Free Republic

This is a personal snapshot of inner city gun violence from a man who knows what it feels like: Claude Motley dropped off a friend late at night on W. Capitol Drive and paused to check his cellphone for emails. Motley, 43, was in Milwaukee for the class reunion of Milwaukee Tech High School from his current hometown of Charlotte, N.C., where he and his wife moved five years ago from Milwaukee to pursue business opportunities. They wanted to live somewhere else for various reasons, including their concern about rising violence in the city. Born and raised on the north...

How far left was I? So far left my beloved uncle was a card-carrying member of the Communist Party in a Communist country. When I returned to his Slovak village to buy him a mass card, the priest refused to sell me one. So far left that a self-identified terrorist proposed marriage to me. So far left I was a two-time Peace Corps volunteer and I have a degree from UC Berkeley. So far left that my Teamster mother used to tell anyone who would listen that she voted for Gus Hall, Communist Party chairman, for president. I wore a...

Nearly a year before President Obama declared a humanitarian crisis on the border, a team of experts arrived at the Fort Brown patrol station in Brownsville, Tex., and discovered a makeshift transportation depot for a deluge of foreign children. The researchers’ observations were among the warning signs conveyed to the Obama administration over the past two years as a surge of Central American minors has crossed into south Texas illegally. More than 57,000 have entered the United States this year, swamping federal resources and catching the government unprepared. The administration did too little to heed those warnings, according to interviews...

Protests are being staged all over the United States this weekend in response to the Central American immigration crisis, which some critics are calling an "invasion." The protests are divided among critics and supporters, with pro-immigration activists staging counterprotests at many of the demonstrations. Hundreds of demonstrations are set to take place across the nation, with activists demonstrating as far from the border as Pennsylvania and Washington State. Anti-immigration protesters held a demonstration outside of the Mexican consulate on Friday in Philadephia, while pro-immigration activists held a counterprotest asking for more lenient treatment for the affected youth, according to reports....

I saw a story on KIRO TV about a person on Capitol Hill named Dylan Paul. Dylan Paul is 24 years old and transgender. Dylan was a man and now has breasts. But she still looks very much like a man if you watch the piece. The story reports on what happened when Dylan was working at Pagliacci up on Capitol Hill. She says that a customer mis-gendered her. According to Dylan, she was working at the salad station there and the customer said, 'Thanks man.' And she said, 'Well I'm not a man, I'm a ma'am.' "When he heard...

There were about 6 or so at the protest in Lawrence, Kansas. People honked their horns and waved (often with just one finger). The police got a few complaints that we were hanging over the side. He didn't want to make us leave and said we could stay until 12:30. Most of the responses were positive and I think it was encouraging. I met some great people. I was amazed at how many people are so disrespectful. This is a small city and I'm sure I'll interact with those people again. Am I supposed to be respectful to them? I...

The mother of Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has admitted that she drank alcohol and ran until she ‘dropped’ in an attempt to abort him while she was pregnant. Dolores Aveiro revealed the story in a biography called Mother Courage, which was released in Portugal today. In the book, Mrs Aveiro admitted that she tried to abort Ronaldo – who is the youngest of four children – by drinking warm beer and running ’till she dropped’ following the refusal of doctors to carry out the procedure. She said: ‘I wanted to abort but the doctor didn’t support my decision.’ Mrs...

t they do best: Go on strike. By 1988, the company had lost a number of high-dollar contracts, and the end of their beginning was clearly at hand. In the decade to follow, their competitors warmly embraced America’s newfound fascination with the civilian market, concealed carry, and home defense. Colt, on the other hand, decided to take a more pragmatic approach. And, by “pragmatic”, I mean “liberal” approach: A wealthy industrialist, from the heart of a non-gun-owning Manhattan family, decided he could steer the company to better times. With a man who knew nothing about guns at the helm, Colt...

The IRS declared under oath and penalty of perjury on Friday that Lois Lerner’s hard drive is irrecoverable after being wiped clean by tech staff and recycled with an outside contractor, according to a court filing.

WASHINGTON – Blaming a recent surge in young border-crossers on the president, Sen. Ted Cruz waded into the crisis Thursday with a bill to reverse a 2012 order protecting child migrants from deportation.“The staggering conditions that children are being subjected to are a direct result of the amnesty that President Obama illegally and unilaterally enacted in 2012, which caused the number of unaccompanied minors to skyrocket,” Cruz said. “The only way to stop the border crisis is to stop President Obama’s amnesty.”Obama ordered the policy — known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA – to shield immigrants brought into...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today introduced legislation to prevent the Obama Administration from using any taxpayer funds to expand DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and from continuing to lawlessly grant amnesty and work permits to new immigrants who enter the country illegally. He also outlined guiding principles that Congress should keep in mind when considering reforms. “We all recognize the terrible humanitarian crisis that is occurring at the border, and all of us should come together to end the policies that have caused it,” said Sen. Cruz. “Tens of thousands of children are being smuggled...

Should the Democrats nominate Elizabeth Warren for President in 2016, as a draft-Warren movement, some liberal pundits and enthusiasts at this week’s Netroots Nation convention believe? Should Republicans nominate Ted Cruz, who has kept his options open with frequent trips to Iowa and New Hampshire? In some ways, Cruz and Warren are mirror images, and the cases for and against them are surprisingly similar. But there are also some critical differences.Before 2008, the idea of a presidential contest between two first-term Senators in their (by then) fourth year in Washington would have seemed ridiculous; in 1988, Dan Quayle was roundly...

Heritage Action called for the end of President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, making an argument that dovetails with legislation offered by Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) as a solution to the border crisis.The Heritage Foundation’s James Carafano denounced the program in a Thursday op-ed.  ’The president’s 2012 policy for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, regardless of the Oval Office’s intent, sets a precedent that encourages further unlawful migration, particularly among minors,” Carafano wrote. ”It leaves those in the program mired in uncertainty as to their future status. It resolves nothing, encourages the problem to grow and is a detriment...

On Wednesday—a day before the Malaysian airliner was shot down—President Obama quietly signed an executive order targeting Russian oil, natural gas, finance and defense companies. Hidden in the details, was a section that effectively bans AK-47s. As always, the devil is in the details, so read on for the straight scoop. While signing an executive order to impose new sanctions on Russia, President Obama used his pen to also further his agenda of gun control by including a ban of parts used to build or repair Russian AK-47s. That is the headline and certainly bad news for the gun community....

DENVER — Sarah Palin, Sen. Ted Cruz and former Sen. Jim DeMint are headlining a gathering of some 2,500 at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver. The summit at the Hyatt Regency and Colorado Convention Center culminates Sunday with a straw poll to gauge attendees' early choices for a 2016 presidential nominee....

A new poll shows conservative Dr. Milton Wolf (R-KS) surging in the Republican primary against incumbent Senator Pat Roberts. The survey shows Roberts with only a 42-30 lead over Wolf, which is a stunning 21-point drop since the last poll taken three weeks ago! Dr. Milton Wolf's message of limited government, personal freedom, economic liberty, and respect for the Constitution is resonating with voters. He can win this race if the grassroots rise up and work together to inform Kansas Republicans of the choice they have on August 5th. SCA TV Ad - "Rarely"That's why we launched a massive TV...

Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson, whose firing brought out nasty attacks and allegations of sexism at the Times, was interviewed by Greta van Susteren On the Record last night. While she played close to the vest about the reasons for her firing, she didn’t hold back on the Obama administration, defending her earlier branding of it as “the most secretive” she has ever deal with since President Carter, and elaborated: “I have never dealt with an administration where more officials—some of whom are actually paid to be the spokesmen for various federal agencies—demand that everything be off...

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts won't debate tea party challenger Milton Wolf ahead of the state's Aug. 5 Republican primary. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Roberts executive campaign manager Leroy Towns said Friday that Wolf has failed to outline positions beyond what Towns called vague rhetoric and false attacks on the senator. Wolf campaign spokesman Ben Hartman said it's unbecoming for Roberts to duck debates and noted that Roberts previously had promised publicly to have them. The 78-year-old Roberts is seeking his fourth, six-year term in the Senate. Wolf is a 43-year-old radiologist making his first run for...

OSAGE CITY, Kan. — Milton Wolf reminds voters, without fail, that he’s new to politics. Yet he performs as if born to the trade. Ready with a smile. Just-right firmness on the handshake teamed always with just-folks patter. Good looks eclipsed only by those of the wife and kids. And above all, the Senate hopeful remains ever eager to share his conviction that the nation’s founders got it right and those guys in Washington today consistently get things wrong. He thinks they’ve been getting it wrong for about a century. As for long-serving fellow Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, well,...

CNN is planning to film the protest in Altamonte Springs at the Overpass on I-4 and Central Parkway on Saturday morning at 10 AM. Please bring your own signs and dress accordingly. Help get the word out for a HUGE SHOWING! They are housing these illegals right in our own Apopka at the Hope Community Center. They are fundamentally transforming America. It's up to US to STOP them. Time to get in the streets! In Altamonte Springs on Saturday at 10 AM: Orlando, At the Overpass on I-4 and Central Parkway, Altamonte Springs, Saturday, July 19, at 10:00 am, Traveling...