Free Republic

SPRINGFIELD— — Mayor Rahm Emanuel's effort to toughen state law for illegal use of a weapon is being watered down as the lead sponsor tries to win approval of legislation aimed at helping crack down on Chicago's violence. Out of the bill is a provision that first-time gun offenders serve a mandatory three-year prison sentence, a major concern of opponents who worried that a careless mistake could put an otherwise law-abiding citizen behind bars. It's the latest move by sponsoring Rep. Mike Zalewski, and it was enough to avoid National Rifle Association opposition. But Zalewski, a Democrat from Riverside, still...

Unbelievable surveillance video captured flash mobs dashing into store after store and running out with armloads and sometimes entire racks of sporting goods. It has happened at three different Sports Authority stores in the Chicago area.

I’ve recently prepared what may well be my last message to our nation. I have prayed a great deal about this. The program is called The Cross, and you can see it on television beginning November 7. I hope you won’t watch the program alone. It’s intended to be watched with someone you know—a loved one, friend, or co-worker—who needs Jesus Christ.

President Obama's poll numbers have hit just about the lowest point of his presidency. They started sinking after the Obamacare website's miserable debut last month. Now, only around 40 percent of Americans think Obama is doing a good job. More thanhalf disapprove of his performance. (A year ago, the numbers were the opposite.) It seems obvious to say that a high approval rating helps a president, while a low approval rating hurts him. But here are five reasons Obama's numbers might not be as troublesome as they sound. He Was Never Popular With Congress Anyway A high approval rating can...

Though video the CMA Awards’ opening act mocking Obamacare went almost immediately viral, not everyone thought the skit was funny. In fact, some on the left were downright furious that the awards show dared to mock President Barack Obama and his signature health care law. As reported by TheBlaze, country music superstars Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood performed “Obamacare by Morning,” a spoof based on George Strait’s remake of Terry Stafford’s 1973 classic “Amarillo by Morning,” after Paisley faked a back injury. The crowd erupted in applause and sent the Internet buzzing. Even the “Duck Dynasty” crew made a surprise...

Detroit held an election yesterday and as I advised MOTUS at the time, what difference, at this point, does it make?   Zombieland Detroit: have at it Both candidates appeared to be qualified and either one of them would have been more qualified to run for president than Barack Obama was in 2008 - aside from the perfectly creased pant legs that is. Candidates Benny, left; the winner Mike, right. Since the Detroit Mayoral election is non-partisan, candidates are not listed by political party; there’s no need - there simply aren’t any Republicans here. This year the election came down...

There was a time I called myself a Libertarian. And there was a time I was a Libertarian. I just wanted to get government to leave me alone, to leave people alone and to go all crazy and limit itself to doing only that which is spelled out clearly in the Constitution. That was what a Libertarian was. But it’s not anymore. The word no longer has any meaning, no definition or parameters, certainly no coherent philosophy to speak of. And there’s no one to blame for that except Libertarians themselves. So what happened? By not even loosely defining...

OREM — Missionaries who return early from their service need additional help from ward members and clinical professionals to cope, a new study says. Kris Doty, Ph.D, chair of the Department of Behavioral Science at Utah Valley University and a clinical therapist, led a team of students in studying the effects of a missionary’s early return on their faith and lives. Doty found that 74 percent of participants had feelings of failure and 65 percent were uncomfortable in social settings due to early release... The 348 study participants were males and females, ages 20-29, who returned early from the mission...

Police are looking for a suspect after a young girl was shot while sitting inside a house in Miami Gardens Wednesday night. The shooting – the 10th in 11 days in the city – occurred at a house in the area of 193rd Street and Northwest 17th Avenue shortly before 10 p.m. Ground units took the 11-year-old victim from the house in the residential neighborhood near Sun Life Stadium to a park in Miami Gardens. That’s where a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue helicopter picked up the victim and took her to Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Americans have heard Obama pedantically touting his signature piece of legislation, his legacy — aka Obamacare — for over 4 years. What began as a firm promise, “If you like your healthcare plan, you’ll be able to keep your healthcare plan” has morphed to a conditional assurance, “if you have, or had one of these plans, before the Affordable Care Act came into law, and you really liked that plan…what we said was, you could keep it IF it hasn’t changed since the law was passed.”

The second terms of the latest three presidents have not been successful. Bill Clinton was impeached after his infamous lie to Americans, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." George W. Bush was blamed for the postwar violence in Iraq. Barack Obama's scandals -- with his accompanying "limited hangout" denials -- are ruining his second term: the growing IRS messes, the Associated Press monitoring, the NSA embarrassments, the Benghazi killings, the Syria bluster and backdown, and, of course, the Obamacare fiasco and the misleading statements about it. What are other common denominators of this collective tenure of our...

A newly discovered "King of Gore" tyrannosaur pushes back the origins of T. rex's terrifying family tree to at least 80 million years ago, report paleontologists. Lythronax argestes (which literally means "Gore King from the Southwest") once stalked the shores of western North America in search of prey. It sported the same short snout, broad teeth, front-facing eye, and unimpressive forearms as Tyrannosaurus rex, which lived around 68 million years ago. (Related: "Did the Real T. rex Resemble the One in Jurassic Park?") At 24 feet (7.3 meters) long and weighing about 2.5 tons, the 80-million-year-old Lythronax (pronounced LYE-thro-nax) lacked...

Family members of the two masked men shot to death after allegedly robbing a store in Reading spoke out Tuesday. "It's not fair," said Virginia Medina, mother of 24-year-old William Medina, who police said robbed Krick's Korner store alongside 18-year-old Robert De Carr on Monday. The two men were shot and killed by a private citizen while leaving the store, and family members want to see charges pressed. "[William] had no right to lose his life over something that man could have called the police for," said Medina. "He took the law into his own hands and walked away scot-free."...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem The Book of Proverbs Chapter 1 The Beginning of Knowledge 1. The Proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: 2. To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, 3. To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity; 4. To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion— 5. A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, 6. To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles....

My family is in a time of trial. Please pray for us today. The situation has been ongoing. We expect to reach a resolution today. Sorry to be so cryptic; I do not want to betray the confidence of the others involved. But if you would ask God to help us find His way today, it would be appreciated. I will have limited to no internet access for much of the day, I will respond when I can. God Bless you all, thackney

Glenn Beck on Wednesday donned ruby slippers and played with dolls in an elaborate comparison of the state of the country to “The Wizard of Oz.” “It’s almost like I’m in a movie, and I just want to go home!” he joked.

Two Utah Boy Scout leaders are facing significant backlash after posting a video online of the men tipping over a nearly 200-million-year-old rock formation in Goblin Valley State Park. Glenn Taylor and David Hall, from Highland, Utah, have now been removed from the Boy Scouts of America. An investigation is underway to determine whether the men will face felony charges. SNIP ...leadership of the Utah National Parks Council, the Boy Scouts’ local chapter, consulted with leadership of the chartering organization for the men’s unit — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — including ward and stake leaders, according...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". rodomontade \ˌrä-də-mən-ˈtād, ˌrō-, -ˈtäd\ noun 1. bragging speech2. vain boasting or bluster : rant Example sentence: For all of its jingoistic rodomontade, the government had no thought-out plan for the war and its aftermath. Etymology:from Italian rodomonte a boaster, from Rodomonte the name of a braggart king of Algiers in epic poems by Boiardo and Ariosto. how to say rodomontade The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day....

There's a lot to recommend marriage. But if you're trying to score the biggest break on the new Obamacare insurance exchanges, it could make sense to say "I don't." That's because unmarried couples may end up paying less for subsidized insurance than if they were married.

President Obama conducts meeting out of the public eye Thursday, the White House said. The daily schedule indicated Obama will: -- Receive, with Vice President Joe Biden, the Presidential Daily Briefing in the Oval Office. -- Meet with Biden and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. -- Host cast and crew members of the movie "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" at the White House.