Free Republic

There are plenty of shocking bombshells in Michael Wolff's new book, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," but is there anything actually new? I haven't read it yet, but I have been following the crowdsourced effort by other journalists to recount every salacious tidbit. The quotes from staffers and Cabinet secretaries are indeed shocking by the standards of your typical "inside account" of an administration's first year. I don't recall so many White House luminaries competing to out-insult the commander in chief before. "For [Treasury Secretary] Steve Mnuchin and [then-Chief of Staff] Reince Priebus, he was an 'idiot,'"...

The Pacifica Foundation, a Berkeley-based community radio network that includes the progressive radio station KPFA, is in financial crisis because of mounting debt — and is now teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Pacifica, a nonprofit founded in 1946 by conscientious objectors from World War II, is the mother of America’s alternative radio, pioneering decades of left-leaning public affairs programs and community-based music.

One of my favorite Christmastime presents is the Census Bureau's release of its annual population estimates for all of the states. Comparison of the April 1, 2010, Census Bureau enumerations and the June 30, 2017, estimates for the states shows how each state fared in the Obama years, seeing as this period includes 82 of the 96 months of the Obama administration and only five months of Donald Trump's presidency. Who are the big population gainers? Some small units: the District of Columbia, at 15 percent (big government, gentrification), North Dakota, at 12 percent (fracking, which liberals failed to stop),...

The “Donald Trump/Mike Pence Prayer Vigil” and “Heroes and Nation Prayer Thread” have combined to form the AMERICA PRAYER VIGIL prayer thread! Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for our President and Vice President and for AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. THOSE WERE THE DAYS By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion....

Billionaire environmentalist and Democratic mega-donor Tom Steyer is ready to announce what his next move in politics will be.

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...

Mueller’s “Pit Bull” Andrew Weissmann under scrutiny as Rosenstein agrees to turn over documents to Nunes The Department of Justice has agreed to turn over all documents related to the controversial dossier to the House Intelligence Committee after four months of wrangling and legal threats ended in a Wednesday night phone call and agreement. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein spoke at length Wednesday night, just hours before Nunes’ imposed midnight deadline on the Justice Department passed. Rosenstein not only agreed to provide all the documents requested, which include unreacted FBI interviews with witnesses,...

A silent majority of bishops agree, but one can appreciate why they haven't spoken outThe news that five bishops have made a declaration upholding the Church’s teaching about marriage and its teaching about divorce is cheering news. At the same time it is depressing that only five (so far) have signed up to it. The statement can be found here. The whole thing is worth reading, but the key word to note is found in the title, namely “immutable”.The Bishops are not saying anything new, but merely restating what has been always and everywhere believed. Moreover, no one should object...

A 25-year-old serial rapist, whose victims included a 16-year-old girl, got mouthy Thursday after a Franklin County judge sentenced him to 77 years in prison. Kaquawn Lane, formerly of Gahanna, refused to sign a form confirming that he would register as a sex offender every 90 days after his release from prison. “I’ll never get out,” he told Common Pleas Judge Stephen L. McIntosh. “Why would I need to sign the registration? I will never get out. I’ll never get out ... I will die in prison.” “You deserve it,” a family member of one of his victims said...

SEOUL (Reuters) - North and South Korea will hold official talks next week for the first time in more than two years after Pyongyang accepted Seoul’s offer for dialogue, just hours after the United States and South Korea delayed a joint military exercise. Ribbons bearing messages wishing for unification between the two Koreas hang on a barbed-wire fence near the militarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, December 21, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji The South’s unification ministry said North Korea had sent its consent for the talks to be held on Jan. 9 in a statement at 0116...

January 5, 2018 Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop Reading 1 1 Jn 3:11-21 Beloved:This is the message you have heard from the beginning:we should love one another,unlike Cain who belonged to the Evil Oneand slaughtered his brother. Why did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil,and those of his brother righteous. Do not be amazed, then, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to lifebecause we love our brothers.Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,and you know that no...

The Justice Department has launched a new inquiry into whether the Clinton Foundation engaged in any pay-to-play politics or other illegal activities while Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State, law enforcement officials and a witness tells The Hill. FBI agents from Little Rock, Ark., where the Foundation was started, have taken the lead in the investigation and have interviewed at least one witness in the last month, and law enforcement officials said additional activities are expected in coming weeks. The officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the probe is examining whether the Clintons promised or performed...

The mission will consist of a relay orbiter being launched aboard a Long March 5 rocket in June of 2018. This relay will assume orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 Lagrange Point, followed by the launch of the lander and rover about six months later. In addition to an advanced suite of instruments for studying the lunar surface, the lander will also be carrying an aluminum alloy container filled with seeds and insects. “The container will send potatoes, arabidopsis seeds and silkworm eggs to the surface of the Moon. The eggs will hatch into silkworms, which can produce carbon dioxide, while the potatoes and...

Luis Mora, 20, and his girlfriend, Jaleen Udarbe, 21, were on their way home from a party around 10 p.m. Saturday when they missed a turn and ended up at the checkpoint. Mora has been detained in a temporary holding cell in a Border Patrol station since then. “Luis Mora was found in violation of his visa condition,” said Tekae Michael, a spokeswoman for the Border Patrol in the San Diego sector. “Currently, Luis Mora is listed in DHS custody. This is all the information I have on the subject at this time.” Mora came to the U.S. from Colombia...

We've all heard the stories about how several big companies decided to give bonuses immediately after the December 2017 tax reform was passed... but the mainstream media quickly dropped the story. What we haven't heard about over the past week or so is how the list of companies has grown. (compliments to the good folks at Americans for Tax Reform for committing to build a running list online). Some are relatively small businesses, like banks that have a couple hundred employees... but it's remarkable how many big companies have jumped on the bonus bandwagon too. For example: - AT&T: $1000...

My wife and I are traveling to Phoenix on the 13th and returning on the 15th but renting a car thru Sky Harbor is crazy expensive. Any ideas as to options would be appreciated. Thank you.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Young male refugees in Germany got the blame on Wednesday for most of a two-year increase in violent crime, adding fuel to the country’s political debate over migrants. Violent crime rose by about 10 percent in 2015 and 2016, a study showed. It attributed more than 90 percent of that to young male refugees. It noted, however, that migrants settling from war-torn countries such as Syria were much less likely to commit violent crimes that those from other places who were unlikely to be given asylum. Migration will be a key issue in forthcoming coalition talks between...

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it would suspend nearly all security aid to Pakistan, an across-the-board freeze that is the most tangible sign yet of Washington’s frustration with the country’s refusal to crack down on terrorist networks operating there.The decision, which could affect as much as $1.3 billion in annual aid, came three days after President Trump complained on Twitter that Pakistan had “given us nothing but lies & deceit” and accused it of providing “safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan.”The move underlines how swiftly relations with Pakistan have deteriorated since Mr. Trump...

William Graham, a lawyer, philanthropist, investor and son of a former Washington Post publisher, committed suicide last Wednesday, according to his brother – reminiscent of the suicide of his father more than 50 years ago. ...Graham’s mother, Katharine, ran The Washington Post when it won a Pulitzer Price for exposing then-President Richard Nixon’s Watergate Scandal. She is also portrayed in the upcoming film “The Post,” which tells the story of the paper’s efforts to publish the “Pentagon Papers” in 1971. The Graham family had owned the newspaper since Graham’s grandfather Eugene Meyer bought it in 1933. The family sold the...

Steve Bannon has unified the Republican Party — against Steve Bannon. And President Donald Trump stands to benefit most from his former chief strategist's comeuppance. Without Bannon barking in his ear — and nipping at the heels of Republican senators — it will be easier for Trump to deliver on the remainder of a legislative agenda that threatens to strain his base over issues such as federal spending, government wiretaps and immigration. Similarly, a weakened Bannon figures to have less firepower to challenge sitting Republican senators — and imperil Trump's GOP majority — in this year's midterm elections.