Free Republic

The United States could soon become a large-scale Spain or Greece, teetering on the edge of financial ruin. That’s according to Donald Trump, who painted a very ugly picture of where this country is headed. Trump made the comments during a recent appearance on Fox News’ “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.” According to Trump, the United States is no longer a rich country. “When you’re not rich, you have to go out and borrow money. We’re borrowing from the Chinese and others. We’re up to $16 trillion in debt.” He goes on to point out that the downgrade...

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Coast Guard says a man is "lucky to be alive" after he was rescued 11 days into an attempted kayak voyage from California to Hawaii. A helicopter spotted the 57-year-old man, who had turned back to California, in the Pacific on Tuesday about 60 miles southwest of Santa Barbara's Point Conception after he sent a distress call indicating equipment failure, the Coast Guard said in a statement. The helicopter directed a Coast Guard cutter crew to the man, who was found in good health, the statement said. His name was not released.

The National Rifle Association has issued a strongly-worded criticism of a fellow gun rights group, calling its practice of so-called "open carry" demonstrations "downright scary." The criticisms of Open Carry Texas were noted in an unsigned post published Friday on the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action page. Open Carry Texas members have become known for gathering in public places, mostly notably restaurants, carrying large, high-powered rifles. Most recently, Sonic, Chipotle, and Chili's joined Starbucks, Wendy's, Jack in the Box, and Applebee's in banning firearms from their premises after protests by Open Carry Texas. "Let’s not mince words," the post on...

The Erie County sheriff says he's done making public comments about a cellphone surveillance device used by his police agency to gather information on persons of interest. Sheriff Tim Howard told WGRZ Thursday that he won't publicly discuss the matter any longer because doing so could adversely impact investigations. A stingray is a device that mimics a cell tower and thereby tricks all wireless devices on the same network into communicating with it. Howard told Erie County legislators last week that the stingray surveillance device his office has owned since 2008 is used only for tracking a person's movements, not...

The federal government is piecing together a sweeping national “biosurveillance” system that will give bureaucrats near real-time access to Americans’ private medical information in the name of national security, according to Twila Brase, a public health nurse and co-founder of the Citizens Council for Health Freedom. The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response is currently seeking public comment on a 52-page draft of the proposed “National Health Security Strategy 2015-2018” (NHSS). The deadline for comment is 5 pm EST on May 21st. (See Draft National Health Security Strategy 2015-2018.pdf) “Health...

"You are supposed to provide oversight. That's why you have special liberties and that's why you have special protections."

Cynthia Ruddell claims Lolita Rose's duck attacked her after it wandered down the street. Ruddell's attorney, Gregory Price, told KATU, "... The duck flapped its wings at her and knocked her back and she fell down on an outstretched hand and fractured her wrist in two spots." The incident happened May 7, 2012. Ruddell broke her right wrist, sprained or strained her elbow and shoulder, and suffered a rotator cuff injury. The lawsuit claims Rose knew the duck had, "Abnormally dangerous propensities in attacking people."

Christina Lunka appeared nervous and excited as she sat in the Chinese herbal therapy center recently opened by the Cleveland Clinic. The 49-year-old had been to many doctors seeking help for ongoing issues that included joint pain and digestive problems. Now the Kirtland, Ohio, resident was hoping to find relief through herbal remedies. "Do you have something for inflammation?" Ms. Lunka asked herbalist Galina Roofener during a one-hour consultation. "Absolutely," responded Ms. Roofener. "This is for pain, for digestion, for inflammation, all of the above," she said, handing Ms. Lunka a bottle with capsules of an herbal combination called Xiao...

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (970 WFLA) - Winter Haven Police said officers are on the scene of a burglary that resulted in the homeowner shooting the suspect inside of the residence. Police said just before 7 a.m., the homeowners at a home on the 4200 block of Lake Marianna Dr. heard what sounded like someone entering the back of the house. One of them went to investigate and found a male rattling the French doors leading off a back porch, got a firearm and fired a shot in an attempt to scare the reported intruder off. Police said the intruder continued...

Feb. 12. 2014: President Obama, surrounded by workers, signs an executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers.AP President Obama, flexing his executive authority once again, plans to order the Labor Department to expand overtime pay requirements to include millions more workers -- in a move likely to rankle the business community. The president plans to make the announcement on Thursday at the White House, a senior administration official confirmed to Fox News. Though the administration has claimed previous executive actions had bipartisan support, officials are acknowledging that this particular move will anger business groups and congressional...

Think your dog can tell when you’re feeling sad or happy? You may be right. Dogs are sensitive to cues of emotion in human voices, according to a new study from Current Biology. Researchers suspect the area of the brain responsible for voice and sounds in both dogs and humans evolved at the same time, 100 million years ago, when the two species shared common ancestors. "Dogs and humans share a similar social environment," Attila Andics, of MTA-ELTE Comparative Ethology Research Group in Hungary, said in a press release. "Our findings suggest that they also use similar brain mechanisms to...

U.S. intelligence agencies last week urged the Obama administration to check its new healthcare network for malicious software after learning that developers linked to the Belarus government helped produce the website, raising fresh concerns that private data posted by millions of Americans will be compromised. The intelligence agencies notified the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency in charge of the Healthcare.gov network, about their concerns last week. Specifically, officials warned that programmers in Belarus, a former Soviet republic closely allied with Russia, were suspected of inserting malicious code that could be used for cyber attacks, according to U.S....

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Dr. Zenko Hrynkiw was at Brookwood Medical Center Tuesday morning when he was needed for emergency brain surgery at Trinity Medical Center. The problem was the sudden snowstorm had locked down traffic, and the neurosurgeon didn't get farther than a few blocks. "The cell service was bad so we were fading in and out," said Steve Davis, charge nurse in the neuro intensive care unit at Trinity. "At one point, I heard him say, 'I'm walking.'" Davis had alerted authorities, and they were looking for him. There were supposed sightings, but no one could find him. "The...

With discussion of income inequality reaching a fever pitch—from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's "tale of two cities" message to the headline-grabbing sermons of Pope Francis—former Goldman Sachs asset management chairman Jim O'Neill believes the global economy could be at a tipping point. "I wonder if we could be in the very early stages of a redistribution of wealth from capital back to mass income through government policies, whether it be from taxes or things being done to boost minimum wages," O'Neill told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Wednesday. "But obviously this is something else just as...

Former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer, who starred at Fresno State and won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens, said Tim Tebow was one of the best quarterbacks in college football without even knowing how to throw a football properly. Now, according to Dilfer, Tebow can throw the football like an NFL quarterback and deserves a shot on an NFL roster. He predicted that Tebow would eventually make an NFL roster again. In a segment for ESPN, Dilfer said that Tebow wanted Dilfer to give him an objective evaluation. Dilfer went to USC's campus and profiled Tebow's intense devotion to...

The ex-Guns & Ammo Magazine writer fired after penning a column in favor of limited gun control is speaking out, bitterly saying, “I’ve been vanished, disappeared. Now you see him. Now you don’t.” “Compromise is a bad word these days,” Dick Metcalf, 67, told The New York Times of what he believes is the unyielding, give-no-ground ethos adopted by Second Amendment supporters in the U.S. today. “People think it means giving up your principles.” Metcalf, a longtime writer on firearms and U.S. gun culture, saw his association with Guns & Ammo terminated in November -- he also had a T.V....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon repeatedly waived laws banning Chinese-built components on U.S. weapons in order to keep the $392 billion Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter program on track in 2012 and 2013, even as U.S. officials were voicing concern about China's espionage and military buildup. According to Pentagon documents reviewed by Reuters, chief U.S. arms buyer Frank Kendall allowed two F-35 suppliers, Northrop Grumman Corp and Honeywell International Inc, to use Chinese magnets for the new warplane's radar system, landing gears and other hardware. Without the waivers, both companies could have faced sanctions for violating federal law and the...

An endangered Florida panther has been killed in a three-car crash in southwest Florida. It's the first recorded panther death of the year. Wildlife officials say collisions with vehicles pose a significant threat to the rare cats. Roughly 100 to 160 adult panthers remain in the wild. Darrell Land of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the panther was fatally struck by a vehicle Thursday along Interstate 75 in Collier County was a young male that weighed up to 120 pounds

The end of 2013 brought a measure of closure to a long-running Milwaukee police scandal, though some say the officer — and his cohorts — who repeatedly and illegally shoved his fingers up black male suspects’ anal cavities got off with a light sentence considering the flagrant nature of his abuses. The ringleader was identified as officer Michael Vagnini, a white man who routinely targeted black males as young as fifteen for sadistic — and blatantly illegal — anal searches. One victim said that another officer put a gun to his head while Vagnini administered a choke hold, touched his...

<p>A Christmas Day cave diving excursion ended in tragedy in Weeki Wachee, Hernando County authorities said.</p> <p>Two divers drowned in the popular Eagles Nest Sink location. Deputies say Darrin Spivey and his 15-year-old son, Dillon Sanchez, were testing diving equipment they received as Christmas presents.</p>