Free Republic

Opposition to the health care law skyrocketed in July to reach the highest point ever, according to a Friday tracking poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The pro-Obamacare health care nonprofit found that 53 percent of Americans view the health care law unfavorably right now, up from 45 percent in June. It’s the largest majority that viewed Obamacare negatively in Kaiser’s monthly polls since the health care law was passed in 2010.

About 550 Army majors, including some serving in Afghanistan, will soon be told they have to leave the service by next spring as part of a budget-driven downsizing of the service. Gen. John Campbell, the vice chief of the Army, acknowledged Friday that telling troops in a war zone that they're out of a job is a difficult task

With fears the disease may get a toehold in Nigeria’s most populous city, Lagos, the head of the World Health Organization warned that the virus in West Africa was outstripping efforts to control it. “It would be foolish for us to think it couldn’t spread. I think this is a potential worldwide threat,” said Ebola expert G. Richard Olds, dean of the School of Medicine at UC Riverside, noting that in past outbreaks of highly infectious diseases, including SARS, AIDS and monkey pox, the diseases eventually reached the U.S.

A retired American doctor who was working with Ebola patients in West Africa returned to the United States -- and put himself in quarantine. MTI declined to discuss details of how Jamison traveled back to the United States, including whether he was on a commercial flight. Jamison, 69, said he's had no symptoms of the deadly virus, but has been in seclusion since he returned to his hometown of Morristown, Tennessee. The father of three said his daughter picked him up from the airport and dropped him at home, where he's quarantined himself and has had no contact with anyone...

A new gene linked to suicide risk has been discovered, and researchers say the finding could lead to a blood test that predicts a person's risk of attempting suicide. The model correctly identified 80 percent to 96 percent of people who experienced suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide. It was more accurate among people at severe risk for suicide. If the findings are confirmed and lead to a blood test for suicide risk, such a test might be used to screen people in psychiatric emergency rooms or to determine how closely a person needs to be monitored for suicide risk, the...

BRANDON, Man. - Searchers who have been trying to rescue a cat with a bird feeder stuck on its head in Manitoba say their efforts to trap the hapless animal are being sabotaged. The Brandon and Area Lost Animals group began setting out traps over a week ago after the cat, nicknamed Butterscotch, was spotted with the feeder on its head in a Brandon neighbourhood. The cat couldn't be easily captured because it could see out of one eye and was still able to run, and even jump, to evade the rescuers. The group set traps, but says a man...

The pair served side-by-side in Afghanistan for seven months as an IED detection team Smiling from ear-to-ear, a U.S. military sergeant was reunited with his four-legged best friend Friday: a contract dog that served side-by-side with him in Afghanistan. It is estimated that dogs like Belle save the lives of up to 200 troops during their service. Organizations like the American Humane Association and Mission K-9 Rescue help connect these dogs with service members through generous donations.

"When we engaged in some of these enhanced interrogation techniques, techniques that I believe and I think any fair-minded person would believe were torture, we crossed a line," Obama said. "And that needs to be ... understood and accepted. And we have to, as a country, take responsibility for that so that hopefully we don't do it again in the future." In the remarks, Obama was referring to a soon-to-be-released Senate Intelligence Committee report detailing the CIA's controversial interrogation and detention program following the 9/11 attacks. The document is a nearly 700 page summary of the full 6,800 page report...

If you don't eat chili peppers or hot curry much you may want to reassess that given new research that claims the peppers and curry can play a role in reducing the risk of colorectal and bowel tumors, as well as extend a person's lifespan by 30 percent. The study claims the active ingredient in chili peppers, called dietary capsaicin, decreases the cancer risk as it triggers chronic activation of an ion channel called TRPV1, which is a sensory neuron that protects the intestine against acidity and spicy chemicals. In essence adding chili peppers and hot curries to the diet...

The stretch of water, dubbed the Lac de Gafsa, may be the result of a rupture in the rock above the local water table. The lake appeared in the Tunisian desert like a mirage; one minute there was nothing but scorching sand, the next a large expanse of turquoise water. Shepherds discovered the lake, thought to be up to 18 meters deep and covering one hectare, three weeks ago. Local geologists suspect seismic activity may have ruptured the rock above the water table sending the liquid to the surface.

Hamas has been disseminating to its followers in the Gaza Strip a detailed terrorism training manual that teaches would-be bombers how to make explosives and conceal them in household items such as televisions, according to documents seized by the Israeli military during recent raids. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers discovered the handbook on the ground in the Gaza Strip as they conducted raids of homes and other facilities used by Hamas to plan its terror activities. Hamas’ terrorism manuals instruct readers on how to build homemade explosive devices and how to set them to explode in unlikely places.

American voters want a presidential candidate who isn’t afraid to let it all hang out, and that’s exactly why Joe Biden is the presumptive frontrunner in 2016. Ronald Kessler’s new book, “The First Family Detail,” includes some revealing tidbits, the New York Observer reports: Secret Service agents dread being assigned to protect the vice president, in part because Biden’s a big fan of skinny dipping, according to a new tell-all book.

Kerry’s error has been to put so much emphasis on achieving a quick halt to the bloodshed that he has solidified the role of Hamas, the intractable, unpopular Islamist group that leads Gaza, along with the two hard-line Islamist nations that are its key supporters, Qatar and Turkey. In the process, he has undercut not simply the Israelis but also the Egyptians and the Fatah movement that runs the Palestinian Authority, all of which want to see an end to Hamas rule in Gaza.

"An individual applied for a customer-service job, and when asked what he might not like about the job, he said, 'Dealing with people.'" "I had somebody list their prison time as a job. And an exotic dancer who called herself a 'customer service representative.'"

First lady Michelle Obama is complaining on the fundraising circuit about the evils of money in politics -- while also asking Democratic Party supporters to “write a big fat check” before the November elections. “So, yeah, there’s too much money in politics,” Obama said during a fundraiser Thursday in her hometown of Chicago. “There are special interests that have too much influence.” However, she quickly pivoted and urged attendees at least twice to write a hefty check.

An Al Qaeda-linked group fighting in Syria has released video of the first American to carry out a suicide attack in the country's civil war, showing him smiling and saying he looked forward to going to heaven. The Nusra Front released the new video late Friday showing American citizen Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, 22, with other fighters before the May 25 attack that targeted several army positions at the same time. Abu-Salha appears smiling in the video and speaks in broken Arabic. "I want to rest in the afterlife, in heaven. There is nothing here and the heart is not resting,"...

They’re the four-legged veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – military war dogs, doing everything from sniffing out explosive devices on the battlefield to providing companionship to soldiers during wartime. Three of these dogs traveled to Washington, D.C., Wednesday with the same service members they served with on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan, raising awareness about the need to reunite military war dogs with their handlers. Since 9/11, over 3,600 dogs have served in the military, with close to 2,000 dogs currently serving through various branches of the military. Earlier this year, the Army said 578 dog...

One is a lab/pit bull mix, the other is a thatchy, scruffy looking longhaired chihuahua mix. Together, they’re the best friends you’ll ever meet. The Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department call the pair Joanie and Chachi. Someone noticed the two dogs wandering in a Savannah, Ga. neighborhood in mid-July and called Animal Control. The dogs did tend to attract attention — the larger dog was carrying around the smaller dog in her mouth. It didn’t take long for Animal Control to notice that Chachi, the chihuahua, had seriously hurt his left eye. .... Joanie and Chachi have found a new forever...

Police detained two men at a Midtown hotel late Friday after a doorman reported they possessed a pair of pressure cookers like those used to make the Boston Marathon bombs. But the men say it was a misunderstanding: They plan to use the pressure cookers back home to prepare rice, chicken and meat. Mohammad Alotaibi, 20, and Ayoub Alawadhi, 21, pulled up to the InterContinental Hotel on East 48th Street on Friday evening with the pressure cookers in their car trunk, said law enforcement sources.

Grommet is trying to get his dog back. Don Grommet was able to track Matty to Fort Bragg, where Vet Services was treating the K9 for a torn ACL, and preparing him for separation from service and adoption. The Grommets said they submitted and re-submitted adoption paperwork, and were told the first set of documents were lost. “We were told several times not to worry about it; that everyone knew that Brent was going to adopt Matty” said Don Grommet. But after months of weekly calls to check on the adoption status, Grommet said his son received a call in...