Free Republic

With rhetoric heating up between gubernatorial candidates Kentuckians can expect one-liners sprinkled with vitriol at Fancy Farm, but Matt Bevin and Jack Conway will also be competing for air time and column inches in what has so far been a sleepy open-seat general election. “Last year when we all went to Fancy Farm to me it felt like … we were coming out for the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. This year it feels more like the kickoff — or maybe even the coin flip,” said Scott Jennings a GOP strategist. Some have called the raucous speaking event outdated,...

The Defense Department is defending Turkey’s decision to bomb Kurdish rebels in northern Syria amid concern that the NATO member is using its alliance with the U.S. against ISIS as a pretext to defeat an old enemy, the independence-minded Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK, which also is assisting the U.S. against the jihadist army that has taken over large portions of Iraq and Syria, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin. After the PKK claimed responsibility for the execution-style murder of two Turkish police officers near the Syrian border, Turkey bombed PKK fighters in northern Syria and non-PKK...

The Internet has been set ablaze by news that a U.S. dentist on safari shot and killed Zimbabwe’s Cecil the lion, apparently a beloved figure in that African country.Already more than 800,000 people have signed an online petition demanding “justice” for Cecil, but how well-known was Cecil before his death? The Daily Caller News Foundation found that Cecil’s Wikipedia page had only been created July 29, 2015 — after news of Cecil’s death had been reported in the news.According to Wikipedia’s edit history, an editor “created [the] article with material from Hwange National Park.” Hwange is the national park where...

Two days after the killing of Cecil the lion sparked a firestorm on social media, the United States government announced that it will investigate the death of the prized African creature.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said on Twitter Thursday that the government agency is currently “investigating” the killing of the lion, allegedly carried out by Minnesota dentist Dr. Walter Palmer.“We’re investigating the killing of #CecilTheLion. Will go where facts lead. We ask Dr. Palmer or his rep to contact USFWS immediately,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tweeted. “We share your concern about the issue surrounding #CeciltheLion and we’re...

British pop singer Morrissey said he was groped at San Francisco International Airport this week on his way to London, and now he's making waves by blogging about what he's calling a "sexual assault." On his True to You "Morrissey Zine" blog, the former Smiths singer wrote that prior to taking off from SFO on July 27, he was approached by an "airport security officer" who stopped him, "crouched" before him, and "groped" his private areas, moving away quickly when another officer passed by. Morrissey said two members of the British Airways Special Services were "horrified at the sexual attack,"...

The San Jose mayor is urging the Santa Clara County Board of Directors to put the county’s policy of ignoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds on the agenda following the high-profile death of a woman gunned down in San Francisco by an undocumented immigrant. Mayor Sam Liccardo sent the letter July 10 to the board’s president, Dave Cortese, saying he disagrees with the county's current policy of ignoring ICE hold requests for "deportable individuals who have committed serious of violent felonies.” The debate on “sanctuary cities” reignited nationally after the July 1 shooting of Kate Steinle at San Francisco’s Pier...

Indiana on Thursday cleared Planned Parenthood facilities that perform abortions in the state of any wrongdoing in the handling of fetal tissue. Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, on July 16 ordered an investigation of Planned Parenthood facilities in Indianapolis, Bloomington and Merrillville to see if organs from aborted fetuses were being sold. He was among a number of conservative lawmakers around the country who have called for investigations after an anti-abortion group circulated a video it made secretly showing some of its national officials discussing how they obtain organs from aborted fetuses for research. Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest provider...

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. We serve coffee, tea,or maybe a tall brew? Topped off with great conversation and music. No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a glass and start a conversation. You never know who you might meet in the Cafe. Glad you could join us. Enjoy your stay. Our...

Planned Parenthood proclaimed on Thursday that its websites were "not available because of an extremist attack," but seemed to change its story throughout the day after many people pointed to inconsistencies about the alleged hack.

Under resident Barack Obama's overhaul, taxpayers provided $2.4 billion in loans to get the co-ops going, but only one out of 23 -- the one in Maine -- made money last year ... Another one, the Iowa/Nebraska co-op, was shut down by regulators over financial concerns. The audit by the Health and Human Services inspector general's office also found that 13 of the 23 lagged far behind their 2014 enrollment projections. The probe raised concerns about whether federal loans will be repaid, and ... Just last week, the Louisiana Health Cooperative announced it would cease offering coverage next year

The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ban the possession of firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Mayor Eric Garcetti has already said he would sign the ordinance, which according to the council, will close a loophole in state law already banning the sale and manufacture of such magazines. Anyone who owns the magazines will have 60 days to remove them from the city or turn them over to the Los Angeles Police Department for destruction, transfer or sale. Supporters of the measure believe it will help law enforcement officials prevent mass shootings in the city.

Jones alleged in the complaint that his team later ditched him in 120-degree temperatures without water, making him walk part way back to their compound before they stopped to give him a rideA former Navy SEAL has filed an internal complaint alleging the CIA bullied him for being gay during a work assignment in June in Afghanistan. Brett Jones said he filed the complaint last week against the federal agency, saying he was forced to endure homophobic slurs and other inappropriate comments on June 11 in Afghanistan as a group of contractors and civil servants in the CIA's Global Response...

June marked the first month of mandatory cutbacks during California's droughtCalifornia water use dropped by 27 percent in June, the first month of mandatory cutbacks during the drought. The announcement from state regulators comes after the state's largest cities already announced they met or exceeded mandatory conservation targets provided by the state. Data released by the State Water Resources Control Board shows 265 of the 411 local agencies in the state hit or nearly reached the savings targets implemented after Gov. Jerry Brown ordered an overall 25 percent savings. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the state's...

Donald Trump's poll numbers are good, political analyst Karl Rove conceded Thursday, but he urged viewers to put the numbers into "a little bit of perspective." "He has been in the race for six weeks,"..."He has had a good move up, a good bump up, but we've seen this before. "Look, there will be a lot of movement in this race. It is really still early." And even though Trump is topping the polls as far as Republicans who would support him, his favorability ratings are suffering, Rove said. -snip- However, pointed out Rove, "30 percent of the Republicans say...

Hillary Clinton’s polling is in freefall to such an extent that avowed socialist Bernie Sanders is looking like a palatable candidate to more than just the Democratic base. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows that the “inevitable” Democratic candidate is seeing her campaign’s momentum diminish. Time reports: Six weeks after setting her candidacy into high gear, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers are continuing to fall, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.Across nearly every key metric, from trustworthiness to caring about voters to leadership, Clinton has seen an erosion in public approval, as likely Republican rivals...

At a hearing Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked IRS Commissioner John Koskinen why the tax agency would demand that an Iowa prolife group tell them about the content of their prayers. Koskinen admitted the request was "totally inappropriate," saying he has apologized for the IRS. The agency also made every member of that Iowa group promise not to picket Planned Parenthood. "We should not have a federal government agency that becomes an intimidator, going after citizens, going after citizen groups, violating their First Amendment rights," Cruz said. Overall, the IRS targeted dozens of conservative and Tea Party groups, blocking...

New ( documentation) released by the House Oversight Committee this week again raises questions on how Lois Lerner’s hard drive was physically damaged and whether there was some kind of deliberate act to destroy data on it. The House Oversight Committee report cites an officially transcribed interview with John Minsek, senior investigative analyst with the IRS Criminal Investigations (CI) unit. Minsek examined the Lerner hard drive in 2011. In the transcribed interview, he notes Lerner's hard drive contained “well-defined scoring creating a concentric circle in the proximity of the center of the disk.” The Oversight Committee report states: "Using the...

RIO de Janeiro--Athletes in next year’s Summer Olympics will be swimming and boating in waters so contaminated with human feces that they risk becoming violently ill and unable to compete in the games, an Associated Press investigation has found. An AP analysis of water quality revealed dangerously high levels of viruses and bacteria from human sewage in Olympic and Paralympic venues – results that alarmed international experts and dismayed competitors training in Rio, some of whom have already fallen ill with fevers, vomiting and diarrhea. It is the first independent comprehensive testing for both viruses and bacteria at the Olympic...

During the Hundred Years' War, England had a centralized, state-controlled organization for manufacturing arrows in bulk. These were then issued as required to the soldiers on campaign. In June 1413, for example, Henry V appointed Nicholas Mynot to be “keeper of the king's arrows,” based in the Tower of London. Mynot was responsible for making arrows, but the royal fletchers alone could not supply the total need, so additional orders were placed with outside suppliers. In August 1413, for example, London-based fletcher Stephen Seler was paid for 12,000 arrows. We have some total figures available. In 1418, Henry V's government...

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi personally sanctioned a woman to be beheaded as a wedding present for a sadistic female 'judge' in the terror group's feared religious police, MailOnline can reveal. The notoriously cruel woman asked to kill an unbelieving 'infidel' in return for taking a new husband following the death of her mujahedeen husband in a battle. But al-Baghdadi insisted she could only take the life of another woman in line with the group's strict segregation of affairs between men and women. He ruled she could cut off the head of another female ISIS judge who had been accused...