Free Republic

As he inches toward the GOP nomination, Donald Trump is becoming more and more disliked among American voters. Donald Trump wasn't wildly popular to begin with. And now he's becoming even more disliked among American voters, creating a significant threat to his chances of winning the Republican presidential nomination. Trump is, by far, the GOP delegate leader — and the only candidate with a realistic shot at winning a majority of delegates before the July convention. But at the same time, nearly two-thirds of Americans view Trump unfavorably — and his image rating has declined since Republican voting began in...

The new ad from American Future Fund Political Action. Offensive. Out of Control. America Can do Better.

An individual or a political committee other than an authorized committee or a qualified multi-candidate committee may not make a contribution(s) to a candidate for federal office in excess of $2,700 per election. An authorized committee may not make a contribution(s) to a candidate for federal office in excess of $2,000 per election. A qualified multi-candidate committee and all affiliated committees may not make a contribution(s) to a candidate for federal office in excess of $5,000 per election. The term "contribution" includes any gift, subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money or anything of value made by any person for...

Trump's standard line when he is about to storm out of a media event because he doesn't like how it covers him is that he is going to go host an event to raise money for veterans. Thus it was no surprise when he announced that he would be skipping the FoxNews event to hold a separate event to raise money for.... well, "veterans," generally. Of course, Trump did not name a specific charity so that his feet might be held to the fire on this, just "veterans," generally. Well, there are two small problems. The main veterans group that...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Barack Obama today banned private ownership of more than a quarter ounce of gold, saying the move was necessary to revive the economy. "Wealthy Americans are bailing out on the economy by taking their money out of circulation and hoarding gold," Obama said as he signed an executive order reminiscent of Depression-era President Franklin D. Roosevelt's ban on the possession of gold. "The wealthy are violating their trust and abusing their position by investing in gold," Obama said. "My order will put an immediate end to this practice, which threatens to hijack the good efforts of...

Donald Trump’s Amnesty by THE EDITORS August 10, 2015 That Donald Trump has said something incoherent is not remarkable. But even for a campaign that has largely substituted adjectives for ideas, Trump’s recent incoherent comments on immigration were remarkable, coming as they do from a candidate who has made immigration the keystone of his platform. His intellectual failure is instructive, and the other candidates should learn from it. Trump’s original proposal was to build a wall and force the government of Mexico to pay for it. The latter half of that proposition is too silly to merit much criticism and...

I’ve noticed that most of my readers are not Trump fans, and I appreciate that. I love you guys for being reasonable and not falling for this glorified circus elephant. But Trump fans will come out of the woodwork because of my latest piece here, and when they do I want you to notice something: they claim they like Trump’s “blunt and unapologetic” approach, but watch how they react when that blunt and unapologetic strategy is turned against them. Watch what happens when someone is blunt and unapologetic towards them. This is the first sign that Trump’s legion of admirers...

Russia's ruling political party has designed a “heterosexual flag” to honor traditional family values, the Izvestia newspaper reported Wednesday. Copies of the flag, which feature the outlines of a man and a woman holding hands with three children, were shown to Izvestia by Andrei Lisovenko, deputy head of the United Russia branch in Moscow. The flags also come printed with the Russian-language hashtag “A Real Family.” According to Lisovenko, the flag will have its official unveiling at Moscow's Sokolniki park later Wednesday, where hundreds of people will gather for a United Russia rally in honor of the Day of Family,...

For the first time in Vatican history, the pope allowed for the reading of Islamic prayers and Koran readings from the Catholic facility. The readings and prayer came as Pope Francis met with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Vatican City, a gathering designed to pray for Middle Eastern peace. A Holy See spokesman said the prayers were supposed to be a “pause in politics,” Breitbart reported. The pope said, too, that he hoped the interfaith prayers would foster peace specifically between Israelis and Palestinians, the news outlet said.

With its much trumpeted “framework deal” with Iran coming under increasing criticism, the White House is on the defensive. Almost immediately after it was signed late last week, the deal has come under attack for missing key details such as how and when sanctions on Iran would be lifted, while Washington and Tehran have reportedly been “irritating” each other over their competing interpretations of the deal itself. As if that wasn’t enough, in an interview Tuesday President Barack Obama made an astonishing admission, telling NPR the agreement he lauded as a “good deal” would enable Iran to easily acquire a...

The White House appeared to mock Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on social media Wednesday, employing a cartoon bomb similar to an illustration used by Israel's leader to warn against a nuclear Iran.The image of the bomb, complete with a red line near the top, is virtually identical to that used by Netanyahu during a 2012 United Nations speech on the dangers of Tehran acquiring such a weapon."At this late hour there is only one way to peacefully prevent Iran from getting atomic bombs," Netanyahu said in his address at the time. "And that is by placing a clear red...

Trolling for Dummies A dummy's guide to trolling — from picking lures to setting up your trolling spread. By Erik Landesfeind In last week's So Cal Scene, I touched upon the subject of trolling while discussing fishing kelp paddies. Apparently I should've spent a little more time on the subject as I've received several emails from readers with questions like, “What colors and brands of lures should I use?” “How exactly should I set up my trolling spread?” and “How do I go about trolling that spread?” My honest answer to most of them was, “I don't know, but I'm...

Papacy built on pious fiction and forgery 2 The right way to understand history is to start from the beginning. What was it like to be a Christian in the earliest church in Rome? We have a marvellous picture of this earliest church, provided by the New Testament scholar Peter Lampe, author of the work "From Paul to Valentinus: Christians in Rome in the First Two Centuries."The Catholic historian Eamon Duffy writes in his work, "Sinners and Saints": "All modern discussion of the issues must now start from [this] exhaustive and persuasive analysis by Peter Lampe.” Lampe seemingly searched...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told reporters Tuesday that the vaccination issue "is largely silliness stirred up by the media. Nobody reasonably thinks Chris Christie is opposed to vaccinating kids other than a bunch of reporters who want to write headlines." CBS News' John Nolen reports that Cruz went on to say, "This question has historically been decided at the state level. And most states choose to do what the state of Texas does which is to mandate vaccines for children to prevent the outbreak of infectious diseases." A statement he released noted that most states make exceptions for good-faith religious...

DENVER — If bakeries can be compelled to make wedding cakes for same-sex marriages, can they also be forced to create anti-gay cakes? That’s the question before the Colorado Civil Rights Division after a customer filed a complaint against Azucar Bakery in Denver for refusing to write anti-gay messages on a Bible-shaped cake.

I don't know too much about Jim Rickards, just found this to be an interesting video about the overall economy and some tidbits about what our government agencies are up to. The video is a 45 minutes long interview of sorts and discussion. Just posting in the event other are interested.

For those who don't know, in Internet parlance, trolling is an effort to elicit outrage from a specific group or the public generally. As the always useful -- but not always G-rated, or spell-checked -- Urban Dictionary explains, "Trolling requires deceiving [sic]; any trolling that doesn't involve decieving [sic] someone isn't trolling at all; it's just stupid." (Pro tip: When spelling "deceiving," remember it's "i before e except after c.") The definition continues: "As such, your victim must not know that you are trolling; if he does, you are an unsuccesful [sic] troll. I don't like the president's executive action...

A couple have gained thousands of fans after they 'counter-protested' anti-abortion pickets with bizarre slogans like 'Bring back Crystal Pepsi' and 'Who farted?'.Grayson and Tina Haver Currin came up with the idea in March to break the ice with pro-lifers outside an abortion clinic near their home in Raleigh, North Carolina.Since then the photographs of their surreal placards have gone viral - prompting dozens of other pro-choice activists to join them every Saturday morning.

Rep. Alan Grayson, a Democrat from Florida, has a plan to become Republicans' "worst nightmare" if he is indeed appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the select committee investigating the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. (clip) Grayson said he would use the Benghazi hearings as an opportunity to draw attention to other issues important to "ordinary Americans" that have not received as much attention. (clip) Following DeLauro's proposal, liberal groups hatched another idea: send Grayson. A petition on the CREDO group's website has already garnered more than 65,000 signatures. (clip) Grayson said it's up to Pelosi to determine...