Free Republic

With the stroke of a pen, California Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation that gave prison guards, park rangers, Cal State professors and other state employees the kind of retirement security normally reserved for the wealthy. More than 200,000 civil servants became eligible to retire at 55 — and in many cases collect more than half their highest salary for life. California Highway Patrol officers could retire at 50 and receive as much as 90% of their peak pay for as long as they lived.

Mika Brzezinski went on an epic feminist rant on today’s Morning Joe, condemning not just Donald Trump for his comments about a former Miss Universe, but raging against the entire beauty pageant culture in which women are judged on their . . beauty. Mika summed up her intellectual argument this way: “you stupid men.” Brzezinski considers it unfair that beauty pageant contestants are expected to be trim, whereas men like Trump and Newt Gingrich “can walk around as rotund as all get out.” But if those guys had entered the Mr. Universe contest, every inch of their oiled bodies would...

Just recently, a new scam has started involving fake tax bills tied to the Affordable Care Act. In one sure sign the notices are fake, many are arriving by email—and the IRS doesn’t initiate taxpayer contact by email. Even so, some of the fakes are paper notices sent by regular mail and taxpayers should watch out.

During a town hall with members of the military, President Obama was asked what he thought of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s protest against the national anthem prior to football games. Obama appeared to equate the two positions — pointing out that he wanted Kaepernick to understand why people might be angry at his protest, while also urging military families to listen to the NFL players who joined Kaepernick by drawing attention to the Black Lives Matter movement.

When you dropped your kids off at school today - you probably saw a bunch of students gathered around the flag pole. Those kids were part of See You at the Pole - a national prayer gathering. Some two million young people woke up before sunrise to pray with their classmates. Many of you posted photos on my Facebook page of students praying in your hometowns - from Staten Island, New York to Stinking Creek, Kentucky. There were first graders and freshmen holding hands on this cool Autumn day to pray for our nation -- to cry out - as...

Forgive me if I’m confused, but there seems to be a huge disconnect between what our would-be elite overlords are telling us about women and what they actually think. Apparently coherence and consistency are sexist, and probably also racist and homophobic, making the pooh-bahs of the establishment and their media gimps the most tolerant people in the world. So, Hillary has some serious sads because Trump interrupted her in the debates. That’s sexist you know, because women are both just as good and tough and stuff as men and, simultaneously, little delicate flowers that we must treat like fine china....

In the first presidential debate Donald Trump achieved Job One: convincing independents that he is being mischaracterized and caricatured, that he really is a “normal” guy, just exuberant but essentially normal, under control, disciplined. To the point that he is a plausible choice. I believe that at the suggestion of his handlers he drank water whenever he felt the urge to interrupt or insult or felt himself “losing it.” (The irony, of course, is that he mocked Marco Rubio for drinking lots of water during debates. But, as with “All Things Trump,” the alternative is Hillary. So drink away!) It...

Bikini — and burkini — season is over here, but with the new school year, France’s battle over national identity has erupted on a new front: its history curriculum. School curriculums have long been a part of culture wars, including in the United States, where there have been tussles over slavery and evolution. But in France, where the state sets school programs nationwide, the country’s understanding of its past — and how it uses education to shape young citizens — has become a hot-button issue in a fraught election season. Changes to how Joan of Arc and other touchstone historical...

There is grumbling in progressive circles over polls showing that Orthodox Jews will vote for Trump. Among non-Orthodox Jews, Hillary beats Trump by 66 to 23 percent. Among the Orthodox, Trump beats her 66 to 22 percent. In New York, Hillary scores 61 to 19 percent among Jews, but among Orthodox Jews, Trump wins 50% of the vote while Hillary lags at 21%. It’s no wonder then that Jewish Democrats for Trump is largely targeting Orthodox Jewish voters. Why Orthodox Jews? It might be tempting to attribute this support to Trump’s daughter having converted to Orthodox Judaism, but these same...

Denmark’s decision to separate married couples in refugee centers if one party is below the age of 18 has been reversed after the government concluded it was in violation of international conventions.Metroxpress reported on Wednesday that the Danish Immigration Service will now reunite several married couples who have been living separately since February. “In some of these cases it has been it has been assessed that it would not be compatible with Denmark’s international obligations to maintain the separate living quarters, thus these couples have been offered to be housed together,” DIS wrote in an official response to a parliamentary...

In mid 2012, Kid Colton, the Barefoot Bandit, a true story of Colt Harris-Moore, Born to run, outlaw child. Colt had the local sheriff after him before the age of 10, survived his youth by slipping in and out of dumpster and homes for food, and learned to evade the police by "melting" into the Pacific Northwest wilds. In the fullness of time whatever else could be found amongst the scrapes. He got caught of course, and sent to juvy, walked away, and proceeded to Orcas Island, where, like D. B. Cooper; with no pilot training whatsoever, exited the area...

President Obama Wednesday night said U.S. service members fight so that people like the 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick can express their views and take a knee during the national anthem to make a point. . . A widow of a veteran who died of cancer after being misdiagnosed at a Veteran Affairs hospital wanted to know why that doctor was still working at the hospital and there wasn't more accountability for some employees. While Obama said that a lot of people have been fired and the VA has worked hard to improve wait times, he acknowledged that there is no...

In 2006, Chris Hausman, a fourth-generation Midwestern farmer long accustomed to depending on government support for survival, traveled across the world to witness a revolution in agriculture. It had been more than 20 years since a left-leaning government in New Zealand chose to eliminate government subsidies for farmers, and Hausman was surprised at what had transpired since. “I will tell you it was a shock to their agricultural system,” says Hausman, 58, who farms corn and soybeans on a 1,500-acre plot 150 miles south of Chicago. “You had a system dictated by government programs that was thrown out the window...

@LesterHoltNBC Hey Les, is this Hillary signalling to you that you need to fact check her BRAIN? Or is it her confidential signal that you need to bring her a Kleenex®?

Something has gone wrong in Britain, and the EU referendum result showed us – or at least, those of us who weren’t already aware – what it is. The campaign and its aftermath exposed a society that has split along lines of class, region, age and culture, with fewer binding threads than at any point in recent history. On the day, huge swaths of the country voted by class and geography. This was hardly surprising, considering how tensions between the classes have been exploited mercilessly by politicians. Social and economic inequalities, particularly between the south-east and the rest of the...

(AFP) – Hamas welcomed the death of former Israeli president Shimon Peres Wednesday, calling him a “criminal”, while the Palestinian Authority made no official comment after the death of the Nobel Peace Prize winner. In the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for the Islamist Hamas movement which runs the enclave said: “The Palestinian people are happy at the death of this criminal. “Shimon Peres was one of the last Israeli founders of occupation. His death marks the end of an era in the history of the Israeli occupation,” spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP. Tributes to the 93-year-old poured in from...

Debate: Why Trump Won and Hillary Lost, The Trump Phenomenon ( black man weighs in)

When asked to explain why the father would shoot his own daughter, family members blamed a medical condition; they said Mansour is a diabetic. Yes, that’s it — diabetes. And not only did no one in the media question this, they actually deliberated whether the medical case could be made. That’s how sick, broken and subdued our fourth estate has become. “Neighbors: Family ‘kept to themselves’ at home where police say dad shot his daughter”, FOX 19, By Denise Zarrella, Reporter, September 27th 2016: ROCKY RIVER, OH (WOIO) – A 63-year-old father is facing murder, felonious assault, and domestic violence...

During Monday night's presidential debate, former DNC chairman and 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean tweeted: "Notice Trump sniffing all the time. Coke user?" Even the tabloid site TMZ described Dean's tweet as a "low blow." Unbowed, Dean doubled down at MSNBC on Tuesday, to the point where a clearly uncomfortable Kate Snow tried to maneuver him into backing away a bit. He wouldn't, which is fine with Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, who told the network's Peter Alexander on Wednesday that "we should probably be talking more about" Dean’s speculation. At the Washington Free Beacon Tuesday afternoon, David Rutz reported that...

Donald Trump came in and stood his ground. He didn't waver nor did he back down. He won all of the polls after the debates. Now old Crooked Hillary lied lied lied. The truth is not in her. She will say and do anything to get a vote. Diamond and Silk tells you what they really think.

Never mind that he’s talking about many who his university educated, including me. Any of you who question campus preoccupation with safe spaces, trigger warnings and microagressions are idiots and lunatics. That’s what Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro told new students this past week in his welcoming address. Articles about his comments include those in CampusReform and The Daily Northwestern. “Look for safe spaces,” Schapiro told the freshman, and he pledged that “if you can’t find them, we will help you find them.” Regarding traumatic ideas, Schapiro says, “If they say that…you shouldn’t be warned to prepare yourself psychologically for...

Perhaps John Warner’s biggest claim to fame is a distinction he shares with a good-sized chunk of older American men: having once been married to Elizabeth Taylor. But the former Republican senator from Virginia found another way to get himself some attention today: by endorsing Hillary for president. Interviewed by Andrea Mitchell on her MSNBC show this afternoon, Warner managed to make his endorsement mainly about himself. In the course of their brief conversation, Warner let it be known: that he had been on the lawn for the famous handshake between Rabin and Araft; that he had served in both...

The fatal police shooting of a Ugandan refugee who drew something from his pocket and extended his hands in a "shooting stance" happened about a minute after officers in a San Diego suburb arrived at the scene where a mentally unstable man was reportedly walking in traffic, a police spokesman said Wednesday.

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ RAPTOR RESOLVE An Air Force F-22 Raptor flies over the Arabian Sea to support Operation Inherent Resolve, Jan. 27, 2016. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Corey Hook Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. BIG DIG Soldiers work to free an ambulance stuck in the snow while supporting winter storm response operations around Annapolis, MD, Jan. 24, 2016. The soldiers are assigned to the Maryland National Guard's 110th Information...

When Health Republic Insurance of New Jersey announced recently that it’s $46 million in debt and shutting down, it became the 17th failed ObamaCare co-op since the Affordable Care Act launched three years ago. Those failures – just six of the original 23 co-ops remain – have left hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for coverage. Meanwhile, insurers claiming big losses are leaving some state exchanges -- including Indiana University Health Plans, whose exit is expected to result in 27,000 Indiana residents losing ObamaCare plans in 2017. And companies still operating in the federal and state exchanges are raising premiums...

Charlotte motorists were caught in a terrifying nightmare as rioters flooded onto I-85 and surrounded their cars during last week’s unrest– and many drivers pleaded with emergency services to rescue them from the demonstrators. The city of Charlotte has released a number of 911 tapes, including calls made from gridlocked motorists on Charlotte streets who feared for their lives as protests over the death of Keith Scott moved to block highways going in and out of the city. Dozens of vehicles were stopped on I-85 and other major thoroughfares. According to some of the motorists trapped on the streets, protesters...

*** Although her characters were inevitably embroiled in melodrama, Nixon was repeatedly honored for elevating soaps during a television career that spanned more than 60 years. She pioneered socially relevant themes and dealt with them seriously, bringing attention to such once-taboo topics as racism, AIDS, lesbian relationships and teenage prostitution. In 1962, Nixon wrote a story line for “The Guiding Light” on CBS about a character who develops uterine cancer and has a life-saving hysterectomy. The network and show sponsor Proctor & Gamble agreed to the plot only if the words “cancer,” “uterus” and “hysterectomy” were not used.

I'm sick of morons trying to make heroes out of black babies like Colin Kaepernick. This stupid piece of sh*t has been radicalized by the very system that wants us to believe it wants a "color-blind" society. Liberal suck, then they die...thankfully. It's time REAL Americans fight back against this nonsense. Begin by joining my Facebook-like site for Conservatives: http://TeaPartyCommunity.com. We fight brain-dead Leftist 24/7 and we know how to WIN!

A shocking new report claims the world’s first three-parent baby (pictured above) has been born. Children born through ‘three-person IVF’ would contain some genetic material from each of three different people. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT There are about 50 known mitochondrial diseases (MCDs), which are passed on in genes coded by mitochondrial (as opposed to nuclear) DNA. They range hugely in severity, but for most there is presently no cure and little other than supportive treatment. The goal behind creating “designer babies� with three parents is to eliminate such diseases.But there are good reasons for pro-life people to be concerned about...

Kaepernick had offered similar criticisms of Trump and Clinton when he first began discussing his reasons for his protest. Kaepernick circled back to Trump on Tuesday afternoon when the QB was asked what he thought of Trump's comments on the radio show. "That's a very ignorant statement, that if you don't agree with what's going on here, that if you want justice and liberty and freedom for all, that you should leave the country," Kaepernick said. "He always says, 'Make America great again.' Well, America has never been great for people of color and that's something that needs to be...

Online 'polls' pegged Donald Trump as the presidential debate winner, but scientific polls did not. The hashtag #TrumpWon was trending on Twitter Tuesday. Partially boosted by sarcasm, it was fuelled primarily by Donald Trump, who was quick to claim he won Monday's debate by citing a slew of online polls that pegged him as the winner. But there's a problem. None of the polls Trump has pointed to are actually legitimate polls. Instead, all of the scientific, real polls published so far have shown him to be the loser of the debate by significant margins. In the world of public...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I mentioned in the previous hour Politico story: "Clinton Campaign in Panic Mode over Black Voter Support in Florida." This is interesting. I mean, the conventional wisdom from the Drive-By side is if Hillary cannot get close to replicating the Obama turnout, particularly in African-Americans, that she is in deep, deep doo-doo. Now, Hillary, of course, counters this by going out to black events and trying to sound like she's African-American. (impression) "I ain't no ways t'aaaird!" When, in fact, she can barely stand up, she's so damn tired. "I ain't no ways t'air... (coughing) t'aired!" It's...

The mayor's comments were in response to a profile of Mosby in The New York Times Magazine in which she said the mayor disseminated false information about the investigation into Gray's death. In the story Mosby recalled "screaming" at Rawlings-Blake and blaming the riots on her. Mosby told the magazine that she called Rawlings-Blake during the riots in April of 2015 and screamed, "You have single-handedly caused what's happening in this city right now," before hanging up on the mayor. Rawlings-Blake on Wednesday said, "Am I to blame? No," adding, "you have to stand up, be in the big role...

A Danish far-right group faced criticism on Wednesday after handing out "asylum spray" to be used against violent migrants. In the southern town of Haderslev, 137 cans of relabelled hair spray were given away to the public on Saturday by the far-right Party of the Danes, which does not hold any seats in parliament. "The asylum spray is a concrete reaction against more Danes feeling insecure," party leader Daniel Carlsen, a former member of a Nazi group that he now distances himself from, told AFP. "Some Danish girls don't dare to go outside after it gets dark, partly because there...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: "Clinton Feels the Pressure." Why? Even after a strong debate, Clinton has a huge staff advantage over Trump. The Electoral College is tilted in her favor. She's running to succeed Obama, who's a popular president. She's running against Trump who ought to be the easiest candidate for president ever to beat. And despite all that, she finds herself in an excruciatingly tight race. "Why aren't I 50 points ahead?" Apparently she is feeling the pressure. The next headline from Politico: "Clinton Campaign in 'Panic Mode' Over Florida Black Voters." This story is from today. It's a post-debate...

Live Feed from Fox 5 San Diego in El Cajon, CA.

Oscar winners, sports stars and Bill Gates are building lavish bunkers — with amenities ranging from a swimming pool to a bowling alley — as global anxiety fuels sales and owners "could be the next Adam and Eve." Given the increased frequency of terrorist bombings and mass shootings and an under-lying sense of havoc fed by divisive election politics, it's no surprise that home security is going over the top and hitting luxurious new heights. Or, rather, new lows, as the average depth of a new breed of safe haven that occupies thousands of square feet is 10 feet under...

Former White House rugrat Chelsea Clinton believes marijuana may have some therapeutic benefits, but she also thinks the herb may be killing people in states where it has been made legal. During a recent appearance at Youngstown State University, Clinton—campaigning on behalf of her mother, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton—told a crowd of students that “anecdotally, we have lots of evidence” that cannabis is effective in treating epilepsy and stimulating the appetites of those undergoing chemotherapy treatment. But she then went on to say that there are still some public health concerns associated with pot consumption due to recent deaths...

Madonna has gotten naked more than a few times in her career. But this time she's doing it for a cause. On Wednesday morning (Sept. 28), the singer posted some politically motivated nudes on her Facebook page telling fans, "Living for Hillary. Yes I vote for intelligence. I vote for equal rights for women and all minorities."

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: If you establishment types really, really want to understand how Trump supporters look at this -- if you really do -- let me remind you of something. By the way, I'm proud of how often I'm seeing this pop up in columns and opinion pieces. It is something I have been reminding people over the past month. You guys in the Drive-Bys in analyzing Hillary's debate, you're judging rhetoric. You're judging the spoken word. That's how you define intelligence (muttering), "It's intellectualspeak. You communicate (muttering) so you're really, really smart, really... Obama does intellectualspeak. It's a specific...

Shouldn’t we be talking about Hillary Clinton’s startling proclamation during Monday night’s debate that every American has “implicit bias� on race relations? When asked by moderator Lester Holt (the only time he asked a direct and exclusive question of the Democratic Party’s nominee) “Do you believe that police are implicitly biased against black people?� Clinton didn’t just throw cops under the racist bus, she threw us all under: Lester, I think implicit bias is a problem for everyone. Not just police. I think unfortunately too many of us in our great country, um, jump to conclusions about each other. And...

The sustainability campaigns on American college campuses, which we have covered for about as long as they have existed, may seem more ubiquitous than pledge drives on PBS. Nevertheless, some scholars think they haven’t gone far enough. "We are currently on track to having the hottest year ever, breaking the record established last year," Marcus Peter Ford writes on the Academe blog maintained by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). "We also set records for warmth in 2013 and 2014." "And yet, to date, climate change has had little impact on how we understand the purpose of higher education....

The actor shared his thoughts on politics and also joined Twitter for the first time. Sean Penn rarely makes late night appearances but he stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to promote the audiobook he narrated, Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff.

FULL TITLE: Hillary Clinton was clearly victorious, but only one candidate did enough to win new voters during the presidential debate ...Undecideds are undecided for a reason. They do not like either of these candidates... To move undecideds, Trump needed to make Clinton look like a politician who doesn’t get it, who doesn’t get you. Over and over again, Trump hammered this point Monday night, arguing she’s had 30 years in politics and little to show for it. He called her a “typical politician,” said she was “all talk, no action,” and in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, painted her as...

In his 2008 campaign for president, candidate Obama said that the debt run up by President Bush was “irresponsible” and “unpatriotic” and that Bush ran up the debt all “by his lonesome” (short video). Despite presiding over far more debt in his first term than Bush did in two, President Obama was re-elected by young folks. It would seem that debt doesn’t really register with millennials. Although millennials may not be interested in debt, debt is interested in them. On Oct. 1, 2016 the federal government will begin its next fiscal year, FY 2017. Fiscal 2017 will mark ten years...

Long ago in 1976, Bill Clinton was elected Arkansas attorney general, launching his political career and that of his ambitious wife. One year earlier, The Eagles released their hit song “Lyin’ Eyes”. Little did Don Henley and Glenn Frey know that their popular song and Hillary Clinton would have a synchronous moment 40 years later during her presidential campaign. The lyrics, “You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes” at one level, fits Mrs. Clinton’s life story and political history quite accurately and at another level provides a glimpse into her current health and suitability to serve as president. From the early...

JPSO deputies refuse Bonnabel detail after players kneel during anthem

Full title: Dreadlock Ban Isn’t Discrimination; Court Rejects Govt. Claim of “Racial Distinctions in the Natural Texture of Black and Non-Black Hair” A federal appellate court has ruled against the Obama administration’s claims that firing a black woman for wearing dreadlocks constitutes racial discrimination and the government agency representing the employee poses an interesting question: Would a woman wearing a hijab face the same fate? The answer is no. Muslims have more rights in the U.S. workplace than African Americans, it seems. In the aftermath of several rulings protecting Muslim rights to wear religious head covers on the job, a...

Perhaps Sen. Harry Reid should sue Hillary Clinton for copyright infringement. The former Secretary of State went after Donald Trump for failing to release his tax returns, suggesting that it could be because he is not as charitable as he claims or maybe he didn’t pay any taxes on his fortune. it was eerily reminiscent of the lie Harry Reid admitted telling in 2012 about Mitt Romney: One of the strangest incidents of the 2012 presidential campaign was when then-Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid accused then-Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney of having not paid any taxes over the past...

Yesterday, I visited Maassluis. It is town near Rotterdam, where the indigenous Dutch inhabitants have become the victims of immigrant youths of Moroccan descent. Cars have been demolished, houses vandalized, people threatened. The Dutch no longer feel free and safe in their own city. When the local radio station interviewed some of the victims and referred to the perpetrators as Moroccans, it received an anonymous letter: “You are racists! Your time will come! I won’t take care of it because I am too old. But our boys are the new soldiers.”