Free Republic

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A private jet once owned by Elvis Presley is set to be auctioned after sitting on a runway in New Mexico for 30 years. Elvis designed the interior that has gold-ton woodwork, red velvet seats and red shag carpet. But the red 1962 Lockheed Jetstar has no engine and needs a restoration of its cockpit. Liveauctioneers.com says the 1962 red Lockheed JetStar was owned by Elvis and his father, Vernon Presley. end snip

You don’t see a Kagan-Breyer-Ginsburg-Sotomayor-Thomas majority often in U.S. Supreme Court decisions, but today that quintet joined together to deal a blow to North Carolina Republicans. In the decision in Cooper v. Harris, the eight-member pre-Gorsuch roster upheld a district court’s ruling that two congressional districts in North Carolina were unconstitutional racial gerrymanders, putting an end to one part of a six-year saga that began with redistricting in 2011.

Dozens of performing animals need new homes after the owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced the looming end of the famed show. Between 40 and 50 animals, including about 18 tigers, must find new owners after long dazzling crowds in “The Greatest Show on Earth,” according to Stephen Payne, vice president of corporate communications for Feld Entertainment, the live touring company that owns Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. Officials are working to relocate about the tigers as well as several camels, horses, llamas and goats before the curtain comes down on the circus in...

Stunned and moved as I witness the respectful treatment our President, his cabinet members, wife, and family are getting on their trip through the Middle East. The conduct of our President overall plus the expansive yet piercing content of his speech in Saudi Arabia displayed a caliber of masterful leadership that has not been seen on the world stage in a long time. My prayer and hope is that our President and his team receive encouragement and respite from the shameful and unpatriotic treatment they are receiving from the press and political establishment here at home and the thankless Americans...

Representative Preston Brooks (D-SC.) beat Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA.) unconscious on the floor of the United states Senate.

A famous feature near the summit of Mount Everest, known as the Hillary Step, has collapsed, potentially making the world's highest peak even more dangerous for climbers. Last year, pictures appeared to show a change in shape to the 12-metre rocky outcrop, named after Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to scale the mountain. It is thought to have been destroyed in Nepal's 2015 earthquake, but snow coverage made the news hard to confirm. British mountaineer Tim Mosedale confirmed the collapse after he reached the summit this week. "It's official — The Hillary Step is no more," he said in...

In Afghanistan, 1988, a Mujahideen fighter aims an FIM-92 Stinger missile at passing aircraft, armed through the CIA’s “Operation Cyclone” program

LIVING IN EAST Germany during the Cold War meant being watched. By your government. By your neighbors. And even, at times, by your own family. The East German secret police, one of the most intrusive and oppressive spying operations ever assembled, collected millions of files on people it suspected of being enemies of the state. The German Democratic Republic dissolved in 1990 with the fall of communism, but the documents assembled by the Ministry for State Security, or Stasi, remain. This massive archive includes 69 miles of shelved documents, 1.8 million images, and 30,300 video and audio recordings housed in...

"A Hundred Years From Now" Jack Hylton And His Orchestra (1928) His Master's Voice B 5574

As the founder of Best Places in the World to Retire, I’ve spoken with more than a thousand expats, many of whom have told me of instances where they were told that because they lived outside the US, they were no longer entitled to be called “an American,” that they were unpatriotic, or in extreme cases, that they were traitors. Not only do I reject these charges, but I believe that those making them don’t understand what it means to be “an American.” There is no better statement of what it means to be an American than...

In the 1890s, the small town of Los Angeles (population 50,000) began a transformation driven by the discovery and drilling of some of the most productive oil fields in history. By 1930, California was producing nearly one quarter of the world’s oil output, and its population had grown to 1.2 million. Here are some photographs of California during oil boom in 1920s-30s.

"A Hundred Years From Now" Jack Hylton And His Orchestra (1928) His Master's Voice B 5574

A scenic river in Chepachet R.I., in Autumn, with live video, and animation, the voices of animated dear and rabbit are myself and grandson. I promise that this short 2 min. video is not boring but very informative.

Historical development in the history of conservative websites and leftist censorship.

First they said he was not serious, Then they said he will not win the primary, Then they said he will not get the necessary delegates at the RNC, Then they said there is no pathway to 270 electoral votes, Elections has consequences!

With all of the media noise surrounding the Trump Administration and the constant allegations of “Russian hacking of the election” (because, it’s far easier to believe the electorate was somehow duped by the Russians, rather than the fact it simply disliked Hillary Clinton), I thought I’d remind conservatives of some of the Trump Administration’s accomplishments in the first 100 days in office. Most of these weren’t discussed at length in the press, but will have a profound impact on our daily lives, and will undue a decent chunk of the harm President Obama did to the country over the last...

................It’s FRIDAY!................... In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of “Word for the Day”. scintilla scin·til·la noun - literary Synonyms ace, bit, crumb, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, hint, lick, little, mite, nip, ounce, peanuts, ray, particle, scruple, shade, shadow, shred, skosh, smack, smell, smidgen (also smidgeon or smidgin or smidge), snap, soupçon, spark, spatter, speck, splash, spot, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, touch, trace Related Words hoot, iota, jot, minim, minimum, modicum, semblance, syllable, tittle, vestige, whit; atom, dot, fleck, flyspeck, grain, granule, molecule, morsel,...

President Calvin Coolidge warned in a speech given MAY 15, 1926, at the College of William and Mary: "But there is another ... recent development ... the greatly disproportionate influence of organized minorities. Artificial propaganda, paid agitators, selfish interests, all impinge upon members of legislative bodies to force them to represent special elements rather than the great body of their constituency. When they are successful, minority rule is established ...

The names of German military barracks honouring a handful of World War Two officers should changed to show that the country's post-war armed forces have made a clean break from their Nazi past, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday. Having come in for criticism herself after accusing the Bundeswehr armed forces of "weak leadership" amid a national debate over whether there are right-wing extremists in the military, von der Leyen told Bild am Sonntag newspaper the barracks should no longer be named after Nazi-era officers.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s presidential election may turn on turnout. Historically, the more Iranians who cast ballots, the greater the chance a reformist or a moderate like incumbent President Hassan Rouhani will be elected. However, Rouhani’s bid for another four-year term comes amid apathy and grumbling from an electorate that largely hasn’t seen the benefits of his signature nuclear deal with world powers. As his opponents promise populist cash handouts to the poor, Rouhani needs all the voters he can to cast ballots on May 19. But even some of his supporters say they may stay home. Rouhani faces...