Free Republic

Imagine if behind every little thug, there were larger, stronger thugs ready to defend those little thugs against criticism or correction. In this situation, thuggery would always grow, and all defense against it would be futile, until at last most people would just give up and either join the thugs or hide quietly in their corners all their lives. This self-perpetuating thuggish world is the social mechanism of public school in a nutshell -- a world in which beating up a classmate with special learning needs has become a less egregious offense than condemning that beating with language that might...

The evidence piles up that in our largest city, charter schools can help the poor, even while the city's traditional public schools continue to pile up an abysmal record. Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes found that in New York City public schools: • "The new results for charter students represent an increase of 22 days of learning in reading compared to their results four years ago. Results for math have remained the same. • "For Black and Hispanic students, the analysis indicates a significant academic advantage from charter school enrollment. • "Hispanic charter school students perform at...

A story that should be getting more attention is one out of the Black Hills of South Dakota. It doesn't get much more interesting than a depredating lion, a 14 year old hunter protecting the family livelihood, and a rifle won at an NRA raffle.The story has already been written by Tom Griffith. The article is well done. I do not want to steal the author's thunder. Here is an excerpt to the rapidcityjournal.com: After a long, sad day, Streff’s youngest child, 14-year-old Dalton, who fancies himself a hunter, told his mother he was going to go sit in...

Behind the scenes on an ICE Air deportation flight. Alexandria, Louisiana - The men shuffle in a line across a lonely tarmac, one by one. Chains around their ankles clank with each step, a steady beat punctuating the engines' roar. Some men walk in sneakers without laces. Some sport navy blue prison-issue shoes. One wears work boots, still stained with paint. This may be the last time they touch US soil. The Boeing 737 beside them is bound for Guatemala City. In about 30 minutes, the screening process is over and 116 passengers have boarded the plane — first men,...

The ‘Great Unconformity’ and associated geochemical evidence for Noahic Flood erosion by Harry Dickens The Bible’s Flood account describes the greatest rain event ever recorded. Forty days and nights of rain falling on the earth (Genesis 7:12) would have caused immense denudation of landmasses around the globe. Evidence for this is provided by a key stratigraphic surface and by associated geochemical signatures. Nature and extent of the ‘Great Unconformity’ The term ‘Great Unconformity’ was originally used to describe the prominent stratigraphic surface exposed in the Grand Canyon that separates the Lower Cambrian Tapeats Sandstone (of the Sauk cratonic sequence) from...

Well, it’s almost become a pastime for members of the liberal media to take swipes at Trump and his base of support. CNN contributor Brian Karem, who is the executive editor for Sentinel Newspapers and White House correspondent for Playboy, hit that out of the ballpark this week by saying what’s left of Trump’s base of support is pretty much made up of Nazis and white supremacists. On Monday, Karem made this observation on CNN, where the panel was discussing the social media war that erupted between President Trump and Republican Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN); Corker said that Trump was...

Career employees at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) got “emotional” when Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on behalf of President Trump’s administration that an Obama-created temporary amnesty program for illegal aliens would ultimately end, according to a source at the agency. A source at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency within DHS, told CNN of the reaction to Sessions’ announcement last month that Trump would keep his promise to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which gives work permits to 800,000 illegal aliens, by career employees at the agency: While political appointees...

My children be not dismayed with the array of things that beset the worldly for you ARE My Kingdom Come and now you shall walk in My attributes as never before. As Enoch now you shall be with Me, as Elisha when you call I shall come for you dressing you fresh in the Mantle of My Resurrection Power to take back the land from the evil one for I AM coming soon for you and NOW is your time to ( (( SHINE )) ) 2 Kings 2:14 Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from...

PARIS - The United Nations’ cultural agency will elect a new chief on Friday, seeking someone who can revive UNESCO’s fortunes after the United States and Israel pulled out. Whoever gets the job will need to restore relevance to the agency whose mission to protect the world’s cultural and natural heritage has been hobbled by regional rivalries and a lack of money. After five days of secret balloting at UNESCO’s Paris HQ two former culture ministers, Qatar’s Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari and France’s Audrey Azoulay, face off in the final vote of the 58-member Executive Board, scheduled for Friday evening....

Czech president Miloš Zeman has said Europeans should “have the courage to invest in our own guns” in order to guard against international terrorism, like millions of U.S. citizens have. The elder statesman — a veteran of the Prague Spring uprising against the old Communist regime as well as the Velvet Revolution which finally brought it down — made his comments in an address to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, an intergovernmental forum which predates the quasi-federal European Union by several years. “The level of international crime is growing because of Islamic terrorism,” he said, in response...

Harvey Weinstein is a loser. To use a British phrase, he’s a wanker and based on present reporting it seems he’s a wanker in all meanings of the word. Any guy who has to use his power over a woman to get laid is a loser.

Help! I saw somewhere that the deal between Obama and other countries resulted in Iran getting $160 million from it. There is a thread about Iran violating the deal from a GERMAN source 32 times. I also saw that basically Iran and North Korea were colluding to build H-Bomb warheads and long range missiles. Iran provided money as part of this. This is important, as it needs to have visibility right now. Fox needs to break this as a MAJOR STORY.

Launched in 2011, the 8.5-ton Tiangong-1 space laboratory had originally been a symbol of Beijing's ambitious scientific bid to become a space superpower. However, last year Chinese officials confirmed the country's first orbiting space station had to be scrapped after its functions failed following two years in space. Since then, the space station known as "Heavenly Palace" has been gradually decaying and, in recent weeks, has accelerated its descent into the Earth's atmosphere. ... While much of the craft is expected to burn up in Earth's atmosphere, McDowell also reportedly said that some parts weighing as much as 100 kilograms...

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to Captain (Infantry) Arlo L. Olson (ASN: 0-386969), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, in action at the Volturno River, Italy. On 13 October 1943, when the drive across the Volturno River began, Captain Olson and his company spearheaded the advance of the regiment through 30 miles of mountainous enemy territory in 13...

The CEO of Germany’s Lufthansa has said the company would be interested in buying Italy’s troubled flagship carrier if an opportunity arose to “to create a new Alitalia”. His comments come just days before an October 16th deadline for the submission of bids. Ryanair pulled out of the running earlier this month as it deals with a shortage of pilots that forced it to cancel thousands of flights. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told German media on Thursday: “Alitalia as it exists today is not up for debate. But if there was a chance of creating a new Alitalia, then as...

Liberals are so absolutely desperate for President Donald Trump to leave office that Vanity Fair has offered them a slight bit of solace in the form of extreme fantasy. Nell Scovell of that magazine asked eight television writers to fullfill liberal wish fantasy by presenting imaginary scenarios in which Trump resigns. They must have been comedy writers since most of their scenarios are so divorced from reality as to be hilarious. Unfortunately Scovell herself seems to come from a very dark place since the "example" she presented to the writers can properly be classified as gruesomely sick:

It’s a specter that should stalk the nightmares of Republican leaders: a Senate chamber, packed on Christmas Eve, as lawmakers gather to decide the fate of a tax package that will shape the GOP’s political fortunes. The bill remains one vote shy, and then Sen. John McCain walks in, pauses before the desk, and delivers his second thumbs-down dagger of the year. For that reason, the Arizona Republican, who is fighting a public battle with brain cancer, will be among his party’s most closely watched as the year winds down and the tax debate gears up. Yet over his decades...

I know, I know, Megyn Kelly, but this segment on Lt. Jim Downing, 104, is worth a watch.

It’s strange but true: One of the greatest advantages you can now possess in America is to be a card-carrying member of an officially disadvantaged group — race, gender, gender preference. It’s the intersectionality imbroglio in operation in daily life, where there are only the innocent oppressed and the evil oppressor. The oppressor is white men, and all other categories possess varying degrees of oppressed, grievance authority. This holds true from racial preferences in hiring and college admissions to legal protections and extra status in society. It’s not at all as the personal liberty-minded framers envisioned things. They wanted people...

The Fox News headline sums up the issue at hand: "No Obama documents in Obama library? Historians puzzled by Chicago center plans." The article continues, "The Obama Foundation is taking an unconventional approach to the presidential center and library being planned in Chicago. It's opting to host a digital archive of President Barack Obama's records, but not keep his hard-copy manuscripts and letters and other documents onsite." The Chicago Tribune broke the story that, to this point, has attracted no major media attention. Its headline raises much the same question Fox News did: "Without archives on site, how will Obama...