Free Republic

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyRa'anana, Israel --- April 18, 2015 ... No, the Jews are not running to Pontius Pilate and the Romans have no crucifixions scheduled for this weekend. But someone forgot to fax the Jehovah's Witnesses that Jews do not live in Israel to become converts to Christianity. Ra'anana residents, municipal officials, a city Chief Rabbi and the Yad L'Achim anti-assimilation organization coordinated efforts to cancel a Jehovah's Witnesses baptism ceremony today. This is the second time that Yad L'Achim has succeeded in heading off the same baptism-of-Jews ceremony. It was first scheduled to be held in...

ROANOKE, VA (AP) -- Coal producer Xinergy Ltd. and more than two dozen subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Knoxville, Tennessee-based Xinergy filed a Chapter 11 petition last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Roanoke, Virginia. The petition lists zero to $50,000 in assets and about $100 million to $500 million in liabilities....

A resolution to close the Republican Primary will take center stage at the upcoming Arizona Republican Party Committee meeting, Saturday, April 18, 2015 at the state GOP headquarters. The rift over this issue centers on McCain-aligned state chairman Robert Graham wanting to allow registered Independents to continue to vote in Republican primary elections and the grassroots conservative base of the party who view this intrusion through the prism of teams allowing their adversaries to choose their players preceding the opening season. (SNIP) Of course McCain got that wrong. This is what Reagan actually said: “A political party cannot be all...

Unless you’re an eagle-eyed reader, you might have missed the latest news from Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. It was tucked away and hugging the bottom of Page 3 in a travelogue sounding section called “Around Arizona.”. The Periódico de la República de Arizona (Arizona Republic) couldn’t be more gleeful to report that Brnovich filed a motion on Friday asking a U.S. District Court to dismiss the Ninth U. S. Circuit appeal of a policy charging illegal aliens as co-conspirators with their well-paid coyote transporters as they smuggle themselves into Arizona. By pulling the appeal, Brnovich will let stand an...

Sometimes, 7 shots are not enough.  10 Shots are not enough.  20 shots are not enough, 30 shots are not enough.  In the case related below, 40 shots were required to defeat a determined attacker. Most predators retreat in the face of resistance.  If a predator faces armed resistance very many times, they will be killed or wounded.  In nature, that makes for a short life.  But there are motives for aggression other than predation.  Defending territory and competing for mates are two of them, often intertwined.  Those conflicts are engaged in with fierce dedication.  Without territory or mates, ...

The “homeless billionaire,” a world-renowned architect and the future of Brick City.Newark is building again. Yes, that Newark—the city in Jersey that burned after the ’67 riots, the one that helped to define “white flight,” that struggles still with almost impenetrable unemployment and homelessness and crime. That city is building. And here it all is—its past and present and future—pouring through Irene Hall’s floor-to-ceiling windows downtown: the whites and browns of the Old First Presbyterian Church, founded in 1666; haggard red brick facades with windows sealed off by cinderblock; the neon blue lights of Hotel Indigo, which opened last year...

Republican Edward "Ted" Cruz was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012. He is the first Cuban-American to serve in that role for the state of Texas. Cruz announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential primary on March 23, 2015. (You can watch the video of his announcement at the bottom of the page.) Cruz is a graduate of Harvard Law School. While in private practice, he worked on the legal team of President George W. Bush during Bush vs. Gore, the Supreme Court case that stopped the recount of disputed ballots in Florida, securing the 2000 election for Bush....

Pope Francis has admitted that he has "some nerve problems" which require treatment as well as various neuroses. See here. A neuroses is defined as, "A relatively mild mental illness that is not caused by organic disease, involving symptoms of stress such as depression, anxiety, obsessive behavior and hypochondria." Now, I would never make light of another person's mental illness or disorder. There but for the grace of God go I as Saint Philip Neri once said. I have been through exhaustive psychological exams and screenings both for the United States Air Force (to obtain a security clearance above top...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) BROOKLYN, Iowa (CNN) - Hillary Clinton kicked off her Brooklyn, New York, headquartered presidential campaign on Sunday, but what she and her staff may not realize is that there is already a campaign HQ in Brooklyn. Iowa, that is. Standing on W. Front Street in Brooklyn, Iowa, is a nondescript building with a few small windows and red, white and blue lights outside. Above the door, the building is identified as "Campaign HQ," a company that is "Now Hiring!!" The business has little to do with Clinton, who currently finds herself road tripping from New York to Iowa for...

In this case in Kentucky, the robber had a fake gun.  When the victim pulled his own gun, the robber resorted to a gesture that indicated he did not want a gun fight.  But the realistic fake gun was still in his hand. The clerk fired, the robber dropped the fake gun and fled.  His accomplices dropped him off at a closed Urgent Care, but bystanders called an ambulance and he survived, barely.  Link to video William Sexton's Accomplices Police Chief Rick Sanders joins a growing list of police and Sheriffs who have praised armed defenders.  From wlky.com: Sanders...

Pasadena city officials recently signed a letter of intent to develop a vertical farming facility and education center in north Pasadena through an agreement with Indoor Harvest Corp., a Houston-based company that designs and sells hydroponic systems and specializes in high-tech urban farming techniques. “We were looking for low-impact development projects for north Pasadena and came up with the idea of vertical farming, which seemed to be a perfect fit for that area,” Pasadena Publications Manager Wayne Holt said. “We also hope to eventually add a farmer’s market and educational programs in partnership with Pasadena ISD. This type of project...

The sign read: “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Dice” at this All American Burger in Redondo Beach. Jeff Spicoli, who says he’s a regular customer, told reporters that he and his two friends were asked to leave if they didn’t put their shirts back on. “The manager went, like, totally fascist on us,” said Spicoli, a senior at Ridgemont High School. “He wouldn’t take our order until we put our shirts on. It was bogus, man.” Spicoli and his friends are now accusing All American Burger of discrimination. Assistant Manager Brad Hamilton said, “I just pointed to the sign. Everyone...

New York hedge-fund billionaire Robert Mercer, who spent more than $1 million trying to elect Republican Art Robinson to Congress in Oregon, is reportedly now putting his fortune to work for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz. The National Review reports that Mercer controls one of the four super-PACs that together claim to have raised $31 million to support the Texas senator's presidential bid. The super-PACs are set up so that they can raise donations of unlimited size. While the leaders of these groups can't coordinate directly with the candidate's campaign they can otherwise conduct a wide range of advertising and...

The Virginian Pilot reacted with hate and bigotry to the evidence that the fable about coed “Jackie” gang raped by the fraternity brothers at UVA was a lie from beginning to end. They ran a cartoon showing a “right wing” couch potato ranting about rape to his TV set while his daughter enters the room, apparently the victim of rape. It’s the kind of thing you expect from the “cool kids gang” in junior high taunting their classmates after they are exposed as fakes. It’s what the little bastard do to reclaim their superior status. There is a great takedown...

California, especially California cities, have had a bad reputation for decades, of legally stealing firearms.  This was primarily done with police officers confiscating firearms that they came across, without any crime being committed.  Department policy was then to refuse to return the firearm unless a court ordered them to do so.  As the process of obtaining a court order would ordinarily be much more costly than the price of a firearm, most people who had their firearms stolen by police simply did not bother in attempting to obtain a court order. The situation became so notorious that a law...

Two years ago, in May of 2013, James George Stiffler shot a man who was burglarizing his home in Lewis and Clark County, Montana. The burglar, Henry Tomas Johnson of Helena, managed to make it to his car, but died before being able to leave the property. The case illustrates the ability of forensic science to determine details of what happened. From helenair.com: Henry Thomas Johnson, 37, of Helena, was shot dead in 2013 while apparently ransacking a home in Lewis and Clark County. Nearly two years later, the county attorney has charged homeowner James George Stiffler with felony...

It seems that Michah Grable attacked William McBride.  McBride accessed a firearm, and used it to drive off Grable, but he did not continue to pursue him or to shoot at him.  The case seems to revolve around timing.  Did McBride reasonably believe that he was still under threat?  Did witnesses think so? Both men were arrested.  Grable is out on $4,000 bond, while McBride is still in jail on $20,000 bail required by the court.   From kagstv.com: According to the probable cause statement, Grable was upset with McBride and confronted him in the parking lot of Jesse's Taqueria...

The young woman shown above was clearly justified in shooting the ex-boyfriend who attacked her.  There were witnesses.  She repeatedly attempted to disengage, and only resorted to shooting after being repeatedly attacked.  From clicktohouston.com: The woman said she was forced to shoot her ex-boyfriend in the leg because he was threatening to hurt her. Houston police said the man started following the woman near Highway 59 and South Gessner Wednesday morning and things escalated from there. Investigators said at one point he forced his way into her car and tried to crash it. Even though it was self defense,...

Benjamin Crump, the lawyer who skyrocketed to national prominence by representing the family of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed Florida teenager who was followed, confronted and shot to death by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla., said that since the 4th grade, he always knew that he wanted to grow up and fight for the community. “The measure of a man is defined by the impact that they make on the world,” said Crump. “Everyday we have to get up and ask, ‘What impact are we going to make on the world?’ and we have to do it, because our children are...

I flagged this story last night on Twitter but Matt Welch already wrote the post I wanted to write this morning about State Sen. Jim Arnold. I wonder if this schmuck is misinformed about what the pizzeria owners said, as so many people burning them in virtual effigy seem to be, or if he knows and is prepared to run them out of town regardless: “The vast majority of people in this country are not going to stand by and watch that kind of activity unfold,” [Arnold] said. “If that’s their stand I hope they enjoy eating their pizza because...