Free Republic

A man who attacked police officers with poles during the riot at the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than five years in prison, matching the longest term of imprisonment so far among hundreds of Capitol riot prosecutions. Mark Ponder, a 56-year-old resident of Washington, D.C., said he “got caught up” in the chaos that erupted on Jan. 6, 2021, and “didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” “I wasn’t thinking that day,” Ponder told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, asking her for mercy before she sentenced him to five years and three months in prison. That...

shots fired officer down! KSP officer was just shot on I24 2 gunshots wounds (officer is in full arrest cpr in being done) Foot pursuit now in the woods with the shooter, In Lyon Co they are shutting the interstate down at the 45 mile marker

We may not be alone. But our cosmic companions might be moist creatures in watery worlds -- lacking, of course, E.T.'s impulse, or ability, to phone home. The growing evidence of wet planets -- and its implications in our search for extraterrestrial life -- is among the marvels shared this weekend at a Santa Clara gathering of astronomers, astronauts and science fiction fans. The theme of the three-day SETIcon event: the exploration of universe and the quest to find life beyond Earth. Scientists agreed that the neighborhood is looking a lot friendlier. What began as a trickle of new planet...

BOSTON (AP) -- Rep. Barney Frank's decision to step down at the end of his term is the latest jolt to the bruised ego of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, which once counted Kennedys, House speakers and a president among its ranks. Instead, some of the state's best-known political figures are now Republicans, among them Sen. Scott Brown and presidential candidate Mitt Romney. "For a long time, Massachusetts Democrats have felt they played a special role in the national Democratic Party," said Tufts University political science professor Jeffrey Berry. "I think that has gone at this point. There is no one...

CK: I will be out there picketing. We'll write a song for them. Actually, we just finished one that I think the Occupy Wall Street people will enjoy. BS: Can you give me a line from it? CK: "Recession. Bankers scum. They get all. We get some. Rise up. Occupy. Rich stay rich. Sick. Die." BS: Your lyrics or someone else's? CK: Our singer's lyrics. But I approve. BS: Do you sing backup on something like that? CK: Yeah, actually, in the chorus. BS: What's the chorus line? CK: The chorus line is, "Punish various people back to the house...

By the time I finished reading this lengthy, plaintive missive by Richard Esko at the Huffington Post, I will confess that I’d actually begun feeling sorry for him. Observing the conclusion of the recent budget battles and viewing them as a disastrous loss for the progressive movement, Mr. Esko casts about for an answer to what seems to be the question of the day: How does the evil Tea Party keep kicking our butts when our ideas are so wildly popular and clearly superior? And he thinks he’s found some answers. Once again the unpopular views of a minority have...

LOS ANGELES - Immigration advocates are struggling to frame images of this week's clash between police and protesters in a way that promotes their cause, with some activists considering using the event to attract supporters. Some advocates believe the police action against mostly peaceful demonstrators could add urgency to efforts to create a path to citizenship for the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. But others worry the reform movement could be blamed for the melee and that immigrants will be afraid to participate in future demonstrations. "These kinds of situations, if they are framed properly, can be a powerful...

HAVANA - When Cuba last hosted the Nonaligned Movement summit, the Cold War still divided the world and Fidel Castro was a strapping 53-year-old inspiring armed movements in poor countries the world over. The Cuban-inspired Sandinista rebels had just triumphed in Nicaragua, the Shah of Iran had just fallen, the U.S. still controlled the Panama Canal and wars of liberation from colonial powers raged in Africa. To the leaders who gathered in Havana in August 1979, Castro was the symbol of their struggle for self-determination and freedom from U.S. domination. This time around, it's not even clear that Castro will...

The ironies associated with this are incredibly rich but more importantly very insightful, but if you are irony-enjoyment impaired, and consequently when reading them are tempted to add or take away from them – warning -- proceed no further – lest you be "plagued"! 1. Pharisees and Sadducees A common Biblical pattern is that "believers" are more likely to accept ancient prophets than modern ones. Christ Himself said this (Mat. 23:29-37). Stephen in Acts 7:52 said to the Jews: "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?" The Bible condemns Jews who could accept ancient prophets but not Christ...