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Before anyone gets mad, I've posted this in 'chat' - not 'news' or any of the other high-volume threads. I had a post pulled (that's fine - FRs prerogative), but now *all* of my 'pings' and comments are gone. Been a FReeper for 16 years and this has never happened to me before.

*These* are the ads that will make Trump our president. Video at the link.

This is a petition to honor Miss Elizabeth (the Fort Hood Hug Lady) by posthumously renaming the Fort Hood Deployment center the Elizabeth Laird Deployment Center. Miss Elizabeth has doled out more than half a million hugs to soldiers leaving and coming home from Ft. Hood. She's touched so many lives. For some, her's was the last hug that they had on this earth. For others, her's was the first good thing that happened to them when they got home. She was there days, nights, weekends, holidays... rain or shine, Miss Elizabeth was there for our troops. And she did...

All right. So we're all losing our minds over George Will, Jonah Goldberg, Bill Kristol, and all the rest hammering Trump harder than they're hammering Hillary and insulting their own base. Could this be a brilliant strategy to whip up the conservative base, infuriate them, to actually *get* them to stand strong behind their candidate? I mean, really. When have we *ever* seen the conservative talking heads and bloggers behave this way as a group?

Very early reports on social media from Neenah, Wisconsin, warns people of shots fired and a hostage situation. [This post has been updated with more tweets]

Fox news commentators are actually slack-jawed and shocked by Obama's stupidity.

Governor Pat McCrory held a press conference Monday afternoon to discuss Syrian refugees in North Carolina. He started out by giving his condolences for victims and families of the Paris terrorist attacks and said that it went beyond France, that it was a global tragedy. Because of the recent events, McCrory said he is asking the federal government to cease sending Syrian refugees into North Carolina. He said that background checks were not currently adequate and that there needed to be more security measures in place. Several other U.S. governors are threatening to halt efforts to allow Syrian refugees into...

The letter is as follows: November 14, 2015 The Honorable Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear President Obama, In the wake of another round of appalling terrorist attacks, I write to express great sadness at the events in Paris, as well as my grave concern about the unreported diffusion of Syrian refugees in the United States. Last week, the city of New Orleans began receiving its first wave of Syrian refugees. As with former immigration crises and federal relocation policy, Louisiana has been kept in the dark about those seeking refuge in the...

Kids are paying attention. (video at the link)

I am a proud American who believes that America has held – and still holds – a very sensitive and special place in the affairs of mankind on Planet Earth. I believe that America has been divinely blessed and protected in our two centuries plus of existence. I believe that America has been a counter balance that has cancelled out a lot of tyranny, evil and conquest and, admittedly, we have made a lot of mistakes, but on balance we have exerted a certain Pax Americana in the international affairs of mankind. It took a lot of old fashioned guts...

Hello, FReepers! Hubs is getting ready to retire from the military and we're having some trouble getting straight answers on the TriCare Prime for retirees situation. Specifically, the family coverage. (I need it) Cost is the big one. I'm seeing everything from $555 a year to more than $960 a month. It's very frustrating because we're trying to figure out our post-retirement budget.

The GOPe is planning to wage war on the Republican frontrunner - even if he wins the nomination.

Please check out this YouTube video of Putin and Netanyahu bonding. They're entering into trade agreements and security agreements. I'm grateful that Russia is taking Israel under their wing (somebody has to do it), but still sick about the situation. By the body language alone, both leaders like one another a LOT more than either of them like Obama. Putin actually *smiled!* TWICE. (I didn't know that was possible)

Conservative Republican Donald Trump is leading in all the polls by historic margins. Trump, who is a Presbyterian, recently held a meeting with 40 religious leaders at his Trump Towers office. Christian Pastor David Jeremiah along with television evangelist Jan Crouch, Pastor Darrell Scott, and Jews for Jesus Rabbi Kirt Schneider. While candidates have been open about sharing their faith in recent decades, true Christians act as Christians at all times… even when no one is watching. The two and a half hour meeting about faith was constructive, and all reports are that Trump asked the Lord for wisdom and...

I'm am so SICK and TIRED of being told by the GOP and the 'conservative talking heads' that I'm stupid, emotional, 'baffled', not thinking straight, having a 'tantrum', am racist, or some other ((insert insult here)) for choosing to support Trump as my candidate! The people who I have voted for, the people who *I* helped put in office, now dare to insult my choice today?! They didn't seem to have one problem with my ability to rationalize when I was sending them money and pulling the lever for *them*. Why is my judgement now questionable? The talking heads who...

(VIDEO AT THE LINK) These ladies are hilarious and better educated than the GOPe and the MSM! Check them out and subscribe! lol!

PHOENIX -- Gov. Doug Ducey signed an executive order Wednesday arming the Arizona National Guard in response to multiple shootings at military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee. "With the number of tragic shootings that have occurred on military installations in recent years, it's imperative that our soldiers and airmen -- people who put their lives on the line every day to protect our state and nation -- have at least the same level of self-defense as the citizens they're fighting for," Ducey said in a statement. Ducey's order will allow Guard personnel to carry weapons at Guard facilities and train them...

In fact, captured terrorists went out of style a long time ago, so that’s not the actual change. Until recently — like, say, two weeks ago — the Department of Defense used the term unlawful combatant as the label for terrorists captured by American military and intelligence forces as a way to distinguish them from uniformed soldiers of a recognized state authority in a straight-up fight. Their new manual dispenses with that term, the Federation of American Scientists noticed today (via Steven Aftergood and Olivier Knox): When it comes to Department of Defense doctrine on military treatment of detained persons,...

My two cents on the gay marriage thing. Gays didn't destroy marriage. Neither did the Supreme Court. Hetrosexuals did that a long time ago. They forgot that marriage is not supposed to be based on romantic love. Historically, it's a contract between four entities. The man, the woman, G-d, and the State. Each party is supposed to have both rights and obligations to the other. But we (hetros) made marriage about 'feelings' and romantic love. We chipped away at our obligations to the state and forgot that we have actual obligations to our partner. We decriminalized infidelity. We created no-fault...

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – New Braunfels ISD responded Friday to a complaint from parents of a student at Carl Schurz Elementary School being in a "FOCUS room." A website, called "The 'Focus Room' Horror" and dated May 13, shows photos of a visibly upset boy sitting on the floor of a room. The website writes that the boy is a 9-year-old student named Alex and states that he was confined to the room for more than an hour. According to the website, Alex was told to sit in a circle drawn on the floor for 90 minutes "to earn 90...