Free Republic

A few weeks ago, there was an election in Ferguson, Mo., the result of which was to treble the number of African Americans on that unhappy suburb’s city council. This was greeted in some corners with optimism — now, at last, the city’s black residents would have a chance to see to securing their own interests. This optimism flies in the face of evidence near — St. Louis — and far — Baltimore, Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco . . . St. Louis has not had a Republican mayor since the 1940s, and in its most recent...

Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Guard to monitor federal military exercises in Texas after some citizens have lit up the Internet saying the maneuvers are actually the prelude to martial law. Related Army says Jade Helm’s a training op coming to Texas this summer. Internet says it’s a takeover! Abbott apparently has heard the concern and ordered the Guard to monitor the training and U.S. military personnel. “To address concerns of Texas citizens and ensure that Texas communities remain safe, secure and informed about military procedures occurring in their vicinity, I am directing the TExas State Guard to monitor...

Syrian Defense Minister General Fahd al-Freij arrived in Iran on Tuesday for a rare two-day visit, the first since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, and was reportedly told by his Iranian backers to attack Israel. ......... Al-Freij was told by senior Iranian sources that Syria and Iran's terror proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, need to open a war front against Israel on the Golan Heights

Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is pretty bullish on the Supreme Court recognizing a national right to same-sex marriage, he told Seth Meyers on Tuesday's Late Night, though he said he hadn't read much about the oral arguments that took place earlier in the day. He's excited, Frank added, because he has a husband, and because "I cannot wait to see Justice Scalia's reaction. I'm speculating that like Rumpelstiltskin he will stamp his foot and go up in a puff of smoke." Meyers laughed, "That would be something to see."

Claim: Freddie Gray, who died from injuries he sustained while in Baltimore police custody on 12 April 2015, had a lengthy arrest record.TRUE Example: [Collected via email, April 2015] Did Freddie gray really have a rap sheet? Origins: On 12 April 2015, a 25-year-old man named Freddie Gray sustained grave injuries (from which he subsequently died) while in police custody in Baltimore. Although details about Gray's arrest, custody, and death are still unclear, some aspects of the case have come to light. On 27 April 2015, the web site Heavy published an article that included Gray's arrest record, as follows:...

"When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship." Red or Blue?

Nearly two in three Americans who bought subsidized health insurance on the Obamacare exchanges this year had to pay some of the federal dollars back, according to new data from H&R Block. That's because they presumably collected more federal aid than their income qualified them for. In that case, consumers must either pay some of it back or — in most cases — the IRS will subtract it from their tax refund. Policymakers have expressed concern that low-income people could struggle with paying back the subsidies — or suffer if their tax refunds are greatly reduced because of overpayments. The...

RUSSELL BERMAN APR 28, 2015 When the Baltimore Orioles host the Chicago White Sox at Camden Yards on Wednesday, it won't really feel like a baseball game. There will be no cheering, and no booing. Nor will there be heckling, hot dogs, or beer. There will be no fans in the stadium at all, in fact. After riots in the city forced the postponement of games for two straight days, Major League Baseball announced that the Orioles will play on Wednesday, but the game will be closed to the public. RELATED STORY Two States of Emergency in Baltimore For a...

Are committed fathers an endangered species in our culture? Fr. Gordon MacRae draws a troubling corollary between absent fathers and burgeoning prisons.Wade Horn, Ph.D., President of the National Fatherhood Initiative, had an intriguing article entitled “Of Elephants and Men” in a recent issue of Fatherhood Today magazine. I found Dr. Horn’s story about young elephants to be simply fascinating, and you will too. It was sent to me by a TSW reader who wanted to know if there is any connection between the absence of fathers and the shocking growth of the American prison population. Some years ago, officials at...

The gay rights movement has spent years trying to convince judges across the country that prohibiting same-sex marriage discriminates against gays and lesbians solely because of their sexual orientation. But on Tuesday, a surprising question from Chief Justice John Roberts revived a very different legal strategy that the gay rights movement had all but abandoned.

BlendTec's Tom Dickson and his blender of doom take on the new Apple Watch -- with Siri.

April 29, 2015Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church    Reading 1 Acts 12:24—13:5a The word of God continued to spread and grow. After Barnabas and Saul completed their relief mission,they returned to Jerusalem,taking with them John, who is called Mark. Now there were in the Church at Antioch prophets and teachers:Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saulfor the work to which I...

A Georgia teacher was yanked from the classroom after telling students President Obama was an anti-Christian Muslim, school officials said. Parents complained in February that teacher Nancy Perry tried to persuade the middle schoolers Obama is lying about his religious beliefs and it was wrong to support him. “If your parents voted for Obama, they're evil and I don't see how your parents could vote for someone that's Muslim,” Perry allegedly said, parent Jimmie Scott told WMAZ. The idea that Obama is a closeted Muslim, born in Kenya remains a popular conspiracy of critics on the far right wing, even...

audi King Salman bin Abdulaziz has sacked his younger half-brother as crown prince and appointed his nephew, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, as the new heir apparent, state television said. Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall, reporting from Jizan in the country's south, said the reshuffle was announced by royal decree via state television early on Wednesday. SNIP-- Political earthquake' Khalil Jahshan, the executive director for the Arab Centre of Washington from Fairfax, Virginia, said that the reshuffle constitutes a "political earthquake of the greatest magnitude". "The Saudi Arabia we knew a few hours ago is no longer," Jahshan told Al...

Same youtube link here What a room full of legends...and yet they knew what they were watching.

Iranian “cultural centers,” established across Latin America to enhance the Shiite country’s influence in the region, have proliferated in the last three years, while the Obama administration has been trying to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran. “As the foremost state sponsor of terrorism, Iran’s involvement in the region and these cultural centers is a matter for concern, and its diplomatic, economic, and political engagement is closely monitored,” Gen. John Kelly, the commander of U.S. Southern Command (Southcom), told lawmakers last month, as the P5+1 powers approached a self-imposed deadline to draw up a framework for a nuclear deal with...

About 15-20 minutes into the imposed curfew, the police started to advance on the Pennsylvania Ave intersection. Aside from bottles being thrown, reports of firecrackers or fireworks, and tear gas being fired, no casualties were reported. Some youth threw garbage into the street before they retreated. As VICE News reported, they showed a store being looted, along with some people turning the camera away to avoid showing their faces, and yelling at them to leave. The residents interview say that the police have planted drugs on "suspects" and forcibly searched random residents without reason for generations. Three cars were set...

People have the right to protest, but too many politicians are afraid or unwilling to stop looting and rioting. The dividing line between liberals and conservatives could hardly be starker. When the St. Louis Grand Jury reached its decision in Officer Wilson’s shooting of Michael Brown, Democrat Missouri Governor Jay Nixon ignored calls from Ferguson’s mayor and kept the National Guard away from the initial violence. As Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder complained: "[The National Guard]were kept away at the crucial time while Ferguson burned.” The rioting and destruction was hardly a surprise. Likewise, in Baltimore, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has evoked...

The Air Force will send some perfectly fine fighter jets to the boneyard or delay its F-35 Lightning II rollout for a year if Congress blocks retirement of the A-10 Thunderbolt, according to a document recently provided to military oversight committees. The tradeoffs would occur at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, due to limited number of personnel to maintain the A-10s, F-16 Fighting Falcons and the first advanced F-35 joint strike fighters slated to arrive later this year, the service told lawmakers. The Air Force and Congress have been grappling over the future of the A-10, known as the...

"The Telegraph" apparently finds it bothersome that Coloma Convent Girls' School presents the dark side of premarital sex and strongly encourages chaste choicesHeadlines about complaints over sex education in a Catholic school. Claims that some students are “scared” by the approach used in teaching about sexually transmitted diseases. The head teacher defending what had been done and saying the aim was to meet the needs of pupils and “discuss various issues and ideas”. Sound familiar? There has been plenty of controversy over sex education in recent years. So why did Britain's Daily Telegraph pick up this particular story? Coloma Convent...