Free Republic

Nearly three in five Irish people believe that terrorists would enter the country under Ireland's plan to accept 4,000 Syrian and other refugees over the next two years. According to a new opinion poll, 43 percent also believe that the number of refugees is too many, 34 percent believe it is the right amount, and 15 percent feel it is too few. The nationwide Sunday Independent/Millward Brown poll was taken between December 5 and January 7, after the Paris attacks and before full details emerged of the sex attacks in Cologne, Germany, perpetrated by men of African and Middle Eastern...

Like millions of other Americans, I suffer from a life-threatening illness. My disease is incurable, but its progression is slow. I have lived with it for years while hoping for the breakthrough drug that will cure or further slow it. I just wish all those running for president were as concerned about new drug development as I am. As one of the 15 million Americans suffering from cancer - not to mention hundreds of other life-threatening diseases - I would expect presidential candidates to support research into new life-saving drugs. Most of this research is funded by drug companies, whose...

Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz are locking in their lead among Iowa likely Republican Caucus participants, with Trump at 31 percent and Cruz at 29 percent, while U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida trails with 15 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday. -snip- The biggest loser today is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who gets only 3 percent support from Republicans, while 26 percent say they "would definitely not support" him.

Arch Coal Inc., one of the U.S.'s largest coal producers, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday in a bid to trim $4.5 billion in debt from its balance sheet to counter decreased demand and falling prices for its products. The St. Louis-based company said it had a restructuring agreement with lenders that hold more than 50% of its $1.9 billion in first-lien debt, one that offers some recovery to unsecured creditors. In broad outline, Arch is proposing a debt-for-equity swap that would leave most of the company in the hands of the first-lien lenders, while unsecured creditors owed billions...

The FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of private email as secretary of state has expanded to look at whether the possible "intersection" of Clinton Foundation work and State Department business may have violated public corruption laws, three intelligence sources not authorized to speak on the record told Fox News. This new investigative track is in addition to the focus on classified material found on Clinton's personal server. "The agents are investigating the possible intersection of Clinton Foundation donations, the dispensation of State Department contracts and whether regular processes were followed," one source said. The development follows press reports over...

As Planned Parenthood officially endorsed Hillary Clinton for president on Sunday, its president, Cecile Richards, declined to comment on the sexual history of the husband of the abortion business’ chosen candidate, former President Bill Clinton.

Local 412 of the United Auto Workers has placed a spotlight on employees who have chosen to exercise their right to not support the union financially under Michigan’s right-to-work law. In a recent newsletter, the local urges co-workers not to share “tools, knowledge or support” with individuals who chose not to pay union dues. It then lists the names of the employees to be shunned. “I hope there is one thing we can all take from this,” the newsletter reads. “Please do not share any tools, knowledge or support for any of these employees who choose not to pay their...

A schism in the worldwide Anglican Communion over homosexual rights and women clerics would be a failure but not a disaster, the spiritual head of Anglicans said on Monday at the start of a high-stakes meeting between conservative and liberal primates. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will host the heads of the communion's 37 other provinces around the globe for a week of talks to try and work out if and how they can stick together after more than a decade of bitter disagreements. "Certainly I want reconciliation, but reconciliation doesn't always mean agreement. In fact, it very seldom does....

The Republican Establishment has lost the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 presidential elections, and a large part of the reason was on display over the weekend when a number of Establishment Republican candidates blasted frontrunner Donald Trump for raising awareness about one of the DC Media's biggest cover-ups: the legions of women who claim that both Bill and Hillary Clinton have abused them. What you are about to read below, is The Call of a Loser eager to reassure the DC Media and Hillary Clinton that they can be defeated in 2016 by Hillary's wildly hypocritical War...

Arrested for selling adult films in Kuwait An Arab man was arrested selling pornographic films in Hawali city of Kuwait. (File) An Arab man was arrested selling pornographic films in Hawali city of Kuwait. After being arrested, the quickest excuse he could think of was that he was not aware that selling these films was illegal or ‘haram’ (against Islam). Many Internet users reacted to this report which went viral on social media. Many said that the arrested man was lying and that he was offering a silly reason to try to escape punishment. Retaj, a Kuwaiti woman, said that...

Des Moines, Iowa (CNN)-Sybrina Fulton, mother of the late Trayvon Martin, endorsed Hillary Clinton for President on Monday, calling the former secretary of state the candidate best positioned to "stand up to inaction from Republicans and indifference from the NRA" on gun control.Clinton and Fulton met in November 2015 in Chicago during the Democratic front-runner's meeting with mothers of children who died in shootings or at the hands of law enforcement. The group, according to attendees, discussed Clinton's criminal justice and gun control plans and the mothers presented the candidate with ideas on how to tackle the issue of police...

ABC Disavows New Hampshire Debate Co-Sponsor After Trump Complaints Jan. 11 2016 11:18 AM By Ben Mathis-Lilley The New Hampshire Union Leader is the largest newspaper in New Hampshire and as such plays a major role in presidential primary politics. During this cycle, the paper (which endorses Chris Christie) has come out strongly against Donald Trump, condemning his candidacy in a front-page editorial—which predictably triggered a response from Trump, who called the Union Leader's publisher a "lowlife." The newspaper also co-sponsored a Dec. 19 Democratic debate in New Hampshire on ABC and was set to do the same for the...

Hmmm... I need some classified documents right away but the secure fax isn't working just now. Hey! No problem. Just strip off the data security headings and send me the info via non-secure means.  ...If I had been a normal government employee, I would probably be in a heap of legal trouble by now. However, if you are former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the security rules don't apply to you...or so she apparently thinks.Cliinton delivered her spin yesterday to John Dickerson on Face The Nation about why she told an aide to strip a security heading off a document so...

The continued collapse of The Baltic Dry Index remains ignored by most - besides we still have Netflix, right? But, as Dollar Vigilante's Jeff Berwick details, it appears the worldwide 'real' economy has ground to a halt!! Last week, I received news from a contact who is friends with one of the biggest billionaire shipping families in the world. He told me they had no ships at sea right now, because operating them meant running at a loss. This weekend, reports are circulating saying much the same thing: The North Atlantic has little or no cargo ships traveling in its...

Here is a recurring frustration during election season: Candidates who seem attractive before the race begins suddenly sound squishier or change their positions once they hit the campaign trail.On the issue of cronyism, there is one noticeable exception during this year's campaign. In spite of what could be perceived as a political risk, one candidate has remained true to his opposition to (and his commitment to end) the terrible renewable-fuel standard, which requires blending ethanol and other biofuels into the gasoline supply, thereby driving food prices up and creating all sorts of distortions in the energy market: That's Senator Ted...

The sex mobs committing assaults en masse in Cologne this New Year's Eve were coordinated or planned, and may have been linked to similar attacks seen across Germany and continent, the police and a German minister have said. "For such a horde of people to meet and commit such crimes, it has to have been planned somehow," Heiko Maas, the federal justice minister and a social democrat told Bild am Sonntag.

Rep. Duncan Hunter has had enough of Navy Secretary Ray Mabus' strong support for opening all Marine combat posts to women, declaring him "a greater threat to the Marine Corps than ISIS.” The Republican congressman and Marine veteran from California, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is furious with Mabus for pushing through an end to the ban on women serving in all combat positions over the Marine Corps' objections. Particularly, he's taking exception to memo Mabus sent to the Marines Corps this week, instructing it integrate Marine boot camp, which has been separate for men and women, and change...

Good Afternoon!

The Myth of the Objective Scientist David Klinghoffer January 11, 2016 11:31 AM | Permalink Though rare, it's gratifying to see someone in the media pulling back the covers that normally hide the passions and prejudices that drive scientists, just like they do everyone else. Writing about a recent book by Alice Dreger, Toby Young in the London Spectator considers the career of anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon who was long vilified by his colleagues (though more recently rehabilitated). His offense? He cast doubt on what Young calls the "myth of the noble savage," a bedrock notion of progressivism: How much longer...

Arch Coal, the second largest coal company in America and the operator of the Black Thunder mine near Wright, filed for bankruptcy Monday. Arch was also the third largest taxpayer in Wyoming during 2014 when the company paid $1.1 billion in taxes.