Free Republic

Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign has gotten off to an objectively rocky start as several scandals – including the serious accusation that the Clinton Foundation accepted foreign donations during her stint as secretary of state – have dogged her in recent weeks. While Republican criticism might appear to be par for the course ahead of primary season, the lone Democrat in the race is also catching heat from within her own party. Among the latest leftists to suggest Clinton’s fledgling campaign is already in its death throes is San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. In a recent San Francisco Chronicle editorial,...

Louis Farrakhan, rising: With rap’s superstars at his side, the Nation of Islam leader steps forward in the new fight for civil rights Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam was credited by protesters on the ground in Baltimore with establishing a gang truce in the city to unify black Baltimore against the police. The NOI and its well-dressed Fruit of Islam were on the ground in Ferguson, as well, in a leadership role.Lord only knows what sort of paranoiac frenzy Glenn Beck would spiral into were he to discover this recent trend in hip-hop: Rappers are increasingly seeking the wisdom and counsel...

A Jordanian columnist is extremely concerned that Arab countries have turned their backs on the kingdom, pushing it straight into Israel's lap. In the April 12 edition of the Jordanian daily Al-Dustour, columnist Maher Abu Tair sheds light on what he calls the "sad" contemporary situation in which the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan finds itself. He accuses Arab countries of turning their backs on Jordan and abandoning it, pushing Jordan totally into Israel's economic and political lap. Abu Tair calls strongly for a major change that will enable Jordan to find an alternative to relying on Israel. -snip- "Jordan has...

Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers pleaded with a jury Monday to spare his life, portraying him as "a good kid" who was led down the path to terrorism by his increasingly fanatical older brother. David Bruck delivered the defense's opening statement in the penalty phase of Tsarnaev's trial, saying there is no punishment Tsarnaev can get that would be equal to the suffering of the bombing victims. "There is no evening the scales," Bruck said. "There is no point in trying to hurt him as he hurt because it can't be done."

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia's Health Ministry is recommending the immediate suspension of aerial spraying of a herbicide that's the cornerstone of U.S.-financed efforts to wipe out cocaine crops. The ministry on Monday based its decision on the reclassification last month of glyphosate as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization's research arm. It said it was acting in accordance with a constitutional court ruling that it take precautions whenever credible health risks are apparent.

An 'important' patch from this month’s Black Tuesday causes odd problems in many applications. It’s taken more than a week for various problem reports to take on a coherent theme, but it now appears as if an “elevation of privilege” patch for Windows, MS 15-038/KB 3045999, causes intermittent problems with a wide array of software.... [For example, on systems with McAfee:] Several applications fail to start after you install Microsoft Patch MS15-038 on systems with DLP [Data Loss Prevention for] Endpoint. Affected applications include, but are not limited to: CMD.EXE Explorer.EXE MMC-based applications Microsoft Office applications PowerShell ... it’s another...

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake blamed the media for blatantly mischaracterizing her words on Monday after she was quoted saying that the city's police department should “give those who wished to destroy space to do that.” In a press conference Monday night, Rawlings-Blake blamed the media for portraying her remark as an attempt to incite violence, which she said was not the case. The press conference came amid heavy violence, rioting and looting in the streets of Baltimore in response to the death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who died of a spinal injury after being detained by the...

Rioting video set to music from "Hairspray".

LINKOPING, Sweden, April 27 (Reuters) - Swedish defence company Saab said on Monday there was growing interest for its Gripen fighter jet from countries spread across Russia's European flank, amid rising tensions rise over Ukraine. Czech Republic and Hungary already operate 14 Gripens each under leases, and a senior Saab executive said he was open to more such deals as others with limited budgets seek more modern air power. "Even if they don't expect a Russian intervention, there are more tensions and air policing becomes necessary, so if you only have a few MiG-21s you would like to have a...

With the violence sweeping Baltimore threatening to scare away tourists and the city's huge convention industry, officials are working overtime to build in new security around the downtown convention center and promising to keep people safe.

Is the sapphire crystal on the Apple Watch worth the extra money? The Apple Watch with a sapphire crystal survived a level-9 Mohs pick in our scratch test. Durability is a greater concern for smartwatches than for any other personal electronics device. Sure, cellular phones can take a beating, but at least you can protect them in a case. Smartwatches, by design, are exposed to the elements and vulnerable to any hazards that your arms encouter. With millions of consumers now taking delivery of the new Apple Watch, that’s going to leave a lot of people wondering just how gingerly...

Just an hour after UMN President Eric Kaler delivered his annual State of the University address, Minneapolis activists, led by Students for a Democratic Society members, delivered their own address. Dubbed a "People's State of the University Address", the address centered on the struggle of students, staff, and faculty, including inflated administrations, the need for a diversified campus, tuition hikes, and greater difficulties for workers. This was in contrast the the address delivered by Eric Kaler which was little more than a PR stunt for the university.read more

It's all about hope. I have come to believe that humans cannot live without hope. But hope has become a weak word: "I hope it rains tomorrow." That's not the kind of hope I'm talking about. There is a hope which sustains us - keeps us going - motivates our inner being. Of course, the "hope" in Christ is eternal, and those who know it - well, they just "know" it. But even without that, we must find hope somewhere. And that is what is missing in these riots. There are no jobs (thanks to "O"), there is no hope...

More New Yorkers are keeping their nests empty. The city’s birth rate is the lowest since 1936 — having steadily declined over the past decade, according to data obtained by The Post. “This is a very troubling trend,” said Conservative Party state chairman Mike Long. “The economy is hurting families and the development of families.” “If we don’t produce enough young people, society won’t be able to pay for Social Security and Medicaid,” he warned.

IN CONCERT: BEETHOVEN'S MISSA SOLEMNIS: A CELESTIAL TREAT Beethoven was inspired by the beauty of the Mass when he created this work. It later debuted at St. Petersburg in 1824. Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London who deliver a superb performance with 260 members in the chorus! Begins at 7:45 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzQXdWM3J3o Shorter Version with Leonard Bernstein at the Concert Hall in Amsterdam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5cOfF9ZDAM

Southbound on the I-15 towards San Diego County.

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Dr. Alveda King, niece of the great civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said if he saw these Baltimore riots, “he’d be heartbroken, I am.”

Even the Ayatollah has something to say about what's happening in Baltimore... "It's ridiculous that even though US President is black, still such crimes agnst US blacks continue to occur. #BlackLivesMatter #FreddieGray"

Last year, Michael Bloomberg’s gun control organization launched a “six-figure ad campaign” pressuring Kroger to ban guns on its property. The extensive campaign had “print and digital ads in USA Today, the Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News and Houston Chronicle. Print-only ads will run in the Tennessean.” On April 22nd, fortunately a concealed handgun permit holder who was leaving a Kroger had his handgun with him. From Fox News 16 in Little Rock, Arkansas:

Kudos to Pope Francis for calling a conference, scheduled for tomorrow, emphasizing the moral dimensions of climate change. It’s about time we took a clear and sober look at an issue that can cause so much harm to so many, especially the poor and downtrodden. The core problem for the conference is to balance the costs and benefits imposed by climate change against the costs and benefits of a major reduction in the use of fossil fuels, with the understanding that there are only two other sources of dense energy that can effectively replace them, nuclear power and large hydroelectric...