Free Republic

Has President Barack Obama potentially destroyed Iran’s chances for regime change? With over 60% of Iran’s 78 million-person population under the age of 30, over 80% of the entire population suffering in utter poverty, and a clerical Islamic regime with a rampant record of human rights abuses–not the least of which includes death by hanging for homosexuality, amputations for crimes such as petty theft, and what has been described as one of the cruelest forms of non-physical punishment (“white torture”) in the world–the lingering fear is that the Islamic Republic of Iran may be close to solidifying a stronghold for...

I hadn't before seen Will Leitch, the Deadspin creator who now writes on politics for Bloomberg, in action. But on today's With All Due Respect, I found him funny and affable. Even so, he made one left-leaning assertion so absurd it was too much even for show host John Heilemann. Running parallel with the NCAA tourney, Bloomberg has been running a bracket of 64 non-presidential candidates. In the Final Four, Jon Stewart defeated the Pope and Tina Fey took out Warren Buffett. Asked to explain the results, Leitch alleged that Fey and Stewart have a "universality that maybe not everybody...

The White House accused Republicans Monday of trying to undermine President Obama with their call for an up-or-down vote on any nuclear deal finalized with Iran. "It's Republicans who have been most forceful in denouncing this agreement and those are the people I'm referring to when I say they're trying to use this vote as cover to just try to undermine the agreement," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. Last week, Obama hailed an "understanding" with Iran that would lift sanctions on Tehran in exchange for the Middle Eastern nation curbing its nuclear capabilities. However, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.,...

Has anyone noticed lately that on Fox News everyone smacks their lips and makes a "tsk" noise when they begin to speak? Obama does it, it's driving me nuts!

Eric Alterman writes in the 150th anniversary issue of The Nation: The primary difference between liberalism and conservatism, at least in theory, is that the latter is an ideology and the former isn’t. Conservatism, as Milton Friedman argued, posits that “freedom in economic arrangements is itself a component of freedom broadly understood, so economic freedom is an end in itself.” Liberalism, however, as Lionel Trilling observed, “is a large tendency rather than a concise body of doctrine.” And while John Kenneth Galbraith helpfully pointed out that only those programs and policies that honor “the emancipation of belief” are worthy of...

Jump up, cross your arms, slam your body into the hood of a stranger’s car: That’s all there is to the “put ‘em in a coffin” craze. Of course, checking to see if you’re doing it in front of police might go without saying. A group of teenagers in Kansas City, Missouri, was arrested Saturday after they were caught red-handed vandalizing parked cars — and one of the teens recorded the whole thing. “This is some dumb n**** s***,” the person recording the group can be heard saying over and over again as he follows his companions up the street,...

Noha Hashad (51), an Egyptian nuclear scientist who fled the Nile state in 2011 after her support of Israel made her a target for torture over many long years, has exposed troubling insights regarding Egypt’s military buildup in the Sinai Peninsula, as it fights terrorist organizations there. Speaking to Israel Hayom’s Emily Amrousi from her new home in Haifa, Hashad was asked to give her take about Egypt’s actions in Sinai, where the Egyptian army has been fighting radical groups such as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, a group that recently swore allegiance to Islamic State (ISIS). “That’s all for show,” appraised...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) BRET BAIER, ANCHOR: The new jobs report came out today, the White House -- it was not as good as expected, 126,000 jobs added, 5.5 percent unemployment rate, stays the same. The other numbers that we often look at, underemployment, it's down from 11 percent, 10.9 percent now. But 8,575,000 people still unemployed and this is really interesting. The labor participation chart currently at 62.7 percent, that is not a good number. We are going to start there in the Lightning Round. We are back with the panel – Charles? CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Look, you can look for...

NCAA National Championship Wisconsin v Duke (+1, 140 o/u) CBS TV 9:18pm EDT thread

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, who signed an April 3 open letter on religious liberty. Credit: Javier de la Flor/CNA. Trenton, N.J., Apr 6, 2015 / 03:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic and Southern Baptist leaders called Friday for a recommitment to religious freedom, lamenting the “acrimony and lies” surrounding efforts to protect religious freedom in Indiana and across the U.S. “America was founded on the idea that religious liberty matters because religious belief matters in a uniquely life-giving and powerful way. We need to take that birthright seriously, or we become a people alien to our own founding principles,” they...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- A fraternity at the University of Virginia announced Monday that it will "pursue all available legal action" against Rolling Stone, saying a Columbia Journalism School review shows the magazine acted recklessly and defamed its members by publishing an article that falsely accused them of gang rape. "The Rolling Stone article viewed by millions fueled a court of public opinion that ostracized Phi Kappa Psi members and led to vandalism of the fraternity house," the fraternity's statement said

A young Syrian child raises her arms in a gesture of surrender. Credit: Osman Sagirli. Beirut, Lebanon, Apr 4, 2015 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A photo that went viral last week depicting a young Syrian child “surrendering” in front of a camera she thought to be a gun is but a mere hint at the trauma which displaced and refugee children face across the Middle East, an aid worker says. “In regards to the children, it’s a very bleak and complex (situation). Circumstances are not good at all,” Zerene Haddad told CNA during a March 31 phone call from...

[Scene: A bakery store somewhere in the U.S.A.]Customer: “Good morning!” Store clerk: “Hello. How may I help you?” Customer: “Do you do wedding cakes?” Clerk: “Yes, we do.” Customer: “Great. My partner and I are getting married. We need a cake for the reception.” Clerk: “OK, but I have to ask: Are you and your partner the same sex?” Customer: “You mean ‘gender’? Yes, same gender.” Clerk: “Then I’m sorry, we can’t do it. We belong to a religious group that teaches it’s wrong to promote homosexuality.” Customer: “Oh. Is there another baker nearby I could try?” Clerk: “Sure. Foster’s...

<p>A teenager shot by a Zion police officer Saturday died of two gunshot wounds to the back, Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd announced Monday.</p> <p>Justus Howell, 17, was shot twice, with one bullet penetrating his heart, spleen and liver, and the other entering his right shoulder, according to a coroner's news release on the autopsy.</p>

And not just that, What Stadium or Arena can Hillary pack to the rafters when she makes her announcement? She is going to have the same problem Jeb Bush will have if he decides to run. What's Hillary going to do? Hire 8000 actors to fill the big event? And once the "Come Lie With Me" Hillary Tour starts, does anyone actually believe it will be open seating? Anyone can attend her rallies? Can you just imagine over a thousand "Average Looking and Angry White Americans" waiting in line and dying to get into a Hillary Campaign Event? God forbid...

In a civil, consensual society there exists an unspoken yet very real social contract which serves to make that society possible. No matter what disagreements we may have over politics, religion, or anything else, at the end of the day, we're part of the same society, and we deal with each other in a way that maintains the civility and stability of that society. At least that used to be the case. However, this civil consensus, which has been eroding for at least a decade, has pretty much broken down completely, much of it within the last few weeks. And...

Bible Teacher and Expositor Jacob Prasch comments on John MacArthur's teaching that people can take the Mark of the Beast and still be saved. You can watch Part 2 here:http://youtu.be/OG0dZ_a38pM Part 3 coming soon! Please visit our website at:http://www.moriel.org

San Francisco activist Tom Steyer’s NextGen Climate Super PAC Monday announced the billionaire Democrat will wage a campaign to put Republicans on the “hot seat” about climate change and spend “what it takes” for an aggressive new high-tech “war room” to track — and attack — GOP candidates in 2016. The program, based at the NextGen headquarters in the Financial District — with satellite offices in Washington, D.C., and other cities — aims to make climate change a “top tier” issue next year. It will focus its firepower on turning environmental concerns into a “wedge issue,” especially with young voters,...

As Assyrian Christians were celebrating Easter Sunday, militants from the Islamic State blew up the 80-year-old church of the Virgin Mary in Tal Nasri village in the western countryside of Hasaka province, in northeastern Syria.

I have been a fan of Archbp. Carlson of St. Louis ever since he did something for me in St. Paul and Minneapolis that I will never forget. Here’s another great reason…That said… some boys who are ill want to be like a sports hero or like Batman. This kid…From St Louis Review: Make-A-Wish requests often involve meeting athletes, attending sporting events or traveling to amusement parks or beaches.When it came time for 11-year-old Brett Haubrich of south St. Louis County to make his wish, he not only listed none of those things but had no request at all.“He didn’t...