Free Republic

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Iconic as he was controversial, Bob Knight for decades embodied the spirit of basketball in a corner of the world mad about it. His hard-nosed, fundamentals-driven style and attention to detail became deeply rooted in the culture of the sport for basketball fans in southern Indiana and elsewhere, his admirers standing as ardently by him as his critics often chastised him.

Raquel Welch has died at the age of 82. The iconic 1960s sex symbol passed after a struggle with a brief, unknown illness, according to TMZ. Her family confirmed the news to the site on Feb. 15, stating that she had passed away that morning.

Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, an auto shop owner who was a virtual unknown before August’s primary election, pulled off perhaps the most stunning political upset in the country this year, winning a congressional seat in Southwest Washington that few saw as competitive. Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat, defeated Donald Trump-endorsed Republican Joe Kent on Saturday in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, with roughly 50.5% of the vote.

During Wednesday’s impeachment inquiry coverage on Fox News, network anchor Chris Wallace called former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor’s testimony “very damaging to the president.” Wallace said, “I think that William Taylor was a very impressive witness and was very damaging to the president. He took very copious notes at almost every conversation. When he put quotes in his opening statement, he said those were direct quotes from what was said.” He added, “It also doesn’t hurt that he has a voice like Edward R. Murrow. So he is a pretty impressive presence up there. I think very nonpolitical....

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is defending her decision to release a DNA test and political ad asserting she has a distant Native American ancestor — even as the Cherokee Nation condemns her for it, Republicans mock her, and political analysts wonder if she has crippled any hopes she had of competing in the 2020 presidential election. “Donald Trump goes in front of crowds multiple times a week to attack me,” Warren told members of the Boston Globe editorial board Tuesday, referring to the president’s relentless mockery of a six-year-old accusation that the senator used to identify as a Native American...

he administration of President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from a United Nations pact to improve the handling of migrant and refugee situations, deeming it "inconsistent" with its policies, the US mission to the global body announced Saturday. "Today, the US Mission to the United Nations informed the UN Secretary-General that the United States is ending its participation in the Global Compact on Migration," the Americans said in a statement. In September 2016, the 193 members of the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a non-binding political declaration, the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, pledging to uphold...

The behavior attributed to Mr. Davis does not align with the standards and values of CNN," the network said in a statement. CNN has fired senior producer Teddy Davis over claims of inappropriate behavior. "A comprehensive investigation was conducted as soon as this matter was brought to our attention. The behavior attributed to Mr. Davis does not align with the standards and values of CNN and Mr. Davis is no longer with the company," a CNN spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday. Davis served as producer on the network's State of the Union, hosted by Jake Tapper, prior to his...

Court documents involving Leigh Corfman, who says that Alabama senatorial candidate Roy Moore tried to engage in a sexual encounter with her when she was 14, raise questions about the timeline and narrative of Corfman’s accusations against the politician. Those accusations were first publicly disclosed in a Washington Post story citing Corfman and her mother, Nancy Wells, as saying that in early 1979, Roy Moore, then a 32-year-old assistant district attorney, allegedly asked Wells to watch her fourteen-year-old daughter while Wells went into a courtroom for a custody hearing. Corfman claims that Moore asked the young Corfman for her number....

Three additional women who previously interned for TV veteran Charlie Rose accused him of misconduct. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one woman told Business Insider that Rose touched her legs and invited her to his hotel room, while two others said he greeted them at his home wearing a bathrobe and invited them inside. The additional allegations emerged after a Washington Post report on Monday detailed the accounts of eight women who said the 75-year-old made unwanted advances, exposed himself in their presence, or groped their breasts, buttocks or genitals. Among the three women who spoke to Business Insider...

Birmingham, ALABAMA — A minister who says that he dated Beverly Young Nelson at around the same time that Young claims to have been assaulted by senatorial candidate Roy Moore says that he does not believe his ex-girlfriend about the allegations. The former boyfriend, Jeff DeVine, attended high school with Young and is currently in Thailand, where he runs DeVine Ministries with his wife and twin daughters. He says that as part of his ministry, which focuses on rescuing children, he has worked with victims of rape and other trauma. A high school classmate of Nelson’s who spoke to Breitbart...

Is #JesusCampos an illegal alien? Does @MGMResortsIntl know?

The home-sharing service Airbnb has “ghosted” or deleted the account of Las Vegas spree-shooter Steven Paddock, rented entire houses from around the desert city in the days before the Oct. 1 shooting, according to a source inside the company. The insider verified their access by sharing with Big League Politics personal and usage information from the site about other individuals that were not available in the public domain. Inside the company’s ghost report menu, there is no option for spree-shooting massacre, so whoever ghosted the account chose: “Physical Assault” as the reason for closing the account. As Airbnb does not...

The Sheriff’s Office in Greenville County, South Carolina, has confirmed that immigration services determined a man accused of shooting and killing a local high school girl was in the U.S. illegally. Officials arrested 19-year-old Daniel De Jesus Rangel Sherrer and charged him with the murder of 18-year-old Diana Martinez-Gonzalez, who was found shot to death last week in a patch of woods along the 400 block of Saluda Dam Road in Easley, South Carolina. Deputies said they received a call from a friend of the victim who was “frantic” over the crime, according to Fox Carolina. At a recent press...

All main U.S. stock indexes closed higher on Tuesday, with the Dow finishing at its 47th record for 2017, as optimism appeared to grow ahead of the start of the earnings season, which will provide concrete insight into the state of U.S. corporations. What are stocks doing? The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.31% rose 69.61 points, or 0.3%, to end at 22,830.68. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.23% added 5.91 points, or 0.2%, to close at 2,550.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.11% reversed earlier losses to finish 7.52 points, or 0.1%, higher at 6,587.25. All three benchmarks touched fresh...

Law enforcement sources told CBS News that Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock is believed to have used the freight elevator at the Mandalay Bay hotel casino in the days leading up to last week's deadly attack. It wasn't clear what Paddock used the freight elevator for or how often he used it. CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton reports authorities were continuing to comb through Paddock's electronic devices — including a laptop and cellphone — at the FBI crime lab in Quantico, Virginia. So far, none of the devices point to a motive for the shooting rampage. Meanwhile, billboards...

A controversial law enforcement officer who is known for his fiery temper and over-the-top rhetoric is reportedly being eyed by the White House for a job in the Department of Homeland Security. According to Politico, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is being considered by President Donald Trump for the job of assistant secretary at the DHS’ Office of Partnership and Engagement. If selected, Clarke would be tasked with coordinating outreach between tribal officials, state and local officials, and law enforcement.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Wednesday that he admires White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and that he hasn't received pushback from Jared Kushner or Ivanka Trump on pushing his agenda. Sessions was asked on the Laura Ingraham Show about reports Kushner and Ivanka Trump had more influence in the White House. Ingraham, citing reports, said Ivanka Trump and Kushner are trying to soften the President's rhetoric on immigration, unlike Bannon and former Sessions aide Stephen Miller. "I'm an admirer of Steve Bannon and the Trump family and they've been supportive of what we're doing. I've not felt any pushback...

War is like crack for presidents. It confers instant gravitas, catapulting them to respectability, bypassing all station stops. They get to make macho pronouncements on a topic where every utterance is seen as august. On the other hand, Trump’s Syrian misadventure is immoral, violates every promise he ran on, and could sink his presidency. Left to his own devices, uncontaminated by Washington group-think, Trump gets it right. Back in 2013, when President Obama was being egged on to attack Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack far more sweeping than this latest one, Trump tweeted:...

A UK-trained doctor, who was hailed a hero for treating gas attack victims in Syria, stood trial on terror offences and allegedly belonged to the group that kidnapped British journalist John Cantlie. At least 86 people, including 20 children, died in Tuesday's attack on a rebel-held town in Idlib province. Dozens more were left gasping for air, convulsing and foaming at the mouth. Dr Shajul Islam, from East London, published a video of the patients on his Twitter account after the attack. He said his hospital took care of three victims all with narrow, pinpoint pupils that did not respond...

The April 4th, 2017 incident at Khan Sheikhoun has provoked an emotional response around the world after images began to emerge showing civilian adults and children apparently suffering from the effects of chemical weapons. President Donald Trump has stated that the attack has totally changed his views towards the Syrian civil war, and may alter his intended strategy there. Although Western media immediately accused Bashar al-Assad of participating in a gas attack against his own people, the evidence indicates that the intended target was not immediately in a civilian area and was in fact a location where Syrian White Helmets...