Free Republic

Rep. Ted Lieu, in Silicon Valley on Monday and Tuesday to tour tech companies and pay homage to his alma mater, says the key to Democratic victories in 2016 lies on the other side of the aisle. Ted Lieu“We want to see lots of Ted Cruz on television,” Lieu, D-Torrance, said Monday during an interview at a Starbucks in San Jose. “I want him to win the nomination on the Republican side.” Even if that doesn’t happen, having such sharply conservative voices on the other side makes it easier for Democrats to underscore how large segments of the GOP are...

For those of you watching "The Five" as we speak, you can't help but observe how Juan just wont shut up and talking over each host as they take their turns making their arguments over the Baltimore Riots. From the very start of tonights edition, it seem like Juan just wouldn't shut up. As soon as a host makes his/hers rebuttal, 3/4/5 seconds later Juan tries to form an opinion or cut them off. And no one else on the panel does this. It's a mystery why FOX News wont take him off the show. Now we are really missing...

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. -- In retrospect, the van probably stood out from the usual bustle of traffic the police officer was watching. Late Monday morning an officer was monitoring traffic crossing the Homer Bridge at Queenston St. in St. Catharines, when the officer's "attention was drawn" to a 2000 Dodge Caravan that was in need of some repair, according to a Niagara Regional Police press release. The van in question was missing doors and windows, had "numerous items sticking out the sides," and had a wooden stool tied to the roof. On the tailgate was a sign that read "slow...

This is kinda surprising: Fox News conservative pundit Andrea Tantaros is reportedly dating Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro. According to Us Weekly, the pair have been spotted canoodling around New York City and have been dating for a few months since being introduced by mutual friends. Navarro is 47 years old, Tantaros is 36. “Even though they seem like opposites, they have a lot in common. They both have a wicked sense of humor and share a love of politics and dark eyeliner,” a source told Us. They certainly don’t seem like political opposites, however, as Navarro performed at the...

The NASDAQ may have just had the second most monumental breakthrough of a double top formation in stock market history. It took fifteen long years for the index to make a new high after the biggest market crash any living person has had to endure. The lingering resentment is going to be there for many years to come; and for a lot of former investors, it will never go away. This is why the rally has been ignored. Actually, it is more fertile grounds for the merchants of doom than anyone discussing reasonable expectations of enhancing wealth through investing in...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. -First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, December 15, 1791.Congress intended the First Amendment to permit a wide range of opinions and views and produce a free exchange of ideas even if they are at odds with tradition. According to political myth, Otto von Bismarck said, “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch...

As a nation, we fail to comprehend Black political strategy in much the same way we fail to recognize the value of Black life. We see ghettos and crime and absent parents where we should see communities actively struggling against mental health crises and premeditated economic exploitation. And when we see police cars being smashed and corporate property being destroyed, we should see reasonable responses to generations of extreme state violence, and logical decisions about what kind of actions yield the desired political results. I’m overwhelmed by the pervasive slandering of protesters in Baltimore this weekend for not remaining peaceful....

Barack Obama: No Excuse For Baltimore Riots But America Must Do Some 'Soul Searching' 28 Apr 2015 President Barack Obama has condemned rioting in Baltimore, saying there was "no excuse" for the violence which erupted after the funeral of a black man who was injured in police custody. Freddie Gray, 25, was laid to rest on Monday. He died following a spinal injury sustained in police custody. Following the funeral, rioters took to the streets of Baltimore, torching cars, pelting police with stones and looting businesses in the city. Despite his condemnation of the rioters, Obama acknowledged a "slow-rolling crisis"...

The New York-based civil rights activist also wants to plan a two-day march in May from Baltimore to Washington, expressing frustration in the lack of answers into Gray's death. Gray, who died April 19 after suffering a spinal cord injury while in police custody, was buried Monday. "I have been asked by many in the Baltimore area since Day 1 to get involved in the justice for Freddie Gray movement," Sharpton said in a statement.

WASHINGTON — After Baltimore’s first round of rowdy protests on Saturday, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake came under fire for saying that the city gave people “who wished to destroy” space to do so. “I worked with the police and instructed them to do everything that they could to make sure that the protesters were able to exercise their right to free speech,” Rawlings-Blake said to the media Saturday evening. “It’s a very delicate balancing act because while we tried to make sure that they were protected from the cars and the other things that were going on, we also gave...

People stranded in remote villages and towns across Nepal were still waiting for aid and relief to arrive on Tuesday, four days after a devastating earthquake destroyed buildings and roads and killed more than 4,600 people. The government has yet to assess the full scale of the damage wrought by Saturday’s 7.9 magnitude quake, unable to reach many mountainous areas despite aid supplies and personnel pouring in from around the world. Prime minister Sushil Koirala told reporters the death toll could reach 10,000, as information of damage from far-flung villages and towns has yet to come in. ... The figure...

An extensive study done by the Pew Research Center has yielded some fascinating information regarding the trajectory of world religions over the next four decades. As of 2010, Christianity was the dominant world religion with roughly 2.2 billion adherents and Muslim's were second with about 1.6 billion adherents. If current demographic trends continue however, Islam is expected to catch up to Christianity midway through the 21st century

CHARLESTON, SC - Police say between 11:30 p.m. Saturday night and 1 a.m. Sunday morning, a group of at least 15 teens assaulted several people. News 2's Travis Rice spoke exclusively to a woman that confronted the juveniles during the crime spree. Kathleen Russell says "It was like swarms of bees I guess all where it just kind of comes in and they're all yelling and screaming and then I've never seen so many police men coming down the street and the kids would disperse real quickly." Kathleen lives downtown Charleston and has had to tell late nighters to quiet...

Jack Ely, the Portland guitarist and singer best known for the Kingsmen's 1960s hit "Louie, Louie," has died, his son told KOIN news this morning. In 1963, as the story goes, The Kingsmen recorded "Louie, Louie" in a studio at Northwest 13th Avenue and Burnside. Ely, the only band member who knew all the words to Richard Berry's calypso-meets-R&B song that day had just had his braces tightened and couldn't enunciate clearly. The producer moved the microphone away from him, capturing the music but muffling the words. Ely's incomprehensible vocal track famously spawned an FBI investigation into whether the Portland-bred...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Jeb Bush confronted one of the Republican Party’s touchiest debates head-on Tuesday, telling Puerto Ricans that conservatives should be proud that America is “an immigrant nation” and value the contribution immigrants make to the country. Immigration is a delicate subject for him in the primacy race, with several potential rivals favoring a harder line on those who come to the U.S. illegally. But he took it up unapologetically in his remarks. “We’re an immigrant nation and we should be proud,” he said, as someone in the audience yelled, “Yes!” “We should create an immigration...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Tuesday he is dispatching state police officers to Baltimore, where riots jarred the city Monday. Christie, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, said on Twitter he is sending 150 New Jersey state troopers and state police staff members to Maryland at the request of Gov. Larry Hogan (R). He said 100 will be troopers who will “provide operational support” and 50 will be “enlisted and civilian personnel” who will “provide investigative and logistical support.” They will be on the ground initially for 72 hours. "And our full deployment of [police] will unfold later today...

A conservative lawyer who defended California's same-sex marriage ban before the Supreme Court is hosting a fundraiser for Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-TX) presidential campaign. The lawyer, Charles J. Cooper, also is helping to plan a same-sex wedding for his daughter. Cooper, according to The Washington Post, found out that his daughter is gay while defending California's Proposition 8 gay marriage ban. Cooper is one of 20 names headlining a fundraiser for Cruz on Wednesday.(GRAPHIC-AT-LINK) [continued]

VPR News has learned from several sources that Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will announce his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday. Sanders will release a short statement on that day and then hold a major campaign kickoff in Vermont in several weeks. Audio from this story will be posted at approximately 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 29. Sanders' entry into the Democratic race ensures that Hillary Clinton will face a challenge to win the support of the liberal wing of the party. Sanders' basic message will be that the middle class in America has been decimated in...

The Human Rights Campaign claimed Archbishop Vigano would 'further politicize differences' between the US and the Vatican by supporting Church teaching on marriage. - Pete Baklinski / LifeSiteNews April 28, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- In the days leading up to this past weekend’s March for Marriage, the homosexual activist group Human Rights Campaign petitioned the Holy Father to keep his ambassador to the US from participating in the annual event supporting natural marriage.To the displeasure of the pro-homosexual group, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano was among the special guests at the third annual march in Washington...

Well. I really can't believe I am saying this. The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to tell us what marriage means. Not speculate; not explain. Tell: as in, "Wipe that smile off your face and listen to what I'm telling you." We are at a remarkable moment in human affairs: one we would hardly have predicted 50 years ago at the start of our cultural upheavals. Historic understandings that drew, for the most part, support and sympathy no longer have footing, which is fine with the kind of folk -- they are in leadership roles all around us, including judgeships...