Free Republic

Former President Barack Obama on Monday called for unity and peace during what he fears could be potentially violent elections on Tuesday in Kenya, his father's homeland. "I urge Kenyan leaders to reject violence and incitement; respect the will of the people; urge security forces to act professionally and neutrally; and no matter the outcome," Obama said in a statement on Monday. "I urge all Kenyans to work for an election — and aftermath — that is peaceful and credible, reinforcing confidence in your new constitution and the future of your country." Every Thought Leader Must Either Publish Or Perish...

At least two orange street signs reading "Warning: Twin Cities police easily startled" were seen in the Twin Cities Sunday. Joe Morino brought an incredulous friend to see the orange street sign he just spotted in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis. The official-looking metal sign read: “WARNING: TWIN CITIES POLICE EASILY STARTLED.” It featured a graphic silhouette of a police officer, a gun in each raised hand, shooting in both directions. “There’s a side of truth to the sign,” Morino said after snapping a picture of it. “That tells you there is something wrong with the system.” The sign, which...

Some Nigerian families are donating their children to extremist terrorist group Boko Haram to carry out suicide missions against the country’s military, the country’s army said in a statement Saturday. Nigerian Army spokesman Sani Usman pleaded with local parents to discontinue the practice as the terrorist group continues its deadly insurgency. “It was discovered that most of these hapless minors were donated to the terrorist sect by their heartless and misguided parents and guardians,” Usman said. “The acts of these parents and guardians are not only barbaric, but condemnable and unacceptable,” the spokesman added. {..snip..}

The senator’s new book does contain some wit — when he quotes Lindsey Graham. Al Franken was more prepared than you might think to run successfully for the U.S. Senate in 2008. Being a senator is serious business, and Franken had just spent 35 years not being funny. The challenge he faced was this: After years of trying to be funny and failing, could he at long last try not to be funny, and succeed? On the strength of Al Franken: Giant of the Senate, Franken is not-funnier than ever. A book written by a sitting senator who is actually...

A D.C. suburb in Maryland is considering a plan that would give undocumented immigrants the right to vote, making their city the largest in the Old Line State to do so. The city, which is home of the University of Maryland’s main campus and nearly 30,000 residents, is weighing approval of the new measure to let noncitizens cast ballots for mayor and City Council, The Baltimore Sun reported Sunday.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz never actually saw the computer she fought to block the Capitol Police from examining as evidence in a criminal case against her IT aide by saying it was hers, she told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Thursday. “This was not my laptop. I have never seen that laptop. I don’t know what’s on the laptop,” she said Thursday. She said it was Imran’s laptop but purchased using taxpayer funds from her office. The Sun-Sentinel said she has refused to speak personally about the issue until now, and quoted her as saying “I’ve been on vacation,” she said....

MOUNT HOLLY -- A woman accused of shooting her wife in the face was arrested and charged with murder early Monday morning, authorities said.  Laura Bluestein, 28, faces charges of first degree murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and tampering with evidence, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office.  Police arrived at the home on Mill Street Sunday evening after a relative of Bluestein reported a possible assault inside the residence, authorities said.

A Fort Lauderdale attorney and Republican is making his candidacy for Congress official today going after a Broward county stronghold held by the former DNC Chair.

When it comes to voting rights, any obstacles outrage liberals; even free government-issued IDs are viewed as disenfranchising poor and disproportionately black people. But when it comes to the right to own a gun for self-defense, liberals don't hesitate to pile on fees, ID requirements, expensive training and onerous background checks. That's too bad, because many law-abiding citizens in crime-ridden neighborhoods really do need a gun for self-defense. Since poor, urban blacks are the most likely victims of violent crime, there is little doubt that they stand to benefit the most from owning guns. Research, including my own, has demonstrated...

Scathing accusations at the funeral for a bishop, many believe to have been brutally murdered, have sparked criminal charges and an assassination attempt against the homilist. Monsignor Joseph Akonga Essomba, a lifelong friend of Bp. Jean Marie Benoit Bala, accused government officials and high ranking clergy, attending the funeral, of killing the bishop for rejecting homosexuality, saying "those who actually killed the bishop were people in positions of power, but it was homosexual priests who betrayed him." Shortly after the funeral, the Cameroon government opened an investigation against Essomba, accusing him of making "inappropriate accusations" and wanting to "destabilize Cameroon."...

Illegals living in Los Angeles County were handed almost $1.3 billion in welfare payouts between the months of 2015 and 2016, Fox News reported, citing data. That’s billion with a capital “B.” That’s a quarter of what the county distributed to its entire needy population in those same months. Liberals and government elitists always like to make the case that citizens ought to support some cheap-sounding fee- or tax-paying cause by grandly pronouncing, “It’s just the cost of a cup of coffee,” or “If everyone just gave up their Starbucks lattes, it’d pay for itself.” Well, guess what $1.3 billion...

A US clothing company has come under fire after T-shirts appeared online featuring swastikas in a move aimed at reclaiming the symbol as one of "love". The attempt to rebrand the Nazi emblem as a symbol of "peace" was criticised on social media as the public refused to support the campaign. Days after the design appeared, it was replaced with an "anti-swastika" print. The swastika is an ancient symbol said to have represented good fortune in almost every culture in the world. It was adopted by Adolf Hitler, thousands of years after it was first used, transforming it into a...

California Democratic Representative Maxine Waters wouldn’t rule out the concept of an all-black political party when asked about it on Monday.

VH-92A Presidential Helicopter Achieves First Flight Aug 3, 2017 On July 28, the VH-92A configured test aircraft completed its first flight in support of the U.S. Marine Corps’ VH-92A Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program. STRATFORD, Conn., Aug. 3, 2017 – Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today announced the first flight of a VH-92A configured test aircraft in support of the U.S. Marine Corps’ VH-92A Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program. The July 28 flight signals the start of the 250 hour flight test program, which will take place at Lockheed Martin facilities in Owego, New York. The aircraft achieved its first flight, and later...

After the failure of the Senate to repeal Obamacare, a frustrated President Trump's threat to reverse President Obama's executive action exempting members of congress from having to live under the same regulations that apply to ordinary citizens forced into Obamacare brought howls of rage from Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT). "We are members of government," Murphy fulminated. "For Trump to vindictively throw us into the pit with the common people violates the unwritten rule against one segment of this elite group harming the privileges of another. It would renege on the bipartisanship exhibited by President Obama in even handedly extending the...

Editor’s note: This is the 11th article in The Inter-Mountain’s Unsung Heroes series, which will feature veterans in our area and share first-hand accounts of their military service. The series will publish each Monday through Veterans Day. To suggest an Unsung Hero, call 304-636-2121, ext. 120. ELKINS — As a mechanic who served during the Cold War, a local veteran has fond memories of the time he spent in the U.S. Army. John Vallelonga, who has lived in Elkins since the early 1970s, said the Army gave him the experience he needed to move ahead in life. After graduating from...

Former Vice President Al Gore’s new film, “An Inconvenient Sequel”, came in a dismal 15th this weekend at U.S. theaters, according to Box Office Mojo. Gore’s defenders have been quick to blame Paramount Pictures for the dismal performance of Gore’s sequel. “Al Gore Gets Ripped Off Again,” screamed the headline of D.R. Tucker in Washington Monthly.View post “This was not supposed to happen,” Tucker wrote, adding, “he should have demanded a recount.” “Sadly, the box-office under-performance of An Inconvenient Sequel will be seized upon by climate-change deniers as ‘proof’ that Americans don’t really care about this issue,” Tucker wrote. According...

When, in November 2016, Nikki Haley was nominated U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Professor Charles Tiefer of the University of Baltimore reacted with outrage. "No one in the United Nations," Tiefer said, "will think that Haley is someone to talk to who will be either knowledgeable or close to the president." Tiefer must feel a bit stupid right now.

Thanks to a little-noticed auction sale, a South Bay couple are the proud owners of one of the most exclusive streets in San Francisco — and they’re looking for ways to make their purchase pay. Tina Lam and Michael Cheng snatched up Presidio Terrace — the block-long, private oval street lined by 35 megamillion-dollar mansions — for $90,000 and change in a city-run auction stemming from an unpaid tax bill. They outlasted several other bidders.

Wild pigs are perhaps the most destructive invasive species in the United States, causing an estimated $1.5 billion in damages every year to crops and property across the country, uprooting farmers' fields, degrading water quality and out-competing native wildlife for food. In the latest installment of AL.com's series on invasive species, we examine the feral hog, one of the costliest non-native species in Alabama, and what landowners and wildlife officials can do to keep their populations under control.