Free Republic

<p>President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he's removing more than 52,000 square miles of waters off Alaska's coast from consideration for oil and gas exploration or drilling.</p> <p>The president said in a video announcement that Bristol Bay and nearby waters, covering an area roughly the size of Florida, would be withdrawn from consideration for petroleum leases. He called Bristol Bay one of the country's great natural resources and a massive economic engine.</p>

Sony Frees Theaters to Skip Film ‘The Interview’ Amid Hacker Threat Decision Comes After Threats of Physical Attacks Around Dec. 25 Opening of Seth Rogen Comedy By Ben Fritz, Danny Yadron and Erich Schwartzel Updated Dec. 16, 2014 9:03 p.m. ET Sony Pictures executives will let theater operators decide whether or not to play its forthcoming comedy film “The Interview” after threats of physical attacks surfaced on Tuesday, said a person with knowledge of Sony’s plans. The decision came after the same people purporting to have carried out a devastating cyber attack on the movie studio threatened to escalate to...

In April of 2013, a group of TFP (Society for Tradition, Family, and Property) Student Activists staged a protest outside the courtroom where Doctor Kermit Gosnell was being tried for infanticide after killing babies born alive after abortions (he was later convicted) One passerby tried to justify Gosnells actions: Pro-abortion woman: “It’s not murder.” Referring to pregnant mothers, she said: “There’s nothing there until there’s love.” TFP volunteer: “If it’s not murder, then what is it?” Pro-abortion woman: “It’s like you’re weeding your garden.” TFP: “Really? Do you kill the weeds?” Pro-abortion woman: “You have to love. There’s not life...

Texan wants to win the presidency by rallying conservatives -- and hoping people forget why they dislike him. Ted Cruz shut down the government; now he wants to preside over it. The junior senator from Texas is apparently moving closer to announcing his presidential candidacy, and National Review’s Eliana Johnson spoke to the people involved in Cruz 2016 who think they’ve figured out a way to propel their boy to the Oval Office: rally the conservative base, ignore independents, and eat into some of the traditionally Democratic constituencies. It’s a strategy that’s very similar to the one embraced by Michele...

Christian bakeries that refuse to make pro-homosexual marriage cakes are persecuted throughout America. They get sued, they get fined, they get death threats, and they lose their businesses. So we at Shoebat.com called some 13 prominent bakers who are either gay or pro-gay and requested that they make a pro-traditional marriage cake with the words "Gay marriage is wrong" placed on the cake. Each one denied us service, and even used deviant insults and obscenities against us. One baker even said that she would make me a cookie with a large phallus on it. We recorded all of this in...

Nativity Donkey Dies After Being Sat On In Spanish Christmas Fair Police in Andalucia have opened an investigation after a five-month-old donkey died two days after being sat on by a large man Police are investigating the animal's death after this photo was posted on social media By Harriet Alexander 16 Dec 2014 Animal lovers in Spain have reacted with fury after a young donkey, held in a pen as part of a Nativity scene, died after being sat on. The donkey, named Platero, was being held in the town of Lucena, in the Cordoba province, as part of their...

Because the right never trusted him, Mitt Romney spent the entire 2012 presidential primary burnishing his conservative credentials, and spent much of the general election on unsure footing, never confident that the Republican base would be comfortable with his gestures to the broader electorate. If the next Republican nominee is going to find balance, it won't be as an establishment guy putting on a Goldwater impression. The question is whether he’ll be a party activist or another patrician who also happens to be comfortable in his own skin. Two weeks ago, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush weighed in for the...

Russian customers waiting for Apple's iPhone 6 will have to wait longer. The Cupertino, Calif., electronics giant on Tuesday temporarily shuttered its online store in the Eastern European country because of the instability of Russia's currency. Apple doesn't operate physical stores in the country, and the company declined to say when it would resume online sales there. "Due to extreme fluctuations in the value of the ruble, our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we review pricing. We apologize to customers for any inconvenience," Apple said in a statement. The ruble has been dropping sharply in recent days...

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles prosecutors on Tuesday declined to file any charges against Bill Cosby after a woman recently claimed the comedian molested her around 1974. The rejection of a child sexual abuse charge by prosecutors came roughly 10 days after the woman, Judy Huth, met with Los Angeles police detectives for 90 minutes. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office rejected filing a misdemeanor charge of annoying or molesting a child under the age of 18 because the statute of limitations had passed.

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez interceded on behalf of an Ecuadorian woman who was banned from traveling to the U.S. because of allegations she had engaged in visa fraud. The woman, Estafania Isaias, is the daughter of a fugitive from Ecuador convicted in absentia for bank fraud and whose relatives in Florida made significant campaign donations to the New Jersey Democrat's 2012 campaign and the Democratic Party. Current and former U.S. government officials tell NBC 4 New York that Estefania Isaias was barred from traveling to the U.S. in 2007 because she allegedly lied on visa applications to bring immigrant...

Long before the Ferguson situation occurred, another young man named Michael B. was shot and killed by a police officer. Here's his story. Ten years ago, 21-year-old Michael Bell, Jr., pulled up to the house where he lived with his mom and sister in Kenosha, Wis., about an hour south of Milwaukee. A police officer who, according to a police report, chose to follow Bell after observing his driving, arrived shortly after. A subsequent toxicology report showed that Bell had been drinking that night. Dash cam footage from inside the squad car shows Bell exiting the vehicle he was driving,...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)CORDOVA, AL - A 15-year-old is recovering from surgery after he was reportedly attacked in his high school's restroom. His parents say he is the victim of what's been called the "knockout game." We understand Cordova police are investigating the attack that happened last Thursday, but the chief has not confirmed that yet. Matthew Cooper says he was hit with a surprise sucker punch by a friend. Now, the teenager has a break and a fracture in his jaw. He can barely open his mouth but that didn't stop him from telling Alabama's 13 News what happened to him, he...

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem — December 16, 2014 … As Jewish children light candles, celebrating the first night of Hanukkah in Israel, the world turns it’s attention to a bloody massacre in Peshawar, Pakistan. Over 130 children aged 10 to 18 were murdered by Islamic terrorists in an attack by the Taliban (formally known as Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP) on a Pakistan military-run school. Some seven suicide bombers charged the school with automatic weapons and explosives. Israel and Pakistan, which do not share diplomatic relations, do communicate. Most of the communication takes places through their embassies in Turkey....

Pinkney earlier convicted by all-white jury of five felony counts of “forgery under the Michigan election law” Judge Schrock cites election honesty, while over 51 percent of Michigan’s Black residents have no real election rights. Rev. Edward Pinkney listens as his wife Dorothy Pinkney thanks a crowd in Detroit Nov. 17 for their support of her husband. She told VOD she will not waver in her love and support for him as well. Pro-Pinkney organizer Marcina Cole is at left.Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, Michigan – As the world rises up against the acquittal of killer cops Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo...

Wahhabism is an ultra-conservative sect of Sunni Islam named for an eighteenth-century preacher and scholar. Jamel Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist in Afghanistan during that period, is now head of al-Arab News Channel and a columnist for al-Hayat. At a meeting in Bahrain recently, Khashoggi told me that there has been a major, and unexplored change in Muslim culture, one that is not discussed in the West. It is "raw Wahhabism," to use his words; this change, this nihilism, this desperation, this destruction of Afghan-Pakistani Pashtun culture. And equally, the terrible tactics of ISIS, which are no different from the Wahhabis...

DECEMBER 16, 2014 Jeb Bush: The Wrong Name At The Wrong Time He’s not the candidate Republicans need for 2016. By Charles C. W. Cooke And they’re off! This morning, in a notably understated Facebook post, former Florida governor Jeb Bush announced that he was thinking about thinking about running for the White House. “I have decided,” Bush confirmed, “to actively explore the possibility of running for President of the United States.” “Best wishes to you and your families for a happy holiday season,” he teased.” “I’ll be in touch soon.” The reactions came thick and fast. Depending on the...

Activist turned terrorist Bill Ayers spoke with Iranian news agency Fars News last week, and called the United States a terrorist nation. Ayers is probably best known for his own terrorist activities with the Weather Underground during the 1960s and 1970s. When speaking about what constitutes terrorism and a terrorist state, Ayers said: “U.S. is indeed a terrorist nation.” Then he added: “It’s also the greatest purveyor of violence on earth over the past half century, and the foremost threat to world peace today.”

Tuesday, December 16, 2014 A Dangerous Holiday Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog Holidays are a calendar. They mark points in emotional and physical time. They remind of us who we are. Many of those celebrating Chanukah celebrate a holiday that does nothing more than celebrate 'celebration', the rituals and rites of entertainment, a special food, a symbol whose meaning they don't remember and a little family fun. Chanukah is many things but it is not a safe holiday. It is a victory celebration in a guerrilla war. It is a reminder that Obama's war on Jerusalem...

Kay Bellevue, who started an abortion clinic in Fargo: “I have always acted on what to me are Judeo-Christian principles. The 10 Commandments plus love thy neighbor.… It’s very distressing to me that [people,] particularly the people opposed to abortion, will attempt to say their moral beliefs are the only correct ones… I think pro-choice people have a very strong basis in theology for the caring, loving perspective they have on abortion as do the antiabortion people have a basis in theology for their strong, loving caring perspective about the fetus.” Quoted in Faye D Ginsburg Contested Lives: the Abortion...

~ Freeper Canteen ~ --Canteen Mission Statement-- Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Today We Want You To Take..... The Snowman Test Click HERE and take the quiz! To share your results, click on the green "HTML" button, then copy and paste the code into a "Reply" box. Have fun! Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.