Free Republic

  URGENT!!!! BEWARE…….this man, with a heavy arabic accent, was stopped by employees of a local Kosher Store for taking pictures of the building.  If you see any suspicious activity, report it IMMEDIATELY.  He made a call, and within seconds, a Prius cab #114, pictured below from Independent Cab Co. Pulled up, he jumped in, and they sped off.  LAPD has been notified. LAPD has been notified.

WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) - A $3 cup of shave ice is at the center of a dispute in this beach town between street vendors trying to stay in business and town officials who say the vendors cause traffic congestion and increase the potential for accidents. George Manko sells Hawaiian shave ice in a private parking lot for beachgoers in Westerly, where celebrities including Taylor Swift and Conan O'Brien have summer homes. The town recently banned street vendors, except for at festivals and one-time events. Town councilors who supported the ban said they did so because the police chief expressed safety...

A newspaper editor was fired after comparing gays to Nazis. Now he claims his First Amendment rights to write stupid things were violated.In April, the goateed editor of the Jasper County, Iowa Newton Daily News, Bob Eschliman, took to his personal blog to talk about Jesus and compare homosexuals to the Gestapo, as one does. When he was then fired, he felt as though he was under attack for his personal choice to live as he pleases — according to his interpretation of the Bible — and presumably saw no irony in that whatsoever. His incendiary post was promptly deleted...

CHICAGO – Employers in Illinois can no longer access criminal background checks on potential hires until after an interview is conducted. Gov. Quinn signed into law this week a bill that prohibits private employers from asking applicants about their criminal history prior to determining if they are qualified for the job. “Everyone deserves a second chance when it comes to getting a job,” Governor Quinn said in a press release. “This law will help ensure that people across Illinois get a fair shot to reach their full potential through their skills and qualifications, rather than past history. It will also...

Hey, do you remember when Michigan shocked the nation and became a right to work state in 2012? That was supposed to usher in the end of the world, at least in the view of union leaders and their Democrat water carriers. As Thomas Lifson reminds us at The American Thinker, the predictions were nigh on to apocalyptic. “There will be blood, there will be repercussions,” State Democratic Rep. Douglas Geiss, speaking on the House floor on Tuesday, warned ahead of the votes. And of course, there were predictions of disaster for the “little guy” as ruthless bosses would exploit...

Trayvon Martin never lived to see his 18th birthday, but the slain Florida teenager is slowly becoming one of the most important figures in the modern civil rights era. Martin was walking to his home in a gated Florida neighborhood in 2012 when neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman mistook him for a burglar. After a brief struggle, Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, an act that a jury later deemed justified. The case aroused racial tensions and immediately became a cause celebre among activists who believed that police did not follow through on charging Zimmerman simply because Martin was a...

Walgreens leaving Illinois for Switzerland? SPRINGFIELD – I picked up my vacation photos at Walgreens the other day.  And I didn’t hear any French, German or Italian spoken.How surprising.I’ve read that the Deerfield, Ill.,-based drugstore chain is considering becoming a Swiss corporation. I’ll admit the thought of a company that is essentially an American icon becoming a foreign corporation gives me pause.  After all, Walgreens is one of Illinois’ premier companies. It was founded here in 1901 and is headquartered in Deerfield, Ill. And now they are talking about moving their headquarters to Switzerland.But what exactly does it mean when...

Eight families in San Clemente have been targeted in a disturbing pattern under investigation by authorities: porcelain dolls have been left at their homes resembling young girls who live there. Some of the girls, all about 10 years old, attend the same elementary school, Orange County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Jeff Hallock said.

Earlier this year, Bush received some criticism from Republicans after he described illegal immigration as an “act of love.” Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) took a tougher line on illegal immigration Thursday, writing in an op-ed that federal law should be changed so that people who illegally cross the border aren't released from custody as they await hearings. Bush, who has expressed support for immigration reform and is considered a White House contender in 2016, said the existing law allows people who don't actually deserve asylum in the United States to too easily take cover under protections for real asylum...

Dennis Williams, above, did not hesitate to intervene to save a man being attacked by three pit bulls.  The event was reported on July 21, 2014, in Washington County, Wisconsin. Mr Williams is in his 70s.  He heard screams for help outside his house and saw a man on the ground being viciously attacked by three Pit Bulls.   He grabbed two baseball bats from his garage, and started hitting the animals with the bats.  It wasn't enough.   He retrieved a pistol, and started back toward the scene.   The animals started advancing on him.  He shot and killed one dog...

The Planning Commission for Escondido, a city just outside of San Diego, voted unanimously, by a 6-0 vote, to reject sheltering Central Americans caught illegally crossing the U.S. southern border. A proposal to convert a vacant retirement home and create a 96-bed shelter for the illegal border crossers was opposed by many of the neighborhood residents, according to Reuters. Escondido now falls in lock step with Murrieta, California, about 30 miles north of Escondido, where protesters forced busses to make a U-turn and reroute back to the San Ysidro, California Border Patrol station, near the U.S.-Mexico border. Breitbart News has...

This brief preview of “Politics Unplugged” gives a hint of the tone of the debate between conservative Attorney General Tom Horne and challenger, Mark Brnovich, recruited by establishment power brokers. Sticking to his script, Brnovich talks about “allegations,” and continually talks over Attorney General Tom Horne. In this TV 3 clip, Horne asks Brnovich, who has referred to himself as a “principled conservative,” why he “contributed to Pete Rios, the leading left-wing champion of illegal immigration, who actually had a bill to give licenses to illegals.”

Checking in from Murrieta: National Protest Day 7/19/2014: The Border Patrol station in Murrieta was as quiet Saturday mid-afternoon as it was Friday. A token law enforcement presence was stationed at the intersection in front of the entrance where a lone patriot stood tall with his flag firmly planted. Similar to Friday, about a dozen patriots were scattered in and along side the 3 pop-up tents onsite, some waving flags and holding signs, and others seated in the shade chatting pleasantly amongst themselves. There were no counter-protestors present when we arrived about 2:30pm. [along road at Border Patrol Station entrance...

As Canada Free Press reported, Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have taken place in many cities and countries throughout the West. These protests occasionally turned violent as did the one held last Friday in Calgary, Alberta. But what happened in Calgary was different.

Location of Till Dawn Bottle Club at 8205 Dale Mabry Highway In this unusual case in Tampa, Florida, little is reported about possible motivations; but we can make informed speculations.  The facts are this.   A patron of the Till Dawn Bottle Club was thrown out of the club at about 3:30 a.m. He drove off in a Dodge Challenger, and subsequently rear ended a GMC Yukon that was being driven by a visitor from Pennsylvannia, Alexander Sierra, 27.  Alexander was accompanied by his brother and girl friend. They followed the Challenger until its driver lost control and hit a...

Political correctness has now reached an entirely new stratosphere: The University of Wisconsin-Madison believes grades should be apportioned based on race: Campus Reform reports: The policy, named the “Framework for Diversity and Inclusive Excellence,” calls for “proportional participation of historically underrepresented racial-ethnic groups at all levels of an institution, including high-status special programs, high-demand majors, and in the distribution of grades.” Huh? UWM professor W. Lee Hansen wrote about his concerns with the ridiculous politically correct policy late last week: “Professors, instead of just awarding the grade that each student earns, would apparently have to adjust them so that academically...

There are enough signatures that have been to place on the ballot to break California up into six States.

On Saturday, 200 people marched through the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles protesting racial profiling and gun violence on the first anniversary of the verdict acquitting George Zimmerman of murdering Trayvon Martin. The crowd, led by Trayvon Martin’s parents, carried banners and chanted, “What do we want?... Justice. What do we want?… Justice.” According to CBS2 Los Angeles, the rally was organized by the Trayvon Martin Foundation, which states on its website that its purpose is to “create awareness of how violent crime impacts the families of the victims and to provide support and advocacy for those families in response...

In this strange incident, little is said about why the intruder tried to force his way into the shooters home.   All that we know is that the homeowner drove into his garage, and the intruder drove a car behind the homeowner to prevent the garage door from closing.  A verbal altercation followed, then warning shots were fired, then the  intruder was shot. The authorities are investigating the incident, which they say stems from the rather ambiguous term "road rage". From the marinscope.com: The homeowner, a 71-year-old man, drove into his garage, and the other man tried to drive in behind...

U.S. Border Patrol agents on the American side of the Rio Grande were forced to take cover Friday night when high-caliber weaponry was fired at them from the Mexican side of the river, sources told FoxNews.com. The weapons were fired at the U.S. side of the riverbank in the area of the Rincon Peninsula across the Rio Grande from Reynosa, Mexico, at about 8:30 p.m., sources said. Bullets ricocheted into an area where Border Patrol agents were positioned, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, told FoxNews.com. Border Patrol sources confirmed Gohmert’s account, and said the shots may have been fired by .50-caliber...

Hamas claimed it captured an Israeli soldier Sunday on the deadliest day yet in the battle between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. The solider was taken during an early morning operation, according to Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing, al-Qassam Brigades. He provided the supposed soldier's name and ID. "He is a prisoner, and if Zionists lie about the dead and wounded, then the fate of this soldier is their responsibility," the spokesman said. Gunfire and cheers erupted in Gaza in apparent celebration of the soldier's capture, according to CNN reporters on the ground. There was no...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – A man says he was just riding his bike at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront when out of nowhere a man got up and punched him in the head. The victim believes he was on the receiving end of the “knockout game,” a crime fad sweeping the county. “I‘m lucky that I didn’t get seriously get injured,“ said the Virginia Beach man, who wanted to remain anonymous. He said he wanted to tell his story to raise awareness — a story that ended with a trip to the emergency room. “It was absolutely crazy,” he said....

Let me be the second to say it: “Welcome to Los Angeles. We’ll leave the light on for you.” The first to say it was L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti when he announced last week that Los Angeles will gladly welcome the thousands upon thousands of children who have streamed illegally across our poorly secured borders over the past few months. The light is always on for illegal immigrants in L.A., a green light welcoming even more desperately poor people into a city that never fails to double down on false compassion. “Before you get partisan, before you tell me where...

Even as Congress struggles with the ongoing crisis at the border and the President plans some sort of meeting with Central American leaders, there seems to be no shortage of elected officials who want to get in on the action. Of course, if you’re looking for help with a huge problem on the Texas border, your first thought might not be to ask somebody in upstate New York. But that won’t stop the city’s mayor, Stephanie Minor. (Go ahead… say “Mayor Minor” five times fast.) The mayor’s latest pitch came in a letter to President Obama. “We have a network...

It has been more than three months since my constituents in Bunkerville, Nev., had their lives turned upside down by the standoff at the Bundy ranch. Although Bunkerville (population 1,300) is no longer in the media spotlight, life there has not returned to normal. The militia presence may have dwindled, but a sense of chaos and uncertainty lingers in my state and the broader American West. When news of a rebellious rancher facing off with federal agents broke in April, conservative media and politicians pounced, quickly lionizing Cliven Bundy as a patriot. They handed Bundy a megaphone, and self-proclaimed militia...

Looking for a place where Obamacare doesn't exist? Try moving to the U.S. Territories, where the Obama administration just provided a pretty big waiver from the law's major coverage provisions. The Affordable Care Act's design dealt a pretty big problem to the territories. It required insurers there to comply with the law's major market reforms — guaranteed coverage, mandated benefits, limits on profits, etc. — without requiring residents to get coverage or providing subsidies to help them afford coverage. The territories — Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands — have been warning...

Kgb USA Inc. has informed the Texas Workforce Commission that it plans to carry out a “mass layoff” in San Antonio. The call center company, which does business as Conduit Global, expects to eliminate 225 positions by Aug. 31. Conduit Global officials say the layoffs are a result of an unexpected cancellation of services by one of the company’s clients. Conduit Global notes in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) letter filed with the Texas Workforce Commission that it is hopeful the layoffs can be minimized by the “potential award of a large customer care contract.” If a...

Dr. Elaina George, an ear, nose, throat and chest specialist from Atlanta, told Charles Payne on FOX News today that the US could be facing a health crisis as the thousands of newly illegal children enter the classrooms this fall. “There’s an example in Maryland, where parents got a letter from the school that there children had been exposed to an illegal child who had TB who was one of their classmates. So this fall it is potentially possible that these children entering the school systems could be carrying all sorts of things, diseases that are not on the radar.”...

('Send an ambulance - he's going to need one': Father who walked in on a man molesting his son, 11, beat him to a pulp before calling cops to say 'I have him in a bloody puddle for you' ) A father who walked in on a man allegedly sexually assaulting his 11-year-old son beat the man to a pulp before calling police to say they could come collect him from the 'bloody puddle' on his floor. The 35-year-old man, who has not been identified, told a 911 dispatcher in the early hours of Friday: 'I just walked in on...

PORTSMOUTH, Va. – When a man heard noises in his backyard and heard the back door handle click, he ushered his family upstairs, grabbed his gun and prepared to defend himself. Brandon Watson remembers his wife seeing “guys in all black” approaching the house; when he couldn’t immediately find a phone to call 911, he instead ran back downstairs with his legally purchased gun. Watson recalls warning the intruders, “Who is that? I have a gun,” and immediately finding “two red laser beams” trained on his chest. He then fired a warning shot through a window, and ran across the...

LOS ANGELES – Nearly 500 people are expected to converge on Crenshaw High School Saturday for the Trayvon Martin Foundation’s 2014 LA Peace Walk and Peace Talk, hosted by Martin’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, organizers said this week. Local activists and civic leaders will join young people at the quarter-mile march that will honor “the right that all people should be able to walk safely on their streets,” says local organizer Vanessa Bolden. Martin, 17, was killed in February 2012 as he returned from a convenience after buying Skittles and a soft drink. George Zimmerman admitted killing Martin,...

Term limited Secretary of State Ken Bennett is one of the pack of six running in the Republican primary for governor. He’s generally regarded as a low-key guy better known for strumming his guitar and making budget presentations using Kleenex boxes, than for the time he served in the state senate from 1998 – 2007. He also gained attention for incidents surrounding verification of Obama’s birth certificate. Not nearly as much for the inquiry itself as for his inane follow-up apology as reported here on KTAR News. Now, as if he isn’t busy enough running a statewide campaign financed by...

We are fast becoming a nation of Pavlik Morozovs. Little Pavlik, you may recall, was the 13-year-old subject of a dubious Soviet story about how a young boy’s loyalty to the state trumped his love for his parents. Pavlik was supposedly witness to his father, the chair of his local Soviet, giving aid to enemies of the people. The boy turned his own father in to Stalinist authorities, the story went. Enraged by the betrayal, Pavlik was killed by his own family and was posthumously dubbed a martyr for socialist values. Though the tale was later proven to have been...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)NEW YORK -- Following the noxious scenes in Murrieta, California earlier this month in which women and children from Central American were greeted by flag-waving mobs shouting, "go home" and "you’re not welcome", the ugly face of American populism was given another airing on Tuesday as protesters descended on the small town of Oracle, Arizona, to rally against the transfer of 40 immigrant children to a local academy for troubled youths. Yet unlike in Murrieta, those demonstrating against the arrival of the destitute and vulnerable were met by a counter protest organised by pro-immigrant supporters, with heated exchanges between the...

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley wants to be the next President of the United States, and he’s just brazenly hypocritical enough for the job. O’Malley recently won praise from the left with a bleeding heart speech before a group of reporters over the scale of the humanitarian crisis at the southern border. “We are not a country that should send children away and send them back to certain death,” O’Malley said to reporters attending a National Governors Association conference last week. “I believe that we should be guided by the greatest power we have as a people, and that is the...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)STARR COUNTY - La Grulla police found a member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang among several illegal immigrants. A La Grulla police officer pulled over a vehicle after a traffic violation. The officer discovered several undocumented immigrants. The officer said he was shocked to find a member of the hyper-violent gang among the immigrants. He said the 26-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador was covered in tattoos linking him to the criminal organization. The traffic stop happened on Military Road. "I observed that the rear passenger had some tattoos on his elbow. Once I confronted him about them, he...

Fender benders and minor traffic stops aren't supposed to send someone to jail. But that's the risk faced by immigrants living in Palm Beach County without U.S. citizenship, local religious activists say. A coalition of nearly 30 religious congregations maintains that too often identification problems and citizenship questions result in the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office taking someone to jail who otherwise just would have faced a ticket or a requirement to appear in court.People Engaged in Active Community Efforts, or PEACE, maintains that jailing immigrants after minor traffic offenses because of citizenship questions is unfair, adds costs for taxpayers...

PARKER COUNTY — A Parker County family and Sheriff Larry Fowler blame lax border security for a frightening crime. On Saturday morning, 35-year-old Israel Andrade allegedly broke into a home in Springtown by crawling through a window. The sheriff’s office said Andrade has been deported to Mexico four times, starting in 2003. "My daughter ran into our room screaming, 'Mom! Mom! Mom! Someone's in the house!" said the mother of a nine-year-old girl. We’re not identifying the family because of the age of the victim and the nature of the crime. The woman's daughter said she woke up to a...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) If U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ever needs a new job, he could find himself at home in Afghanistan. After a recent diplomatic visit to the country, Kerry was hailed as a hero and a great politician, so much so, that some Afghans wished he would run for president. “John Kerry is the greatest American and the best friend of Afghanistan. He helped prevent this country from going to civil war two times,” 29-year-old Kabul shopkeeper Maqsood Parwani told NBC news. “I wish if we could elect him as our president, but we cannot so hope the American...

After the federal government surreptitiously dumped illegal immigrants in Nebraska last week without informing its governor, Republican Iowa Governor Terry Branstad told federal officials Monday that he did not want his state hosting any illegal immigrant children. “The first thing we need to do is secure the border. I do have empathy for these kids,” Branstad said, according to the Associated Press. “But I also don’t want to send the signal that (you) send your kids to America illegally. That’s not the right message.” Branstad also "said he was not aware of any of the children currently living in Iowa"...

One year after being outed as illiterate in the trial, Jeantel is a changed woman after graduating from high school. She hopes to get a college degree, too.She did it for Trayvon. One year after being outed as illiterate in the George Zimmerman murder trial, Trayvon Martin's friend Rachel Jeantel is a changed woman after graduating from high school. Jeantel underwent seven hours of tutoring a day after her reading skills were ridiculed when she testified during the Florida trial last year at age 19. At the time, she had a fourth-grade reading level. "Very, very, very tough," she told...

Border Patrol agents are dropping off undocumented immigrants at bus stations and now at airports. Some said those who crossed illegally into the U.S are able to purchase plane tickets and board flights without a picture I.D as required for everyone else. National Border Patrol Council said while they are unaware of immigrants boarding planes without identification in the Rio Grande Valley. A union representative out of the Laredo sector told us that it is happening in Laredo and it’s happening quite often. We spoke to National Border Patrol Council #2455 in Laredo, and what they told us was shocking....

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is proposing several pieces of gun control legislation this Wednesday to City Council. And as WKSU’s Kabir Bhatia reports, people on both sides of the issue were in Public Square over the weekend. Mayor Jackson’s proposals include a registry for anyone convicted of gun offenses, as well as prohibitions and regulations related to the sale of firearms. Jonathan O’Connor is with grassroots group Ohio Carry, based in Columbus. He was among the roughly 60 people milling around in Public Square Sunday afternoon, some with handguns holstered openly at their waists or assault weapons slung over their...

A Mexican national who records show has been deported from the U.S. four times was arrested Saturday for allegedly fondling a 9 year-old Texas girl. According to the Parker County sheriff’s office, 35 year-old Israel Andrade allegedly broke into a Springtown, Tex. home around 6 a.m. and molested the young girl while her family was asleep, WFAA reports. Following the attack, the girl ran screaming to wake her parents. Andrade allegedly stole the family’s computer and their cell phones, forcing the girl’s mother to have to call 911 from a nearby convenience store. According to Fox DFW, footprints led police...

It's rare when any business in Clark County attracts national or even regional interest, so the media throng that greeted last Wednesday's opening of Main Street Marijuana was quite a curiosity. The clever "weed and weenies" event that accompanied the store's opening, along with the presence of Mayor Tim Leavitt at the ribbon-cutting, captured the attention of media outlets that devour eye-catching visuals. But business likely would still have been brisk at Main Street Marijuana even if it hadn't snagged the free publicity. With a state-imposed limit of just 15 retail outlets for all of Clark County, and with some...

I remember growing up and always hearing my parents and their friends talk about one pivotal moment in their lives. They remembered exactly where they were at that point. Exactly who told them the news. Exactly how they felt once it all sunk in. When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, everyone who was alive during that time remembers. One year ago, today, was our generation’s moment. It was late on a Saturday night. Some of us were out to dinner. Some of us were home with our families. Some of us were still shopping. Some of us...

Paris - Clashes erupted in Paris on Sunday as thousands of people protested against Israel and in support of residents in the Gaza Strip, where a six-day conflict has left 168 Palestinians dead. Several thousand demonstrators walked calmly through the streets of Paris behind a large banner that read "Total Support for the Struggle of the Palestinian People". But clashes erupted at the end of the march on Bastille Square, with people throwing projectiles onto a cordon of police who responded with tear gas. The unrest continued early Sunday evening as police announced six arrests had been made. A small...

( Family's outrage after drunk hit-and-run driver is sentenced to just 120 DAYS in prison for killing man who lost wife and daughter in similar incident ) A drunk driver who killed a 57-year-old motorcyclist when he sped through a red light last year will only have to spend 120 days in prison - a light sentence that has infuriated the victim's already heartbroken family. Ronald O'Kelly, 25, plead guilty to charges of involuntary vehicular manslaughter due to intoxication and fleeing the scene on Friday, in connection with the tragic April 2013 accident that killed Kansas City man Leroy 'Buddy'...

America’s oldest family owned and operated gun manufacturing company O.F. Mossberg & Sons, has its eye on Texas. The company was founded in Connecticut in 1919; however, after Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) passed one of the strictest gun-control legislations in the nation last April, Mossberg & Sons is looking to expand in a more gun-friendly state. CEO Iver Mossberg told Forbes: “Investing in Texas was an easy decision. It’s a state that is not only committed to economic growth but also honors and respects the Second Amendment and the firearm freedoms it guarantees for our customers.” The gun company will...

Southeast New Mexico is facing a crisis that cuts at the heart of Christian faith and practice. With Immigration and Customs Enforcement bringing some 600 Central American refugees to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, local citizens are rallying. Tragically, the most vehement response is exceptionally negative, couched in fear, fueled in politicized rhetoric and grounded in anything but biblical, moral and humanitarian concerns. As faith leaders and pastors in Eddy and Lea Counties, we call for Christian grace, morality and common sense given the looming crisis. We commend events like a planned July 15 interfaith vigil at...