Free Republic

We are learning more about one of the six Minnesota men accused of trying to join ISIS. The sister of 20-year-old Guled Omar spoke to WCCO Wednesday evening. “I believe that my brother is innocent and that he didn’t do anything wrong,” Shukri Omar said. Omar gathered with Somali community members at the Brian Coyle Center Wednesday to support the four men arrested in Minnesota. Two other Minnesotans were arrested on Sunday in San Diego. Guled Omar was active on social media. In his Twitter feed, we found Omar threatened to sue the U.S. government after federal agents kept him...

Major trade legislation favored by President Barack Obama and Republican leaders passed a Senate hurdle on Wednesday, despite opposition from some Democrats. The “fast track” bill, which would pave the way for a sweeping trade agreement among 12 Pacific countries, cleared the Senate Finance Committee by a vote of 20 to 6. It passed along with a measure backed by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) that would seek to punish foreign companies that benefit from alleged currency manipulation overseas. Another key currency provision was defeated. The fast track bill’s progress in the Senate came on a day when Mr. Obama...

Sr. Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of [LGBT] New Ways Ministry, has been barred from speaking at a Catholic parish in North Carolina, a move which seems to contradict Pope Francis’ initiatives for a more listening and merciful church. Bishop Peter Jugis of Charlotte personally expelled a PFLAG-Charlotte event from St. Peter Catholic Church where it was set to be held, according to QNotes. (PFLAG stands for Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.) Diocesan spokesperson David Hains explained that Jugis acted against Sr. Gramick’s presence because of her connection to New Ways Ministry and outspoken support for LGBT rights. Gramick...

In a humbling chapter of an exemplary career, David Petraeus – a West Point grad who went on to command U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan before becoming the nation’s top spy – pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to sharing classified information. Under a plea agreement, Petraeus was to be sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler to two years’ probation and a $40,000 fine. As Kessler moved through the methodical proceedings, Petraeus answered questions in strong voice, one accustomed to addressing troops and congressmen. Patraeus was sentenced in Charlotte, the city where the security breach was discovered as...

Loretta Lynch, after being kept waiting in the wings by the Senate for five and a half months, was confirmed Thursday as the first African American woman to serve as Attorney General. Lynch was approved 56-43, one of the narrowest margins in history for an attorney general nominee. The vote ended an unusually partisan episode in modern Senate confirmation history, in which a largely uncontroversial nominee to one of the top cabinet posts was kept out of office for a lengthy period over issues extraneous to her job.

Several Republicans are expected to offer amendments to strengthen the bill. Vote on the bill itself expected next week.

Puerto Rico's Government Development Bank warned Wednesday that it is very likely the U.S. territory's government could be forced to shut down in the next three months because of a lack of funds. The bank made the warning in a letter made public a day after it was sent to Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla and the presidents of the island's Senate and House of Representatives. "The island's financial state is extremely uncertain," the letter said. "A government shutdown would have a devastating impact on the economy, with salary and public service cuts, and a long and painful recovery."

<p>Senator Ted Cruz, the Republican presidential candidate, has positioned himself as a strong opponent to same-sex marriage, urging pastors nationwide to preach in support of marriage as an institution between a man and a woman, which he said was “ordained by God.”</p>

One responded to the Kennedy-era call for a new generation of leaders, and the other renewed that call for a new generation to lead this country in a new direction in a new century. One is an untraditional figure who personifies the slow, traditional path to leadership in American life, and the other is a untraditional political figure who wants to leap ahead in the race for American leadership. One is an old-fashioned liberal, the other a new-era conservative. In many ways the two candidates who entered the presidential race in recent days define the 2016 political contest -- and,...

Hi y'all, I figured I'd post this here, because of the wealth of freeper knowledge out there. I figure someone will have some input. I bought a used Gold Wing some time ago. It came with the two mounts shown below (the chapstick is for scale). I've done some searching, for the kind of mount you'd attach to these so you could attach a camera, but I must be using the wrong terminology or something, as I've been unable to really find anything that is appropriate. Does anyone out there have any recommendations. I have a small video camera, and...

Congressman Pete King (R-NY) supports the Yankees’ refusal to celebrate as Alex Rodriguez approaches a historic baseball milestone, pulling within two home runs of Willie Mays on the career home runs list. “I think they’re right, because it’s obvious that so many of his home runs were tainted,” King told TMZ Sports. “I think it would be wrong to be celebrating ... since for all we know, hundreds of those home runs probably occurred when he was taking steroids." Rodriguez, who is not in the lineup for Thursday's afternoon game against the Tigers, has hit 658 dingers compared with Mays’...

(CNSNews.com) - Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told a group of ROTC cadets on Wednesday that sexual assault is a "particular challenge and a particular disgrace" to the U.S. military. He noted that last year, far more men (10,400) than women (8,500) "experienced unwanted sexual contact." "We've made some progress," Carter said. "We seem to have seen some decrease in the estimated number of assaults, and we seem to have seen some increase in those reporting an assault."But, last year, we estimated that at least 18,900 servicemembers -- 10,400 men and 8,500 women -- experienced unwanted sexual contact." Carter added that...

The course, called “Making Sense of Climate Denial”, will start next week, and is free and entirely online. University of Queensland Global Change Institute climate communication fellow John Cook is the course coordinator as well as founder of the climate science myth debunking website Skeptical Science. “Ninety-seven per cent of climate scientists agree that humans are causing global warming; however, less than half of Australians are aware of humanity’s role in climate change, while half of the US Senate has voted that humans aren’t causing global warming,” Cook said. “This free course explains why there is such a huge gap...

As a gift to American society on Thursday, John Podhoretz altruistically delved into the vast recesses of his memory and revisited a dark period in American history. It was a time when spurious McCarthyism inexplicably managed to exculpate the Clintons whenever they found themselves in trouble. “The ‘vast right-wing conspiracy’ is back,” Podhoretz wrote. He wasn’t kidding. On Thursday, The New York Times gave Hillary Clinton a serious headache when they published a report alleging the appearance of favoritism given to Russian uranium interests following a well-timed donation to The Clinton Foundation. Even before bombshell allegations resulting from investigations...

Michigan legislators once tried restricting the sale of bottled water for fear of running out. Today, water levels are once again high and rising. Last spring, Great Lakes water levels rose above what’s considered average, based on the brief 97-year period that they have been continuously measured. Since then, the lakes have risen enough to cause the sort of concerns associated with high-water periods of the Great Lakes cycle. Those concerns include disappearing beaches, flooding near waterfront dwellings, menacing waves, and even trouble for rescue teams. Great Lakes water levels rose so quickly compared to other periods that numerous claims...

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Routine Government Employee Information on Hillary Clinton Shielded from the Public (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced that it has received 126 pages of documents from the State Department related to Hillary Clinton’s possible conflicts of interest regarding her position as secretary of state. The initial Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was placed on May 2, 2011. These documents are being released as a result of a federal court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed against the State Department on May 28, 2013 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:13-cv-00772)). Judicial Watch also...

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - A bill that would offer in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants in Tennessee failed to pass the legislature on Wednesday. View from the Hill State lawmakers argued for more than two hours on the bill that has been four years in the making. The issue had bipartisan support, but many teetered on if this was an education issue or about immigration reform. Ultimately, the bill failed by a single vote. Several students dressed in graduation caps and gowns came to the state House to support the bill. They carried signs to represent the jobs they hope to...

Washington (AFP) - Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio are early frontrunners to become the next president of the United States, according to a well-regarded poll released Thursday. The youthful but relatively inexperienced Rubio launched his campaign earlier this month, calling for a new era of American leadership that is not "stuck in the 20th century." Rubio was the only Republican candidate to have double-digit support among hardline Tea Party supporters, evangelicals and party liberals.

What Will Our Resurrected Bodies Be Like? By: Msgr. Charles PopeSt Paul writes to the Philippians of the glory that our currently lowly bodies will one day enjoy:He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified Body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself (Phil 3:19).I once spoke with an older woman who wasn’t all that pleased to hear that her body was going to rise and be joined again to her soul. “Oh, Father, you don’t mean this old decrepit body, do you? If this body has to...