Free Republic

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Friday that it will close 269 of its stores globally, including 154 in the U.S., nine of them in California, as the company looks to reposition itself in a difficult retail climate. The retailer does not necessarily appear to be shrinking its U.S. footprint, however. The retailer said that in the next year, it plans to open more than 140 new stores nationwide. Plans include opening or expanding nine stores in California. Two Wal-Mart stores in Los Angeles -- one on Crenshaw Boulevard and one on West Cesar E. Chavez Avenue -- as well as one...

The Maricopa County Republican Committee, the states largest Republican group, censured Senator John McCain for a long and terrible record of drafting, co-sponsoring and voting for legislation best associated with liberal Democrats. This official censuring of McCain happened during the annual mandatory meeting of the Maricopa County Republican Committee. Nearly 1,500 precinct committeemen (PCs) were in attendance. The vote to censure McCain passed overwhelmingly 1,150 in support with only 351 opposed. The censure concluded that until he consistently champions our Partys Platform and values, we, the Republican leadership in Arizona will no longer support, campaign for or endorse John McCain...

"From teenagers to seniors. Single people, couples. Whole families came to talk, some even from out of state!" On January 6th, a parish in Connecticut did something deceptively simple: the pastor invited anyone who was interested to stop by and talk to a priest -- no appointment necessary, no questions asked."Want to talk with a priest?" asked the ads. "We're here for you. All are welcome."The ads gave the address for St. Matthew's Catholic Church in Norwalk, CT, along with the particular hours a priest would be available. Aside from a few time restrictions, the idea to "meet a priest"...

In "Star Trek," a transporter can teleport a person from one location to a remote location without actually making the journey along the way. Such a transporter has fascinated many people. Quantum teleportation shares several features of the transporter and is one of the most important protocols in quantum information. In a recent study, Prof. Tongcang Li at Purdue University and Dr. Zhang-qi Yin at Tsinghua University proposed the first scheme to use electromechanical oscillators and superconducting circuits to teleport the internal quantum state (memory) and center-of-mass motion state of a microorganism. They also proposed a scheme to create a...

First of 8,000 stranded Cuban migrants cross into US By Associated Press Published: 17:27 EST, 15 January 2016 | Updated: 17:27 EST, 15 January 2016 MEXICO CITY (AP) — The first of 8,000 Cuban migrants recently stranded in Central America have crossed the Mexican border into the United States. Some 180 migrants flew from Costa Rica to El Salvador, and have been making their way to the U.S. All are given permission to cross Mexico for humanitarian reasons. The groups travelled separately across Mexico and the organization sponsoring their trip says the first arrived late Thursday in Laredo, Texas.

SAN LORENZO, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say a man driving in a stolen truck evaded Alameda County Sheriff's deputies in suburban San Francisco, jumped over a fence and fell from a freeway overpass to his death into a cemetery below. ~snip~ Nelson said the man scaled a fence on the shoulder of the road and fell 30 to 40 feet to his death from the freeway overpass. His body was found shortly afterward, on the ground of the San Lorenzo Pioneer Cemetery. His name and age were not released.

The man who received four months in jail after he drove his car through a restaurant patio and killed a toddler has filed an appeal of his "excessive" sentence. On Dec. 17, Richard Suter was sentenced for refusing to provide a breath sample in the hours after the May 2013 incident that killed two-year-old Geo Mounsef. In addition to his jail sentence, Suter was suspended from driving for 30 months. In his notice of appeal, the 65-year-old Suter asked the Court of Appeal of Alberta to reduce his sentence to a $2,000 fine, probation and a one-year driving suspension. Provincial...

The Legacy Lives On! Mark’s Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation “Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and Tyranny Welcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811

Police are battling with masked jihadi gunmen near a four-star business hotel in Burkina Faso's capital tonight, amid an ongoing hostage situation. Two car bombs exploded outside the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou's business district before several gunmen stormed the hotel. Security forces arrived as the men fired in the air to disperse the gathering crowd and soon engaged in a fierce gunfight with the suspected jihadis as cars burned around them. A senior official with the national gendarmes said suspected Islamist fighters had taken an unknown number of hostages. 'It is continuing at this time. We are trying to know...

Finally weighing on the hot online debate tearing the country apart, President Barack Obama said Friday he thinks that dog pants should only go on the hind-legs, calling an all four-leg pair “too conservative.” In a live YouTube Interview with Adande Thorne, who goes by the name Swoozie, the leader of the free world was asked about the meme in question: If a dog wore pants, how would he? Story Continued Below “You gotta go with this,” Obama said immediately pointing to the diagram featuring a drawing of a dog with pants on just its hind-legs. “This, I think, it’s...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a ceremony to award party and state commendations to nuclear … SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea on Saturday called for the conclusion of a peace treaty with the United States and a halt to U.S. military exercises with South Korea to end its nuclear tests. The isolated state has long sought a peace treaty with the United States, as well as an end to the exercises by South Korea and the United States, which has about 28,500 troops based in South Korea. "Still valid are all proposals for preserving peace and stability...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A small-town warehouse supervisor turned in one of three tickets splitting the world-record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot on Friday, and swiftly announced that he would take his money now, giving up hundreds of millions of dollars in the future. But John Robinson and his wife, Lisa, said they won't stop working and won't make any wild purchases. They'll pay off their mortgage and their daughter's student loans, but have no desire to move from their small, gray, one-story house into a luxurious compound somewhere.

The more I think about the explosive exchange between Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Donald Trump about "New York values," the less I think it will hurt Cruz, and the more cynical and gross both Trump and the media seem.Here's the text of the relevant portion of the exchange: BARTIROMO: Senator Cruz, you suggested Mr. Trump, quote, "embodies New York values." Could you explain what you mean by that?CRUZ: You know, I think most people know exactly what New York values are.BARTIROMO: I am from New York. I don't.CRUZ: What - what - you're from New York? So you might...

President Obama says modern politics are overly loud and obnoxious – suggesting that’s part of the reason Donald Trump is getting so much attention. Obama lamented that modern politics had become “too rancorous” and says people are allowed to “make up facts,” paint their opponents as unpatriotic, and flip-flop on political positions.

<p>The market freakout of 2016 keeps getting scarier. Cheap oil and China remain the major culprits. The Dow dropped another 391 points on Friday, leaving the index down an incredible 1,437 points in just the first two weeks of the year. The S&P 500 lost 2.3% and the Nasdaq plunged 2.7% to its lowest level since October 2014.</p>

China is set to report its weakest full-year growth figure in 25 years on Tuesday on the back of slowing output and sagging investments, troubling news that will likely dominate discussion at the European Central Bank and Bank of Canada policy meetings. Economists said the expansion of the Chinese economy was held back by sluggish domestic and external demand, weak investments, factory overcapacity and high property inventories, which exacerbated deflationary pressures in the economy. The poor figures bolster arguments for more Chinese monetary policy easing on top of the six interest rates cuts seen since November 2014 and suggest that...

As we commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and honor his legacy, Americans are confronted with many pressing issues -- including racism. Here in the Bay Area, we pride ourselves on being culturally diverse. We consider ourselves enlightened. We see racism as only happening somewhere else, not in our own backyard. But it does happen here. We need to face up to it.

The scandal of Miss Washington USA, recently forced to resign after she failed to disclose a drunken-driving conviction, just got weirder. "Good Morning America" reported Friday that beauty queen Stormy Keffeler was with former Sounders player Marco Pappa last month when he was allegedly stabbed. KING/5 in Seattle broke the stabbing story Thursday night. She wouldn't comment on the incident to "Good Morning America." KING/5 reports that Pappa was found bloody with a stab wound to his abdomen at a South Lake Union apartment last month.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: We're gonna start with Jase in Virginia Beach. Great to have you on the program. Hello. CALLER: Hello, Rush. Good to talk to you. RUSH: Thank you. Thank you very much. CALLER: All right. Listen, the thing that got me fired up enough to call you and try to overcome my fear of public speaking over national radio here is last night during the debate the thing between Cruz and Trump about "New York values." RUSH: Mmm-hmm. CALLER: That came up. RUSH: Mmm-hmm. CALLER: That really stuck in my craw. I think Cruz was right. The way......

Donald Trump, George Wallace, Jesse Jackson and the power of outsiderism How is Donald Trump like George C. Wallace and Jesse Jackson? That question is neither a joke nor a Zen koan. In some important ways, he resembles both the late segregationist firebrand and the African American civil rights leader. Wallace served several terms as governor of Alabama. He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1964, 1972, and 1976, and won 13.5 percent of the popular vote as an independent candidate in 1968. His daughter recently told Buzzfeed that political strategy was similar to Trump’s. “The two of them,...