Free Republic

The most significant political story of the past half-century is the activist Left’s “long march through the institutions.” Beginning in the 1960s, left-wing activists and intellectuals, inspired by theorists such as Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci and New Left philosopher Herbert Marcuse, made a concerted effort to embed their ideas in education, government, philanthropy, media, and other important sectors. This process came to spectacular fruition following the 2020 death of George Floyd, when it seemed that every prestige institution in the United States got busy advancing the same ideological line on race, gender, and culture—which, whether they knew it or not,...

NASEEB, Syria — Syrian soldiers fanned out across towns and villages in southern Syria Saturday, celebrating the recapture of the main border crossing with Jordan by raising portraits of President Bashar Assad and tearing down rebel flags. Troops captured the Naseeb border crossing a day earlier following a crushing two-week military offensive, after rebels announced they had reached an agreement with Russian mediators to end the violence in the southern province of Daraa and surrender the crossing.Some flashed victory signs and pumped fists in the air as they chanted pro-Assad slogans. A soldier could be seen hoisting the Syrian flag...

A runaway cow that avoided captivity for weeks died Thursday after it was caught and put on a truck to be taken to a farm, a local official said. The red Limousin beef cow fled Jan. 23 as it was to be transported to a slaughterhouse. It gained celebrity status as it defended its life and freedom, tricking searchers, swimming from island to island and roaming a lake-filled region near Nysa, in southwestern Poland.

John Huber will continue to serve as the U.S. attorney for Utah, at least for the time being. Huber was given a reprieve by the U.S. Justice Department and will stay on as an interim U.S. attorney for the state for the next four months. Huber was one of 46 U.S. attorneys who were asked by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions last Friday to resign. ... Huber joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office since 2002 and was appointed to become Utah’s U.S. Attorney in February 2015 with the support of Sen. Orrin Hatch. Huber was confirmed by the Senate in June...

Lawyers for a San Juan County commissioner convicted of his role in a protest ride in Recapture Canyon are asking a judge to disqualify himself, citing his ties to an environmental group. ... Judge Shelby is “close friends” with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance’s legal director, Stephen Bloch, who has advocated for a stiff sentence for Lyman. Judge Shelby disclosed the relationship ... Steve Bloch, on behalf of SUWA, Steve Bloch and his wife Kara are friends of mine and have been for a long, long time. I practiced with Kara at Snow Christensen starting in 1999. My wife and...

SALT LAKE CITY — Five Utah men have been slapped with federal charges for taking part in an ATV protest ride in southwestern Utah earlier this year that the group said was to call attention to the federal government’s overreaching control of public lands. Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday they have charged the five southern Utah men with misdemeanor conspiracy and illegal use of all-terrain vehicles Wednesday in connection with a ride organized to show displeasure with the federal government. Prosecutors say the May ride through southwestern Utah’s Recapture Canyon was an illegal protest. “We respect the fact that the citizens...

Militiamen and woman camping on Cliven Bundy’s cattle ranch are packing up and heading to Utah where another protest against the Bureau of Land Management will happen Saturday. Ryan Payne, a Montana resident who had been staying at the ranch for a month, said he drove eight hours to arrive in the eastern Utah town this morning. Three militia members from the ranch and a handful of people from a group called Citizens Action Network came to Utah, too, he said. ... At Recapture Canyon, federal officials aren’t planning to send armed federal agents to the Utah protest like they...

The May 10 All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) ride into restricted Recapture Canyon is still moving forward, threatening a collision between local residents and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The ATV ride is planned by a group of Blanding residents in an attempt to force the BLM to make a decision on who has jurisdiction within the canyon, which is just east of Blanding. Motorized access to the trail has been in dispute since the BLM forced its closure in 2007. San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman, who has planned the ride, does not plan to back down to mounting pressure...

Date: May 10, 2014 Time: 9:00 AM (possible meeting the night before, TBA) Place: Blanding, Utah – 255 North Hwy 191. Purpose: Assert local jurisdiction and challenge the overreach of federal agencies. Who is invited: This is not being formally sponsored or organized. It was deemed necessary at a town hall meeting in Blanding on February 27, 2014, and we welcome ALL supporters... On the 10th We will have some introductions, some instructions, and I will explain the topography including what trails have been “closed” by the BLM and which ones remain open. We will also have a flag ceremony...

What was initially conceived as a ride involving a handful of Blanding residents in Recapture Canyon could grow into a massive statement against the federal government. San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman has called for the May 10 ATV ride on public land in the canyon, located just east of Blanding city limits. Lyman said he has lost patience with the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which “temporarily” closed the area to vehicular traffic in 2007 and has yet to reopen it. Lyman said the ride is to make a statement regarding local jurisdiction. However, because of the timing...

COLUMBUS, Ohio—A new form of clean coal technology reached an important milestone recently, with the successful operation of a research-scale combustion system at Ohio State University. The technology is now ready for testing at a larger scale. For 203 continuous hours, the Ohio State combustion unit produced heat from coal while capturing 99 percent of the carbon dioxide produced in the reaction. Liang-Shih Fan, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and director of Ohio State’s Clean Coal Research Laboratory, pioneered the technology called Coal-Direct Chemical Looping (CDCL), which chemically harnesses coal’s energy and efficiently contains the carbon dioxide produced before...

Among the most iconic moments of the 2008 presidential campaign were the scenes of Barack Obama, shirtsleeves rolled up, in front of a sea of voters that seemed to go on forever.

December 29, 2006 Somalia Forces Retake Capital From Islamists By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec. 28 — Just hours after Islamist fighters abandoned Mogadishu, the capital from which they ruled much of Somalia, thousands of troops of the transitional government marched into the city on Thursday in a stunning reversal of fortune. The government soldiers and the Ethiopian infantrymen who have been backing them poured in from the outskirts, residents said. The only gunshots fired were long celebratory bursts into the air. In a country with such a troubled recent history, including famine, anarchy, isolation and war, a potentially viable...

(RTTNews) - Somali government troops and heavily armed Islamist fighters have gathered on Sunday around Burhakaba, a strategic southern Somali town, a day after it was captured by government troops. Reports say that the residents of the town are fleeing as a conflict between the Somali government troops and the Islamic militia have become imminent as the Islamists have threatened to launch a counter-attack to recapture the town if the government troops does not withdraw. The interim government has in turn refused to withdraw its forces from Burhakaba.