Free Republic

More on Obama’s malfeasance. #EvilClown In the wake of the Boston bombing, the Oklahoma beheading, the Times Square bombing, the Portland, Oregon Christmas tree lighting bombing, hundreds of American Muslims returning from waging jihad in Syria, the thwarted Federal Reserve building bombing, or any of these jihad attacks — “Obama’s Terrorism Alert System Has Never Issued a Public Warning — Ever,” Foreign Policy, September 2014 The National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS), a function of the massive Department of Homeland Security, didn’t issue any public advisories this summer as Western passport holders took up jihad in Syria by the thousands and...

Hundreds of adoptive parents in New York City who've sent their children to live elsewhere continue to get monthly government subsidies of up to $1,700 per child. They can continue receiving the checks until the child turns 21 years old.They gave up on their “hard-to-place" adopted kids — but not on the government check intended for the discarded kids’ care. Hundreds of adoptive parents across the five boroughs who've sent their children to live elsewhere are continuing to pull in monthly checks of up to $1,700 per child while the city, state and feds look the other way, the Daily...

The Obama administration quietly announced on Tuesday that it intends to change the way Americans learn about natural disasters and other major emergencies during radio and TV broadcasts, giving the president the ability to flip a switch and address the entire nation at once. The Emergency Alert System, the latest version of a program first established in 1951, blasts out emergency messages in the event of local weather emergencies, but can also be used to warn Americans about terror attacks and major natural disasters. [Snip] It can take up to 10 minutes for every radio, TV, cable and satellite provider...

DETROIT — Detroit is eligible to shed billions in debt in the largest public bankruptcy ever in the United States, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, while also finding that the public pensions could be reduced during reorganization despite a provision in Michigan’s Constitution. In ruling that Detroit was eligible to reorganize under federal bankruptcy law, Judge Steven W. Rhodes said the city met every test of insolvency, including failing to pay its debts and being unable to provide a minimum level of basic services to its 680,000 residents. “This once proud and prosperous city can’t pay its debts,” the judge...

Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), testified before the House Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday that the Obamacare enrollment system is “working.” “So what I can guarantee is we have a system that’s working. We’re gonna improve the speed of that system,” she said at the hearing on Obamacare enrollment. The Obamacare website, healthcare.gov, has been rife with problems for those trying to enroll in the health care insurance program. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) had asked Tavenner if she could guarantee that “no American will experience a gap in their health care.” Brady...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, whatever you think you know, you don't know how bad it is. You do not know. I did not know -- well, I suspected it. You don't know how incompetent Obama is. You really don't know don't know. This is breathtaking, what has been learned recently by me and others. As was the case yesterday, a lot of stuff popping. These hearings that are going on this morning with the contractors of the website. "Well, blame them. We did everything we could, blame them." This is the root. These hearings are the root of...

A good report from 60 minutes on how the federal disability system is being gamed at mega taxpayer expense: Steve Kroft reports on the alarming state of the federal disability program, which has exploded in size in the last six years and could become the first federal benefits program to run out of money.

A scavenging immune system cell that helps limbs regrow in salamanders brings hope that humans will one day be able to mimic the animal's amazing regenerative powers, say Australian researchers. The findings by Dr James Godwin, of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University, and colleagues, are published in today's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Salamanders (axolotls) are unique amongst vertebrates in being able to repair their hearts, tails, spinal cord and brain, and even regrow whole limbs during adult life, says Godwin. He sees their "perfect regeneration" as a holy grail. "We're trying to...

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (KTLA) — The 30th Space Wing and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency conducted a flight test of the Ground-Based Mid-course Defense system Saturday. The missile test was designed to demonstrate the latest version of the advanced kill vehicle.

In the wake of the great success of the Iron Dome anti-missile system, which was able to intercept many of the rockets fired from Gaza at populated areas during Operation Pillar of Defense, Israel is now pushing ahead with the development of Magic Wand, which is supposed to be able to intercept short-range and medium-range rockets. According to a report in the Boston Globe on Saturday, Israel will test the system in the Negev in the coming days. Magic Wand, the report said, is being developed by the Israeli Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. in cooperation with the American company...

America is heading into a retirement crisis, an economist says. Most retirees haven't saved enough money to retire and Teresa Ghilarducci blames America's entire system for retiring. It’s been 30 years since the Individual Retirement Account model became the standard way for Americans to save for retirement. But many people who saved for three decades watched a lot of that money disappear during the financial crisis. And now, more than half of American workers have saved less than $25,000 for their golden years, and about 30 percent have saved less than a thousand dollars. Overall, the system is failing, says...

Top 10 Lawyers Working to Improve the Food SystemPosted on July 5, 2012 by Michele I admit this post is somewhat self-serving. But I am getting weary of so many lists (like this one) celebrating heroes of the food movement that leave out an entire category of professionals that deserve a little respect. They may not be as famous as Alice Waters but they are working just as hard, maybe even harder. So here, in no particular order, are ten lawyers doing critical work to improve how we eat. 1) Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety...

Odd orbits of remote objects hint at unseen world, new calculations suggest. An as yet undiscovered planet might be orbiting at the dark fringes of the solar system, according to new research.Too far out to be easily spotted by telescopes, the potential unseen planet appears to be making its presence felt by disturbing the orbits of so-called Kuiper belt objects, said Rodney Gomes, an astronomer at the National Observatory of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. Kuiper belt objects are small icy bodies—including some dwarf planets—that lie beyond the orbit of Neptune. Once considered the ninth planet in our system, the...

It's official. Death is no longer a possible fate for three of four defendants in the January 20007 torture slayings of a Knox County couple. Assistant District Attorney General Leland Price has filed notice of an intention to seek the death penalty as punishment in the deaths of Channon Christian, 21, and boyfriend Christopher Newsom, 23, only against alleged ringleader Lemaricus Davidson. Price this month notified attorneys for Davidson's brother, Letalvis Cobbins, and Cobbins' friend, George Thomas, that he will push for a fate in their cases no more than life without possibility of parole. Because Cobbins' girlfriend, Vanessa Coleman,...

HOW TO INSTALL A SOUTHERN HOME SECURITY SYSTEM 1. Go to Goodwill and buy a pair of size 14-16 men's work boots. 2. Place them on your front porch, along with a copy of Guns & Ammo Magazine. 3. Put four giant dog dishes next to the boots and magazines. 4. Leave a note on your door that reads ...... Bubba, Me and Marcel, Donnie Ray and Jimmy Earl went for more ammo and beer. Be back in an hour. Don't mess with the pit bulls. They got the mailman this morning and messed him up bad. I don't think...

A well-informed, interested public is often hailed as the 'ideal' of democracy. But a new Princeton study suggests that the opposite could be the case - and that people who have no interest at all could be vital to the working of a democratic society. The uninformed are essential to democracy because their apathy helps to dilute the effect of powerful minority interests - for instance, highly educated elites - who would otherwise dominate public life.

With growing fears about the stability of the financial system, today King World News interviewed legendary Jim Sinclair. When asked about the ongoing crisis, Sinclair stated, “Well, the story this morning is we have it but we’re not going to spend it. We are not going to buy our own bonds, we’re not going to cap the rates, but we have it and we might use it. It’s like that every day. Those guys can’t get their story together for more than fifteen minutes. The ECB has the availability of funds for some activities in the euro bond market. They...

When I was diagnosed with cancer, I was devastated — but sure I’d get the best possible treatment. After 22 years as a GP, I felt strongly that the NHS was unbeatable when it came to major illnesses like this. But I was wrong. Instead, this wonderful institution I dedicated my life to has let me down — and I am only alive today because I begged and battled for drugs and paid for scans and treatments privately. (Snip) I insisted on an MRI scan, but my consultant said the NHS could only afford to do one without contrast, which