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The Republican National Committee has dumped National Review from the Feb. 25 GOP debate after the magazine published a scathing editorial against Donald Trump. RNC Spokesman Sean Spicer told Buzzfeed News that the magazine was dumped as a sponsor of the debate in Houston, saying "a debate moderator can't have a predisposition." Jack Fowler, publisher of National Review, wrote a short blog item late Thursday: "Tonight, a top official with the RNC called me to say that National Review was being disinvited. The reason: Our 'Against Trump' editorial and symposium. We expected this was coming. Small price to pay for...

KENT, Ohio-- A Kent State professor is being investigated for ties to ISIS and the school's president is reacting. The FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have been investigating associate history professor Julio Pino for more than a year. Emily Mills, the editor of the student-run Daily Kent Stater, said she was contacted by federal authorities regarding Pino and was given permission to publish that information. Mills has been writing about the controversial professor for years. Pino, a Cuban-born American citizen, said he was raised as a Christian, but left his faith as a teenager and in 2000...

Bill Johnson, the brash American who became the first U.S. skier to win an Olympic downhill title, died after a long illness, the U.S. ski team said Friday. He was 55. Megan Harrod, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Alpine team, said Johnson died Thursday at an assisted living facility in Gresham, Oregon. Johnson's health had been on the decline for several years after a series of strokes. Johnson won the downhill at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, the first American to capture gold in Alpine skiing's marquee event. He was also the first American male to win an Olympic gold in...

Apparently, the Trump campaign is on top of this. He sent out the information in a mass email to his Iowa supporters. Please pass the link along to any Iowa residents deployed out-of-state. They can caucus for Trump online! https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/690595493416665090

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I need to add one level to the BOTTOM of the persuasion stack. That level involves arguing about the definition of a word. Persuasion Stack Identity (best) Analogy (okay, not great) Reason (useless) Definition (capitulation) You'll see a lot of debate on whether Trump is a true conservative or not. That is argument by definition. It is the linguistic equivalent of throwing your gun at a monster because the clip is empty. National Review's cover story, in which the big question comes down to whether Trump is a true conservative or not, is your tell for capitulation on the right....

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The American public estimates on average that 23% of Americans are gay or lesbian, little changed from Americans' 25% estimate in 2011, and only slightly higher than separate 2002 estimates of the gay and lesbian population. These estimates are many times higher than the 3.8% of the adult population who identified themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in Gallup Daily tracking in the first four months of this year. Trend: Just your best guess, what percent of Americans today would you say are gay or lesbian? The stability of these estimates over time contrasts with the...

"I'm proud of him." That's what the father of Dafna Meir's murderer said when the Palestinian media asked him what he thinks of his cold-blooded son Murad Adais. On Sunday afternoon, Adais butchered Meir in her home, in front of her children. Whether Adais Sr. is really happy that his son will rot in prison is less important than the fact that he said what he said to his home crowd. He knows that his audience thinks his son is a hero. And so he played to his audience. Since last September when the Palestinians began their current terrorist onslaught,...

"That's why you should be freaking out," he added. "Look, we have nothing against Donald Trump as a man. We don't. It's just this is a very dangerous combination and I have been warning against it since Fox. I said keep your eyes open because it will come. The pendulum will swing the other way and it will be bad. The only other thing you have to add to that - he's talking about populism and nationalism. If you add socialism - populism, nationalism and socialism, you have the makings of Adolf Hitler. You don't somebody who is a nationalist,...

Universal Genetic Code? No! The basic process by which proteins are made in a cell. (click for credit) The basic process by which proteins are made in a cell. (click for credit) I am still reading Shadow of Oz by Dr. Wayne Rossiter, and I definitely plan to post a review of it when I am finished. However, I wanted to write a separate blog post about one point that he makes in Chapter 6, which is entitled “Biological Evolution.” He says: To date, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), which houses all published DNA sequences (as well as...

Today, The National Review magazine, for decades the must-read monthly of the conservative movement, has published a yellow journal worthy of the best discourse Facebook has to offer. This formerly revered publication, founded and edited by William F. Buckley, Jr, was the premier resource for conservative commentary from 1955 until the illness and retirement of its renowned leader in the mid-2000s. The New York polite society of pious, trust-fund Ivy Leaguers who formed the backbone of the founding editorial staff had given National Review an air of the lamp-lit gentlemen's club: leather wing chairs, green velvet wall coverings, cigars and...

Who has Champion Material? Trump, Cruz and Carson believe they have the right stuff to lead America through the destructive "winter era" back to safety and a new beginning. By Craig Johnson In times of great peril, God raises a champion to provide a spark, or to lead a nation through the destructive "winter era" back to safety and the start of a new social order. This occurs every 80 to 100 years. We are in such a dark, destructive phase again, as outsiders Trump, Carson, and Cruz, storm the gates of American politics. They have battled Republican and...

Oil prices surged on Thursday and Friday, staging a 14 percent rally to push oil back above $31 per barrel. A combination of factors worked together to stop the bleeding for WTI and Brent. Hopes rose for fresh monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank on Thursday when its President Mario Draghi hinted that more action could be forthcoming. Also, Japan’s central bank could also engage in QE-style asset purchasing to boost the economy. At the same time, a monster snow storm hitting the east coast of the U.S. brought speculation that colder weather could boost demand.

Donald Trump said electing Senator Ted Cruz would mean no deals and more executive orders at a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada this afternoon. "He looks like a nervous wreck," Trump said of Cruz. "He's going down. He had his moment. He had his moment and he blew it." DONALD TRUMP: ... here's a Senator, and by the way, if it weren't for Sarah Palin, he would not be a Senator. He was at 2% and then she came along and then he did fine. Honestly, Sarah brought him over the line.

Ben Carson's former chief of staff is now advising Donald Trump's presidential campaign, less than one month after quitting his post. The Washington Post reported the informal arrangement between Barry Bennett and the Trump campaign, which Trump chief of staff Corey Lewandowski confirmed to the paper. "I believe Trump is going to win and it's important that his campaign is ready for everything that is coming," Bennett told the Post. "I'm here to do what is needed. I'm not being paid and I'm going to be mostly focused on getting my business back up and running." He added that...

A family made famous by the reality show "Sister Wives" is calling on a Utah appeals court to uphold a ruling that essentially decriminalized polygamy, saying the state's historic ban on the practice raises constitutional issues about freedom of religion, association, and privacy rights of consenting adults. Kody Brown and his four wives - Meri, Jangle, Christine and Robyn - who began appearing on the TLC reality show in 2010, filed suit against the state of Utah challenging the state's ban.

Leading members of Congress are ripping IRS officials for erasing a computer hard drive after a federal judge ordered it to be preserved.“The destruction of evidence subject to preservation orders and subpoenas has been an ongoing problem under your leadership at the IRS,” Committee on House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz and Rep. Jim Jordan , wrote in a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen late Thursday.“It is stunning to see that the IRS does not take reasonable care to preserve documents that it is legally required to protect,” Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, and Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said...

America's attention will soon be consumed by the 50th Super Bowl. Just before and after that event, the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries will consume the attention of the nation's political junkies. On super Sunday, most Americans will pick a team to root for as their champion for the day. Some will feel very strongly about it while many won't really care. When the game is over, some will celebrate and some will drown their sorrows. The same thing will happen on election night. Most Americans will pick someone to root for but their level of commitment will vary....