Free Republic

They died defending us all Navy SEALs — resourceful, courageous, devoted and disciplined — represent the best qualities of our community and our nation. Whether in high-profile operations like tracking down and killing Osama bin Laden or strategic efforts like seizing and preserving power plants in the opening days of the Iraq War in 2003, Navy SEALs are the silent professionals whose sacrifices protect our values and our nation. It is our privilege that so many of these special forces are trained at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. When something goes horribly wrong — as it did in Benghazi, Libya,...

Why is this so hard? To many Americans, that is the question that hovered above the elusive search for a deficit-reduction deal that once again tied Washington in knots, despite a full year's advance warning that a deal was necessary. Even when the contours of a possible big deal were possible to see weeks ago, the path to compromise—to say nothing of consensus—proved hard for the two parties to travel. Then, even when both sides lowered their sights to seek a more modest deal than the "grand bargain" once envisioned, the normal give-and-take of a negotiation, in which the two...

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Happy new year! And my rant follows: Guns will never be "safe", neither are they designed to be. They are designed to kill, safety switch notwithstanding. My right to own gun is so that I can kill those who dare to take away my rights. That kind of power gives me, a mere individual, the power to defend myself and those dear to me. The "bigger" the gun, the bigger protection I have against those who wish ill on me. This might be controversial, but... A fully automatic weapon gives me a chance against a dozen of those who wish...

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I found it astonishing. Here he is -- coming out to speak to the nation at a crucial moment -- in very delicate negotiations and he comes out there with incredible arrogance. He ridicules the Congress, he spikes the football on the Republicans. He rubs in the fact that they were resisting a raise in rates and he made them do it. And of course, as always, he places himself hovering benignly at an Olympian level above the fray, where the children are playing in the sand box and he's asking that everybody be reasonable as if he...

The White House and Congress were close to reaching a deal Monday to resolve the fiscal cliff crisis that threatens the fragile US economic recovery. With only hours left until a midnight deadline for automatic tax rises and spending cuts, Barack Obama said agreement was within sight but discussions were continuing.

A female Turkish TV show host joins Arutz Sheva show host Tamar Yonah on her 'News & Views' show, and explains a unique and controversial idea for peace: Turkey will take charge of the region. For the full audio interview click here. Audio Ceylan Ozbudak works with the controversial Islamic leader Adnan Oktar, also known as Harun Yahya. One of Oktar's announcements has been his desire to build a temple for all religions on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Ozbudak suggested that Turkey can mediate between Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and other surrounding countries for peace. She added that Turkey could...

This gun lover carries a badge. Port Authority cop Jeffrey Haner was busted on possession of two illegal assault weapons, including the same type of Bushmaster rifle used in the Newtown massacre, authorities said. Ramsey, NJ, police said they took a total of 10 weapons from Haner after his wife asked for a temporary restraining order. The 41-year-old cop, who works at the George Washington Bridge and made $175,000 last year, also had eight legal guns, including two handguns, Ramsey police said. But Haner’s .223-caliber Bushmaster and Chinese-made Norinco rifle were fitted with accessories including flash suppressors that made them...

Formed in 2008 as part of Rep. Nancy Pelosi's laughable promise to "drain the swamp" when she gained the gavel in 2006, the Office of Congressional Ethics is an independent group that investigates ethics complaints about Congress. Here's the catch: the Congress it investigates must actually go about the business of nominating its appointees, reauthorizing and funding it or it will cease to exist. As one might expect, princesses are not overly fond of paying others to place peas under their mattresses, endangering their delicate hindquarters.So, the Office of Congressional Ethics is in danger, with its creator Pelosi and Rep....

For folks who don’t remember, Tanzania is one of the East African nations where the US embassy was bombed by Al Qaeda in August of 1998. Zanzibar is an island off Tanzania’s coast in the Indian Ocean. It has been somewhat of a tourist destination–at least up to now. Up to now because Salafi Islam is making its presence felt in Zanzibar. This is remarkable in that it illustrates vividly how “charities” in the Islamic world aren’t like charities elsewhere. They get involved in all sorts of activities that have nothing to do with charity at all.

Mexican Narcoterrorist Region May Abandon Catholicism for Islam It would seem as if Bishop Ruiz’s brand of Liberation Theology has had the same effect on Chiapas as on Europe. Chiapas is poor, but it’s now also appearing to trend Islamic as any region under the influence of the left eventually does. When you kill the local religion and replace it with social justice, foreign religions eventually take its place. In the mid-1990s, a leftist resistance group which calls itself The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) made Chiapas its home. Its attempts to fight the Mexican Army repeatedly failed, but...

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans again this year name Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama as the Most Admired Woman and Most Admired Man living in any part of the world. Clinton has been the Most Admired Woman each of the last 11 years, and Obama has been the Most Admired Man five years in a row. First lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Condoleezza Rice are next in line behind Clinton on the Most Admired Woman list, while Nelson Mandela, Mitt Romney, Billy Graham, George W. Bush, and Pope Benedict XVI follow Obama as Most Admired Man....

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Two former executives at an Icelandic bank which collapsed in the 2008 financial meltdown were sentenced to jail on Friday for fraud which led to a 53 million euro loss, in the first major trial of Icelandic bankers linked to the crisis. All three of the small North Atlantic island's top banks collapsed in quick succession in October 2008 due to big debts incurred during a rapid overseas expansion. Glitnir was the first to fall after the collapse of Lehman Brothers caused international credit markets to freeze up.

President Obama is responsible for our fiscal mess. I'm not exaggerating, and I'm not saying that simply because I think that Barack Obama is a terrible president, although I do think that he's an awful president. I'm saying that because the president has had ample opportunity over the past four years to arrive at a compromise solution to our immediate fiscal problem and then to make headway toward dealing with longer-term fiscal issues, but he has failed miserably. If the president had taken some of the advice of his own National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, we wouldn't be counting the...

President Shimon Peres's comments that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is a partner for peace hurt Israel's public diplomacy efforts, Information and Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein (Likud) said on Monday. Edelstein told Arutz Sheva that it is now clear that the Oslo Accords were a nightmare, adding that the focus of the storm around Peres's comments should not be whether the president should express a personal opinion during an election period but rather how his remarks affect Israel's public diplomacy. "We spit blood while the Palestinians - sometimes successfully - try to convince leaders in Europe and North America that...

It's official: U.S. debt will reach its legal borrowing limit on Monday, giving Congress about two months before it must raise the debt ceiling or risk causing the government to default on its bills and financial obligations. "I can confirm we will reach the statutory debt limit today, Dec. 31," a Treasury Department official said.

You've got to hand it to bloviating Brit Piers Morgan. While he got most of the facts wrong in his recent targeting of the Second Amendment, it hasn't stopped him from moving on to even more formidable targets. Such as the Bible. He says the book is "inherently flawed" -- and needs to be amended. Piers handed down his decree while interviewing Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren on the December 24th "Piers Morgan Tonight." Yes, on Christmas Eve. When other hosts might be discussing love, brotherhood, salvation, and all things ethereal, Captain Morgan was giving us the world according to...

Capitol Report | New Mexico » New Mexico tops Forbes list of “death spiral states” found at http://www.capitolreportnewmexico.com/2012/11/nm-tops-forbes-list-of-death-spiral-states/ This report has started a discussion on a local TV channel's comment forum. I am posting a comment from a liberal and a reply to him. The report shows there are 153 state and local employees, retirees, and welfare individuals for every 100 who are working in the private sector in New Mexico.

Detroit - A federal judge has ruled a property management company owned by the founder of Domino´s Pizza doesn ´t have to immediately implement mandatory contraception coverage in the health care law. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff ruled Sunday in favor of Tom Monaghan and his Domino´s Farms Corp.,near Ann Arbor. Monaghan,a devout Roman Catholic,says contraception isn´t health care but a "gravely immoral" practice. Zatkoff granted Monaghan´s emergency motion for a temporary restraining order until a final decision is made in the case.