Free Republic

Radical Muslim Man Haron Monis, the man who took hostages in a Lindt shop in Sydney for over a dozen hours, promised vengeance on his website yesterday. His website has since been taken offline... As recent as yesterday, the day that he took hostages, Man Haron Monis declared that Muslims must fight against the United States and its allies. “Islam is the religion of peace,” he wrote yesterday, “that’s why Muslims fight against the oppression and terrorism of USA and its allies including UK and Australia.” He continued, “If we stay silent towards the criminals we cannot have a peaceful...

After expounding repeatedly about who or what is Islamic, President Obama continues to assume the role of America’s theologian in chief by giving us his twist on the “Greatest Story Ever Told.” Obama injected his private interpretation into the Christmas story to bolster support of his executive amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. As reported by Charlie Spiering of Breitbart.com, Obama told an audience of amnesty advocates at a town hall meeting in Nashville, Tenn. on Dec. 9: “If we’re serious about the Christmas season, now is the time to reflect on those who are strangers in our midst and...

Mark Steyn Guests Hosts Today. Rush Will Be Back Tomorrow.

Every major power – and there are just a handful of them – have the capability to aspire to design, develop and manufacture fighter aircraft by themselves. Now, ideally, this would include all critical technologies – aero-engines, aircraft design, metallurgy, radar, sensors and weapons. However, very few countries have mastery and control in all these areas; the early birds or leaders – USA, Russia, UK and France are closely followed by Germany, Japan, Italy and Sweden. Aspirants after the Second World War included Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Iran, South Korea and Taiwan, of which only a few...

If the Senate were high school and there was a superlative for "least popular member," Ted Cruz would win in a walk. The Texas Republican reaffirmed his status as the Senate's most reviled member -- among his peers -- over the weekend when he refused to allow the chamber to go out of session on Friday and return Monday to vote on the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending package. Instead, Cruz used procedural moves to force 10 straight hours of votes on Saturday as a way to protest President Obama's executive action on immigration. Cruz ultimately forced a "point of order"...

Having a debate with anti-gun coworker. If someone breaks in your house and they see your face... Do you let them steal everything and assume they won't hurt you. I claim once they see your face, that you are more likely to be hurt/killed by them and should do self-defense.

MUNICH --- To mark the handover of the first of an initial 20 LEOPARD 2 A7 tanks to the German Army, Frank Haun, Chairman of the Board of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) welcomed numerous guests from the worlds of politics, the military and business to the company's headquarters in Munich on 10 December. Representing the Inspector General was General Lieutenant Rainer Korff, who accepted the vehicle on behalf of the German Army from Frank Haun, the Canadian Ambassador Marie Gervais-Vidricaire and President of the Army Supplies Division (BAAINBw), Harald Stein. The LEOPARD 2 A7 is a product of collaboration between multiple...

Illegal immigrant Jose Manuel Marino-Najera has filed suit against the US Border Patrol for dog bite injuries he sustained during his arrest. Marino-Najera was among a group of immigrants smuggling marijuana across the border. He is alleging that his human rights were violated. “Those border guards disobeyed their own President Obama,” Marino-Najera declared. “He says I have a right to go where I want. They should have given me food and water, not sicced their dogs on me.” Marino-Najera’s lawyer Susan Horschidt claims that “the trauma my client experienced has given him nightmares that have ruined his life. No amount...

Paul Krugman made the point recently that the only stock market forecasters who correctly predicted a market drop were those who always predicted falling markets. This is known as the ‘stopped watch’ approach to forecasting: constantly make one prediction and eventually the market will move in that direction. Especially for oil prices, which are highly variable, this works wonders to the point where the great Adam Sieminski often joked that you should predict the price or the date, but not both. This is reminiscent of Napoleon’s adage, that it’s better to have lucky generals than smart ones. He didn’t note...

"Charming to the last. You don't know how hard I found it, signing the order to terminate your life. Leia: [sarcastically] I'm surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself. Tarkin: Princess Leia, before your execution, I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now."

It's been a bad month, publicity-wise, for homosexual activists. Just two weeks after a cofounder of the high-profile pro-gay Human Rights Campaign (HRC) was arrested and charged with raping a 15-year-old boy, the homosexual Washington Blade news service has broken a story about another possible rape by a prominent activist in the movement. According to the Blade, Air Force Lt. Joshua Seefried, the activist behind the repeal of the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy regarding homosexuality, has been charged with forcible sodomy and is facing a court martial after allegedly raping another service member after a party...

A report into the botched execution of Clayton Lockett has revealed new grisly details of the moments leading up to his agonizing death. According to the document, a doctor tried to insert an intravenous line into his groin in a frantic attempt to save him, but hit and burst an artery instead. It caused blood to splatter over the doctor's jacket before the execution was officially stopped. Lockett's heart stopped beating moments later. In the report, Oklahoma state prison warden Anita Trammell is quoted as saying that the procedure was a 'bloody mess'.

Twelve hours after the Lindt Cafe hostage crisis in Sydney began to unfold, Australians have flooded social media with sentiments of solidarity and support of Muslims in the community. Twitter user Sir Tessa began what has become a worldwide phenomenon, offering to sit next to members of the Islamic faith on transport if they were frightened to be seen in public wearing religious clothing. The 'I'll ride with you' hashtag has garnered over 112,000 mentions across social media, with people all over the world jumping on board the movement in an effort to turn the terrifying events of Monday into...

Furthermore, Ms. Feinstein seems to have no regard for thousands of American lives around the world she has put in jeopardy or the droves of new recruits ISIS will enlist because of her reckless actions. She has singlehandedly hogtied the CIA, who, by the way, vehemently disagree with this report (the methods were even defended – to a degree – by Obama’s CIA head, John Brennan), and was put together totally by Democrats, without even interviewing the persons who would have been able to refute their claim that the enhanced interrogation techniques did not provide information that foiled other attacks...

Richmond, Va. (1140wrva.com) Look for gas prices in the area to fall below $2 in the near future. Local gas industry analyst John Zehler, President of wholesaler Virginia Fuels, is predicting under $2 pump prices as the free fall in crude prices continues. Zehler says the price plunge has been going on for 6 months and it's going to be hard to turn it around until demand catches up with production. He says some folks think, with the current trend, we could see gas fall to $1.60 by the summer but admits it wild speculation.

In the span of four months, at least 94 children in 33 U.S. states have developed a devastating form of paralysis with symptoms similar to polio. Some require a ventilator to breathe. And some of the greatest government health minds in the country say they have no idea what’s causing it. At the same time, during the past four months, at least 12 children have died after falling ill with a respiratory virus called Enterovirus D-68 (EV-D68). Again, federal health officials are at a loss to explain the origin of the epidemic. Are the mysterious outbreaks linked? The Centers for...

When asked whether they felt an issue was immoral, morally acceptable, or “not a moral issue,” here’s a breakdown of how many Mormons declared that certain activities were “morally wrong.” Drinking alcohol: 54% Having an abortion: 74% Sex between unmarried adults: 79% Practicing polygamy: 86% Hold the phone. 86% of Mormons say that polygamy is morally wrong?* It seems that Mormons hate polygamy even more than abortion. Remember that abortion is discussed in the church handbook as a sin that requires serious repentance — and sometimes disciplinary action on the part of the church. Abortion is permissible only in rare...

The Taliban has called for an international investigation into the human rights standards of the United States after the Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats released a lengthy report criticizing enhanced interrogation techniques used in the war on terror. Under Taliban rule, Afghans were subject to public floggings or executions for “violations” such as women wearing nail polish or exposing any skin, or both teachers and students trying to learn in underground schools. Women had zero rights and weren’t allowed to leave their homes except with a male relative. Nowadays, the Taliban commits acts of violence against activist or working women, and...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) Peg Brokaw, 95, had missed the early Saturday morning Mass at St. Rose of Lima, on Church Hill Road in Newtown, but said she would go inside and say a prayer, anyway. She has lived in this town a long time, and tells you her son is a retired policeman here, one who still directs traffic in front of the church occasionally. And because this was another December in Newtown, two years now since 20 children and six adults were shot dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary, because Peg Brokaw stood outside what became the church of small coffins in...

New evidence from the Pew Research Center reveals that Mexican Catholics who emigrate to the United States are considerably less religious than their counterparts who remain in Mexico. A hefty majority of US Hispanics are of Mexican descent (64%), according to US Census Bureau statistics, and about a third of Mexican Americans were born in Mexico and immigrated into the US. Mexican Americans, however, exhibit differences both in religious affiliation and in doctrinal belief as compared with Catholics living in Mexico. Though the Pew study does not explore the reasons Mexican Catholics leave the Church when emigrating to the US,...