Free Republic

(Language warning) A Taliban fighter caught by U.S troops planting an IED in Afghanistan. Shortly after planting it, he accidentally steps on it.

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington, D.C.'s non voting delegate to Congress, has a novel definition of the separation of powers. Becoming exasperated at House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa's insistence that a subpoena to David Simas, director of the administration's Office of Political Strategy, should go forward, Holmes Norton dressed down Issa by claiming the Oversight Committee, which oversees the executive branch, didn't have the right to investigate the White House. Washington Examiner: "You don't have a right to know everything in a separation-of-powers government, my friend. That is the difference between a parliamentary government and a separation-of-powers government," Norton...

Liberals are forever struggling to understand the basic tenets of human nature that most other people just take for granted. You’d think they would have picked something up from the death throes of the Soviet Union, Greece, or Detroit, but as Talleyrand might say, “They have learned nothing, and forgotten nothing.” Whether that’s some sort of genetic defect liberals are born with, ignorance, or just willful blindness is hard to say, but the results are the same in any case. Since it’s easier for light to escape a black hole than it is for a liberal to entertain a new...

In my columns, I often write about the swift moral decline within our nation's secular universities. That usually involves writing about corrupt university administrators. But I would be a hypocrite were I to ignore corruption by administrators at Christian colleges and universities. Right now, there is a controversy brewing at Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee with moral ramifications that are simply too important to ignore. At the center of the controversy is Bryan's president Dr. Stephen Livesay. His conduct as Bryan's president has been so far outside the realm of normal professional conduct as to nearly defy description. Nonetheless, I...

SciShow News reports some promising new findings about the worldwide fight against HIV, including insights about how we can make the most of one of our newest weapons against HIV: circumcision.

Full Title: 'Mascara from Amsterdam, or if to be precise from the field': Outrage as female 'separatist' posts Instagram selfie wearing 'looted mascara - and boasting about it' Outrage has been expressed in Russia and Ukraine over a young woman who allegedly boasted on her social media site about using looted mascara from the Malaysian air crash site. Identified as Ekaterina Parkhomenko from Torez, close to where the Boeing 777 hit the ground after being shot out of the sky, she posted a picture of a blue mascara bottle, say reports. Her Instagram account then carried two selfies taken with...

An Ohio State University (OSU) class has apparently determined another fundamental difference between Christians and atheists: their IQ points. An online quiz from the school’s Psychology 1100 class, provided to Campus Reform via tip, asked students to pick which scenario they found most likely given that “Theo has an IQ of 100 and Aine has an IQ of 125.” The correct answer? “Aine is an atheist, while Theo is a Christian.” According to a student in the class who wished to remain anonymous, the question was a part of an online homework quiz. Students were required to complete a certain...

In the fall of 2011, Breanne Fahs, an Arizona State University (ASU) Women’s and Gender Studies professor, taught a course called “Psychology of Gender.” As a part of the course, Fahs asked students to break into groups and engage in what she termed "menstrual activism." More specifically, students were asked to choose some aspect of cultural attitudes toward menstruation that they wanted to "improve." Before you continue reading this column, please know that I'm not making this up and I'm not hallucinating. I stopped dropping acid in the late 1980s. Some of you may be wondering what kinds of "cultural...

This is the evil of a dying republic - waving through gangbangers at the southern border, but at the northern border detaining boy scouts for four hours. No novelist or movie director would attempt that contrast - it's too pat, too neat. But it's somehow become American reality in the 21st century.Just to be clear: that boy scout did nothing wrong. When the CBP officer demanded he hand over the camera, Mr Fox should have refused and asked to see the agent's supervisor.But it gets better: Another of the Scouts was taking luggage from the top of a van to...

RUSH: All right. The Israelis have rejected the ceasefire proposal made by the haughty John Kerry, who served in Vietnam. The Israelis reject ceasefire deal. The only thing a ceasefire does is allow Hamas to regroup. I think Hamas is on the ropes and that's why everybody wants a ceasefire. I'm telling you, everything over there is ass backwards. Everything in this conflict is 180 degrees out of phase. They want the ceasefire to give Hamas time to regroup. "Well, we have to make it fair, Mr. Limbaugh, because the Israelis have such an unfair advantage. They're richer and they're...

I’m always amused when people accuse me of being anti-Islam, as if it’s a bad thing and as if I’ve been trying to hide it and they’ve somehow caught me out. “Aha, I see what you are now. You’re just anti-Islam.” Yes, well-spotted, Sherlock. Indeed I am. Just like every other sane person on Earth. Why am I anti-Islam? Well, for the simple reason that Islam is anti-me and it’s anti every fundamental value I hold. If I were to accommodate its values in my life, I would have to violate everything that I believe in. I think that’s an...

"An old rat trap video of mine became a subject of a murder investigation and was presented on NBC Dateline. The only problem was they never got my permission to use my copyrighted content."

Watchmaking is a noble tradition stretching back hundreds of years when they would make all the parts by hand. While technology today has lightened some of their workload, it's still a fascinating sight when a watchmaker creates another mechanical beauty.

I argued in Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy that the illusionÂ’s signature feature is a fantasy: By holding free elections, a people is choosing freedom: joining modernity, adopting pluralism and tolerance, rejecting revolutionary violence and totalitarianism.Today, we are yet again being inundated with tales of Palestinian woe after HamasÂ’s familiar barbarism has provoked an Israeli military response. It thus bears remembering that the Palestinian people chose Hamas. What ever happened to all those Democracy Project paeans to self-determination? Hamas is Palestinian self-determination. Hamas was not forced on Palestinians. Hamas did not militarily conquer Gaza. No, Hamas swept parliamentary...

Today, the gun world is buzzing with news of a "revolution in silencers." SilencerCo has announced today they will be producing the Salvo 12, the first ever commercially produced shotgun sound suppressor. The official press release reads: “Confirming its place as a trailblazer in the firearms industry, suppressor manufacturer SilencerCo has unveiled the first commercially-viable shotgun silencer ever produced. The company made the announcement today at an exclusive event near its Utah headquarters.” Active content removed Active content removed “The Salvo 12 represents a revolution in silencers, not just an evolution,” said Joshua Waldron, Chief Executive Officer for SilencerCo. “There...

RUSH: Well, President Obama just -- well, what did he do? He told Putin he better let in the investigators. He better let in these international investigators, or else. He said, let 'em in there. Same thing he said on Friday. He said this is unacceptable, it's intolerable, what happened here, and called for other nations to ratchet up sanctions against Putin. I don't know, folks. It's hard not to be cynical here, but I don't know how else to react to this. I could not, in good conscience, open this program today by saying to you, "Well, I'll tell...

The Burlington, Iowa city council wants to ban open carry of toy guns. The ordinance will make it illegal to openly carry a toy gun or conceal one with clothes. ia Iowa Gun Owners Facebook page: The Burlington Iowa City Council is moving to pass an ordinance that would require you to get their WRITTEN permission before your kids can play with toy guns, replica guns, BB guns, etc! If your kids play with these toys in most outdoor situations, or if they play with toy guns in the car while you drive them around, you are looking at a...

24-year-old gymnast Kacy Catanzaro makes history by becoming the first female ever to qualify for the "American Ninja Warrior" national finals. After becoming a celebrity overnight, she hopes to use her newfound fame to encourage young people to get fit.

Time for the President to step up on the world stage - 7:23

American Jews overwhelmingly tend to vote Democrat for one simple reason: they see the choice as being between 1) the Democrats and their belief in nothing versus 2) the Republicans and their beliefs based on their Christian faith and heritage. Given that choice, then, rather than side with people of faith – which they see as a different and potentially antagonistic belief system – they feel safer in the party that is devoid of any values or convictions. The “thinking” behind this is that, if people believe in things then they might fight for those things. They might even commit...