Free Republic

At a recent speech in South Africa, former President Barack Obama criticized wealth inequality, saying those who have more money should share their earnings with the less fortunate. “Right now, I’m actually surprised by how much money I got,” Obama said of the more than $20 million he earned between 2005 and 2016. Obama then chided wealthy individuals for excess, saying, “There’s only so much you can eat. There’s only so big a house you can have. There’s only so many nice trips you can take. I mean, it’s enough.” “We’re going to have to worry about economics if we...

After decades teaching social studies at a California high school, Noel Correa moved to Nicaragua, buying a home on the outskirts of this colonial city. Then, the country he chose as his retirement paradise began to unravel. “We were just getting settled when the fighting broke out,” said Mr. Correa, 67, who arrived here with his wife in December. “Now we are in limbo.” So are many other expats caught up in a three-month-old uprising against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, whose crackdown in response has killed more than 300 people.

James Gunn, the writer-director of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, apologized late Thursday after a series of old (now deleted) tweets resurfaced in which the filmmaker made what he admitted were “offensive” jokes about taboo topics like rape and pedophilia. “Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo,” Gunn wrote in a series of tweets. “As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humor.” Gunn, who apparently deactivated his...

A shocking brawl broke out between customers inside a fast food restaurant because a man cut to the front of the line. In the viral clip, filmed at Hot Taco Restaurant in Detroit, Michigan, bewildered onlookers watch as three customers throw punches at each other and fall injured on the floor. The incident on Friday, July 13, allegedly started when a man wearing a red t-shirt and cap walked into the restaurant and headed straight to the front of the queue.

RANSOM, Kan.—The Farm Belt is hurtling toward a milestone: Soon there will be fewer than two million farms in America for the first time since pioneers moved westward after the Louisiana Purchase. Across the heartland, a multiyear slump in prices for corn, wheat and other farm commodities brought on by a glut of grain world-wide is pushing many farmers further into debt. Some are shutting down, raising concerns that the next few years could bring the biggest wave of farm closures since the 1980s. The U.S. share of the global grain market is less than half what it was in...

Paramount says it has fired the head of its television division for making unspecified comments that drew complaints from employees. Paramount Pictures CEO Jim Gianopulos wrote in a memo Thursday that Amy Powell had been fired for making comments that were 'inconsistent with company values.' The memo did not elaborate on the nature of the statements or where they were made, beyond stating they were said in a 'professional setting.' A source told Variety that the comments were 'racially charged' in nature. Powell allegedly made an insensitive remark about the television adaptation of the 1996 movie First Wives Club. During...

AVON, Ind. — Armed with sunscreen, doorknob fliers and a mission 50 years in the making, the team of activists sporting blue “I Vote Pro-Life” T-shirts fanned out into a web of cul-de-sacs in a subdivision just west of Indianapolis, undeterred by towering rain clouds and 90-degree heat. It was exactly a week after President Trump had named Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to be his nominee for the Supreme Court, and the group was joking that they had a new sport: Extreme Canvassing. In short surveys, the teams ask voters about their hopes for Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation and their opposition...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A 6-year-old girl attacked by a dog Sunday morning has died, according to her father. Police said Jaelah Smith was attacked by a dog the family was pet sitting in their Arlington home. In a message to News4Jax, Devin Holcomb wrote: "Unfortunately my princess is no longer with us. I would like for you guys to keep my family in your prayers" Police and firefighters were called to a house on Herrick Drive about 10:15 a.m. Sunday by a neighbor who heard screaming and saw the girl's mother carry the girl's unconscious body outside. “I just kept...

Confederate flag coming back to the South Carolina State House on Tuesday COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Confederate flag is coming back to the S.C. State House, at least for one day. On Tuesday, members of the S.C. Secessionist Party will raise the rebel banner on a temporary pole in front of the Gervais Street steps. The 10 a.m. ceremony will mark the three-year anniversary of the flag's permanent removal from the State House grounds. This is the third time the party has raised the flag in front of the State House. Each July 10 since the flag was removed, the...

Actor and filmmaker Mark Duplass has apologized for initially praising the right-wing pundit and Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro on Twitter and encouraging his followers to consider following Shapiro, stating that the tweet was a “disaster on many levels.” “I’m really sorry,” Duplass tweeted Thursday morning. “I now understand that I need to be more diligent and careful. I’m working on that. I want to be clear that I in no way endorse hatred, racism, homophobia, xenophobia or any such form of intolerance.” Duplass said the tweet was meant to encourage unity, but admitted “sometimes I move too quickly when...

Coffee with Scott Adams. On Periscope. Episode, "Scott Adams talks about civil war, #walkaway, The weed poison pill, Mike Lee, eliminating ICE"

Harvey Weinstein's lawyers are calling on a US judge to dismiss a lawsuit from actress Ashley Judd -- who accuses the disgraced mogul of torpedoing her career -- on the grounds that she had made a sexual "deal" with him. The 50-year-old actress says the once-influential Hollywood producer sabotaged her career by convincing Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson not to cast Judd after she rejected Weinstein's sexual advances. Player France 24 Mobile – International News 24/7 france24 FRANÇAISESPAÑOLعربي TOP STORIES SHOWS VIDEOS FRANCE AFRICA MIDDLE EAST EUROPE AMERICAS ASIA / PACIFIC SPORTS BUSINESS / TECH CULTURE ENVIRONMENT DOCUMENTARIES...

Drivers in Omaha are the worst in the nation, while Orlando is home to America's safest motorists, according to a new study. Summer is the busiest and most dangerous time of year for driving, as road-trippers and people on family vacations take to the streets along with the usual commuters. More drivers overall amounts to more bad drivers on the roads, making it more dangerous for everyone. The new study by QuoteWizard.com analyzed 2017 statistics based road incidents, including accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs and citations for things such as running a red light or using a cell phone while driving.

In the flow of this 3.8 billion-year-old river of life it is death, not life, that drives evolution. Death is that which sculpts the flow of life. In the marketplace of business it is failure, not success, that shapes, sculpts and hones that which survives. Whether it is an inability to survive in ever-changing physical conditions or an inability to convince enough people to purchase your goods or services at the price you require, demise of the entity controls and shapes what remains. Death and failure are the invisible hands that ensure these systems remain somewhat in balance. They put...

Never short on ideas for things to tax, lawmakers in New Jersey are considering a tax on tap water. The proposal is being floated by State Sen. Bob Smith D-Middlesex, who is trying to say it's not actually a tax but a 'user fee'. "It is a user fee based on volume," Smith told Fox 5's Chasing New Jersey.

You’ve just weighed anchor on another night of bliss, lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of your sailboat in the calm sea. Before you is a small cove lined by craggy cliffs. Clear blue waters end at a white-sand beach. You’ve had it all to yourself for the last week. It was supposed to be just an overnight stop. But it was so beautiful, you decided to stick around. After a quick dip, you’re enjoying a cup of coffee and a light breakfast on deck as you contemplate which island paradise you’ll go to next. This life could be...

AMBRIDGE, Mass. — Three-year-old twins Zyler and Kadyn Sharpe scurried around the boys and girls clothing racks of a narrow consignment store filled with toys. Zyler, wearing rainbow leggings, scrutinized a pair of hot-pink-and-purple sneakers. Kadyn, in a T-Rex shirt, fixated on a musical cube that flashed colorful lights. At a glance, the only discernible difference between these fraternal twins is their hair — Zyler’s is brown and Kadyn’s is blond. Is Zyler a boy or a girl? How about Kadyn? That’s a question their parents, Nate and Julia Sharpe, say only the twins can decide. The Cambridge, Mass., couple...

Every time I see another disparagement of American history and American white males, I am poked to compose a list of their accomplishments that put everyone on the left to shame. The left's contempt for America is total – suggesting that leftists see nothing redeeming in who we are. This list should be burned into our memory to counter the left's fifty-year slander of American history. The advances on this list are the result of a unique degree of freedom blended with the Founders' exceptional knowledge of history that created a trickle-down effect in moral influence that no one can...

If the NFL thinks its new rule designed to quell player protests will end its national anthem controversy, it may want to think again. With less than three weeks to go until the start of preseason, Tennessee Titans star defensive end Jurrell Casey told CNN Sport on Wednesday in an exclusive interview he will remain on the field and protest during the US national anthem, while accepting any fines levied on him this season.

The Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer William ‘Bill’ Mulder (Ret.) Transition Improvement Act of 2018, introduced by Republican Texas Rep. Jodey Arrington, contains a clause that would cut millions of dollars in funding for veteran jobs in aviation. The bill, which is meant to help veterans transition into civilian careers, contains a subsection that caps funds available to veterans who receive flight training at the same level as a private undergraduate degree. To fly on a passenger commercial airline, pilots need at least 1,500 hours of flight time and must pass a written examination, according to the Bureau of Labor...