Free Republic

Why are we afraid of racists? Racist people have no or little effect on me. My book “Tribalism” points out what will bring us out of misery. In “It’s OK to Leave the Plantation,” I illustrate the only way out for us. The idea that black folks must wait in the bushes until the elite black leaders and their white handlers stop all racism is foolish and unproductive. When will black folks be allowed to come into the light, join America and accept our role as patriots? Now we are to be self-segregating, separating ourselves from white America as if...

A black law professor argues that African Americans should embrace the notion that being black in America is a disability as a new legal strategy toward enacting protections for the black community against unconscious bias, stereotyping and structural inequality. Kimani Paul-Emile, an associate professor of law at Fordham University and associate director of its law school’s Center on Race, Law & Justice, argues that while Africans Americans might initially spurn the “blackness as disability” label, it can actually be a wise courtroom plan. The Americans with Disabilities Act defines “disability” as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one...

Republican members of Congress, mostly conservative, are calling for the release of a brief memo written by the House Intelligence Committee about alleged FISA surveillance abuses. The committee had voted along party lines Thursday to allow House members to read the memo. [snip] But the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, characterized the memo as misleading and inaccurate. The committee, Schiff explained, had voted Thursday along party lines "to grant House Members access to a profoundly misleading set of talking points drafted by Republican staff attacking the FBI and its handling of the investigation." "Rife...

PowerPost Follow @powerpost PowerPost Analysis The Health 202: NIH wants 1 million Americans to contribute to new pool of gene data By Paige Winfield Cunningham January 16 THE PROGNOSIS Starting this spring, Americans across the country will be invited to contribute to a massive new pool of genomic information being assembled by the government, a project that represents the most ambitious effort yet to capitalize on the promising new frontier of gene-based medicine. Three years after the National Institutes of Health first announced its Precision Medicine Initiative — subsequently redubbed “All of Us” — the agency’s director, Francis Collins, says...

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Texas carried out the nation's first execution of 2018 Thursday evening, giving lethal injection to a man who became known as Houston's "Tourniquet Killer" because of his signature murder technique on four female victims. Anthony Allen Shore was put to death for one of those slayings, the 1992 killing of a 21-year-old woman whose body was dumped in the drive-thru of a Houston Dairy Queen. In 1998, Shore received eight years' probation and became a registered sex offender for sexually assaulting two relatives. Five years later, Shore was arrested for the 1992 slaying of Maria del Carmen...

Three hours west of Chicago, a federal prison stands ready to take in thousands of inmates and hire hundreds of guards, but its expansion is on hold, awaiting approval from a U.S. Congress that is again paralyzed by budget disputes. In Florida, the Coast Guard patrols the waters off President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, working off an outdated budget that has not increased to account for this new mission. Across the country, with the 2018 fiscal year well under way, the U.S. government is carrying out duties ranging from nuclear weapons development to homeless assistance, but its spending levels and...

Government agencies were warning U.S. employees on Thursday of a possible federal shutdown at midnight on Friday, as the Republican-controlled Congress and the White House scrambled to pass legislation to keep the lights on in Washington. President Donald Trump, answering reporters’ questions at the Pentagon, said on Thursday the U.S. government “could very well” shut down and that would be harmful to the military. A shutdown would be an embarrassment for Republicans, who control the levers of power in the capital. But it might fulfill a wish Trump expressed in May 2017, when he tweeted: “Our country needs a good...

A Harvard Law School professor and Newsweek magazine were recently mocked after uncritically suggesting a scenario in which Hillary Clinton could still become the president. Lawrence Lessig, the Roy L. Furman professor of law and leadership at Harvard Law School, outlined a scenario in which the former senator could take the reins of power in the event of a series of impeachments of the Trump administration. If President Trump resigns or gets impeached, Vice President Mike Pence resigns or is impeached and House Speaker Paul Ryan – who would legally become the heir to the top job – appoints Clinton...

Newly implemented ammunition controls forced a temporary halt to ammo sales at 131 Walmart stores throughout California. On January 1, 2018, Breitbart News reported that California’s ammunition controls took effect. These controls require that all ammunition be purchased in-state and that those purchases be conducted via a California-approved dealer. Moreover, an individual must secure a “California vendor license” to be recognized as a California-approved ammunition dealer. This means that if the state is delayed in issuing the licenses dealers will necessarily be unable to sell ammunition.

Federal judge Gloria Navarro slammed the FBI and Justice Department on Monday, Jan. 8, for “outrageous” abuses and “flagrant misconduct” in the prosecution of Cliven Bundy and sons, the Nevada ranchers who spurred a high-profile standoff with the FBI and Bureau of Land Management in 2014. Navarro condemned the "grossly shocking” withholding of evidence from defense counsel in a case that could have landed the Bundys in prison for the rest of their lives. Navarro, who had declared a mistrial last month, dismissed all charges against the Bundys. Navarro was especially riled because the FBI spent three years covering up...

Pro-amnesty GOP Senators are working hand-in-glove with Democrats to block a government budget until President Donald Trump agrees to break his campaign promise and his presidency by amnestying millions of wage-lowering illegal immigrants. The hostage-taking is being fronted by a group of GOP legislators, led by Sen. Jeff Flake and Sen. Lindsey Graham, who announced Wednesday they would not allow 2018 funding for the Pentagon until Trump approves an amnesty, saying:

A four-page memo circulating in Congress that reveals alleged United States government surveillance abuses is being described by lawmakers as “shocking,” “troubling” and “alarming,” with one congressman likening the details to KGB activity in Russia. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said: “I believe the consequence of its release will be major changes in people currently working at the FBI and the Department of Justice,” he said, referencing DOJ officials Rod Rosenstein and Bruce Ohr.

A review of a classified document outlining what is described as extensive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse was made available to all House members Thursday and the revelations could lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and Department of Justice, several sources with knowledge of the document stated. These sources say the report is “explosive,” stating they would not be surprised if it leads to the end of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel investigation into President Trump and his associates. The House Intelligence Committee passed the motion along party lines Thursday to make the classified report alleging extensive...

When President Trump spoke by phone with Sen. Richard J. Durbin around 10:15 a.m. last Thursday, he expressed pleasure with Durbin’s outline of a bipartisan immigration pact and praised the high-ranking Illinois Democrat’s efforts, according to White House officials and congressional aides. The president then asked if Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), his onetime foe turned ally, was on board, which Durbin affirmed. Trump invited the lawmakers to visit with him at noon, the people familiar with the call said. But when they arrived at the Oval Office, the two senators were surprised to find that Trump was far from...

Congressman Matt Gaetz (FL-01) today released the following statement after reviewing information from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, including a memo held in the Congressional Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) that contained previously-undisclosed information involving the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ).

Over the last month or so, predictions have abounded of a blue wave that would return control of the House to Democrats. Fueled in part by their harsh rhetoric on the tax reform bill and the included repeal of the ObamaCare mandate as legislation that will literally kill people, polling spiked sharply upward in generic Congressional ballot choices. Combined with some special-election results — perhaps most especially in Wisconsin this week — the picture looked bleak for the GOP. Now that the tax reform bill has begun to take effect, suddenly the gloom is dissipating. A new Marist poll shows...

Back in 2005, The New York Times reported that President Bush had been lying through his teeth about a warrantless wiretapping program his administration had set up under the NSA. The baldly illegal program required participation from telecom companies, who were thus exposed to millions of lawsuits from their spied-on customers. Bush urged Congress to pass a bill granting the telecoms retroactive immunity, prompting outrage from Democrats, including then-Sen. Barack Obama, who promised to filibuster any bill with such an immunity provision in October 2007. But Obama blatantly broke his promise, not only failing to filibuster the bill, but actually...

<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Two Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to make medical marijuana legal in Tennessee, but only in oil-based products.</p> <p>Sen. Steve Dickerson of Nashville and Rep. Jeremy Faison of Cosby announced the bill's filing Thursday amid wide support for medical marijuana in state polls.</p>

Investigation into CCW permits for Redondo Beach Ca. Reveals that you have to be a cop or an attorney who defends cops to get one. Watch the video. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yBL_xNT-bsE

A House committee on Wednesday advanced a bill that would rename Gravelly Point Park after former first lady Nancy Reagan, roiling local residents who are still upset about the renaming of Washington National Airport for Ronald Reagan 20 years ago. The bill passed the House Natural Resources Committee along party lines over the objections of Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), who accused Republicans of forcing the name change despite a complete lack of local support or input. “I have great respect for Nancy Reagan . . . ,” Beyer said. “But this bill is the equivalent of someone coming in and changing the...