Free Republic

May Day protests grew violent in Oakland on Friday night after a day of passionate but peaceful rallies on both sides of the bay — all influenced by a decision in Maryland to prosecute six officers accused of brutality.

An inspector general (IG) investigation found that employees at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earning $120,000 a year were watching pornography on the job and were put on paid administrative leave for almost a year before anybody tried to fire them. “Over the past two years, the EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) has conducted investigations of multiple cases of serious misconduct carried out by EPA employees,” explained the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at a hearing on EPA mismanagement Thursday. ... There are continued problems with EPA employees who watch pornography at work,” said Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah)...

10 BALTIMORE Baltimore returns to the list in the no. 10 spot. Echoing survey results, Baltimore is jam-packed with black-oriented cultural and recreational activities, including the soon-to-be completed Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Oriole Park, and an Inner Harbor bustling with shops, nightclubs, and restaurants. The survey reveals that Baltimoreans have concerns about quality of life: The social scene is wanting, public schools are lacking, and job opportunities are in short supply. The area’s recent job growth and future job growth figures are a minuscule 0.5% and moderate 15.1%, respectively. However, at 8.1%, Baltimore has the third lowest number of jobless...

(Columbia, SC) A USC student is facing felony charges after she was caught on camera spitting and pouring household cleaners into her roommates’ food in early February. Hayley King, 22, was recorded by her roommates spitting into multiple containers of food and pouring Windex into it in the apartment they shared off campus, a Columbia Police Department report states. King’s two roommates told police they set up cameras in the apartment because they were afraid of what she might do in the wake of fights they had in the prior weeks. The two roommates tried to get King to move...

Mamma Mia – Perfectly in God’s Design, as Seen in a Short Video By: Msgr. Charles PopeNancy Pope and Charlie Pope 1961My mother died a little more than ten years ago, quite tragically and suddenly. At first her presence seemed so far away, her soothing voice with its gentle mid-western accent, gone. But then about six months ago, in my heart and deep in my thoughts, I had a sense that suddenly she moved closer to me. Perhaps her purgation was at an end, or perhaps some roadblock in my own heart moved. But there she was, and once...

These days you need a very strong stomach to sit through television commercials, which appear to be more concerned with promoting liberal social engineering objectives than with selling products. This emotionally exploitative Wells Fargo ad promoting homosexual adoption is so maudlin that it could literally induce vomiting: Your television serves as a window on the world — except that with a window, you see what is really out there. On television, you see only what moonbats want you to see. They are pressing this advantage to the fullest. Strengthen your stomach, because progressives can be counted on to always keep...

The Wall Street Journal, citing a State Department official, reports that any evacuation point designated in a country where an Al Qaeda affiliate is active and an unstable security picture puts Americans and any U.S. military assets involved at risk. Instead, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf has pointed to an online system where Americans stranded in Yemen can register to receive updates on opportunities to leave the country. The department has also talked to other countries about Americans joining their rescue missions, she said. The decision of saving Americans puts U.S. authorities in a tight spot. They must choose between...

Oregon is one of the most restrictive states for carry permit reciprocity.   It does not recognize any permits from any other state.  There are eight other states that are as restrictive.  They are Hawaii, California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.    Most are the last hangers on to the old "may issue" permit system, where the right to carry is not just subject to fees, classes, background checks, and waiting for government permission, but is subject to some, often unelected,  bureaucrat's feelings and attitudes toward you and your lifestyle.   Rhode Island is the...

My dear friends, a few more key points and challenges I would like to make to Bible scholars is for them to see how many times the person of the "anti Christ" is found in the first half of the seven year tribulation period in comparison to the second half. The passages referring to the anti- Christ in the second half of the seven year tribulation are much more abundant and display him in a place of total global dominance and authority, while in the first half he is lightly esteemed. The Anti Christ/Messiah does NOT come to ABSOLUTE TOTAL...

A comment deemed ethnically offensive has ended the 34-year career of an Air Force major general, a decorated combat pilot who oversaw about 32,000 personnel. Air Force officials have not disclosed the specific words that led to the resignation of Maj. Gen. Michael Keltz, commander of 19th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. The comment was made at a public, nonjudicial punishment proceeding, at which a company-grade officer was appealing an Article 15 punishment before Keltz, the convening authority. The hearing was held April 9 in San Antonio. Article 15 hearings are typically held for minor infractions and...

A chaotic situation Friday morning as hundreds of parents and guardians showed up at the Broward School District Headquarters to put in applications for reassignments. The first-come-first-served basis had hundreds of caretakers lining up around 7:30 AM Friday. Many said they didn’t expect everyone to show up at the same time and the same date to submit the application.

GoFundMe.com said it has taken down the fundraising campaign for the Baltimore police officers charged with the death of Freddie Gray because it violates the website's policy. The Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police created the page on Friday in hopes of creating a defense fund for their members involved in the case, but it was quickly taken down because according to the company, funds cannot be used for people accused of serious crimes. "The campaign clearly stated that the money raised would be used to assist the officers with their legal fees, which is a direct violation of GoFundMe's...

Word For The Day, Saturday, May 2, 2015— canker, pique, rogue ; Here is a fun variation on the weekday Word for the Day. Listed here are 3 words that must be used together in one sentence. The sentence should describe some aspect of our current political or social condition. The words for this special Saturday edition of Word for the Day are:canker Piquerogue Try your hand at writing a brief poem, phrase, lyric or limeric. Awards will be given to all participants with special recognition for those displaying unusual perspicacity.

EXCLUSIVE: Content Media’s documentary Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans will have its world premiere in the Cannes Classics section of the Cannes Film Festival later this month. Described as “Senna meets Bullitt,” it traces the complex making of the legendary star’s 1971 racing movie Le Mans. Check out the exclusive poster for the film below.

[Ha, ha! These Luddites don't like it that people who make money rather than spending their lives complaining move into their neighborhoods. I bet rent control has kept new housing low in this part of California, so the leftists probably created the problem they complain about!] Protesters Say "Block The Tech Commute" Was A Bust By James King A May Day protest intended to shut down the shuttle system that transports employees for tech companies like Facebook, Apple and Google from the Bay Area to their offices in Silicon Valley was a bit of a flop, according to several accounts...

On April 29th the Washington Post ran an explosive article highlighting information from a passenger who was inside the transport vehicle at the same time Freddie Gray was driven toward central booking. According to the Washington Post source: Freddie Gray was intentionally “trying to injure himself“. On April 30th local Baltimore media outlet WBAL-TV introduced Donta Allen, a person they claimed was the passenger in the transport vehicle. Our research indicates the office of Baltimore State Attorney, Marilyn Mosby, used or allowed one of her deputy State Attorneys, Janice Bledsoe (who was in charge of the investigation as assigned by...

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy opened his Friday memo to House members regarding May’s legislative agenda by quoting Steve Jobs and praising Republicans for the victories they’ve overseen in the first 100 days of the 114th Congress. But GOP success stories may be overshadowed later this month when Republicans again face one of the most politically dangerous and unforgiving issues for the party: immigration. In considering the fiscal 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, members could see a repeat of last year’s meltdown over Rep. Jeff Denham’s plans to offer as an amendment his so-called ENLIST Act, which would provide a legal-status...

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) sought to assuage conservative concerns about a trade bill that’s a top priority for both President Obama and GOP leaders in his party’s weekly address. Isakson made the case that giving Obama “fast-track” authority on trade wouldn’t be giving too much power to a president that many conservatives believe is guilty of executive overreach. Under fast-track authority, lawmakers aren’t allowed to amend trade deals sent up to Congress. That’s seen as crucial to completing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive agreement between the U.S., Japan and 10 other Asian economies. “Congress still has the final say in...

CLARKE: FREDDIE GRAY CHARGES ‘DUKE LACROSSE CASE ALL OVER AGAIN’ by IAN HANCHETT Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke (D) declared the charges brought against six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray “George Zimmerman and the Duke Lacrosse case all over again” and said “these cops are political prisoners,” offered up as human sacrifices, thrown like red meat to an angry mob” on Friday’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto” on the Fox News Channel. Clarke said of the charges, “it’s a miscarriage of justice. This neophyte prosecutor stood up there and made a political statement, Neil, and I say...

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke (D) declared the charges brought against six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray “George Zimmerman and the Duke Lacrosse case all over again” and said “these cops are political prisoners,” offered up as human sacrifices, thrown like red meat to an angry mob” on Friday’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto” on the Fox News Channel. Clarke said of the charges, “it’s a miscarriage of justice. This neophyte prosecutor stood up there and made a political statement, Neil, and I say that because she’s chanting or voicing some of the chants from this angry...