Free Republic

Democrats never miss an opportunity to stick it to the American people with taxes — no matter the situation. And that is precisely what the mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, proposed doing while many of his constituents are out of work. Mayor John Cooper pushed for a 31.7 percent property tax increase and major cuts because, he said, the city is faced with “the greatest financial challenge” it has had in a lifetime, the Tennessean reported. “This is a crisis budget,” he said as he gave a frightening outlook for the financial future of the city. And he is correct: This...

On 31 December 2018, our XP-82 Twin Mustang flew for the first time since 14 December 1949. Although it wasn’t supposed to fly yesterday, all that was planned to do was the last FAA required runway high-speed taxi test, lift off for a second or two and then back down, deploy full flaps and brake to a stop. It accelerated so fast after the planned lift off that Ray, our test pilot, realized that getting it back down and stopping it in the remaining runway would be marginal. So he pushed the power back up and flew for about five...

Energy industry layoffs have moved into six figures, a number bolstered by the decision of Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) to cut 10,000 people. The company's financial results made the decision nearly inevitable. Schlumberger's earnings for 2015 included a revenue fall off of 27% to $35.5 billion. EPS dropped from $5.75 in 2014 to $3.37 this year, a plunge of 39%. Fourth-quarter results were worse. Revenue dropped 39% to $7.7 billion and EPS fell 57% to $0.65. The company did pick layoffs over investor benefits. Schlumberger will buy back $10 billion in shares under a new share repurchase program and approved a...

A group of Arizona conservatives are working to keep Donald Trump from winning the Republican presidential nomination. The nonprofit Public Integrity Alliance, which has tangled with corrupt Republican lawmakers in the past, have produced a humorous music video, called “Make America Great Again,” mocking Trump and his supporters to help draw attention to their efforts to influence the GOP primary race, reported the Phoenix New Times. The country-rock song, performed by comedian Brian Nissen’s redneck “Dwain” character, mockingly celebrates some of the candidate’s most outlandish proposals and outrageous insults — although in the bizarro world of the 2016 presidential race,...

Researchers in Poland have developed a liquid that’s super-light and flexible... until you shoot a bullet at it that is. Upon impact, their specially designed 'shear-thickening fluid', or STF, turns into a solid that's reportedly not just more comfortable than Kevlar - the most widely used material in bulletproof armour - but also offers even better protection against bullets and other projectiles. Created by the Moratex Institute of Security Technologies, the liquid is what's known as a non-Newtonian fluid. Unlike regular Newtonian fluids like water, which only change their structure according to temperature or pressure fluctuations, non-Newtonian fluids change their...

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KFDX) — We’ve heard about homeowners in Texas using guns to defend their property from intruders, but we don’t typically hear about people using medieval castle-like weapons to defend their home. That was the case in Wichita Falls this week, where police arrested an accused crook after a homeowner stabbed him with a spear. According to KFDX-TV, it all started late Tuesday night when Wichita Falls police tried to pull over Thomas McGowan because the car he was driving had been reported stolen. McGowan took off and led police on a chase. Several minutes later, authorities received...

Newly declassified documents from the FBI show Brazoria County is home to an alleged Islamist training compound. Papers obtained by the Clarion Project reveal a camp near Sweeny known as “Mahmoudberg” -- one of 22 owned by the group Muslims of the Americas. Local residents have reported hearing gunfire, and police investigated a shooting involving MOA members in 2002. “Until authorities get some information that they're planning to engage in violence to carryout their ideas, there is nothing illegal about it,” says terror expert Jeffrey Addicott at St. Mary's University in San Antonio. However, MOA members in the past have...

Thousands of mourners poured out to see the burial of the Mexican man put to death by lethal injection in Texas last month, a move that has sparked diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and the central American state. Friends and relatives carried the coffin of Mexican Edgar Tamayo to the cemetery in his home town of Miacatlan, Morelos state, amid an outpouring of grief from local residents. The 46-year-old Mexican was controversially executed in Texas less than two weeks ago for the killing of a Houston police officer in 1994, despite outrage from human rights groups and last minute appeals...

BELCHERTOWN, Mass. — Massachusetts state police say they and the FBI are investigating a trespassing incident at the Quabbin Reservoir but have no evidence of terrorism. The central Massachusetts reservoir supplies drinking water to Boston. State Police spokesman David Procopio says Tuesday night that a trooper saw two cars parked at a reservoir park entrance at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, then saw five young men and two young women walking toward them from the reservoir. Procopio said they are from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Singapore with addresses in Amherst, Cambridge, Sunderland and Northampton, and New York City. He said law enforcement...

A Carson City, Nev., recluse whose body was found in his home at least a month after he died left only $200 in his bank account. But as Walter Samaszko Jr.'s house was being cleared for sale, officials made a surprise discovery: gold bars and coins valued at $7 million. "Nobody had any clue he was hoarding the gold," Carson City Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover told the Las Vegas Sun, adding it was found stored in boxes in the house and garage. The 69-year-old Samaszko was found dead in his home in late June after neighbors called authorities. He had been...

Earlier this year, as the markets were expecting QE3 from one Fed meeting to the next, I was stating another program would not come until September after data for Q2 GDP could be analyzed. However, as we moved into August, and the markets were rallying strongly on "hope" of further balance sheet expansion programs, I moved my estimates out until the end of the year. The reasoning, as I stated, was under the assumption that Bernanke would save his limited ammo for a weaker market/economic environment. Clearly I was wrong. Much to my surprise, and against all of what seemed...

Daniel Chong, 24, survived by drinking his own urine after he was left in holding cell with no food, water or toilet A San Diego college student was forgotten by federal drug agents and left in a holding cell for five days without food, water or access to a toilet. Daniel Chong said he drank his own urine to survive. He also said he bit into his glasses to break them and tried to use a shard to scratch "Sorry Mom" into his arm, according to the newspaper U-T San Diego. The 24-year-old engineering student from University of California, San...

A man who allegedly killed his 13-year-old half-sister survived a fusillade of bullets from New York City police officers early Tuesday, after pointing his pistol at officers. Officers responded to a 911 call at 2971 Eighth St. in Harlem at 3:27 a.m. Tuesday. Steven Murray, 28, had allegedly shot his mother Christine Fryar, 44, and her daughter Annie, according to the NYPD. Paramedics arrived to find the daughter dead with a gunshot wound to the head. The mother, who was also shot in the head, was transported to Harlem Hospital, and is listed in critcal condition. Police eventually confronted Murray,...

Fires broke out across Central Texas Sunday. The hot, dry, windy conditions made the job that much harder for firefighters. Authorities say 14,000 acres have burned in Bastrop, destroying 300 homes. The fire is near FM 1441 and Highway 21. People in the areas of Wilderness Ridge, Cedar Creek and Alan Creek were evacuated. Four shelters have been set up in the Bastrop area for evacuees. An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 acres of 6,500-acre Bastrop State Park have been burned in the ongoing Bastrop County wildfire. Another fire on Griffin League Ranch is moving south and forced the evacuation of...

Authorities have identified a woman who was fatally shot when three masked men burst into her house and threatened her teenage daughter during a home invasion in northwest Harris County last night. Peggy Ariza, 40, died in the shooting, which occurred at the home in the 17100 block of Copper Crossing about 9:30 p.m., according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Deputies said Ariza, 40, was shot at least once in the chest and was flown by LifeFlight medical helicopter to Memorial Herman Hospital, where she later died. No other injuries were reported. Deputies said when Ariza's 17-year-old daughter answered...

We’re getting close to the end of race and teams are holding up in Tanana before the final push into Fairbanks. Thanks to Tanana Commercial Company (Dale & Cynthia Erickson) along with all the folks out there for hosting our racers for this very unusual finish. We appreciate your flexibility! Restart Times PositionTeam # Start Time 1 10 1:00:00 PM 2 11 1:01:58 PM 3 7 1:23:15 PM 4 21 1:43:00 PM 5 2 2:03:00 PM 6 40 2:08:00 PM 7 5 2:13:00 PM 8 18 2:18:00 PM 9 tba 10 tba 11 tba 12 tba 13 tba 14 tba

One of the things we like to do in our Global Security and Intelligence Report from time to time is examine the convergence of a number of separate and unrelated developments and then analyze that convergence and craft a forecast. In recent months we have seen such a convergence occur. The most recent development is the interview with the American-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki that was released to jihadist Internet chat rooms May 23 by al-Malahim Media, the public relations arm of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). In the interview, al-Awlaki encouraged strikes against American civilians. He also...

HELENA, Mont. -- A federal judge in Missoula is dismissing a lawsuit launched by gun rights advocates and states seeking freedom from federal gun laws. The decision from U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy was expected since his magistrate a month ago recommended tossing out the lawsuit.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A college administrator, described as a dean, was stabbed at the Metropolitan Community College's Penn Valley campus on Tuesday morning. According to police, a man in his 20s, wearing a bullet-proof vest, walked up to a man in his 40s and slashed his throat about 9:30 a.m. in the Humanities Building. The victim's injuries are described as serious. Witnesses told police the attack happened without provocation.

WASHINGTON -- The five female members of Texas Christian University's national championship rifle team were already beside themselves to be on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday evening at a celebration of all NCAA sports champions when President Barack Obama gave them the first shout-out. "We've got the sharpshooters from the TCU rifle squad. Where are they?" asked Obama as the team members, standing near the camera risers, screamed. "I think that they may be able to give the Secret Service a run for their money." Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/09/13/2465524/obama-gives-tcu-rifle-team-a-warm.html#ixzz0zWatyVcd