Free Republic

A growing number of people in the Twin Cities are finding great comfort in Cuddle Parties. It’s a monthly meet-up to better explore communication and boundaries, and yes to touch. On a bitterly cold Minneapolis night bedding sprawled across the floor warms a living room. “People sometimes say, ‘Why would I want to go and cuddle with a bunch of people I don’t even know?'” Candessa Hadsall said.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich wants to be known in the GOP presidential race as the "prince of light and hope." Kasich is stressing his experience in Congress and painting himself as an optimistic alternative to those campaigning on the woes facing the country as he looks to shore up support in New Hampshire. "Look, we have a lot of candidates who like the prince of darkness. I consider myself the prince of light and hope," Kasich said during an interview Tuesday with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

This month, Lena Dunham, wearing a red, white and blue sweater dress with the word “Hillary” emblazoned across the chest, told voters how Hillary Clinton had overcome sexism in her political career. “The way she has been treated is just more evidence of the fact that our country has so much hatred toward successful women,” Ms. Dunham, the creator and star of the HBO series “Girls,” said at a Clinton campaign event in Manchester, N.H.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush slams Donald Trump as a "junkyard dog" in a new interview, casting his Republican presidential rival as not conservative. Bush was asked about recent comments from conservative radio hosts Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh criticizing Trump for going after Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), their mutual rival, as a "nasty man." "He's a junkyard dog, that's for sure," Bush said of Trump in an interview with Newsmax TV. "I seem to be the target of most of his attacks. I don't know why he's so worried about me," Bush continued. "Maybe he thinks I'm a real...

The most important problem that this incident illustrates is the command environment established by Obama, Ashton Carter, his secretary of defense, and Ray Mabus, his navy secretary. To them, the military code of conduct is an after-thought. Social engineering is vastly more important as is the effort to make the navy “green.” Please remember that Carter has ordered women to be included in every military occupation, including special forces with, in his words, no exceptions. Mabus will be remembered for two things. First, enforcing the Obama/Carter edict on women to the degree that the Marine Corps, despite its objections, must...

Americans are flooding the government with appeals to have their student loans forgiven on the grounds that schools deceived them with false promises of a well-paying career—part of a growing protest against years of surging college costs. In the past six months, more than 7,500 borrowers owing $164 million have applied to have their student debt expunged under an obscure federal law that had been applied only in three instances before last year. The law forgives debt for borrowers who prove their schools used illegal tactics to recruit them, such as by lying about their graduates’ earnings. The U.S. Education...

According to a just-released poll from Florida Atlantic University broadcast on MSNBC, in a 12 person Republican primary, Donald Trump is blowing the pack away in Florida with an incredible +32 point lead. The billionaire businessman currently enjoys 48% support in the Sunshine State, a +12 point jump from November.

Hillary Clinton’s top campaign spokesman believes a vast right-wing conspiracy of sorts is behind Tuesday’s explosive report about the discovery of emails on the former secretary of state’s server that are classified at levels higher than previously known. According to NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Brian Fallon, Clinton’s communications director, believes that the Intelligence Community’s inspector general, I. Charles McCullough III, is “selectively” leaking information in coordination with Republicans. Mitchell did not provide insight into whether the flack produced evidence to back up his hypothesis that Republicans are in cahoots with McCullough. The accusation is a throwback to Bill and Hillary Clinton’s...

When a Wisconsin manufacturer changed its previously liberal policy on Muslim prayer times, dozens of Somali Muslims claimed they were forced to walk out of their jobs. Before Thursday of last week, Muslims employed at Ariens Manufacturing were permitted to leave the production line two times per shift to pray two of their daily prayers to Mecca, according to local ABC affiliate WBAY Channel 2 News. A spokesman for the company said they were forced to change that policy, however. His statement said: We are asking employees to pray during scheduled breaks in designated prayer rooms. Our manufacturing environment does...

(CNN)The U.S. Coast Guard will stop actively searching for the 12 Marines who went missing when the two helicopters carrying them apparently crashed off the coast of Hawaii last week. The search suspension goes into effect at sunset Tuesday. No survivors have been found nor bodies reported recovered. "A decision to suspend searching without finding survivors is extremely difficult given the depth of its impact. ... Our thoughts and prayers are with Marine Corps helicopter squadron and particularly with families and loved ones of those missing," said Coast Guard Capt. Jim Jenkins in a written statement.

Fox News' Greg Gutfeld really tore into Sarah Palin for her endorsement of Donald Trump today because to him, it reeks of opportunism. He snarked that "Palin's endorsement is massive, because it will definitely get Palin's vote." As the hosts of The Five talked about Palin going for Trump over Cruz, Gutfeld said the fact that a strong religious conservative has abandoned another in favor of Trump shows "the opportunism of a lot of top conservatives who, when they saw the bandwagon, they jumped."

The battle between Senator Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Donald Trump has now divided insurgent Republicans into two camps: those who prize conservative values over all else, and those who prize slapping the establishment over all else. That, in essence, is the dividing line between the two candidates.

Glenn Beck had some harsh words for Sarah Palin tonight following her endorsement of Donald Trump. Back in September, Beck went off on Palin for playing nice with Palin, declaring that he's "embarrassed" that he ever supported her because she's "become a clown." He apologized for that word choice but still trashed her "love affair" with Trump. On Facebook tonight, Beck lamented how Palin has abandoned her principles to back someone who supported big government up until last year.

I considered it a point in Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' favor that he voted to grant gun manufacturers and dealers broad exemptions from legal liability. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sanders' main rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, had been hammering Sanders on the campaign trail for supporting the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, a bill protecting those who make and sell firearms from lawsuits after those firearms are used in crimes. The early 2000s had seen a proliferation of such lawsuits filed by or on behalf of victims of gun violence, some of which were...

Israel will embark on a “deep” upgrade of its Boeing F-15I Ra’am fleet as it looks to maintain the type as the backbone of its air force’s strike capability, despite the parallel acquisition of the Lockheed Martin F-35. The enhancement has been mooted for some time, but Tel Aviv has recently given the green light to the programme. Modifications will include structural changes, the addition of an active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar, updated avionics and new, unspecified weapon systems. A selection process for the radar is ongoing, with a decision due mid-year. It is thought Israel favours the Raytheon APG-82(V)1...

BURNS-Ammon Bundy on Tuesday cautioned federal employees not to interfere with local ranchers and miners who defy government regulations as he stepped towards increased militancy on Day 18 of his occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The armed protestors are clearing the way for Harney County residents to again ranch, mine and log on land now controlled by federal managers, Bundy said. The occupation leader addressed 'range cons"-federal range conservationists who work with ranchers on grazing schedules and rotations to minimize the ecological impact of cattle. He also cited their employer, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the...

Hillary's in hot water. Needs Fauxcohantas. That, in a nutshell, was Mika Brzezinski's argument on today's Morning Joe. At the end of a segment highlighting the way Bernie Sanders has gone after Clinton for the massive "speaking fees" she's received from Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms, Mika concluded: "the only person that can help her now is Elizabeth Warren, and she's going to have to make her her running mate. There's no other way around it." As we noted here and here, Mika has long been a Lieawatha fan, urging her to run way back in 2013. If...

To hear the press tell it, the Republican Party has gone so far to the right that Ronald Reagan wouldn't recognize it. But the Democratic Party is at this moment on the cusp of forsaking Hillary Clinton for a self-described socialist who wants America to be exactly like Sweden. So precisely which party is making a historic tilt toward a new extreme? Never, ever trust the liberal media to put politicians on a mainstream-to-extreme political scale. In their minds, Nancy Pelosi sits on the centerline of the political fulcrum. By that measurement, Jeb Bush looks like a fire-breathing extremist. And...

In yet another election year scandal sure to be downplayed by the mainstream media, news broke overnight that a "massive" .50 caliber rifle intended to be a defense against helicopter gunships that was found at the hideout of notorious drug lord El Chapo's hideout was sold under the disastrous 'Fast and Furious' program! Fox News' William La Jeunesse reports: [snip] As RedState readers know, this news comes just hours after a judge ruled Obama couldn't claim executive privilege to cover up the scandal anymore. The feds are still checking out all the weapons from El Chapo's drug den so it...

Hawar News Agency (ANHA) has reported that Turkish troops have entered Syrian territory through Jarablus border crossing Tuesday evening. Hawar News Agency (ANHA) has reported that Turkish troops have entered Syrian territory through Jarablus border crossing Tuesday evening. According to the ANHA report which is grounded on local sources, the Turkish force of military vehicles and heavy equipment accompanied a mine detection and removal device. After crossing the border, Turkish soldiers moved westwards within the Syrian territory. Sources reported that ISIS gangs in the area were all unresponsive to the activity of Turkish soldiers, and just watched them as they...