Free Republic

An apparently unhinged Texas man allegedly attacked a couple — killing the wife and shooting her husband — because they were Biden voters, according to a report. Joseph Angel Alvarez, 38, who ranted in emails about satanic rituals and abortion, claimed he targeted Georgette and Daniel Kauffman in part because of the Biden flag in their yard and a “doll of Trump” hanging there, local television station KDBC reported. Georgette Kauffman’s body was found inside her garage, a criminal complaint revealed. Daniel Kauffman told KDBC he was shot at five times, but managed to crawl out of his home and...

Activists have successfully forced Mastercard to hold a vote by shareholders on a proposal which, if passed, could see the company monitoring payments to global far-right political leaders and white supremacist groups. The proposal aims to see Mastercard establish an internal “human rights committee” that would stop designated white supremacist groups and anti-Islam activists, such as Tommy Robinson, from getting access to money sent from donors using the company’s card payment services. It’s been conceived by US-based political activists SumOfUs, who want to escalate the battle against white supremacists and far-right groups from tech platforms like Facebook, Google, Twitter, Patreon,...

In 897 AD, Pope Stephen VII had Pope Formosus’ body exhumed and put on trial at the infamous Cadaver Synod, during which the corpse was found guilty, and stripped of his papal vestments. Pope Theodore II later convened a synod and overturned Pope Stephen’s findings, as did Pope John IX after him. But later, Pope Sergius III overturned the rulings of Theodore II and John IX, and reaffirmed the conviction of Formosus. Perhaps Formosus’ corpse will find some little comfort in the knowledge that it is still—at least for now—listed on Rome’s “unbroken line of popes” currently on display at the...

LINWOOD — Woodstock Drive has been the center of a major homicide investigation, media attention and local speculation since April Kauffman, a well-known veterans advocate, business owner and local radio host, was found shot multiple times in her home there Thursday. But as the investigation reached day three Saturday — when officials said there have still been no arrests in the case — there were signs that the typically peaceful community was returning to normal. Police cars were no longer blocking the streets. The cluster of media was gone. And people were out doing things such as working in their...

Sound Off Connecticut's guest lineup for today. What a lineup. Jim Geraghty from the Campaign spot. His breakdown of David Plouffe’s (Obama’s campaign director and new info czar) column in the WaPo is a classic. 11:10 am.

A child awaits the return of his grandfather aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy, Sept. 25, 2005, as the ship returns to Naval Station Norfolk following a six-month deployment in support of the Global War on Terror. USS Normandy is an element of the Kearsarge Expeditionary Strike Group, along with the guided-missile frigate USS Kauffman, which also returned to Norfolk Sept. 25. U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Christopher Okula  More photos USS Kauffman, USS Normandy Return From Deployment While deployed, the strike group ships conducted maritime security operations for the U.S. 5th Fleet and theater security cooperation for the...

Reviewing AMERICA’S FIRST FROGMAN, The Draper Kauffman Story, by Elizabeth K. Bush. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2004. 220 pages, photos, appendices, index. Elizabeth K. Bush, sister-in-law of former president George H.W. Bush (who wrote the Foreward), has delivered an overdue biography of her brother, Rear Admiral Draper L. Kauffman. She tells the story well, spicing it with anecdotes, excerpts from Kauffman’s letters, while making full use of the admiral’s oral history. Here was a man who packed several adventurous lifetimes into his 66 years. Son of career naval officer James L. Kauffman, Draper dutifully entered Annapolis. Denied a commission...