Free Republic

Planned Parenthood’s decision to withdraw Monday from a federal grant program aimed at family planning services is the result of a ruling from an unlikely source: the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The historically liberal court allowed a Trump administration rule blocking federal funding from organizations that refer patients for abortions to move forward, and Planned Parenthood chose to lose the money rather than stop the referrals. The case is one signal that President Donald Trump’s judicial nominations may be shifting one of the nation’s most liberal courts further to the right, blunting what many consider his opponents’ most effective...

Ann Coulter: Can't America have a little self-respect on immigration? © Getty Images Couldn’t America have a little self-respect? Japan, Denmark and Israel do. Year after year, for decades, America has accepted more refugees than the rest of the world combined. No country we admire does anything close to this. Score one for Donald Trump: In 2017, after he became president, our refugee admissions finally dipped slightly below “more than every other country in the world combined.” Go USA! These aren’t immigrants the host country specifically wanted. We’re not saying, "You know, this country could use some people who know...

This weekend during an interview KTLA 5’s John Fenoglio, 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful South Bend, IN Mayor Pete Buttigieg said President Donald Trump’s behavior had become “criminal.” When asked about reports that Trump told officials he would pardon them if they broke the law to build the border wall, Buttigieg said, “This is criminal. To encourage someone to commit a crime and say it will be ok because you will pardon them is that really what this has come to? Is that how naked the criminal behavior of this presidency has become?”

Full header: Dems explicitly vote to condemn 'religious liberty' Claim faithful have used beliefs 'to threaten civil rights' Democrats, who who famously booed the mention of God in their party platform, now have condemned "religious liberty" and praised the religiously "unaffiliated." The Washington Examiner reported the Democratic National Committee approved a resolution "taking aim at religious liberty." At a summer meeting in San Francisco, the DNC adopted a resolution concerning the "nonreligious." It explains that the the "Religiously Unaffiliated Demographic has tripled in the last two decades, now representing 25 percent of the overall American population and 35 percent of...

After a gunman in west Texas killed five people and injured more than 20 in Midland and Odessa Saturday, White House hopeful and former Texas lawmaker Beto O’Rourke (D) said that, while the facts of the shooting have not been released by officials, “we do know this is f—ed up." “Not sure how many gunmen. Not sure how many people have been shot. Don’t know how many people have been killed. The condition of those who have survived. Don’t know what the motivation is, do not yet know the firearms that were used or how they acquired them,” O’Rourke told...

Actor and producer Isaiah Washington, who famously joined the anti-Democratic Party #WalkAway movement earlier this year, said Monday that closeted conservatives in Hollywood are “cowards” for not voicing their beliefs out of fear of being blacklisted. “I have a message for the Hollywood Actors DM’ing me and revealing that you’re Conservatives,” wrote Mr. Washington, best known for his roles in the CW’s “The 100” and ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy.” “Don’t DM me again, because you all are lame and I don’t respond well to hypocrites or cowards,” he wrote. “You’re no different than the bystander that is waiting on the blood...

My pastor recently told me that 25 years ago, the first person that people would contact when they faced a marriage crisis was their pastor. Ten years ago, he continued, it was their counselor or psychiatrist. Today, it’s their lawyers. A recent study conducted by the Associated Press and the University of Chicago concurs. “Doctors, teachers, members of the military,” and scientists are, according to the survey, esteemed “more positively than clergy.” Among infrequent churchgoers, clergy are viewed as negatively as lawyers. (For the record, that last line came from a member of our editorial team who’s been admitted to...

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg blasted Vice President Mike Pence and other Christian politicians this week for adopting what he charged were un-Christian political stances. Asked by Religion News whether he would call “sinful” those Christian politicians who supported the Trump administration’s since-scrapped policy of separating families arrested after crossing the southern border illegally, Buttigieg declined to go that far. “I’ll be careful to use that word to kind of point out a speck in my brother’s eye,” the South Bend, Ind. mayor replied. “What I would say is that it’s clear that some naked sins are being at best...

A California state appeals court Friday overturned the lone conviction against an undocumented immigrant who shot and killed Kate Steinle on the San Francisco waterfront in 2015, a case which drew national attention and became a flashpoint in the debate over illegal immigration. Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate, who was in the U.S. illegally had been deported to his native Mexico five times, was acquitted in November 2017 of first and second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and assault with a semi-automatic weapon. He was convicted of one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. On Friday, the 1st District Court...

Over the last few weeks, we've been exploring the competing narratives about the US economy -- with the White House insisting that all is well, as many in the media hype up the possibility of a coming recession.  My general conclusion at this point has been that while there are some soft spots and genuine warning signs, the economy's fundamentals remain quite strong.  Unemployment has been quite low, the job market has been quite robust, and wage growth has broken free from years of frustrating stagnation.  We also recently received positive news on other indicators, including productivity, retail sales, and...

Judge Carlos Murguia of the U.S. District Court of Kansas...vacated the convictions of two illegal aliens...who were convicted in August 2018 by a jury for conspiring to encourage illegal aliens to remain here through employment at a drywall company in Lawrence, Kansas...This law has been on the books in some form for over 130 years.

The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was what we call an “originalist” when it came to interpreting the U.S. Constitution. He believed the only way to read the Constitution was in the context of the times when its provisions were written which formed the intent of those who wrote and later amended it. We could only interpret what they meant by reading what they wrote through the filter of the events of their day, not our day. The issue of the 14th Amendment and whether it conveys birthright citizenship just from being born on American soil has resurfaced in...

Against the dictatorship of church ladies The Church has lost its manly spirit. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the recent protests at St. Francis Church in Portland, Oregon.The ultra-progressive, borderline-heretical parish was recently assigned a new priest, Fr. George Kuforiji, who tried to restore theological and liturgical orthodoxy. For instance, the newly-minted pastor stopped using the gender-neutral terms assigned to God by the parishioners and instead began using Our Lord’s preferred pronouns: He, Him, etc. Fr. Kuforiji did away with folk music during the liturgy and took down a banner outside the church that said, “Immigrants and Refugees...

The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was what we call an “originalist” when it came to interpreting the U.S. Constitution. He believed the only way to read the Constitution was in the context of the times when its provisions were written which formed the intent of those who wrote and later amended it. We could only interpret what they meant by reading what they wrote through the filter of the events of their day, not our day. The issue of the 14th Amendment and whether it conveys birthright citizenship just from being born on American soil has resurfaced in...

California is quickly turning into a hell hole, if it hasn't actually earned that status yet. The areas that are particularly hit the hardest by state and local policies have been the cities of the Golden State. Look no further than this latest story out of Sacramento. A salon owner of 21 years recently had to move locations, not because of lack of sales or increased property taxes, but because the homeless population is simply out of control."I am angry about it as well. I wouldn’t be relocating if it wasn’t for this issue," Elizabeth Novak told Fox & Friends...

A judge in California had to speed up the naturalization of a pregnant immigrant on Thursday when the woman, anxious to become a U.S. citizen because of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, started experiencing contractions. SNIP “I sped up this process because of the fact of the current president, because the immigration laws are under attack,” said Tatev, a former California high school history teacher, adding she was fearful her green card, which makes her a legal permanent U.S. resident, would be taken from her. SNIP “I don’t want my kid to face these issues growing up in this country...

Razor brand Gillette says it is “shifting the spotlight from social issues to local heroes” after an ad delving into “toxic masculinity” caused a customer backlash. The new ad, which launched last week, stars Australian firefighter and personal trainer Ben Ziekenheiner. “I’ve been a firefighter for 19 years,” Mr Ziekenheiner says in the ad. “People sometimes ask if it’s scary. It can be, but like anyone who has a job to do, you prepare — not just in terms of your equipment but also mentally and physically.” The ad spruiks the brand’s SkinGuard range, highlighting the issue of sensitive skin...

A new study by the non-partisan RAND Corporation helps explain why it’s going to be difficult, if not impossible, to ever stop the illicit drug trade: It’s worth tens of billions of dollars per year. Researchers at the think tank wrote in their report that illegal narcotics generate some $150 billion annually, or as much as the amusement and gambling industry generated in 2016. The exhaustive analysis of drug use and spending data contained in the report indicates that there are about 30 million chronic drug users in the U.S. alone as of 2016, with major increases in the number...

Bulldozers just (Tuesday, 20 August) spotted SW of Yuma, AZ. This planned 6-mile wall (YUMA 1 on map).

Agents of the United States Border Patrol risk their lives on a daily basis to protect the U.S. southern border from illegal immigration. The vast amount of families that are crossing the border illegally may be the most widely reported immigration news in the media right now, but the US Border Patrol risk their lives on a daily basis to secure the southern border. The El Paso, TX sector is one of the most dangerous places along the southern border. Agents face threats not from migrants who are trying to seek asylum or refugee, but rather illegal immigrants trying to...