Free Republic

Arms Buildup: A senior weapons developer tells Congress that Beijing's massive defense buildup, emphasizing precision-guided and other advanced weapons, has placed the U.S. and its shrinking military at serious risk. 'I am very concerned about the increasing risk of loss of U.S. military technological superiority," Frank Kendall, deputy undersecretary for acquisition, said Wednesday. "We're at risk, and the situation is getting worse." He was testifying before the House Armed Services Committee at a hearing on the subject of defense and technological change. The Chinese were paying attention to U.S. military dominance in the early 1990s after we won the arms...

On January 29, a female protester at a Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR) event in Texas grabbed the mic and screamed, “Islam will never dominate the United States.” The incident took place in Austin, Texas, during the 11th Texas Muslim Capitol Day. In a video posted by The Texas Tribune, the woman can be seen grabbing the mic and denouncing the “false prophet Muhammed.” And even as Muslim organizers by the podium asked for help in silencing her, the woman continued: “Islam will never dominate the United States. And by the grace of God, it will not dominate Texas.”

UNITED NATIONS – Giving President Obama fast-track authority to conclude an international trade agreement is like playing Russian roulette with six bullets in the chamber, says one of America’s leading gun rights organizations. Gun Owners of America is blasting a congressional proposal that empowers Obama to unilaterally negotiate international agreements as “a ‘bait and switch’ scheme that could seriously impact the Second Amendment.” House and Senate committees are currently preparing to hand Obama so-called “fast-track” trade promotion authority. It would enable the president to unilaterally negotiate the TransPacific Partnership, a trade and global governance agreement with the U.S. and 11...

A Seattle history teacher who was pepper sprayed during a peaceful Martin Luther King Day Jr. rally is suing the cops who allegedly attacked him. Newly released video showed a Seattle police officer pepper spraying Jesse Hagopian as he walked home from the Jan. 19 rally, his lawyer said. Hagopian, who teaches history at Seattle's Garfield High School, spoke at the event and was on the phone with his mom when the spray hit his eyes. He was on his way to his 2-year-old son's birthday party, he said.

HOUSTON (AP) — Federal safety regulators are looking into the death of a Texas man who may be the latest victim of exploding automobile air bags made by Takata Corp. of Japan. The man, identified by authorities as Carlos Solis, 35, died in a low-speed crash in the Houston area when an air bag inflated and sent shrapnel into his neck, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said Thursday on the Senate floor.

What Is the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)? The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a secretive, multinational trade agreement that threatens to extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe and rewrite international rules on its enforcement. The main problems are two-fold: (1) Intellectual Property Chapter: Leaked draft texts of the agreement show that the IP chapter would have extensive negative ramifications for users’ freedom of speech, right to privacy and due process, and hinder peoples' abilities to innovate. (2) Lack of Transparency: The entire process has shut out multi-stakeholder participation and is shrouded in secrecy.

Raúl Castro knows a sucker when he sees one. Having watched Barack Obama, the world’s worst negotiator, hand concession after concession to the mullahs of Iran, he is going for a big score in the current negotiations over resumption of diplomatic relations, at President Obama’s initiative. Far from being grateful that he has been handed huge plums, he is making ridiculous demands. (And given Obama’s track record, you can’t call them unrealistic.) Alastair Jamieson reports for NBC News: Cuban President Raul Castro has demanded that the United States hand back its Guantanamo Bay military base - an apparent bargaining tool...

Bookmark and Share RSS Permalink Read more: http://www.hannity.com/articles/news-476261/sign-the-petition-army-denied-clemency-13117287/#ixzz3QKA7xj4o This New Year’s Eve, while many Americans were gearing up for a night of drinking and partying, Anna Lorance was gearing up to tell her son, 1LT. Clint Lorance that the Army had denied his clemency petition and that he would be facing 17 more years in prison. That’s right. Of all the days the United States Army could have chosen to inform Lorance that he had been denied the clemency many Americans feel he so rightly deserves, they chose a day when they thought no one would be paying attention. The...

<p>PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pennsylvania liquor regulators say they've stopped the illegal sale of a bottle of rare bourbon at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.</p>

The signs of the times are everywhere – all you have to do is open up your eyes and look at them. When a pregnant woman first goes into labor, the birth pangs are usually fairly moderate and are not that close together. But as the time for delivery approaches, they become much more frequent and much more intense. Economically, what we are experiencing right now are birth pangs of the coming Great Depression. As we get closer to the crisis that is looming on the horizon, they will become even more powerful. This week, we learned that the Baltic...

A ride through northwest Indiana almost turned deadly for a Chicago man after some mutual road rage turned into gunshots being fired at him on I-80/94. What Indiana State Police called a “road rage incident turned ugly” started about 11 a.m. Tuesday when the 28-year-old Chicago man, driving a 2003 Acura, got involved in some unpleasantness in the eastbound lanes of the Borman Expy. in Lake County. Police said it started when the victim and another driver “became involved in road rage” — things like not letting the other car pass and flipping the driver off, a statement from ISP...

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has agreed to testify before the House Select Committee investigating the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, CNN reports. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the panel’s Democratic ranking member, told CNN Tuesday that Clinton had agreed to testify before the committee late last year. “The chairman asked me back in September to inquire as to whether Secretary Clinton would testify,” Cummings said. “She immediately said she would and that she wanted to come in December, but if December did not work, she would come in January. She said, ‘I’ll do it,...

If readers need clarification on what was the primary source of spending-based "growth" for the US economy in the fourth quarter, the same source that bumped up final Q3 GDP from 3.9% to 5.0%, please ping us: we will gladly explain the chart below.  And just in case it is still unclear what Americans are spending their "gas sasvings" on, here it is one more time.And just in case the fading impact of Obamacare is not already priced in, here is what Q4 inventories did: rising by $113.1 billion in Q4, this was the second highest quarterly increase in...

As hundreds of Muslim Texans faced a barrage of protesters during a rally, a state lawmaker sparked a storm by demanding that the Islamic community "publicly announce allegiance to America." Thursday's gathering in Austin, called the Texas Muslim Capital Day, was organized by the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to encourage Muslims to speak with their state representatives about their issues, according to USA Today. But two dozen sign-wielding demonstrators disrupted the meeting, while freshman state Rep. Molly White ignited a furor by calling for Muslim attendees to declare their allegiance to the U.S. "and our...

Gun Owners of America is blasting a congressional proposal that empowers Obama to unilaterally negotiate international agreements as “a ‘bait and switch’ scheme that could seriously impact the Second Amendment.” House and Senate committees are currently preparing to hand Obama so-called “fast-track” trade promotion authority. It would enable the president to unilaterally negotiate the TransPacific Partnership, a trade and global governance agreement with the U.S. and 11 other nations bordering the Pacific Ocean.

Yes you read that right, and an academic one, no less, much to the consternation of the circles he travels in. “I’m a philosophy professor specializing in ethics and political philosophy, and like many of my fellow academics, I’m a political progressive,” Philip Cafaro writes in The Chronicle Review. “I value economic security for workers and their families, and support a much more equal distribution of wealth, strong and well-enforced environmental-protection laws, and an end to racial discrimination in the United States. I want to maximize the political power of common citizens and limit the influence of large corporations. My...

The Obama administration has ordered immigration agents to ask immigrants they encounter living in the country illegally whether they might qualify under President Barack Obama's plans to avoid deporting them, according to internal training materials obtained by The Associated Press. Agents also have been told to review government files to identify any jailed immigrants they might be able to release under the program. The directives from the Homeland Security Department mark an unusual change for U.S. immigration enforcement, placing the obligation on the government for identifying immigrants who might qualify for lenient treatment. Previously, it was the responsibility of immigrants...

Nick Kukich died last Monday. It may not mean much to you in the scheme of things, but it should. It should because Nick was part of the dwindling number of World War II veterans who went to war to defeat Nazism and Fascism in order to keep America strong, free and democratic. He was, in short, part of the Greatest Generation. Nick, who died in a nursing home in Delaware, was 99 years old and lived a full lif

Mayor de Blasio tapped disgraced Speaker Silver's wealthy pal, Leonard Litwin, to aid NYC's bid to land the DNC's 2016 Convention. Silver was arrested and led away in cuffs, but DeBlasio defended Silver as a "man of integrity". Big-time political donor Leonard Litwin was listed on Hizzoner’s 119-member convention host committee, even though Litwin’s luxury apartment-rental company, Glenwood Management, is tied to Silver’s alleged dirty deals. According to the feds, Silver steered two developers, including 100-year-old Litwin, toward the law firm Goldberg & Iryami, so Silver could rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars in referral fees. Litwin agreed to...

The Republican-led House Committee on Homeland Security is challenging an Obama administration plan to admit Syrian refugees to the United States, saying it could allow potential terrorists to sneak into the country. In a letter sent to the White House, Michael McCaul, who chairs the Homeland Security Committee and Peter King and Candice Miller, who chair subcommittees, said the administration's plan "raises serious national security concerns." The letter, dated Wednesday, said the United States lacks the resources to fully investigate the backgrounds of refugees from Syria, a base for Islamic State militants, before they are admitted to the country.