Free Republic

Austria’s far-left president, Alexander Van der Bellen, has suggested that one day all women must wear headscarves to fight Islamophobia. During a talk to students, Van der Bellen said that whilst be believes a woman should wear “whatever she wants”, should Austria’s “rampant Islamophobia continue, there will come a day when we must ask all women to wear a headscarf – all of them! – out of solidarity towards those who do it for religious reasons”. Van der Bellen, who was sworn in as president in January after defeating anti-mass migration Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer in last December’s presidential...

Edmund Burke, the father of Conservatism, once wrote “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fail, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” Later, John Stuart Mill said, “Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to accomplish their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” All right, all right—why am I writing this, amid all the victories we’ve enjoyed? For goodness sake, the RNC’s just announced...

What appears to be the beginning of a coup is underway in Macedonia. Masked men have stormed into Parliament and are holding both journalists and MPs. But this is a very different type of coup; it is one where they are seeking to replace the sitting government with a coalition majority that should be recognized in International Law. However, it is known that there are “power players” behind the scenes that have been actively backing one side. The question is, which side? Records have emerged after Judicial Watch filed a FOIA (freedom of info) request for details relating to why...

President Trump has signed a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown, the White House announced Friday evening. The measure funds the government through May 5, giving lawmakers more time to reach an agreement on an omnibus spending bill that would carry through the rest of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The legislation easily cleared both chambers earlier Friday; the Senate approved the measure by voice vote after the House voted 382-30 to pass it. If the measure had not been adopted, the government would have shutdown at midnight right as the Trump administration entered its 100th day....

Washington (CNN)Sen. Bernie Sanders believes former President Barack Obama's plan to receive $400,000 for speaking at a September Wall Street health conference is "distasteful," The Vermont Independent reported Friday. Speaking with CNN's Suzanne Malveaux, Sanders labeled the transaction "not a good idea" and said he was "sorry President Obama made that choice." "I just think it does not look good," Sanders said. "I just think it is distasteful -- not a good idea that he did that."

A group of Yale University graduate students announced Tuesday evening that they would be undertaking a hunger strike to pressure the administration into granting them better union benefits. The strike is taking place in front of University President Peter Salovey’s home. "Yale wants to make us wait and wait and wait … until we give up and go away," the eight members of the graduate student union Local 33 announced. "We have committed ourselves to waiting without eating."

Less than a year after a federal appellate court sided with the Obama administration to strike down North Carolina’s election integrity reforms, a state audit reveals that hundreds of votes were illegally cast by felons and non-citizens in just one election. Voter impersonation, double voting and irregularities in absentee ballots sent via mail also tainted the election, according to the investigation conducted by the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE). The probe analyzed records from the 2016 general election. State auditors found that about 500 ineligible people voted in 2016, more than 440 of them felons. Dozens of non-citizens...

Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke on the Senate floor on March 27, 2017 about President Trump's threats to sabotage health care for millions of Americans.

♦In Part-I we explained how legislation is actually constructed in 2017. NOT how most people think it is constructed – SEE HERE ♦In Part-II we explained what that modern reality means with a Trump administration, and what will be needed to overcome the corrupted swamp – SEE HERE The final paragraphs include accepting the reality and pondering: […] President Trump is not going to sit and wait for congress to evolve in their ability to turn away from existing lobbyists hanging around to defend their interests. Sooner or later President Trump is going to do something dramatic to break the...

...AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to ask you about this comment that you made that the Republican Party, you said, is the most dangerous organization in world history. Can you explain? NOAM CHOMSKY: I also said that it’s an extremely outrageous statement. But the question is whether it’s true. I mean, has there ever been an organization in human history that is dedicated, with such commitment, to the destruction of organized human life on Earth? Not that I’m aware of. Is the Republican organization—I hesitate to call it a party—committed to that? Overwhelmingly. There isn’t even any question about it...

A controversial law enforcement officer who is known for his fiery temper and over-the-top rhetoric is reportedly being eyed by the White House for a job in the Department of Homeland Security. According to Politico, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is being considered by President Donald Trump for the job of assistant secretary at the DHS’ Office of Partnership and Engagement. If selected, Clarke would be tasked with coordinating outreach between tribal officials, state and local officials, and law enforcement.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Gov. Jim Justice has signed a law ending a doctor's ability to waive the legal requirement to notify parents of an underage daughter's abortion. It allows only a judge to waive parental notification. Under the old law, a physician other than the one performing an abortion can waive the requirement by finding that the minor is mature enough to decide independently or that notification wouldn't be in her best interest.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Chris, for that kind introduction and for your tremendous work on behalf of our Second Amendment. Thank you very much. (Applause.) I want to also thank Wayne LaPierre for his unflinching leadership in the fight for freedom. Wayne, thank you very much. Great. (Applause.) I'd also like to congratulate Karen Handel on her incredible fight in Georgia 6. (Applause.) The election takes place on June 20th. And, by the way, on primaries, let's not have 11 Republicans running for the same position, okay? (Laughter.) It's too nerve-shattering. She's totally for the NRA and she's totally for...

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has made cracking down on illegal immigration a centerpiece of his administration -- but so far his administration is deporting fewer people than his predecessor.According to statistics from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) given to CNN, the pace of removals under Trump in his first three months lags behind even the last two years of his predecessor, when then-President Barack Obama ordered his agencies to use more discretion when it came to deporting undocumented immigrants, focusing specifically on criminals.

Megan, a server at a Tex-Mex restaurant in Missouri recently got this “tip” from someone who is not a fan of the individual income tax. Undoubtedly, a libertarian. On the tip line, the customer put a big zero, in addition to: “Taxation is Theft.” To further clarify, the customer put some loose cash on top of the receipt with a note saying, “This is not a tip. This is a personal gift and not subject to federal or state income taxes.” The Reddit post was aptly titled, “The Libertarian way to leave a ‘tip.’” Is this stupid anarchic libertarianism at...

The U.S. NSA has halted a form of surveillance that allowed it to collect without a warrant the digital communications of Americans that mentioned a foreign intelligence target, the spy agency confirmed on Friday, Reuters reports. Via Reuters: The decision to stop the once-secret activity, which collected messages sent to or received from people believed to be living overseas, arrives as a sudden and unexpected triumph for privacy advocates who were long critical of the program, which U.S. officials had defended as both lawful and important to national security. The halt is among the most substantial changes to U.S. surveillance...

In this clip dating back to a 2013 meeting of the Arkansas State Board of Education, concerned mother Karen Lamoreaux used a specific math problem to make an impassioned argument against Common Core. [Video at link]

North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile on Saturday in local time, Korean news service Yonhap reported citing South Korea's military. Yonhap reported that the test appears to have failed. One U.S. official confirmed to NBC news that there was a test, but that it was not nuclear. The incident comes as the United States reconsiders its strategy in dealing with the isolated nation. In an interview with Reuters published late Thursday, President Donald Trump said he wants South Korea to pay for the $1 billion missile defense system. The system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), is designed to...

President Donald Trump declared Friday that an "eight-year assault" on Second Amendment rights had come to a "crashing end" with his election. "No longer will federal agencies be coming after law-abiding gun owners. No longer will the government be trying to undermine your rights and freedoms as Americans," Trump said during his speech to the National Rifle Association in Atlanta. "Instead we will work with you by your side," he said. On the eve of his 100th day in office, Trump hopes the speech can help renew his standing among a conservative base wary after watching the President reverse course...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A prominent Florida eye doctor accused of political corruption was convicted of Medicare fraud Friday, increasing the odds that federal prosecutors could pressure him to testify against New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez. Dr. Salomon Melgen faces 15 to 20 years in prison on 67 counts, including health care fraud, submitting false claims and falsifying records in patients' files, if he doesn't strike a deal before his sentencing, scheduled for July 14. The senator denies any wrongdoing. The doctor, 62, collected more money from Medicare than any other physician in the nation — $21...