Free Republic

BALTIMORE –The hail of tweets, executive orders and announcements from the White House in President Trump’s first two weeks in office drew a uniform reaction from House Democrats: opposition and outrage. But in the age of Trump, when news moves at a stunning pace and can change on a dime, Democrats are searching for the most effective way to push back. The topic dominated discussion as House Democrats opened their annual retreat here Monday. Unlike their counterparts in the Senate, Democrats in the lower chamber don’t have many legislative ways to fight against the White House and congressional Republicans. They...

DILLON, S.C. (WBTW) – A truck trailer full of beer caught fire on Interstate 95 southbound near mile-marker 198 in Dillon, S.C. midday Sunday. Chief Charlie Bailey with the Dillon County Fire Station One said that when firefighters arrived on scene the trailer was fully engulfed in flames.

Actual Title: Box Office: ‘Hidden Figures’ Soars (Again) as Ben Affleck’s ‘Live by Night,’ ‘Monster Trucks’ Tank

In September 1963, two months before his death, John F. Kennedy mused aloud to his old friend the journalist Charles Bartlett about the prospects for the 1968 presidential election, in which, he presciently worried, his brother Robert might run against Lyndon Johnson. “He gave me the feeling he wasn’t pleased,” Bartlett would recall years later. “He wanted a record of his own. I sensed that he wanted the Kennedy administration to be Jack, and Bobby was going to turn it into a succession thing. Jack didn’t want a dynasty, although I am sure his father would have wanted that.” By...

John F. Kerry was late to his own party. Staffers, journalists and other officials were gathered in the ornate Benjamin Franklin salon at the State Department on Dec. 14 for early Christmas festivities. But the secretary of State was nowhere to be seen. Kerry was on the telephone to various world leaders, trying to find out about a major diplomatic meeting — from which the United States had been excluded. The gathering, which sought to broker a resolution to the devastating Syrian conflict, took place six days later in Moscow and involved the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey.

**SNIP** Why such political carnage? Faced with the economy’s potential collapse as he took office, Mr. Obama devoted his presidency to the economic recovery, starting with restoring the financial sector. But he never made wage stagnation and growing inequality central to his economic mission, even though most Americans struggled financially for the whole of his term. At the same time, Mr. Obama declined to really spend time and capital explaining his initiatives in an effective way. He believed that positive changes on the ground, especially from economic policies and the Affordable Care Act, would succeed, vindicating his judgment and marginalizing...

BERLIN (AP) - Germany: Suspect in Berlin truck attack was under covert surveillance for several months this year

It's that time of year again...What Christmas Fails have YOU seen? Just sayin' Palm trees should NOT be decorated...Glorious Christmas Gifts? Yeh, maybe for your commie loving friendsWhat goes on in this family, stays in this family Not one person is bothered by this?Talk about uninformed Yeh, I think I saw pics of Jesus' birth on SnapChatUm.... The giant, pooping elf is actually a mega-sized version of a popular ornament called a Caganer, a popular ornament in Catalonia and other areas of Spain, Portugal and Italy. Lonely Couple Christmas Card Baby Mac has his mother's eyesLet There Be Pease...

Trevor Noah seems to be on borrowed time at Comedy Central. The man who replaced Jon Stewart as host of “The Daily Show” on Sept. 28, 2015, has seen half the show’s audience disappear in a year. Having started off with more than 1 million viewers, Noah has slipped to 810,000, compared to the 1.9 million viewers Stewart had before he went off the air in August 2015.

The long-awaited 2016 election day is finally here, and it could be a historic one for a number of different reasons. The United States could elect its first female president Hillary Clinton; Republicans could take back the White House with Donald Trump after two terms of Democratic control; there could be record voter turnout and the leading campaign election night parties will both be in New York.

The Russian-made jeep carrying the ashes of the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro broke down in the middle of his funeral procession on Saturday, forcing soldiers to push the vehicle until it could be repaired. Nearly every major news website buried the news, though it was perfectly symbolic of the Cuban regime’s economic failures, and those of socialism in general. The breakdown of the jeep in the midst of adoring crowds chanting “Long live Fidel!” was symbolic of the dual nature of Castro’s Cuba. While his legacy inspires fierce adulation by many of the nation’s citizens, others continue to grumble...

BERLIN (AP) — On one side of the internet chat was an Islamic extremist who had just got himself a job with Germany's domestic intelligence agency. On the other side was an agent of Germany's domestic intelligence agency pretending to be an Islamic extremist. When the 51-year-old mole, a German who had converted to Islam, offered to use his new job to provide information to "help the brothers" plan an attack against his employer, German law enforcement swooped in. It appears little harm was done to the intelligence agency, known by its German acronym BfV, Duesseldorf prosecutors said Wednesday. "So...

Old notes will be accepted at government hospitals, petrol stations and toll booths for 10 more days. A day after Prime Minister Narendra chaired a meeting to review the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes and its impact, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Monday announced that the now defunct currency would be accepted at government hospitals, petrol stations and toll booths till November 24. The Prime Minister’s meeting came amid continuing chaos and growing public anger across the country over limited cash availability following the surprise demonetisation of the two higher value notes. On Sunday, the cash...

The Daily News is a four-time loser, recently released circulation stats show. The embattled newspaper reported sharply lower sales on weekdays and Sundays and on newsstand sales and home deliveries, according to the Alliance for Audited Media.

John McCain and Mitt Romney held a 'get out the vote" rally last night in Mesa AZ featuring free food and drink. 150 people showed up LMAO.

Another victory: Student loan reform From:info@barackobama.com To: john.podesta@gmail.com Date: 2010-03-30 18:49 Subject: Another victory: Student loan reform John -- In Spring 2007, on a conference call with students, then-Senator Barack Obama called for major reform to federal student loans: "We shouldn't be providing billions in taxpayer-funded giveaways to private banks. We should be providing an affordable, accessible college education to every American." This morning, President Obama signed those historic reforms into law. Dr. Jill Biden, an educator for 29 years, just recorded a short video explaining what these groundbreaking reforms mean for education in America. Click here to watch: http://my.barackobama.com/StudentLoanReform5...

An Amherst Junction woman has been charged with disorderly conduct after allegedly smearing peanut butter on several vehicles parked outside what she mistakenly thought was a Donald Trump rally. Christina Ferguson, 32, was arrested on Oct. 17 after disrupting what was actually a meeting of the Tomorrow River Conservation Club. According to the complaint, Ferguson entered the meeting, which was being held on the 3900 block of Second St. in Amherst Junction, at about 9:30 PM on Monday, holding a jar of peanut butter and yelling at the club members about how much she hated the presidential candidate.

An American cyberattack on North Korea half a decade ago was fruitless overall, sources say. The National Security Agency (NSA) led a mission in 2010 to damage North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, Reuters reported on Friday. Operatives tried using a variant of the Stuxnet computer virus deployed against Iran that same year, the news service said, with developers crafting a version that would activate once it reached Korean-language settings on targeted machines. Operatives hoped the virus would disable centrifuges for enriching uranium, much like it had when used against Iran, Reuters said, but the cyberattack stumbled when it encountered North...

Earlier this week the United States and other western powers evacuated Yemen, citing concerns about security in the rapidly deteriorating country. On the way out of the country, U.S. Marines were instructed to destroy their weapons and U.S. vehicles were taken over by Houthi rebels.  Now, without a presence there, the State Department is arguing rebel Houthis can be trusted to keep their word and to respect the U.S. embassy until it can be reoccupied. Houthis have been seen on video calling for "death to America," just brought down the U.S. backed Yemeni government and have ties to terrorism.  Last...

Surveying the ratings landscape for Monday Night Football and the NFL this season, you wouldn’t be blamed for mistaking it for the barren wasteland of the Mad Max movies rather than America’s most popular sport. Back in early September, MNF posted its lowest numbers ever (8.3 rating) for a Week 2 game since ESPN acquired the rights in 2006. Then, going against the first presidential debate late last month, Monday Night Football set an all-time ratings low with barely 8 million total viewers. Now, last night’s matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers has scored MNF‘s lowest...