Free Republic

President Obama’s nominee for Attorney General Loretta Lynch followed up her stunning defense a president’s “right to summarily execute enemies of the state” with fulsome praise for government’s controversial practice of seizing the property and money of people before they are found guilty of a crime, calling it “a wonderful tool.” “It is difficult to prove someone guilty of a crime under our laws,” Lynch pointed out. “The evidence required is substantial. The ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ standard is daunting. Under Civil Forfeiture, though, there is more leeway. Under this statute, the property or money is accused of illegal actions. Since...

Celebrating the fifth anniversary of “Let’s Move!” First Lady Michelle Obama explains to Cooking Light magazine that she had to get empowered in her own household to eliminate processed food. Part of that experience was her personal fight against boxed macaroni and cheese, which, she admits, her kids loved. At the time, her chef friend Sam Kass explained that boxed macaroni and cheese wasn’t “real food” and so the family shouldn’t eat it. “My kids loved the macaroni and cheese in a box,” she explained. “And he said, if it’s not real food then we’re not going to do it.”

When my husband and I move to a new area, we specifically look for a home with a wood burning stove. It’s cheaper and if the power grid goes down, we have a way to survive it. Yep, we’re preppers. These regulations are meant to do away with wood stoves and force people to get their heat from gas or electric, paid for at exorbitant rates from utility providers. In some areas, even with gas or electric, the only way to truly keep a home warm is with a wood or pellet stove. This is more of the EPA’s fascist...

Joe Biden will skip Israeli Prime Minister’s Congressional speech in March. He is going to leave the country. Minority Leader Pelosi says Democrats will be busy and she hopes the event won’t take place. And now we know that the Obama administration told Black Caucus members to skip the speech and to publicly speak out against it. The Daily Mail reported: Two prominent black Democrats in the House of Representatives are vowing to skip Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress next month, a move that a White House insider says was put in motion by the Obama administration.

A Nevada court has ruled FBI agents can dress up as ISP repairmen to blag their way into a suspect's home without a search warrant – but must tell the courts about it when they do. The ruling stems from a case brought by the Feds against Malaysian poker player Wei Seng Phua and his son, whom the agency accused of running an illegal betting syndicate from a luxury Las Vegas villa during last year's FIFA World Cup. The duo hired the house in the grounds of Caesars Palace casino on the famous Strip, and asked for large-screen monitors, laptops,...

Federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation into New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, as well as members of his administration, a man at the center of the investigation told ABC News. The U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey has interviewed former Hunterdon County Assistant Prosecutor Bennett Barlyn, who claims he was fired because he objected to Christie officials dismissing indictments against political allies of the governor. Barlyn confirmed the investigation to ABC News. It was first reported by the International Business Times. “It is true,” Barlyn told ABC News, saying he was interviewed by federal authorities at his Pennsylvania home...

As millions of Americans brace for tax season, the Internal Revenue Service is requesting a $2 billion boost to its budget and 9,000 new employees as it prepares to enforce Obamacare’s tax provisions. President Obama released his $4 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2016 this week, which includes $13.9 billion for the Internal Revenue Service. The agency asked Congress for close to $2 billion more for operations than last year—a 16 percent increase. The billions of dollars will help the agency bolster its staff by adding more than 9,280 full-time employees. The proposed jump in employment at the IRS...

Has anyone noticed that the nation’s leftist socialists are using the very same tactic with Islamic Terrorists [ISIS] as they incessantly use with the Nazis and other Socialists? Talk to any of the Leftists on the national socialist scene and they will go incandescent if you accurately attribute that the Nazi were socialists. It’s part of their freaking name for Pete’s sake: German Nationalsozialistische [deutsche Arbeiter-Partei] (National SOCIALIST [German Workers' Party])But that doesn’t deter leftists from denying reality. They will also deny that the USSR was Socialist… Even though THAT is also in their very name: Union of Soviet SOCIALIST...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) — The Federal Communications Commission will seek more influence on Internet regulation to ensure net neutrality, its chairman said Wednesday. In an editorial published on {link:the website of the magazine Wired: “http://www.wired.com/2015/02/fcc-chairman-wheeler-net-neutrality?mbid=social_twitter”,nw}, Tom Wheeler explained new rules, proposed this week, “to preserve the Internet as an open platform for innovation and free expression. This proposal is rooted in long-standing regulatory principles, marketplace experience, and public input.” The new rules will cast {link:high-speed Internet service as a public utility: “http://www.cnbc.com/id/102376526″,nw}, an unidentified person, who was consulted the FCC {link:on the proposal, told CNN: “http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/02/technology/net-neutrality-fcc/index.html”,nw}. The change would...

The Venezuelan Ministry of Defense has authorized the Army to shoot any protesters that do not obey orders to disperse. Minister of Defense, General Vladimir Padrino López defended the decree as both “necessary and proper. In this time of crisis everyone should be working together in support of the government. Public complaints alleging that the government has not fulfilled its promises encourages people to oppose the government’s measures to deal with the crisis. Such disloyalty cannot be tolerated.” There is also a pragmatic aspect to the policy. According to the General, “to the extent that shortages of food and other...

The 2nd Amendment. While it was designed to be the last line of defense against a tyrannical government, it inadvertently is also a deterrent for radical Progressives who wish to fundamentally change our Constitutional Republic. Case in point. In 1988 Progressive author, Bob Zimmerman, ran for a Hawaiian Congressional seat and was soundly defeated. In 2015 Mr. Zimmerman has written a free “book” titled Common Sense. He modeled it after the historic pamphlet written by Thomas Paine which shared the same title. But instead of embracing individual Liberty, Mr. Zimmerman uses the words of the Founders to push a centralized,...

President Barack Obama wants to create a new government agency dedicated to keeping the nation’s food safe. The proposal in the president’s budget released Monday comes after outbreaks of illnesses linked to chicken, eggs, peanuts and cantaloupe in recent years. More than a dozen federal agencies oversee food safety, and consumer advocates have long called for bringing all those functions together in a single home. […] The budget proposes consolidating the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and all of FDA’s food safety oversight into one new agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. The new agency...

C.S. Lewis wrote in 1952 that “perversions of the sex instinct are numerous, hard to cure, and frightful.” The good Oxford don did not live to see the times we now live in, times in which progressive extremists can state a straight face that actually there are no sexual perversions – times in which even the long-held taboos against pedophilia and incest are falling like dominoes. The evidence that in the name of absolute sexual freedom, traditional taboos are no longer to be honored is everywhere. While sexual perversion has always existed, it has never been as widely tolerated and...

In Senate hearings designed to vet Loretta Lynch, President Obama’s nominee for Attorney General, the question of whether it is constitutional for the government to use extrajudicial lethal force on an American citizen on American soil failed to elicit the obvious “NO” that should be expected from someone aiming to become the nation’s top law enforcer. As Lynch sees it, “it all depends on who gives the order. If it’s someone trustworthy like President Obama, I think we give him the benefit of the doubt. We can’t allow ourselves to get tied in knots over ‘due process’ concepts originating more...

A month after the rollout of California’s massive effort to issue driver’s licenses to 1.5 million undocumented immigrants, the process is working overall in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire. Still, many applicants report a mixed bag of experiences. Local advocacy groups are scrambling to address overflowing driver’s license preparation classes. Some test-takers are showing up at the Department of Motor Vehicles without studying, and some tech-phobes fear the touch-screen test format that allows four minutes for each question. Language kinks were being untangled last week for Mixteco speakers after confusion over whether translators could assist during the written and...

An attempt to mend the relationship between citizens and police in St. Louis broke into a shouting and shoving match late Wednesday — between citizens and police. Council members considering a bill to establish a civilian oversight board over police work were holding a public meeting when Jeff Roorda, the business manager of the city’s police union, and a woman appeared to get into a confrontation, an online video shows. The room erupted into shouts and profanity, as people rose to their feet and crowded in on the two. The bill was sponsored by Alderman Antonio French, an active participant...

Issue appeared to be isolated to translating words relating to homosexuality Google Inc. (GOOG) came under fire from LBGT (lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender) petition site AllOut.org, over flaws in its Translator Service, which led to translations to some languages yielding homophobic slurs. Google has now fixed the issue and apologized for its mistake. The controversy came after people noticed that when translating neutral words in foreign languages pertaining to homosexuality, the English translations at times suggested English colloquialisms that are commonly considered homophobic slurs among native speakers. This controversial vernacular was also peculiar as searches for neutral foreign equivalents...

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the Justice Department has been building a database which tracks vehicles across the United States. The license-plate tracking program reportedly reads plates and tracks cars on major highways across the U.S. The program’s high-tech cameras also reportedly take photos of drivers and passengers that are clear enough to identify people. The database was started in 2008 by the DEA to monitor drug traffickers along the Mexican border. It has since expanded, with more and more law enforcement agencies using it for non-drug-related reasons. Justice Department officials tells Fox News that the feds limit...

SAN MATEO, California — No more pedaling the bicycle or ridesharing with relatives and friends to work or to bring the children to school. This month, the Department of Motor Vehicles started issuing special licenses to people who cannot prove their legal presence in the country. So-called irregular Filipino immigrants are among the people joining the long lines of applicants for a California driver’s license at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Immigrant advocates say some applicants who previously held licenses under Social Security numbers that were not their own have been told they will need to meet with a DMV...

DAVOS -- The crackdown on illegal immigration combined with intensified border security has prompted large numbers of undocumented Mexican laborers to remain in the U.S. permanently -- even as many prefer to go home -- out of fear they will never be able to return, former Mexican President Felipe Calderon told International Business Times. “Many of them are currently trapped,” Calderon told IBTimes. “There are a lot of these people [who] want to be in Mexico eight months every year, but they are unable to go there, because if they cross the border, they will never be able to cross...