Free Republic

We don't want to live in Ted Cruz's America. He doesn't like ours. Maybe a split really is inevitable — and right Yes, I know Michele Bachmann is from Minnesota and Steve King is from Iowa, but all this proves is that in the 150 or so years since the Civil War, the vituperative Confederate agenda of anti-Americanism has managed to spread its irresistible redneck poison into benighted pockets across the country. Kind of like Waffle House. But to deny that the current attack on the federal government isn’t part of the hidebound Confederate agenda is to ignore the people...

It's been two days since 34-year-old dental hygienist Miriam Carey was killed after she rammed her car into a barricade in front of the White House and led security forces on a chase toward the U.S. Capitol, and some are asking whether the use of deadly force against her was truly necessary. While the first accounts of Carey's death said she exited her black Infiniti before she was shot, investigators now say she was still in the vehicle when officers fired the fatal bullets. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance W. Gainer told reporters that Carey "was trying to make a U-turn [toward...

Ohio corrections officials say Ariel Castro who held three women captive in his home for nearly a decade has committed suicide at a state prison facility. Spokeswoman JoEllen Smith says 53-year-old Castro was found hanging in his cell around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient. Prison medical staff performed CPR before Castro was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

#BreakingNews - Activists: #FSA downs Iranian cargo plane at #Damascus International Airport. #Syria

LOS ANGELES – Three million Time Warner Cable customers in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas are losing the CBS channel, as the cable provider says it is dropping the network in a dispute over fees.

(original title, had to be shortened to fit):Bloodbath in Cairo: More than 120 dead and 1,000 injured after police 'shoot to kill' in violent clashes which have rocked Egypt More than 120 people are believed to have been killed at a protest in support of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi, according to the Muslim Brotherhood. Security forces are reported to have started shooting demonstrators shortly before pre-dawn morning prayers at a round-the-clock vigil in Cairo being staged by backers of Morsi, who was removed from power by the army three weeks ago. Makeshift field hospitals around the area near the...

(CNSNews.com) - Political commentator Charles Krauthammer said the record of outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was that "the underwear didn't explode." When discussing the announcement of Napolitano’s resignation on Special Report with Bret Baier on Fox News on Friday, political analyst for Fox News Juan Williams offered a defense for her tenure: “Can I just offer one contrary note, which is under her tenure we've had no attacks, we've been safe as Americans— "Fort Hood," Bret Baier interrupted. "We've had no attacks--I mean she has managed this, to me, very well,” Williams said. “They're now looking at...

Jurors in the George Zimmerman murder trial will be able to hear defense testimony that Trayvon Martin had small amounts of marijuana in his system at the time he was shot to death in February 2012

I was born in Anniston, Alabama, in the 50s and had to fight for my equality most of my life. You see, there were many who thought I should be treated like a second class citizen, drink from a different water fountain, sit in the back of the bus, be counted as three-quarters of a person, go to a different school, eat and sit in the black section of restaurants, use a different bathroom; you know, be separate but equal.

On Tuesday, Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson told MSNBC’s Martin Bashir that he believes, if the racial distinctions were reversed in the case against George Zimmerman for the 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin, the public’s reaction to the cases would be dramatically different. He added that the “George Zimmermans of the world continue to get away” with “the killing of our children” without facing justice. Dyson began by lamenting the course of court proceedings in which, he said, Martin was “dying again the death of a thousand qualifications, which is what our legal system is about.” “I don’t have...

The markings the fatal bullet left on Trayvon Martin's sweatshirt and body supports George Zimmerman's account that Martin was on top and leaning over him when Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, a leading forensics expert testified today. "The medical evidence is consistent with his statement," Dr. Vincent Di Maio told the Florida court. Di Maio said that the pattern of powder burns on Martin's sweatshirt and skin indicated that the shirt was two to four inches away from Martin's chest when he was shot by Zimmerman. "Mr. Martin was over him, leaning forward," he said. "If you are lying on...

A forensic expert testified Tuesday that Trayvon Martin's gunshot wound indicated that he was likely on top of George Zimmerman when the neighborhood watch volunteer shot him. Forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent Di Maio, an expert on gunshot wounds who has written and co-authored several articles and a book on the subject, said the single shot that killed the Florida teen passed through Martin's clothing as it hung 2-4 inches from his skin, indicating that Martin was over Zimmerman and leaning forward. "If you’re lying on your back, the clothing is going to be against your chest," Di Maio testified. "So...

As the trial continues into its 11th day, forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent Di Maio took the stand to describe how and where Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman. An expert on gunshot wounds, Di Maio, hired by the defense, testified Tuesday that George Zimmerman's account of how he fatally shot Trayvon Martin is consistent with the forensic evidence. Di Maio said that the trajectory of the bullet and gun powder on Martin's body supports Zimmerman's version that Martin was on top of him when Zimmerman fired his gun into Martin's chest. The gun's muzzle was against Martin's clothing and...

George Zimmerman's "nose was very disfigured" and blood covered much of his face immediately after his deadly confrontation with Trayvon Martin, a woman who previously lived near him in their Florida subdivision testified Tuesday. Eloise Dilligard, whose testimony was beamed into the courtroom via the web because of an undisclosed health problem, said she said went to the crime scene immediately after the Feb. 26, 2012 incident, and saw several residents of the gated community milling around. She said a police officer came up to her and asked for help identifying "someone who may know the people involved in the...

The Trayvon Martin case has been nothing short of heartbreak from the very beginning. Regardless of what anyone believes about Trayvon's past, his innocence or George Zimmerman's, the fact remains that a teenager is dead. I honestly didn't think I would get emotionally broken up more than I was over the story that Rachel Jeantel's friendship with Martin stemmed from the fact he was one of the only people who never picked on her. The story painted such a tragic picture of friendship and two people whose lives will never be the same. Then came this week's testimonies and reactions...

The woman who intervened when an officer pulled over one of her sons, leading to a racially-charged scuffle that set off the 1965 Watts riot, has died. The Los Angeles Times reports Saturday that Rena Price died of natural causes on June 10. She was 97. …

A 33-year-old Michigan woman and convert to Islam has been killed in Syria while fighting with opposition forces against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war, her family said on Thursday.

Charley Reese, a retired Orlando Sentinel columnist known for his conservative voice, has died, according to a Facebook post by his daughter. Reese, who was 76, died Tuesday after a long illness, according to the post. He was admitted to a hospital in February and later was transferred to a rehabilitation facility.

One day before President Obama is due to deliver a major speech on national security, his administration on Wednesday formally acknowledged that the United States had killed four American citizens in drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan. In a letter to Congressional leaders obtained by The New York Times, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. disclosed that the administration had deliberately killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric who was killed in a drone strike in September 2011 in Yemen. The American responsibility for Mr. Awlaki’s death has been widely reported, but the administration had until now refused to confirm...

Head of the NBC News Group Pat Fili-Krushel announced late Friday afternoon that the news magazine "Rock Center with Brian Williams" would be cancelled after its final airing on June 21. “I would like to thank Brian, Alex, David and the entire 'Rock Center' team for their efforts. The show will be missed,” Fili-Krushel wrote in an email released after a very busy news day heading into a weekend. The timing suggests the 4th place (and sometimes 5th place) peacock network was hoping to minimize the public relations black eye associated with the failure of such a high-profile show. The...