Free Republic

The increase in violence that has followed the death of Freddie Gray continued through the weekend, with four homicides reported since Saturday, according to Baltimore police. Ten people were reported shot on Sunday alone, including three who were shot to death within a span of 39 minutes. The violence comes as the city prepares for the Preakness on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course. Ten people were also shot Thursday. At least 87 people have been killed in Baltimore this year, 22 more than at this time last year. Nonfatal shootings are up nearly 50 percent across the city.

Twenty-seven senators want President Obama to block federal agencies and contractors from asking job applicants about prior criminal convictions. The senators, including 26 Democrats and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), want Obama to take executive action to "ban the box," referring to a question on job applications that asks if an applicant has any convictions. "We ask you to require federal contractors and agencies to refrain from asking job applicants about prior convictions until later in the hiring process," they said in a letter to Obama on Monday. "This policy would eliminate unnecessary barriers to employment for all job...

Team Hillary is pushing Julian Castro as her VP nominee. “The Republicans are making a big push for the Hispanic vote, so that makes Castro an obvious pick.” Julian Castro, and his twin brother, Congressman Joaquin, were early backers of 2008 Clinton......the odds of Mrs. Clinton picking another woman for the ticket are “zero” .... which eliminates Wendy Davis, the liberal darling of Texas Democrats. --SNIP--That leaves Julian Castro. At just 40 years old, he’s a a two-term mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and is Obama’s HUD Secy. The Castro brothers — twins born to a single mother whose grandmother...

Many savvy political analysts believe the Democrats have a built in advantage in the Electoral College. Democrats have won four of the last six Presidential elections, and in all six races, they have won a collection of 18 states plus the District of Columbia, now totaling 242 Electoral College votes. These states include all of the New England states except New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. Democrats have won 5 of the last 6 Presidential contests in New Hampshire, Iowa, and New Mexico, three...

Experts estimate there will be less than a year's worth of drinking water in California reservoir's at the end of 2015 Yet the rich and famous of Los Angeles continue to water their lawns with apparently no concern for conservation Photographer John Chapple recently went out in a helicopter to photography the ever-green lawns of Kim Kardashian, Barbara Streisand and Petra Eccelstone among others

hatever one might have thought about the Maryland Transportation Authority's decision to raise tolls four years ago, no one can say the two-phase proposal wasn't scrutinized from all angles or that the public wasn't given sufficient opportunity to ask questions or make comment. The same can't be said for the agency's decision to roll them back — in some cases below what they were before the last price increase. That secrecy and abrupt decision-making should give Marylanders pause about what's going on at the agency that owns and manages some of the state's most important — and costly — transportation...

In case you have been off the grid and don’t know what’s happening in Baltimore, this is a pretty good description from SooperMexican.

I am no expert in UK politics and I have never played an MP or even a barrister on TV, but I did forego a room at a Holiday Inn Express last night to stay up to the small hours watching BBC World at home, so I won’t let a lack of knowledge stop me. I think — and I hope this is not just wishful thinking — that the results of Thursday’s election in the UK augur poorly for the U.S. Democratic Party in 2016. Now most people know by now that the SNP (Scottish National Party) swamped Scotland,...

The Illinois Supreme Court struck down the state’s 2013 pension overhaul, unraveling an effort by lawmakers to rein in benefits for the consistently underfunded public-sector system. The current pension shortfall is estimated at $111 billion, one of the largest nationally. The high court affirmed a decision in November by a state circuit court that the legislative changes violated pension protections written into the state constitution. The decision is a victory for a consortium of public-sector unions while creating a huge challenge for new Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who already faces a yawning budget deficit for the coming fiscal year.

Black Panther leaders are planning ways to make the chaos last and spread across the nation. Two leaders of the New Black Panther Party, Chief of Staff Michelle Williams and King Samir Shabazz, are calling Baltimore rioters for even more violence against whites. (SNIP) During an appearance on Shabazz’s radio show, Williams regularly made fun of “crackers” and black conservatives. Agreeing with her, Shabazz went a step further and made a terrifying threat: he called on blacks to firebomb nurseries so that they can kill as many white babies as possible. Shabazz added that this was a good suggestion because...

Of course this group is based in San Francisco – where else? If this were 1915 rather than 2015, the positions taken by the Pacific Educational Group (PEG) would be properly attributed to the Klu Klux Klan. Even today if any “unapproved of” group said these things the media would ride in with their keyboards blazing to destroy anyone who even whispered what this liberal think tank is saying out loud. PEG uses what it calls Courageous Conversations to say the things it does; but it’s still idiotic. PEG tells teachers that Blacks are, “…less likely to respond to fundamental...

You’ll never hear the Obama administration pass on an opportunity to gloat about the miracles they think they’ve managed to pull off over the past seven years to get America’s economy back on track. The only problem with that is, it’s not remotely true. Somehow, the spin doctors at the White House always manage to cherry pick rare instances of economic improvement and turn them into something much bigger. If you want a real indication of how President Barack Obama’s economy is fairing, just look to a recent report that shows a coming “retail apocalypse,” with major retailers across the...

The Baltimore police investigation into the death of a black man from injuries sustained in police custody fails to support some charges filed by the city prosecutor, CNN reported on Thursday. Citing officials briefed on the separate probes by prosecutor Marilyn Mosby and police into the death of Freddie Gray, the television news network said the lack of support for charges from the police findings could allow lawyers representing the officers to undercut the prosecution. Gray, 25, sustained spinal injuries after being arrested, and his death on April 19 sparked protests and a day of arson and looting in the...

Economists don’t have to be right – ever. They just have to say what fits the liberal mindset. Since the proved pedophile John Maynard Keynes told Franklin Roosevelt the way to get America out of the Depression was to make prices so high no one could afford to buy anything, liberals have used economists to justify their failed policies. The latest stupid prediction from the Democrats’ useful economists (DuE) fits perfectly into this construct. When faced with a terrible 0.2% GDP growth rate for the first quarter they told us, “U.S. economic growth braked more sharply than expected in the...

There is a good reason liberal lawmakers and governors across the country are eager to pass laws allowing felons to vote. A recent study conducted by the Academy of Political and Social Sciences indicates that seven out of 10 convicts register as Democrats.The DFL-controlled Senate in Minnesota is leading the way with its recent passage of a bill allowing felons to vote while still on parole or probation. Proponents of changing the law are focused almost entirely on what they view as good for the felon rather than being concerned with the rights of law-abiding citizens. Proponents claim that allowing...

Hillary Clinton has tried to piggyback on her husband's ferocious reputation, boasting that she "beat the Republican attack machine." Of course, if anybody beat the Republican attack machine, it was Bill. Hillary Clinton wasn't on any ballot in the 1990s. True, her reputation was at stake, but that's a fight she lost: She ended that decade a highly unpopular figure. She remains one today, with about half of the public persistently telling pollsters they have an unfavorable view of her. Nor was Clinton able to shed her baggage when she moved to New York. In her November 2000 Senate race,...

The Democratic Party's plans for the upcoming presidential debates has stirred up some behind-the-scenes controversy. One Democratic 2016 campaign adviser who spoke to Business Insider said they believe the Democratic National Committee's debate schedule was "worked out" to benefit Hillary Clinton and hurt her opponents. The adviser, who requested anonymity in order to speak frankly about the party's campaign arm, suggested the DNC is hosting a small number of debates in an attempt to give Clinton's more low profile rivals "less screen time." They also suggested the relatively late schedule of the debates will make it harder for Clinton's lesser...

Not your daddy’s Democratic Party… Democrats handed out an anti-Semitic flyer Monday night at a Maryland hearing.The anti-Semitic flyer supported liberal Donna Edwards for US Senator and claimed Israel was an “apartheid state.” As Power Line argues – Israel bashing is now acceptable in the Democratic Party.Power Line reported: Last night at a public hearing on the budget in Prince George’s County, Maryland, a flyer with the following headline was circulated: From Baltimore to Jerusalem It’s the Same Game. In 10 years Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin sent 1.2 billion dollars of Maryland Federal taxpayer money to the Apartheid...

If you try to shut down public debate, is this a way of ensuring that you win—or an admission that you have already lost? The question seems relevant today, because the most remarkable characteristic of our current national debate is that one side wants desperately to stamp it out whenever it occurs. Recently, for example, a gay New York businessman had the temerity to sponsor a “fireside chat” with Republican presidential candidate and arch-conservative Ted Cruz. He was, of course, required to repent the error, calling it “a terrible mistake” to actually talk to a politician who disagrees with him...

Hillary Clinton is looking to unload some more baggage from her campaign van today. The presumptive Democratic nominee campaigns in Nevada where her campaign told several news outlets that she will embrace “a full and equal path to citizenship” for illegal immigrants. In 2008, Clinton wasn’t even a supporter of the mainstream Democratic position of allowing illegal immigrants to have driver’s licenses. Now she is ready to go for a full amnesty. USA Today reports that Clinton is embracing President Obama’s immigration policy and campaign style today: “She will chat with Rancho High School students who are DREAMers, the term...