Free Republic

Is diversity good? In some things, diversity is very good. There are some things that could not even exist without diversity. Fruit salad, for example. What would a fruit salad be without diversity, if it contained only watermelon or only grapes? Diversity in the marketplace caters to the needs and preferences of consumers. Some want chocolate, others vanilla. Some want a coupe, others a sedan. Some want Fast and Furious, others Beauty and the Beast. Diversity in education offers a variety of study opportunities for people with different interests. Some major in mathematics, others in literature, others in engineering, others...

The National Education Association approved a new "business item" expressing support for abortion access during its annual conference in Houston. "[T]he NEA will include an assertion of our defense of a person's right to control their own body, especially for women, youth, and sexually marginalized people," the resolution states. "The NEA vigorously opposes all attacks on the right to choose and stands on the fundamental right to abortion under Roe v. Wade." The NEA is the largest teachers' union in the U.S. with more than 3 million members. It collected nearly $400 million from American educators in 2018, according to...

Charles Rivkin, former President Barack Obama’s former ambassador to France and a former top State Department official under Obama who was Obama’s 2008 campaign co-chair and has since taken over the MPAA as its chairman, announced on Monday morning to the board of the MPAA that Fabrizio has been terminated as a result of the arrest.Rivkin took over the MPAA from former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), a longtime top Democrat who ran for president and has deep connections in Washington. When he retired from the Senate in 2011 after 30 years, he took the job at MPAA as its chairman....

At a recent campaign event on a public college campus, Democratic presidential candidate Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke endorsed abortion right up until birth, telling the crowd that he believed a woman should have the right to abort her child the day before it is born. O’Rourke’s response, given at a town hall on the campus of the College of Charleston, came after a pointed question from an audience member, Breitbart reports. The audience member asked the politician: “I was born September 8th, 1989, and I want to know if you think on September 7th, 1989, my life had no value.”

“Order? Somebody should tell Chairman Trump this isn’t the People’s Republic of America,” thundered an editorial in the Wall Street Journal on August 23. What prompted this diatribe was President Donald Trump's tweet "Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.” The WSJ, however, raised more questions about its motives than about the President's sentiment. It is clear what the Chief Executive wants to see happen to strengthen the United States against the rising power of the Republic of...

The news that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was treated for pancreatic cancer raised the possibility of a Supreme Court opening within the next year. The 86-year-old Ginsburg's health has been declining for years, to where the last year has felt like a bad remake of the 1989 Weekend at Bernie's movie. Instead of enjoying her golden years in retirement, Ginsburg has been propped up and hidden in the hopes of holding the seat until a Democrat is elected. The always elegant Michael Moore, who previously placed a Ginsburg doll atop a Christmas tree, summed up the Democrat zeitgeist when he tweeted,...

While a number of Caribbean destinations struggle, resorts in the Bahamas are bouncing back from a tough period, attracting vacationers, gamblers and sun worshipers. Hotel occupancy in the Bahamas in the first half of 2019 was up 19% from a year earlier, according to hotel-data firm STR. Revenue per available room, a popular industry metric, was up 27% to $231. Nearby destinations’ rates have fallen or stayed flat. In part, the strong Bahamas numbers reflect the emergence of the $4.2 billion, 2,300-room Baha Mar resort and casino, which officially opened last year after falling more than two years behind schedule...

Tom Steele, A recent college graduate who was killed on her 22nd birthday and left in the back of a burning SUV in Lower Greenville was shot to death, authorities confirmed Friday. Sara Hudson died Monday from two gunshot wounds in the head, the Dallas County medical examiner's office said: one in the left temple and one in the back of the head. Thermal injuries from the fire were a contributing factor in her death, which was ruled a homicide. Glen Richter, 49, was arrested on a capital murder charge in connection with the slaying and booked into the Dallas...

Appearing Monday on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House, former Illinois congressman and longshot 2020 Republican presidential candidate Joe Walsh conceded that he has previously made “racist” remarks.

The homicide rate in Mexico is rising at record-setting pace this year, with more than 30,000 murders in the first seven months. It’s on target to hit almost 51,500 deaths by year’s end—about 1,000 more than in 2018 and 6,000 more than in 2017. That’s not accounting for the huge number of disappearances.

"He has talked about white supremacists as fine people," says Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren. "He’s done everything he can to stir up racial conflict and hatred in this country." Fellow presidential candidate Robert "Beto" O'Rourke agrees, saying Donald Trump himself is a white supremacist, which Merriam-Webster defines as "a person who believes that the white race is inherently superior to other races and that white people should have control over people of other races." Such an extreme claim about a president of the United States has no precedent in modern history. Yet Sen. Bernie Sanders agrees Trump is a...

Presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke (D), still struggling to crack three percent in most polls, took a break from the campaign trail to grill some burgers, according to a video posted Friday. The video surfaced last week, showing the former Texas lawmaker grilling a burger on a stovetop and placing a slice of cheese on the patty, slightly off-center. He appears to serve the dish with a side of broccoli– an unusual companion for the American classic. At a glance, it looks like he places the patty on an English muffin– another unconventional choice for such a meal:

<p>ORLANDO, Fla. — Tropical Storm Dorian is packing 60 mph winds but now has parts of Florida in its projected track, according to the National Hurricane Center.</p> <p>In its 5 p.m. EDT advisory Monday, the NHC projects Dorian will be a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mph winds by Wednesday as it passes over or near Puerto Rico. Then the storm is forecast to pass over or near the island of Hispaniola before heading toward the Bahamas and possible track to Florida, according to its latest path of projected movement.</p>

Over the weekend, the media took notice of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's apparently successful treatment for a malignant tumor on the pancreas. "No further treatment is needed at this time," said Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City -- which wasn't the same thing as saying "Justice Ginsburg's Supreme Court tenure is locked down and guaranteed." Possibly the least edifying phenomenon you run across in politics -- a highly unedifying pursuit these days, full of noise and rancor -- is what might be called the death watch, as in how-long-before-we-get-to-replace-old-so-and-so-on-whatever-it-is. Few are the political folk whose disappearances for...

Although Tropical Storm Dorian’s five-day forecast cone now reaches South Florida, its effects will be felt by the time it nears Puerto Rico, where a hurricane watch and and tropical storm warning were issued early Tuesday. At 8 a.m. Tuesday, Dorian was located about 15 miles southeast of St. Lucia — or about 1,500 miles from South Florida — with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and moving toward the northwest at 13 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. According to the latest update, Dorian is forecast to have winds close to, but below, hurricane strength during the next...

This is a Country Roots day and we have Birds In The Brook by the Leake County Revelers. The tune was recorded Dec. 12, 1928. THE WESTERNER https://thewesterner.blogspot.com/

The Vigo County Drug Task Force early Saturday morning arrested a Terre Haute woman in possession of nearly half a pound of methamphetamine. Kyra Grindle, 19, of Terre Haute, was booked in the Vigo County Jail and charged with dealing in methamphetamine with at least 10 grams, unlawful manufacture, distribution or possession of a controlled substance, driving while suspended, burglary while armed with a deadly weapon, criminal confinement, intimidation, pointing a loaded firearm and criminal recklessness. Grindle is set to appear 9 a.m. Monday in Vigo Superior Court 1. Her bond is set at $75,000, no 10% allowed. The...

Former President Obama and the former first lady have reportedly made a bid of approximately $15 million on a home in Martha’s Vineyard. The 7,000 square-foot house comes with 29 acres and would likely be a summer home. The family is known to have spent quite a bit of time on the island over past summers. Unlike President Trump, who earned his money before taking office, the Obamas have benefited handsomely from their time in the White House. President Obama only earned the standard $400,000 salary when he was in office, but after leaving, he and his wife Michelle acquired...

lhan Omar with her father and sister. (PowerLine) According to Steinberg there is credible evidence that Ilhan Omar and her family changed their name to illegally enter the United States back in 1995. And since that time Ilhan Omar as an adult continued to defy US law. According to Steinberg Rep. Omar committed at least eight instances of perjury going back to 2009. The charges could carry up to 40 years of prison time or deportation. Obviously, Ilhan Omar has no regard for US law and yet here she is representing Minnesota in the US Congress and a sitting member...

President Donald J. Trump called his relationship with France’s President Emmanuel Macron a “special relationship” recently at the G-7 summit in France, yet the traditional “special relationship has always been understood as between the U.S. and the U.K. developed during WWII. There seems to be a new opportunity for a special relationship between the U.S. and South America’s emerging beacon of free markets and liberty – Brazil. The election of Jair Bolsonaro in October 2018 to be President of South America’s biggest and most populous nation was a big victory for better trade and military ties with the United States....