Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Advocates of a saner approach to guns need a new strategy. We cannot go on like this, wringing our hands in frustration after every tragedy involving firearms. We said "Enough" after Sandy Hook. We thought the moment for action had come. Yet nothing happened. We are saying "Enough" after Charleston. But this time, we don't even expect anything to happen. What's needed is a long-term national effort to change popular attitudes toward handgun ownership. And we need to insist on protecting the rights of Americans who do not want to be anywhere near guns. None of this should...

Drexel Hill tween Arielle Baril wowed on last night's America's Got Talent singing Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro." The 11-year-old Baril said her brother trained her to sing at a young age. She's quite poised for 11, and her voice is incredible. Judge Heidi Klum vibed with Baril early, ultimately showing her support by pressing the Golden Buzzer that sends young Ariel to the live show at Radio City Music Hall later this

A study commissioned by the National Black Chamber of Commerce, which represents 2.1 million black-owned businesses in the United States, found that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan would increase black poverty by 23 percent and cause the loss of 7 million jobs for black Americans by 2035. The study also found that the EPA' plan would increase Hispanic poverty by 26 percent and cause the loss of 12 million jobs for Hispanic Americans by 2035. The EPA proposed the Clean Power Plan on June 2, 2014 to cut carbon emissions from power plants. ... There was a...

16 Police Forces Called to Bloody Wedding Brawl NEWSER) – A wedding reception in Berks County, Pa., turned into something resembling a regional police convention when officers from 16 forces turned up to deal with rowdy guests—including the groom, who spent his wedding night in jail. From what police could piece together, the reception at a venue in Ontelaunee Township started to turn ugly when partygoer Mandi Groh punched another woman in the face after she complained about Groh allowing her drunk 14-year-old son to drink beer, WFMZ reports. The brawl grew and, according to a police report, by the...

Yesterday’s procedural vote in the Republican-controlled Senate to give Obama Trade Promotion Authority, or “fast track” as it used to be called, passed by just one vote – that of Florida’s Republican Senator and presidential aspirant Marco Rubio. Why would Rubio vote to give Obama more power? No one knows for certain, but Senator Jeff Sessions, in a statement released after the vote gave us some insight into the dynamics of what went on on Capitol Hill prior to the vote. “Americans increasingly believe that their country isn’t serving its own citizens. They need look no further than a bipartisan...

Most people are very surprised to learn that Church World Service (one of nine federal resettlement contractors) has been busy for years flooding Lancaster, PA with third worlders. Here we learn that the next big batch will be Syrians—Syrians who don’t speak English and who will need mental health counseling!And, big surprise (not!) they will work in factories and warehouses (jobs Americans won’t do for slave wages?). Please explain to me why a ‘church’ group is acting as head hunter for businesses looking for cheap labor?From WITF:About 60 Syrian refugees already live in Lancaster County, and another 60 are expected...

Authorities confirm to Channel 11's Rick Earle that a man who worked at Kennywood was arrested last Wednesday on child pornography charges. Agents with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office arrested Nicholas Lancos at the amusement park with the help of Kennywood police. Investigators say they found child pornography on a computer owned by Lancos at his Greenfield Avenue home. Lancos was a seasonal employee who worked in the park's rides department.

Washington (CNN)—The first black Republican woman elected to Congress is returning $1,000 in donations from Earl Holt, the alleged white supremacist whose writings have reportedly inspired Charleston shooter Dylann Roof. A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Mia Love said Monday that she would be returning the three donations Holt made to her campaign immediately, after being contacted by CNN. Love made history last November when Utah residents selected her as the first black Republican woman to serve in Congress. Holt, who is president Council of Conservative Citizens, donated thousands of dollars to Republican candidates Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Rick Santorum...

A U.S. Court of Appeals judge has ordered U.S. officials to intercept a mother and her 12-year-old daughter on a plane Friday being deported to Guatemala and immediately return them to the United States. The 34-year-old mother, Ana, and her daughter were woken up at 3 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Friday and pulled from their rooms at a Pennsylvania family detention center, where they had been living for over a year, said her attorney, Bridget Cambria. By 10 a.m., the two were placed on a plane flying to Panama City, where they would catch a second flight to Guatemala...

At least three people were killed and 10 injured in a spate of unrelated shootings across the city overnight. Among the wounded were three juveniles and seven adults struck by birdshot when two men opened fire during a crowded cookout in Mantua about 9:50 p.m. Saturday. All 10 victims were reported to be in stable condition Sunday. Witnesses told investigators the men fired a shotgun into the 4100 block of Ogden Street at least once, then drove down the street in a gold or silver four-door sedan and fired several more shots, possibly from a handgun.

<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tensions are building inside and outside the white marble facade of the U.S. Supreme Court building as the nine justices prepare to issue major rulings on gay marriage and President Barack Obama's healthcare law by the end of the month.</p>

Ted Cruz dominated, Rick Santorum flopped and Bobby Jindal found his niche. At the latest GOP cattle call, about a dozen presidential contenders rolled through a Washington, D.C. ballroom over a three-day period to tout their socially conservative bona fides at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference. Most of the 2016 hopefuls managed to impress evangelical and other conservative Christian voters by championing religious freedom, highlighting support for traditional marriage and stressing the importance of family and family values.

Pennsylvania’s high court says a man convicted of murdering a Philadelphia police officer can’t be executed because he has an IQ of 74. The state Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that Edward Bracey’s below-average intellectual functioning made him ineligible for the death penalty. Bracey is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole in the 1991 murder of 21-year-old officer Daniel Boyle. Boyle’s sister tells the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota that the ruling was excruciating, unfair and not justice. Kathleen Wrigley is the wife of North Dakota Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley. The Pennsylvania court...

NBC News) – Philadelphia police are searching for a gunman who fired randomly at people attending a block party in west Philadelphia. Police say gunfire rang out around 10 p.m. and at least seven people were shot, including a toddler who was hit in the neck by a bullet. Several other children were hurt. A police say an 11-year-old was shot twice and a 13-year-old was shot in the chest. The other victim’s ages range from 22 to 46 years old, police say

Nine shot one dead in Detroit and 7 shot in West Philadelphia. No Confederate Flag in sight.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., won 25.3 percent of the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference straw poll, which was emailed to those who attended this year's conference in Philadelphia. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie came in second place with 11.6 percent of the vote, followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 11 percent. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush tied at 9.6 percent. These results show a strong preference for regional candidates as well as governors, and differ greatly from the latest RealClearPolitics totals. Candidates Walker, Christie and former New York Gov. George Pataki were all...

For the second time in less than two weeks, Jeb Bush is shuffling the top tier of his 2016 campaign staff. The job of political director – expected to go to Kentucky-based consultant Scott Jennings – will instead be filled by David James, who served as a senior adviser to Mitt Romney’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. He has also worked at the Republican National Committee and helped lead the Pennsylvania Republican Party.

When Hillary Clinton, President Obama and other progressives rail against “the fortunate,” “the haves,” and “the lucky,” don’t expect them to rail against public college presidents, no matter how much they richly, every pun intended, deserve it. Here, courtesy of the Chronicle of Higher Education, are some of the fortunate few: • Rodney A. Erickson, president of Penn State at University Park, who took home $1,494,603 in 2014; • R. Bowen Loftin, then of Texas A & M, who received $1,128,957 that same year; • Joseph A. Alutto, then of Ohio State, who got $996,169 in 2014; • Elson S....

In Florida, former Gov. Jeb Bush picked up 20 percent of GOP voters, with 18 percent going for the state’s junior Sen. Marco Rubio, 9 percent for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, 7 percent for retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, 6 percent for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 5 percent for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, 4 percent for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and 3 percent each for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. Other candidates, like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former New York Gov. George Pataki...

Discouraged with the lack of private sector investment in the green energy economy, Vice President Biden recalls the same frustration in a speech to american steel workers in 1973: 'In World War I we made a mistake,... we bombed the wrong steel mills.' JOE BIDEN: "You know it reminds me, I remember back in 1973, I came from Pennsylvania and steel and coal were a big deal, particularly steel. I remember making a speech to the United Steel Workers sponsored by US Steel. There were 3,000 people there and I was a young Senator. Come out and I say, 'you...