Free Republic

Several explosions were heard in the center of the Indonesian capital on Thursday, witnesses told Reuters. Police were not immediately available for comment, but according to the an official Jakarta police Twitter account one explosion went off in front of a shopping centre called the Sarinah mall.

Silty fen preserved burning houses and domestic objects inside them to reveal unprecedented view of life 3,000 years ago. Almost 3,000 years after being destroyed by fire, the astonishingly well preserved remains of two Bronze Age houses and their contents have been discovered at a quarry site in Peterborough. The artefacts include a collection of everyday domestic objects unprecedented from any site in Britain, including jewellery, spears, daggers, giant food storage jars and delicate drinking cups, glass beads, textiles and a copper spindle with thread still wound around it. The remains of the large wooden houses, built on stilts in...

Tuesday evening marked President Barack seventh State of the Union address. Conservative voices took their reactions to Twitter while Obama addressed the nation from inside the House chamber during a joint session of Congress. Here are some of the top tweets made during or right after Obama’s remarks:

"You saw the federal government sending stormtroopers with machine guns to grab a six-year-child whose mother had died trying to give him freedom and instead for us to send him back to Fidel Castro." Texas Sen. Ted Cruz emphasized on a podcast on Tuesday his policy on immigration would be to deport those in the country illegally while adding he believes it was wrong for the Clinton administration to send Elian Gonzalzes - the child famously at the center of a heated custody battle between his Cuban father and Miami-based relatives - back to Cuba in 2000. Cruz made the...

In a society that treasures the gender binary and constantly questions the bodies of those who aren't cisgender, growing up queer or trans isn't easy. It's even more difficult when you're not blessed with a set of body positive parents. It's important to recognize that if our generation still finds it difficult to wrap its head around the idea of gender nonconforming and transgender identities, it's bound to be even trickier for those of an older generation. But for parents who are willing to learn, and for younger parents or those expecting a child, knowing how to create a safe...

DORCHESTER, S.C. - Responding to a report that said he did not disclose a loan from his wife's employer during his 2012 U.S. Senate campaign, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz called the issue a "technical and inadvertent filing error" that he will fix if necessary.

Almost $3.2 trillion has been wiped off the value of stocks around the world since the start of 2016, according to calculations by a top market analyst. It has also been the worst-ever start to a year for U.S. equities, said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices, as both the S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average have posted their steepest losses for the first eight days trading of a year. The sell-off this year, driven by renewed jitters over China's economy and a slump in energy prices, has pushed the S&P 500 index...

Eight days ago, Donald Trump floated the idea that Ted Cruz might cause Republicans some legal headaches if he won the GOP presidential nomination because he was born in Canada -- albeit to a mother who was and is a U.S. citizen. Today, Cruz's citizenship -- and the questions surrounding it -- is the single most dominant issue in the Republican race and has, without question, slowed Cruz's momentum in Iowa and nationally. It's a perfect case study in both how Trump attacks and how he's able to so effectively sidetrack his opponents.

A police operation cleared people from the area around the Sydney Opera House on Thursday afternoon and caused the cancellation of the Manly ferry service. Police confirmed the operation but no further information was immediately available. It is understood the operation was not related to terrorism. The 1.20pm ferry from Manly to Circular Quay had been cancelled due to the operation, according to a Department of Transport spokeswoman.

While most of her peers in Hollywood were preparing for the 73rd Golden Globes, Lena Dunham spent the weekend stumping for Hillary Clinton and transforming herself into a walking billboard on the campaign trail in Iowa and New Hampshire. After failing to receive any Golden Globe nominations this year, Dunham was given a consolation gift – a personal ride along and the reins to Clinton’s official Instagram account. The Girls creator, who is one of Clinton’s most passionate supporters, shared images of her weekend with the Democratic presidential frontrunner on Instagram on both Clinton’s account and her own. In her...

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump‘s rally in Pensacola not only is expected to draw more than 10,000 participants Wednesday, it brought him six endorsements from area activists including the brother of “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough, his campaign announced Wednesday. The rally’s warm-up speakers represent endorsements from the likes of businessman George Scarborough; the Rev. Carl Gallups; Second Amendment activist Clover Lawson; and veterans Terry Busbee Sr., Gary O’Neal and Capt. Allen Brady, in addition to Kathryn ‘Kat’ Gates-Skipper the first female Marine in combat operations. She had announced her endorsement previously

Exerpts:Someone sent this to me so I thought I would add it. Maryanne Trump Barry (born April 5, 1937) is a Senior United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She is the daughter of real estate developer Fred Trump and Mary MacLeod Trump and the older sister of real estate/entertainment magnate Donald Trump... appointed by none other than... BILL CLINTON."--SNIP--But Trump now claims that he just invited the Clintons to his wedding -- where they sat in the front row -- and they only came and took those schmoozy pictures together simply...

The latest capture of two US Navy high speed craft and their crews by Iran, are just another in a long line of provocations and insults by the Iranians towards the United States. This most recent episode of Iranian sand kicked in America’s face occurred on the eve of President Barack Jimmy Carter Obama’s State of Denial speech last night. Here’s a rundown of the official story from the Navy: Ten U.S. sailors were taken prisoner by Iran when two small boats were patrolling near Iranian waters. The U.S. claims one of the small Riverine Command Boats experienced mechanical difficulties,...

Live by Bubba, die by Bubba. Something has shifted when it comes to the treatment and perception of the Clintons, and it threatens their joint political ambitions like nothing before it. For nearly a quarter of a century, the Clintons have been politically bulletproof. No charge, regardless of how salacious, illegal and true, seemed to stick. When they detected incoming fire, they activated their tried-and-true protocol: deny, stonewall, deflect and claim that the nation's business was too important - they were too important - to respond: "I need to get back to work for the American people." Exit left. Get...

At the time of this writing, the Powerball jackpot is up to $1.5 billion. The cash grand prize is estimated at $930 million. In a Powerball draw, five white balls are drawn from a drum with 69 balls and one red ball is drawn from a drum with 26 balls. If you match all six numbers, you win the jackpot. If you match only some of the numbers, you win a smaller fixed prize.

Wednesday on Newsmax TV’s “The Steve Malzberg Show,” while discussing her Benghazi investigation “Full Measure,” host Sharyl Attkisson said there is now “overwhelming” evidence that rescue teams sent to aid the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012 had turned back before arriving. Attkisson said, “We also spoke to sources and have some email evidence that talks about special forces that were not far away in Europe that we were told were assigned to respond in the event of a case just like this, and yet were turned back according to witnesses. This is something that the president and...

Go to WAPO

As Pete Santilli has been reporting for weeks now; the FBI is known to covertly stage possible false flag scenarios and Santilli has therefore been openly calling for the Sheriff to ask the FBI to leave Harney County. Essentially, the FBI has a history of setting up fake terrorist attacks in order to justify utilizing lethal and overwhelming force to overpower their targets --- in this instance, they are premeditating the murders via a "false-flag-terror" event of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge occupiers & their supporters.

NRA Wayne LaPierre | A Challenge for the President Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=172_1452733032#uqz7m8v5Vk1dTyBw.99

I've always distrusted people who never question their assumptions or test their opinions against their critics' arguments. I believe empathy is the starting point of wisdom, and imagining things from an opponent's point of view is essential to solving problems in a closely divided polity. Yet on the subject of Donald Trump, my mind is closed. Slammed shut. Triple-bolted. Sealed like a tomb. Nothing anyone could reveal about Trump could get me to change my opinion that he's an @$$hole. And not a "yeah, but he's our @$$hole" kind but rather a cartoon villain, a fake, a cheat, a liar,...