Free Republic

Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz, native of Canada, junior senator of Texas and lover of Wagner, has thrown his hat into the ring to be the Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential election. But it's not his hat that many recoil from so much as it is the head beneath it. Let's talk about the elephant in Ted Cruz's presidential campaign: his face. OK, it's symmetrical in its composition, not too pudgy or gaunt -- all in all, a fine face, really. Some might even say he has the face of an angel. Not me, mind you, but some. Like the...

Public opinion surveys show that a majority of adults — and a growing one — now supports same-sex marriage. But the rapid change in public opinion may obscure another fact: Large areas of the country remain overwhelmingly opposed to same-sex marriage, with little sign of change. Alabama is one of those places, and the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court this weekend encouraged probate judges there to defy a federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The emerging national majority in favor of same-sex marriage is built on high levels of support in well-educated metropolitan areas,...

The Ebola crisis has gripped the American media, and by extension the imagination of the public, punctuated by breathless pronouncements from TV news reporters of the medical status of actual and potential victims of the disease; hysteria-inducing magazine covers, like this issue of Bloomberg Businessweek sporting the message “Ebola Is Coming” in blood- smeared letters; and Facebook feeds dominated by click-bait images of microscopic photos of the virus with eerie back-lit tangles of fat worms symbolizing the foreign bodies that could invade us all. But the foreign bodies of the Liberian man, Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to have...

Controversial far-left British MP George Galloway has declared his constituency an "Israel-free zone", in comments that are bound to invite further allegations of racism. The notoriously anti-Israel Galloway told a meeting of the Respect Party which he heads that Israelis of any persuasion were "not welcome" in Bradford, where serves as MP. "We have declared Bradford an Israel free zone," he told party activists at the meeting in Leeds. "We don’t want any Israeli goods. We don’t want any Israeli services. We don’t want any Israeli academics, coming to the university or the college. We don’t even want any Israeli...

The Republican Party’s “nativist elements” have successfully undermined Congress’ many attempts to pass comprehensive immigration reform, President Obama griped in an interview published over the weekend by the Economist. Obama’s remarks were made during a broader discussion that covered the health of the U.S. economy, job growth and the responsibilities of business leaders. “There’s a huge gap between the professed values and visions of corporate CEOs and how their lobbyists operate in Washington,” he said, claiming that businesses must be genuine when it comes to being socially engaged and giving back to the community. “And I’ve said this to various...

I DIDN’T ask for a Wikipedia page, but a few months ago, alerted by a friend, I found that someone had created one, ostensibly devoted to my journalistic achievements. I was flattered. Until I opened the page. “Since 2008, Jacobs has written over 400 articles, the vast majority of which portray China in a negative light,” read the entry, which went on to claim that many of those articles contained “journalistic distortions.” A sympathetic friend edited the page, removing the assertion that I am devoted to smearing China’s good name. The very next day, the anonymous creator changed it back....

I was born in Tennessee.And even though I’ve lived in New York City for the past decade, I still take my tea sweet, my chicken fried and my biscuits buttered. I’m proud to call myself a gun-toting, Bible-clinging Tennessee Volunteer.So you can imagine my befuddlement when I learned the Oak Ridge National Laboratory wanted to crack down on workers who have Southern accents by holding a “Southern Accent Reduction” course.In other words, them government folks want to learn us rednecks how to talk right. Bless their hearts.Read More…

Here’s a question for the proud Americans demanding that the unaccompanied foreign children showing up at our borders be deported: Suppose that one of these “illegal” minors was your neighbor, living with his aunt and uncle, going to school during the day, kicking ball with friends in the evening, trying hard to put the traumatic journey from his native, violence-ridden country to America behind him. Would you, with a clear conscience, pick up the phone and turn him in? If the answer is “no,” then it is time for you to throw out your “Return to Sender” signs. Why? Because...

The left has beenÂ… animated in their objections to the Supreme CourtÂ’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case which declared the mandate in the Affordable Care Act which forced employers to provide employees with abortifacients drugs over their religious objections to be unconstitutional. In spite of what many have characterized as the narrow and tailored ruling by the Court, some political and legal observers have determined that the ruling is a step toward the legalization of discrimination. One of the more creative arguments in this direction was submitted by NPRÂ’s legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg. On Monday, she suggested...

In a recent interview with the Daily Beast that focused on the “bigotry” and “xenophobia” of Americans who are opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants, Boston archbishop Cardinal Sean O’Malley said, “Obviously, the fear is not rational, and I think we are dealing with it in an irrational way.” The Daily Beast’s Christopher Dickey lead up to his discussion with O’Malley about the thousands of illegal immigrant minors flooding the United States following President Obama’s decision to relax their deportations: The fear and hatred of foreigners is nothing new in the United States, nation of immigrants though it is. O’Malley...

US Vice President Joe Biden suggested Germany was hostile towards immigrants in a speech on Tuesday, in which he described the US as the only "non-xenophobic" major economy in the world. In the speech in Washington DC at the National Association of Manufacturers' annual summit, Biden said the US needed to reform immigration policy to maintain its competitive edge. “We have to pass an anti-immigration bill. Look at Germany. Look at the rest of the world. We're the only non-xenophobic nation in the world that's a major economy,” he said. However, the facts would seem to disagree with Biden's thoughts...

President Obama’s landslide victory in 2008 was supposed to herald the beginning of a new Democratic era. And yet, six years later, there is not even a clear Democratic majority in the country, let alone one poised for 30 years of dominance. It’s not because Mr. Obama’s so-called new coalition of young and nonwhite voters failed to live up to its potential. They again turned out in record numbers in 2012. The Democratic majority has failed to materialize because the Republicans made large, countervailing and unappreciated gains of their own among white Southerners. From the high plains of West Texas...

Three more Ethiopians killed by Saudi police. The killing of Ethiopians continues in Saudi Arabia Three more Ethiopians killed in Saudi Arabia Three more Ethiopians have been killed in Saudi Arabia. Thousands of Ethiopians are leaving the middle east country after scores have been killed in the past few days. Hundreds more injured and women are being raped in front of their families. It is astounding and mind boggling the international community is so silent about this shameful actions of the Saudis. "The act of killing innocent civilians is uncalled for, we condemn that," Foreign Ministry spokesman Dina Mufti told...

The tech-bus protest isn’t just a San Francisco thing anymore. This week, the anti-gentrification act of blocking a private shuttle full of high-paid tech workers spread to Seattle, where a handful of buses carrying Microsoft employees were stopped by demonstrators. The protest was chronicled by local Tweeps and community websites.

WND senior reporter Aaron Klein displays a Jewish demeanor in his appearances on Fox News, according to Department of Homeland Security adviser Mohamed Elibiary. The unusual comment came in an email exchange in which Klein had asked Elibiary to comment on a recent tweet in which he warned the tea party against attempting to change the U.S. political landscape through “Christianist Xenophobia.” Elibiary further charged some “white identity/privilege types” have a problem with a “black president” and “brown Mexicans.” “If #TeaParty wants US revived then we must swing Blue seats Red & that is only achievable thru Libertarianism, not Christianist...

Department of Homeland Security adviser Mohamed Elibiary has warned the tea party movement against attempting to change the U.S. political landscape through “Christianist Xenophobia.” In Twitter messages, Elibiary further charged some “white identity/privilege types” have a problem with a “black president” and “brown Mexicans.” “If #TeaParty wants US revived then we must swing Blue seats Red & that is only achievable thru Libertarianism, not Christianist Xenophobia,” Elibiary tweeted.

Hungary has amended its constitution to bar foreigners from buying farmland, a move the government called “historic,” but one that could cause friction with the European Union. Foreigners are already blocked from buying farmland under a temporary measure that formed part of Hungary’s EU accession agreement in 2003. But that measure, aimed at helping Hungary avoid seeing its land prices soar to catch up with other EU states including neighboring Austria, was originally set to expire in 2011, though was extended until the end of April 2014. …

November, many of us Americans may reflect on Thanksgiving. It is the quintessential American holiday. English pilgrims, seeking religious freedom, boarded the Mayflower at Plymouth, England to go west - crossing the Atlantic. And they landed at Cape Cod (Massachusetts) on Plymouth Rock in 1620. Half did not survive the winter. But with the providential help of Squanto from the Wampanoag tribe, the pilgrims cultivated the land and forged an alliance with the Native Americans - one that would last for more than 50 years. In 1621, the pilgrims celebrated the harvest with a feast - considered America's first Thanksgiving...

New studies say that lowering the rate of infection helps lead to political liberalization. Greater wealth strongly correlates with property rights, the rule of law, more education, the liberation of women, a free press, and more social tolerance. The enduring puzzle for political scientists is how do the social processes that produce freedom and wealth get started in the first place? Many political theorists have associated democracy with the rise of wealth and the establishment of a large middle class. As Ronald Inglehart, a political scientist at the University of Michigan, and Christian Welzel, a political scientist at Jacobs University...

BEIJING, Dec 23 (ANTARA) - Chinese newspapers, books and websites will no longer be allowed to use English words and phrases, the country`s publishing body has announced, saying the "purity" of the Chinese language is in peril. The General Administration of Press and Publication, which announced the new rule on Monday, said the increasing use of English words and abbreviations in Chinese texts had caused confusion and was a means of "abusing the language". Such practices "severely damaged the standard and purity of the Chinese language and disrupted the harmonious and healthy language and cultural environment, causing negative social impacts,"...