Free Republic

On 23 April, an alert neighbor stopped an ongoing crime spree by shooting a burglary suspect in the leg, allowing police to apprehend the suspect.   While the situation is still under investigation, it appears that the shooting was justified, given the facts reported.   From the Lake Charles Police Facebook page: Lake Charles Police responded to a prowler call in the 3700 block of Vanderbilt Street. While on the way to that call, Officers were advised that a shot was fired at the same location. When officers arrived, they discovered that a homeowner had encountered a subject running from a...

The LGBT community is threatening boycotts and canceling benefits. The hidden reason is the GOP’s Israel strategy.If you’ve ever been to Fire Island Pines, one of the leading gay utopias on the planet, you know that there isn’t much to do. There’s only one commercial center with a couple of stores, a bar, and a hotel. And yet, in less than 24 hours, over 4,000 people have said they’re going to boycott it. The reason? It’s owned by Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, the self-described “prominent NYC hotel owners” who recently hosted a “fireside chat” with Republican presidential candidate Ted...

Speaking Tuesday at the 45th Annual Washington Conference of the Council of the Americas, Secretary of State John Kerry blamed the Obama Administration's critics for undermining the country's economy. "Countries are far more likely to advance economically and socially when citizens have faith in their governments and are able to rely on them for justice and equal treatment under the law," Kerry maintained. "Yet, day-after-day President Obama faces a raft of criticism of his policies from the likes of Senator Cruz, Governor Walker, and others. These criticisms are destroying people's faith in the government." Kerry cited a recent Pew Research...

The left is winning, but for the left winning is indistinguishable from dying. The West didn’t defeat Communism; it held it at bay long enough for it to defeat itself. The Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China crushed Communism more decisively than Goldwater could have ever dreamed of.

Oil executives have been making headlines recently, due to large purchases of their own company’s stock. In fact, insider buying in the oil industry is higher than any other industry, except the machinery industry. Who’s buying? Major insider purchases for the month of March were made by Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) and Diamond Offshore Drilling (NYSE: DO). Diamond Offshore Drilling’s CEO, Corp Loews, purchased 685,373 shares on the open market, and Rich Kinder, CEO of Kinder Morgan, purchased 100,000 shares of Kinder Morgan. In March, Rich Kinder and Corp Loews weren’t the only executives buying company stock. The Director of...

Have you established your family “foundation” yet? Everybody who is anybody seems to have one these days. There is the Ford Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Foundation . . . on and on. Why even my grandmother had a “foundation.” I knew she wore one, because every Spring she would wash the thing and hang it out on the clothesline to dry. But I digress. What is the big deal about establishing a “foundation” that it should attract so many wealthy people? Well, you guessed it. It’s a money-laundering tax...

Everyone misses the central story here and it is not Hillary. It is Obama who approved this. This is the bigger story a scandal beyond belief. Does anyone realize that 7 out of 9 cabinet officers of Obama's cabinet sat in on the committee to approve this? Here is another question. What did the other cabinet officers get for signing off on this deal? Is it at all conceivable that Obama knew nothing of this when 80% of his cabinet was involved? Once again! Are we to believe that Obama was totally clueless that a deal to give away 20%...

Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday said "deep-seated … religious beliefs" have to be changed before the world's women will get full access to abortion. “Far too many women are denied access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth, and laws don’t count for much if they’re not enforced,” Clinton said, according to The Daily Caller. “Rights have to exist in practice — not just on paper,” she argued about abortion. “Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will." “And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be...

Mr. Steve Inskeep In a March 27 on-air exchange with David Wessel of the Brookings Institution on the impact of right-to-work laws, you focused on a “single phrase that was mentioned in a news story earlier this week” (transcript here). This phrase was sourced in the NPR story to a 2013 study coauthored by Dr. Michael Hicks and myself. Unfortunately, your conversation proceeded to completely mischaracterize this study. The “single phrase” was this: “Actually, since World War II, income and job growth have increased faster in right-to-work states.” Wessel initially confirmed this observation with his own look at the data...

It may seem a touch misleading in name, but scientists at the University of Wollongong say they’re creating what they call 4D printing. The fourth dimension they refer to is time and shape shifting as the researchers have begun to develop 3D printed materials capable of morphing into new structures – post production – as those materials are influenced by the addition of external stimuli such as water or heat. The team at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science say these new materials are able to transform themselves from one shape into another, and they see applications for...

Do Americans, excluding the Marxist in the White House, actually believe private enterprise is obligated to share or "redistribute" their profits with the general public; albeit paid employees, the unemployed or complete strangers? If I have a job and my neighbor doesn’t, or God forbid I make more money, am I obligated to give this person a percentage of my income? Is “Bob” going to give me his money if I lose my job and become homeless? Hell no! People open businesses to make money…period! It’s not rocket science or a Right-Wing conspiracy. It’s called risk, work, reward! If a...

The largest oil and gas companies are employing different strategies to weather the downturn and plan for the future. Each strategy has its risks, and not all may work out. Which companies will emerge stronger after an oil price rebound and which will fall further behind because of bad decisions? There are different ways to play a down cycle. With oil prices half of what they were in 2014, revenues are significantly lower for everyone across the board. As a result, the oil industry has collectively implemented an estimated $114 billion in spending cuts. But oil executives are also trying...

Covert scheme to cram us all into socialist cities and  'compact' America along Euro lines moving along briskly... Our disingenuous, hyper-left president's myriad hidden agendas are hard to keep track of sometimes, but one that caught my eye a couple years back was betrayed in a 2012 book by Stanley Kurtz: Obama aims to destroy the famed American suburban lifestyle, cram us all into tight city neighborhoods, spike the price of gas/taxes, put us in 30-mi-range electric cars, etc. The idea is to end urban sprawl while mixing cities and suburbs into one tighter, mediocre mix. Like court-ordered bussing destroyed schools...

In rural Pottawotamie county in Oklahoma, the Sheriff appreciates the efforts of armed citizens.  I was able to get in touch with the elder Alvin Cleere.   His son had captured a burglar by being observant.   The son, also named Alvin, had noticed a pickup truck at an property were it did not belong.  He checked things out and found that the truck was loaded with stolen goods.   From kfor.com: He discovered the truck was loaded with stolen property, matresses, fixtures- even a kitchen sink. This fed up crime fighter pulled the 45 from his pickup. “That...

"...Scott Walker...delivered some definitely not-Koch-approved remarks on immigration. Given the reaction,they’re worth quoting in full:“In terms of legal immigration,how we need to approach that going forward is saying,we will make adjustments,”Walker said. “The next president and the next Congress need to make decisions about a legal immigration system that’s based on, first and foremost,on protecting American workers and American wages.“Because the more I’ve talked to folks—I’ve talked to Senator Sessions and others out there,but it is a fundamentally lost issue by many in elected positions today—is what is this doing for American workers looking for jobs,what is this doing to...

Just say no, Obama. Flaming water, poisoned air and destroyed lives — that’s what I found when I traveled to Dimock, Pa., in 2009 to see the impacts of fracking firsthand. Six years later, this tragic story is one shared by countless Americans, too many of them with no choice in the matter. Ten years after the Bush-Cheney administration exempted fracking from key parts of some of our nation’s most important environmental and public health laws, including the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, the science is finally catching up to the process — and...

May be a long post to explain circumstances, but I will try to be brief in my explanation that all professors are not slobbering at zer0's every word. I graduated over 25 years ago from a major university with a degree in electrical engineering. I have worked my way up in many areas including terrestrial communications and satellite communications. Last year I got handed (at the last minute) an obligation to support a university project funded by my company.

There is mounting evidence that oil prices are poised to rebound from a historic bust. Rig counts hit new lows each week. For the week ending on April 17, Baker Hughes says the U.S. lost an additional 34 oil and gas rigs, bringing the total down to 954. Domestic crude oil production appears to have plateaued and the EIA expects a contraction in May. Nearly every driller is dramatically scaling back spending, which should increasingly cut into new output. And oil consumption is finally picking up, as drivers far and wide take advantage of cheap fuel. But what if the...

AFL-CIO President Karla Swift told a group in Lansing on Tuesday that belonging to unions is the way women could get equal pay. One news site headline read: “Swift: Want Pay Equity Working Women? Join A Union!” Except, that’s not accurate, according to figures compiled by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Or at least not accurate in the literal sense that Swift and other speakers at the event have themselves used to frame the issue. When the different skill and experience levels of different workers and the jobs they do are considered it may be that Swift is...

Oil Price War May Benefit Both US Shale And Saudi Arabia