Free Republic

For most people, pleading guilty to a felony means they will very likely land in prison, lose their job and forfeit their right to vote. But when five of the world’s biggest banks plead guilty to an array of antitrust and fraud charges as soon as next week, life will go on, probably without much of a hiccup. The Justice Department is preparing to announce that Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and the Royal Bank of Scotland will collectively pay several billion dollars and plead guilty to criminal antitrust violations for rigging the price of foreign currencies, according to people briefed...

ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos has given $50,000 to the Clinton Foundation in recent years, charitable contributions that he did not publicly disclose while reporting on the Clintons or their non-profit organization, the On Media blog has learned. In both 2013 and 2014, Stephanopoulos made a $25,000 donation to the 501 nonprofit founded by former president Bill Clinton, the Foundation's records show. Stephanopoulos never disclosed this information to viewers, even when interviewing author Peter Schweizer last month about his book "Clinton Cash," which alleges that donations to the Foundation may have influenced some of Hillary Clinton's actions as Secretary...

In recent presidential primary cycles, the influence of Southern states — with the exception of Florida, whose "Southern status" is perhaps more locational than anything else — has been minimal. While pundits like to say that GOP presidential nominees have relied heavily on a "red state" electorate based in the South, that same base has had little to say in determining the nominee. After all, neither John McCain nor Mitt Romney had much in common with the region. Georgia's Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp sensed that voter turnout intensity in the region could be stronger in November 2016 if...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Federal investigators have determined that an Amtrak train that crashed in Philadelphia, killing at least seven people, was careening through the city at 106 mph before it ran off the rails along a sharp curve where the speed limit drops to just 50 mph, yet they still don’t know why it was going so fast.

)—Five Iranian boats fired shots across the bow of a Singapore flagged cargo vessel in the Persian Gulf on Thursday in an attempt to potentially stop the ship, a U.S. official told CNN. For the first time, the incident brought another Persian Gulf nation into the recent rising maritime tensions in the region. It is not yet clear if any of the rounds hit the Alpine Eternity. There were no U.S. citizens or cargo on board. The Pentagon is still gathering information about the incident.

Bullet hole in George Zimmerman's vehicle. It appears that George Zimmerman, who has survived the violent attack by Treyvon Martin, survived the media persecution, survived the trial, had his marriage destroyed and a reward posted on his head for the temerity of surviving, has apparently survived an assassination attempt.   A bullet narrowly missed George Zimmerman's head, leading to non-life threatening wounds.  The man who tried to kill him, seems to have thought he had succeeded.  From wesh.com: Zimmerman's attorney Don West said a bullet missed Zimmerman's head, but he was sprayed with glass from his vehicle's windshield and other...

HSBC chief economist Stephen King is already thinking about the next recession. In a note to clients Wednesday, he warns: "The world economy is like an ocean liner without lifeboats. If another recession hits, it could be a truly titanic struggle for policymakers." Here's King (emphasis added): Whereas previous recoveries have enabled monetary and fiscal policymakers to replenish their ammunition, this recovery — both in the US and elsewhere — has been distinguished by a persistent munitions shortage. This is a major problem. In all recessions since the 1970s, the US Fed funds rate has fallen by a minimum of...

KIEV, Ukraine, May 13 (UPI) -- A Saudi Arabian company is to locally modernize and manufacture an Antonov light cargo aircraft for Saudi and international military and civilian markets. The work comes under a new agreement between Taqnia Aeronautics Company, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Taqnia investment firm and the Antonov Company of the Ukraine. "The purpose of this agreement is to achieve a number of objectives, to include transfer of aviation industry technology to the Kingdom and to qualify ... Saudis to enter the aviation industry, where Saudi staff will be trained by Ukrainian experts," Taqnia said. Taqnia said...

Aleksandra's Note: It is through tears of joy and relief that I announce that what so many of us have been hoping and praying for all these years has finally come to pass! As the world marks the 70th Anniversary of the end of World War Two, one of the war's greatest heroes and martyrs has officially been rehabilitated by the Higher Court in Belgrade, Serbia! The historic decision is final, reversing one of the most unjust convictions in the history of mankind, and restores all civil rights to Serbian General Dragoljub Draza Mihailovich, falsely charged, tried, convicted, and executed...

From the Sixth Circuit federal court of appeals decision today in Northrup v. Toledo Police Dept.: On a midsummer evening, Shawn and Denise Northrup went for a neighborhood walk with their daughter, grandson, and dog. Apparently in a happy-go-lucky mood, Shawn wore a t-shirt reading, “This Is The Shirt I Wear When I Don’t Care.” Shawn carried a cell phone, which he holstered on his hip — next to a black semiautomatic handgun. A passing motorcyclist stopped to complain about Shawn’s visible firearm. The stranger, Alan Rose, yelled, “[Y]ou can’t walk around with a gun like that!” But “[O]pen carry...

Democratic congressman Alan Grayson reportedly unleashed a profanity-laced tirade against a reporter who questioned his offshore investments during a recent interview, angrily asking the journalist if he’s “some kind of s**tting robot” who goes around “s**tting on people.” The fiery moment reportedly came after Tampa Bay Times political editor Adam Smith inquired about some accounts in the Cayman Islands which he said Grayson “incorporated … so investors could avoid taxes”; the politician railed against this accusation.

The Obama administration is likely to fall far short of the lofty goals it set for itself at Thursday’s summit with Gulf leaders, several experts on the region said. While the White House has framed the seven-nation meeting as an opportunity to deepen and strengthen Gulf nations’ security relationship with the United States in light of a possible nuclear deal with Iran, the six foreign leaders attending have set out bargaining chips that the administration has already shot down, and it’s not exactly clear what else, besides those tangible items, either side wants. “Something that actually offers a couple of...

The Irish government has cut off all funding for a Catholic marriage-counseling agency. The announcement that the government has blocked €378,000 ($429,000) in subsidies for Accord, an agency administered by the Irish bishops’ conference, comes at a time when the government has been at odds with the Irish hierarchy over a campaign for legal recognition of same-sex marriage. With a national referendum on same-sex marriage scheduled next week, opponents of the measure have argued that if the referendum is approved, the government will block funding for Church-related institutions that do not recognize homosexual unions. The cut in funding for Accord...

Scott Walker, the son of a Baptist preacher who says he takes his orders from God, has an unexpected problem on his hands: Many social conservatives don’t trust him. Next week, the Wisconsin governor will travel to Capitol Hill to hold a private meeting with influential evangelical leaders, some of whom are expressing deep reservations about his track record on issues near and dear to them. Pointing to his past statements, and even his hire of a top campaign aide, they are openly questioning whether his views on abortion and gay marriage align with theirs and whether he’s willing to...

So how's Obama's "leading from behind" working for ya? It's working fine for the rogues of the world. North Korea just announced a new sub-launched ICBM, allowing it to send nuke-tipped missiles anywhere in the world. As for the mullahs of Iran, they now control the strategic port of Aden, the chokepoint to the Red Sea, and they already have land-based anti-ship missiles to threaten oil traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. When rusty Iranian naval ships wheel around and charge U.S. Navy vessels, our ships retreat. When the mullahs steal a container ship under U.S. protection, we do nothing....

Hillary Clinton trails a generic Republican presidential candidate by double-digits among voters in six key battleground states, according to a new poll from the GOP firm Vox Populi. The survey, conducted on behalf of the conservative super-PAC American Crossroads, found an unnamed GOP candidate taking 51 percent support among voters in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, and Virginia. Clinton takes only 41 percent support among voters in those states, according to the poll. The survey found Clinton’s favorability rating deep underwater, with 40 percent having a positive view of the former secretary of State against 53 percent who said they...

The engineer in control of the Amtrak train that derailed on Tuesday, killing at least seven people, has no recollection of the moment the train crashed, his attorney has said. Brandon Bostian, of Queens, New York, has been as the driver of the commuter service that came off the tracks near Philadelphia, leaving 200 people hospitalized. On Wednesday, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators confirmed that the train had been traveling at 106 mph before it derailed at a curve on the tracks, where the speed limit is 50 mph. Bostian, who has been an engineer with Amtrak since 2009,...

IG SPRING - Military officials have negotiated contracts with local ranchers to conduct Jade Helm training on their property, according to Big Spring Mayor Larry McLellan. However, he said residents will not be "forced out of their homes" to accommodate troops during the large-scale military exercise, scheduled to run July 15 through September 15. McLellan had no details about the contracts supposedly offered to Big Spring homeowners. Military officials were not available to answer questions about how many ranchers were being displaced or inconvenienced due to Jade Helm, and how much they would receive in compensation. Jade Helm operations planners...

The House Rules Committee voted late Wednesday night to move the chamber’s version of the annual defense bill to the floor, setting up a potentially bruising debate on immigration. In a party-line 8-3 vote, the panel allowed 135 amendments to the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). One amendment, by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), would eliminate language establishing a sense of Congress calling for the Secretary of Defense to consider allowing recipients of President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to serve in the military. However, the GOP-controlled panel rejected a request made last week by Brooks and...

U.S. Marines from 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division participate in assault support tactics 3 during Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course (WTI) 2-15 in Yuma, Ariz., April 18, 2015. WTI is a seven week event hosted by Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1) cadre. MAWTS-1 provides standardized tactical training and certification of unit instructor qualifications to support Marine Aviation Training and Readiness and assists in developing and employing aviation weapons and tactics. (U.S. Marine Corps motion imagery by Sgt. Daniel D. Kujanpaa/Released).