Free Republic

Many of the country’s top media outfits blamed the Democratic Party for allowing the government to shutdown instead of bridging a budget impasse with Republicans in the Senate.

Conservative Republicans are pushing to release a memo containing classified information about the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign, sparking new controversy in a case that has already caused deep partisan rifts. The contents of the four-page memo, which was written by staff working with Rep. Devin Nunes have not been publicly revealed. But President Trump’s allies in Congress say that they are explosive. Democrats on the committee have dismissed the memo as a dishonest attempt to undermine the Russia investigation, and Rep. Jackie Speier called it a “pack of lies.” Rep. Matt Gaetz said the information...

City of LA short of funds and with a bankrupt pension system increases services aimed at helping people stay in the country illegally. This is a trend. i think Chicago and NY are already doing this. Opening additional service centers after serving 47,000 already at libraries. Garrett has an exploratory committee to run for president. He once said about Jerry Brown release thousands of inmates early, "We should thank the inmates for doing their time."

Two years after the LAPD touted a multimillion-dollar purchase of a fleet of eco-friendly electric BMWS, the vehicles are being used for personal trips to grab lunch and -- in one instance -- a visit to a nail salon, according to a local report. [Snip] A CBS investigative team, which reviewed mileage logs and followed the BMWs when they left LAPD garages, found that officers appeared to have a loose interpretation of those guidelines. One BMW went straight to a Yoshinoya drive-thru and returned to a police station, CBS reported. Another headed for Loyola Marymount University and picked up someone...

An official at the same Los Angeles Veterans Administration facility where an Army vet got prosecuted for posting American Flags took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from a vendor that defrauded the VA out of millions. While the feds went on a witch hunt against the 75-year-old vet for affixing Old Glory at a site honoring those who served their country, the VA director was committing the real crime. This month the corrupt VA official, Ralph Tillman, agreed to plead guilty to two felony offenses for taking over a quarter of a million dollars in bribes from a...

San Salvador, El Salvador - It's not every church service that includes homilies about Pablo Escobar and Al Capone. But at a church in El Salvador, the message of sin and redemption is tailored to a different kind of parishioner: reformed members of the notorious gangs in the Central American nation. All the men are former members of Barrio 18 or the 18th Street gang, which, along with MS-13, began in Los Angeles but is now responsible for much of El Salvador's widespread violence. The Trump administration announced last week that in 18 months it will revoke Temporary Protected Status...

In a letter sent to Congressman Michael Conaway (R-TX) this week, Donald Trump Jr. attorney Alan S. Futerfas, called for an investigation into leaks from the House Intelligence Committee, suggesting the individual who leaked the false WikiLeaks story did so knowingly. But first, here is a recap of the “story.” The mainstream media embarrassed itself once again after it was caught pushing ‘Trump-Russia’ fake news. Both CNN and CBS fell for inaccurate reports alleging a WikiLeaks email was sent to Donald Trump Jr. with an encryption key to access future leaks. However, WikiLeaks had tweeted a link to the information...

Another try to see Adam Schiff and what he is trying to defend.Video at Excerpt link.

Relativity Space, a Los Angeles orbital launch startup, has just released a short video showing its innovative Aeon 1 3D printed rocket engine in action. The impressive piece of equipment consists of just three 3D printed parts and is capable of reaching full thrust force in milliseconds. We’ve known for awhile that Relativity Space was working on some pretty cool stuff. This past October, for instance, the company announced the development of the Stargate 3D printer, which it says it the largest metal 3D printing system in the world. The machine, which consists of multiple laser-equipped Kuka robotic arms and...

The shrinking in size of two national monuments in Utah by President Trump through executive order was a long overdue rebuke to federal land grabs that have given federal control to vast swaths of American land, particularly in the West. As the New York Times noted in 2016: The United States government owns 47 percent of all land in the West. In some states, including Oregon, Utah and Nevada, the majority of land is owned by the federal government. Of course, it used to own nearly all of it... East of the Mississippi…the federal government owns only 4 percent of...

One of the major challenges facing Los Angeles, as with every other large city, is how to get rid of all the trash and recycling. For a very long time, the City of Angels actually did an admirable job of dealing with both and L.A. was really a respectably clean place. Then the municipal government took a look at the situation and decided that it simply wasn’t good enough. After years of planning, they came up with a scheme known as RecycLA which would “improve” the city’s green footprint, deal with recycling more efficiently and ensure that people working...

Much has been made of Markle’s native country, her race and her divorce – but her ‘confidence and social ease’ prove she is above all a Californian. She seems to be an appropriate ambassador for things that Californians hold dear,” said William Deverell, a historian of the American west at the University of Southern California. “Her poise and confidence and social ease; it’s not perfect out here but we have a more equitable view of life.” British viewers of her televised interview with Prince Harry marvelled at how she appeared so informal and relaxed, so un-Windsor, while viewers in Los...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2006 – Al Qaeda terrorists were planning to fly a plane into the tallest building on the West Coast not long after they'd launched the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and Washington, President Bush said here today. The terrorists' target was a notable Los Angeles office building, he said during a speech given at the National Guard Association of the United States' headquarters. The 73-story Los Angeles office building, the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River, was called the Library Tower at the time of the terrorist plot. It was renamed US Bank...

"James Woods is continuing to pursue a $10 million defamation lawsuit against an anonymous individual who tweeted Woods was a "cocaine addict." Not even the reported death of the defendant is stopping the actor. On Tuesday, over objections that Woods was looking to harass a dead man's family, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that the attorney for the defendant must identify his deceased client."

A negligence lawsuit claiming Spirit Airlines fed alcohol to rowdy female passengers and then failed to defuse a subsequent cabin brawl has crashed and burned. After a 12-day trial that ended Thursday in Los Angeles, a jury decided the carrier was not responsible for the violent March 2016 clash that was caught on video and quickly went viral. The lawsuit, announced in New York last year by three Delaware women and their plaintiff's lawyer Gloria Allred, claimed Spirit's flight attendants had an obligation to act when the problem passengers exhibited aggressive behavior such as blasting music and waving a boom...

A dashcam video of downtown Los Angeles on Christmas day reveals a stunning sight. Hundreds of tents and lean-to's on the sidewalks that serve as shelter for the homeless. The scene is reminiscent of a third world country. ***SNIP***Cities are rapidly becoming the domain of the very rich and the very poor. Even those people working at decent jobs can't afford to live in the city they are employed. Rent control, stupid zoning policies, corruption, and fierce opposition to building any kind of housing has driven the working and middle classes out of urban areas. Along with them has gone...

A flight that was four hours into its course, bound for Tokyo's Narita Airport Tuesday, had to return to its origin of Los Angeles International Airport after an 'unauthorized person' was on-board. The flight from LAX to Tokyo is about 12 hours long. The total time for the flight to take off and return was just over eight hours.

The sexual harassment reckoning has exposed many men in positions of power for their bad behavior. Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Mark Halperin and others have either been fired or suspended for sexual misconduct. In the political realm, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) is resigning in early January after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) made his way to the exit after his sexual harassment allegations made it into the limelight; he paid $27,000 to settle a claim in 2015. And yes, that’s our money he used for that expenditure. This reached a boiling point during the...

“Let’s say you’re a super-wealthy single dude who just sold your company,” said Nile Niami. “You’ve just moved to L.A. and you don’t know anybody, so you hire someone to fill your house with partyers. You want everyone to know who you are, but you don’t want to talk to anybody. So you go sit in your V.I.P. room.” Mr. Niami was giving a tour, and, unlike most home tours, this one started in the nightclub. It will have multiple bars, its own coat room and LED ceilings playing images of moving clouds. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling glass walls there is...

Former Glee star Mark Salling has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. The actor appeared with a shaved head as he entered the plea in a downtown Los Angeles federal court on Monday and told the judge he is on medication for depression. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 7. Prosecutors and Salling have agreed to ask a judge to sentence the actor to between four to seven years in prison. The 35-year-old will also be required to register as a sex offender, pay restitution and abide by residency restrictions.(snip) The actor reached a plea agreement with...