Free Republic

Mark Zuckerberg faced a mixture of tough and softball questions at yesterday’s Senate hearing. Many questions were left unanswered, and members of the House will have to pick up the slack today. The toughest questions in the Senate hearing came from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), who grilled Zuckerberg on Facebook’s political bias, its possible status as the “largest publisher in the world”, and its definition of “hate speech.” Democrats, when they weren’t urging Zuckerberg to do more to censor so-called “hate speech,” focused on irrelevant panics like Russian propaganda and “fake...

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts signed a budget Wednesday that will eliminate federal family-planning funding to Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. The $8.8 billion two-year budget would prohibit money to facilities that commit, promote, or refer clients for abortions. The budget also mandates health clinics in the state to legally, financially, and physically separate from abortion facilities. Ricketts, who is pro-life, approved the package after it was passed by the state legislature on a 38-6 vote. The Nebraska governor proposed the measure in his budget earlier this year. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts signed a budget Wednesday that will eliminate federal family-planning...

The 24-year-old actor and model was arrested, along with his girlfriend Uma von Wittkamp, on Wednesday after a routine traffic stop for failing to signal in Nebraska, according to multiple reports. A search of the 1992 Volvo turned up 14 grams of marijuana, 4 amphetamine pills, and 3 grams of psychedelic mushrooms, Page Six and TMZ confirmed. Hopper was booked on charges of possession of a controlled substance (psilocybin, which is in the mushrooms) and possession of marijuana (one ounce or less). Von Wittkamp, with whom Hopper has been stepping out publicly since 2015, was booked for two counts of...

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is encouraging the National Rifle Association to hold its annual convention in his state after one of Dallas' top elected officials urged the group to find another location. Ricketts said in a tweet Friday "We want your convention in Nebraska. Nebraskans love our constitutional rights!"

The First National Bank of Omaha said Thursday it will not renew a contract with the National Rifle Association to issue its NRA-branded Visa credit card. "Customer feedback has caused us to review our relationship with the NRA," a spokesperson for the bank told CNBC. "As a result, First National Bank of Omaha will not renew its contract with the National Rifle Association to issue the NRA Visa Card." The website advertising the card disappeared on Wednesday, less than one day after ThinkProgress reported the bank's support of the pro-gun lobby. The bank was one of many companies used by...

More than two dozen Senate Republicans are urging President Trump to re-engage in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. The 25 GOP lawmakers sent a letter to Trump on Friday saying they support his recent comments that he may consider U.S. participation if the 11-nation Asia-Pacific pact is improved.

Article II of the Constitution gives states broad authority to decide how their electoral votes are selected and divided among the candidates. In 48 states, the candidate who gets the most votes wins all of the state’s electoral votes. But the Constitution doesn’t require that rule. Maine and Nebraska have implemented district- by-district voting. One electoral vote goes to the winner in each congressional district, and the remaining two electoral votes are awarded to the winner of the statewide popular vote. Assume, however, that a state enacts a law giving all its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins...

The Canadian energy giant TransCanada said Thursday it’s prepared to move ahead with the long-awaited Keystone XL oil pipeline and plans to start construction next year, laying to rest rumors that it would abandon the project in the wake of regulatory setbacks in Nebraska. In a statement, the company said it’s beginning to work with Nebraska landowners to secure necessary easements to allow the pipeline to go forward. “Over the past 12 months, the Keystone XL project has achieved several milestones that move us significantly closer to constructing this critical energy infrastructure for North America,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president...

Suspected ISIS propaganda was found in Central Nebraska not far from the small town of Elm Creek. Somewhere along an Eastbound off-ramp on I-80 and Hwy 183, a computer disc was found along with literature that appeared to be ISIS propaganda. “There’s a lot of vehicle traffic in that location,” said Captain Bob Anderson with Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office. The disc was found by a man Thursday afternoon sometime between 3 p.m. and 4:18 p.m. […] According to the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office, the disc was logged into evidence and forwarded to the FBI. …

Despite setback, TransCanada says it is still committedNebraska regulators on Tuesday shot down a request from TransCanada to reconsider the proposed path of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, the latest in a series of setbacks for the $8 billion project and one that leaves its future very much in doubt. Nebraska’s Public Service Commission (PSC) last month green-lighted a route through its state, but the approved path wasn’t the one TransCanada prefers. The Canadian company, which has been trying to complete the Canada-to-Texas project for the past decade, said it would ask Nebraska officials to rethink their decision and amend...

Over the last three election cycles, a whopping 95 percent of political donations from University of Nebraska, Lincoln (UNL) employees have gone to Democrats. The disparity is even greater than suggested by voter registration records, which show that more than 50% of professors across 7 major departments identify as Democrats. The university has been desperately disputing allegations that it is hostile to conservatives ever since a group of professors harassed a student while she recruited for her TPUSA club in August.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — More than a dozen states banded together Monday to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to block a California law requiring any eggs sold there to come from hens that have space to stretch out in their cages. In a lawsuit filed directly to the high court, the states allege that California's law has cost consumers nationwide up to $350 million annually because of higher egg prices since it took effect in 2015. The lawsuit argues that California's requirements violate the U.S. Constitution's interstate commerce clause and are pre-empted by federal law. A federal appeals court...

The Supremes haven’t begun releasing new decisions yet, but they’re still managing to make news. In this case, it’s not so much what they did as what they opted not to do. A court case out of Nebraska was challenging a law regarding restrictions on protests which interrupt funerals. It takes little imagination to guess that this was aimed directly at Westboro Baptist Church. The church had challenged the law on constitutional grounds but lost their bid in the lower courts. Rather than taking up the task yet again, the Supreme Court declined to hear it and allowed the lower...

Lincoln businessman Todd Watson announced Tuesday he will mount a "conservative Constitutionalist" challenge to Sen. Deb Fischer in the 2018 Republican Senate primary election. "Our current U.S. Senate needs a makeover," Watson said in a news release before making his official announcement on Facebook. "Congressional winning from a camp that is corrupted, compromised and lacks conviction on the inside will not happen," he said. Watson was critical of Fischer's role as a member of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's leadership team, arguing that "health care, securing the border, spending cuts, defunding Planned Parenthood and reforming immigration were always impossible" because...

A New Jersey company plans to take over the former Dr. Leonard's Healthcare call center location and hire 200 people. iPacesetters, which provides telemarketing services to Fortune 500 and other companies, plans to open its operation Nov. 6 at 5945 Cornhusker Highway. The company said in a news release that it will hire 200 people for full- and part-time jobs. “We are thrilled to bring new career opportunities to Lincoln and add to the growth of iPacesetters," Penny Spaeth, who is the Lincoln site director, said in the news release. "We feel Lincoln is the right place to not only...

This year’s homecoming royalty at Lincoln High assumed their respective thrones through a gender-neutral voting system that school officials hope is more inclusive. “It was a simple way we could be more inclusive to all our students and still bridge that with some traditions that we and other schools have in terms of homecoming,” said Principal Mark Larson. Lincoln High is the first LPS high school to make such a change. But Lincoln High joins a growing number of high schools and colleges across the country moving to gender-neutral roles for homecoming royalty. Those include the University of Nebraska at...

Former No. 1 NFL draft pick and current ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson, pulled his son Keyshawn Jr. out of the University of Nebraska to take “an extended leave of absence.” The four-star wide receiver came to Nebraska a semester early, but struggled during spring ball, making just one catch for seven yards in the spring game. His struggles off the field were worse. It culminated with a marijuana possession citation in his dorm room. Less than two weeks later, Keyshawn Sr. made his son return home to California.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (WOWT) -- A local man was kicked out of a Bellevue Golden Corral because of the shirt on his back. Another customer reported him to the manager, claiming the shirt was too controversial for children to see. The situation has the man in-question considering his first amendment rights. “"I paid for the f***-ing food,” Riek Mock can be heard saying in the video. Mock told his son to start recording video on his phone Sunday when the restaurant’s manager asked him to leave. "He said a customer is complaining he don't like your T-shirt on," said Mock. "I...

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The proposed rare metals mine in southeast Nebraska would produce $17.6 billion over its lifetime. That's the conclusion of a feasibility study released by NioCorp Investments Ltd., the company hoping to make the mine a reality. NioCorp has been working on the feasibility study for the proposed mine near Elk Creek in Johnson County for more than three years.....

A Nebraska Democratic Party official is now in hot water. An audio recording was posted on YouTube Thursday with Phil Montag, a technology chairman, voicing how glad he was Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise got shot last week at a baseball practice. Nebraska Democratic Party chairwoman Jane Kleeb confirmed to FOX 42 News Thursday it was really his voice. "His whole job is to get people, convince Republicans to (expletive) kick people off (expletive) health care. I'm glad he got shot," said Montag in the audio recording. Montag is now looking for a new job. Kleeb let him go after the...