Free Republic

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law on the southern island of Mindanao Tuesday. Duterte, who was on a trip to Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin, will cut his trip short and return home. Duterte’s action was prompted by a chaotic battle between Philippine security forces and a group linked to ISIS. From the Associated Press: Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said troops raided the hideout of a top terrorist suspect in southern Marawi city on Tuesday, sparking a gunbattle that prompted the militants to call for reinforcements from an allied group, the Maute. He said dozens of gunmen occupied...

We heard Donald Trump was evil, racist, and a sexist homophobe. Little evidence was presented to support this beyond Trump's desire to end illegal immigration and to block a massive influx of refugees from terror hotbeds from entering the United States. It was all shameful, cynical politics. And some Americans are finally realizing they were lied to by the media and the Democratic Party. Despite the boos for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos at Bethune-Cookman, leaders of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are noticing that Trump is a step up from Obama: Following his inauguration, Trump’s most overt outreach to...

Leading U.S. audit, tax, and advisory firm KPMG LLP today broke ground for construction of its $400 million learning, development, and innovation facility in the Lake Nona community of Orlando and forecasted hiring some 330 people statewide over the next three years. The firm announced on January 9 its commitment to create a 55-acre, state-of-the-art campus with 800,000 square feet of space for meeting, classroom, residential, and dining facilities. The campus will feature cutting-edge technology, including an innovation center that will support training and client engagement, and a heritage center to highlight the firm’s rich history and culture. KPMG expects...

Twenty-five-year-old Blake Oliver saw an opportunity last year and took advantage of it. The young St. Albans resident is simply doing things the old-fashioned, American way — finding a niche to build his own business and earn a living. Instead of struggling to find a job from an established company, Oliver created his own. History has shown that in many cases, its companies like this — a small family firm where smart people see an opportunity and go for it — that become the big employers of the future. As business reporter Max Garland described in the Sunday Gazette-Mail, Oliver,...

Granules India Ltd. will invest $35 million into its subsidiary, Granules Pharmaceuticals Inc., to expand its pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing capabilities in Fairfax County, VA. Before choosing Virginia, the company also considered New Jersey for the project, which will create 102 new jobs. In 2014, the company invested $15 million to establish its wholly-owned subsidiary operation, creating 75 jobs in Fairfax. India-based Granules India Ltd. manufactures Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), Pharmaceutical Formulation Intermediates (PFIs), and Finished Dosages (FDs), distributed to customers in both regulated and semi-regulated markets. “Setting up a development and manufacturing presence in the United States was the...

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Leaders from global tech firm Infosys joined Mayor Joe Hogsett and Governor Eric Holcomb on Tuesday to announce that they selected Indianapolis as the home of the company’s first technology and innovation hub in the United States. The company will set up their operations at the OneAmerica Tower located at 200 North Illinois Street. Infosys plans to create up to 2,000 new, high-skilled jobs by the end of 2021. “The 2,000 Hoosiers we will hire and train will help drive U.S. economic growth and innovation in cloud, big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning throughout various industries,”...

The Trump administration wants to impose a work requirement on able-bodied adults who receive food stamps and force states to pick up some of the costs as part of a wider plan to slash spending by $3.6 trillion over the next decade. Budget director Mick Mulvaney said that once states have “a little skin in the game,” they will be more inclined to root out abuses and waste in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Enrollments haven’t decreased much since the recession despite a low 4.5 percent unemployment rate. The program cost about $33 billion in 2007 with 26 million...

Fort Mill-based home decor distributor Unique Loom plans to expand to Indian Land, creating 245 new jobs over four years, said Jamie Gilbert, Lancaster County’s economic development director. The move will also allow the home design hub to move another 90 jobs from Fort Mill, for a total of 335 jobs for the Indian Land location. Gilbert said the company has leased 260,000 square feet of industrial space at the vacant Defense Ventures building at 793 Fort Mill Highway....

Hillary Clinton's inability to honestly assess her 2016 election loss is turning slightly comic. And she will be the last to know. She has fallen into a trap of her own devising, feigning an honest self-assessment in public. Salena Zito has emerged as one of the most tuned in journalists covering politics today. In an era of elitist journalists, Zito has an ear for the common folk of the de-industrializing Midwest. That is why she gained a degree of journalistic immortality more significant than a Pulitzer Prize for her election coverage of 2016, by summing up Donald Trump's relationship to...

Nextran Corporation has opened a new 55,000-square-foot facility at 1735 Breckinridge Plaza, near Interstate 85 and Highway 316 in unincorporated Duluth. The company, which operates full-service medium- and heavy-duty truck centers in the Southeast, will create 80 new jobs at this location. The new store will serve as a flagship location for Nextran on a 9.5 acre parcel with 29 service bays....

The Donald Trump administration may push for naval blockades or the imposition of a "no-fly" zone against North Korea should it succeed in developing an intercontinental ballistic missile, an expert here said Tuesday. Trump would view it as a red line for the nuclear-armed communist nation, according to Shin Beom-chul, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy in Seoul. In case of the North's successful development of ICBMs, "Taking military actions against Pyongyang will be the most appealing option on the table from Trump's perspective," he said in a paper released to media ahead of a security forum to...

A Florida man told police he killed his two roommates because they were neo-Nazis who disrespected his recent conversion to Islam, and investigators found bomb-making materials and Nazi propaganda after he led them to the bodies. Devon Arthurs, 18, told police he had until recently shared his roommates' neo-Nazi beliefs but that he converted to Islam, according to court documents and a statement the Tampa Police Department released Monday. Arthurs is being charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony and three counts of armed kidnapping. Court records did not...

President Donald Trump’s budget proposal will limit eligibility for two tax credits, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told reporters on Monday, as the administration attempts to convince Congress to overhaul programs benefitting poorer Americans. According to documents released by the White House in advance of the full budget on Tuesday, Trump’s budget would limit eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit to recipients “who are authorized to work in the U.S.” The EITC is a benefit for people with low to moderate income, and the child tax credit similarly benefits low-income households....

Dina Merrill, an heiress turned actress who starred in classic movies such as 1960’s “BUtterfield 8” and 1963’s “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father” died Monday in East Hampton, N.Y., the New York Times reported. She was 93....

“Are you now, or have you ever been, a supporter of Donald J. Trump?” It would be ominous if witnesses in congressional hearings had to endure this type of McCarthyite interrogation. But what do you call it when sportswriters demand that a professional athlete answer the same question? New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, for example, calls himself a “good friend” of the new president. Consequently, the football star faced journalists’ demands to “publicly disavow Trump’s actions,” as one USA Today columnist wrote. Brady, not wanting to detract from his team’s Super Bowl preparations, responded by claiming his “right to...

With President Donald Trump’s approval rating sinking and congressional Republicans pushing a deeply unpopular agenda, Democrats have a real chance to take back the House. But that opportunity is being complicated by one word that is coming up with increasing regularity on the midterm campaign trail: “impeachment.” That’s the conclusion House Democratic leaders have reached through internal polling, and it’s one that top Republicans, including allies of the Trump administration, shared in conversations with HuffPost. “In focus groups in swing districts and in Georgia-06 (where a special election is being held this June) ― where we do think Trump is...

California is undertaking an ambitious bid to establish a single-payer health care system, and now its plan has a price tag: $400 billion a year. The state legislature has been debating a plan this year to implement a government insurance program to cover all Californians, including those without legal status. It’s a very generous proposal, as currently conceived. The state would pay for almost all of its residents’ medical expenses — inpatient, outpatient, emergency services, dental, vision, mental health, and nursing home care — under the plan, and Californians would not have any premiums, copays, or deductibles. Those sweeping benefits...

Link only due to copyright issues: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/comment/history-shows-rushing-to-impeach-the-president-could-backfire-20170522-gwaasw.html

At least 20 people were killed and possibly "hundreds" of others were injures after one or more loud bangs were heard Monday night at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in England, multiple law enforcement told NBC News. Law enforcement sources in both Britain and the United States told NBC News there were possibly two explosions. There was no immediate information on what kind of explosions occurred, and the sources stressed that the information was preliminary and subject to change....

Rudy Giuliani has worked with both Donald Trump and James Comey ... and if push comes to shove over who's telling the truth, Rudy's squarely in Trump's corner. The former NYC mayor arrived at LAX Sunday, and the photog grilled him hard ... grilled him about the alleged Comey memo, Lindsey Graham's statement the probe is now a criminal investigation, Trump's poll numbers ... the works. Giuliani didn't flinch ... he's as solid a Trump supporter as they come.