Free Republic

They’re not so smug now. Manuel Henriques, founder and CEO of Hercules Capital and wife were arrested — among dozens of well-heeled parents charged with bribing their kids’ way into top colleges. They allegedly paid mastermind, William “Rick” Singer, $400,000 to get Isabelle into the prestigious school — as well as helping her younger sister cheat on her own college-entrance exam. Singer allegedly talked Isabelle’s private prep school into allowing one of his crooked proctors to fly in to oversee the test. Then “unbeknownst to the school, he sat side-by-side with the daughter during the exam and provided her with...

I'd like to carry a semiauto, but I use a revolver because I just can’t rack a slide. If I had a dollar for every shooter I have heard singing this sad song over the years, I’d be a woman of means and influence. In days of yore, I might have pointed my doubters – usually women and seniors – toward a SIG P238, a Walther PK 380 or, more recently, a Glock 42. But each of those came with caveats related either to cost (SIGs are pricey), functionality (Walthers are a pain to break down) or usability (for better...

"We can't be divided by race, religion, by tribe. We're defined by those enduring principles in the Constitution, even though we don't necessarily all know them." So Joe Biden told the firefighters union this week. But does Joe really believe that? Or does that not sound more like a plea, a wistful hope, rather than a deep conviction? For Biden surely had in mind the debate that exploded last week in the House Democratic caucus on how to punish Somali-American and Muslim Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for raising the specter of dual loyalty. Rebutting accusations of anti-Semitism lodged against her, Omar...

The “nonprofit” think tank founded by Bernie Sanders’ wife and son is closing after criticisms over its donations. The Vermont-based Institute is suspending all operations by May — “so there could not even be an appearance of impropriety his wife explained. “....the most important thing is to not accept donations. Nobody should think giving money gains access or favor to anybody running for office.” Jane and her son, David Driscoll, founded the Sanders Institute in 2017 claiming that it would "research and promote liberal policies." Instead, people have accused them of selling their loyalty to the rich and powerful. Bernie...

You can bet there is at least one prominent politician or celebrity who won’t be invited to the owner’s box atop Gillette Stadium on opening day for the New England Patriots in September. That would be U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a Democrat, who is running for president, especially after she made that crack about Robert Kraft at the annual iconoclastic Gridiron Club dinner in Washington the other night. Promising to be brief before a room full of reporters, Klobuchar opened by saying her remarks would be “shorter than a Robert Kraft visit to the Orchids day spa.”

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) The Kabuki Theater in our nation’s capital never ceases. – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell – who will be the Senate Minority Leader after the 2020 elections if he keeps pulling nonsense like this – staged a show vote in the U.S. Senate yesterday that will lead to President Donald Trump’s first exercise of his veto power. The show vote on a resolution to reverse the President’s national emergency declaration on the border situation – which congress is completely responsible for causing and allowing to mushroom – that was earlier passed by...

The biggest school admissions scandal ever prosecuted began with a tip from an executive investigators were targeting in an unrelated securities fraud probe, it was revealed today. The unnamed businessman told Boston authorities chasing down the market manipulation scheme that Rudy Meredith, the women’s soccer coach at Yale University, said he would designated the executive’s daughter as a recruit in exchange for cash, the official said. The official was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The scandal-plagued U.S. bank Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) is "too big to manage," a top U.S. lawmaker told CEO Tim Sloan at a hearing Tuesday in Washington. Maxine Waters, a Democratic congresswoman who heads the U.S. House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee, said at the hearing that Wells Fargo is blighted by "ongoing lawlessness and failure to right the ship." Waters represents a district in southern California, where some of the San Francisco-based bank's alleged customer abuses first emerged. It was the first time Sloan has appeared before the House panel since Democrats took control of the chamber following...

Multiple lawsuits have been filed for more than $500 billion against elite universities and those implicated in the college admissions scandal that helped wealthy Americans cheat their children's way into school. Two Stanford students filed a $5 million class action suit on Wednesday claiming they were denied opportunities to get admitted to Yale and USC and have now had their degrees devalued in the wake of the recent charges.

Lori Loughlin has been dropped from Netflix's Fuller House after she was charged in this week's massive college bribery scandal. ……………………………...…………………...……. Loughlin's daughters Olivia Jade, 19, and Isabella Rose, 20, also decided to withdraw from the University of Southern California on Thursday. Sources told TMZ that the girls were afraid they would be 'viciously bullied' if they returned to the Los Angeles school.

The Hallmark Channel has cut ties with favored actress Lori Loughlin after she was charged in the college bribery scandal. Hallmark said it was 'saddened' by the allegations involving the actress and revealed on Thursday the network would no longer be working with her. It has no plans for her to return for season five of Fuller House - which she guest starred in - and have cancelled Sunday's episode of When Calls the Heart while it reviews her role.

Today’s Cryptogram GLHQF BYC QFN FIFZJEYF XYEV NKBN NECBJ, JET’ZF B QEN GNZEYAFZ NKBY JET VFZF JFGNFZCBJ. –CZBXF You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications, unfortunately they are copyrighted so we can't use them here. So, we're just going to make up our own. The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW (does not apply to today's cryptogram). Beware, the game is very addictive. If this is your first time, don't be intimidated. PLEASE DO NOT post...

(Breaking News: Mass Shooting At Two Mosques In Christchurch, New Zealand) Police Commissioner Mike Bush says 49 were killed in the attacks..... Reaction to the attacks from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calling it 'the latest example of rising racism and Islamophobia'..... Documents unsealed this week confirm that Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller wants a subpoena and a contempt citation against a corporation owned by a foreign government.... The US Senate voting against President Trump's declaration of a national emergency to fund border security on the southern border..... Columnist Ann Coulter defining her differences with President Trump in her latest column...

The largest-ever study of ancient DNA from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) suggests that the Iberian male lineages were almost completely replaced between 4,500 and 4,000 years ago by newcomers originating on the Russian steppe... Most striking was an influx of new people during the later Copper Age, otherwise known as the Beaker period because of the ubiquitous presence in burials of large drinking vessels, from about 4,500 years ago. By the Early Bronze Age, 500 years later, these newcomers represented about 40% of Iberia's genetic pool - but virtually 100% of their male lineages... This is an extraordinary...

As one can see from many of the overnight posts on the internet, our fifth column was busy, trying to remind us that "everybody does it," "both sides do it," in reference to the murders in New Zealand. And I have no doubt that during the day, here and elsewhere, the Demos, primitives, and other appeasers and virtue signallers are going to continually refrain this, "everybody does it," "both sides do it." Which of course is nonsense. The murder of forty people from the other side is not the same as the all those whose lives have been taken from...

English synopsis translation of the Korean article (北 최선희 "美와 비핵화 협상 중단 고려...김정은 곧 행동 계획 발표") Text: North Korea (key negotiator) Ms. Choe Hee-hee: "We Are Now Considering Stopping Negotiations with the US" Article by Chosun Ilbo Reporter Kim Nam-hee Sub point: Choi states: "It will soon be decided if Kim Jong Un will continue to maintain a nuclear or missile moratorium," "(SOS) Mike Pompeo and (NSC) John Bolton are the ones to have created hostility and mistrust." "It will soon be decided if Kim Jong Un will continue to maintain a nuclear or missile moratorium and...

God of Nations at Thy feet, In the bonds of love we meet, Hear our voices, we entreat, God defend our free land. Guard Pacific's triple star From the shafts of strife and war, Make her praises heard afar, God defend New Zealand. Men of every creed and race, Gather here before Thy face, Asking Thee to bless this place, God defend our free land. From dissension, envy, hate, And corruption guard our state, Make our country good and great, God defend New Zealand. Peace, not war, shall be our boast, But, should foes assail our coast, Make us then...

Dick’s Sporting Goods announced on Tuesday they will be removing hunting rifles and other hunting products from 125 of its stores. Last year, in a move that was highly disappointing for gun sellers, buyers and the firearms industry as a whole, the sporting goods store pulled all modern sporting rifles from their shelves. On Tuesday, the company doubled down on that strategy and will be moving even further away from selling firearms. According to The New York Times, Dick’s plans to replace hunting goods with merchandise such as ski apparel, batting cages and other outdoor gear. Nonetheless, this type of...

Posted on March 14, 2019March 14, 2019 by Evan Gough This is the Final Photograph from Opportunity Sad.But beautiful.NASA has shared Opportunity’s final photograph from the surface of Mars. The rover’s final resting place is in Endeavour Crater, and barring any statistically unlikely event, it will sit there for centuries, millennia, or even longer. And instead of a tombstone, we have this final image. The image is a panorama, captured at the end-point of Opportunity’s 15-year, marathon-plus journey. Opportunity’s odometer is now stopped at 28 miles, or 45 kilometers, and its chronometer at 5,111 sols.354 individual images make up...

"Mashallah. She has a flag too in her pocket. If she becomes a martyr, inshallah (God willing) they will lay the flag [on her]," Erdogan said upon seeing the child wearing a uniform of the Turkish special forces. He was addressing the convention of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the city of Kahramanmaras. The AKP audience was cheering in support of the army staging a cross-border offensive to dislodge the US-backed People's Protection Units (YPG) from the besieged enclave of Afrin in Syrian Kurdistan. The leader of the newly-formed nationalist right-wing IYI Party (Good Party), Meral Aksener,...