Free Republic

We wrote here about Harry Reid’s supposed close encounter with a piece of exercise equipment, which handed him in the hospital. The equipment was later claimed by Reid’s office to be an elastic exercise band. This is how the accident allegedly happened: The accident happened when an elastic exercise band broke, striking Reid in the face and causing him to fall, said spokesman Adam Jentleson. Reid struck some equipment as he fell, breaking multiple bones near his right eye. As he hit the floor, he broke several ribs, Jentleson said. … Jentleson said Reid is likely to have severe facial...

“This is the way I think Putin operates, and operated even in St. Petersburg. Putin is not formally speaking Mafia…he was never “made,” using this American phrase. What he did was to make illegal activity legal, which is a far more useful thing. So he…because he was…in charge of all the registrations of foreigners coming into Russia, into St. Petersburg, and all of the export licenses going abroad, you didn’t have to run the risk of illegally exporting if Putin would sign the documents for you. He could open the border going and coming for money for goods for raw...

In the wake of the one-year-delayed Employer Mandate kicking in on January 1st, it should be emphasized that getting everyone insured is not the biggest problem facing American health care. Far from it. If by magic, every person in the US suddenly had platinum level health insurance, they would still have to embrace a system which has the distinction of spending much more than any other country for at best mediocre outcomes. There are many reasons for this, with Medicare heading the list. Today, though, let’s examine what can go wrong in our miserable and massively corrupted clinical trials jungle....

“Today is tomorrow; there are no more tomorrows,” I learned that express in the Marine Corps many years ago. It reminded us that some days bring us to decisive points in history. In terms of the future of the Republican Party “Today is tomorrow,” and what a small band of men and women do this morning will determine whether we as a nation can continue to have a true two Party political system or not. The stage for this crucial moment in history has been set by the fecklessness of the current Speaker John Boehner and his cohorts in leadership...

On a warm fall day in South Dallas, ten revolutionaries dressed in kaffiyehs and ski masks jog the perimeter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park bellowing "No more pigs in our community!" Military discipline is in full effect as the joggers respond to two former Army Rangers in desert-camo brimmed hats with cries of "Sir, yes, sir!" The Huey P. Newton Gun Club is holding its regular Saturday fitness-training and self-defense class. Men in Che fatigues run with weight bags and roll around on the grass, knife-fighting one another with dull machetes. "I used to salute the [expletive] flag!"...

Sunday brunch was painfully disrupted for diners nationwide when protesters occupied upscale restaurants and read off the names of black victims of police violence. The #BlackBrunch demonstrators targeted eateries that serve predominantly affluent, white clientele and staged sit-ins in New York City, San Francisco, Oakland, Baltimore, and other cities across the country. As discomforted brunchers lifted mugs of pour-over coffee to their lips, protesters recited the names of black people killed by the police like Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. Although some protesters encountered hostility from restaurant managers, most of them witnessed supportive gestures from the diners. Activists...

Clashes broke out between police and the opposition in Gabon on December 20 stemming from questions about the legitimacy of President Ali Bongo. A recent book called “New African Affairs” by French reporter Pierre Péan alleged that President Ali Bongo has Nigerian origins. The book was slammed by the authorities, accusing the reporter of inciting racial hatred in Gabon. ... A hundred people were arrested. At least one man died without having now possible to establish in what circumstances. Several photos and videos circulating, showing the wounded in the face, on the roof of a car.

This morning on Meet the Press, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said that the city will "explore every option" in regards to getting Initiative 71 enforced in the city. Initiative 71, which would have permitted the legal use of marijuana for recreational purposes, was passed with overwhelming support on Election Day, yet was blocked by Congress. Bowser had previously been against legalized marijuana, but has since changed her position to align with the will of the voters of the District of Columbia. Bowser also said that she intends on "forging a path" for increased autonomy in the District of Columbia. Mayor...

Albert Drexel, in Ein Neuer Prophet? (Stein am Rhein: Christiana, 1971) explains that: "The modernism or neo-modernism within Christianity, and especially within the Roman Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council, is above all characterized by a turning away from the supernatural and an exclusive predilection for this world, the Aggiornamento of Pope John XXIII interpreted one-sidedly and hence misapplied. Teilhard's ideology was was a definitive precondition for this. Inasmuch as he turned his back to the past, fused God and the supernatural with the process of a universal evolutionism, and proclaimed religion to be an active participation in a...

What kind of homicide investigation is this, anyway? It’s perfectly understandable when public officials closely guard information in a sensitive, ongoing case. However, certain aspects of the Jessica Chambers murder mystery in rural Courtland, Mississippi point to a shocking combination of incompetence, indifference, frustrating evasiveness, and plain old C.Y.A. lying by those in charge. It’s been almost a month since Jessica’s sudden and suspiciously gruesome death, yet despite an array of very shady characters and circumstances, no arrests have been made. District Attorney John Champion says they are expectantly awaiting results of forensic lab tests and subpoenas, while they go...

More on breaking Prince Andrew story/'VIP orgies' here...

BuzzFeed News spoke to a protester who chanted for “dead cops” on Dec. 13, which was captured on video and has become a nationwide flashpoint. “We wanted to separate ourselves from people who just want to get a guy fired.”(VIDEO-AT-LINK) NEW YORK CITY — On Dec. 13, about 100 protesters splintered off from the #MillionsMarch in lower Manhattan — a huge, peaceful demonstration against police brutality — and headed up Sixth Avenue. They turned east on 32nd Street, and passed right under the window of Tom Dilello, a computer programer who works for a large bank. At about 4:41 p.m.,...

Planned Parenthood has released its 2013-2014 annual report which shows they performed 327,653 abortions in that year, an increase from the 2012-2013 number of 327,166 and a slight decrease from their 2011 to 2012 numbers of 333,964. In addition, the report indicates that by year end 2014, the US Taxpayer had funded the abortion giant $528 MILLION in federal tax dollars for one year, down from $540.6 million in the year ending 2013 and $542 million in 2012. Now, in 2015, Planned Parenthood has recommitted themselves to abortion on demand. In a tweet posted as we welcomed in 2015, the...

During the Jubilee Year (on March 6, 2000), Cardinal Giacomo Biffi asserted what I had been saying since the mid 1990s, that the Antichrist is walking among us. Cardinal Biffi said the Antichrist was not the beast with seven heads described in the Book of Revelation but a "fascinating personality" whose outward charm and plausibility had deceived his enemies. The cardinal said the Antichrist espoused vegetarianism, pacifism, environmentalism and animal rights. He also identified the Antichrist as an expert on the Bible who nonetheless promotes "vague and fashionable spiritual values" rather than the Scriptures. He advocates ecumenical dialogue between the...

New York’s Democrat mayor, Comrade Bill de Blasio has declared himself the Fuhrer of the Black War on our Police (BWOP). In an obvious in-your-face gesture, the face of today’s Democrat Party has re-appointed cop hating Judge Laura Johnson to the Criminal Court bench as a signal of solidarity with his troops in the BWOP. What made this re-appointment so sweet for Comrade Bill was that it gave him an opportunity to send a message to his troops and to the Urban Combat Soldiers (UCS) who are fighting them. The message to the thugs who he leads was very clear:...

“Where you stand depends on where you sit” is favorite aphorism of progressive activists. It’s used to imply that “privilege” can blind someone to inconvenient facts, e.g. police aggression against minorities. But based on the events of the past few months, from Ferguson onward, it has become pretty clear that both left- and right-leaning groups suffer from this sort of narrowed vision. Writing in USA Today, Glenn Reynolds (a.k.a. Instapundit) points out that tribalism—the desire to identify “your” group and stick with it, no matter what—explains an awful lot about these recent national tensions: [T]here is much opportunity for political...

After months of campaigning, the winners are eager to get on with the political art of ruling. The weeks after the election often include wild and debauched celebrations, promises broken and calling in chips and favors. So much to remember with a fuzzy brain as the euphoria wears off. Like fasting before receiving Communion, the oath taker should be in a sober and solemn state of mind. The responsibilities to the people and the Constitution that protects them are onerous at worst and joyful at best. The demands of the electorate, especially those who expect monetary gain or special treatment...

In 1970 a group of African Americans calling themselves The Black Liberation Army (BLA) initiated a war against America’s police Officers. They started with sneak attacks in New York City and 20 New York City Police Officers were killed between January 1970 and December 1971. As a New York City cop I served as an Urban Combat Soldier. I worked in one of the toughest precincts in New York. I personally lived and witnessed the opening phase of the war and fought in it. Today we are seeing the resurgence of the BLA’s Black War on our Police (BWOP) and...

Although not well-known outside New York, Sheldon Silver, speaker of the New York State Assembly for the last two decades, is one of the most powerful politicians in the country. And he is now under investigation by the feds for what looks like pretty serious scandal, according to the New York Times. Three reporters, William K. Rashbaum, Thomas Kaplan, and Susanne Craig, are on the story, meaning this is a big one. Federal authorities are investigating substantial payments made to the State Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, by a small law firm that seeks real estate tax reductions for commercial and...

Like the Nazis, who, where actually a small percentage of Germans, the “soldiers” of the Black War on our police represent the sentiments and beliefs of a considerably larger segment of African American. Barack Obama Eric Holder Al Sharpton and Comrade Bill de Blasio have done so much to poison race relations in America that this is undeniable. In their aims attitude and ultimate goals the soldiers of the Black War on our police and the Nazis are very similar. Both regularly use(d) lies and propaganda to promote their message. Both attack(ed) weak and defenseless targets like elderly people and...