Free Republic

A U.S. Army officer who received the Bronze Star for valor in combat is also a predator who has roamed the towns near his Colorado military base for two years trying to lure young girls into his van, police revealed. First Lieutenant Aaron G Lucas is also believed to have abducted one nine-year-old girl this past summer and and dropped her off a short time later, according to police. He is charged with kidnapping and sexual assault, among other crimes.

Just after George Bush took office there was a great deal of talk about immigration. The GOP was in full capitulate mode hoping to corral the Latino/Hispanic vote by a proposal of amnesty. The only thing, in my opinion, that stopped it was 9-11. Because of that Bush had to put amnesty aside. We all know by now that Bush only got 40% of the Hispanic vote in 2000.Now, about that title. It comes from a speech George Bush made in Miami during his campaign in August of 2000.Here is an excerpt: We are now one of the largest Spanish-speaking...

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, one of the most vocal critics of the federal health care overhaul, is dropping his staunch opposition to the law. Scott said in an interview Tuesday with the Associated Press that he now wants to negotiate with the federal government. He said it's time for Republicans to offer solutions to help families after they lost their bid to defeat President Barack Obama. "The election is over and President Obama won," Scott said. "I'm responsible for the families of Florida. … If I can get to yes, I want to get to yes."

The GOP's Presidential election defeat is opening up a debate in the party, with more than a few voices saying they are willing to rethink their views on immigration. This is good news, which means it's also a good moment to address some of the frequent claims from the anti-immigration right that simply aren't true, especially about Hispanics. One myth is that Latino voters simply aren't worth pursuing because they're automatic Democrats. Yet Ronald Reagan was so eager to welcome Latinos to the GOP that he described them as "Republicans who don't know it yet." Recall that between 1996 and...

Mark Thompson, a former director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation, began his new job Monday as president and CEO of The New York Times. The lack of embarrassment was remarkable. Thompson claimed he was the worst kind of ignorant buffoon, knowing nothing about the massive sex-abuse scandal -- and then its censorship -- that's rocking the BBC. Scotland Yard has been conducting a criminal investigation into allegations of child sex abuse by the late disc jockey and TV personality Jimmy Savile over six decades, describing him as a "predatory sex offender." In mid-October, the metropolitan police stated they were pursuing...

Here's a which-is-better question for you. Suppose a New Jersey motel room rented for $125 a night prior to Hurricane Sandy's devastation. When the hurricane hits, a husband, wife and their two youngsters might seek the comfort of renting two adjoining rooms. However, when they arrive at the motel, they find that rooms now rent for $250. At that price, they might decide to make do with one room. In my book, that would be wonderful. That decision would make a room available for another family who had to evacuate Sandy's wrath. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and others...

Via Twitchy Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) The man who accused Kevin Clash (Elmo) of underage sexual conduct has RECANTED. His lawyer now says it was "adult consensual relationship." Kevin Clash statement: "I am relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest. I will not discuss it further." Now: will every media outlet that wrote long stories about Elmo yesterday write equally long stories today?

- Popular U.S. pizza chain Papa John's faces a $250 million class-action lawsuit for blasting customers with illegal text messages. The plaintiffs allege that Papa John's ( ) franchises sent customers a total of 500,000 unwanted messages in early 2010. The spam texts offered deals for pizza, and some customers complained they were getting 15 or 16 texts in a row, even during the middle of the night, according Donald Heyrich, an attorney representing the class. "After I ordered from Papa John's, my telephone started beeping with text messages advertising pizza specials," Erin Chutich, one of the plaintiffs, said in...

Democrats won big last week. So government will continue to grow. Individual freedom will yield. At least some people with records of supporting liberty were elected: Sen. Jeff Flake in Arizona and U.S. Reps. Justin Amash and Kerry Bentivolio in Michigan and Thomas Massie in Kentucky. Also, Washington and Colorado voted to allow any adult to use marijuana. (But users beware. Your newfound freedom may be short-lived thanks to that extraordinary human being in the White House -- you know, the one who smoked pot when he was in school. Despite promising that he wouldn't, he has cracked down on...

While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton boozes it up in Australia and the Pentagon grapples with more floozy eruptions, outraged military families are still waiting for answers about the forgotten 9/14 attack on Camp Bastion. Muckrakers and distraction engineers are having a front-page field day with the so-called "sex scandal." But for surviving relatives and colleagues of heroic Marine Lt. Col. Christopher Raible and Sgt. Bradley Atwell, it's the national security scandal at Afghanistan's Camp Bastion that deserves headline coverage. There's been a virtual blackout of the alarming story in the national press. As I reported last month, the meticulously...

Jill Kelley, the Tampa socialite connected to ISAF Commander John Allen and former CIA Director David Petraeus, is an "honorary consul" of South Korea, a diplomatic official with direct knowledge of the arrangement told The Cable. "She is an ‘honorary consul' of the Republic of Korea," the official said. "She assumed this position last August thanks to her good connections and network." The position of honorary consul is symbolic and has no official responsibilities, the official said. "She does not work as a real consul. They play a role to improve the relationship between the ROK and the U.S.," the...

Google handed over more user data to the US government in the first six months of this year than to all other countries combined. The US made 7,969 requests for user data, of which Google complied with 90 percent. Next most inquisitive was India, with 2,319 requests, Brazil with 1,566, France with 1,546, Germany with 1,533 and the UK with 1,425. The US figure presumably includes the FBI request that uncovered the contents of emails between CIA director David Petraeus and his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

..On a recent trip to New York to see family and friends, I was at first pleased to discover that a U.S. carrier had a direct flight from Beijing to Newark International Airport. The fare was reasonable and the schedule suited me perfectly. Thirteen hours on a plane? Perfect time to catch up on Ben Stiller’s oeuvre. Less than an hour into the flight, I was regretting my choice. Flying coach, I expected uncomfortable seats, lackluster food and surly service, but what I hadn’t counted on was being turned away from the toilet. As I reached out to open the...

“Why is the Republican Party so white?” is the great whine issuing forth from the fat mouths of a thousand media outlets. The Republican Party needs to be a party that “looks more like America” is the big lie of the left. So let’s take a look at the racial composition of Americans and the percent of the racial vote that Democrats and Republicans received to see which party really looks more like America. There’s America in gray. And the Republican Party in red right next to it. And there’s the Democratic Party off to the side looking nothing like...

The battle to protect patients in a so-called vegetative state from euthanasia took a positive turn today with the news that doctors have been able to communicate with one patient. A Canadian man who was believed to have been in a persistent vegetative state for more than a decade has been able to communicate with scientists that he is not in any pain. It’s the first time an uncommunicative brain-injured patient has been able to communicate. The news could change the way doctors and society views such patients. From the story: Scott Routley, 39, was asked questions while having his...

Russian psychiatrists are pressing the Duma to return the Soviet-era law on psychiatric assistance that allowed doctors at Moscow’s Serbsky Institute and elsewhere to indefinitely detain and treat people whose only “symptoms” were opposition to Soviet leaders and their policies. For more than 40 years, the Communist Party used the provisions of this law against a wide range of dissidents. That tragic history sparked protests by psychiatrists, human rights activists and governments around the world and ultimately prompted Russian parliamentarians to replace that legislation with laws more in conformity with international practice. On Monday (November 12), the Nakanune.ru news portal...

On Nov. 10 at 12:46pm, Fordham President Joseph M. McShane, S.J., released a new statement regarding the College Republicans decision to cancel the Ann Coulter event scheduled for Nov. 29 in light of recent student reactions. Below is the entirety of McShane’s message: University Statement | Ann Coulter Appearance Cancelled November 10, 2012Late yesterday, Fordham received word that the College Republicans, a student club at the University, has rescinded its lecture invitation to Ann Coulter. Allow me to give credit where it is due: the leadership of the College Republicans acted quickly, took responsibility for their decisions, and expressed their...

The United States and Germany won a closely contested race Monday among western nations for UN Human Rights Council seats, while the likes of Venezuela and Pakistan secured places without a competitive vote. Rights groups condemned the “pre-cooked” arrangements by most continental groups at the 193-member UN General Assembly which gave council seats to countries whose records have been widely questioned. The United States, Germany and Ireland won the only open election among western nations. …

Drawing heavily upon nature for inspiration, a team of researchers has created a new artificial lens that is nearly identical to the natural lens of the human eye. This innovative lens, which is made up of thousands of nanoscale polymer layers, may one day provide a more natural performance in implantable lenses to replace damaged or diseased human eye lenses, as well as consumer vision products; it also may lead to superior ground and aerial surveillance technology. This work, which the Case Western Reserve University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and PolymerPlus team describes in the Optical...

Saudi judges continue to resist King Abdullah’s efforts to reform the Sunni kingdom’s judicial system. In a letter sent to the country’s Minister of Justice, Mohammad al-Issa, conservative judges objected to foreign influence sweeping through Saudi’s sharia courts. The letter criticized foreign consultants with shaven faces, plans to let woman practice law, and the minister’s meetings with “infidels.” Saudi Arabia holds no formal legal code or system of precedent and judges determine cases by their own interpretation of sharia law. A U.S. embassy cable released by Wikileaks in 2010 suggested the Saudi legal system’s inability to hand down consistent decisions...