Free Republic

Lawyers for Minnesota terror suspects argue ISIL not a terrorist organization Attorneys for 7 suspects in FBI case are also seeking lighter security at trial, saying it could influence jury. Defense attorneys for seven suspects charged with supporting terrorism are arguing that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is not a terrorist organization because it operates a government and regulates services for citizens living under its control in Syria. In one of several motions filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, the attorneys argued that despite its reputation for brutality, ISIL carries many characteristics of a...

People are again predicting his demise. The widely admired Megyn Kelly is definitely a riskier target for him than John McCain was. But since an enormous amount of his appeal is based on saying outrageous things and not apologizing for them, it’d be foolish to think that anything that has transpired since Thursday will sink him. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if the debate and its aftermath check or reverse the progress he’d been making in the internals of the polls (higher favorable ratings, fewer Republicans saying they’d never consider voting for him, etc.). I basically only have one barometer...

One of Cecil the lion's cubs has reportedly been killed by a rival male who was trying to mate with his mother. Cecil, a 13-year-old lion who was beloved by visitors and park rangers at his home in Zimbabwe, was killed last month by an American dentist on a hunting trip. The death of one of Cecil's eight cubs has raised fears for his remaining offspring, which could also be targeted by the large predatory male lion.

Police Issue Warning After Cyclists Randomly Attacked In Minneapolis MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Random attacks against bicyclists in Minneapolis are prompting warnings Sunday from police. We’ll warn you, there are disturbing photos with this story as someone’s been throwing chunks of concrete at bikers. Two people were hit on Friday in separate incidents, including 20-year-old Mackenzie Jensen of south Minneapolis. He was biking on a quiet south Minneapolis block of 41st Street when officers say he was attacked out of the blue. A woman who was hit was in the same area. The female victim was grazed with the chunk of...

Winston-Salem, N.C. — MY mind was absorbed by the biochemistry of gene editing when the text messages and Facebook posts distracted me. So sorry about Cecil. Did Cecil live near your place in Zimbabwe? Cecil who? I wondered. When I turned on the news and discovered that the messages were about a lion killed by an American dentist, the village boy inside me instinctively cheered: One lion fewer to menace families like mine. My excitement was doused when I realized that the lion killer was being painted as the villain. I faced the starkest cultural contradiction I’d experienced during my...

Angry vandals defaced the vacation home of lion killer Walter J Palmer overnight on Monday, while also littering the American dentist's driveway with pig's feet in a show of outrage over the death of a beloved lion named Cecil. Pictures taken Tuesday morning outside the 55-year-old's $1million vacation home in Marco Island, Florida show the garage door spray painted with the words 'Lion killer!' and a handful of orange pig's feet scattered across the front of the house. Palmer has been in hiding ever since he was identified last month as the big game hunter behind the cruel killing of...

he Empire State Building’s projection of Cecil the lion and other endangered animals is being criticized for ignoring the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Along with Cecil, whose illegal killing sparked an international uproar, a snow leopard, tigers, lemurs and various snakes, birds and sea creatures were projected onto the building using 40 projectors, CNN reported.

A Minnesota man opened fire on a birthday party after the birthday party attendees would not sing "Happy Birthday" to his girlfriend, the New York Daily News reports. Delonte Thomas, 20, has been sentenced to nearly 28 years in prison for the shooting. The incident happened a year ago this month, when Thomas was at a birthday party for someone else. He reportedly started a fight with some partygoers for serenading the host, but not his girlfriend, whose birthday was happened to be the same day. He left the party and returned about 20 minutes later with a semi-automatic, and...

An 18-year-old girl has been left with horrific injuries after she was attacked by a gang of men for wearing a bikini. Jessica Byrnes-Laird from Haughton, Louisiana, stopped at a local convenience store on the way back from the beach with her boyfriend on Sunday. Surveillance footage shows the group of men then approached the car and started catcalling her. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3182354/Horrific-injuries-suffered-girl-attacked-gang-catcalling-men-wearing-bikini-way-beach.html#ixzz3hc6OiKm6 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

The first question any logical person would pose upon hearing the Cecil the lion story should be along the lines of whether or not that lion meat (presuming it is edible) was used to feed the people of Zimbabwe. Too bad the story didn’t attract any logical people, those who might give two cents about the suffering of the people, not the animals of Africa. For Western, middle-class and celebrity animal-rights activists, it is simply easier to leave Africa to the Africans, many of whom don’t really get why killing a lion in a nation largely without running water is...

This week on “Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace ” Republican presidential candidate former Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) said he will “not be quiet” when it comes to criticizing his rival Donald Trump. Perry said, “I’m not going to be quiet, when Donald Trump shoots a bullet through Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)43% and hits veterans particularly those that have been captured. I’ll challenge Donald trump. You go tell Marcus Luttrell who was captured by the Taliban that he doesn’t like being around people that have been captured. That is one of the low moments of this campaign from my perspective....

...The dentist, Walter Palmer, has been in hiding since word of the kill was reported in the media last week. Nugent, appearing Sunday on "The Rita Cosby Show" on WABC in New York, said he is dubious of media reports that the lion was lured out of a sanctuary because of the number of untrue statements the media has made about him in the past. If he could talk to Palmer, Nugent said, "I would say I'm sorry that our society has become so dumbed down and so soul-less, as to threaten you and your family's lives, because you killed...

Despite the possibility that talking to Cecil would unveil clues about his death, the animal did not offer an explanation. ... Cecil supposedly told Anderson, who specializes in speaking to clients' deceased pets and charges $75 for a fifteen minute session with up to two animals, that he is now 'finer than ever'. He apparently said he is 'grander than before as no one can take our purity, our truth or our soul'. 'Be strong and speak for all the others who suffer needlessly to satisfy human greed. Bring Light and Love and we will rise above this'.

Walt Disney’s got a lot to answer for.I blame Bambi and all the anthropomorphic drivel that followed, like the Lion King.That unfortunate part of the culture, more than anything else, seems to “inform” the view of nature held by effete urbanites who rarely venture out of doors.So, let me weigh in on the Cecil the Lion controversy.It was just another animal — and the outrage generated by its death is unreasoned, sentimental nonsense.People who claim to “love” animals more than people are emotionally damaged individuals incapable of weathering the difficulty required in a real relationship with something that can talk...

* Trump said Sunday that 'black people 'are worse now than just about ever' * Claims Obama has done nothing for low employment rates * Weekend poll showed Trump has his greatest support yet nationally He has a 24.9 percent vote among Republicans, according to poll Days after assuring that he has the support of Hispanic voters, Donald Trump has now claimed that African-American people are also on his side - and that Obama has let them down. In yet another round of bashing the President, the billionaire said Obama has done 'absolutely nothing' for the black community. He gave...

The cubs fathered by Cecil the lion are being protected by his brother amid fears they will be killed by a male rival, researchers said today. The much-loved lion was killed by American dentist Walter Palmer earlier this month, sparking outrage around the world. After his death, there were fears his cubs would be killed by the next lion in the hierarchy so he could father his own offspring with the females in the pride. But a team at Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Unit, which had been studying Cecil before he was shot dead, said the lion's brother had stepped...

As outrage grows over the killing of Cecil the lion, Zimbabwe has called on the United States to extradite the American dentist who shot the prized big cat. Zimbabwe has started extradition proceedings and hopes the United States will cooperate, said Oppah Muchinguri, the African nation's environment minister. Walter Palmer "had a well-orchestrated agenda which would tarnish the image of Zimbabwe and further strain the relationship between Zimbabwe and the USA," Muchinguri said. Palmer, his professional hunter guide, and the owner of the land where the hunt took place are accused of an illegal hunt under the country's Parks and...

Tomorrow, August 1, all remaining pro-gun provisions of Senate File 878 will now be in effect. Starting tomorrow, the use of firearm sound suppressors for the taking of wildlife will be allowed in Minnesota. By the end of the year, 37 states will allow for the use of firearm sound suppressors while hunting. SF 878, as previously reported, was passed with strong bipartisan support in both chambers and signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton (D). Other pro-gun provisions of SF 878 include: Minnesota is now aligned with more than 40 other states that have conformed their statutes to federal...

Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Dan Ashe announced that his agency has opened an investigation of the "tragic killing" of Cecil the lion by American dentist Walter Palmer. Cecil was a major attraction at the Hwange National Park in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. Palmer reportedly paid some locals $50,000 to lure the lion outside the park. Palmer then killed the lion with an arrow. Ashe characterized the killing as "a senseless act of cruelty against an innocent animal. It has shocked the world in a way that no other act has in recent memory. It is imperative that...

The Obama administration is moving to investigate the death of Cecil The Lion, in reaction to the online uproar over the news that the huge African cat was killed by an American dentist.