Free Republic

The Bahamas on Friday issued a rare travel advisory for any of its citizens visiting the United States, recommending that young men in particular take care in cities affected by recent tensions over police shootings. A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns visitors to "exercise appropriate caution" in light of recent episodes involving police officers and black men. It also advises people not to get involved in demonstrations and to avoid crowds.

Falling prices at the pump have given motorists reason to rejoice continuously over the last year and a half, but they’re not good news for everyone. At least, not for the people who are about fuel economy. The latest sales-weighted fuel economy ratings report by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute revealed that in June, the value of the indicator was 25.3 miles per gallon, down from 25.4 mpg in May. Now, that’s not a huge dip, as Road Show author Andrew Krok notes, but it follows a pattern of declining fuel economy that parallels the decline in gas...

The only thing wrong with your beach vacation may be the people you have to share it with. The majority of people take an annual beach trip — 56% took one in the past year and 58% say they plan to do it in the coming year, according to a recent survey of more than 11,100 people released by travel site Expedia — and they shell out a lot of cash when they take them. Fully 40% of people say they will spend between $1,001 and $3,000 dollars on their next beach trip and another 21% will spend upwards of...

Over the last 8 years, Michelle Obama has evolved into an exemplary world traveler. Compliments of the struggling U.S. taxpayer, the FLOTUS consistently indulges in at least five or six multi-million dollar vacations per year.In March, if things get boring, Michelle, mother Marian, and daughters Sasha and Malia, either fly solo or use Dad (if he’s not golfing) as an excuse to pamper their weary bones with an all expense paid “working vacation.” Like clockwork, the girl gang jets off to destinations such as Cuba, China, Japan, Qatar, Argentina or Cambodia. Predictably, there’s always a June pre-Martha’s Vineyard vacation where...

The world’s largest viking ship has arrived in North America after crossing the North Atlantic Ocean on a journey from its homeport in Haugesund, Norway. The Viking ship, named Draken Harald Hårfagre, set sail from Norway with its approximately 32 crew members in late April and made stops in Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland, Canada, before making its way through the Saint Lawrence Seaway to Toronto for the Tall Ships Challenge Great Lakes 2016 festival this weekend. Future stops for the Viking ship include Chicago, Green Bay and Duluth, before heading to U.S. east coast with stops in New York City...

When Derrick DeAnda helped a family escape from their rolled-over car he was just trying to be a good Samaritan. He didn't expect to be billed $143 by the late-arriving EMTs for "medical care." "I didn't need any 'medical care,'" DeAnda said. "I had one small cut on one of my hands. The EMT gave me a band aid. I can't see how that could possibly cost so much." The bill from Cosumnes Community Services District was described as "standard practice" by Cosumnes Deputy Chief Mike McLaughlin. "If you're at the scene of an accident that we attend you're going...

Local Motors, the Arizona-based automaker that crowdsources vehicle design, has introduced a 3D-printed, autonomous, electric shuttle bus that is partially recyclable called Olli. Local Motors says that it's the first vehicle to use IBM Watson’s car-focused cognitive learning platform, Watson Internet of Things (IoT) for Automotive. It’s a boxy, far-out concept that may be the first of its kind, but that’s the point for a company that isn’t focused only on making vehicles — it’s about remaking the car manufacturing business. If all goes according to plan, Olli will be giving autonomous rides at the company’s introductory event on the...

So... it could still get us to Mars in 70 days? Physicists have just published a new paper that suggests the controversial EM drive - or electromagnetic drive - could actually work, and doesn't defy Newton's third law after all. In case you've missed the hype, here's a quick catch-up: a lot of space lovers are freaking out about the EM drive because of claims it could get humans to Mars in just 10 weeks, but just as many are sick of hearing about it, because, on paper at least, it doesn't work within the laws of physics. Despite that...

Motorists in Pima County will have to wait to respond to that text message after a ban on texting while driving went into effect this week, giving law enforcement another tool to curb what one Sierra Vista police commander called the most prevalent of the many distractions within a vehicle these days. For years, texting while driving has been one of the most common forms of driver distraction, said Cmdr. Lawrence Boutte of the Sierra Vista Police Department. “We’ve not done any official studies, but every last one of us knows that it takes attention from the road and is...

Donald Trump is straightforward, direct and brutally honest, a man who weighs up a situation and will give you the facts. Perhaps that is why so many people are afraid. There has been a lot of controversial statements about Trump and his displeasure of immigrants, especially Africans. Not so, Trump has consideration and affection toward other races. In a recent video, Trump said, “look at my African-American over here” and raised decent opinions about the man. Therefore, even though he might appear to have a distinct dislike for Africans, Trump does realize that they too are human. However, I would...

Just took an Emirates flight from my new home in Perth to Dubai on my way to Florida for business. The flight was great and this article is being posted from my second flight on their free included wifi internet. However that is not the point of this vanity. Their entertainment system is. The first movie I watched was "London has fallen" which was positively fun. The second was 13 Hours about Benghazi. Very disturbing! Trump really needs to do a two hour television buy and show this movie and state that it is complimentary of the Hildabeast. I just...

The work stoppages have extended to refuse collections. Police removed blockades outside rubbish collection depots around Paris, but workers inside subsequently walked off the job. As rubbish piled up on the streets of several cities one Parisian restaurant owner said: “Customers can smell this rubbish, so they avoid the place. Can you imagine drinking coffee around this stink? They just walk away.” A woman driver said she saw a plague of “huge rats.”

Steve Jobs went ballistic when public shipping manifests leaked the existence of the iPhone 3G. That’s about the only time something exciting happened in the freight forwarding business. The circulatory system of the global economy is a trillion-dollar industry, yet no one really talks about it, or builds tech for it. That’s what makes freight such a massive disruption opportunity for a startup like Flexport. Transparency begets data, which begets efficiency. Smarter shipping shrinks the physical world the way faster internet shrinks the digital one. New businesses emerge. High bandwidth connections paved the way for Netflix. Now Flexport could make...

Attendees of a Donald Trump presidential rally in San Jose, California were set upon and beaten by anti-Trump “protesters” this past week. Mayor Sam Liccardo blamed the candidate. “I personally would never physically attack a political opponent,” Liccardo reassured. “But neither am I ready to absolve Trump for his role in provoking the violence. California was once part of Mexico before it was illegally seized by the United States in 1848. Donald Trump hasn’t denounced this thievery. To the contrary, he has stridently threatened to eject Mexicans who are trying to repatriate this territory.” “San Jose is a sanctuary city,”...

“It gets unpleasant quickly,”

Apple has yet to confirm whether it's investing in its own line of electric vehicles, but Reuters is out with more evidence that Project Titan is underway: The tech giant has reportedly been in talks with charging station companies and has hired at least four electric vehicle charging specialists. Apple has been asking charging station companies about their underlying technology, Reuters reports, for reasons other than providing charging stations for its own employees (which the company already does). Speculation about Apple's electric vehicle project, dubbed Titan, has gone on for months, with reports indicating the company is aiming to ship...

Look for pointers, recommendations for our scheduled road trip.

Photo: Polaris ATV and snowmobile specialist Polaris has introduced a true battlefield replacement for the original Jeep, courtesy of it's Polaris Defense division. Like that original soldier's best friend, the turbo diesel MRZR is light, compact and capable of crossing tough terrain, not to mention great looking. By way of comparison, today's Humvee and its upcoming replacement are mammoth vehicles, bloated by mission creep into armored personnel carriers rather than zippy battlefield transportation. Photo: Polaris The MRZR is a return to that original mission. Coming from an ATV background and using a smallish 875 cc twin-cylinder engine, it would...

A traveler with a camera filmed a scene at Chicago’s Midway Airport: a three-hour-plus TSA security line that snaked across the terminal, out the door, and around the building… and uploaded it to YouTube. The fury of the day, in an age beset with furies, is therefore an anger directed against the TSA for our often unforgivably-long airport security lines. The DHS secretary even took to the podium to answer complaints, and to assure us that his system is not in fact "a national crisis." Sure, in this case, there was an alleged excuse – Chicago had seen hundreds of...

So, here's the story...In less than 72 hours I will be out of my home of... well, a long time. It's been in my family for fifty years. But since my father passed away it's being sold by others and I'm looking for a new place to hang my hat.But during the past several months God has been telling me something, in ways large and small. That being: it's time to get out of this town. Time to step away from your comfort zone. Time to take a leap of faith.So I've packed up my car with the bare essentials...