Free Republic

Tensions boiled over outside Portland’s ICE building late Thursday night when police detained independent reporter Nick Sortor during a confrontation with protesters. Sortor, known for his on-the-ground coverage of stories often overlooked by mainstream outlets, found himself in handcuffs after what witnesses described as a defensive response to an attack. VIDEOS AT LINK............ One observer, C.K. Bouferrache, who goes by Honeybadgermom on X, captured the confusion in real time: “Looked like @nicksortor got jumped. We are on the lower roof at ICE but difficult to tell exactly what happened at this distance. Portland liaison officers stand nearby and watch.” Bouferrache...

What was the shape of Noah’s Ark? For millennia Jewish and Christian clerics, scholars, and academics, as well as others with too much time on their hands, have pondered this question. Artist rendering of the one true shape of Noah’s Ark, scientifically provenILLUSTRATION: JON BERKELEY What makes it tantalizing is the precision of the numbers in Genesis 6 (here, in the King James translation): [13] And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. [14] Make thee...

In an interview on Fox News on August 27th Mark Wilson of Applied Economic Strategies made the economic case against the current plan for health care reform. He said the current idea for mandating employers to insure employees or pay a fine in the form of a tax would cost employers $49 billion dollars and cause the loss of 5.2 million jobs. In addition wages would be “stunted” for another 10.2 million wage earners. This seems like a high cost to make sure that everyone is covered. Doesn’t it make more sense to lower costs of health care and health...

A vocal former opponent's silence is important enough to Sen. Maria Cantwell's re-election effort to pay him $8,000 a month -- nearly as much as her campaign manager -- to join her campaign staff. The Cantwell campaign initially refused to say last week how much it would pay Mark Wilson to drop his Democratic primary challenge to the senator and his harsh criticism of her opposition to immediate U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq. But campaign manager Matt Butler issued a statement Thursday disclosing Wilson's salary. It isn't much lower than Butler's salary, which, according to Cantwell's quarterly Federal Election Commission...

TYLER, Texas When gunfire erupted in Tyler, Mark Alan Wilson didn't hesitate.He grabbed a Colt .45 handgun and charged downstairs to confront the assailant.David Hernandez Arroyo last Thursday had murdered his ex-wife on the courthouse steps and was turning on his son when Wilson arrived.Authorities say Wilson was the first to fire back -- and he saved the young man's life.But Wilson was killed, outmatched by Arroyo's body armor and knockoff AK-47.Wilson, who was a Navy veteran with years of weapons training, had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.Wilson's actions in the Tyler shootings drew hearty praise from gun...