Free Republic

Usually at this time of year, San Francisco’s luxury stores are decked with holiday garlands. Instead, they’re boarded up after widespread “flash mob” looting turned Union Square — the city’s most fashionable shopping district — into an area resembling a blighted neighborhood in Detroit. “It’s a ghost town,” said Michelle Tandler, a San Francisco native and high-tech entrepreneur, whose photos of the stores barricaded in plywood went viral on social media this week. “Every store has a security guard. People are going to lose their jobs. And these things have a ripple effect.” Two weeks ago, San Francisco was the...

On July 11, the American Jewish establishment tried to prove that it could fight anti-Semitism and be progressive at the same time. It failed. Outside of Congress that day, dozens of American Jewish groups co-sponsored a rally against the rising tide of Jew-hatred in America. The organizers had hoped that tens of thousands would show up for the event, and for good reason. In April 2002, a hundred thousand American Jews from all over the country congregated in Washington on short notice to rally in support of Israel during “Operation Defensive Shield.” And here they were supposed to rally...

President Donald Trump has discussed forming a new political party in recent days, hoping to continue his influence after leaving the White House, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday night...he said he would want to call such a party the Patriot Party, the sources told the paper. The president reportedly discussed the idea with several aides and others last week.

Dick Cheney said Sunday that Republicans need to look to a new generation of leaders as the party deals with poor approval ratings following the government shutdown. The former vice president said Republicans have faced challenges before and it’s healthy for the party to work to rebuild. The GOP “got whipped” in the 2012 presidential campaign, when President Barack Obama won re-election over Mitt Romney, and the party needs to build its base of supporters and find “first-class” candidates and turn to a new generation of leaders, Cheney told ABC’s “This Week.”

(Newser) – A much-studied woman was thought to be fearless—literally unable to experience the emotion after having part of her brain, the amygdala, damaged. Nothing from snakes to assaults could scare the woman, dubbed SM, until, in a recent study, she was faced with the feeling of suffocation. That prompted a panic attack, which fascinated scientists. It seemed to support a theory that there are different pathways in our brains for external fears—of robberies, for instance—or internal ones, like an inability to breathe or a heart attack. Two other women with damaged amygdalas also had panic symptoms under the...

A bus full of three-dozen undocumented immigrants — displaying their illegal status for all to see — is set to stop in Nashville on Thursday to raise awareness of immigration politics. The “UndocuBus,” as organizers call it, will be at a public rally Thursday near the Super Mercado La Reyna #2 at 3761 Nolensville Pike in Nashville from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The group’s motto: “No papers, no fear.” Advertising for Thursday’s event is virtually nonexistent, but supporters are beginning to spread the word via Facebook. The group includes six undocumented immigrants from Tennessee. “The Hispanic community in Tennessee...

Renowned Arab affairs expert Dr. Guy Bechor told Arutz Sheva Sunday that there is no reason for undue alarm at the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt's elections. The peace treaty with Israel is on no real danger, he said. The Islamists "have no solution" for Egypt's woes, he explained. "They lack the abilities and connections" to solve the country's problems and therefore, he predicted, "the patience will wear out in a few weeks and riots will begin soon." Hundreds of thousands of citizens are expected to protest on Wednesday, he added, in expectation of "magic solutions that no...

Known for his toughness on matters of Catholic doctrine, Pope Benedict XVI gives no quarter when it comes to questions about Islam. Unlike his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, Benedict has never [said] that Muslims and Christians pray to the same God or been accused of waffling on whether Christianity is superior to the religion of prophet Muhammad. [Says David Gibson, author of the just-released book "The Rule of Benedict"], "He doesn't want to see this as a debate between equals. There's no theological parity between the two. He's not there to compromise on that. ...Benedict has studied Islam extensively...

Psalm 9-11: I will fear no evil By Jules Crittenden Boston Herald City Editor Sunday, August 13, 2006 - Updated: 09:09 AM EST Do you know anyone whose Sept. 11 fears have returned? Someone with a sick feeling and a tightening of the chest, bordering on panic? Someone distraught or perhaps just withdrawn and distracted in the past few days? What do you say to calm their fears? We drive each day on highways where the likelihood that a dumptruck will veer into our path far outstrips the possibility that we will find ourselves on an airplane targeted by terrorists....

SYDNEY's racial violence has not scared off American tourists from visiting Australia over the Christmas holiday period, the head of a major US tourism company said today. Britain, Canada and Indonesia have cautioned their residents to be alert if in Sydney, particularly around some beach areas where the recent violence erupted. Ian Swain, the founder of Philadelphia-based Swain Tours, has about 800 Americans booked to travel to Australia over the next few weeks and not one has cancelled citing fears about the problems that have erupted on Sydney's southern beaches. "Not one," the Australian-born opertor who has specialised in offering...

Many people have been burning up the phone lines to the show today, and firing off e-mails, about a radio interview Tom Tancredo did yesterday with WFLA host Pat Campbell. One of the main complaints made against Hugh today has been that Tancredo's comments were not made in context. Here's a link to WFLA's site, where the audio from the original interview is posted. Listen for yourself. Here's the text of what Pat Campbell asked him, and what he said: PC: Now here's the other thing, too, with the possibility of an attack. I had Juval Aviv on the program...

There has been much speculation about what Tom Tancredo said on the now famous interview last Friday on WFLA-AM in Orlando, Fla. From what I am reading here on FR, much of that speculation is wrong. Tancredo was, in fact, suggesting that we consider (not implement, just consider implementing) a strategy similar to the strategy that Reagan used to win the Cold War. Listen for yourself. HERE If you think Tancredo is a nut case, and you don't want to change your thinking, move along, this clip isn't for you. Just post your thoughts without listening.

<p>LOS ANGELES -- Supporters and opponents of a drive to oust Democratic Gov. Gray Davis prepared Tuesday for a recall election that appeared nearly certain to qualify for the ballot Wednesday.</p> <p>Potential candidates to replace Davis readied their campaigns knowing they may have just days to announce their candidacies. An election would likely come in October.</p>