Free Republic

In an interview over the Memorial Day weekend, former federal prosecutor Joe diGenova told a D.C. radio station that a “battle royale” is taking place within the Justice Department between Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray, as well as other elements of the intelligence community. At issue, said diGenova, are efforts by Barr and the Trump administration to restore “accountable government” to federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies who have long been free to operate virtually independently of any real congressional and Executive Branch oversight — to the point where they have become excessively corrupt. DiGenova, who...

In a major breakthrough in what could be the most fascinating story of our time, five U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet crewmen have recounted a number of incredibly strange encounters with unidentified flying objects off the East Coast of the United States. Two of the pilots went on the record. The surreal craft they encountered had performance that defies known propulsion and aerodynamic capabilities, and are described as looking like something akin to special effects you would have seen in a sci-fi movie circa the late 1980s. The pilots' accounts also point to a major sensor upgrade on their aircraft...

German government backtracks on Jewish skullcap warning, urges everyone to wear it ahead of anti-Israel protest The German government urged people to wear the Jewish kippa in the wake of an upcoming anti-Israel protest, backtracking on the warning that Jewish people should conceal their religious identity and avoid wearing the religious skullcap. Felix Klein, the government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, sparked international controversy after saying in an interview with a regional press group that he “cannot recommend to Jews that they wear the skullcap at all times everywhere in Germany.” Israeli President Reuven Rivlin promptly called out the German government, saying it...

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he” (Proverbs 29:18).

The God of Christianity is not a frivolous God. He is not given to caprice or arbitrary acts of violence. His actions are not irrational expressions or whims. We do not know why at a given place or a given time natural catastrophes take place. Easy equations of guilt and disaster are ruled out by statements in the book of Job and the ninth chapter of John’s gospel. When inexplicable disasters occur, we must say with Luther, “Let God be God.” When Job cried out, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the...

As anti-Semitism czar advises Jews not to wear skullcaps in certain areas, tabloid editor launches protest Julian Reichelt ✔ @jreichelt Wenn auch nur einer in unserem Land nicht Kippa tragen kann, ohne sich in Gefahr zu bringen, kann die Antwort nur lauten, dass wir alle Kippa tragen. Die Kippa gehört zu Deutschland! Deswegen druckt @BILD morgen die Kippa zum Ausschneiden auf Seite 1. 1,502 12:19 PM - May 26, 2019 728 people are talking about this The editor of Bild, Germany’s largest newspaper, on Sunday said he will print a Jewish skullcap on the front page of the Monday paper...

...Trump inherited a superficially stable world from Barack Obama that, in fact, was quite volatile. There had been no tense standoffs with North Korea, but also apparent intercontinental ballistic missiles with possible nuclear warheads now pointed at the United States. Obama more or less punted on North Korea, by declaring it a problem — and hoping that Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear testing did not get too out of hand before 2017. Then there was the “Iran deal.” It was an appeasing agreement that almost surely guaranteed that Iran would soon have nuclear weapons, along with a revived economy liberated from...

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Apology accepted, you giant a**hole! – Desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say, and no Democrat candidates are more desperate these days than Eric “Otter” Swalwell and Irish Bob “Beto” O’Rourke. This week, both campaigns decided it would be best for their failing candidates to apologize for being exactly who they are. So, Swalwell went out on Monday and, in on of the most stilted, palpably insincere moments of 2019, made a video in which he apologized to a woman for being a white man, saying “I may be another...

Oh, they’re out there all right. Raj and I saw one with our own eyes at dusk one summer day over 40 years ago. And no, there were no chemicals involved. “Our sovereignty is being violated by vehicles of unknown origin.” – Christopher Mellon, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations The U.S. military has seen them.    The strange objects, one of them like a spinning top moving against the wind, appeared almost daily from the summer of 2014 to March 2015, high in the skies over the East Coast....

During the walk-up to Memorial Day, with its evocations of respect for fallen warriors, hypercharged Dallas, found time to stick out a very official tongue at, you see, the wrong kind of fallen warriors: the Confederate kind. The business of establishment America, on the urging of the political left, has become that of saying, "Oh, 'scuse us for not living up to ideals we didn't know were ideals till you kind progressives kindly wised us up. " Dallas city government -- once fairly accused of patient commitment to reasoned dialogue -- bellied up enthusiastically, voting to sell and bar (unconstitutionally)...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem (Old Testament) 1 Kings 5 Preparations for Building the Temple 5 [a]When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. 2 Solomon sent back this message to Hiram: 3 “You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet. 4 But now the Lord my...

As my Let Africa Sink essay from 2002(!) is going to feature in my Monday post, I thought I’d take the opportunity to re-publish it below, pretty much un-edited except for a few typos which somehow survived to the present day. Let Africa Sink May 26, 2002 11:40 AM CDT When it comes to any analysis of the problems facing Africa, Western society, and particularly people from the United States, encounter a logical disconnect that makes clear analysis impossible. That disconnect is the way life is regarded in the West (it’s precious, must be protected at all costs etc.), compared...

Please send up a prayer and send a shout out to Doogle who just got out of the hospital for a collapsed lung from pneumonia.

House Democrats are jubilant because last week, they won two court victories in their ongoing battle to get President Donald Trump's tax returns and decades of his personal and business banking records. But their glee won't last long. These federal district court rulings are likely to be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump will prevail, along with taxpayer privacy and political fair play. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's history as a defender of taxpayer privacy adds to the favorable odds that Trump will win in the high court. In 1986, as an appeals court judge, Ginsburg expressed her appreciation that...

Monday on CNN's "Outfront," Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, said that (snip) Inside the Democratic caucus "there is a lot of momentum towards an impeachment inquiry, even as people go home over this break, they are hearing more from their constituents about it and more people are signing on to it. But I think we should be very clear about what they’re signing on to. I think that whatever divisions are in the caucus have really been overstated. I think that there’s a convergence of view that we need everything on the...

YouTuber PowerModz shows just how scary a runaway machine gun can actually be. This Thompson submachine gun takes off expectantly for this shooter. A runaway machine gun can ruin your day or others quickly. While firing short bursts the machine gun just kept on going without putting a finger on the trigger. Though text book states – Uncontrolled fire (the weapon continues to fire after the trigger is released) is usually caused by the firer not pulling and holding the trigger all the way to the rear. This results in the sear not clearing the sear notch, which causes wear...

Today’s Cryptogram SCWDLDYZW XDNLCBP DN RZB LCC YBDQDVZW LC FO Z RDL NTFUOYL CR NLTKP RCB LXO PCTVA. –-H.X. ZTKOV Today’s CG is courtesy of the Arkansas Gazette. You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications. 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 the answer in general comments, but DO post your...

China’s Opens a New Window. military is powerful enough to replace the U.S. as the world’s dominant superpower, according to retired U.S. four- star General Jack Keane. “They are growing quickly as one of the largest military in the world and also are technologically as capable as the United States,” he told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo Opens a New Window. on Tuesday. “They’ve caught us in a lot of the advantages that we have had… the military capability is beginning to dominate the Pacific region and that’s what clearly is on their minds and they may replace the United States...

The release of the original Netflix documentary "After Maria" prompted a wave of emotions and backlash — to the point that thousands have signed various online petitions asking for the short film to be removed from the streaming platform’s library after accusations it is disrespectful and not in tune with the plight of those still in Puerto Rico suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. The documentary released last week showcases the story of Puerto Rican women forced to leave the island after Hurricane Maria and the challenges they face in New York. ~ snip ~ The documentary not only...

A mother and father in Indianapolis have only one child, a little girl who is 2 years old. The mother becomes pregnant with another. She and her husband have decided they want only two children -- and they want the second to be a boy. Eighteen weeks into pregnancy, the mother undergoes a screening that determines her unborn child is a girl. With the full support of her husband, she decides to abort this little girl so they can have another try at conceiving a boy. Whose side will the Supreme Court take on the question of whether the mother...