Free Republic

<p>Bill Cosby's lawyers attacked the criminal charges lodged against him as "illegal," saying they violate a prosecutor's pledge that he would never be charged over a 2004 sexual encounter with a Temple University employee.</p> <p>That promise led Cosby to testify in a related civil lawsuit without invoking his Fifth Amendment rights, the lawyers said in a court filing Monday. Yet, a decade later, a new prosecutor called the newly released deposition testimony a key piece of evidence that fueled his decision to arrest Cosby last month.</p>

Now that he has raised questions about Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-TX) Canadian birth and American citizenship, Donald Trump has started playing Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" before campaign rallies, according to reports in The Weekly Standard and the Texas Tribune. The introduction of the song may be an attempt by the real estate mogul to troll Cruz as many openly wonder whether he is eligible to run for president. Cruz was born in Canada, but his mother was an American citizen, earning Cruz citizenship in the United States at birth. The Texas senator has repeatedly said that he is...

LONDONDERRY, N.H. - Texas Sen. Ted Cruz outlined his own vision for the country Tuesday night, miles away from the nation's capitol where Congress and members of the political elite - the "Washington cartel" in Cruz's words - have gathered for President Obama's final State of the Union address. "Tonight the State of the Union is strong and the state of the American people is we are waking up," Cruz, who's second in the Washington Examiner's latest presidential power rankings, told hundreds of voters packed like sardines into a middle-school cafeteria. The Texas senator spent most of his speech Tuesday...

; In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". VERJUICE [VUR joos]hear it pronounced noun VERJUICE, literally, is the sour juice of unripe fruit, especially crab apples and grapes. Figuratively, VERJUICE is sourness of temperament, disposition, or expression. It is the hallmark of a curmudgeon, itself an interesting word, generally described in dictionaries as of unknown origin, though Samuel Johnson (the English lexicographer, 1709-1784) says in his Dictionary: "It is a vitious (the old spelling, based on Latin vitiosis) manner of pronouncing...

Humans may evolve bizarre features such as webbed feet and eyes like cats in response to changing environments, a scientist claims today. Experts calculated how our physical appearance could change under a number of scenarios, including a 'water world' if melting ice caps cause rising sea levels. They also considered what would happen in a second ice age which could be triggered by an asteroid strike, and if humans colonised other planets. Dr Matthew Skinner, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Kent, examined the three scenarios and worked with artist Quentin Devine to help visualise how humans could look in...

<p>CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz ramped up his attacks against GOP rival Donald Trump on Tuesday, accusing the billionaire businessman of having "New York values" and questioning his foreign policy credentials.</p> <p>It was the latest round in an escalating rivalry between the two outsider candidates, who are locked in a virtual tie in polls in the early-voting state of Iowa. Cruz's sharper rhetoric shows that the detente between the two has ended as they fight to win over voters less than a month before the state's kick-off caucuses.</p>

Piper Jaffrey's Gene Munster, one of the better-known analysts who covers Apple, has joined the ranks of his colleagues and competitors who are predicting a decline in iPhone sales when CEO Tim Cook reports his December quarterly earnings on January 26. Of the seven most recent analyst reports that Business Insider has viewed, all of them now predict an upcoming slump in the number of iPhone units sold. One group, Pacific Crest, all but accused Apple of shading the truth about its sales prospects in a previous earnings call, in a note that said, "Management's confidence now looks highly likely...

For the 8th time in a row, Obama has not brought up the National Debt. And especially this time around as it approaches 20 Trillion. Maybe he might want to mention that when the debt hits 20 Trillion it could easily collapse the system and there wont be any more money for any programs? aka, "Free Stuff"? Oh wait, Democrats don't care about the debt so long as they have their millions in the bank and the hell with the middle class, right?

Two more bikers indicted two months ago in the May 17 Twin Peaks shootout pleaded not guilty Tuesday during brief court hearings. Two others had scheduled arraignments Tuesday in Waco's 54th State District Court, but one waived his court appearance and the fourth had his arraignment postponed while he seeks to hire an attorney. Judge Matt Johnson approved a request from Rene Cavazos, 47, a member of the Bandidos motorcycle group from Frisco, to have his GPS ankle monitor removed after no objection from prosecutor Amanda Dillon. Dusty Alan Oehlert, 32, of Hudson Oaks, also pleaded not guilty during his...

Scientists from NASA and NOAA report 2014 was the hottest year in human history. Even today, throughout the Midwest states in the US a heat wave has temperatures 80 degrees above January average. For years, conservatives and liberals have argued over claims of global warming. Now this year Obama is making his big reveal. It is true, the Earth is hot but it actually may be irreversibly hot. Scientists are now warning the winter is so warm that Ocean Life Faces 'Mass Extinction and Earth has exceeded beyond 'planetary boundaries'. Why is the temperature getting so hot, so suddenly? Obama...

The Democratic presidential hopeful was asked pointblank by a Drake University student to say what white privilege means to her, and to “give an example from your life or career when you think you’ve benefited from” white privilege.

A Google Project Zero researcher has left security vendor Trend Micro with egg on its face, after discovering its software contains multiple, serious vulnerabilities that are easy to exploit without user interaction or notification. Tavis Ormandy of Project Zero noted that when Trend Micro antivirus is installed on Windows, the password manager component - written mostly in Javascript using the node.js framework that's included by default - allows any any website to run arbitrary code on users' machines. The flaw in password manager allegedly took Ormandy only about 30 seconds to discover. He said the vulnerability is trivial to exploit,...

Alain Ghozland, 73, a French Jewish politician from outside of Paris, was found dead in his apartment on Tuesday, with his body showing multiple lacerations that appeared to be stab wounds, according to reports. Mr. Ghozland was a municipal councillor in Creteil, and initial reports suspect he was murdered, but police have no leads regarding his assailant, L’Express reports. Though an official autopsy has not been concluded, early reports state his apartment was ransacked and his body was covered with stab wounds. There are also reports that his car is missing. Le Figaro, speaking with police, reported there were signs...

President Obama is pledging a "new national effort" to find a cure for cancer in his final State of the Union address on Tuesday. "For the loved ones we've all lost, for the family we can still save, let’s make America the country that cures cancer once and for all," Obama wrote in his joint address to Congress, according to remarks released by the White House. Obama said the efforts are inspired by — and will be led by — Vice President Biden, who has launched a high-profile push to end cancer after losing his oldest son last year. "Last...

<p>Former Marines in Congress, including a liberal Democrat, are on the offensive against Navy Secretary's Ray Mabus' sweeping edicts to the Corps on women in combat.</p> <p>Rep. Duncan Hunter, a former Marine officer in Afghanistan and Iraq, accused Mr. Mabus on Tuesday of "destroying the martial fabric of the Marine Corps."</p>

Ten sailors aboard two U.S. Navy boats were seized by Iran in the Gulf on Tuesday, and Tehran told the United States the crew members would be promptly returned, U.S. officials said. “We have received assurances from the Iranians that our sailors are safe and that they will be allowed to continue their journey promptly,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told CNN.

Here is my review of The Revenant. No spoilers. If you are not interested in the discussion of movies please move on, thank you.

As prepared for delivery President Obama's 2016 State of the Union Address Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow Americans: Tonight marks the eighth year I've come here to report on the State of the Union. And for this final one, I'm going to try to make it shorter. I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa. I also understand that because it's an election season, expectations for what we'll achieve this year are low. Still, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the constructive approach you and the other leaders took at the end of...

Mike Murphy should take a lesson from the guys over at Keep The Pr'mise. They have just released an ad about Marco Rubio’s record on immigration and it pulls no punches. Instead of relying on silly imagery about Rubio's boots and 50 year old pop culture references, this ad goes directly at Rubio's record, particularly his work on comprehensive immigration reform, aka 'The Gang of 8 Bill.' Check it out: See what they did? Images of Barack Obama, Charles Schumer along with using Rubio’s words and actions to highlight what he did. No matter what you think of Rubio, this...

Donald Trump on Tuesday blamed Bill Clinton for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, saying that if the former president had authorized the assassination of Osama bin Laden thousands of Americans wouldn’t have died. "I saw [bin Laden], I was watching him and reading about him making horrible statements about us, and I said to myself, I hope we take this guy out, and we didn't take this guy out," Trump said at a campaign rally in Cedar Falls, Iowa. "And actually, Bill Clinton had their sights on him and then didn’t pull the trigger," Trump continued. "If they pulled...