Free Republic

San Diego hiker Kathleen Heldman and her husband and two friends were in Nepal when the deadly quake struck, bringing an avalanche with itA San Diego hiker who survived the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Nepal followed by an avalanche thought she was going to die in the disaster and was in disbelief when she came up for air. “I thought, ‘This is where I die,’” said Kathleen “Kat” Heldman, recounting her harrowing experience for reporters in San Diego on Tuesday. e “Going through the earthquake and the avalanche was terrifying. It was horribly devastating to see what happened to people...

At an event in New York City on Monday, President Obama said “reforming our schools for all of our kids” was one of his accomplishments. He also described “public-education institutions” as “pathways for success.” But in the same speech, the president hailed a new private sector effort to teach black and Latino kids to read at grade level by third grade; increase their high school graduation rates; and get more young black and Latino men into higher education or career training, all of them things that a “reformed” education system might be expected to do. …

The Obama administration is quietly pushing Sunni Arab allies in the Persian Gulf to create an advanced missile defense system, and is preparing to ramp up sophisticated weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in an effort to ease regional fears over a potential nuclear deal with Iran. With Secretary of State John F. Kerry set to visit Saudi Arabia Wednesday and Thursday, officials privately say the administration is weighing whether to offer Riyadh — already a major buyer of American and European weaponry — GBU-28 bunker buster bombs Washington has so far only been willing to provide to Israel. The discussions...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday evening moved to end debate on bipartisan legislation that will allow Congress to review an Iran nuclear deal, after amendments proposed by some Republicans threatened to cost it Democratic support. McConnell’s action sets up a vote on Thursday to end debate. That would clear the way for a vote on the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, a bill crafted by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and ranking member Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) in such a way as to ensure maximum bipartisan support and fend off an earlier White House veto...

So if Muslims burn our flag and shout "Death to America" it's nothing more than a innocuous demonstration of free speech, but if a Texas town holds a Muhammad caricature contest it's an instant crime against humanity and prosecutable hate speech? The fact liberals are even suggesting Islam should be protected against any and all disparagement - in a country predicated upon Judeo-Christian values no less - but that that the vilest forms of slander against Christians, capitalists, veterans, police, and conservatives is perfectly acceptable and even encouraged, shows the true, fascist face of progressivism. After all, it's not like...

The patent -- which ensures the design for the Apple Watch cannot be copied by a competitor -- was filed in August of last year, just weeks ahead of its unveiling. The Apple Watch's design is now officially protected by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The USPTO on Tuesday issued a design patent on the Apple Watch look and feel. The design patent filing provides precious little information, but includes several sketches showing the device from all angles, including from the top, side and underneath the face where the sensor and charging apparatus sit. Getting a design patent is...

Yesterday, conservative lawmakers pushed to attach key toll road reforms to two transportation bills in the Texas House, but they were thwarted by Speaker Joe Straus and his parliamentarian Chris Griesel who would not allow them to present their amendments. Griesel told them the amendments weren’t ‘germane’ (or salient) to the bills, HB 13 and HB 20, and blocked Rep. Jeff Leach and Rep. Jonathan Stickland from even laying out their amendments. Straus and Griesel utilized the same technique as they did on a Stickland amendment to the open carry bill the week before. The two decided to reject the...

s Hillary Rodham Clinton seeks to focus public attention on immigration during a swing through Nevada on Tuesday, her presidential campaign staff back at Brooklyn headquarters is scrambling to mitigate damage from release of a long-anticipated book that accuses her of compromised ethics..

On a regular old Monday, the Web site of the Baltimore Sun might draw a million pageviews. This past Monday? Ten million, according to Baltimore Sun marketing director Renee Mutchnik. That’s what happens when perhaps the biggest domestic issue of the past year — the relationship between police and marginalized communities — comes to town. Baltimore has convulsed following the funeral of Freddie Gray, who was arrested in West Baltimore on April 12 and died a week later of spinal injuries. And while national media have sent camera crews and correspondents and the like, the hometown daily has more than...

The man accused of shooting a North Miami Beach police officer in February is expected to get out of jail on bond Wednesday. Elton Bandoo did not appear in court Tuesday, where he was granted bond following a three-day hearing. Bandoo's attorney says his client will bond out Wednesday morning.

Voting for UKIP is like writing a “suicide note” which will “not be forgiven” if it denies Britain the chance to vote on whether to remain a member of the EU, Iain Duncan Smith warns today. In a heartfelt intervention just 48 hours before polling day, the former Conservative leader urges those considering voting UKIP not to jeopardise a decades-long campaign he has waged to change Britain’s relationship with Brussels. • Latest election polls for May 5 The Work and Pensions Secretary describes a vote for Ukip as “unfathomable” as it risks allowing a weak minority Labour government – backed...

Tim Chambers of Vista is famous for 5-hour frozen tribute to vets on Memorial Day weekend VISTA, CALIF. — Every year on Memorial Day weekend, more than 800,000 motorcyclists rumble through the streets of Washington, D.C., in a display of respect for war dead and military veterans known as Rolling Thunder. And standing at the corner of Constitution Avenue and 23rd Street to acknowledge each and every rider is “The Saluting Marine.” Veteran Marine Staff Sergeant Tim Chambers of Vista started his silent vigil on a whim in 2002. Today, he considers the annual effort both his civic duty...

New York Times foreign correspondent Rukmini Callimachi on Sunday tweeted: Rukmini Callimachi ✔@rcallimachi Free speech aside, why would anyone do something as provocative as hosting a "Muhammad drawing contest"? The tweet came off of the news that police had killed two gunmen at a Garland, Tex., event showcasing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. SNIP In his treatment of the issue, the “Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart couldn’t resist throwing in some qualifiers regarding the First Amendment implications of the episode. AFDI, he noted, had given away $10,000 to the best entry in a “Draw Muhammad” cartoon contest. SNIP “AFDI is a...

Joseph Offutt, 21, has been holding a large American flag outside the Curtis Cullwell Center in Garland, Texas, all day today, hoping to show ISIS and terrorists that the community is still standing strong and not giving into fear. Offutt's symbolic gesture is a response to a statement ISIS made Monday night claiming responsibility for the failed terror attack on Sunday during an event displaying cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

Two teens have been charged with the armed robbery and shooting of an off-duty Oak Park police officer early Sunday on the Far South Side. The officer, 57, was at his garage in the 300 block of West 103rd Place getting ready to go to work at 5:13 a.m. when 18-year-old Taiwan McNeal and a 17-year-old David Bush approached him and one of them produced a handgun, according to Chicago Police. The unarmed robber began to search the officer, at which point the officer drew his weapon and exchanged gunfire with the armed suspect, police said. The officer was shot...

SNIP I’m moved to declare, which will surely surprise most of my conservative pals, that I intend to vote for Jeb for president — of the Downtown Mexico City Rotary Club.

The urban legends about black helicopters, clandestine military camps, tunnels underneath major airports, secret cabals, hidden detention camps, trains loaded with caskets and body bags and the like were around long before the Internet. The Web just made them easier and quicker to reproduce. One of the tea-party organizations even has reported an anonymous claim there were train cars moving around the country with prison-like shackles installed. Most people dismiss such reports as hyperbole. Fiction. The fretting of nutcases. But now there are powerful new forces aligning with those who are suspicious of the federal government, doubt the official...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has officially entered the race. On Tuesday, Huckabee announced that he would be seeking a 2016 White House bid, joining a rapidly growing field of GOP contenders, including former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and previous Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, both of whom announced their intentions earlier in the week. With all the fanfare surrounding Huckabee’s announcement though, many have expressed worries he just isn’t the political heavyweight he once was — more importantly, they predict that Huckabee won’t be able to win the religious vote a second time around. The governor’s first failed bid in...

May 6, 2015Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter    Reading 1 Acts 15:1-6 Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers,“Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice,you cannot be saved.”Because there arose no little dissension and debateby Paul and Barnabas with them,it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the othersshould go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and presbytersabout this question. They were sent on their journey by the Church,and passed through Phoenicia and Samariatelling of the conversion of the Gentiles,and brought great joy to all the brethren.When they arrived in...

My newest article yesterday weighed in on the Alberta election and posed the question, "Could Alberta Vote Socialist?" The answer is yes. Tonight, the people of Canada's most conservative province have elected an NDP majority government and thus ended the Tories' 44-year reign in power. That reign was the longest in Canadian history. The NDP have been elected or are leading in 54 of the 87 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Wildrose Party remains the Official Opposition have been elected or are leading in 20 seats.