Free Republic

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released the following statement after voting to disapprove of the national emergency declaration regarding the border: “I stand with President Trump on the need for a border wall and stronger border security, but the Constitution clearly states that money cannot be spent unless Congress has passed a law to do so.”

Stem cell-based therapies are becoming increasingly common, especially in the treatment of blood cancers like lymphoma and leukemia. In these cases, the patient's cancerous blood stem cells are removed and replaced with new, healthy ones. However, up to a quarter of cases end in death because replenishing of blood cells is too slow. Scientists already know that stress causes HSCs to slow down—reconstituting the entire blood-cell supply system can be overwhelming. In terms of biology, this stress causes increased activity in mitochondria, the energy-producing organelles of the cell. To meet the high demands of rebuilding blood cells, the mitochondria of...

For starters, we have John McCain, John Kerry, Robert “Gigolo” O’Rourke, and Paul Ryan. Any others you can think of to add to the list?

Nicholas Sandmann's attorney release a very short video on their new major lawsuits against CNN and the Washington Post. Video at link

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said Thursday that there should be a federal moratorium on executions. The senator from California discussed the matter on National Public Radio, a day after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California granted reprieves to 737 death row inmates and signed an executive order placing a moratorium on executions. Harris was asked if there should be “a federal equivalent” to Newsom’s order. She said, “Yes, I think that there should be.” […] She noted that black and Latino defendants were more likely to be executed than white defendants, as were poor defendants with poor legal representation...

BREAKING Police are responding to a critical incident in Christchurch, New Zealand after dozens of shots were heard being fired inside a mosque. Ten emergency service vehicles are at the scene and police said it is an “evolving situation”. An eyewitness told Stuff NZ he had seen at least four people lying on the ground and “blood everywhere”. The photographer working for the publication also said he had seen three seriously injured people lying on the steps of the mosque. Eyewitnesses said they’ve seen about six people taken into Christchurch Hospital, two with serious injuries.

Researchers at UC San Francisco announced this week that age-damaged skin in older adults may be contributing to a wide range of chronic, age-related conditions that include heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Here’s what the dermatological researchers said they learned from their work with the San Francisco Veterans Administration Health System: As aging skin begins to break down, the immune system releases small proteins known as cytokines to signal that there’s inflammation in damaged areas of the skin. These tiny inflammatory cytokines can leak into the body’s circulation system, and if there are enough of them, they trigger body-wide inflammation....

AOC Gets Philosophical at SXSW: Like, You Know, Like, Whatever, You Know? [Mongage] The rising Democrat star is proving she has a unique way with words.

Antifa is planning to hold a “Halloween party” themed protest at the home of Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Friday evening, The Gateway Pundit has learned. The group is calling for people to meet at a church near Carlson’s home at 6 p.m. in Halloween costumes. The group will then walk together to his home.Far-left groups previously protested outside Carlson’s family home in November. The television personality was not home at the time, but his wife was.The group threatened Carlson and demanded that he leave town, saying that “tonight, we remind you that you are not safe either.” They...

Lori Loughlin‘s daughters are dropping out of the University of Southern California — because they’re afraid of being bullied over the massive college admissions scam that has left them feeling like “a mess,” a report said Thursday. Olivia Jade, 19, and her sister, 20-year-old Isabella Rose, have decided to withdraw from USC days after their parents, “Fuller House” star Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were charged for allegedly paying the girls’ way into the school, TMZ reported. One source told the gossip website the girls worry they’ll be “viciously bullied” if they return to school.

Students around the world are walking out of class in protest Friday as part of a concerted effort to demand action on climate change.

Full Title: Soldier, 30, awaiting trial for taking a military vehicle on a joyride was able to fly to IRAQ while wearing an ankle monitor, researched bombs online and posted about Al Qaeda on Twitter A U.S. Army National Guard officer was able to travel to Iraq for two days while wearing an ankle monitor after he was arrested for hijacking an armored car last year. Joshua Yabut broke the terms of his bond agreement by traveling on commercial flights to the Middle East. The 30-year-old soldier was also caught researching bombs online and posting about Al Qaeda on Twitter,...

Beto O'Rourke 'Vanity Fair' profile mocked for stories about ex-girlfriends, bookshelves and his 'near-mythical experience Beto O’Rourke is officially in the 2020 presidential race, but early polling suggests his Vanity Fair profile isn’t going over well. O’Rourke, who announced to his supporters Thursday morning he was tossing his hat in the ring for the Democratic nomination, was the star of a fawning, 8,600-word opus published by the prestigious magazine on Wednesday. The wide-ranging interview is the cover story of the latest edition of the magazine, with the 46-year-old boldly declaring he was "just born to do this". The Vanity Fair...

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky's education commissioner wants the name of every teacher who used a sick day to force 10 school districts to close so educators could protest at the state legislature. At least 10 Kentucky school districts were forced to close several times since Feb. 28 after so many teachers used their sick days that officials could not find enough substitutes to cover classes. Jefferson County Public Schools, one of the country's largest districts with more than 98,000 students, has closed six times in two weeks as hundreds of teachers packed the state Capitol to protest several proposals that...

Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez should get her own reality TV show. It would be a comedy, of course, with cameras following her around to record a typical day in the life of the face of the Democratic party. Those cameras would record some of the most illogical, incoherent, idiotic, and just plain weird statements from a woman whose worldview has been shaped by socialism. That she's an ignoramus with a primary school understanding of most issues is a bonus. Yesterday, Ocasio-Cortez "grilled" the chairman of Wells Fargo, Timothy Sloan, asking him a series of bizarre questions about "caging migrant children" and...

(CNSNews.com) - Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that the Pentagon plans to withdraw between 30 and 40 percent of the 6,000 troops on the southern border within the next month, leaving about 3,000 to 4,000. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) asked Shanahan, “So you testified Mr. Secretary that there are 6,000 troops currently deployed at our southern border. Can you tell us how long they are going to be there?” “I’d say 30 or 40 percent of them will be departing in the next month or so when they complete some of their...

There's a quote that Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly uses a lot that he attributes to his favorite saint, Vincent de Paul, from back when the church was experiencing another crisis of corrupt and abusive priests. “'If you want to be one of the church’s enemies, be one of her priests',” Daly said on his Bishop and the Vicars podcast last year. “And, of course, you could say, one of her bishops for that matter.” It's one of those quotes that can be read in two ways. You could read it as saying that it's sometimes the job of priests or...

I don’t understand the idea that ideology is a bad thing. Notice the contradiction here? “Ideas are a bad thing.” That itself is an idea. Democrats, some party insiders say, are going over a cliff. They’re going all-out socialist. Even Communist. One of their leading figures wants to tear down every single building in America and build new ones, conforming to environmentalist standards. Most of her colleagues in the Establishment either agree, or are reluctant to be seen disagreeing. Is ideology to blame for this madness? No way. It’s not ideology that’s to blame. Ideology simply means the presence of...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Marx: Issues of Celibacy & “Sexual Orientation” Will Receive “Synodal” Clarification LIGEN, Germany, March 14, 2019—Issues of celibacy and “sexual orientation” will receive clarification within a “binding synodal path” in Germany, says Cardinal Reinhard Marx in remarks to katholisch.de after the conclusion of the spring conference of German Bishops, Thursday.Emphasizing the need for more “theological discoveries while integrating modern humanities”, he added that the intimate personal significance of sexuality in modern day culture had yet to be fully understood by the Church.“We feel how often we are unable to speak in questions about today’s sexual behavior,” he...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Amid the poverty and deprivation of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian women struggle to find a taste of normality that is taken for granted in much of the rest of the world.