Free Republic

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. Rebecca Friedrichs and nine other teachers are calling into question the agency fees that public-sector workers are required to pay to unions, which they say violate their First Amendment rights. If the Supreme Court rules in Friedrichs' favor, it would make union dues voluntary for all public-sector workers.

Physicists around the world were puzzled recently when an unusual bump appeared in the signal of the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, causing them to wonder if it was a new particle previously unknown, or perhaps even two new particles. The collision cannot be explained by the Standard Model, the theoretical foundation of particle physics. Adam Martin, assistant professor of physics at the University of Notre Dame, said he and other theoretical physicists had heard about the results before they were released on Dec. 15, and groups began brainstorming, via Skype and other ways,...

The Republican establishment, which has always distrusted and discounted Donald Trump, is getting increasingly nervous. So nervous, in fact, that some of its media voices are starting to denounce their party’s front-runner in the strongest possible terms. As in, refusing to vote for the man if he’s the nominee. As in, loudly proclaiming that he will destroy the GOP. Viewed from one perspective, this has the smell of panic. Viewed from another, it’s a case of party stalwarts speaking out based on principle.

I'm always telling my daughters stories from when I was a kid. By comparison, the world of my youth was rougher and meaner than the world that kids grow up in today. So, here's my question: Did this rougher and meaner world better prepare me to be a well-adjusted, happy adult? I say yes. When I was a kid, you could say we were less sensitive about a lot of things. I mean, just look at the commercials we watched. We had The Frito Bandito, the cartoon spokesman for Fritos. He was a three and a half foot tall Mexican...

That intact families are more economically solvent than fractured ones has long been observed outside of academe. Arguably, as with many other policy questions, on this one as well, academics tend to be the last to notice. The Fall 2015 issue of The Family in America: A Journal of Public Policy features an article by Glenn T. Stanton on "Family Formation and Poverty: A History of Academic Inquiry and Its Major Findings." Stanton is the director of Global Family Formation at Focus on the Family. His 20-page treatise takes us through half a century of seminal research on families and...

Thomas Lee, a professor of constitutional law and international law at Fordham Law School, writes in the Los Angeles Times that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)97% would not be considered a "natural born citizen" under an originalist view of the Constitution. From the LA Times: Under either a textualist or a "living Constitution" theory, Cruz is a "natural born Citizen," eligible to be president; under an originalist view, however, he isn't. It's the conservative theory that would exclude the conservative Cruz from presidential eligibility. To an originalist, a "natural born Citizen" is a person who is a citizen of the United...

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked met on Sunday to discuss contentious draft legislation to toughen rules on Israeli rights groups which receive the majority of their funds from abroad. Shapiro sought to receive more information regarding the controversial bill after US officials last week expressed concerns about the dangers it could pose to a “free and functioning civil society.”

Who or What is the Antichrist? A reflection on the Biblical teaching. Msgr. Charles Pope-- January 10, 2016 -- There is much lore about the antichrist, especially among certain Evangelicals that is often out of proportion to the attention scripture pays to the concept, and more importantly is at possible variance from what is actually and certainly taught. It easily becomes the stuff of movies and novels wherein the antichrist figure steps on the scene, deceiving many and mesmerizing the whole world with apparent miracles and a message of false peace.But is this really what or who the Scriptures...

A major government announcement could dramatically reduce crashes on our roads. Equipping the country's cars and trucks with the vehicle-to-vehicle technology, or V2V, will essentially allow vehicles to see each other and warn of a potential danger before a driver know it is there. The Department of Transportation has now taken a key step towards requiring the technology to be in every car in the U.S., reports CBS News correspondent Kris Van Cleave.

Political correctness has become one of the constants of our age. Many of the examples are more ridiculous than anything else. Inappropriate Halloween costumes, campus safe zones free from controversial ideas, saying "happy holidays," and now, from Sweden, men sitting when they have to urinate. But at a time when people are being murdered at home and abroad because of their religion, PC--which really stands for political cowardice--can be downright dangerous. The latest case just occurred in Philadelphia. Thirty-year-old Edward Archer ambushed a cop, wounding him three times. The officer should recover, but he and we can be thankful that...

Satire COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA – Witnesses are coming forward confirming that former President William J. Clinton suffered minor injuries back stage while his wife, Hillary Clinton, attended a town hall event as a part of her presidential campaign yesterday. According to a dozen witnesses, shortly after his arrival at the event center, Bill Clinton started talking to Nicole Reynolds, a 22 year old MSNBC makeup intern. 'There wasn't anything malicious at first,' said Brian Hazely, a custodian at the event center. 'We couldn't hear what they were saying, but as time went on you could see she got more and...

On July 4, 1798, Timothy Dwight gave an address in New Haven titled "The Duty of Americans at the Present Crisis." A grandson of Princeton president Jonathan Edwards, he could read at age 4 and entered Yale at 13. He was a chaplain in the Continental Army until his father died. Then, as the eldest of 13 children, he worked the family farm to pay off debts. He served in the very first session of the Massachusetts State Legislature. His name was Timothy Dwight IV, and he died JANUARY 11, 1817. Timothy Dwight IV was Yale's 8th president, serving from...

Addressing news about a church cantor who was terminated after entering into a gay marriage, Washington's Cardinal Wuerl posted this on his blog: Recently you may have heard stories in the news about how the employment of a person in public ministry at a local parish was no longer possible when he indicated that he would continue to openly live in contradiction to what the Church proclaims as true, specifically a civil "same-sex marriage." Since mercy is at the heart of our Catholic faith, this outcome is unfortunate and I would like here to discuss the principles involved in...

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz arrived Jan. 4 at the first stop on a six-day tour of Iowa. The Republican presidential candidate was set to visit 28 counties by bus. (Photo by Patrick Svitek) WASHINGTON — In the more than 200 events he's held since launching his campaign for the White House 10 months ago, Ted Cruz has tested out an unorthodox strategy, one that could rewrite the rules of Republican presidential politics.Since the Texas senator declared his candidacy in March, 40 percent of his public events have taken place in Iowa, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of his travel schedule as of Saturday. But...

The first lady of the United States will be sitting with a Syrian refugee at this week's State of the Union Address. The refugee's name is Refaai Hamo."Growing up in Syria, Refaai Hamo lived what seemed to be the kind of life associated with the American Dream - the son of a farmer and housewife, he worked construction at night to pay his way through college on his way to a PhD, married his college sweetheart and built a family together. This life and happiness changed forever when a Syrian government anti-personnel missile tore through the complex Refaai designed and...

In mid-December when the Michigan Legislature passed a law giving data centers tax exemptions, it set a job creation requirement of 400 jobs by 2022 and 1,000 by 2026. That gives the entire data center industry in Michigan 10 years to create roughly as many jobs as would be expected if just four new big box stores, such as Sam’s Club, Meijer, or a Super Target store opened for business. According to the retail industry, on average, each new big box store creates about 250 jobs, some less, some more. That means the 400 jobs the data centers are collectively...

Attacks on women in Cologne and other German cities on New Year's Eve have prompted more than 600 criminal complaints, with police suspicion resting on asylum seekers, putting pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel and her open door migrant policy. The attacks, mostly targeting women and ranging from theft to sexual molestation, have prompted a highly-charged debate in Germany about its welcoming stance for refugees and migrants, more than one million of whom arrived last year. The sudden nature of the violent attacks and the fact that they stretched from Hamburg to Frankfurt prompted Germany's justice minister Heiko Maas to speculate...

Stockholm police have been accused of withholding information about a string of sex assaults at Europe's largest youth festival. Police were aware that a large group of young men groped a string of teenage girls at the We Are Sthm music festival in Stockholm in both 2014 and 2015, while publically describing the atmosphere as being calm, Swedish media are reporting. The Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper says it has seen a memo from last summer, warning police ahead of the event that there was a known "problem with young men who rub themselves against young girls" at the festival. According...

Pennsylvania police reportedly warned 3 'radical' associates of terror suspect on the loose FBI Investigating new tip in Philadelphia cop ambush Philadelphia police have been told that three "radical" associates of a self-proclaimed ISIS-inspired gunman who attacked a cop Thursday were still at large and that "the threat to police is not over," according to a published report. A law enforcement source told Fox News that city police and the FBI were investigating the tip, which came from a woman who stopped an officer on the street Saturday night. The Philadelpha Inquirer reported Sunday that the woman told police that...

Donald Trump In Donald Trump’s speech at Burlington Vermont, on 7 January, The Donald paid tribute to an armed woman who defended herself in New Hampshire, virtually next door.Link to video At 59:10, Trump says: We have this woman in New Hampshire who actually said that I am going to vote for Mr. Trump.  She hears someone behind her. We have to protect the Second Amendment, we have to protect it. Trump goes on to say that the woman shot the man who attacked her, and the man did not die, he ended up in the hospital.  He says that...