Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The number of DoD personnel deployed to help their fellow citizens in Puerto Rico jumped from around 4,600 to around 6,400 members, Gov. Ricardo Rossello said during a San Juan news conference Sunday. The governor briefed on all the lines of effort as the island commonwealth strives to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria. Supply ships continue to arrive and the governor and federal officials are working together to ensure food, water and fuel get to the people who need it the most. ‘There is Increased Capability’ “In terms of personnel, the DoD has increased their...

A sex doll was so heavily molested by eager men it broke before anyone could actually use it. Or use it privately, anyway. We're not entirely sure what happened to 'Samantha'. But its owner complained that the £3,000 robot was left "heavily soiled" after being exhibited at a tech fair. Developer Sergi Santos, from Barcelona, Spain, says visitors to the Arts Electronica Festival in Linz treated the 'intelligent' sex doll "like barbarians", and added that two fingers were broken in the melee. "The people mounted Samantha’s breasts, her legs and arms," Sergi said. "Two fingers were broken. She was...

Vehicles laden with food, masks and bedding have been dispatched to help more than 75,000 people who have fled a volcano on the tourist island of Bali, as rising magma and increased tremors fuel fears of an imminent eruption. Mount Agung, about 75 kilometres (47 miles) from the Indonesian tourist hub of Kuta, has been rumbling since August, threatening to erupt for the first time since 1963. "The chance that an eruption will happen is quite big. But it cannot be predicted when it will happen," Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the disaster mitigation agency, said. The increased frequency of...

As much joy as a pet can bring to the life of its human, when a beloved dog or cat falls ill, the emotional toll can be high. In fact, caring for an ailing animal often ends up placing a significant "caregiver burden" on its owner, new research finds. "Think of the phrase, 'Giving until it hurts,'" said study author Mary Beth Spitznagel. Essentially, it's the heavy emotional burden one can experience when the act of caring stretches a person's physical, emotional or even financial capacities to the breaking point. "We found that individuals with a chronically or terminally ill...

Students in a sociology class at San Diego State University can earn extra credit if they take a quiz to determine their level of “white privilege.” Professor Dae Elliott offered the option to her sociology class students, a “White Privilege Checklist” that includes 20 questions that aim to illustrate that “racial privilege is one form of privilege.”

The manufacturer of the $2.36 million Baltimore Bike Share system said his company has never experienced the level of theft that caused officials to announce a temporary shutdown of the program to allow additional locking devices to be installed to the bike docks. The original locks on the bike stations were overwhelmed by thieves ripping the bicycles out at an unprecedented pace, said Alain Ayotte, CEO of Bewegen Technologies, the Canadian manufacturer. “We don’t have this issue anywhere else, not at this level,” Ayotte said Wednesday. “Our locking system is recognized [as] very, very up to industry standard, but due...

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Lady Gaga said Thursday she had been hospitalized in "severe pain" and was pulling out of Brazil's Rock in Rio festival, which she was due to headline this weekend. The superstar, who revealed Tuesday that she suffers from the chronic disease fibromyalgia, had been due to open the festival on Friday in Rio de Janeiro.

I am requesting prayers for a dear friend of mine and her ex-husband who lost their only daughter in a car accident Friday night. Their daughter was 27, and she had served our country in the US Navy for 7 years. Her parents are both devastated. Rhiannon was living in Maryland while she working for a military contractor. The accident happened Friday night in Maryland and her mother had to travel up from South Carolina and her father from Tennessee over the weekend to ID her body.

WASHINGTON – Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) on Wednesday asked terror experts for answers on how to combat the rise of white nationalists, as she has been fielding death threats from extremists. “What can we do to deal with the KKK, the white nationalists, the extremists, the alt-right?” Waters, who serves as ranking member of the House Committee on Financial Services, asked during a Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance hearing. “They’re on the internet, they’re Breitbart. If you look at the YouTube, you see how much they want to kill me and others. What can we do?” The hearing was...

A Nevada sheriff says the man who ran into the flames at the Burning Man festival’s signature burning ceremony has died. Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen says the man ran through a human-chain of security officers at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 2) during the Man Burn event at the counter-culture festival. The sheriff says the man was rescued by firefighters and later died at the UC Davis hospital burn center in California. About 70,000 people are attending the art and music celebration in the Black Rock Desert, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Reno. The nine-day event culminates...

No, The Image Above Is Not Photoshopped: There Is A Chinese Equivalent Of The Star Wars Canyon In The U.S. Or The Mach Loop In UK. Scheduled for release on Sept. 30, 2017, Sky Hunter is the first action movie focused on China’s PLAAF (People’s Liberation Army Air Force). According to the trailer, the story is about a group of elite military who are called into action to resolve a hostage crisis and foil a terrorist plot. The movie features, along with some CGI actual flying footage of various front line combat aircraft, including the Y-20 airlifter, the J-20 stealth...

The first total solar eclipse in nearly a century not only has injected a much-needed sense of awe towards astronomy into our culture, but also has introduced a golden age of eclipse watching. In the 21st century, 10 total solar eclipses will send the moon's shadow over U.S. soil, with six of these events passing over vast swaths of the country. The next one occurs on April 8, 2024, a brief intermission of only seven years, and will cut a path from Mexico to Texas to Maine and the maritime provinces of Canada. Nicknamed "The Great North American Eclipse," 13...

A day after a 60-year-old woman was killed in Uttar Pradesh on suspicion of cutting off people’s hair and 11 more women complained of braids being chopped off in Delhi-NCR on Thursday, psychiatrists blamed mass hysteria as panic spread. Police, too, have requested people not look at these incidents as a “supernatural phenomenon” or work of a ghost. “From all the available evidence, it seems the women are cutting their own hair either consciously or in an altered sensorium, likely to seek attention,” said Dr Sudhir Khandelwal, former head of the department of psychiatry at All India Institute of Medical...

The FBI also focuses on education for different catalysts for radicalization designed to help the public increase awareness of radicalization. These products are widely disseminated to the law enforcement and community partners for further engagement with the public, and demand continues to increase for additional products. The FBI has a website, Don’t Be a Puppet: Pull Back the Curtain on Violent Extremism, specifically designed for the public and for use by educators and community leaders and organizations for school-age children. Visits to the site average nearly 7,400 a month. Also in reaching out to communities, the FBI has produced other...

"A majority of Americans polled in an NPR/PBS News Hours/Marist poll believe that statues of honoring leaders of the Confederacy should remain as a historical symbol."

Former Vice President Al Gore’s new film, “An Inconvenient Sequel”, came in a dismal 15th this weekend at U.S. theaters, according to Box Office Mojo. Gore’s defenders have been quick to blame Paramount Pictures for the dismal performance of Gore’s sequel. “Al Gore Gets Ripped Off Again,” screamed the headline of D.R. Tucker in Washington Monthly.View post “This was not supposed to happen,” Tucker wrote, adding, “he should have demanded a recount.” “Sadly, the box-office under-performance of An Inconvenient Sequel will be seized upon by climate-change deniers as ‘proof’ that Americans don’t really care about this issue,” Tucker wrote. According...

Swiss police say they've identified two bodies found among an Alpine glacier as a couple missing for nearly 75 years. Valais canton police said Wednesday that forensic experts using DNA analysis identified them as Marcelin Dumoulin and his wife, Francine. They were 40 and 37, respectively, when they disappeared on Aug. 15, 1942. The couple's daughter, now 79, has said her parents set off on foot to feed their animals but never returned. Police were alerted on Friday to the bodies on the Tsanfleuron glacier at 2,615 metres above sea level. Regional police have a list going back to 1925...

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is speaking next month at the City Club of Cleveland, and the outcry has been one of the most volatile in the 105-year history of the citadel of free speech. The City Club has received some positive feedback about the Aug. 3 forum with Lewandowski, now a commentator on Fox News, yet voices of intolerance were the loudest... ...The reactions have prompted Moulthrop to defend the club's decision in an op-ed piece on cleveland.com. Why the City Club invited Corey Lewandowski to Cleveland: Dan Moulthrop (Opinion) "We're interested in Lewandowski's perspective...

American Airlines faced a big stink aboard one of its flights – but the airline insisted Monday that claims of a gassy passenger are a bunch of hot air. The Sunday afternoon flight from Charlotte, NC, landed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, where airport officials initially said a passenger “passed gas,” WNCN reported. The station reported Sunday that the passengers were removed after experiencing nausea and headaches from the noxious fumes. But airline and airport officials blew off reports of severe flatulence Monday, telling The Post that the plane was not evacuated during a “medical call” after a mechanical issue aboard....

Leaders from the United States Air Force are expected to visit Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township on Tuesday. According to Macomb County, 40 officials from the Air Force will arrive at the base to determine if Selfridge is capable of housing the all-new F-35 fighter jets. The base is one of five national finalists to house the jet, along with bases in Alabama, Idaho, Florida and Wisconsin. Two sites are expected to split the work. According to Lockheed Martin, the F-35 Lightning II is a 5th generation fighter that will replace the A-10 and F-26 for the...