Free Republic

The Justice Department's Inspector General is investigating contact between FBI field offices and representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a report to Congress first flagged by reporter Ryan Reilly shows. The FBI cut off contact with CAIR in 2008, citing evidence in a Hamas-financing trial that tied the organization to both the Palestinian terrorist group and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Internal records of a U.S.-based Hamas support network listed CAIR among the group's member organizations. "[U]ntil we can resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and HAMAS," a senior FBI official wrote in...

Have you heard about the holiday gift some people think American girls should be getting this year? “Emergency contraception.”Truth be told, it’s not likely to happen before the winter solstice. But a fiscal cliff isn’t the only disaster to be on alert about. During Thanksgiving week the American Academy of Pediatrics announced its recommendation that “morning after” prescriptions be issued to adolescent girls as a matter of course, allowing them the false security of what has long been described by advocates as a “fire extinguisher” in their purse to counter at least some of the consequences of risky behavior.“There’s...

<p>A man is in custody after deputies said he picked the wrong house to burglarize Wednesday.</p> <p>The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said Jason Hawk broke into a home in the 7000 block of Glendale-Milford Road just before noon, but was discovered when the homeowner returned.</p>

The U.S. government is rebutting claims that the end is nigh. "The world will not end on December 21, 2012, or any day in 2012," an unsigned USA.gov blog asserts. Some New Age theorists believe that the ancient Mayan civilization predicted a late December doomsday for all of humanity. Others believe the date signifies the start of a new era. Their predictions are based on the idea that the Mayan Long Count calendar "ends" in 2012 — something that scholars say is a misrepresentation. "False rumors about the end of the world in 2012 have been commonplace on the Internet...

Here are two things to keep in mind with regards to Boehner’s budget offer. First, when you begin negotiations agreeing to 60% of the demands of the other side and fail to offer a bold contrast on the other 40%, you are headed for an outcome that is 80-90% favorable to your opponent. Second, when you need to outsource your budget plan and entire view of government to Democrat Erskine Bowles, you are relegating yourself and your party to irrelevancy. John Boehner and other House GOP leaders have offered Obama a plan to raise $800 billion in revenue through “tax...

Mr. John Boehner…. Speaker of the House of Representatives… MAJORITY Leader! You recently proclaimed that Obamacare is now the Law of the Land… that the will of the people had spoken. As if our failure to vote Obama out of office means that it’s now Time for us to capitulate to the Democrats, time for us to take our spanking… time for us to give the voters what they want by raising taxes… and to now work with the democrats as they implement Obamacare. REALLY??? Are you kidding me? You must not understand our representative form of government at all....

Over the weekend, a group of 3-D printing gunsmiths took a partially printed rifle out to test how long its plastic parts survived spewing bullets. The result? Six rounds until it snapped apart....

In 2010 the BATFE raided the S&W booth at SHOT Show arresting 21 people, including Smith & Wesson executives for beaching the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law which prohibits US corporations, citizens and residents from bribing foreign officials. Those arrested were charged with conspiring to bribe officials in the African state of Gabon as part of a deal to sell $15 million of equipment to the 1,800 man strong Gabon Presidential (Republican) Guard. Washington, D.C. law firm Miller & Chevalier have published a number of reports on the “SHOT Show Sting”. Their first report on the case appeared shortly...

Hamas’s Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, on Sunday called world countries to take Hamas and other Arab terror groups off their lists of designated terrorist organizations, Channel 10 News reported. According to the report, Haniyeh accused Israel of being the greatest terrorist state in the world, saying, “It's time to do it (take Hamas off terrorist organization lists –ed). Hamas, for example, is a national liberation movement that operates within the boundaries of Palestine.” Haniyeh made the remarks during a meeting with a delegation of Europeans. "We have no problem with Jews all over the world and we are...

Regarding contingencies, military sources report that the American force in Jordan and Jordanian units, who have been training for two months in tactics against Syrian chemical warfare units, are on a high state of preparedness. So, too, are the three special US command centers set up in Turkey, Jordan and Israel for coordinating such operations. An American official “with knowledge of the situation” told Wired Magazine that “engineers working for the Assad regime in Syria have begun combining the two chemical precursors needed to weaponize sarin gas.” Anchored opposite the Syrian shore is the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group...

Gilbert, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- In a victory for law-abiding knife owners, the California Court of Appeals last week reversed a lower court’s absurd expansive ruling that a knife that could be “wrist-flicked” open was a “switchblade.” The lower court made the faulty ruling despite an explicit provision in California law that distinguishes and protects one-hand opening and assisted-opening knives with a bias towards closure and despite prior Appellate Court rulings upholding that exception. These common folding knives represent over 80% of the U.S. market and the legislature clearly wanted them to be legal when they clarified the original switchblade law.: “Switchblade...

<p>The White House is rejecting a Republican counteroffer aimed at averting the “fiscal cliff,” saying it does not meet what the White House calls “the test of balance.”</p>

Right-wing activist Moshe Auerbach recieved a restraining order Monday to keep out of Judea and Samaria for 12 months. The reason for the order, as written by the commanding officer Nitzan Alon is "for security reasons which require it, and because it is necessary and essential to maintaining regional security and public ...

President Barack Obama gave Syrian President Bashar Assad a stern warning Monday after U.S. officials told CBS News the Syrian regime has shown signs that it may be making chemical weapons material. Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity, although President Obama spoke publicly about the possibility of chemical weapons in a speech at National Defense University Monday. President Obama said he wanted to be “absolutely clear” to Assad that “the world is watching,” CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports. The use of chemical weapons is “totally unacceptable” and “if you make mistake of using—there will be...

"It is exceptionally difficult — for all practical purposes, impossible," writes Eberstadt, "for a medical professional to disprove a patient's claim that he or she is suffering from sad feelings or back pain." In other words, many people are gaming or defrauding the system. This includes not only disability recipients but health care professionals, lawyers and others who run ads promising to get you disability benefits. Between 1996 and 2011, the private sector generated 8.8 million new jobs, and 4.1 million people entered the disability rolls. In 1960, some 455,000 workers were receiving disability payments. In 2011, the number was...

Germany said Monday it was “deeply concerned” about Israeli plans for new settlements but would not "for the moment" summon its ambassador to Berlin. Ahead of talks this week between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert called on Israel to withdraw its plan to build new Jewish settler homes. … When asked whether Germany would follow France and Britain in summoning the Israel ambassador, a foreign ministry spokesman said Berlin had no immediate plans to do so. …

Well, House leadership made sure to elevate like-minded members to leadership; they took care to co-opt the Republican Study Committee; they packed the Steering Committee, which chooses committee assignments, with a bunch of loyalists. Now we’re seeing the effects of those decisions. Maybe it’s because he’s intent on repealing Dodd-Frank. Maybe it’s because he wants to use his committee assignment to advocate winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Perhaps it’s because of his opposition to the $1 trillion farm bill. Maybe it’s because he’s just too darn conservative to sit on an important committee. Earlier today, we provided a...

NEW HAVEN -- State prosecutors have dismissed charges against a prominent New Haven lawyer who was arrested in August after bringing a handgun to a city movie theater showing the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises." Sung-Ho Hwang, 46, an immigration attorney and president of the New Haven County Bar Association, was charged with breach of peace and interfering with police after officers said they found a loaded handgun in his waistband. The arrest came not long after a gunman opened fire during a screening of the same film in Aurora, Colo., in July, killing 12 moviegoers and wounding 58....

The Supreme Court will decide whether human genes can be patented. From the Reuters story: The nation’s highest court in a brief order agreed to review a case over whether Myriad Genetics Inc may patent two genes linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. In a 2-1 ruling on August 16, a panel of the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., upheld the biotechnology company’s right to patent “isolated” genes that account for most inherited forms of the two cancers. Actually, my headline, Supremes to Decide Others Can Own Your Genes, is a bit misleading. If the...

The New York Times is attempting to save costs by implementing another round of newsroom staff cuts. According to a memo sent by executive editor Jill Abramson this morning, the newspaper is looking for 30 buyouts among newsroom staff. Over the next few days, Abramson wrote, certain employees will be asked to accept voluntary severance packages. (Newspaper Guild members also have the option to apply for a buyout even if they’re not among those contacted by the NYT.) If the quota isn’t met through buyouts, Abramson will be “forced to go to layoffs,” she said.