Free Republic

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If investors had hoped stocks had absorbed most of the headwinds associated with lower oil prices, they were sorely disappointed on Wednesday as the commodity crash continued. Crude prices struggled to remain above $60 a barrel with West Texas Intermediate tanking 5.1% to $60.54 a barrel after OPEC warned that demand for oil in 2015 could slow to its lowest point in 12 years. Just as oil futures stabilized midmorning, the commodity sank to new lows after the EIA reported a large increase in oil imports contributed to oversupply in domestic crude oil inventories for the...

Senator Joel Anderson California State Senate, 36th DistrictHon. Jerry Brown Governor, State of California State Capitol Sacramento, CA 95814Dear Governor BrownMy constituents and I are deeply troubled by the Department of Managed Health Care's (DMHC) assault on the religious liberties of 38-million Californians.DMHC's August 22nd decision ordered all insurance plans in the state to immediately begin covering elective abortion procedures. According to DMHC, elective abortions must be covered under a 40-year-old state law requiring health plans to cover "basic health services." This new, unprecedented interpretation of 40-year old language creates a mandate that violates the free exercise rights of churches,...

Whale-watchers have spotted the species in the Atlantic within a mile of the Rockaway peninsula, part of New York's borough of Queens. This year alone, 106 humpbacks have been spotted - and experts say there are at least 19 different kinds. Naturalists are questioning why these much-loved creatures have chosen to return to the city's shores, after whaling killed off many pods in the past. Mr Rosenbaum said the increase could be due to a basic shift in the whales' habits rather than a spike in population.

Opposition by an anti-abortion group probably has killed a bill designed to protect thousands of Ohioans, most of them elderly, from abuse and neglect by their court-appointed guardians. House Bill 624, which for the first time in Ohio would codify a “bill of rights” for residents who are under guardianship, was scheduled for a floor vote last Friday during the legislature’s lame-duck session. House leadership referred it back to committee hours before a vote, however, after legislators received a letter opposing the bill from Ohio ProLife Action, an anti-abortion lobbying group. Barry Sheets, spokesman for the group on this issue,...

You’ll recall that in August the California Department of Managed Health Care issued a mandate requiring all insurance issuers to immediately add surgical and RU-486 abortion coverage to their plans, even those for nonprofit religious institutions and churches. This was a violation of the decade-old Weldon Amendment, one of several pro-life riders included in appropriations bills every year. The Weldon Amendment blocks government agencies receiving federal funds from discriminating against any health care entity for not covering abortions. The only recourse for victims seeking protection under the Weldon Amendment is to file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights...

A major scandal involving a Democrat witch-hunt aimed at crippling the campaign of Governor Scott Walker may be breaking in Wisconsin. Laws may have been broken by prosecutors seeking to discredit Walker, and it appears that documents may have been altered to hide evidence of misconduct. It is too early to know with certainty, but this drama is playing out with zero mainstream media attention, but has the potential to generate headlines. Some background: Readers may recall the outrageous political prosecution attempted by Democrats in Wisconsin, using that state’s so-called “John Doe prosecution” system under the Badger State’s Government Accountability...

An anti-harassment training at a Catholic university in Wisconsin encouraged employees to report anyone they hear criticizing gay marriage to the school’s human-resources department. A presentation at the Marquette University training featured a story about a fictional wheelchair-bound employee, “Harassed Hans,” who had been overhearing his co-workers Becky and Maria talk about “their opposition to same-sex marriage all week,” according to an article in the National Catholic Register.

Under Armour is rolling out custom uniforms for the Navy Midshipmen in time for Saturday’s Army-Navy game, and, as you might expect, the gear is as American as Duke Nukem fist-fighting a crepe iron. Tagged with the words "Don't Tread On Me," the gear features red stripes over navy and white. Under Armour also made significant use of the First Navy Jack rattlesnake, which will be featured in a non-coiled, flying-out-of-the-fake-peanut-jar form. In short, these uniforms are quite to very fresh, depending on your taste for hammer-down patriotism.

<p>Former Health and Human Services Sec. Kathleen Sebelius is back, and she has figured out why the Affordable Care Act is so unpopular.</p> <p>No, it’s not the law’s imposition of new taxes on those who have health insurance, or the “fines” levied on individuals who are now forced to purchase insurance whether they want it or not. It’s not the limits the law places on access to preferred health care providers. It’s not the fact that millions in the individual market lost the plans with which they were happy with but did not comport with new ACA coverage standards, nor the fact that millions more are set to lose their policies when the law is eventually fully implemented. It’s not the law’s deleterious impact on the labor participation rate, which remains at its lowest point since the Carter administration.</p>

  Cera Byers published a Facebook post, which was picked up by Salon.com, addressed “to my white male Facebook friends”.  I never saw the post on Facebook, mostly because I’m not Facebook friends with Cera Byers.  I don’t know anything about her except the one sentence written at the bottom of the post. Cera Byer is a dancemaker and teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her favorite Ninja Turtle is Donatello I am a white male, and since the post was republished on Salon.com, I assumed it must also be addressed to me.  I may be wrong.  Perhaps...

Following the catastrophic Oct. 28 failure of Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket on a critical resupply mission to the space station for NASA, the company is seeking to quickly make up the loss to NASA by announcing the selection of the venerable Atlas V rocket built by United Launch Alliance to launch Orbital’s next Cygnus cargo ship to the orbital science lab.

Gun-rights supporters are now a majority among Americans, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Wednesday that marks a stunning turnaround from two years ago, when the Newtown school shooting had appeared to give gun control advocates the upper hand in the public debate. It’s the highest approval rate in two decades, Pew said, and it’s driven by changing attitudes across nearly all demographic lines, including among black Americans who are increasingly likely to view guns as good for protection, rather than as a public safety danger. According to Pew, 52 percent of the public says it’s more important...

Fellow Conservative: The text of the 1,603-page, $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill was released yesterday after House and Senate leaders wrote it behind closed doors. Instead of fighting for a provision that defunds the president's unlawful amnesty, Republican leaders fought for other riders. For example, they airdropped a political earmark into the bill that increases the amount the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) can collect from individual donors from $32,400 per year to $324,000 – a tenfold increase. Since the NRSC takes sides in primaries, the new donation limit will help the DC establishment do more to support liberal incumbents....

Authorities are searching for a knife-wielding man who accosted a female student in a parking structure on the campus of California State University Long Beach. The woman was attacked about 2:20 p.m. Monday inside Parking Structure 1 at the north end of the campus near the Pyramid, according to campus police

Inside Out Trailer 2 UK - Official Disney Pixar | HD From Pixar Animation Studios, “Inside Out” opens in UK cinemas on July 24, 2015. From an adventurous balloon ride above the clouds to a monster-filled metropolis, Academy Award®-winning director Pete Docter (“Monsters, Inc.,” “Up”) has taken audiences to unique and imaginative places. In Disney•Pixar’s original movie “ Inside Out,” he will take us to the most extraordinary location of all—inside the mind. Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new...

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) argued that the "abomination" omnibus bill was "a chance to see if electing Republicans made a difference" on Tuesday's "Laura Ingraham Show." "I'll vote no to any kind of 2,000 page bill that I'm given at the last minute that we don't have time to read, it's an abomination, nobody should support a Congress that stuffs all the spending into one bill, nobody reads it, there are no reforms, no amendments, and it really is probably why Congress has about a 10% approval rate because this is not doing our job" he declared. Paul added that...

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the House Republican Conference Chairman, said today in response to the question of whether she would vote for a CR that funds Obama’s unilateral amnesty for illegal aliens that “we are looking at every option to hold the president accountable.” Yesterday, the Republican leadership of which McMorris Rodgers is a part, released a 1,603-page omnibus spending bill that places no restrictions on Obama’s implementation of his amnesty. The bill would fund most of the government through the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30 and the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 27. …

When a pro-life family in Connecticut found that their state Obamacare exchange only offered plans that included abortion coverage, they filed a lawsuit ... because they could not purchase a plan that did not require its participants to pay for the elective abortions of others. Last month, the Bracy Family dismissed its lawsuit after the addition of health plans to the exchange that will not require them to pay for abortions. We liked our insurance plan and wanted to keep it, but couldn’t because it was cancelled due to Obamacare,” Bracy told Breitbart News during an interview that included his...

Authorities are trying to determine who dumped two dead donkeys off a road in Jackson Township. The remains were found last week near East Veterans Highway and Bennetts Mills Road..........

WASHINGTON (AP) — Introducing himself as the "big elf," President Barack Obama on Wednesday exclaimed "Ho, Ho, Ho" and made merry as he delivered a pair of giant red sacks filled with toys and other gifts to the Marine Corps' annual Toys for Tots campaign.