Free Republic

Expandable, inflatable habitats could bring about a quiet revolution in space exploration, and the BEAM is leading that revolution. Because it’s much more compact and much lighter than rigid steel and aluminum structures, the cost of building them and launching them into space is much lower. The benefits of lower costs for building them and launching them are obvious. NASA first announced plans to test the BEAM back in 2013. They awarded a $17.8 million contract to Bigelow Aerospace to provide the expandable module, with the idea of testing it for a two-year period. When the contract was announced, NASA...

A federal court ruling Tuesday declaring Ohio GOP lawmakers' voting restrictions unconstitutional could easily wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court — and generate a 4-4 split decision, a voting-rights expert says. [ ] Judge Michael H. Watson of U.S. District Court in Columbus said the Republican-dominated Ohio legislature violated the federal constitution and Voting Rights Act in 2014 when it reduced the state's early voting period from 35 to 28 days. The move also eliminated the so-called Golden Week in which eligible residents could register to vote and cast an absentee ballot at the same time. [ ] The...

Pray For Our American Heroes and Our Nation Stand Firm Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

SAVCHENKO IS FREE... "Nadiya Savchenko has returned to Ukraine and greeted by huge crowds, as well as by their president. Now, her name is known to every Ukrainian elementary school student, most every free person in the world. Meanwhile, our two captives, Yerofeev and Aleksandrow, returned to Russia with their heads bowed down. No one met them in the airport, except their wives. Their names are known only to their colleagues from Putin's GRU (military intelligence). This illustrates the difference between what this war is for Ukrainians and what it is with russians. For them, it is a fight for...

emocrats hoped this presidential election would be a cakewalk. In their eyes, the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, spent most of the spring alienating big chunks of the electorate, beginning with women. Meanwhile, the presumptive Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, has run a careful, well-funded, well-honed campaign. What could go wrong? And yet, in a spate of reputable surveys Trump has suddenly erased the advantage Clinton had held all year. The average of major polls compiled by the website RealClearPolitics shows the two candidates tied with 43 percent each. In at least three polls, Trump has even pulled ahead by a...

Catholic Cardinal Kurt Koch, who heads the Vatican’s office for ecumenical relations, said that Christians “have a mission to convert all non-Christian religions’ people,” including Muslims, to Christianity, with the exception of those who follow Judaism because of its unique, familial relationship with Christianity: both religions “have the same roots.” For Muslims, he added, the “Islamic tradition” in terms of the Abrahamic religions “is not the same.” […] “It is very clear that we can speak about three Abrahamic religions, but we cannot deny that the view of Abraham in the Jewish tradition and the Christian tradition and the Islamic...

There has been a major push lately to gay all the things (read Dear Hollywood: Stop Gaying All the Things, Especially Straight Characters…. Surely you’ve noticed. Speaking of penises in your face, the latest move for the Gaystapo is heterosexual appropriation; that is taking a heterosexual character and turning him/her homo. Currently in the gaydar’s sights? Captain America. Yes, THAT Captain America. Well, we figured if the left wants to see Steve Rogers all gayed up, who are we to deny them said wish? VIDEO AT LINK OR HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9JEBlfGZd4

HILLARY CLINTON’S use of a private email server while secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 has been justifiably criticized as an error of judgment. What the new report from the State Department inspector general makes clear is that it also was not a casual oversight. Ms. Clinton had plenty of warnings to use official government communications methods, so as to make sure that her records were properly preserved and to minimize cybersecurity risks. She ignored them. The 83-page report declares that “beginning in late 2005 and continuing through 2011,” the department revised its Foreign Affairs Manual and “issued various...

A presbytery’s Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) has ruled that a church’s session cannot adopt a policy requiring all weddings performed on church property be only between one man and one woman. In the case of Thomas E. Morgan, complainant vs. Session, First Presbyterian Church, Asheboro, N.C., respondent, the PJC of Salem Presbytery ruled that “A categorical decision by the session not to permit any marriage by a couple of the same-sex on church property without consideration of their commitment to each other, their understanding of the nature of the marriage covenant and their commitment to living their lives together according...

“Now that you’re done with finals, help us meet the climate change test,” United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told Columbia University graduates last week. […] “Don’t vote for politicians who deny the problem,” he said. “Don’t buy products that aren’t sustainable. And for heaven’s sake, turn off the lights!” …

“Sweetie,” Don Rickles says, welcoming us to his sumptuous Spanish villa near Beverly Hills. “Can I get anything for you, dear?” This is the comedian known as the Merchant of Venom, the Insult King from Queens, Mr. Warmth (as in precisely the opposite). But not once in a convivial afternoon will he lob an insult our way, the sort he hurls at friends and fans alike, the latter paying handsomely for a dose of Rickles ridicule. At one point, he takes our left hand, bows his bullet head and, in the custom of an Old World courtier, bestows a kiss....

Lets be realistic about Hillary and her short list of VP prospects. From a comical perspective, there aren't any great choices. And who ever is available, the candidates will look like the cast of Sesame Street, Barney and the rest of those children's icons. If someone along the likes of Wasserman and Warren is all Hillary has to choose from, can you just imagine the never ending jokes and ridicule of the Hillary Ticket from at least 55 per-cent of Americans?

In a slap in the face to the family of Kate Steinle, a young woman who last year was killed by an illegal immigrant, San Francisco has decided to retain its status as a sanctuary city. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation that upholds the city's policy on limiting law enforcement from providing assistance to federal immigration authorities aiming to apprehend or deport individuals. The board's decision allows illegal immigrants like Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez to escape proper punishment. Sanchez, who had been deported five times before, shot and killed Steinle last summer while she was walking along the...

The media still can’t figure out why Newt Gingrich is at the very top of Donald Trump’s VP list. A recent Slate article starts this way: “Donald Trump selecting Newt Gingrich as his running mate would be insane.” The writer asserts Gingrich would be the “perfect” pick for Trump, implying the GOP front-runner is crazy as well. Call Donald Trump a lot of things; crazy is not one of them. Controversial, audacious, sometimes brash and extreme — all yes. But the primaries have showed Trump is a brilliant communicator and master tactician. “Crazy” like a fox, perhaps. Recently, I had...

<p>Federal immigration authorities plan to build a separate unit for transgender detainees in a new facility under construction in Alvarado, Texas.</p> <p>The Prairieland Detention Center, expected to open in November, will house a total of 700 detainees and will have 36 beds set aside in a separate unit for transgender detainees, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.</p>

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.kcentv.com/story/32055993/gay-student-told-to-change-pro-lgbt-shirt

A 12-year-old Queens boy who was critically injured when he lit himself on fire Tuesday night did it as part of a dangerous YouTube stunt called the “fire challenge,” police sources said. The boy was at his Far Rockaway home on Watjean Court around 8:30 p.m. when he splashed himself with rubbing alcohol and set himself ablaze while standing in the bathtub, sources said. He was supposed to extinguish himself with water in the shower but was unable to do so, according to sources.

The makers of a new Katie Couric documentary on gun violence deceptively edited an interview between Couric and a group of gun rights activists in an apparent attempt to embarrass the activists, an audio recording of the full interview shows. At the 21:48 mark of Under the Gun a scene of Katie Couric interviewing members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun rights organization, is shown. Couric can be heard in the interview asking activists from the group, “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?” The...

Last week I got to thinking about Sloppy Joe sandwiches, which I hadn't had in ages but loved when I was a kid. We decided to try making it from scratch, and settled on Chef John's recipe. It came out really good - I think I might add some jalapeno next time - but it doesn't really taste like the Sloppy Joe made from the canned sauce. I'm not sure what to do to it, to make it more like the childhood favorite (except buy a can of sauce ;-) and I'm wondering if anyone else has made it. Here's...

It looks to me, now that Trump is looking like he can beat HRC, the administration is starting to cut her loose. The State Department is setting her up for an indictment. This will clear the way for Biden to run in November. Am I wrong? We'll see.