Free Republic

If President Obama means what he says about wanting an immigration system that reflects American values, helps the economy and taps the yearnings of millions of Americans-in-waiting, he is going to have to do something about it — soon and on his own. It has been frustrating to watch his yes-we-can promises on immigration reform fade to protestations of impotence and the blaming of others. All Mr. Obama has been saying lately is: No, in fact, we can’t, because Republicans and the law won’t let me. Mr. Obama is correct when he complains that long-term immigration repairs have been throttled...

A triumphant President Barack Obama declared Tuesday his signature medical insurance overhaul a success, saying it has made America's health care system 'a lot better' in a Rose Garden press conference. But buried in the 7.1 million enrollments he announced in a heavily staged appearance is a more unsettling reality. Numbers from a RAND Corporation study that has been kept under wraps suggest that barely 858,000 previously uninsured Americans – nowhere near 7.1 million – have paid for new policies and joined the ranks of the insured by Monday night.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (CNN) -- They were words heard around the world as investigators searched for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane. Weeks ago, Malaysian authorities said the last message from the airplane cockpit was, "All right, good night."... There's only one problem. It turns out, it wasn't true. On Monday, Malaysia's Transport Ministry said the final voice transmission from the cockpit of Flight 370 was actually "Good night Malaysian three seven zero." Malaysian authorities gave no explanation for the discrepancy between the two quotes. And authorities are still trying to determine whether it was the plane's pilot or copilot who...

A 9-alarm blaze ripped through a brownstone building in Boston’s Back Bay “like a blowtorch” Wednesday, killing two firefighters and injuring more than a dozen others battling what officials described as one of the fastest-moving fires seen in decades. "We lost two heroes today," Mayor Marty Walsh said. "It's a sad day for the city of Boston.” Fire officials confirmed at a press conference Wednesday night that Lt. Ed Walsh and Firefighter Michael Kennedy died in the fire at 298 Beacon St. Thirteen other firefighters were injured. "Two great firefighters," said Rich Paris, president of the Boston firefighters' union. Walsh,...

Moscow — Russian government officials have swapped their iPads for Samsung tablets to ensure tighter security, the telecoms minister told news agencies on Wednesday. Journalists spotted that ministers at a cabinet meeting were no longer using Apple tablets, and minister Nikolai Nikiforov confirmed the changeover "took place not so long ago." "We are not proposing any sanctions," he said

Anger management doesn't always work. Just ask 22-year-old Sheelah Thompson, who according to Spartanburg County deputies, was struck by her boyfriend with a rolled up anger management workbook during a fight Monday night at her apartment.

With the stroke of Gov. Mike Pence's pen, Indiana became the first state to back off implementing a set of national standards for grade-school education. The standards, known as Common Core, had been adopted by 45 states, but have lately unleashed a political fight that blurs party lines. "'I believe our students are best served when decisions about education are made at the state and local level,' said Pence in a release about Senate Bill 91. " 'By signing this legislation, Indiana has taken an important step forward in developing academic standards that are written by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers, and...

A strange new possibility has turned up in the case of the missing airliner. Reports are coming out of Maldives that residents there saw a large airliner fly low a few hours after MH370 disappeared. 3.52 Reports from a Maldives news organisation that islanders saw a “low flying jumbo jet”. The Haveeru news website reports witnesses saw a plane flying low at around 6.15am on March 8. It was apparently flying north to south-east. A witness told the news organisation I’ve never seen a jet flying so low over our island before. We’ve seen seaplanes, but I’m sure that...

Found this hard to believe.

Best-selling author Kevin Trudeau, whose name became synonymous with late-night TV pitches, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday for bilking consumers through ubiquitous infomercials for his book, "The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About." As he imposed the sentence prosecutors had requested, U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman portrayed the 50-year-old Trudeau as a habitual fraudster going back to his early adulthood. So brazen was Trudeau, the judge said, he once even used his own mother's Social Security number in a scheme. "Since his 20s, he has steadfastly attempted to cheat others for his own...

It's not everyday that you shoot a 500-pound beast. Hunters in Bertie County, N.C., knew about the massive wild hog roaming around their woods when it was captured on trail cameras several years ago. But Jett Webb finally managed to capture the animal near land leased by the White Oak Ranch Hunting Club. "It was very surreal,” Webb recently told WNCN. “It was a shock. It was very humbling to say the least, when you walk up on a beast that big and you say, 'Oh my gosh. I had no idea that there could be something that big running...

Jeffrey Corzine, the youngest son of former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine, has died of an apparent suicide. He was 31 years old. The former governor's son was found dead in a Mexico City hotel room a few days ago; he was reportedly found after failing to respond to messages from friends. Corzine, who lived in California and worked as a drug counselor, had a history of substance abuse and depression. "The sad fact is that Jeffrey Corzine had been suffering from severe depression for several years and recently had been receiving treatment for what is a very painful and...

The 18-year-old high school senior has finally reunited with her family. The Lincoln Park teen had tried suing her parents after they refused to put up with her wayward lifestyle. The Cannings are now asking for privacy.Rachel Canning’s going to her room. The New Jersey teen who tried to force her parents to pay her bills has finally returned home, her parents’ lawyer announced. Although her lawsuit hasn't officially been withdrawn, the 18-year-old honor student has “reunited with her parents and siblings,” attorney Angelo Sarno said in a statement. Sarno said that the notoriety surrounding the suit created a "reality...

And to a poster named Cameron Smith, Peterson said, “I give my left n** to bang down your door and come for your gun.” Of course, the conversation had become heated, causing Peterson to perhaps speak a bit more rashly than he would otherwise. And I’m well aware of the “good soldier” cop argument stating that theirs is not to wonder why, theirs is but to do or die (even if it kills constitutional rights). Hey, “I don’t make the laws,” says the dutiful constable, “I just enforce them.” But there’s a problem with this position. And this is why...

Miss Attkisson had grown frustrated at CBS with what she saw as liberal bias, as well as “an outsized influence by the network’s corporate partners and a lack of dedication to investigative reporting,” several sources told Politico.

Russia could reduce to zero its economic dependency on the United States if Washington agreed sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine, a Kremlin aide said on Tuesday, warning that the American financial system faced a "crash" if this happened. "We would find a way not just to reduce our dependency on the United States to zero but to emerge from those sanctions with great benefits for ourselves," said Kremlin economic aide Sergei Glazyev. He told the RIA Novosti news agency Russia could stop using dollars for international transactions and create its own payment system using its "wonderful trade and economic relations...

A UCLA student burst into tears and launched into a mostly incomprehensible anti-Israel rant on Wednesday after her fellow students voted to defeat a student council resolution aimed at divesting from the Jewish state. UCLA’s student council defeated the boycott resolution by a vote of 7 to 5 following an all-night session, according to the blog Legal Insurrection. Following the vote, one of the divestment measure’s supporters experienced a several-minute emotional breakdown that was caught on tape and uploaded to YouTube. “I’ve never been more f---ing disappointed than today,” the girl wails through tears, as she shivers and rolls back...

Do you ever wonder at people's amazing propensity to do totally stupid things when they have had a few too many drinks? This video is a case in point. Released by the Tampa Police Department on Friday on its YouTube channel, the 911 call was made from a Village Inn in Tampa. The emergency: uncooked waffles. The part about the half being just as uncooked as the uncooked one is priceless!

LOS ANGELES— A California couple on their daily walk with their dog, a walk they've taken for years, discovered what may be the greatest buried treasures ever found in the U.S. The cache of rare Gold Rush-era coins is worth more than $10 million, a currency firm representing the pair said on Tuesday. The 1,400 gold pieces, dating to the mid- to late 1800s and still in nearly mint condition, were discovered buried in eight decaying metal cans on the couple's land in April, said coin expert David McCarthy of currency firm Kagin's.

Washington • Attorney General Eric Holder called on a group of states Tuesday to restore voting rights to ex-felons, part of a push to fix what he sees as flaws in the criminal justice system that have a disparate impact on racial minorities. "It is time to fundamentally rethink laws that permanently disenfranchise people who are no longer under federal or state supervision," Holder said, targeting 11 states that he said continue to restrict voting rights for former inmates, even after they’ve finished their prison terms.