Free Republic

In Florida, a private Christian school's decision to cancel Autism Awareness Week after the school's pastor claimed such an event is "idolatry and demonic" has sparked backlash from parents vowing to pull their kids out. Trinity Christian Academy in the Lake Worth Beach area, affiliated with the Pentecostal Assemblies of God denomination, faced backlash after Pastor Matt Baker announced the cancellation of the week's activities in a March 30 email to families. Baker argued that these events led students to prioritize identities over their faith in Jesus Christ. The planned activities, similar to previous years, included themed dress-up days aimed...

“There’s a scene at the beginning of The Bourne Identity where the film’s protagonist is sitting in a diner, trying to figure out who he is and why he has a bunch of passports and a gun stashed in a safety deposit box. Bourne also notices that he, well, notices things that other people don’t. “ ”That superhuman ability to observe his surroundings and make detailed assessments about his environment? It’s not just a trait of top secret operatives; it’s a skill known as situational awareness, and you can possess it too. “”As the names implies, situational awareness is simply...

Conservatives must learn the lessons of 2020—and prepare. The resurgence of public protests in support of Hamas has revealed a disturbing truth: the left-wing rioting following George Floyd’s death in 2020 was not an anomaly, but a tactic that activists can repurpose for any cause. Whether by coincidence or design, these recent outbursts could be a dress rehearsal for possible violence during next year’s election campaign. Conservative leaders must prepare for that prospect. To prevent 2020 from repeating itself in 2024, conservatives need to consider what might spark a riot, how it can be prevented, and how to understand and...

A woman on a Memorial Day weekend trip to Little Rock, Arkansas was forced to shoot a man in self-defense after he attacked her and her husband in a parking garage while the couple was packing up their vehicle for the ride home. According to Little Rock police, the suspect first approached the husband as he was putting some items on the roof of their vehicle, coming up from behind and striking him several times before making a move towards the driver-side door. Another victim, who was in the passenger’s seat of the car, told officers that the suspect got...

I asked "while you're at it, hang up some stars and stripes hearts with the words close the southern border now!" She cussed me out...

Mirror self-recognition (MSR) is seen as evidence for self-awareness and passing the mark test, in which animals touch or scrape a mark placed on their body in a location that can only be indirectly viewed in a mirror, is used to determine the capacity of an animal for MSR. Aside from chimpanzees, the evidence for other animals having passed the mark test has been criticized and thus inconclusive. By addressing criticisms placed against their previous work on the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus, an international team of researchers led by Masanori Kohda from the Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University,...

The title of this essay takes the form of a question that many people are sometimes forced to ask themselves, "Should I Evacuate?". I'll go on here but let me get right to the point and say that if you're in a situation where you're wondering if you need to evacuate then GO. It is time to get out. What if you're wrong? Well, then you can go back to wherever you were after you feel safe to do so. But don't be worried that you might be wrong when you're in the moment, just act appropriately for your safety...

The Modern Survivalist LIVE STREAM NOTIFICATION - Matt Bracken and Host Fernando Aguirre. Note: Videos are taken down from youtube as soon as the livecast is over and they are moved to Odysee. Broadcast from Spain and Florida, U.S.A. Join us today as we talk with Matt Bracken about current events and how to be better prepared! Make sure to join early and leave your questions in the chat section. Always a fast-moving show. Wide-ranging discussions include emerging global issues, US military degradation, national cultural instability, attacks on freedom from the left and recent news stories. A good resource for...

The married couple shot dead in Utah was seen relaxing at a local bar the night before they went missing — when they told friends about a “weirdo” camping near them, according to a report. Kylen Schulte, 24, and Crystal Beck, 38 — who wed in April — smiled and chatted with friends in their Moab local, Woody’s Tavern, in footage obtained by the Daily Beast. “We were just having a great time, having a couple of drinks, and all they said was there was a creep [staying] next to them,” said Kayla Borza, who was one of the last...

Emboldened by the lack of consequences, the political left in this country has escalated from yelling at people in restaurants, to physical assaults, property destruction, and even murder. Senator Rand Paul’s account of the harrowing events of the leftist mob following the last night of the Republican convention serves as another reminder for Americans to consider their personal safety. Self-defense is often an uncomfortable topic for many. A friend recently asked what he should do in a circumstance if he and his wife were accosted in public. Setting aside the grief that this is even a topic in our country,...

Achieving Situational Awareness in the Mayhem of Coronavirus

The employee of a Florida construction manufacturing company who allegedly stabbed five people on Wednesday did so after he learned he might be fired, according to police. Antwann Brown, 41, was charged with five counts of attempted murder after he allegedly used a pocketknife to stab five people, which included employees of Dyke Industries and one other person who was at the Tallahassee business for a job interview, the city's police department said. Brown was in "good spirits" before arriving at work, a co-worker who gave him a ride told investigators. But, once there, Brown seemingly overheard his supervisor having...

The Minneapolis Police Department has arrested more than a dozen suspects involved in crime ring that focused on robbing cellphones from intoxicated people and then beating the victims. According to a report provided by Minneapolis police spokesperson John Elder, a three-day sweep conducted two weeks ago ended with police arresting 16 people between the ages of 13 and 25. The suspects are seen on surveillance video punching, kicking and riding over one man with a bike. The robberies occurred near Hennepin, First and Second avenues, between Third and Sixth streets, and happened between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. The suspects...

“Looking back on my solo travel days (in the early 1990s), I was really lucky and very naive,” she writes. “I gave entirely too much information about myself to complete strangers. … I was way too trusting and not plugged into my surroundings.” Times have changed, she writes. “Back then I didn’t feel I had to be switched on, with my radar scanning at all times, when I was by myself. However, it’s no longer an option NOT to take proactive measures to keep yourself safe.” Producing the 2006 documentary “Terror in American Schools: Are Your Kids Safe?” prompted her...

Even though I started writing this column days ago, apparently Wednesday was National Situational Awareness Day. So much for my digital self-awareness. But the timing couldn’t be better: The US Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) dropped a hypothetical restaurant layout on their Facebook page a few days ago, asking their readers to pick their preferred seat and why. The idea may be overly simplistic, but anything that helps people literally open their eyes is probably worthy of a discussion. So, looking at the above floor plan, what seat would you pick and why? ( graphic of restaurant seating arraingement at blog...

Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump -- who has himself been repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct -- on Friday designated April 2018 "National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month" amid a national debate over the issue. "Sexual assault crimes remain tragically common in our society, and offenders too often evade accountability," said a proclamation from Trump released by the White House. "These heinous crimes are committed indiscriminately: in intimate relationships, in public spaces, and in the workplace." "Too often, however, the victims of assault remain silent. They may fear retribution from their offender, lack faith in the justice system,...

In this interesting video of an attempted robbery, the clerk's situational awareness allows him to respond quickly. The shooting occurred on March 10, 2017, in Columbus, Ohio. The clerk is suspicious of the customer coming in the door with his hand hidden. The clerk draws his semi-auto from his right side back pocket.  The lack of a holster is a good clue to a lack of training. Store personnel armed themselves after three armed robberies in a year. Link to video: In the video, I was only able to detect two shots.  One can be heard as the suspect...

(SACRAMENTO, CA, 7/29/16) – On Monday, August 1, the California chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) will join Assembly member Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) in the presentation of House Resolution 59, which recognizes the month of August 2016 as “Muslim Appreciation and Awareness Month.”~~SNIP~~“I am proud to celebrate the first ever Muslim Appreciation and Awareness Month by honoring generations of Muslim Americans for their many social, cultural, and economic contributions to California,” Assembly member Quirk stated. “The rhetoric surrounding this election makes the presentation of this resolution more important for me,” he said. “It is appropriate to acknowledge...

There’s a scene at the beginning of The Bourne Identity where the film’s protagonist is sitting in a diner, trying to figure out who he is and why he has a bunch of passports and a gun stashed in a safety deposit box. Bourne also notices that he, well, notices things that other people don’t. (video) That superhuman ability to observe his surroundings and make detailed assessments about his environment? It’s not just a trait of top secret operatives; it’s a skill known as situational awareness, and you can possess it too. As the names implies, situational awareness is simply...

(CNN)—Gov. Mike Pence pledged Tuesday to "fix" Indiana's controversial religious freedom law to clarify that it does not allow discrimination against gays and lesbians. But he insisted the problem isn't the law itself but how it's being perceived, saying a fix is needed only because of "frankly, the smear that's been leveled against this law." And he said the fix won't involve statewide anti-discrimination protections for LGBT Hoosiers. The first-term Republican governor sought to tamp down the backlash Indiana has faced since he signed the law -- which its in-state supporters had claimed would allow businesses to turn away LGBT...