Free Republic

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today issued the following statement regarding reports that President Obama is set to dramatically change U.S. policy toward Cuba following the release of Alan Gross, an American who was held hostage by the Castro regime in Cuba for five years:

(Reuters) - Senator Marco Rubio said on Wednesday he would "make every effort" to block moves by President Barack Obama toward normalizing relations with the Cuban government.

THE Australian public has hailed the police as heroes following the siege in Martin Place. The 17-hour stand-off at the Lindt cafe involved NSW police officers as well as members of the state Public Order Riot Squad, Dog Unit, Negotiators, Aviation Support Branch, Police Rescue and elite Tactical Operations Unit. Now, Sydneysiders and the rest of the world are mounting a campaign to express their thanks to all those who risked their lives. A Facebook page has declared this “Say Thanks to the Cops Day”, and members of the public have been stopping police in the street to express their...

Six official clay seals found by an archaeological team at a small site in Israel offer evidence that supports the existence of biblical kings David and Solomon. Many modern scholars dismiss David and Solomon as mythological figures and believe no kingdom could have existed in the region at the time the Bible recounted their activities. The new finds provide evidence that some type of government activity was conducted there in that period.A Mississippi State University team found this bulla, or ancient clay seal, on a dig site in southern Israel last summer. It offers evidence of government activity in the...

The key bit comes at 1:20. BuzzFeed headlines this clip, “Jeb Bush Thinks He Can Persuade The Republican Base To Get Behind Immigration Legislation.” Is that what Bush said? “A candidate gets to persuade,” Bush said to Miami’s NBC 6. “I think there’s a compelling case that if we want to be young and dynamic again, we have to make legal immigration easier than illegal immigration, that we control our borders, enforce the laws. But that we embrace our immigrant heritage and allow our country to take off. You gotta do both.” “You gotta protect the borders, enforce the law,...

ABUJA, Nigeria, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A Nigerian military court on Wednesday sentenced 54 soldiers to death for mutiny after refusing to fight Boko Haram terrorists, a lawyer for the soldiers said.

Defeated Democrat declines to address her political future.Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s secretary of State, is threatening to take Rand Paul to court to block him from running both for president and reelection to the Senate in 2016. In her first television interview since Sen. Mitch McConnell routed her by 15 points last month, the Democratic Senate nominee declared that she will not be “bullied” by Paul, who is a heavy favorite to win a second Senate term if he’s allowed to stay on the ballot. “The law is clear,” Grimes told WHAS-TV in Louisville. “You can’t be on the ballot...

Satanist And Christian Holiday Displays To Go Up At Michigan Capitol DECEMBER 17, 2014 BILL CHAPPELL During the Christmas season, Michigan's Capitol Building in Lansing will host two holiday displays: a traditional Christian Nativity, and an exhibit by the Satanic Temple. Two very different holiday displays will share the grounds of the Michigan State Capitol next week: a traditional Christian Nativity and an exhibit by the Satanic Temple. The situation has brought controversy — and energized Christians who realized that a planned Nativity was in danger of being canceled. The story drew intense attention after it emerged that there was...

“When they’re about 12 weeks, then the doctor takes the baby out with forceps. He takes the baby out in pieces. He checks each part and he places each one in a tray down below. When he finishes the procedure, I have to drain everything. We drain it to separate body parts from blood. We place all the parts in a jar that goes to the laboratory. It’s impressive how well-defined they are. You can’t believe what you are seeing. You see perfect little hands, tinier than those of a Barbie doll. You can see intestines, tiny ribs, their little...

Shortly before his death in 2007, Manhattan landlord and lawyer Edward Giaimo Jr. revealed to his two siblings a secret — he had hidden a stash of silver and gold worth millions. While being treated for cancer at Mount Sinai Hospital, Giaimo allegedly told his brother and sister that he had stowed away a large amount of precious metals and they would need a truck to move it. The lifelong bachelor added that the metals, believed to be silver bullion and South African gold coins known as Krugerrands, were safe, but they needed to be removed from their hiding spot...

MOSCOW — From a Western perspective, Vladimir Putin's days as president of Russia should be numbered: The ruble has lost more than half its value, the economy is in crisis and his aggression in Ukraine has turned the country into an international pariah. And yet most Russians see Putin not as the cause, but as the solution. The situation as seen from a Russian point of view is starkly different from that painted in the West, and it is driven largely by state television's carefully constructed version of reality and the Kremlin's methodical dismantling of every credible political alternative. As...

Is normalizing relations with Cuba a good idea? Yes. No. Not sure. We'll see how it plays out.

The incident occurred in Victoria, Texas, a suburb of Houston. A dash camera captured officer Nathaniel Robinson tasering 76-year-old Pete Vasquez. Vasquez was driving a vehicle owned by the car dealership where he works. Officer Robinson pulled him over when he noticed the vehicle’s inspection sticker had expired. When Vasquez exited the car and attempted to show Robinson the dealer plates—which would’ve exempted the necessity for up to date inspection tags—that’s when the altercation happened. “I don’t know what his deal is,” Vasquez told an officer that arrived on the scene later. Vasquez went on, “he came over here and...

One young woman, a college student at Texas Christian University, tells the following story: “Several years ago, a 19-year-old mother found herself pregnant in Houston, Texas from a one night stand. She had a thriving acting and modeling career and was planning to move to LA to persue more in the performing arts as soon as she had enough money. Her parents were ex-pats in Indonesia, and she was living alone in the big city with no one to turn to. She had enough money to get an abortion, and she had the legal right to get an abortion since...

Fox News finds new way to scare its viewers, warns of Dish blackout December 15, 2014 | By Daniel Frankel Already adept at scaring its rapt audience, Fox News has begun warning Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) subscribers that the channel, along with Fox Business News, could disappear from their program guides "any day now." The campaign features the usual TV spots, directing viewers to visit the "protest the operator" website, in this case KeepFoxNews.com. Fox News versus Dish Fox's post urged Dish subscribers to call the satellite operator. (Source: KeepFoxNews.com) A Fox News blog post notes, "Despite the undeniable demand...

DECEMBER 17, 2014 No One’s Minding the Store The president’s immigration-amnesty program could result in a flood of fraud. By Ryan Lovelace U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials tasked with preventing fraud from taking place are instead being forced to do administrative work, according to the federal official who created and directed the division of the government responsible for preventing immigration fraud. Opponents and supporters of President Obama’s executive action on immigration say the Department of Homeland Security is not prepared to handle the fraud that will come from the implementation of amnesty. The sheer volume of applications the department...

Sitting on a salvaged sofa in the centre of her small tin shack, Nomfusi Panyaza looks increasingly worried, as heavy clouds gather in the sky outside. “When it rains, the public toilets overflow into my living room,” she says. “Water comes in through the ceiling and the electricity stops working.” Outside her makeshift home in the sprawling township of Khayelitsha, on the eastern edge of Cape Town, barefoot children play on the banks of an open sewer, while cows roam next to an overflowing rubbish heap. Panyaza shares this tiny cabin with her two daughters and four grandchildren, a family...

This is how a woman became an abortion clinic escort. First, she attended a pro-choice march. “My participation in the pro-choice march was motivated by boredom and restlessness as much as by a desire to be of service. I had thought about getting involved in some kind of cause, but I didn’t know which one. Having been too young in the 60s to participate in the peace movement, I look forward to attending a real political march. I didn’t attend the antichoice march held the same day because the newspaper letters to the editor with “pro-life” views seem too cold,...

This discussion was necessary after the grand jury decisions on Michael Brown and Eric Garner that had nothing to do with racism. People reported: The protective bubble that comes with the presidency – the armored limo, the Secret Service detail, the White House – shields Barack and Michelle Obama from a lot of unpleasantness. But their encounters with racial prejudice aren’t as far in the past as one might expect. And they obviously still sting. “I think people forget that we’ve lived in the White House for six years,” the first lady told PEOPLE, laughing wryly, along with her husband,...

Sometimes, you just need Texas. As the rest of the entertainment industry was being brought to its knees by the threat of more hacking and terrorism, a theater in Texas decided to both capitalize on this story and stand up for freedom of speech. The only bummer is they’re holding a free screening, as I’d hoped they’d rake in a bunch of cash for filling a gap in the market, which would be as appropriately American as the statement they’re making about our values. They should be rewarded, and they will be, at least with brand recognition and good will:...