Free Republic

Holocaust survivors and officials gathered Sunday at the memorial site of the former concentration camp Bergen-Belsen in northern Germany in a solemn ceremony to commemorate the liberation of the camp 70 years ago. The camp was liberated on April 15, 1945 by British soldiers who found more than 10,000 dead bodies when they entered the Nazi camp.

Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told a gathering of conservative Republicans that there was “no room for Christians in today's Democratic party,” in a speech Saturday, according to reports.Speaking at the Faith and Freedom summit in Iowa, along with several other GOP 2016 hopefuls, Cruz said: “There is a liberal fascism that is dedicated to going after believing Christians who follow the biblical teaching on marriage," according to CNN.The Texas lawmaker told his audience that the issue of same-sex marriage had produced rabid zealotry in Democratic ranks. This ideology, he argued, was excluding people of faith, the Hill reported.Cruz's speech, and...

Amid the cross-country race to election 2016, the secular left’s utter disdain for both our Creator Christ and His faithful followers is fast approaching critical mass. Self-styled “progressives” – that is, America’s cultural Marxist agents of ruin – typically disguise their designs on despotism in the flowery and euphemistic language of “reproductive health,” “anti-discrimination” and “multiculturalism.” We see this Orwellian newspeak at play right now in Washington, D.C., where congressional Republicans endeavor to prevent, if only timorously, two unconstitutional pieces of legislation from taking effect. The first, the District of Columbia’s so-called “Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act,” would force pro-life groups,...

While the FBI investigates a possible ISIS terror attack on the basis of intercepted chatter and intelligence information, the TSA issued a classified warning that ISIS is planning an attack on U.S. soil. Little is known about the nature of the attack other than its imminence, which has prompted the TSA to deploy its new Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams, or VIPR, to various undisclosed locations. The VIPR teams include airports, train stations and other busy transportation hubs. One law enforcement source suggested parts of California were of special concern.

1. Executive Summary There were 44,124 alien IDENT matches in September 2013 compared to 47,512 alien IDENT matches in August 2013. In September 2013, SC observed 16,150 LESC Level 1 matches compared to 17,755 LESC Level 1 matches in August 2013. 6,513 aliens identified through use of IDENT/IAFIS interoperability were removed from the country in September 2013. Of these, 2,497 removals were Level 1 convicted criminal aliens. IDENT/IAFIS Interoperability Statistics Secure Communities Monthly Statistics through September 30, 2013. IDENT/IAFIS Interoperability Secure Communities’ use of IDENT/IAFIS interoperability produced over 44,124 alien IDENT matches in September of FY 2013 compared to over...

The United States of America is a republic, of course. Not a democracy. Yet, it is through democracy — that is, via democratic means — that we maintain the Republic and thus, maintain the bulwark protecting our freedom as individuals. Or not. “We the People” elect our representatives at the local, state and federal level, to serve our interests, and in 49 states (Delaware’s the weirdo) a majority of citizens must vote to approve any change to the foundational contract of that government: the state constitution. That’s wonderful, certainly, except that hardly anyone (that is, hardly anyone not on the...

 passage from Ernest  Hemingway fits the moment. In “The Sun Also  Rises,” one character asks,  “How did you go bankrupt?” and another responds: “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” The exchange captures Hillary Clinton’s red alert. She’s been going politically bankrupt for a long time, and now faces the prospect of sudden collapse. If she’s got a winning defense, she better be quick about it. The ghosts of scandals past are gaining on her and time is not on her side. The compelling claims that she and Bill Clinton sold favors while she was secretary of state for tens of millions...

“I’m a woman.” So said Bruce Jenner, during his coming out appearance this past Friday on a special two-hour edition of the ABC News program “20/20.” And that’s not the only shocking revelation Jenner confided to interviewer Diane Sawyer. “She” also claimed to be a Republican, a conservative and a Christian. Well, it’s conceivable that Jenner is a Republican. After all, there’s a LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) group that calls itself the Log Cabin Republicans. It’s also possible that Jenner is a “conservative.” Indeed, there have been any number of conservative lawmakers – including former Idaho Senator Larry...

The shriek sounded like a cockroach was spotted in the bathtub or a spider in the sink. But the second shriek convinced me it was something worse. I’d just been in the bathroom myself, and dutifully dumped my wet hunting clothes in the hamper. Then put my wet wallet contents under the hair dryer set on medium. The usual pre-front thunderstorm had caught me on my deerstand and soaked me good. But I was pretty sure I hadn’t carried in any creepy-crawlies attached to my hunting clothes. So what on earth…?“Three hundred and seventy- five dollars!” The words—even the syllables—comprising...

On 23 April, an alert neighbor stopped an ongoing crime spree by shooting a burglary suspect in the leg, allowing police to apprehend the suspect.   While the situation is still under investigation, it appears that the shooting was justified, given the facts reported.   From the Lake Charles Police Facebook page: Lake Charles Police responded to a prowler call in the 3700 block of Vanderbilt Street. While on the way to that call, Officers were advised that a shot was fired at the same location. When officers arrived, they discovered that a homeowner had encountered a subject running from a...

Last Thursday my wife and I welcomed our first grandbaby into the world. My oldest daughter Hannah (who leveled ACORN) and her husband Joe (who’s currently leveling other nefarious nuts) had a handsome little boy they’ve named, Hamish. Badass name, eh? Obviously, we were elated for Hannah and Joe and the thought that we get to have a new little life scooting around occasionally at our casa felt pretty cool to us as well. But truth be told, it also freaked me out a wee bit. So … what was perturbing to moi? Well, it was largely the realization that...

Just think of it. Walker or Cruz wins in 2016. Does Rubio run for Fla. Governor in 2018 in preparation for a WH run 10 years away? He would be unemployed just as the Castro brothers are ready to pass from the scene. A Rubio hovering above the scene would encourage a crash and burn changeover down there and we should hope for a violent turnover a la Mussolini, Ceauchescou, and Allende. Castro is not entitled to the dignity of a natural death. In 10 years the island nation would be ('post')modern.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is by most accounts an awkward, charmless politician who is motivated by little more than a ruthless desire to accrue power and win his next election. He has no set ideological principles (he was once a labor-friendly, pro-choice moderate, for example) and despite having been in Congress for some three decades, no legislation of real significance bears his name. To all appearances, he is exactly the kind of nakedly ambitious cipher that our society rewards but that we the people claim to hate. I would, generally speaking, rather write about someone else.

The court in Novorossiysk gave two of the dancers 10 days in jail each, a third 15 days and two others received fines on charges of petty hooliganism. Prosecutors had said their "erotic and sexual twerk dance" was disrespectful to historic memory and unacceptable. Earlier this month, Russian officials closed a dance school after a similar dance video emerged on the internet. The latest incident involves six dancers - one of them a minor who was not convicted - who had posted a video on YouTube. "This incident of disrespect for the memory of war history is unacceptable and any...

Air raids, naval shelling and ground fighting shook Yemen on Sunday in some of the most widespread combat since a Saudi-led alliance intervened last month against Iranian-allied Houthi militia who have seized wide areas of the country. There were at least five air strikes on military positions and an area near the presidential palace compound in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa at dawn on Sunday, while warships pounded an area near the port of the southern city of Aden, residents said. "The explosions were so big they shook the house, waking us and our kids up. Life has really become unbearable...

You are going to hear a lot about money in politics in the coming year and a half. Not just the amounts of donations to various campaigns and Super PACs, but about the very concept of money in politics. It’s evil, they’ll say. It’s corrupting. But it’s not, not even a little. Hillary Clinton, laughably, made her call to limit “dark money” known long before the Clinton Foundation admitted it had to refile at least five years’ worth of taxes because of a failure to disclose millions in “donations.”But money is necessary for candidates to get out their message. Even...

SALT LAKE CITY — The man responsible for raising nearly $1 billion for Mitt Romney's last presidential race is trying to talk a Provo business executive into running against Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. Spencer Zwick told KSL News he wants to see Alex Dunn, president of Vivint Inc., who worked on Romney's 2002 campaign for governor of Massachusetts and served on his gubernatorial staff, take on Lee in a GOP primary in 2016. "I am not out actively trying to find people to run against Mike Lee. This is specific to Alex Dunn. I hope Alex will consider getting in...

Bobby Jindal is barely breaking 2 percent in Iowa polls — but you’d never know it from the way he wowed the crowd at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition summit on Saturday. The Republican governor from Louisiana is one of nine presidential hopefuls speaking at the Des Moines-area confab, which gathers evangelical Christians together to judge the GOP candidates’ social conservative bona fides. Freshman senators Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, the first candidates to speak, were both well received by the Iowan audience. Former Texas governor Rick Perry was next, though he didn’t exactly capture the same enthusiasm. But...

She was from Edison and previously worked at the East Orange General Hospital. Girawong was part of a group that had trained at the lower Khumbu glacier before climbing the mountain. Her last post on Facebook was about the snow on Everestt a few hours before she died. "Day 28 on this arduous journey , snow is falling & my food cravings are at an all time high...Is a crunchy spicy tuna roll with eel sauce too much to ask for?" she posted.

The King of Love My Shepherd Is – A Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter By: Msgr. Charles PopeOn this fourth Sunday of Easter we turn a corner of sorts. Up until now we have been reading of the resurrection appearances themselves. Today we begin to see how the risen Lord ministers to us as the Good Shepherd. In effect, the Lord gives us four basic pictures or teachings of how, as the King of Love, He shepherds us. Here, then, are four portraits of His love:I. Passionate love – Jesus says, I am the Good Shepherd, a...