Free Republic

BEIJING — Kayrat Samarkand says his only “crime” was being a Muslim who had visited neighboring Kazakhstan. On that basis alone, he was detained by police, aggressively interrogated for three days, then dispatched in November to a “reeducation camp” in China’s western province of Xinjiang for three months. There, he faced seemingly endless brainwashing and humiliation, he said in an interview, and was forced to study communist propaganda for hours every day and chant slogans giving thanks and wishing long life to President Xi Jinping. “Those who disobeyed the rules, refused to be on duty, engaged in fights or were...

The details of the terrorist attack in Kabul show the explosives were hidden in a tanker truck used to clean out septic systems. The Afghan security forces stopped the tanker truck from entering the heart of the area containing the diplomatic headquarters multiple nations. The bomber detonated the truck at the security checkpoint immediately killing all of the Afghanistan security forces. More than 90 people (mostly civilians) were killed and more than 400 were wounded – including 11 American contractors.

Here is a youtube video of Ronald Reagan hanging out with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG5WAFzwlIA This video has inspired me to make some observations. One of the greatest mistakes conservatives make in analyzing the 1980 election, is to exaggerate the weakness of Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election. I am not a Carter-hater, and I think Carter was a better President and stronger leader than several American Presidents, including Obama, Clinton, James Buchanan, etc. To say that Reagan won his election victories because his opponents were weak, is like saying Muhammad Ali became the heavyweight boxing champion of...

PALERMO, Italy April 19 (Reuters) - As many as 700 people were feared dead after a fishing boat packed with migrants capsized off the Libyan coast overnight, in what may be one of the worst disasters of the Mediterranean migrant crisis, officials said on Sunday. Twenty eight people were rescued in the incident, which happened just off Libyan waters, south of the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, Antonino Irato, a senior official from the Italian border police, told television station RaiNews24. He said 24 bodies had been recovered.

According to a recent USA Today/Gallup poll, Americans under the age of 30 favor Barack Obama over Mitt Romney by almost a two-to-one margin. This is a startling statistic. What explains the lopsided support for Obama among younger Americans? I think the two main reasons are ideological and personal. It’s no revelation to say that young people tend to be more liberal about issues like the redistribution of wealth. You may have heard the old adage, “Anyone who is not a socialist when he is 20, has no heart; anyone who is still a socialist when he is 30, has...

An East Bethel teenager is accused of squeezing through a neighbor's doggy door to help feed a pornography addiction. The neighbor allegedly caught the 18-year-old on surveillance footage after noticing several items missing from his East Bethel house, according to a criminal complaint filed in Anoka County District Court. Darin Paul Pake, 44, told investigators the footage showed Amanda Rose Owens - his children's former baby sitter - sliding into his house through his doggy door at 7:50 a.m. Monday. She is then seen rummaging through Pake's things and grabbing a Red Bull out of his refrigerator before leaving at...

Young people are stupid. I do not exclude myself from this judgment; when a lad newly of voting age, my news addiction made me a curious specimen (though in those days CNN and newspapers were the only dealers in town), and as such I was as well informed a teenage boy as can reasonably be expected. And yet, I supported Ross Perot (ah, the follies of youth) - until he flaked out, of course, after which I drifted back to my natural home in the Republican Party. And really, is it any wonder young people are given to so much...

I'm tired of listening to one pie-eyed Obamaphile after another blithering about B.O.'s coolness. Now Susan Estrich, even in the face of the new President's bumbling foreign policy, rapacious ear-marked spending, and ham-handed meddling with American industries, has the temerity to write an article about the Obamas titled Mr. Cool . What's so cool about surreptitiously contacting the Russians, Iranians and Syrians, offering mea culpas to three of the most devious, dangerous and anti-American regimes on the planet? What's so cool about nominating incompetents, anti-Semites, and tax-cheats to prominent positions in the cabinet and federal bureaucracy? Maybe reading lines off...

Nikko R2–D2 DVD Projector Limited Edition. They’ve gone and updated the venerable R2–D2 home theater system and boy does it look cool. Check out the awesome video to set your saliva glands aglow. It now throws a 260 inch image onto your wall or screen, features 1800 lumens brightness and a whopping 1800:1 contrast ratio, and comes with the same gorgeously groovy stuff like iPod dock, memory card, USB drive and game console support and a built-in virtual surround 20W speaker system. The new model also features an FM transmitter out so you can beam sound to your Hi-Fi from anywhere in...

Below you will find links to articles about the LIVE STRONG bracelet, which isn't really on most adults' radar screens but should be. You see, the Live Strong bracelet, my teenage daughter informs me, is ALL the craze among the youth of America and is supposed to benefit cancer survivors. And guess what? John Kerry wears one prominently, displayed very yellowly on his immaculately coiffed wrist!!! While it's escaped many of us, it should probably be pointed out how COOL he is to younger voters -- or how cool he's trying to be. While it's admirable to support Lance Armstrong's...