Free Republic

The ace in the hole for Jeb Bush’s presidential candidacy has always been the “money primary.” Big donors line up to support a chosen instrument, and the overwhelming organizational, advertising, and campaigning advantages money can buy serve to crush the other potential and actual candidates for the nomination. It is how the GOP establishment, tightly tied to groups like the US Camber of Commerce and Wall Street heavyweights, maintains its control. Ted Cruz may have managed to raise $2 million in 3 days after announcing his candidacy, but that is just peanuts compared to the $100 million Jeb expects to...

Lovers of vivid political language will miss Senate minority leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who announced his retirement last week. Senator Reid is infamous for his searing, pointed comments about conservatives – and his regular “walk-backs” of those outbursts. But the loquacious Senator Schumer, who is widely expected to succeed Reid as Democratic leader, has developed his own brand of bombast that relies less on Reid’s personal taunts and more on sweeping indictments of his opponents’ purported political sins.

he federal government spent a whopping $4.5 billion on costly new drugs to cure hepatitis C among Medicare patients last year, a steep price that is likely to keep growing, federal records show. Spending on the super-selling drugs – which can cost $1,000 a day – increased more than 15 times compared to the previous year, according to a report Monday by ProPublica.

A feminist group at the University of Wollongong plans to hold an event on Wednesday about gay pornography. The "cr*p" in their event is never actually specified, meaning that the pornography will either feature fecal matter or disabled people. The event, advertised on Facebook, is titled "FreeSchool #5: The Radical Potential of Queer Cr*p Porn." It will be hosted by FemSoc, which is short for "Feminist Society." This is the picture used to promote the event: The description states, "This weeks free school will be delivered by FemSoc member Liv Todhunter on the radical potential of Queer Cr*p Porn to...

On Thursday, March 19, about 60 Catholics from North Jersey celebrated the Feast of St. Joseph with a high Mass at a church in Bergen County. The service began at 7:30 p.m. with a solemn procession, replete with flickering candles and incense, and ended 90 minutes later, with the priest shaking the hands of attendees — and requesting that neither his name nor the name of his church be revealed in this article. Unlike today’s Palm Sunday services and the parish’s other regularly scheduled Masses, this Mass was not listed on the monthly calendar of the church’s website, and few...

#BREAKING: Provisional agreement on key elements of Iran deal: diplomats

Listen Live: Sound Off Connecticut with Jim Vicevich 9 a.m. to noon ET (Daily Thread)Sound Off Connecticut is a popular conservative/libertarian call in talk show hosted by Jim Vicevich weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET. Although based in Connecticut, the show welcomes callers from all over the United States! This is your chance to sound off America! Call into the show toll free (800) 966-9842! Listen to the LIVE AUDIO STREAM at http://wtic.com - it's free and NO registration is required! If you're in southern New England listen over the air to WTIC 1080 AM, the 50,000 watt...

In March, a Russian motorist filmed a very unusual, camouflaged tank rolling down a street outside Moscow. Most likely, it was the mysterious T-14 — or Armata — heavy tank, which could represent a major evolution in Russian tank design. The Kremlin has largely kept the T-14 under wraps, both literally and metaphorically. But we have a pretty good idea of what it can do.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God's law is about love for God and for others, not cold, abstract doctrine, Pope Francis said at a morning Mass. "It's sad to be a believer without joy and there is no joy when there is no faith, when there is no hope, when there is no law, but only rules and cold doctrine," he said at the Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae March 26. "The joy of faith, the joy of the Gospel is the touchstone of a person's faith. Without joy, that person is not a true believer," he said, according to...

The Arab League is a multi-national organization made up of 22 nations ranging from Mauritania on the West coast of Africa to Qatar in the Persian Gulf. It was reported over the weekend by the BBC that members of the Arab League "have agreed to create a joint Arab military force" on the heels of military action by Egypt and Saudi Arabia against Shiite rebels in Yemen. This is important here, because so many American voices have questioned why the U.S. is sending more ground forces to Iraq (and keeping forces in Afghanistan) and leading the air war with U.S....

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Ruth New International Version (NIV) 13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given...

In commemoration of Palm Sunday, dozens of churchgoers marched into a Logan Square McDonald's singing, chanting and demanding a $15 minimum wage for the workers behind the counter. About 80 congregants had gathered at the Logan Square Monument moments earlier to receive communion and to use the example of Jesus riding into Jerusalem a week before Easter to demand what they called a living wage for all low-wage workers. "Jesus was participating in street theater on Palm Sunday. On that day he was riding in on that donkey. He was saying business as usual will not continue here," said Marilyn...

There is never a good time for bad public policy. For few policies is this more evident than renewable energy mandates (REM), variously known as renewable portfolio standards, alternative energy standards and renewable energy standards. The first renewable energy mandate was adopted in 1983, but most states did not impose these mandates until the 2000s. Though the details vary from state to state, in general, renewable energy mandates require utilities to provide a certain percentage of the electric power they supply from “renewable” sources, notably wind and solar, with the required percentages rising over time. At the height of the...

A man has been brutally assaulted on a St. Louis light rail car after he refused to give his opinion on the shooting of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson, Missouri, last August. David Autry, 43, was travelling home on the MetroLink train at 10pm on Monday when he was approached by a young man in a red T-shirt and baseball cap. The shocking incident was captured on the train's surveillance camera and was also recorded by a passenger who posted his cell phone footage online.

Detroit schoolchildren in charter schools are getting a better education in reading and math than students in the city's conventional public schools according to a report released Wednesday by an organization described as the “nation’s foremost independent analyst of charter school effectiveness.” The authors suggest that Detroit charter schools should serve as a model for other communities. The study was performed by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), which analyzed student and school data from 2006 through 2012. It found that each year students in Detroit charter schools receive the equivalent of a few weeks to as...

David Cameron formally asked Queen Elizabeth II to dissolve his country's Parliament on Monday, opening the way for campaigning ahead of the May 7 general election. The procedural step means there are officially no members of Parliament until it reconvenes on May 18 for the swearing-in of members and the official state opening of Parliament on May 27.

Now that the public knows Hillary Clinton destroyed all the emails on her secret server — her lawyer told the House Benghazi Select Committee that there's nothing left to search — a question remains: Did Clinton destroy documents that were under subpoena from Congress? The answer is more complex than it might seem. There's no doubt Clinton withheld information that Congress demanded she turn over, and some Republicans believe the documents she destroyed were covered under a subpoena as well. But a look at the story behind the subpoena and other document requests from congressional Benghazi investigators is a tale...

Police agencies in Broward County are assisting members of the U.S. Special Operations Forces who are undergoing urban warfare training.. The exercises began Monday, will last until March 27 and will be held at locations that the military will not disclose. U.S. Special Operations is commanded out of Tampa and has staged such "routine drills" in cities throughout the country, a spokesman said. The 200 military personnel are from the four branches: Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy.

With the recent increases in minimum wage, the Central Michigan University Recreation Department has restricted expenses to remain within its budget. Minimum wage increased from $7.40 per hour in 2013 to $8.15 per hour in 2014-15. While minimum wage has increased, the department's budget hasn't increased to compensate the statewide change. In Michigan, minimum wage is scheduled to increase every January over the next four years. Although the increase in wages has left little room for expenditures, UREC has made no drastic changes to their budget. "There have been no massive cutbacks, just changes to the overall strategy and reprogram,"...

Morning and Evening Charles H. Spurgeon March 30, 2015 Morning Reading He was numbered with the transgressors. —Isaiah 53:12 Why did Jesus suffer Himself to be enrolled amongst sinners? This wonderful condescension was justified by many powerful reasons. In such a character He could the better become their advocate. In some trials there is an identification of the counsellor with the client, nor can they be looked upon in the eye of the law as apart from one another. Now, when the sinner is brought to the bar, Jesus appears there Himself. He stands to answer the accusation. He points...