Free Republic

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports,” host Katy Tur stated that while it’s “not great news,” that inflation increased in July, “It’s not bad news,” when inflation keeps increasing. Tur said, “New economic data shows inflation picked up during the month of July, but only slightly. It’s not great news, but it is in line with expectations, and it’s likely got the attention of the Federal Reserve.”

...he will reap the benefits on March 1. Almost one-quarter of the available delegates are up for grabs that day, mostly in primaries in the Deep South. That already favors Cruz, not least because his home state of Texas offers the most delegates, but Rubio's slide will help him even more. In all of those Southern states but one, candidates must reach either 15 or 20 percent of the vote to receive any delegates at all, as we noted last week. Rubio was already only pulling about 10 percent several of those states. With his standing weakened and the so-called...

I would trade a cow for these magic beans. Seriously. "Coffee Joulies" are a new invention that are stainless steel "beans" that keep your coffee at the perfect temperature for several hours. Hours. How do they work? Their Kickstarter page says: This material is designed to melt at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and absorbs a lot of energy as it melts. This is how Joulies cool your coffee down three times faster than normal. Once it reaches this temperature, the special material begins to solidify again, releasing the energy it stored when it melted. This is how Joulies keep your coffee...

The president appears to be loving the whole Obama-wasn’t-born-here myth. At a lunch on Capitol Hill on St. Patrick’s Day, Obama told an audience that included plenty of Republicans that “some are still bent on peddling rumors about my origins.” But he wasn’t talking about what you’d think he was alluding to: “Now, speaking of ancestry, there has been some controversy about my own background. Two years into my presidency, some are still bent on peddling rumors about my origins. So today, I want to put all those rumors to rest. It is true my great-great-great-grandfather really was from Ireland....

Many conservatives look at their first chance to defeat the left in six years when nervous Democrats try to explain away Obama's disastrous leftward lurch. The left is not only looking at a big defeat in America in two months, it has been getting slobber-knocked all over the modern industrialized world. Five months ago, in the British General Election, the Labour Party, which had been in power since the early 1990s, suffered a devastating defeat, losing 91 seats in the House of Commons. Although David Cameron's Conservative Party had to form a coalition with the yuppyish Liberal Party, Conservatives are...

The clear and present danger of homegrown Islamist terrorism grows weekly. Plots are coming at New York and America from every which way and at increasing speed. Hard on the heels of Najibullah Zazi's subway bomb try, the Manhattan U.S. attorney has indicted two Brooklyn men, U.S. citizens, for allegedly conspiring to abet Al Qaeda's communication needs and its capacity to detonate explosives.

The Company He Keeps Can you know a person by the company they keep? If you can, is it fair to do so? Is it then fair to judge them? I often have the opportunity to get to know someone through personal and business relationships. However, when I don’t have a personal or business relationship knowing them by the company they keep has served me well. The advice remains in good stead but I was curious of its origin. I have not found a direct connection to the advice but I did find several indirect references. As early as 1541,...

WASHINGTON – The Senate voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to preserve thousands of earmarks in a $410 billion spending bill, brushing aside Sen. John McCain's claim that President Barack Obama and Congress are merely conducting business as usual in a time of economic hardship. McCain's attempt to strip out an estimated 8,500 earmarks failed on a vote of 63-32. The Arizona senator's proposal also would have cut roughly $32 billion from the measure and would have kept spending at last year's levels in several federal agencies. Last year's Republican presidential candidate said both he and Obama said during the campaign to "stop...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2008 – Because it always has been a family-owned and -operated business, it’s no surprise that Coastal Windows, a small Hawaii company, knows how to take care of its employees. Coastal Windows applies its family philosophy in taking care of all employees, including those who serve in the National Guard and Reserve. For its support of employees who serve part-time in the military, Coastal Windows is being awarded the 2008 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. Coastal Windows has 62 employees, and at present, only one of them serves in the National Guard, said Bob Barrett,...

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 14, 2006 — To American civilians, eating a meal ready-to-eat, or MRE, can be an intimidating prospect. It’s handed to them cased in a non-descript brown sleeve, not unlike certain types of discreet mail. Once opened, its contents are filled with individual packages, chemical heaters and official-sounding foods like “fortified applesauce.” With a family in tow, a war on their heels and military transit to look forward to, nearly 14,000 Americans faced the additional daunting task of MRE dining before their authorized departure from Beirut, Lebanon, earlier this month. Making that task just a little easier were...

CAMP KOREAN VILLAGE, Iraq (June 30, 2006) -- The man responsible for roughly 1,000 Marines’ ammo isn’t a Marine sitting behind a desk, wielding his power and influence from his air conditioned office – it’s a 21-year-old Marine running around in the dry heat of western Iraq. Meet Cpl. David M. Jeske – a gruff Marine from Auburndale, Wis., and the senior ammunition technician for 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion – the U.S. Marine unit assigned to this region of Iraq’s western Al Anbar province. The battalion is charged with maintaining security and stability in their area of operations –...

HABBANIYAH, Iraq (June 12, 2006) -- The enemy snipers hit their targets- but it yielded them no results. In less than a week’s time, Sgt. Joshua S. Adams and Pfc. Jason Hanson, of D Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion were hit by sniper shots. But the enemy had little effect because both were left with only minor injuries thanks to their small-arms protective inserts, or SAPI, plates. While working in support of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, to complete counterinsurgency and humanitarian operations in the town of Habbaniyah, Hanson was the lead man on a patrol looking for roadside...

CAMP AL QA'IM, Iraq (May 25, 2006) -- On his second deployment to Iraq, Lance Cpl. Jacob A. Lamb admits that communicating with friends and family back home is easier thanks to a relatively new program: Moto Mail. ‘Moto’ is short for ‘motivation,’ and it’s what U.S. service members like Lamb use as a means to keep contact with his friends and family back home. This roughly two-year-old program allows U.S. service members deployed overseas to receive letters via an electronic system. The letters are printed and enveloped at the military post office, and in the hands of the service...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, May 19, 2006 – In this war on terror, a house call may be more important than a combat fire mission. Sheikh Majoob (center, in the golden robe) listens as Army Capt. Juan Santiago makes a point during a meeting near Taji, Iraq. Photo by Jim Garamone  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. That's why Army Capt. Juan Santiago, commander of Aztec Battery, 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery, was going to visit Sheikh Majoob. The sheikh is the leader of what Americans would call a tribe. The tribes are an extension of the family for both...

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2006 – Military families are staying connected across the miles, thanks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. VFW national headquarters staff members Alisa Nelson (left), Bud Haney (center) and Steve Crutcher prepare laptop computers for distribution to family support centers of deploying military units. Haney is director of the VFW's Military Assistance Program, which is administering the effort to facilitate contact between servicemembers and their loved ones at home. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. So far, about 103 of 150 laptop computers the VFW's Military Assistance Program purchased are in the field, said...

Party endorses lawmaker receiving drug treatment after Capitol crash Updated: 10:03 a.m. ET May 9, 2006 WEST WARWICK, R.I. - Democrats endorsed an absent Rep. Patrick Kennedy, being treated for addiction to prescription pain drugs, for re-election Monday night at their state convention. Kennedy checked into the Mayo Clinic on Friday for his second stay in less than five months after a middle-of-the-night car crash near the Capitol on Thursday that he said he couldn’t remember. It was his second car crash in three weeks. Republicans have said Kennedy should step aside because he can’t fulfill his duties. But Democratic...

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany, May 3, 2006 – Family tradition may be what inspired Air Force Tech. Sgt. Tom Landenberg to join the military, but 20 years later, he said it's pride that keeps him serving. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Tom Landenberg said pride inspired him to join the Air Force and keeps him serving as he helps prepare young airmen for combat duty. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Larry Chambers, USCG  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Pine Mount, Ga., native followed in the footsteps of his father, a 22-year veteran of the Army and Coast...

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Joshua Wortley, 40th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron, replaces a B-52 generator. Wortley is deployed from Barksdale AFB, La., in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. John Rohrer Air Force Crew Keeps Aging B-52s Airborne U.S. airmen assigned to the 40th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron keep the aging B-52s airborne, a task vital to the success of Operation Enduring Freedom. By U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Scott King 40th Air Expeditionary Group OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, May 3, 2006 — Thirty thousand feet above Afghan terrain, the U.S. Air Force B-52’s...

td> U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. John Trotta enters a Humvee during a combat mission near Camp Blessing in Afghanistan’s Kunar Province. Trotta, from Orange Park, Fla., is company gunnery sergeant of Headquarters and Service Company of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. Courtesy photo U.S. Marine CorpsGunnery Sgt. John Trotta Marine Keeps Promise, Enlists to Fight for Country By Marine Sgt. Joe LindsayTask Force Lava Public Affairs JALALABAD, Afghanistan, April 21, 2006 — “I always told myself that if my country ever went to war, I would join the military and fight for her,” said Gunnery Sgt. John Trotta. He...

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2006 – A high-tech Defense Department identification system has linked some captured terrorists to previous crimes and prevented their release from overseas detention facilities, senior defense officials said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing here March 10. A sample biometric ID card is checked at a stationary verification station during a DoD biometric identification system demonstration held in the Washington, D.C., area in May 2005. At the right is a fingerprint checker. Photo by Gerry J. Gilmore  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "I understand that the (defense) department is collecting biometric information from individuals...