Free Republic

Austria’s far-left president, Alexander Van der Bellen, has suggested that one day all women must wear headscarves to fight Islamophobia. During a talk to students, Van der Bellen said that whilst be believes a woman should wear “whatever she wants”, should Austria’s “rampant Islamophobia continue, there will come a day when we must ask all women to wear a headscarf – all of them! – out of solidarity towards those who do it for religious reasons”. Van der Bellen, who was sworn in as president in January after defeating anti-mass migration Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer in last December’s presidential...

"Many refuse to face up to the Church's work of self-destruction"ROME (ChurchMilitant.com) - Prelates may fearlessly speak out on social justice issues like immigration and poverty only to fall silent on the real crisis of faith overwhelming the Church. During an April 18 interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), an international Catholic charity, Cdl. Robert Sarah made this point. "The Church is gravely mistaken as to the nature of the real crisis if she thinks that her essential mission is to offer solutions to all the political problems relating to justice, peace, poverty, the reception of migrants,...

A report from Bloomberg highlights the anxiety within the professional state department apparatus as Secretary Tillerson begins substantive cuts in the number of pontificating elitist bureaucrats. It’s amazing how the ankle-biters never seem to recognize these consequential shifts in policy and approach toward dismantling the bureaucracy. The State Department is the cornerstone of Deep State operations. It is a massively bloated institution filled with some of the most entrenched political globalists and ideologues. Trump is no longer playing only with evil and cunning players who are still predictable, easily beatable dopes, like Hillary. He is playing against killers, with his...

As the first President to speak to the NRA (actually speak to them, not call them “gun nuts” or “bitter clingers”) since Ronald Reagan, Trump had some pretty big shoes to fill. While he didn’t give out many specifics, Trump did make sweeping promises to defend the Second Amendment while in the White House. He also gave an ominous warning. During his speech, Trump discussed the 2020 Presidential election. While it might seem a little premature given that he is just barely approaching his first 100 days as President, but when you’re defending the Constitution, you need to be prepared...

.... ...The song helped. Years and years ago, at his home in Montauk, Paul Simon showed me his draft sheets for the lyrics. He was late delivering the three new pieces he'd promised (Dave Grusin wrote the orchestral score) so he told Mike Nichols he'd had an idea for a song that was a remembrance of things past - about Joe DiMaggio and whatnot. "But I don't know if the song's called 'Mrs Roosevelt' or 'Mrs Robinson'," he said. "We're making a movie here," snapped Nichols. "It's 'Mrs Robinson'." .... Their cleverest scene together is the one in which Benjamin...

Dive Brief: •The proposed $1 trillion U.S. infrastructure plan could create as many as 3 million jobs if projects are prioritized for optimal job generation, according to a Boston Consulting Group report. •However, if project planners focus only on the critical nature of each project and do not factor in the potential for job growth, then the same $1 trillion investment could generate just 1.6 million new jobs. •Projects that yield the most jobs are airports, seaports and hospitals because they employ temporary construction workers and offer more post-completion permanent jobs than other infrastructure projects, such as a non-tolled highway....

GREENVILLE (WSPA) – A company that creates merchandising displays for grocery stores plans to expand in Greenville and add close to 100 jobs. JSI Store Fixtures announced Friday it would invest $2.1 million for an expansion to it’s current facility on White Horse Road. The move will create 97 new jobs according to the company. “The consolidation of our Suwanee, Ga. and Greenville facilities supports our long-term strategy of continued growth and success in the southeastern United States,” said President of JSI Store Fixtures Ken Bush in a written statement. Hiring has already started. If you’d like to apply, you...

ROME, Italy, April 28, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis spoke critically again of the faithful who have a strong embrace of Catholic doctrine, resorting to pejorative terms he has often used such as hypocritical and phariseeism. “You cannot be more restrictive than the Church herself,” he told, a lay association gathered Thursday morning at the Vatican, “nor more Papist than the Pope.” Addressing the Congress of the International Forum of Catholic Action in the Synod Hall, the pope told participants he wanted them to be out among the people and that there is a need for “active mercy.” The theme...

Edmund Burke, the father of Conservatism, once wrote “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fail, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” Later, John Stuart Mill said, “Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to accomplish their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” All right, all right—why am I writing this, amid all the victories we’ve enjoyed? For goodness sake, the RNC’s just announced...

CLEVELAND (AP) — Police in Cleveland are trying to identify a woman they say pulled a gun on a barber because he was taking too long to cut her 7-year-old son’s hair. Cleveland.com says a police report says the woman threatened the barber at a barber school April 14.

What appears to be the beginning of a coup is underway in Macedonia. Masked men have stormed into Parliament and are holding both journalists and MPs. But this is a very different type of coup; it is one where they are seeking to replace the sitting government with a coalition majority that should be recognized in International Law. However, it is known that there are “power players” behind the scenes that have been actively backing one side. The question is, which side? Records have emerged after Judicial Watch filed a FOIA (freedom of info) request for details relating to why...

Video of tonight's Tucker Carson chatting with Richard dryfuss.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview that an open and free internet is vital for America in the 21st century. During a speech at the Newseum on Wednesday, Pai said he plans to roll back the net-neutrality regulations and to restore the light-touch regulatory system established by President Bill Clinton and Congressional Republicans by the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Net neutrality passed under former Democrat Tom Wheeler’s FCC in 2010. The rule, known as the Open Internet Order, reclassified the internet as a public monopoly. Critics chided the rule, stating that it would...

From PACER: Minutes of proceedings [non-document] before Judge Sara Lioi. AUSA Karrie Howard present. Attorney John Gibbons present. Defendant Zachary Benson present. Probation Officer Dennis Reed present for Probation Officer Tom Shepherd. Guilty plea entered by Zachary Benson to the indictment without a plea agreement. The parties have entered into pretrial diversion in this matter and have signed an agreement. Probation department shall provide a status report to the Court in one year regarding defendant's compliance. Defendant's bond continued. Sentencing is deferred at this time to allow the defendant time to complete the pretrial diversion program. Despite the guilty plea,...

Megyn Kelly is gearing up for the debut of her Sunday newsmagazine show on NBC in June — and the anchor’s first high-profile interview on her new network may be with the Kardashian family. According to TMZ, the former Fox News star was spotted in Los Angeles Thursday morning headed into the same studio in which the Kardashian-Jenner family were filming a 10th anniversary special for Today. The whole family was reportedly there, including Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian and Kylie, Kendall, and Kris Jenner — though brother Rob Kardashian was absent, as was Caitlyn Jenner, who remained in New...

Yesterday was a trying day. The kids woke up early and it was early release. The laptop wasn’t working and I really didn’t want to do anything. And then, midway through my afternoon, the local wives’ page started hopping. You see, clothing store Forever 21 has some new products for sale. . . the military wives just couldn’t believe their eyes. You’re not going to believe it–and you’re probably not going to run to the store, either. Here’s a peek...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table(recipes)preserving, good living - there is no...

WASHINGTON-AFSCME Pres. Lee Saunders issued the following statement on President Trump’s executive order directing the Department of Education to conduct a study into the role of the federal government in education: “President Trump’s executive order represents a gross abdication of the federal government’s vital role in ensuring that all students get the education they deserve, regardless of who they are and where they live.

The mainstream media is starting to notice that there have been absolutely no results in the House (or Senate) Trump-Russia collusion investigations. One of those journalists impatient for results is BBC World News America anchor and MSNBC contributor Katty Kay who asked the ranking Democrat of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, on the April 28 Morning Joe why there is seems to be no progress in their investigation. All Schiff could deliver in reply was basically a meaningless word filibuster that revealed nothing in an attempt to divert attention away from the fact that so far the investigation is a...

President Trump has signed a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown, the White House announced Friday evening. The measure funds the government through May 5, giving lawmakers more time to reach an agreement on an omnibus spending bill that would carry through the rest of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The legislation easily cleared both chambers earlier Friday; the Senate approved the measure by voice vote after the House voted 382-30 to pass it. If the measure had not been adopted, the government would have shutdown at midnight right as the Trump administration entered its 100th day....