Free Republic

MERCED, Calif. - A troubled California university freshman who burst into a classroom in 2015, stabbing four people before police shot him dead, planned to praise Allah while slitting the throats of classmates and use a gun taken from an ambushed officer to kill more, according to records released by the FBI. Authorities determined that Faisal Mohammad, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of California, Merced had no connections to organized hate or terror groups and no past behavior to suggest violence. Still, records released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the Daily Beast publication include a chilling, handwritten...

She debated with Queen Elizabeth I, sat at the head of a prosperous pirate empire, and told the English where to go.Rockfleet Castle, which Grace O’Malley used as a base. Photo from Mikeoem, Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0. If asked to name a pirate from history, many people will mention Blackbeard or Captain William Kidd. If pressed to name a female pirate, they might mention Anne Bonny, who terrorized the Caribbean alongside Captain "Calico" Jack Rackham in the early 18th century. Anne Bonny, however, was far from the only female pirate to terrorize the seas. More than a century before Bonny's...

here was no knife recovered at the scene, leading officials to suspect the death was not a suicide, and they were trying to determine who had access to his apartment. One-bedroom apartments at the building are listed at more than $1 million.

The Last Refuge blog (also known as The Conservative Treehouse) has done yeoman's work exposing the GOP establishment's plot to jam Jeb Bush down the collective throats of the electorate. Despite Bush's single-digit poll numbers, the GOPe remains fixated on a Bush candidacy (and, by extension, a Hillary presidency, since Bush has zero chance of winning a general election). Most recently, Virginia's old guard has proffered a laughably obvious ploy to deter independent, Tea Party, Reagan Democrat, and Constitutional Conservatives who have abandoned the Republican establishment from voting in the GOP primary....

The proxy battle between Sen. Ted Cruz (R Texas) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R Fla.) in the Republican presidential primary heated up on Tuesday as an Arizona based nonprofit launched a new advertising campaign in Iowa against Cruz. American Encore has purchased at least $55,000 worth of ad space on broadcast stations in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, and plans to spend up to $200,000. The ad uses footage from the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris to pivot to an attack on Cruz for supporting the USA Freedom Act of 2015, which the ad states was crafted to "weaken...

Republican donors with links to several presidential candidates - as well as a prominent GOP operative - are pooling their resources in a new effort to go after Donald Trump and keep the party's presidential front-runner from winning the nomination. The most recent bid is a reported "guerrilla campaign" led by a group called Trump Card LLC and run by Liz Mair, former communications official for the Republican National Committee. The group's goal, according to The Wall Street Journal, is to collect money from anonymous donors to "defeat and destroy" Trump, who has essentially led the GOP presidential field since...

Nearly a dozen big Republican donors backing different presidential candidates are coming together to help fund an advertising campaign attacking front-runner Donald Trump, who faced sharp criticism from rivals this week for his inflammatory comments about Muslims. Matt David, spokesman for the group planning the attack, a Super PAC called New Day for America, which is supporting Ohio Governor John Kasich's presidential bid, said 10 new donors had pledged money in the two days since Politico reported Thursday evening the group's plans to attack Trump in New Hampshire....

Note: The following text is a quote: Wife of Gang Leader Pleads Guilty to Narcotics Charges On the day her trial was to begin in U.S. District Court in Lubbock, Texas, Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) member Marie Chavez, aka "Shorty," the wife of an alleged ALKQN leader Jose Nava, aka "Chino," pleaded guilty to a superseding indictment charging her and 16 co-defendants with various offenses related to alleged narcotics and weapons trafficking and violent activities. Specifically, Chavez, 28, of Lubbock, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute five kilograms...

He was an immense figure in the history of England. Just how immense, however, has finally been revealed after a study of his body armour exposed Henry VIII's extraordinary vital statistics. It found that by the end of his reign the 6ft 1in Tudor king had a whopping 52in waist and 53in chest - enough to make him severely obese by modern standards. The study by the Royal Armouries coincides with a forthcoming exhibition of his supersized battle dress at the Tower of London to mark the 500th anniversary of him taking the throne. Here, Philippa Gregory reveals the heavy...

Has Genghis' Tomb Been Found? After four years' work, a joint team of Japanese and Mongolian archaeologists announced on October 4 that they had found what they believe to be the true mausoleum of Genghis Khan (1162-1227). The ruins, dated to between the 13th and 15th century, were found at Avraga, around 250 kilometers east of Ulan Bator, the capital of the People's Republic of Mongolia. Team members said that they expect the discovery to provide clues to the whereabouts of the khan's actual burial site, which they believe may be within 12 kilometers of the mausoleum. There is a...