Free Republic

When the latest Treasury International Capital data was released yesterday, many were quick to conclude that not only had China's selling of US Treasury ceased, but that with the addition of $7 billion in US government paper, China's latest total holdings of $1270.3 billion were the highest since May of 2014. And if one was merely looking at the "China" line item in the major foreign holders table, that would be correct. However, as we have shown before, when looking at China's Treasury holdings, one also has to add the "Belgian" Treasuries, which is where China had been anonymously engaging...

It’s not too interesting to say that Donald Trump is a nationalist and aspiring despot who is manipulating bourgeois resentment, nativism, and ignorance to feed his power lust. It’s uninteresting because it is obviously true. It’s so true that stating it sounds more like an observation than a criticism. I just heard Trump speak live. It was an awesome experience, like an interwar séance of once-powerful dictators who inspired multitudes, drove countries into the ground, and died grim deaths. His speech at FreedomFest lasted a full hour, and I consider myself fortunate for having heard it. It was a magnificent...

It’s time to draft Al Gore: If Democrats want to win, it’s clear neither Hillary nor Sanders is the way The presidential election is still sixteen months away, but this much is clear: Hillary Clinton is a vulnerable candidate. Since announcing her candidacy in April, Clinton’s stature has steadily slipped. Things got even worse this week. We learned, first, that Bernie Sanders eclipsed Clinton in small, individual donations, which is an indicator of popular support among likely voters. Second, and more problematic, the newest AP poll revealed significant weaknesses among Democrats on a host of issues, including trust, character, and...

As my self-imposed duty, I went on to check my least favorite club of Gun Control “advocates and found Congressman Charles Rangel fishing for a Twitter Townhall Meeting of sorts. Of course, I HAVE to share with you guys and ladies.

Myth: ‘No real scientist believes in creation’. 30 Ph.D. scientists help bust this old canard by Gary Bates Published: 16 July 2015 (GMT+10) The myth that no real scientist believes in creation has probably been around longer than most reading this have been alive. It should have died a death a long time ago given the wealth of creation material produced by the various creation organizations and the qualified scientists who work for them, let alone the thousands of Bible-believing scientists who work in industry and universities around the world. But it’s a sound bite that the atheists like to...

"...What do we learn from the video? First, it shows the appalling trivialization of life at the heart of extreme pro-choice ideology. If a developing life is really the moral and medical equivalent of a cyst or tumor, there is no limit on how it may be exploited. But most people — even those who support Roe v. Wade — intuitively recognize that the boy or girl in the sonogram is not a cyst. We see a family resemblance in a genetically differentiated human at an early stage of development. And people generally don’t want developing human beings treated as...

The Uber driver who picked up Jeb Bush Thursday on a San Francisco street corner doesnÂ’t normally vote and didnÂ’t recognize the Republican frontrunner. But the experience of driving a man who could be President, and talking about it with a reporter, may get him to the polls this year. He said he will probably pull the lever for Hillary Clinton. Bush is traveling around San Francisco Thursday using the ride-sharing app, the latest embrace by the Republican of the company, which has fought taxi regulations and has come under fire from some Democrats for the scant benefits it offers...

While Planned Parenthood does not call itself a religious order, it clearly has many of the trappings of a passionate and serious cult. Mother Celine Therese Vadukkoot addresses guests during a birthday party for centenarians Jan. 20 at the Little Sisters of the Poor's Queen of Peace Residence in the Queens borough of New York. Eight residents celebrating 100 or more years in 2015 were honored at the event. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz) It isn't every week that clear bookends of the culture war are so manifestly on display. Earlier this week the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver...

The deal just struck between the U.S., world powers, and Iran is an historic achievement that decreases the likelihood of an Iranian nuclear weapon and forestalls the risk of another costly U.S. war in the Middle East.But while the diplomats in Vienna are finished wrangling over the final details, the Obama administration is by no means finished fighting for the agreement’s survival. Congress has 60 days with which to review the deal for final approval, and while Republicans may not have a veto-proof majority, they — along with some Democrats — remain vehemently opposed to any plausible peaceful resolution.The debate...

Macy’s was “inundated with complaints” from roughly 30,000 customers who are defending GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to TMZ. Macy’s decided not to carry Trump’s ties after he made comments during his official announcement speech about illegal immigration. Macy’s along with NBC, Univision, and NASCAR— among others — broke business ties with Trump after backlash from the media about his comments. The thousands of Macy’s customers have decided not to shop at the store anymore and are cutting up their Macy’s cards. Donald Trump responded on Twitter saying, “I am so happy that people are boycotting Macy’s.”

Through this kind of decision making, McGraw also supported the campaign of gun control candidate Barack Obama in 2008. He told People Magazine: It’s innate in me to be a blue-dog Democrat. I’m not saying I’m right or wrong, but that’s what I am. My wife and I and our family will do everything we can to support Obama. I like his ideas, I like his energy, and I like the statement he would make for our country to the world.

Police said this week's investigation began when they were called about 2:26 a.m. Monday to the intersection of Hillen and Forrest streets, just south of East Monument Street, where a man said he was just robbed at gunpoint by two men in a gray SUV. Soon after, an officer spotted the vehicle parked in the 2300 block of E. Monument and saw men dart inside the Safe Streets office. When officers eventually raided the office, they found guns, heroin, cocaine, and other items used in the manufacturing and sale of drugs, including cutting agents and scales, police said.

Journalists and lefitsts (but I repeat myself) are hopping mad. They're not mad at President Obama for failing to make freeing American hostages held by Iran an issue in negotiations with that nation. Instead, they're furious at Major Garrett of CBS News for daring to ask Dear Leader a question about it, even though in the process Garrett got a clearly irritated Obama to make news by admitting, and then trying to justify, his team's failure to make such an effort.

There have been some pretty potent reactions in the alternative press to Judge Andrew Napolitano’s WND column of July 1, “Hillary’s secret war.” In it, the judge analyzes a shocking interview with an international arms dealer that centers around the man’s dealings with the State Department under Hillary Clinton, as well as evidence in the same vein that has surfaced through other sources, Clinton’s destruction of emails covering that period and testimony she gave at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee in January of 2013. Napolitano is one of the first of his stature and background in the...

president Barack Obama was greeted at his hotel in Oklahoma City Wednesday night by protesters proudly displaying Confederate flags.

<p>The young American-born wife of escaped drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is a former beauty queen who married the billionaire cartel boss as a teen.</p> <p>Guzman, 60, met his small-town bride, Emma Coronel Aispuro, in 2006, when she was just 17.</p>

The Atlanta chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has proposed that the sculpture of Confederacy President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee, and General "Stonewall" Jackson be sand blasted off the side of Stone Mountain in Georgia. Chapter leader Richard Rose is telling local news outlets, "Those guys need to go." They can be sand-blasted off, or somebody could carefully remove a slab of that and auction it off to the highest bidder. All of this recognition of Confederate generals is upholding the white supremacy on which the Confederacy was founded and the war was...

5. An atheist group demanded that Walker delete a Tweet where he quoted the popular passage from Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." The Christian Post reported the story in 2014, where The Freedom from Religious Foundation, known for scouring the country for public mentions of Christianity, aggressively challenged Walker's Tweet because it came from his official governor's account. The governor and his office ignored their request, deciding to leave it up indefinitely.

Donald Trump is a conservative billionaire running for President. Unlike Hillary Clinton, Trump has earned his money the honest way. And he knows what affects American businesses, and the harm caused by illegal immigration. Now, Hillary – who wanted to jump on the media bandwagon this week – has accused Trump of racism for his strong stance against illegal aliens. While most politicians would respond quietly (if at all), Trump FIRED BACK with both barrels via a Facebook post. And it is awesome! Here is what The Donald said: Failing candidate Hillary Clinton, who is desperately trying to hold on...

Tread lightly, Americans: Nearly 9% of people in the United States have outbursts of anger, break or smash things, or get into physical fights -- and have access to a firearm, a new study says. What's more, 1.5% of people who have these anger issues carry their guns outside the home. The findings, published Wednesday in the journal Behavioral Sciences and the Law, suggest that measures to reduce gun injuries and deaths should focus less on diagnosed mental illness and more on a history of violent behavior.