remember the picture above and the post that went with it. The picture was taken at the train station in Bologna, Italy on August 2, 1980. I missed being there by a couple of days. Italy thought it had a deal with the PLO not to carry out terror attacks on its soil. It was wrong. The European Union is about to repeat the mistake. The EU may declare Hezbullah a designated terror organization, but only if they reach the conclusion that Hezbullah was behind the terror attack at a Bulgarian airport a few months ago....

America, Conservative Christians and Third World Expectations By Julio Severo Evangelicals are “fighting an uphill battle of demographics” on issues such as gay “marriage”, Focus on the Family President Jim Daly told the Los Angeles Times after the election. Last month, he said evangelicals and social conservatives were “rowing against the tide” with their focus on traditional values issues such as abortion and gay “marriage” in their political messaging. His call for “moderation” basically was a plea for Christians to stop their political opposition to such issues in light of Obama’s recent electoral victory. His admonition implies that after...

Seven years ago the Israeli government decided to forcibly evict the Jewish residents of Gaza and withdraw all bases and forces from the area. The experts, some with the government and some with the media, assured everyone that it would be for the best and that withdrawal would actually improve the security situation in the country. It was put about that resources and lives were being wasted protecting Israelis living in Gaza, while those Israelis insisted that their presence in Gaza was protecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The experts laughed at them. Now the experts are keeping an ear open...

An academic lecture by Professsor Thomas West from Hillsdale College. An excellent lecture from their Consitution 201 series plus links to other Hillsdale College lectures. An educational series that I wish would be viewed in our private high schools. Excellent material for home schoolers. Pass it on.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute thinks so and [Tues]day “filed suit to force the Treasury Department to release more than 7,300 emails believed to discuss a new ‘carbon tax’ Obama administration allies in Congress are expected to propose in the upcoming lame duck session.” The CEI press release continues, “the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeks emails on official government accounts that CEI had requested under the Freedom of Information Act. Treasury has said nothing about this topic publicly, but the existence of such extensive email traffic likely reflects serious ongoing discussions between Treasury officials, outside pressure...

[Wednes]day, the President held his first press conference since being elected to a second term. President Obama was given the opportunity to come clean on the size of the tax hike he wants on small business employers when MSNBC White House Correspondent Chuck Todd asked him: “Are you -- is there no deal at the end of the year if tax rates for the top 2 percent aren't the Clinton tax rates, period, no if, ands or buts? Any room in negotiating on that specific aspect of the fiscal cliff?” The President has repeatedly argued that he wants “to go...

Brazil to Host World’s Biggest Pro-Palestine Event By Julio Severo The “World Social Forum - Free Palestine” meets in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from 28 November to 1st December 2012, in light of stormy changes known as “the Arab Spring,” where Muslim governments have been replaced by radical Islamic governments, with dire consequences for Christian populations in these nations. The organizers of the massive pro-Palestine forum have thanked the Brazil government for hosting it, and they regard it “as a crucial and extraordinary landmark in a process that will widen support” for the Palestinian struggle to exercise what they consider...

The Fiscal Responsibility Cliff- By: Larry Walker -When I went to work for the IRS back in 1988, the first few weeks were spent in tax law courses. I distinctly remember, at the time, that the base amounts used in determining the taxability of Social Security benefits were $25,000 for single taxpayers and $32,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return. For some reason when the topic came up this year, during annual continuing education, with all the talk of looming fiscal responsibility (errantly referred to as a cliff), combined with having been read the riot act by several seniors...

A new CBO report released yesterday finds that Taxmageddon’s economic impact for 2013 would be disastrous for the economy. The report projects that gross domestic product (GDP) would fall by 0.5 percent for 2013, a recession by economist standards. The loss in growth would then result in millions of lost jobs by raising unemployment from 7.9 for the current quarter to 9.1 for the fourth quarter of 2013. In contrast, the CBO expects growth to reach 2.25 percent (not including an additional .75 percent in growth from extending payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits) by the end of 2013...

Ann Barnhardt Economic Presentation in 8 Parts Here is the link to the workbook in PDF. Part One Topics: Systemic Counterparty Risk Money is a Fungible Proxy for Your Very Humanity All Currencies are Fiat The Gold Standard is Not Necessary The Economy is Going to Implode Pt. 1 of 8 Part Two Topics: The Gold Standard is Not Necessary Continued WE Are the Gold The Morality and Economically Essential Nature of Interest The Real Problem in Banking System: Unbacked Unsecured Lending Bank Balance Sheet Exercise The Economy is Going to Implode Pt. 2 of 8 Part Three Topics: Sample...

Quote of the Day: “Somehow we have to have to figure how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.”- Energy Secretary Steven Chu Regulatory cap-and-trade With Congress and the American people rejecting cap-and-trade, the Obama Administration has employed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to achieve similar ends. Delaying job-killing regulations until after the November election, the EPA is currently sitting on numerous proposed rules sure to increase the cost of energy. A recent report from Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) unearths thirteen EPA regulations likely to hit American consumers should President Obama be reelected. ... 316 (b)...

I read a story on here a while ago. I think it was called "How a pistol won the war". Was hoping someone could give me a link.