Free Republic

As Illinois became the last state to allow concealed guns in public, state officials wrote a host of rules designed to prevent irresponsible uses of force that could take innocent lives. But multiple instructors authorized to teach people how to tote guns under the new state program are police officers with documented histories of making questionable decisions about when to use force, a Tribune review has found. One instructor is an officer whom two suburbs sought to fire because of substantiated excessive force allegations, municipal records show. Another was accused by two ex-wives of physical abuse — and by one...

When Ideology Trumps Science: Neil deGrasse Tyson and Cosmos on Global Warming Jay W. Richards August 6, 2014 1:15 PM | Permalink I finally had a chance to watch the twelfth, penultimate episode of Cosmos, "The World Set Free." I was out of the country in June when it originally aired, but since there's no doubt the series is headed into the schools and remains relevant, I'll take this opportunity to comment. The episode stands out from most previous installments. Just when we've grown accustomed to circuitous narrative threads with obscure segues from one topic to the next, we get...

Doctors and aid agencies are trying to capitalize on a truce in Gaza to evacuate more wounded Palestinians for life-saving medical treatment in Israel and Jordan. More than 9,500 Palestinians were wounded during four weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. Ninety of some of the most serious cases have been evacuated through the Erez border crossing since the conflict began, according to Guy Inbar, spokesman for COGAT which is part of the Israeli defence ministry. He said the wounded had been sent to Israel and Jordan from an Israeli field hospital at Erez....

News Analysis Brethren, Peace be with you. I'm still working on my next post on immigration. I apologize for being sidetracked by events. President Barack Obama's silence is deafening across many issues needing his often eloquent voice. Let me give you three examples: • During a "green on blue" attack, an Afghan soldier killed Major General Harold Greene in Kabul on August 5th, and a German brigadier wounded along with 13 others. The President's reaction? I'm still waiting for one. • This morning I received a communication from the Iraq and Afghanistan's Veterans of America (IAVA) focusing on the high...

When young California-based developer Ivan Pardo launched smartphone app Buycott last year, users at first seized upon its technology to avoid putting coins in the coffers of the conservative billionaire Koch brothers. Everyday shoppers using iPhones or Android devices could scan the barcode of, say, Brawny paper towel or Dixie cups and trace the corporate ownership of both kitchen cupboard staples to Koch Industries , the conglomerate run by the politically active (and thereby controversial) industrialists Charles and David Koch. Other popular user-generated Buycott campaigns at the time of its launch included Demand GMO Labeling, allowing shoppers to scan a...

Tennessee senator Lamar Alexander is making his final pitch to primary voters with a radio ad in which the two-term Republican claims he has voted to "end amnesty" for illegal immigrants. Alexander has been hit hard on the issue of immigration by his chief GOP challenger, state representative Joe Carr, ahead of Thursday's primary. "In the last few days of a campaign, don't believe anything new that you hear," Alexander says in the ad. "Last year, I voted to end amnesty. Last week I voted against President Obama's immigration bill." Listen to the ad below: Is it true that Alexander...

Russia has banned fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, milk and dairy imports from the US, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway. Dmitry Medvedev said the ban was effective immediately and would last for one year. The agriculture minister, Nikolai Fyodorov, said on Thursday that greater quantities of Brazilian meat and New Zealand cheese would be imported to offset the newly prohibited items. He added Moscow was in talks with Belarus and Kazakhstan to prevent the banned western foodstuffs being exported to Russia from the two countries. The Kremlin's move comes in response to the grounding of the budget airline subsidiary...

Monty Lankford has been a champion of conservative politics in Tennessee for years. He served as the state finance director for Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign, and he knows how to raise money—more than $3.5 million for Republican candidates over the years. But when conservatives approached Lankford to run against Sen. Lamar Alexander, one of the more moderate Republicans in the upper chamber, Lankford eventually said he wasn't interested. And neither were most of fellow conservatives. By many standards, Alexander is the type of incumbent Republican that tea party groups love to hate. He's been a political fixture for the better...

First lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday proudly stated she believes women are the smarter sex and must use prominent positions in government, business and other endeavors to affect change. Speaking at a women’s forum at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington alongside former first lady Laura Bush, Mrs. Obama said women in power cannot waste their opportunities because they’re simply more intelligent than men. “Every time I meet a child I think, who knows what’s going on in her life, whether she was just bullied or whether she had a bad day at school or whether she lost a parent...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Isaiah 54:17 Stand Firm New International Version (NIV) 17     no weapon forged against you will prevail,    and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,    and this is their vindication from me,”declares the Lord.

When Barack Obama finally showed up to his press conference yesterday after keeping everyone waiting for seventy-four minutes, the President took the time to express his frustration with the war in Gaza. “It is important to remember,” Obama explained helpfully, “that Hamas acts extraordinarily irresponsibly when it is deliberately siting rocket launchers in population centers.” “Irresponsibly”? It depends on what one expects from Hamas, I suppose. If one considers Hamas a run-of-the-mill political force in an armed conflict, then sure, conducting attacks from residential neighborhoods and hotels is extraordinarily irresponsible. If on the other hand Hamas is a terrorist organization,...

Glasgow City Council will fly Palestinian flag to show solidarity with people of GazaAug 06, 2014 THE Palestinian flag will fly from the city chambers on Friday, becoming the second council to do so as the humanitarian crisis escalates. GLASGOW City Council will fly the Palestinian flag from the city chambers this Friday in an act of solidarity with the people of Gaza, it was announced today. The move, which follows a similar display by West Dunbartonshire Council, has been welcomed by prominent campaigners, who have staged weekly demonstrations in the city as Israel has stepped up it’s offensive...

Only HamasÂ’ Defeat Will Bring PeacePosted By Joseph Puder On August 7, 2014 @ 12:00 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 2 Comments As the 72-hour cease-fire began on Tuesday, August 5, 2014, Israel began its withdrawal from Gaza, but Israel Defense Forces (IDF) remained on alert, ready to re-launch its attack if HamasÂ’ rocket fire continued. While a clear majority of the Israeli public backed Prime Minister NetanyahuÂ’s government military campaign to dismantle HamasÂ’ ability to operate against Israel, growing pressure from the U.S. administration to scale back the IDF operations prompted Netanyahu to go ahead with another cease-fire.The...

Ze’ev Jabotinsky on Truce & the Battle for IsraelPosted By Ronn Torossian On August 7, 2014 @ 12:10 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | No Comments While a fragile “truce” holds and Israel prays for quiet, undoubtedly the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, is strategizing his next move. As he thinks, without a question he considers Jewish history. His father, Benzion Netanyahu, was known to have a tremendous influence on his son – and Benzion was Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s secretary.Ze’ev Jabotinsky is considered the forefather of the movement Netanyahu leads today – and made countless statements which are relevant today. As is...

Sen. Richard Shelby has $18 million in campaign cash that he doesn't need this year, but he's not likely to share it with his fellow Republicans. Though he's not up for re-election, the Alabama senator has not transferred any of his considerable campaign wealth to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the party arm working to gain GOP control of the upper chamber. snip The top two ranking Senate Republicans, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, are up for re-election, curtailing their ability to transfer campaign funds to the NRSC. McConnell, in particular, is...

This year on Barack Obama’s birthday a group of Russian activists shined a laser show of Obama fellating a banana on the US Embassy in Moscow.hdi is nothing more than a que

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Animals In The Bible Fly New International Version (NIV) As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,    so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right,    but the heart of the fool to the left.3 Even as fools walk along the road,    they lack sense    and show everyone how stupid they are.(Ecclesiates 10)

Wednesday, August 6, 2014 Streetlight McCarthy: Concealed Carry Same As Drunken Driving The expert in carrying a firearm while intoxicated speaks: “This is what I said from Day One: More guns is not the solution to gun violence. That’s akin to saying everybody should drive drunk to stop drunken driving. It doesn’t work that way.” So what's giving Chicago Police Supt. McCarthy flashbacks? Something he thinks will be an excuse to restrict Concealed Carry in Illinois. After Wednesday’s meeting at Kennedy-King, McCarthy also disclosed that one of the men shot this week at a North Side nightclub had one of...

The head of the Oklahoma City satanic church that is planning a black mass in a public venue next month says the Eucharistic Host he plans to use in the ritual was mailed to him by a friend. " I'm sick of hearing about this 'Consecrated Host,'" Adam Daniels, of the organization, the Dakhma of Angra Mainyu,  wrote in an emailed response to questions from Aleteia. "As my understudy has told other Catholic Inquisitors, the Eucharist was mailed to us by [a] friend. That is all I'm going to say about how it was attained [sic]. My question is, why...

Displaced Iraqis from the northern town of Sinjar head towards the autonomous Kurdistan region on August 4, 2014, as they seek refuge after Islamic State (IS) Sunni militants took control of their hometown. AFP Photo Yazidis fleeing Iraq following an offensive by Islamic State (IS) militants have been settled in homes in the town of Silopi in the southeastern province of Şırnak, Culture Minister Ömer Çelik has said from Twitter on Aug. 7. Another government official who spoke to the AFP on condition of anonymity said hundreds of Yazidis had entered Turkey since Aug. 6. "They have been accommodated by...