Free Republic

He’s just so awesome. During a recent address to the IDF General Staff Forum leading up to Israel’s independence Day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “the meaning of independence in my eyes is the ability to defend yourself.” I get it, you get it, and Prime Minister Netanyahu gets it. Our founding fathers got it. And now, the American public not only gets it but is standing up to preserve our individual rights to defend ourselves. The Washington Times reports, “exactly two years after President Obama’s bid for gun control following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting died...

Ted Cruz may have been the first to announce a run for the presidency, but John Kasich connects with middle class voters, cares for the poor, and balances budgets. If not Bush, who? If I were a betting man, I would be that Jeb Bush would win the GOP nomination and that he would face off against Hillary Clinton. Sounds kind of boring, but after eight years of President Obama, boring sounds great. But what if it’s not Bush. Who would it be? Here is my Top 10 list, from worst to first: 10) Ted Cruz: I don’t think that...

It's official. Mr. John L. Casey, current President of the Space and Science Research Corporation (SSRC) in Orlando, Florida, has become one of few, if not the only US climate and solar researcher to have correctly predicted the Sun's energy output, as measured by sunspots, for the current eleven year solar cycle. Mr. Casey calculated the peak of solar activity for the ongoing solar cycle number 24, from his research completed eight years ago, in April 2007. A widely used resource in the solar physics community, The Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB), recently posted its sunspot counts on April 7,...

Aside from Democrat Hillary Clinton, three Republican candidates with reasonable chances at the nomination have declared and several others are on the cusp. The Republican Party says it’s been making inroads with Jewish voters, who traditionally have favored Democrats by 2-to-1 margins. Here’s a rundown of the views of three declared Republican candidates — and two likely candidates — on issues of Jewish interest, and their connections to the community.

Cindy Archer, one of the lead architects of Wisconsin’s Act 10 — also called the “Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill,” it limited public-employee benefits and altered collective-bargaining rules for public-employee unions — was jolted awake by yelling, loud pounding at the door, and her dogs’ frantic barking. The entire house — the windows and walls — was shaking. She looked outside to see up to a dozen police officers, yelling to open the door. They were carrying a battering ram. She wasn’t dressed, but she started to run toward the door, her body in full view of the police. Some yelled at...

Good morning Austin: I had a story in Saturday’s paper on the startling fact that, with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, two of the first three announced candidates for the Republican presidential nomination for president are Hispanic. In other words, if America elects its first Latino president in 2016, that president would almost certainly be a Republican. Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, at best there could be a Hispanic candidate for vice president, with most of the speculation concentrated on Julián Castro, the former San Antonio mayor who is now serving as President Obama’s secretary of housing and urban development....

Now this would be a slap in the face to Hillary. Can you just imagine Ted Cruz going into that same Chipotle Restaurant during a rush hour and greeting every patron? Hi, My Name Is Ted Cruz and I Am Running For President Of The United States!. Then next week Rand goes in, then later Scott Walker, Then Rubio. By the time all of the leading candidates go in there and making headlines all over Iowa, it will eventually be like, "Hillary? Hillary Who?".

Maybe someone could track the black and orange dye trade routes? Or if undercover CIA agents would offer cheaper uniforms to ISIS, could they infiltrate them quickly?

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Portland Trail Blazers had a laminated card in their locker room at the FedExForum on Sunday that included the phrase "We don't lose to Spanish players." The Memphis Grizzlies, the Trail Blazers' opponent in their Western Conference first-round series, feature one of the NBA's most prominent Spanish players, All-Star center Marc Gasol.

Something happened on Capitol Hill Monday that some people are calling “historic,” which others view as cunning political subterfuge. The U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations held their first ever National Muslim Advocacy Day in our nation’s capitol, where they lobbied a number of members of Congress on behalf of Muslims around the country. With nearly 300 delegates from 20 different states, the advocates represented a number of different Muslim organizations here in America. After receiving tips on effective lobbying from political experts, the Muslim advocates fanned out and visited some 200 different Congressional offices to make their case. But counterterrorism...

Potential GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush is calling on Congress to confirm attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, whose confirmation hearings took place in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in January. In February, Lynch was voted out of the committee and approved 12-8. Due to the legislative schedule and fighting over bills already in motion, a full Senate vote on her confirmation has not yet taken place. More from POLITICO: “I think presidents have the right to pick their team,” Bush said, according to reports of his stop at the “Politics and Pie” forum in Concord, New Hampshire, on Thursday...

The man accused of killing an innocent bystander during a Clairemont gas station robbery last week once vowed to “become a better man” in a hand-written letter to a San Diego judge. Ahmed Hassan Mumin, 30, was arrested Saturday after a shootout with San Diego Police. Court records in El Cajon show Mumin was charged with four others in a 2011 case that included 10 counts. Mumin was charged with only kidnapping and robbery but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of false imprisonment with violence. Especially poignant is a handwritten letter he wrote to the court. It's dated April...

Once Obama is no longer president, I suspect he’ll be getting the same ‘warm welcome’ that Jimmy Carter is getting from the government of Israel right now. And it’s so satisfying: TIMES OF ISRAEL – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin have turned down invitations to meet with former US president Jimmy Carter during his upcoming visit to Israel over his “anti-Israel” views. Both the president and prime minister declined the invitations after consulting with the Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council, Haaretz reported Monday.

The Texas licensed open carry bill has passed the third read vote in the House. An amendment by Dutton was added on the third read.  The substance of the amendment is that merely possessing a holstered handgun is not sufficient reason to detain or make an investigatory stop.   On the third read, an amendment must obtain a 2/3 majority to be approved.  This amendment reads: CERTAIN INVESTIGATORY STOPS AND INQUIRIES PROHIBITED.   A peace officer may not make an investigatory stop or other temporary detention to inquire as to whether a person possesses a handgun license solely because the person...

Google (GOOGL) is making a big change to its mobile payment service, Google Wallet, Yahoo Finance has learned. Funds that are left in Google Wallet will now be FDIC-insured, which means Google users’ money is now a whole lot safer — and they probably never even knew it. Here’s why this matters: when you stash your cash in mobile payment apps like Venmo, PayPal and Google Wallet, that money is not FDIC-insured. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation protects funds held by banking institutions up to $250,000. This is a good thing because, as history has proven time and again, banks...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Fort Irwin, CaliforniaFort Irwin & the National Training Center (NTC) is a major training area for the United States Military and is a census-designated place located in the Mojave Desert in northern San Bernardino County, California. Fort Irwin is at an average elevation of 2,454 feet. It is located 37 miles northeast of Barstow, in the Calico Mountains. The base is part of the Installation Management Command (IMCOM). The opposing force at the NTC is the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, the Blackhorse Cavalry, who are stationed at the base to provide...

The man killed while crossing State Route 163 over the weekend was an active duty member of the Army, the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office said Monday. At about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, 30-year-old James Michael Ginas III and another person tried to cross the northbound SR-163 near Friars Road on foot. However, Ginas was struck by a car and died from blunt force injuries at the scene. His birthday was last week, according to the ME’s office. The driver, who stayed at the crash site, was taken to the hospital for minor injuries. The other pedestrian was not hurt....

TORONTO, April 20, 2015 -- Pam Strong,a primary grade lesbian teacher from an Ontario public school revealed in a workshop at a homosexual activist conference for teachers earlier this month how she uses her classroom to convince children as young as four to accept homosexual relationships. “With [the principal’s] encouragement, we decided that I would go from class to class and talk about what ‘gay’ means, what does ‘LGBTQ’ mean, what do ‘I’ mean,” she told about 40 attendees, all educators, at her workshop. Strong related that as she was reading “King and King” in the junior kindergarten class as...

Sen. Ted Cruz speaks at a gathering of Republicans in New Hampshire and sets forth a pathway to take America back through the power of the "Grassroots." Cruz talks about the grassroots "Past, Present, and Future." He demonstrates his ability to capture the imagination of an audience, was clearly a big hit in the "First-in-the-Nation" Primary State. As you listen to Cruz, you can hear the outline of a 2016 Presidential run that calls for standing firm on Conservative principles. Cruz calls for abolishing the IRS, cutting taxes, defunding and repealing ObamaCare, reducing regulations and unleashing the power of the...

Making the general public aware about tough issues that need addressing is obviously a good thing. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about doing it. A Reddit post supposedly containing a message from the cellphone of a cadet has raised questions concerning an allegedly mandatory ROTC event. In the “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event, cadets were required to wear high heels and march to “raise awareness of sexual assault against women.”