Free Republic

Ratings of U.S., European Union leadership sink to record lows, in single digits WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Vladimir Putin's popularity in Russia is now at its highest level in years, likely propelled by a groundswell of national pride with the annexation of Crimea in March on the heels of the Sochi Olympic Games in February. The 83% of Russians saying they approve of Putin's leadership in late April/early June ties his previous high rating in 2008 when he left office the first time. The 29-percentage-point increase in Putin's job approval between 2013 and 2014 suggests he has solidified his previously...

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has finally broken his silence, using his first statement since being released from the Taliban to thank President Barack Obama for his support. "Sergeant Bergdahl is deeply grateful to President Obama for saving his life," said Bergdahl's new attorney Eugene Fidell. In an interview with The Daily Beast, Fidell said the former prisoner of war had authorized him to make that statement on his behalf. The exchange of Bergdahl for five Taliban prisoners in U.S. custody has been controversial in part because several members of the Bergdahl's former unit have called him a deserter. They say he...

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is to return to active duty with the US Army on Monday just four weeks on from his return to the United States after spending five years in captivity with the Taliban. According to the New York Times, Bergdahl will begin work at the Army North headquarters in San Antonio's Fort Sam Houston, the same base where he has undergone therapy and counseling to deal with his reintegration back to the West. The soldier will also meet with Major General Kenneth R. Dahl, who is investigating the controversial and still publicly unexplained circumstances surrounding his disappearance in...

Joel Brinkley, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, lifts a rock and finds Afghan culture -- predatory and abusive, twisted out of human shape by a fusion of Pashtun and Koranic influences. Western forces fighting in southern Afghanistan had a problem. Too often, soldiers on patrol passed an older man walking hand-in-hand with a pretty young boy. Their behavior suggested he was not the boy's father. Then, British soldiers found that young Afghan men were actually trying to "touch and fondle them," military investigator AnnaMaria Cardinalli told me. "The soldiers didn't understand." All of this was so disconcerting that the...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) If U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ever needs a new job, he could find himself at home in Afghanistan. After a recent diplomatic visit to the country, Kerry was hailed as a hero and a great politician, so much so, that some Afghans wished he would run for president. “John Kerry is the greatest American and the best friend of Afghanistan. He helped prevent this country from going to civil war two times,” 29-year-old Kabul shopkeeper Maqsood Parwani told NBC news. “I wish if we could elect him as our president, but we cannot so hope the American...

Anthony Mason spotlighted the death of comic book character Archie Andrews on Wednesday's CBS Evening News, and pointed out that "it all ends...when an adult Archie takes a bullet aimed by a stalker at a gay friend." Mason turned to the comics' publisher, Jon Goldwater, and wondered if he was "trying to make a political statement with this comic book" [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]. Goldwater denied that he was doing so, even though he underlined that "gun violence is too prevalent in this country, and we should do everything we can to prevent it." However, just...

SENECA, S.C. – Some residents in northwestern South Carolina say they found bags of candy on their street containing a piece of paper asking them to join the Ku Klux Klan. -snip- The paper said "Save Our Land, Join the Klan." It had a phone number that led to an automated message discussing KKK efforts against illegal immigration.

Cicero's Prognosis -- by --THE HONORABLE MILLARD F. CALDWELL Justice - Supreme Court Tallahassee, Florida Presented at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Inc. October 7-9, 1965, Columbus, Ohio Reprinted March, 1996 The Roman Republic, the foremost power of its day, had reached its zenith. Its leadership had attained unbounded wealth and unstinted power. The rulers were intolerant of restraint, indifferent to the demands of the middle class, and contemptuous of the Constitution which was designed to curb their ambitions. The time was some 70 years before the birth of Christ. Young Marcus...

Archie Andrews will die taking a bullet for his gay best friend. The famous freckle-faced comic book icon is meeting his demise in Wednesday’s installment of “Life with Archie” when he intervenes in an assassination attempt on Kevin Keller, Archie Comics’ first openly gay character. Andrews’ death, which was first announced in April, will mark the conclusion of the series that focuses on grown-up renditions of Andrews and his Riverdale pals. […] “We wanted to do something that was impactful that would really resonate with the world and bring home just how important Archie is to everyone,” said [Jon] Goldwater,...

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for Israel in its struggle against Hamas and its supporters, and cited the three Israeli teenagers who had been recently murdered. "I follow closely what's going on in Israel," said Putin to a delegation of rabbis. "I support the struggle of Israel as it attempts to protect its citizens. I also heard about the shocking murder of the three youths. It is an act that cannot be allowed, and I ask you to transmit my condolences to the families." Putin referenced Jews during the Holocaust, saying, "I remember visiting in the Yad...

Partly blaming unrest in the Middle East on President Barack Obama, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Saturday that Obama has not spoken firmly and forcefully on Israel’s behalf and that the country no longer trusts it has the full support of the United States because of him. The Republican governor’s remarks came as Israel targeted civilian institutions with suspected ties to the militant organization Hamas and declared it would step up its bombardment of northern Gaza. Israel says it is acting in self-defense against Hamas rockets. …

President Obama and HealthCare.gov are in the running for an Emmy this awards season. Obama’s satirical interview with comedian Zach Galifianakis on the web series “Between Two Ferns” was nominated Thursday for an Emmy Award in the Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment category.

A new "nationally representative survey" has concluded that the number of Americans who still have free minds is now low enough to warrant intensifying the psychological warfare in order to finish them off for good.  In fact, if this study from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication can be trusted -- and with unbiased names like those, what's not to trust? -- life will be getting hotter for those frustrating American holdouts who insist on thinking for themselves when there are so many qualified experts ready to provide them...

A senior IDF source said Thursday that the search for the three Israeli teens kidnapped by Hamas terrorists last Thursday suggests that Hamas leadership abroad, and particularly in Turkey, is behind the abduction. The source told Walla! that in particular Salah al-Arouri, a Hamas leader living in Turkey, has been a key source behind terror attacks in Judea and Samaria in recent years. Reports last December revealed that Turkey has replaced Iran as the leading financial backer of Hamas since 2012; Turkey is the only NATO member to recognize Hamas. According to the reports, Ankara has hosted a Hamas presence,...

Islamic State vs. Qaeda: Declaration of Caliphate may set off dangerous competition Desperate to retain its preeminent role, Qaeda may be driven to carry out fresh attacks on Western targets to prove it remains relevant. Middle East Online By Michel Moutot and Michael Mainville – PARIS Inevitable confrontation looms in the horizon The declaration of an Islamic caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria is a direct challenge to Al-Qaeda and could set off a dangerous contest for the leadership of the global jihadist movement, experts say. Desperate to retain its preeminent role, the movement behind September 11 may be...

A leaked memorandum from the RAND corporation think tank suggests that Kiev should engage in an all-out war in the eastern regions, including shutting down all communications, putting citizens in internment camps and killing all who resist. The RAND Corporation is non-profit global think tank which offers research and analysis to the US armed forces. In the shocking letter, which has been leaked by the media, the advice offers a step by step brutal guide in how to deal with the population in eastern Ukraine. ‘Military op’s advantages overweigh disadvantage’ In the first line the memorandum notes that the peace...

The Islamic terrorist army often referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has made a faster womb-to-superstardom ascension than Justin Bieber. Largely unheard of just a few weeks ago, the group is now the self-proclaimed new ruler of an Islamic caliphate, or republic, extending across Iraq and Syria. These countries currently have internationally recognized heads of state -- but, you know, whatever, man. It's not like U.S. President Barack Obama is going to stop ISIL. In fact, he's asking Congress to give it $500 million, under the guise of funding the "Syrian opposition." Recipients...

A victory beyond the wildest dreams of Osama bin Laden is within reach of fighters from ISIL, a group of which he would likely approve regardless of what current Al Qaeda leadership says about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. And it's all Obama's fault. “Iraqi troops battled to dislodge an al Qaeda splinter group from the city of Tikrit on Monday,” reports the Hindustan Times, “after its leader was declared caliph of a new Islamic state in lands seized this month across a swathe of Iraq and Syria.” The caliphate claims worldwide authority over all Muslims, and...

Representatives of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) stated that they will ruin the Kaaba after capturing Saudi Arabia. APA reports quoting Turkish media that ISIS wants to take control of Arar city of Saudi Arabia and start operations here. ISIS member Abu Turab Al Mugaddasi said that they would destroy the Kaaba in Mecca: “If Allah wills, we will kill those who worship stones in Mecca and destroy the Kaaba. People go to Mecca to touch the stones, not for Allah.”

Americans have no more faith in the presidency under President Obama than they did under George W. Bush, a new Gallup Poll finds. After just his first year in office, the number of Americans who said they felt either a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the presidency began to drop under Obama, and it hasn't turned around since. Confidence in the presidency did start off at a relatively high 51 percent in Obama's first year. But it didn't take long for confidence to dive. Although there was a similar decline in presidential confidence under both Obama...