Free Republic

For years, we have been warned about solidifying a new Axis of Evil between Russia, China and Iran. It is now fully formed and growing in strength. Already Russia and China’s militaries have grown arguably more powerful than ours if you consider their nuclear arsenals and Obama’s rigorous gutting of our military stockpiles and forces. The purge continues daily. All the while a military/security pact has flourished among the Axis of Evil players via the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Unlike the US, our enemies realize that the Cold War never ended… it shifted and put on a new face. We must...

Wendy Russell Davis is on fire. And I don’t mean that in a good way. I mean it in a five-alarm, set-her-own-skirt-aflame, billowing-human-torch kind of way. To say that Davis is smokin’ hot is not a compliment. It’s a campaign incineration status update. The Democratic darling of the Hollywood Left and glamour gal of abortion thought her path to the Texas governor’s mansion would be a pink-sneakered walk in the park. Instead, her single-issue campaign has combusted. The high point of Davis’ career came last year when she flamboyantly opposed state restrictions on late-term abortions in the wake of Philadelphia...

A 19-year-old college student murdered in New Jersey has been labeled a “martyr” after his alleged killer admitted to committing the crime to avenge the death of Muslims in the Middle East. The death of Brendan Tevlin has been held up as a wakeup call that “domestic terrorism is already here.” On June 25 police found Tevlin’s body in a parked SUV in West Orange, New Jersey. He had been shot dead, and authorities were puzzled about who would kill a beloved teenager called by friends and acquaintances a “model citizen.” On July 18 police in West Orange, New Jersey,...

McALLEN — Hidalgo County voters will elect a new top lawman this November, replacing a former sheriff who was sentenced to five years in prison following a public corruption scandal. Guadalupe “Lupe” Treviño, a Democrat, was convicted in July on a federal conspiracy charge after he admitted taking cash from a drug trafficker, but his party's leaders are confident the seat won't go to Al Perez, a Republican candidate with three decades of law enforcement experience. Analysts say that's because candidates with anything but a "D" by their names are few and far between in the Lower Rio Grande Valley...

ARLINGTON — That roar you heard or felt coming from here around 7:30 Saturday night? Earthquake? Tornado? Nope, but close: A force of nature named George Strait had just walked onstage at AT&T Stadium for the final show of his Cowboy Rides Away tour, a two-year, cross-country sweep that he says will be his last. ...big giant snip... The 104,793 people in attendance made history — the event marked a new record for largest indoor concert in North America, easily zapping the earlier high mark of around 87,500, set in 1981 by the Rolling Stones at the Louisiana Superdome. Coincidentally,...

For all you attorneys (or your attorney friends) & those who took a 'Logic' course in high school or college... A young Law student, having failed his Law exam, goes up to his crusty old professor, who is renowned for his razor-sharp legal mind. Student: "Sir, do you really understand everything about this subject?" Professor: "Actually, I think I probably do. Otherwise wouldn't be a professor, would I?" Student: "Okay. So I'd like to ask you a question. If you can give me the correct answer, I will accept the marks you've given me. However, you'll have to agree that...

Did you know that the number of Americans getting benefits from the federal government each month exceeds the number of full-time workers in the private sector by more than 60 million? In other words, the number of people that are taking money out of the system is far greater than the number of people that are putting money into the system. And did you know that nearly 70 percent of all of the money that the federal government spends goes toward entitlement and welfare programs? When it comes to the transfer of wealth, nobody does it on a grander scale...

<p>Global Equities' Chowdhry is obsessed with the idea that Tim Cook must go.</p> <p>For Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster it's Apple television. For Bernstein's Toni Sacconaghi it's Apple's cash hoard. For Global Equities' Trip Chowdhry, it's Jon Rubinstein.</p> <p>Yes, Jon Rubinstein, called the "Podfather" for his role in developing Apple's portable music player.</p>

Apple is not going to like this new book about Apple. The title -- "Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs" -- pretty much says it all. While author Yukari Iwatani Kane does say on page 336 of her 338-page book that "it's not too late for Apple to dazzle the world again," by that point she's made her conclusion clear -- Apple's long slide began the day Jobs died. Without him," the former Wall Street Journal reporter wrote in her book, which hit stores Tuesday, "everything changed. The dilemmas multiply and deepen. Solutions slip further out of reach." "Haunted Empire:...

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced on March 12th that the total cost of employing a state or local government worker is 45% more than an equivalent worker in the private sector. For the month of December 2013, employers in private industry spent an average of $29.63 per employee hour worked, but the equivalent cost for a government worker averaged $42.89 per hour. Not only do government employees average 33% higher pay than those in the private sector, their pension and retirement benefit costs are now an incredible 254% higher also. Given that compensation formulas for federal,...

It was Juliette Gordon Low’s vision to empower young girls to grow courageous and strong and to develop their full potential. For that reason, she founded Girl Scouts in 1912. Today, membership has grown to 3.2 million, 2.3 million girl members and 890,000 adult members working primarily as volunteers. Some of the many benefits of scouting include learning skills, discovering fun, increasing understanding and respect, contributing to society and developing values to guide actions. If value driven actions matter, I can’t help but wonder if Juliette would have envisioned a sweet little 8-year-old girl selling cookies on the doorstep of...

Texas Democratic gubernatorial hopeful 'Windy' Davis woke to some unsettling numbers along the Texas/Mexico border today. Of the 14 counties along the Rio Grande, Davis lost seven—including heavily Hispanic Webb and Hidalgo Counties. Davis Challenger Reynaldo “Ray” Madrigal’s prediction may have come true to an extent—Wendy has a pro-life Catholic problem and may not hold the support of motivated Latino voters by default. Based on unofficial vote tallies by county, Davis lost to Madrigal by substantial gaps in Webb, Zapata, Starr and Hidalgo Counties while managing to fall flat in three lesser populated jurisdictions along the western portion of the...

“Former Rep. Steven LaTourette is a member in the establishment’s war on the Tea Party. His deceptively named ‘Defending Main Street’ PAC is being financed primarily by Wall Street and labor unions, which have contributed at least 20% to the group’s fundraising haul. In an appearance on MSNBC’s The Last Word on Tuesday, LaTourette said that Cruz was ‘reprehensible’ for forcing Republicans to go on the record to advance a bill to raise the debt ceiling without reducing spending.” - Tony Lee In just the last several years, the nature of the problems that have plagued the Republican Party have...

The Federal Communications Commission is an “independent government agency” and was born when Congress signed the Communications Act of 1934. Its purpose, as reported by AllGov.com, was to prevent a monopoly of the airwaves: “Concerned over the growing power of large corporations and conglomerates…President Franklin Roosevelt wanted the FCC to make sure the country’s budding mass communications systems did not fall into the hands of a select few.” Today’s interpretation would add the caveat “unless that monopoly is the government.” Thursday, news broke that the FCC plans to plant “researchers” (read “agents”) in every print newsroom, internet news outlet, television...

Seemingly inspired by James Bond, Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ed Markey has proposed "The Handgun Trigger Safety Act of 2014," which seeks to mandate so-called "smart gun" technology that would render a gun useless if someone apart from an authorized user attempts to fire it. The Handgun Trigger Safety Act would mandate that, within two years of enactment, all newly manufactured handguns must be personalized, ensuring that they can only be operated by authorized users. Within three years of enactment, anyone selling a handgun must retrofit it with personalization technology before that sale can be completed; these retrofittings will be paid...

Thomas Sowell 'nails it', again... Parts 1 & 2 Freshman Senator Ted Cruz says many things that need to be said and says them well. Moreover, some of these things are what many, if not most, Americans believe wholeheartedly. Yet we need to remember that the same was true of another freshman Senator, just a relatively few years ago, who parlayed his ability to say things that resonated with the voters into two terms in the White House. Who would disagree that if you want your doctor, you should be able to keep your doctor? Who would disagree with the...

A regular gun show that has been a staple of Austin, Texas, since 2010 will end this month because its organizer refuses to obey local Democrats’ demands for background checks that go beyond state and federal laws. “It is not really my job to infringe on anyone’s rights,” said Todd Beiter, the owner of Saxet Gun Shows, which has hosted gun shows at the Travis County Exposition Center for four years, according to the Austin American-Satesman. The gun show set for Jan. 25-26 will go on because it has a lease on the site. The show won’t be held next...

Dateline: January, 2014 - Hollywood and Washington are wowed when president Obama announces that his strong performance at the Mandela funeral has landed him a part in Wedding Crashers II, a non-stop comedy romp starring Obama, Will Ferrell and Jack Lew. In the sequel to the original, the three funny men crash the funerals of heads of state in order to pick up powerful Nordic women. Its release is scheduled just prior to the 2014 midterms. The stock market finishes the month at 20,502 on the Dow on optimism that quantitative easing won’t end until late 2015. Dateline: February, 2014...

You heard Phil Robertson has been “fired” from A&E’s Duck Dynasty for speaking out graphically against homosexuality. By now every conservative spokesperson in the world has commented on it. So far, the only one I have seen blame Philis Al Mohler. Geesh. I don’t blame Phil. Let me first say, that in regard to what he said against homosexuality, I stand with Phil, totally. In fact, I would go further. Let’s remember one thing: Phil and all the Duck Dynasty crew have a contract of some sorts with A&E. I would like to see it, but I assume it deals...

Have you ever wondered where the expression "piss poor" come from? Interesting history. Way back when, ‘they’ used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot. And then once it was full it was taken and sold to the tannery, and if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor". But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot. They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low. - - - - - - -...