Longtime real estate industry experts John Agostinelli and Christopher Michaud, authors of Easy Money and the American Real Estate Ponzi Scheme, had front row seats during the great recession and witnessed the strange lending practices that blew up the housing bubble, created disastrous consequences for government-endorsed loans, and hurt low to moderate income people and the communities they lived in. Not only did government create the problem, they say, but government's reaction to the crisis made matters worse. Agostinelli and Michaud say history is repeating itself right in front of us, and if we do nothing to stop the volatility in real estate markets, we risk the impending doom of the next housing collapse.

Tom DeWeese, founder and president of the American Policy Center, delves into the guts of the United Nations' Agenda 21 and its plans for and impact on America and our society. Thumbs up, or thumbs down? What do you need to recognize and understand, and possibly stand up against? (Click headline for full post)

Tune in Thursday at 1:00 Eastern time as Zachary Reid, veteran journalist and author of Cuba, More or Less: Travel, Faith and Life in the Waning Years of the Castro Regime, shares his personal experiences and insights from years of travel to and writing about Cuba, having witnessed life for its citizens under the weight of Fidel Castro's authoritarian rule. Listen locally on Freedom 1110 on the AM dial, or click the "Listen Live Online" button to catch the live audio stream online. If all goes well, you can watch us in the studio via Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/norafirestone

Pulling heads from the sand on The Nora Firestone Show for Randal O'Toole, the "anti-planner's," expert take on light rail around the nation and what taxpayers need to know if their own city planners intend to sell the idea to them. Mr. O'Toole is a senior fellow with the Cato Institute who specializes in transportation and public land-use policy and the study of urban growth nationwide. Find his book "Gridlock, Why We're Stuck in Traffic and What to Do About It" at Amazon. No matter what side of the track you've been on, get fully informed here. If you're in Virginia Beach, Va., be sure to attend the Nov. 2 light rail forum at the V.B. Central Library and hear Mr. O'Toole in person. Get details and RSVP at the Virginia Beach Tea Party's Facebook page.

Virginia Beach City Council candidates Robert K. Dean and Dane Blythe talk political good sense, the ever-maddening light-rail trolley folly, and what some City Council candidates are doing that City Council members have not been doing to help local flood victims. Wherever you live, you’re a local. The same issues face us all this election, and (click headline to read more)

Dr. John Hunt, a Virginia-based pediatrician, pulmonologist, allergist/immunologist, entrepreneur, author and chief medical officer at Liberty HealthShare, discusses how government overreach has negatively impacted American health care, consumers and business, plus great additional insights from his intelligent, Libertarian and diverse perspective! (Check out his newest book, Speculator, here!)

Join my 25-year-old soap box, today at 1:00 Eastern Time on Freedom 1110, WKQA radio! Not in the listening area? Click here to listen to the live stream online!

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Fed up with the nonsense? Nora and co-host Linc Smith chat up what's great and what's lacking in America today. Hint: The overgrowth of government and its dependents and the rise of socialism will be the downfall of America if we continue on this path. We've been saying it for decades.

Co-host Linc Smith carries on with Nora Firestone; Chuck Smith, Constitutional conservative candidate for Virginia Attorney General, discusses his values and positions as they pertain to the role he seeks in serving the state as he's served the country.

Hard to believe it's been a year this week since I first uttered a word behind the mic at Freedom 1110, WKQA radio. Join me today, from 1 - 2 Eastern Time, for a special birthday episode. I'll still cover cool business insights, but I'll also be giving away birthday gifts to people who call in or enter the drawing here. Tune in, call in, sign in! All who do will be automatically entered into my first "Birthday Gift Bag" of goodies drawing. Not within earshot? Click here to listen to the live stream online!

Join me at 1 p.m. Eastern Time today on Freedom 1110 AM, WKQA, as James W. Lark, Ph.D., will discuss systems engineering as it pertains (destructively) to culture and society in America. Lark is a professor in the Department of Systems and Information Engineering and the Applied Mathematics program of the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia. His unique perspective as a member of the Libertarian party and of the Libertarian National Committee's executive committee sheds light on what's right, what's wrong and what's still hopeful in America today. Contact Dr. Lark at [email protected]

Today at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on Freedom 1110 AM, WKQA radio: As kids head back to school and adults press on in business, this replay features local optometrists discussing the importance of proper vision exams to detect and treat vision issues that may be negatively impacting children's learning, social and behavioral experiences as they grow, and that can also be a problem for adults within the workplace. Extra special news: Congratulations to my guest and good friend Joel Zaba, O.D., who will soon receive Southern College of Optometry’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant and transformational contributions in his field.

Guest Jess Horton, ACE-certified personal trainer, discusses the impact of the Jim White Fitness Foundation's LIFT program and upcoming White House 2 White House relay against homelessness; guest Robert K. Dean discusses what common-sense issues he'll address if elected to Virginia Beach City Council again.

Retired KCPD officer D.W. Rawlings, author of Peckerwood in the Hood -- Misadventures of a Kansas City Cop, joins Nora on the air to discuss what's it's really like to be a police officer in the 21st century, how the job has changed, how the politics of the job negatively impact everyone and much more. Original air date July 28, 2016, on Freedom 1110 AM, WKQA radio, now available here on demand.

For years I've been developing and leading workshops about how and why to avoid common errors in public business messaging, the material from which also comprises my forthcoming book titled (not "entitled"), "The $10,000 Apostrophe," which also covers my "Media Sense and Savvy" instruction on effective media relations and outreach. Today's show is a replay from October 2015 and will enlighten you from this material about business messaging of many kinds. Tune in!

Get an earful of insight from political blogger Drew Nickell, as he discusses the election-year climate, the candidates and points from his new book, Bending Your Ear: A Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times!

Steve Goreham, well-respected speaker, author, and researcher on climate change and environmental issues, joins Nora for a real-world discussion about the ongoing dance between planet Earth, Mother Nature and mankind. What misinformation are we being fed, and how is that hurting us? Get informed by a leading expert. Click heading for more ...

Nikki Schwartz, licensed professional counselor, of Oaktree Counseling discusses how today’s political (especially anti-American, pro-socialist) environment is negatively impacting people’s mental and emotional well-being and how to best manage the feelings of hopelessness, powerlessness and fear about where our country is headed. And as I always say, "If you want to live in a socialist nation, move to one!"

Want your bumper sticker? Contact Nora now.

Charity is good, right? Charity is voluntary, that's why charity is good. Therefore forced charity is an oxymoron. With little exception, forced charity is socialist, dictatorship, morality-meddling, (Click heading for full post)

June 23, 2016 - There's nothing compassionate, fair, just or American about the nature of socialism. In fact, it is inherently anti-American. Essentially, socialism is forced charity designed and enforced by self-ordained, agenda-appointed or, worst yet, voter-elected social engineers. Inevitably, if permitted to burgeon, it's a potentially irrevocable tipping of the scales from personal, individual pursuit and prosperity to government dictatorship, manipulation, oppression and dependency. America is the most fertile ground on Earth for the flourishing of the human spirit. Perhaps the most staunch environmentalists should be working to protect that most valuable natural resource. Why wouldn't they?   

Guests Paul Cram, creative entrepreneur and actor, and Samuel LeDoux, a delegate to the Republican National Convention in New Mexico, discuss the pro-American values and principles modeled and instilled by their fathers and how their fathers' commitments to family and the American spirit helped shape them growing up. Join us for this Father's Day "thanks" to America's patriot dads and a frank discussion about preserving the pro-American values of individual freedom and liberty. Click headline for more.

Attorney Pat Cardwell, common-sense Republican congressional candidate for Virginia's 2nd district, chats it up with Nora.