Free Republic

The so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill has stalled Saturday as Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) leads the Republican opposition. “I wasn’t elected by the people of Tennessee to be the most popular person in the Senate. I was elected to stand up for their interests,” Hagerty told the Washington Times’ Haris Alic. “I can’t in good conscience vote to accelerate a flawed bill that puts us another quarter of a trillion-plus in debt, especially when we haven’t had an opportunity to dig in and understand its substance or economic ramifications.” Most of the Senate has wanted to advance the $1.2 trillion, 2,702-page...

Mormon rancher LaVoy Finicum was killed during the Oregon militia standoff on January 26. He's survived by his Jeanette. Finicum was 54 years old when he died. Together he and his wife maintained a ranch in northern Arizona. The ranch was staffed and managed by the couple's 11 foster children. They were kids the couple took in, troubled kids with criminal histories. During the standoff, Finicum complained that the state had taken away the children because of his high profile role with the militia. Meanwhile on his wife, Jeanette's LinkedIn page, she lists foster care provider as her full time...

(CNSNews.com) – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) reintroduced legislation in their respective chambers on Wednesday that would prohibit the federal government from denying tax exemptions or other government benefits to individuals and institutions that promote traditional marriage. "Protecting religious freedom from Government intrusion is a Government interest of the highest order," the bill states. If the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Obergefell v. Hodges that gay marriage is a constitutionally protected right, the First Amendment Defense Act (S. 1598, H.R. 2802) would prevent the Internal Revenue Service from denying tax-exempt status to churches that refuse to...

Star Wars-style technology is about to take to the battlefield for the first time with the launch of a laser system to shoot down enemy missiles and mortars. Laser beam technology is being rushed into service to combat the threat of insurgent missiles and mortars raining down on British and American military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. The LADS system will utilise the phalanx system and literally shoot incoming missiles and mortars out of the sky using a laser beam After decades of delay and billions of pounds spent, it will be simple commercial lasers rather than the hugely expensive...

TUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 9, 2007 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) successfully tested a prototype solid-state laser weapon that combines the proven capabilities of the Phalanx weapon system with the power and effectiveness of lasers to defeat rockets, mortars and missiles at an operationally significant range. The prototype solid-state Laser Area Defense System (LADS) successfully detonated 60-millimeter mortars at a range greater than 550 yards within the tactical timeline in static ground testing conducted in partnership with the United States government. This government-industry team accomplished these groundbreaking prototype tests in less than six months. The LADS demonstration used a proven, existing,...

PARIS - President Jacques Chirac declared a 12-day state of emergency Tuesday, paving the way for curfews to be imposed on riot-hit cities and towns in an extraordinary measure to halt France's worst civil unrest in nearly four decades. Meanwhile, police said the nightly rioting that began Oct. 27 ago was showing signs of abating. "The intensity of this violence is on the way down," National Police Chief Michel Gaudin said, citing fewer attacks on public buildings and fewer direct clashes between youths and police. He said rioting was reported in 226 towns across France, compared with nearly 300 the...

Everyone has gotten at least one of these. Someone in Nigeria has died and left 879 billion dollars to them, but it is a) in a foreign bank b)being held from the poor recipient unjustly c) waiting on someone to pay some fees or any number of other reasons why the recipient can't get the money. Some of the situations change to ruthless industrial tycoons who face death and are now repentant and want to disburse their riches to widows in refugee camps.