Free Republic

McAllen, TX -- Gone are the days when a kid could make a few extra bucks by selling lemonade on the corner of their street. These days, it's against the law. A 12-year-old girl and her little brother were just trying to earn a few dollars for their two hermit crabs when a city code enforcement officer in Texas came and shut them down. The officer told their grandmother that the children needed a permit to sell lemonade, and their grandmother was ticketed for the offense. "I was mad," the 12-year-old said. "I don't understand why someone would want to...

Borders Group Inc. said it would liquidate after the second-largest U.S. bookstore chain failed to receive any offers to save it. Borders, which employs about 10,700 people, scrapped a bankruptcy-court auction scheduled for Tuesday amid the dearth of bids. The chain said it will ask a judge Thursday to approve a sale to liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Group. The liquidation of the company's remaining 399 stores could start as soon as Friday, and the chain is expected to go out of business for good by the end of September, the company said.

RUSH: Here's Palin. Now, I'm playing these sound bites here because Obama's delivering himself to us on a silver platter. Folks, I'm serious. "Obama Says We Cannot Spend More Than We Take In" bill. Pass it. We simply reduce spending to current expenditures, current revenues, that's it, and credit him for the inspiration, make them defend it. That's what I don't understand is our inability. I don't know why we can't take it to 'em. I'm exempting Paul Ryan from this 'cause he's done it, but why can't we take what this guy says and run it right back at...

Barack Obama has belatedly discovered that Americans want to see reductions in government spending. How else to explain David Plouffe’s appearance on a series of talk shows yesterday announcing that the President would unveil a new proposal this week to counter Paul Ryan’s roadmap on entitlement reform? However, it seems as though Obama still hasn’t figured out the scale of the problem: In an effort to go on the offensive in the battle over government spending, Obama will look for cuts in “all corners of government,” senior adviser David Plouffesaid on several Sunday talk shows.Although Obama’s health-care law is projected...

Rather than accept a few billion in budget cuts (read rounding error), President Obama has signaled his willingness to shut down the federal government. (Yah!) For those keeping score at home, any government shutdown that happens is on Obama’s plate. He is the President. All on him. The worst part of this whole debate is the Obama Administration’s decision to hold military pay hostage to the budget debate. For the last few decades, government shutdowns have been guided by an OMB directive issued during the Reagan Administration. Under this directive, military personnel would continue to receive the paychecks while politicians...

Washington - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a panel investigating the financial crisis that regulators must be ready to shutter the largest institutions if they threaten to bring down the financial system. "If the crisis has a single lesson, it is that the too-big-to-fail problem must be solved," (Snip) Bernanke also said it was impossible for the Fed to rescue Lehman Brothers from bankruptcy in 2008 because the Wall Street firm lacked sufficient collateral to secure a loan. Lehman's former chief executive told the panel a day earlier that the firm could have been saved, but regulators refused to

CBS News contributor Nancy Giles rudely told St. Louis Tea Party founder Dana Loesch to shut her mouth during a panel discussion on Wednesday's "Larry King Live." In the midst of a heated debate about allegations of racism within the movement, Giles asked, "Where is the Tea Party's outrage when members of their own party spit on members of the United States [Congress]? "Loesch accurately replied, "That was proved false. Let's not engage in defamation and libel." "Excuse me," barked Giles. "I'm talking so shut your mouth." When Loesch told Giles, "Be honest when you speak and I wouldn't have...

A US Senate committee has approved a wide-ranging cybersecurity bill that some critics have suggested would give the US president the authority to shut down parts of the Internet during a cyberattack.

O'Reilly! Just shut up!

Europe's largest windfarm was shut down after a blade snapped off one of the huge turbines, operators said today. All 140 turbines at the Whitelee windfarm on Eaglesham Moor near Glasgow are being inspected by engineers following Friday's incident. ScottishPower Renewables said mechanical failure or a lightning strike could be to blame for the breakage, which it described as 'highly unusual'. The 150ft, 14-tonne, fibreglass blade broke off in the early hours in windy conditions and landed at the base of its tower.

If you don't have a significant amount of money and/or political backing, keep your mouth shut. It is more the situation now than I've ever seen before. No one cares what you think or what you say unless you can back it up with money and or political force. Other than that, just shut up what I have learned. If one doesn't keep the mouth shut, someone will shut it for you.

Retailer Pier 1 Imports Inc. said Friday it lost $29.4 million in its fourth quarter and could close 80 stores this year. While better than expected, that net income amounted to a loss of 33 cents per share and showed a dramatic reversal for the three months ending Feb. 28. During the same period last year, the company earned $14 million, or 16 cents per share.

With the mega-pork, er, stimulus bill done, Democrats will now turn to regulating political speech they don't like. That is, they're revving up to resurrect the so-called Fairness Doctrine. Created in 1949, the doctrine required broadcast radio and TV outlets (then relatively few in number) to present balanced viewpoints on issues. The FCC repealed it in 1987, noting the dramatically expanded media landscape of the intervening four decades allowed sufficient competition of ideas.

US President-elect Barack Obama says he will shut down the "war on terror'' internment camp at Guantanamo Bay and rebuild "America's moral stature in the world,'' in a major interview aired overnight. "I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that,'' the Democrat, who takes office on January 20, told the CBS program 60 Minutes. "I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture. And I'm going to make sure that we don't torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world,'' Senator Obama said....

BALTIMORE – A man alleging a Maryland doctor stapled his rectum shut during an operation — causing him to go without defecating for 17 days — took his federal lawsuit to trial Monday in Baltimore. Ronald Watkins, 64, of West Virginia, is suing Manuel Casiano, a doctor in Frederick County, for allegedly botching a 2004 surgery that left Watkins with permanent bowel problems. “The reason for suing Dr. Casiano is very simple: His rectum was stapled shut,” said Julia Lodowski, who with attorney Emily Malarkey is representing Watkins and his wife, Brenda.

BEIJING - Construction will halt, heavy industries will close, and even spray painting will stop in order to clean Beijing's polluted air for the Olympics — an issue that suddenly has taken a back seat to political protests. An aggressive plan to temporarily shutter belching steel and chemical plants, cut back emissions by 30 percent at 19 heavy-polluting companies and stop excavation and pouring of concrete at hundreds of sites around the city was explained Monday by the city's Environmental Protection Bureau. "From the suggestions of experts we think that we need to take these measures to guarantee the air...

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2007 – Coalition forces killed eight terrorists, detained scores of others and confiscated money, weapons and bomb-making materials in various recent operations, military officials reported. A raid today in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood targeted an individual suspected of funneling weapons and money from Iran to a clandestine terrorist network that operated in Baghdad, Basrah and Maysan provinces, officials said. Four armed terrorists fired on coalition troops during the raid. Coalition troops returned fire, killing two of the terrorists. Coalition troops searched 11 buildings during the operation, which yielded bomb-making materials, large amounts of Iranian money, and more...

A DNA mail order kit that checks the sex of an unborn child at just six weeks is under investigation after concerns it will lead to couples terminating unwanted children. The do-it-yourself home test can be ordered over the internet and shipped to Australia for less than $500. But the futuristic "pink or blue" kit has sparked an uproar among ethicists and anti-abortionists, who fear it will be used as a "sex select" tool.

LATEST NEWS (Monday night, Jan. 22) AFFECTING THE FORT AND U.S. FOREST ROADS: Continued severe winter weather affecting the Sierra Vista area has caused Fort Huachuca officials to delay work start until 9 a.m. today, according to post spokesman Maj. Matt Garner. The late start is for all non-essential military and civilian personnel. All mission-essential military and civilian personnel will report to work as directed by their commander or supervisor, he said. Additionally, the Fort Huachuca Accommodation Schools will start classes at 9 a.m. as well, Garner added. School staff are to be on site at 8 a.m., to support...

BALAD RUZ, Iraq, Jan. 18, 2007 — After a nine-day operation in the Turki Village area, soldiers from 1st Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army, together with 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, defeated “The Council,” a known terrorist group which has historically targeted families and tribes with violence throughout the region. Coalition Forces continue to maintain a presence to further the peace and stability of the area. “The group, made up of former Ba’ath Regime members, Al Qaeda and Sunni extremists, refused to participate in any political dialogue and preferred attacking innocent civilians in the Diyala province, killing as many...